Saturday, May 24, 2002
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Saturday, May 24, 2002 |
We didn't get much rain last week, so it didn't take the track long to dry out and get slick! The night also got REALLY cool by feature time, forcing the drivers to make the difficult choice - run "A's", "H's", or run "D's"? The track was 'dry-slick' enough for the asphalt tires, but the cool temperatures, combined with lengthy cautions, could make it tough to keep enough heat in the asphalts to work well. Regardless of which tires you chose, there were several lanes around the track that were VERY fast, making for some exciting side-by-side action all night long!
The #28 of Phil Schnarr wasn't racing next to anybody in E-Mod Heat #1 - he was passing everybody! Schnarr started at the very back of the pack in the 8th spot, but he was up front and in the lead on the first lap! Phil Schnarr kept his #28 E-Mod out front all the way to the checkered flag to score the win, followed by the #27W of Greg Ward in 2nd, and the #52 of Don Entrekin in 3rd. The #96 of Kirk Anderson started 3rd in E-Mod heat #2, but he was up front and in the lead on the first lap, and he stayed out front all the way to the finish to score the win. The #4 of John Winters finished in 2nd, followed by the #M3 of Chuck McDonald in 3rd.The #88 of Dave Collins started on the pole in the Thunder Truck finish, but took a VERY WILD ride off the high side of turn #2, and a hard hit into the backstretch mine tires. No laps were scored, so he restarted once again on the pole. Despite the hard hit he took on the start, Dave Collins kept the #88 out front from flag to flag to score the heat race win. The #8 of Dave Collins finished in 2nd, followed by the #31 of Harry Fourdyce in 3rd. It certainly wasn't an easy race for the trucks, though. Two trucks, including the race winner, lost a complete wheel (and maybe even part of the rear axle) on the backstretch after they took the checkered flag!
The #57 of Brandon Kessinger started 2nd in Modified Heat #1, but quickly moved into the lead, and stayed out front all the way to the end. The #20 of Ed Barth finished in 2nd, followed by the #88 of Steve David in 3rd. There was a little confusion lining up the 2nd Modified heat, but once they finally got them lined up and ready to go, the race was ALL Andersons! The #31 of Mark Anderson jumped from a 3rd place start to the lead by lap #2, bringing his brother, the #96 of Kirk Anderson along with him into 2nd. It was the Anderson trio out front at the end, with the #31 of Mark Anderson bringing home the win, followed by the #96 of Kirk Anderson in 2nd, and the #34 of Bill Anderson in 3rd. The #M1 of Dale Munson and the #28 of "Jammin" Jimmy Hibser came from 3rd and 5th place starting spots into a battle for the lead on the first lap. Dale Munson kept his #M1 Modified out front to score the heat win, followed by the #28 of Jim Hibser in 2nd, and the #28 of Phil Schnarr in 3rd.The #81K of Mark Ross jumped out front on the first lap of the Pro Street Heat race, and he stayed out front all the way to the checkered flag. The #4S of Justin Smith finished in 2nd, followed by the #18 of Terry Pratt in 3rd.
Attrition was high in Late Model heat #1, several cars having mechanic problems and pulling to the pits. The #5F of Stan Fanning wasn't one of those cars. Stan Fanning got out front and in the lead on the 1st lap, and he stayed out front all the way to take his #5F Late Model to victory lane. The #59 of Dave Slayton finished in 2nd, followed by the #25K of Bill Kettering in 3rd. Brad Denney might have started last in Late Model Heat #2, but he and the #29J of Lindell Jewell were up front and battling for the lead on the 1st lap. Brad Denney took the lead, and kept the #11 out front, once again, to win the race. The #29J of Lindell Jewell finished in 2nd, followed by the #4 of Rob Colson in 3rd.Lots of cars were moving through traffic in a hurry tonight, and the Hobo class was no exception. The #23B of Clint Rich raced his way out front in Hobo Heat #1 on the 1st lap, and he stayed out front all the way to the checkered flag. The #11 of Scott Denney finished in 2nd, followed by the #35 of Josh Smith in 3rd. The #19 of Durland Pople was out front from flag to flag in Hobo Heat #2, scoring a victory for himself. The #68 of Lance Alcorn, who has been really strong so far this year, started back in the 7th spot. Alcorn took the outside lane around nearly the entire field on the 1st lap, and finished in 2nd, and the #42 of Tim Bishop finished in 3rd.
By the time the E-Mods took the track for their Feature event, the track had dried out considerably. It was VERY slick and VERY dusty early in the race, but it was also VERY fast! The #28 of Phil Schnarr lined up in the 8th spot for the start of the race, but he didn't stay there for long. By a lap #2 restart, Schnarr was up to 2nd, and challenging the #M3 of Chuck McDonald and the #96 of Kirk Anderson for the lead. Schnarr went high, Anderson went low, and McDonald took the middle, and they were racing three wide coming to the start finish line to score lap #4. The #4 of John Winters had a good car tonight, too. Winters had to restart lap #3 from the back of the pack, but by lap #6 he was back up into a battle for 5th place with the #85E of Oscar Everett. A couple of other cars coming from deep in the field were the #M17 of Brent Munson and the #7W of Mark Branch. Branch, who started 7th, and Munson, who started 12th, worked their way through the field and into the top six by lap #10. Anderson kept the pressure on Schnarr all the way through, but Schnarr was the car to beat tonight. The #28 of Phil Schnarr brought home the E-Mod Feature win, followed by the #96 of Kirk Anderson in 2nd, the #4 of John Winters in 3rd, the #M3 of Chuck McDonald in 4th, and the #M17 of Brent Munson in 5th.The #8 of Dave Collins started last in the Thunder truck Feature event, but by lap #3 he made his way around the #26 of Ryan Wilson to take the lead. Once out front, Collins pretty much "checked out" on the rest of the field. By lap #7 he had an entire straightaway lead, and by lap #9 he was nearly a half lap ahead of the rest of the field. There was some good racing for the 2nd spot between the #26 of Ryan Wilson and the #29 of David Boyer. Wilson got a little loose coming out of the turn and had to get out of the gas, giving Boyer the opportunity he had been looking for. The #8 of Dave Collins scored a VERY convincing Feature win, followed by the #29 of David Boyer in 2nd, the #26 of Ryan Wilson in 3rd, and the #31 of Harry Fourdyce in 4th.
