I just flew back from Florida and boy are my arms tired.
Crummy old jokes aside, I did just get back from a quick four day vacation to St. Petersburg where my lovely wife agreed to let me sneak off to East Bay Raceway on Friday night to catch one night of racing action during the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Winter Nationals. It was the first time that I have been at one of my favorite tracks in fifteen years and it definitely brought back plenty of memories as well as making a new one with an entertaining close to a quick night of action.
Gone are the days when this event would draw 60 to 80 cars and with the World of Outlaws opener in southern Georgia pulling a field of 46 there were 35 drivers signed in to compete on this beautiful evening. After suffering through colder than normal temps and strong winds the first few nights, conditions that also plagued us at the beach, it was nice to be able to enjoy the evening with just a sweatshirt on.
The field was split into two groups for qualifying, the first would comprise heats one and two while the second group would run heats three and four, and the heats were lined straight up by qualifying time with the fast drivers up front. The winner of the first heat would earn the pole position for the 50-lap main event while the winner of heat three would start to his outside so obviously turning a quick lap is vital to a successful evening on the Lucas Oil Late Model Series.
Scott Bloomquist was quick time in group one and outdragged Darrell Lanigan at the drop of the green to go flag-to-flag in the opening heat race. The battle for the fourth and final transfer position heated up mid-race though when local driver Kyle Bronson put the muscle on UMP Champ Bobby Pierce sending Pierce for a spin that then collected WISSOTA champion Ricky Weiss. Pierce would head to the pits with front end damage and would later use the provisional that goes to the fastest qualifier that does not transfer to tag the field of the A.
Mason Zeigler started from the pole of heat two only to have Jared Landers get the jump from the outside and from there things just kept getting worse for the young driver from Pennsylvania. Gregg Satterlee would drop him back to third and then when Eddie Carrier Jr. rode Zeigler up into the turn three wall that allowed Tim McCreadie to dart from fifth to third. Zeigler returned the favor to Carrier in turn two a lap later causing him to stop on the back stretch, but shortly after the late restart Steve Francis would take the fourth and final transfer away. Zeigler would come back to win the first B-Main, but had to be thinking what might have been if he would have been able to back up that second quick time in group one.
Jonathan Davenport was the final car out to time and, no surprise, he was still able to be the overall fastest qualifier of the night with an electrifying ride around the cushion of the Clay on the Bay. Superman then left Randy Weaver in his wake as he ran off with the win in heat three. Jimmy Owens, who tagged the wall in qualifying, started ninth and had only passed one car before he went for a spin exiting turn two with two laps remaining. The former series champion would later use a provisional to start the main event from the rear.
The fourth heat race was relatively uneventful with Don O'Neal leading Tim Dohm to the checkers.
Ricky Weiss returned to start last in the first B-Main and made a final lap pass of Sonny Conley to finish second to Zeigler while Mississippi driver David Breazeale dominated the second B-Main. The Dirt On Dirt Strawberry Dash serves as the Last Chance race with recent University of Florida graduate Austin Kirkpatrick taking the win in a chassis of his own design.
The stage was now set for the 50-lap finale and there was a buzz in the large crowd with Scott Bloomquist and Jonathan Davenport starting on the front row. The 52-year-old veteran Bloomquist got the jump at the drop of the green, but before a lap could be scored the caution waved as Weiss and Conley tangled in turn two. On the second start Bloomquist again had the advantage, but after just one lap was recorded Devin Moran spun in turn two. Now out front for the restart Bloomquist again held the lead only to have the caution wave again a lap later when Justin Ratliff tagged the back stretch wall. Another restart, one more lap scored, and then Mark Whitener and Freddie Carpenter had issues in turn one. And, with each caution, the annoying "turn four body shop" had at least one or two customers as drivers are encouraged to stop down and visit with the Lucas Oil series official to make a slow walk around the car and tug on any sheet metal damage that they may, or may not have.
Finally we were able to get some actual racing in as Landers dropped Davenport back to third on the restart and as Bloomquist started to pull away Davenport regained the runner-up spot on lap ten. He was not making up any ground on the leader though until Bloomquist started to work lapped traffic and soon that lead completely disappeared with Davenport ready to pounce. Before that could happen though the caution waved again on lap 19 as one of those lapped cars, Pierce slowed with a flat tire and ducked into the pits for a quick change.
When the green flag returned it was just four laps later when Gregg Satterlee jumped the cushion and hit the wall in turn one, already the sixth caution of the event. Following this restart Davenport pulled even with Bloomquist using the low line in turns one and two and when the leader threw the block in turn three that allowed Darrell Lanigan to make it an interesting three car chase for the next several laps. The final caution appeared on lap 36 for a flat tire on the car of Steve Francis and once again shortly after the restart Davenport shot to low side of Bloomquist in one and two.
