Friday, February 17, 2012

Off and Running In Florida!

SpeedWeeks is in high gear down in the sunshine state and from reports so far it sounds like the racing has been very good in front of decent, but definitely not sold out crowds. For the first time in many years the Late Model fans have to choose the track, and the series that they want to watch this weekend as Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala has scheduled three nights of World of Outlaws action right on top of the final three nights of the traditional week at East Bay Raceway for the Lucas Oil Late Model series. The effect on the East Bay car count has been noticeable as in 2011 the six nights of racing on the “Clay by the Bay” averaged 61.7, but in the first three nights this year the average was just 43.3. And that was before the actual competition kicked in up north. On the first night of the two going head-to-head (Thursday) East Bay had 45 cars while Bubba had 51, a bit of a surprise for me as I thought that the Lucas series would outdraw the Outlaws.

Don O’Neal won the first two nights at East Bay, a track that usually suits his foot to the floor, knock down the cushion driving style. On the second night Shannon Babb, who finished second to O’Neal the night before, started outside of him on the front row and when O’Neal went for the cushion in turn one on the opening lap Babb was still there and ended up in the wall ending his evening. Later in victory lane O’Neal stated “Man I hated that, Shannon and I are friends. I got in there and we got together, I drove it in wide-open.” I wonder if “The Real Deal” will be as understanding when a pole-sitter drives into turn one wide open on the first lap when he is starting on the outside?

After a twelve-year absence Ray Cook found his way back to victory lane at East Bay on Wednesday night ahead of Clint Bowyer’s new driver for 2012 Jonathan Davenport and on Thursday night the fans were on their feet as Steve Francis shook off a long victory drought passing Austin Hubbard on the outside coming off turn four to the checkers.

A couple of drivers who are returning from some time off have caught my eye in the results from East Bay. Terry Casey out of Wisconsin has made the show all four nights thus far and has a sixth, seventh and eighth place finish in the books thus far. Another driver who is known for his cushion-slamming style, East Bay is typically a perfect fit for Casey and I am interested to see if he can crack the top five over the final two nights. It has been at least a couple of years since I have seen Duke Whiseant’s name in the Late Model results as I believe that he has been running a Modified lately near his Texarkana base, but on Tuesday night he posted a solid 8th-place run at East Bay.

Over in Ocala the powers that be with the World of Outlaws have to be feeling good with the stats for Thursday’s show where Darrell Lanigan backed up his win at Screven with another dominating performance. Former champion Josh Richards nearly pulled off a slider on Lanigan mid-race, but once he fought that off Darrell cruised to victory ahead of Richards, Shane Clanton, Mike Marlar and Gregg Satterlee. The surprise of the night for me though had to be in the sixth spot as Dillon Wood of nearby Daytona Beach held his own with the national stars. Wood had two runner-up finishes and fourteen top fives racing around Florida and southern Georgia with the National Late Model Series (NLMS) and the United Dirt Late Model Challenge Series (UDLMCS) in 2011, but this is the first time that I can recall him running near the front in a Super Late Model show.

Both tracks may struggle a bit with some forecasted rain on Friday and Saturday night, but hopefully both will be able to round out the weekend. Even though some fans may be grumbling a bit about the lower car counts, having the two shows at the same time is definitely putting more money into more drivers pockets and that just might lead to record-breaking car counts next week when the Late Models all converge on Volusia County Speedway.

Using our “All State” point system, here are the Florida standings through Thursday:

1. Don O’Neal, Martinsville IN 12
2. Steve Francis, Ashland KY 9
3. Austin Hubbard, Seaford DE 7
4. Darrell Lanigan, Union KY 5
    Kyle Van Sickle, Jacksonville 5
    Mike Marlar, Winfield KY 5
    Ray Cook, Brasstown NC 5
    Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg TN 5

Volusia County is hosting the Sprint Cars and UMP Modifieds this week with excellent car counts thus far. Right around forty sprints have been on hand for the two All Star Circuit of Champions shows that have been won by Danny Lasoski and Craig Dollansky while the Modifieds broke a record with 78 of them checking in for Wednesday night’s program. Minnesota driver Dale Mathison surprised the Modified field on opening night and it has been NASCAR celeb Kenny Wallace in victory lane on Wednesday and Thursday. Quincy’s Michael Long is having a solid week so far running ninth on Tuesday, fourth on Wednesday and second to Wallace on Thursday night. The Sprint Cars switch over to the World of Outlaws for Friday and Saturday night while the Modifieds will run five more nights.

If you are a racer in southeast Iowa or northeast Missouri you will want to check out the Customer Appreciation Day at McDaniel Racing Enterprises north of Eldon on Saturday February 18th. Both Barry and I are planning to make a visit in the morning and we hope to get some bench racing in with several area competitors. Hope to see you there!

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