The Modified Feature wasn't nearly as caution-free as the Thunder Truck Feature. There was A LOT of GREAT side-by-side, FOUR wide racing going on, but we seemed to be stuck on lap #2 over forever. We started the race with 23 cars, but we didn't finish it with that many! By lap #16 we were down to sixteen cars, and we even lost a few more after that! The #31 of Mark Anderson started on the pole, and he stayed out front through restart after restart. The #42 of Matt Smith started back around the 7th spot, but by lap #4, he was battling the #M1 of Dale Munson for the 2nd position. The #57 of Brandon Kessinger got off the high side of the backstretch on lap #4 and took a HARD, HARD hit as he came rolling back down onto the track. The #28 of "Jammin'" Jimmy Hibser, who was battling Kessinger for the 4th spot, had to restart from the back of the pack, but Hibser didn't stay in the back for long. Hibser picked the cars off one by one, and sometimes two by two, and by lap #6 he was back up to 11th, and by lap #18, he was in the 3rd position. Mark Anderson ran out front until lap #18, when he fell well off pace and handed the lead over to Matt Smith. The #17 of Rick Scott was ALL OVER the back bumper of Smith lap after lap, but Smith ran good, clean, consistent laps, and Scott couldn't get around him. The #42 of Matt Smith stayed out front until the checkered flag came out and scored a strong Modified Feature win. The #17 of Rick Scott finished in 2nd, followed by the #28 of Jim Hibser in 3rd, the #34 of Bill Anderson in 4th, and the #28 of Phil Schnarr in 5th.Due to the lack of cars in the Pro Street division, they decided to run the Pro Street & Late Model classes together for tonight's feature. Although they all raced at the same time, each class was competing alone for points and positions. I liked the call to run the two classes together, and it made for some very exciting racing. The Pro Street cars did a VERY nice job running side by side with some of the Late Models, but it did get somewhat confusing about half way through the race, trying to keep track of who was it what position, and in what class!! While it was a surprise to most of us that they ran the two races together, it was NO surprise to nearly everyone there that on lap #1, the #11 of Brad Denney, who started back in 6th, was once again out front and leading the race. Another car moving up in a hurry was the #29J of Lindell Jewell. Jewell, who started in 4th, was up in a 2nd place battle with the #4 of Rob Colson by lap #2. The Late Models are supposed to be quite a bit faster than the Pro Streets, but somebody forgot to tell the Pro Street drivers! The Pro Street cars started in the very back of the field, but by lap #5, the #18 of Terry Pratt around several cars and running in the 4th spot, with the #81K of Mark Ross and the #4S of Justin Smith also holding their own in 8th and 9th. By lap #9, Denney was once again dealing with lap traffic, but as usual, it didn't slow him down at all. With both classes out on the track at the same time, and several lap cars thrown into the mix, it was nearly impossible to keep track of position until the end. The #11 of Brad Denney was once again WAY out front of the rest of the field and scored the Late Model Feature win. The #29J of Lindell Jewell finished 2nd in the Late Model division, followed by the #4 of Rob Colson in 3rd, the #59 of Morey Denney in 4th, and the #41 Of Tom Wirebaugh in 5th. The #18 of Terry Pratt and the #81K of Mark Ross were actually crossed the finish line in the 3rd spot, but they were literally NOSE TO NOSE at the start/finish line, fighting for the Pro Street Feature win. It was so close; I couldn't even make the call from where I was sitting! The #18 of Terry Pratt did score the Pro Street Feature win, followed by the #81K of Mark Ross in 2nd, and the #4S of Justin Smith in 3rd.
The Hobo Feature was the last race on tonight's venue. By this time, the track was so black it nearly looked like asphalt, but it didn't seem to bother the Hobo drivers very much! The #23B of Clint Rich jumped out front early in his heat race, and he did exactly the same thing in the feature. Rich, who started in 2nd, took over the lead on lap #1, and stayed out front all the way to the checkered flag. There was a lot of close racing going on behind the race leader. The #19 of Durland Pople, the #8 of Eric Wisher, and the #42 of Tim Bishop were battling back and forth for the 2nd spot, with the #11 of Scott Denney and the #35 of Josh Smith right behind them in a fight for 5th. The #68 of Lance Alcorn, who has been very strong all year, went to the pits under a lap #5 caution, ending his chances for another good finish tonight. With all the racing going on behind him, Rich opened up a BIG lead, and finished the Hobo Feature all alone in the number one position, followed by the #8 of Eric Wisher with a strong 2nd place finish. Bishop and Pople were racing each other VERY HARD for the 3rd spot on the white flag lap, with Denney right behind them waiting for the chance to make his move. Durland Pople was able to race his #19 Hobo to a very close 3rd place finish, followed by the #11 of Scott Denney in 4th, and the #42 of Tim Bishop took home 5th.
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