Again Bloomquist thwarted the challenge by blocking down low in turns three and four so Davenport dropped back a few car-lengths to regroup and then tried out the high line on that end of the track. With just ten laps to go and the leader now working the low side on both ends, Davenport made up his mind that the cushion would hold him and seemingly flat footed his way around the top in three and four vaulting to the lead down the front stretch as the fans cheered their approval. There would be no catching him from there as the driver of the year in 2015 is having an even better start to 2016 taking the $10,000 top prize and regaining the Lucas Oil Series point lead with Josh Richards now back on the Outlaws trail.
Bloomquist, who himself used to dominate like this, had to be scratching his head in second while Darrell Lanigan put his new ride, the Clint Bowyer Racing #15 in third. Lanigan's teammate Don O'Neal finished where he started in fourth while new series regular Tim McCreadie was fifth.
The entire show, from qualifying to the final checkers took under three hours to complete and I was back in my airport area hotel by ten o'clock hoping to get some sleep before an early morning departure. Returning to one of my all-time favorite tracks was a great way to kick off 2016 and I am now checking the schedule to see where I can go in March!
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Monday, February 8, 2016
Richards, Davenport Rule At Golden Isles
As I watched the video from this past weekend's Georgia Boots Super Bowl of racing tripleheader from the Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Georgia, featuring the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series I almost felt like I was watching the same event over and over again. If it weren't for the different stages of daylight, or lack thereof, that was distinct for each of the three, you might not have been able to tell the difference between Friday night's LOLMDS opener, Saturday afternoon's makeup of Thursday's $7,000-to-win tune up and Saturday night's $15,000-to-win finale that a steady drizzle then pushed to a Sunday afternoon conclusion under bright sunny skies.
World of Outlaws regular Josh Richards was the winner of the two points races while defending Lucas Oil Series champion Jonathan Davenport won the non-points event, but it wasn't just that these two were battling it out up front in all three feature races that made the whole weekend seem to run all together. It also seemed like the same cast of characters were running up there with them all weekend as well.
Richards and Davenport earned front row starting spots in their heat races for all three programs, but so too did Jared Landers and Brian Shirley while four other drivers Brandon Sheppard, Eddie Carrier Jr., Mason Ziegler and Billy Moyer Jr. were on the front row of the heats during two of the three programs. Now this might not seem like an usual occurrence if the field was say thirty strong with series regulars and some local fill-ins, but when it is a Speed Weeks roster of more than forty of the best drivers out there then it becomes noteworthy. And oh yes, some of the names who did not earn a front row start in a heat race the entire weekend included Bloomquist, Owens, O'Neal, Lanigan and Francis.
The dominance of Richards and Davenport had the Dirt On Dirt experts contemplating whether that duo would sweep the entire Speed Weeks schedule. Perhaps a bit too early for that, but they definitely had the field covered on this first weekend.
Actually it was Brandon Sheppard in his new ride with the Best Performance Motorsports team that applied the pressure to Richards on Friday night but that was because Davenport was too busy recovering from a 360 degree spin after he clipped the inside berm in turn three while racing with Chris Madden. His charge back up to third at the finish was a signal that the new suspension rules implemented on the Lucas series for 2016 would have little or no effect on Davenport and reports were that his car was in tech until the wee hours of the morning making sure that it complied with those new rules.
Davenport outdragged the pole-sitter Richards and then went flag-to-flag to win Saturday's day race that, not surprisingly, turned into hug the bottom affair. Lapped traffic kept Brian Shirley and Richards within striking distance over the closing laps, but there would be no stopping Superman in this one.
Sunday's rubber match, no pun intended, was actually a pretty entertaining race despite the bright and sunny conditions as only a consi or two were run prior to the Late Model main event taking to the track. Davenport held the lead for much of the event, but when he drifted high in turn two while working traffic, Richards seized the opportunity and held on for the final 14 laps to score the victory. Davenport tried to make one last run at the leader in the final set of turns but spun sideways allowing Jared Landers to take the runner-up spot while Davenport recovered in time to finish third.
The LOLMDS website has not yet been updated with the point standings from this weekend's racing, but if it was you would find Richards at the top for now before he ventures back up to southern Georgia for the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series opener at Screven this weekend. Davenport and Landers would be neck and neck for second while Eddie Carrier Jr. would likely rank fourth, a fantastic start for a driver who had a 2015 season that he would like to forget.
Series convert Tim McCreadie got off to a solid start finishing 7th and 6th in the two points-paying races so he would be right there with Carrier while Scott Bloomquist was uncharacteristically quiet running 11th and 4th on the weekend.
