Saturday, July 12, 2002

We had a special race scheduled for Wednesday this week, the Late Model UMP Summer Nationals. Scott May promotes this event this year, and it usually brings in a big crowd, as well as big name drivers, and this year was no exception. Everyone was there and ready to go, in fact, they did get some practice laps in, when Mother Nature decided to throw a wrench in our gears! It POURED down rain for about 15 minutes, soaking the track again, and they held a driver's meeting to determine the next course of action. The drivers decided they would try to iron the track back out again and go on with the races, but once again, the weather was in disagreement. Most of the trailers saw the weather coming and tried to get their haulers out before it hit, but everyone's progress was cut short by a jack-knifed rig at the of the pit areas. The sky opened up again and poured buckets of rain, and everyone had no choice but to sit in line, in the mud, waiting for the exit to clear. They finally got the rig out of the way, and traffic started moving, but it took several four wheel drives, a couple of tractors, and the assistance of the tow trucks, to eventually get everyone out onto drier ground. It was a disappointing night for those of us wanting to see a great show, but you can't control Mother Nature, and the event has been rescheduled for August 28th. By the way, if anybody is interested, there just might be a semi-driver position open on the Moyer racing team (just kidding!)

The Thunder Trucks were FOUR WIDE coming out of the first turn, with the #D9 of Jimmy Pratt, the #87 of Ricky Huffman, the #29 of David Boyer, and the #88 of Dave Collins all battling for the lead. Pratt got out front and led the first 2 laps of the Thunder Truck Heat, but he got into turn #4 a little too hot, got the truck sideways, and had to get out of the gas to hold onto it. Huffman was right there to take advantage, and took over the lead position coming out of turn #4 to score lap #3, bringing the #8 of Collins along with him into 2nd. On the next lap, Collins got too high in turns #1 & #2, and Pratt was able to get under him and back into the 2nd spot. Once out front, Ricky Huffman stayed out front, and scored the Thunder Truck Heat race win for the #87 team. The #D9 of Jimmy Pratt held off the rest of the competition to score the 2nd place finished, followed by the #8 of Dave Collins in 3rd.

The #18 of Terry Pratt lined up in the 2nd spot to start the Pro Street Heat race, but he quickly got around the #27 of Greg Arnett and took over the lead. Behind the race leader, Arnett and the #4S of Justin Smith were running side-by-side for several laps, battling for 2nd, with the #81K of Mark Ross and the #12T of Tom Turnbull also racing side-by-side in a fight for the 4th position. With all the racing going on behind him, the #18 of Terry Pratt was able to open up a BIG lead by lap #4, and he scored another VERY convincing Heat race win. The #27 of Greg Arnett finished, literally by a nose, in 2nd place over the #4S of Justin Smith, who finished in 3rd.

The #10M of Chad Pratt lined up in 2nd to start Late Model Heat #1, but he got around the #41 of Tom Wirebaugh and moved into the lead on the 1st lap. Wirebaugh, the #59 of Morey Denney, and the #B12 of Roger Nelson traded the 2nd spot back and forth several times, allowing Pratt to open up a BIG lead by lap #4. Caution came out on the last lap, bunching the field up with 1 to go, but it didn't seem to faze Pratt at all. Chad Pratt got a GREAT jump on the restart, and took his #10M Late Model to victory lane with the Heat race win. Nelson seemed to be struggling early in the race, but his car got much better in the closing laps, and Roger Nelson finished in 2nd, followed by the #41 of Tom Wirebaugh in 3rd. The #30 of Rob Bauman lined up 3rd to start Late Model Heat #2, but he got a GREAT jump on the start, and before he even reached the start/finish line, he was in the lead! The #11 of Brad Denney and the #29J of Lindell Jewel also started in the back, and they were both moving up in a hurry also. To score lap #1, it was Bauman, Jewel, and Denney running 1 - 2 - 3. Bauman preferred the high line, Denney liked it low, and Jewel ran the middle, making for some pretty exciting THREE WIDE racing! Bauman got too high in turns #3 & #4 and had to get out of the gas, which allowed both Denney and Jewel to get under him and move up a position. No surprise here ………. once out front, Denney was able to open up a nice lead, and Brad Denney took home the Late Model Heat win for the #11 team. The #29J of Lindell Jewel finished the race in 2nd, followed by the #30 of Rob Bauman in 3rd.

The yellow flag was waving early in the Hobo Heat race, and attrition was VERY high. Caution came out for a car spinning in the very first turn, and we lost several cars from the field before we even scored a lap. Out front and out of trouble was the #68 of Lance Alcorn. Alcorn, who started on the pole, had a strong car again tonight, and he was able to keep it out front from green flag to checkered flag. The #42 of Tim Bishop had to work for his position. Bishop, who started the race back in the 7th spot, was up to 3rd by lap #2, and by lap #4, made his way around the #19 of Durland Pople and into the 2nd position. Lance Alcorn scored the Hobo Heat race win for the #68 team, followed by the #42 of Tim Bishop in 2nd. Pople got too high in the last corner, and the #06 of John Nash, Jr. was able to get under him and take home the 3rd place finish.