Clint Bowyer's team of Darrell Lanigan and Don O'Neal chose to sit out the Saturday afternoon race after running 8th and 20th respectively on Friday night and the combined results were about the same in Sunday's finale where they finished 10th and 17th. And Jimmy Owens' new team had a tough weekend with a 14th and a 21st.
The series now moves to East Bay tonight where they will do some non-points racing on the weeknights before upping the ante on the weekend.
In other Speed Weeks action from the weekend Nick Hoffman won three of the four Modified main events held at Golden Isles during the Super Bowl of Dirt Racing with Kyle Strickler taking the other win. Kraig Kinser was the All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car feature winner at Bubba Raceway Park on Friday night with the rest of the weeken'd schedule there being rained out. In the companion Sunshine State Modified Tour at Bubba it was Tait Davenport scoring the win over Wisconsin's Kevin Adams while Minnesota's Johnny Broking finished fourth. And, since the final two events on that schedule were washed out I am assuming the the points are final with Adams taking the championship Trent Young and Tait Davenport. Kewanee's Ray Bollinger ranked fourth just ahead of Kenny Wallace and, despite skipping the races at Bubba, Iowa's Mike Van Genderen finished in ninth.
Christine has to use some of her vacation time this week so if I am successful at begging, I might just get that first race of 2016 in later this week. The updated Back Stretch National Dirt Late Model Points follow.
World of Outlaws regular Josh Richards was the winner of the two points races while defending Lucas Oil Series champion Jonathan Davenport won the non-points event, but it wasn't just that these two were battling it out up front in all three feature races that made the whole weekend seem to run all together. It also seemed like the same cast of characters were running up there with them all weekend as well.
Richards and Davenport earned front row starting spots in their heat races for all three programs, but so too did Jared Landers and Brian Shirley while four other drivers Brandon Sheppard, Eddie Carrier Jr., Mason Ziegler and Billy Moyer Jr. were on the front row of the heats during two of the three programs. Now this might not seem like an usual occurrence if the field was say thirty strong with series regulars and some local fill-ins, but when it is a Speed Weeks roster of more than forty of the best drivers out there then it becomes noteworthy. And oh yes, some of the names who did not earn a front row start in a heat race the entire weekend included Bloomquist, Owens, O'Neal, Lanigan and Francis.
The dominance of Richards and Davenport had the Dirt On Dirt experts contemplating whether that duo would sweep the entire Speed Weeks schedule. Perhaps a bit too early for that, but they definitely had the field covered on this first weekend.
Actually it was Brandon Sheppard in his new ride with the Best Performance Motorsports team that applied the pressure to Richards on Friday night but that was because Davenport was too busy recovering from a 360 degree spin after he clipped the inside berm in turn three while racing with Chris Madden. His charge back up to third at the finish was a signal that the new suspension rules implemented on the Lucas series for 2016 would have little or no effect on Davenport and reports were that his car was in tech until the wee hours of the morning making sure that it complied with those new rules.
Davenport outdragged the pole-sitter Richards and then went flag-to-flag to win Saturday's day race that, not surprisingly, turned into hug the bottom affair. Lapped traffic kept Brian Shirley and Richards within striking distance over the closing laps, but there would be no stopping Superman in this one.
Sunday's rubber match, no pun intended, was actually a pretty entertaining race despite the bright and sunny conditions as only a consi or two were run prior to the Late Model main event taking to the track. Davenport held the lead for much of the event, but when he drifted high in turn two while working traffic, Richards seized the opportunity and held on for the final 14 laps to score the victory. Davenport tried to make one last run at the leader in the final set of turns but spun sideways allowing Jared Landers to take the runner-up spot while Davenport recovered in time to finish third.
The LOLMDS website has not yet been updated with the point standings from this weekend's racing, but if it was you would find Richards at the top for now before he ventures back up to southern Georgia for the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series opener at Screven this weekend. Davenport and Landers would be neck and neck for second while Eddie Carrier Jr. would likely rank fourth, a fantastic start for a driver who had a 2015 season that he would like to forget.
Series convert Tim McCreadie got off to a solid start finishing 7th and 6th in the two points-paying races so he would be right there with Carrier while Scott Bloomquist was uncharacteristically quiet running 11th and 4th on the weekend.
Clint Bowyer's team of Darrell Lanigan and Don O'Neal chose to sit out the Saturday afternoon race after running 8th and 20th respectively on Friday night and the combined results were about the same in Sunday's finale where they finished 10th and 17th. And Jimmy Owens' new team had a tough weekend with a 14th and a 21st.
The series now moves to East Bay tonight where they will do some non-points racing on the weeknights before upping the ante on the weekend.
In other Speed Weeks action from the weekend Nick Hoffman won three of the four Modified main events held at Golden Isles during the Super Bowl of Dirt Racing with Kyle Strickler taking the other win. Kraig Kinser was the All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car feature winner at Bubba Raceway Park on Friday night with the rest of the weeken'd schedule there being rained out. In the companion Sunshine State Modified Tour at Bubba it was Tait Davenport scoring the win over Wisconsin's Kevin Adams while Minnesota's Johnny Broking finished fourth. And, since the final two events on that schedule were washed out I am assuming the the points are final with Adams taking the championship Trent Young and Tait Davenport. Kewanee's Ray Bollinger ranked fourth just ahead of Kenny Wallace and, despite skipping the races at Bubba, Iowa's Mike Van Genderen finished in ninth.
Christine has to use some of her vacation time this week so if I am successful at begging, I might just get that first race of 2016 in later this week. The updated Back Stretch National Dirt Late Model Points follow.
| The "Back Stretch" | ||||
| Dirt Late Model Points | Total | |||
| Pos. | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | . | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville GA | 33 |
| 2 | . | Josh Richards | Shinnston WV | 16 |
| 3 | . | Jared Landers | Batesville AR | 11 |
| 4 | . | Darrell Lanigan | Union KY | 9 |
| 5 | . | Donald McIntosh | Dawsonville GA | 9 |
| 6 | . | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin IL | 8 |
| 7 | . | Don O'Neal | Martinsville IN | 8 |
| 8 | . | Steve Francis | Ashland KY | 6 |
| 9 | . | Eddie Carrier Jr. | Salt Rock WV | 5 |
| 10 | . | Jason Papich | Santa Maria CA | 5 |
| 11 | . | Ricky Thornton Jr. | Chandler AZ | 5 |
| 12 | . | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg TN | 5 |
| 13 | . | David Brannon | Elora TN | 4 |
| 14 | . | Jason Hiett | Lincoln AL | 4 |
| 15 | . | Ryan Gustin | Marshalltown IA | 4 |
| 16 | . | Brian Shirley | Chatham IL | 3 |
| 17 | . | Jimmy Mars | Elk Mound WI | 3 |
| 18 | . | Ronny Lee Hollingsworth | Northport AL | 3 |
| 19 | . | Tim McCreadie | Watertown NY | 3 |
| 20 | . | Chris Madden | Gray Court SC | 2 |
| 21 | . | Chris Simpson | Marion IA | 2 |
| 22 | . | Dale McDowell | Chickamauga GA | 2 |
| 23 | . | Dennis Erb Jr. | Carpentersville IL | 2 |
| 24 | . | Ray Cook | Brasstown NC | 2 |
| 25 | . | Rhett Carter | Blackshear GA | 2 |
| 26 | . | Shane Clanton | Locust Grove GA | 2 |
| 27 | . | Billy Moyer | Batesville AR | 1 |
| 28 | . | Donny Schatz | Fargo ND | 1 |
| 29 | . | Garrett Alberson | Las Cruces NM | 1 |
| 30 | . | Kyle Van Sickle | Jacksonville FL | 1 |
| 31 | . | Tim Busha | Boaz AL | 1 |
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Bronson Continues Success In A Modified; 360 Sprint Schedules Taking Shape
After winning twice and finishing second the other two times over a four race weekend in his Crate Late Model, Tampa area driver Kyle Bronson continued his hot streak with a win in his Modified during the final night of action for the Sunshine State Modified Tour at East Bay Raceway Monday night. It sounds like some tempers flared along the way as Bronson was the trigger of a multi-car pileup early in the race and I found it interesting that the race story had the headline Bronson Bullies His Way To East Bay Win.
Kewanee's Ray Bollinger had his best showing of the weekend running second with locals Steve Miller and Devin Dixon next in line while Iowa's own Mike Van Genderen completed the top five. Despite leading the points after the first four races, Van Genderen will stick with his plans to head back home and miss the final five events that are to be run at Bubba Raceway in Ocala and the North Florida Speedway near Lake City. Mike definitely left his mark competing in Florida for the first time and I wonder if series officials are hearing it from the other drivers in regard to the allowances that were given for his IMCA crate engine.
No Speed Weeks action tonight, but that will be the last break barring any weather issues until the Daytona 500 on February 21st.