The #31 of Harry Fourdyce lined up in the 3rd spot to start the Thunder Truck Feature, but he got a GOOD jump on the start, a GREAT run down the backstretch, and by the time he was coming out of turn #4, Fourdyce was up front and in the lead! A couple of other trucks were moving up in a hurry also. The #8 of Dave Collins, who started in 5th, and the #87 of Ricky Huffman, who lined up way back in the 7th spot, quickly made their way through traffic, and both were up front and battling for the 3rd spot by the time they scored lap #2. On lap #3, Huffman drove his truck into turn #3 so hard, I didn't think there was any way he would get it to stick, but it DID, and he got around the #8 of Collins to take over the 3rd spot, and quickly set his sights on the 2nd place truck, the #88 of Dave Collins. Caution came out on lap #5 when Huffman and the #29 of David Boyer both got turned around coming out if turn #4, and it put the entire field back on Fourdyce's back bumper for the restart. Fourdyce got another GREAT jump on the restart, and was able to open up some breathing room between himself and the rest of the field. There was plenty of racing still going on behind the race leader. Huffman and Boyer were racing side-by-side in a tough battle for 2nd, with the #14 of George Collins and the #8 of Dave Collins right behind them. With all the racing going on behind him, Fourdyce was able to pull away again and open up a nice lead, and Harry Fourdyce drove his #31 Thunder Truck to victory lane to score the Feature win. The #87 of Ricky Huffman finished in 2nd place, followed by the #29 of David Boyer in 3rd, the #8 of Dave Collins in 4th, and the #D9 of Jimmy Pratt in 5th.

The #81K of Mark Ross lined up 2nd in the Pro Street Feature, but before they even reached the flagman, he was up front and in the lead. Ross led the first lap, but caution came out when Ross tried a "high speed U-turn", spinning in turn #4, and Ross had to restart from the back for the spin, handing the lead over to the #4S of Justin Smith. It seemed we were stuck on lap #1 for awhile, with Ross spinning again, then catching on fire, bringing out the yellow a couple more times. Ross had trouble early in the race, but despite the problems, he was able to keep his car out on the track - unfortunately, the #12T of Tom Turnbull was not so lucky. Something obviously went wrong with the #12T car, and Turnbull took his car to the pits under caution. Once they got things sorted out and went back to green flag racing, the #18 of Terry Pratt moved into the 2nd spot to score lap #2, with Ross right on his back bumper in the 3rd spot. The leaders seemed to be having a tough time in this race, because once again, the race leader spun all alone, bringing out yet another caution, this time sending Smith to the back for the restart. Ross and Pratt were side-by-side around the track on lap #3, racing each other for the lead, allowing the #27 of Greg Arnett to close in on their rear wheels. Pratt got out front on lap #4, leaving Arnett and Ross to fight it out for the 2nd spot, but by lap #6, Arnett moved ahead, leaving Ross behind to battle with Smith for 3rd. Arnett quickly closed the gap between himself and Pratt, and by lap #10, Arnett was putting pressure on the race leader. Caution was rampant and attrition was high, and by the time they reached the end of the race, there were only 4 cars left on the track! The #18 of Terry Pratt scored the Pro Street Feature win, with the #27 of Greg Arnett right on his back bumper in 2nd place. The #4S of Justin Smith finished in 3rd place, followed by the #81K of Mark Ross in 4th.

Attrition seemed to be running very high tonight, and the Hobo Feature was no exception. Nine cars lined up to start the Hobo Feature, but by lap #4, only five were left! The #06 of John Nash, Jr. started the race on the pole, with the #42 of Tim Bishop to his outside, and the two ran side-by-side for several laps, trying to sort out the lead. The #68 of Lance Alcorn, who started the race in 3rd, quickly went high, trying to get around both Nash and Bishop, but he didn't have enough to complete the pass. There was some great racing going on right behind the race leaders also. The #J18 of Dan Gebhardt, who started in 8th, and the #35 of Josh Smith who started in 9th, were just behind Alcorn, battling nose-to-nose for the 4th spot. Gebhardt was able to get around Smith on lap #4 to move into the 4th spot, and quickly set his sights on the race leaders. Alcorn kept trying the high side, and it eventually paid off. Alcorn was able to get around the top of Bishop coming out of turn #4, and moved up into 2nd at the start/finish line to score lap #5. Once clear of Bishop, Alcorn focused on the race leader, Nash, and by the time they scored lap #6, Alcorn and Nash were nose-to-nose at the flag stand, too close for me to even call! Alcorn and Nash ran several laps side-by-side all the way around the track, but Alcorn got a GREAT run out of turns #1 & #2 on lap #9, and he was finally able to secure the lead by lap #10. Once he got out front in clean air, Alcorn seemed impossible to catch, and Lance Alcorn scored another Hobo Feature win for the #68 race team. The #06 of John Nash, Jr. finished in 2nd place, followed by the #42 of Tim Bishop in 3rd. The #11 of Scott Denney had trouble early in the race and had to take his car to the pits, but he made it back out and raced his way towards the front for a strong 4th place finish, with the #35 of Josh Smith on his back bumper in 5th.