It was pretty obvious way back around Thanksgiving when the Air Capital Shootout at 81 Speedway was announced that it would be an NCRA and NSL 360 event when it is run on March 25th and 26th that the NCRA was going to pair up with the National Sprint League. Today it became official when the two announced their partnership in an 18-race schedule that starts and ends at the historic oval in suburban Wichita. As I entered the dates for the next update to our master schedule though I came across a couple of interesting items that may yet to be resolved. First off there are a few dates at Junction Motor Speedway and at I-80 Speedway where the Carpetland Nebraska 360 Sprints were already on the schedule. My guess would be that these will be run as co-sanctioned events, but the same cannot be said for the July 22nd date at the Outlaw Motor Speedway in Wainwright, Oklahoma. Both the track's website and the ASCS site, as of this morning, shows this as an ASCS Red River Region event and given the relationship between the ASCS and the NSL I would think that it will have to be one or the other. Guess we will have to see how it shakes out.
As one of the co-announcers for the Shottenkirk Sprint Invaders the past three seasons I have a vested interest in their schedule and other than what I have seen on some individual tracks' websites, a full schedule of events has not yet been released. This might suggest that a similar partnership with the NSL may be in the works although the April 2nd NSL 360 date at the Randolph County Speedway in Moberly, Missouri, would go straight up against the Invaders traditional opener at 34 Raceway near Burlington. Oh well, that will be one date that I will have to miss anyway as we are traveling to a wedding that weekend.
I have also noticed that the Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series (UMSS) is also a bit later than normal in regard to releasing a schedule so perhaps they too are working on a partnership with the NSL.
I will say this, as a Sprint Car fan you will have many more races to choose from in the region this year, but I have to wonder if there will be enough cars to go around. Hope so!
For those of you who either enjoy or despise the weekly Dirt On Dirt Top 25 poll you no longer have myself, Barry Johnson or Ron Meyer to thank, or to make fun of any more depending upon how you look at it. The three of us were among the other twenty media members who are no longer being asked to participate in the weekly ballot as they have brought it all "in house" now with a team of ten. I enjoyed participating in the poll and I really appreciated the opportunity that was given to me by Todd Turner, Andy Savery, Alli Collis and the rest of the DoD staff. The poll is obviously just a collection, or "average" of opinions and even though it really doesn't mean anything it definitely creates conversation. Mostly by forum board posters who will first question the knowledge of the voters and will then illustrate just how much opinions can vary as they themselves argue it out over four or five pages of discussion.
Finally for today, I am so excited that my house phone will go back to being dormant as the political circus has now moved to New Hampshire, South Carolina and beyond. I was surprised that not one person stood up to advocate for Donald Trump in our precinct and I told my wife on the way home that this told me that he would not be the winner. Iowans can now go back to living life outside of the spotlight!
Kewanee's Ray Bollinger had his best showing of the weekend running second with locals Steve Miller and Devin Dixon next in line while Iowa's own Mike Van Genderen completed the top five. Despite leading the points after the first four races, Van Genderen will stick with his plans to head back home and miss the final five events that are to be run at Bubba Raceway in Ocala and the North Florida Speedway near Lake City. Mike definitely left his mark competing in Florida for the first time and I wonder if series officials are hearing it from the other drivers in regard to the allowances that were given for his IMCA crate engine.
No Speed Weeks action tonight, but that will be the last break barring any weather issues until the Daytona 500 on February 21st.
It was pretty obvious way back around Thanksgiving when the Air Capital Shootout at 81 Speedway was announced that it would be an NCRA and NSL 360 event when it is run on March 25th and 26th that the NCRA was going to pair up with the National Sprint League. Today it became official when the two announced their partnership in an 18-race schedule that starts and ends at the historic oval in suburban Wichita. As I entered the dates for the next update to our master schedule though I came across a couple of interesting items that may yet to be resolved. First off there are a few dates at Junction Motor Speedway and at I-80 Speedway where the Carpetland Nebraska 360 Sprints were already on the schedule. My guess would be that these will be run as co-sanctioned events, but the same cannot be said for the July 22nd date at the Outlaw Motor Speedway in Wainwright, Oklahoma. Both the track's website and the ASCS site, as of this morning, shows this as an ASCS Red River Region event and given the relationship between the ASCS and the NSL I would think that it will have to be one or the other. Guess we will have to see how it shakes out.
As one of the co-announcers for the Shottenkirk Sprint Invaders the past three seasons I have a vested interest in their schedule and other than what I have seen on some individual tracks' websites, a full schedule of events has not yet been released. This might suggest that a similar partnership with the NSL may be in the works although the April 2nd NSL 360 date at the Randolph County Speedway in Moberly, Missouri, would go straight up against the Invaders traditional opener at 34 Raceway near Burlington. Oh well, that will be one date that I will have to miss anyway as we are traveling to a wedding that weekend.
I have also noticed that the Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series (UMSS) is also a bit later than normal in regard to releasing a schedule so perhaps they too are working on a partnership with the NSL.
I will say this, as a Sprint Car fan you will have many more races to choose from in the region this year, but I have to wonder if there will be enough cars to go around. Hope so!
For those of you who either enjoy or despise the weekly Dirt On Dirt Top 25 poll you no longer have myself, Barry Johnson or Ron Meyer to thank, or to make fun of any more depending upon how you look at it. The three of us were among the other twenty media members who are no longer being asked to participate in the weekly ballot as they have brought it all "in house" now with a team of ten. I enjoyed participating in the poll and I really appreciated the opportunity that was given to me by Todd Turner, Andy Savery, Alli Collis and the rest of the DoD staff. The poll is obviously just a collection, or "average" of opinions and even though it really doesn't mean anything it definitely creates conversation. Mostly by forum board posters who will first question the knowledge of the voters and will then illustrate just how much opinions can vary as they themselves argue it out over four or five pages of discussion.
Finally for today, I am so excited that my house phone will go back to being dormant as the political circus has now moved to New Hampshire, South Carolina and beyond. I was surprised that not one person stood up to advocate for Donald Trump in our precinct and I told my wife on the way home that this told me that he would not be the winner. Iowans can now go back to living life outside of the spotlight!
Monday, February 1, 2016
Floridians Protect Their Home Turf; Bubba Wins Speed Fest
Home state drivers were victorious in the two events held in Florida on Sunday while Bubba Pollard was the Super Late Model winner on the pavement in south Georgia.
After running three events in two days in Ocala, the Crate Late Model contingent went north to the All Tech Raceway in Lake City where Kyle Bronson wrapped up a solid weekend with a $5,000 win over a field of 22. Bronson started on the front row and led the entire distance lapping all the way up to sixth in the 50 lap main event. Max Blair was the runner-up, Joseph Joiner came from tenth to third while Walker Arthur and Rambo Franklin completed the top five. The Crates now have a choice for next weekend as they can run three nights, Thursday Friday and Saturday unsanctioned at East Bay or race the Nesmith Winter series at Golden Isles Friday and Saturday as the undercard to the Lucas Oil Late Model Series.
Roger Crouse has been a fixture at East Bay Raceway now for more than 31 years and, with his flag-to-flag win in the Sunshine State Modified Tour event there on Sunday night the Plant City resident has now won at least one feature at the track in 30 of those seasons! Young Mavrick Varnadore, another local, chased Crouse in for second with Kentucky's Trent Young in third and North Carolina traveler Nick Hoffman fourth. Kewanee's Ray Bollinger finished one spot behind NASCAR celebrity Kenny Wallace in eighth while Saturday night's winner Mike Van Genderen was tenth. After three rounds it is now Varnadore on top of the points with Van Genderen holding strong in second as the tour closes out its East Bay run with a show on Monday night. The take Tuesday off before running three events at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala and two at North Florida Speedway.
"It's been a long time coming" was Bubba Pollard's quote after winning the annual Speed Fest at Crisp Motorsports Park in Cordele, Georgia, Sunday evening. Last year at this event contact from John Hunter Nemechek late in the race sent Pollard for a spin allowing Nemecek to take the win. On Sunday the roles were reversed, and it was actually the third-place car of William Byron who was assigned the blame as a review of video determined it was Byron who made contact with Pollard who in turn spun Nemechek. The decision allowed Pollard to take the win with another young son of a former NASCAR driver, Harrison Burton in second. Minnesota's Cole Anderson had another impressive run in fifth while ARCA Midwest Tour Champion Ty Majeski was 11th.
Nemechek fared better in the Pro Late Model portion of the event as he prevailed in a three-wide battle with Chris Dilbeck and Zane Smith to win the undercard.
After running three events in two days in Ocala, the Crate Late Model contingent went north to the All Tech Raceway in Lake City where Kyle Bronson wrapped up a solid weekend with a $5,000 win over a field of 22. Bronson started on the front row and led the entire distance lapping all the way up to sixth in the 50 lap main event. Max Blair was the runner-up, Joseph Joiner came from tenth to third while Walker Arthur and Rambo Franklin completed the top five. The Crates now have a choice for next weekend as they can run three nights, Thursday Friday and Saturday unsanctioned at East Bay or race the Nesmith Winter series at Golden Isles Friday and Saturday as the undercard to the Lucas Oil Late Model Series.
Roger Crouse has been a fixture at East Bay Raceway now for more than 31 years and, with his flag-to-flag win in the Sunshine State Modified Tour event there on Sunday night the Plant City resident has now won at least one feature at the track in 30 of those seasons! Young Mavrick Varnadore, another local, chased Crouse in for second with Kentucky's Trent Young in third and North Carolina traveler Nick Hoffman fourth. Kewanee's Ray Bollinger finished one spot behind NASCAR celebrity Kenny Wallace in eighth while Saturday night's winner Mike Van Genderen was tenth. After three rounds it is now Varnadore on top of the points with Van Genderen holding strong in second as the tour closes out its East Bay run with a show on Monday night. The take Tuesday off before running three events at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala and two at North Florida Speedway.
"It's been a long time coming" was Bubba Pollard's quote after winning the annual Speed Fest at Crisp Motorsports Park in Cordele, Georgia, Sunday evening. Last year at this event contact from John Hunter Nemechek late in the race sent Pollard for a spin allowing Nemecek to take the win. On Sunday the roles were reversed, and it was actually the third-place car of William Byron who was assigned the blame as a review of video determined it was Byron who made contact with Pollard who in turn spun Nemechek. The decision allowed Pollard to take the win with another young son of a former NASCAR driver, Harrison Burton in second. Minnesota's Cole Anderson had another impressive run in fifth while ARCA Midwest Tour Champion Ty Majeski was 11th.
Nemechek fared better in the Pro Late Model portion of the event as he prevailed in a three-wide battle with Chris Dilbeck and Zane Smith to win the undercard.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Florida Georgia Speed Weeks Officially Underway
Short track racing has taken the green down in Florida and Georgia and it will continue daily now through the Daytona 500 on February 21st. It has been more than 15 years since I was last able to make an extended trip south so summarizing the events here on the Back Stretch is therapeutic. I hope that you will indulge me....
There were 55 cars in the pits for the opener of the Sunshine State Modified Tour at East Bay Raceway Friday where Wisconsin's Kevin Adams held off a couple of locals Mavrick Varnadore and David Reutimann to take the win. Kewanee's Ray Bollinger finished 11th while former Hawkeye Dirt Tour champion Mike Van Genderen was 14th just behind NASCAR's Kenny Wallace.
Van Genderen would be the big story on Saturday night, not only because he would take the $5,000 top prize over a stellar field of 58, but in the manner in which he did it. Racing one spot out of a qualifying spot late in a B-Main, MVG elbowed up and scored the win to place him in the tenth row for the 75-lap main event. With the majority of the field running the middle or the cushion Van Genderen used a rough but fast bottom groove to quickly move into the top four and then it was just a matter of getting to the front and hanging on. In victory lane Mike said that his sanity had been questioned for bringing his IMCA crate engine to race against the UMP field, but on this night it was the perfect combination of power, setup of his Harris chassis and of course the talent in the driver's seat that would secure the win.
Van Genderen is now the promoter or race director at more events that he competes in and it was interesting that another track promoter and part-time racer Rodney Wing finished in the second spot. LaSalle Speedway regular Mike McKinney finished in sixth while other Illinois drivers Ray Bollinger, Allen Weisser and Jeff Leka also made the feature field. Van Genderen now has a ten point lead over Kevin Adams and Steve Miller heading into Sunday night's action at East Bay.
Fifty-three Nesmith Crate Late Models signed in for the Friday night show at Bubba Raceway Park and the podium was filled with three drivers who have had plenty of success in the Super Late Models. Three-time World of Outlaws champion Josh Richards took the lead from Kyle Bronson on lap five and then cruised to the $2,500 victory. Bronson who was one of the hottest drivers in Late Model racing at the end of 2015 held on to finish second while Dennis "Rambo" Franklin took third. Tyler Bare was the top finishing non-interloper in fourth and Don O'Neal's son Hudson was the eleventh and final car still running at the finish.
Two big features were on tap at Bubba's on Saturday as the full $3,000-to-win program would precede the makeup of the $10,000-to-win event from last Fall. In the regular program it was again Josh Richards and Kyle Bronson running up front with Richards taking the lead from the rising Florida star early and then starting to pull away. Bronson faded to fourth behind Max Blair and David Whitener mid-race but a couple of late restarts put him back in the mix and when Richards bobbled in turn two on the second one Bronson split the middle between Blair and "Kid Rocket" to take the lead. Richards came storming back though and was putting heavy pressure on Bronson only to go too low in turn three clipping the inside berm and spinning with seven laps remaining. Bronson would then pull away on the restart to take the win ahead of Blair and Whitener while the track owner's young son Tyler Clem finished fourth. Richards clawed his way back up to eighth at the checkers.
Rambo Franklin chose to sit out the regular program on Saturday and concentrate on the big money makeup race and the decision paid off with a victory. Taking the lead away from Bronson early, Franklin set a torrid pace and had lapped all but Bronson and Cale Conley before a caution waved with 11 laps remaining in the 100-lap affair. Knowing that he would not give up any tack position Bronson pitted for fresh rubber and he would make a run at Franklin over the closing laps only to come up a few car lengths short at the checkers.
Donald McIntosh is staking claim to being the King of Winter racing in the southeast as he muscled by Dale McDowell early and then ran off with the Cabin Fever 40 at Boyd's Raceway in Georgia for a $3,500 payday. The track's co-owner, McDowell finished in second ahead of Ray Cook while Jason Manley brought his steel head engine in for fourth.
Meanwhile out in the desert southwest Josh Hodges held off Friday's winner Bryan Clauson to win the USAC Sprint Car feature at Canyon Speedway on Saturday while Missouri's Hunter Marriott was the IMCA Modified feature winner.
More racing from Florida plus Speedfest in southern Georgia in Monday's Back Stretch.
There were 55 cars in the pits for the opener of the Sunshine State Modified Tour at East Bay Raceway Friday where Wisconsin's Kevin Adams held off a couple of locals Mavrick Varnadore and David Reutimann to take the win. Kewanee's Ray Bollinger finished 11th while former Hawkeye Dirt Tour champion Mike Van Genderen was 14th just behind NASCAR's Kenny Wallace.
Van Genderen would be the big story on Saturday night, not only because he would take the $5,000 top prize over a stellar field of 58, but in the manner in which he did it. Racing one spot out of a qualifying spot late in a B-Main, MVG elbowed up and scored the win to place him in the tenth row for the 75-lap main event. With the majority of the field running the middle or the cushion Van Genderen used a rough but fast bottom groove to quickly move into the top four and then it was just a matter of getting to the front and hanging on. In victory lane Mike said that his sanity had been questioned for bringing his IMCA crate engine to race against the UMP field, but on this night it was the perfect combination of power, setup of his Harris chassis and of course the talent in the driver's seat that would secure the win.
Van Genderen is now the promoter or race director at more events that he competes in and it was interesting that another track promoter and part-time racer Rodney Wing finished in the second spot. LaSalle Speedway regular Mike McKinney finished in sixth while other Illinois drivers Ray Bollinger, Allen Weisser and Jeff Leka also made the feature field. Van Genderen now has a ten point lead over Kevin Adams and Steve Miller heading into Sunday night's action at East Bay.
Fifty-three Nesmith Crate Late Models signed in for the Friday night show at Bubba Raceway Park and the podium was filled with three drivers who have had plenty of success in the Super Late Models. Three-time World of Outlaws champion Josh Richards took the lead from Kyle Bronson on lap five and then cruised to the $2,500 victory. Bronson who was one of the hottest drivers in Late Model racing at the end of 2015 held on to finish second while Dennis "Rambo" Franklin took third. Tyler Bare was the top finishing non-interloper in fourth and Don O'Neal's son Hudson was the eleventh and final car still running at the finish.
Two big features were on tap at Bubba's on Saturday as the full $3,000-to-win program would precede the makeup of the $10,000-to-win event from last Fall. In the regular program it was again Josh Richards and Kyle Bronson running up front with Richards taking the lead from the rising Florida star early and then starting to pull away. Bronson faded to fourth behind Max Blair and David Whitener mid-race but a couple of late restarts put him back in the mix and when Richards bobbled in turn two on the second one Bronson split the middle between Blair and "Kid Rocket" to take the lead. Richards came storming back though and was putting heavy pressure on Bronson only to go too low in turn three clipping the inside berm and spinning with seven laps remaining. Bronson would then pull away on the restart to take the win ahead of Blair and Whitener while the track owner's young son Tyler Clem finished fourth. Richards clawed his way back up to eighth at the checkers.
Rambo Franklin chose to sit out the regular program on Saturday and concentrate on the big money makeup race and the decision paid off with a victory. Taking the lead away from Bronson early, Franklin set a torrid pace and had lapped all but Bronson and Cale Conley before a caution waved with 11 laps remaining in the 100-lap affair. Knowing that he would not give up any tack position Bronson pitted for fresh rubber and he would make a run at Franklin over the closing laps only to come up a few car lengths short at the checkers.
Donald McIntosh is staking claim to being the King of Winter racing in the southeast as he muscled by Dale McDowell early and then ran off with the Cabin Fever 40 at Boyd's Raceway in Georgia for a $3,500 payday. The track's co-owner, McDowell finished in second ahead of Ray Cook while Jason Manley brought his steel head engine in for fourth.
Meanwhile out in the desert southwest Josh Hodges held off Friday's winner Bryan Clauson to win the USAC Sprint Car feature at Canyon Speedway on Saturday while Missouri's Hunter Marriott was the IMCA Modified feature winner.
More racing from Florida plus Speedfest in southern Georgia in Monday's Back Stretch.
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