Great call by Citrus Management

[Frasson118]

The 75 lap Mini-stock race started out as a disaster. Only 1/2 a lap completed before the carnage began. After the pre-planned stop at lap 35, the fans were entirely sick of the terrible race we were forced to sit through... and another 40 laps of it to come.

They did throw the green flag to start the 2nd half, but a caution was again out in just a few laps.

Here's the part they did the smart thing... they pulled the entire field into the pits, I guess to tell the guys to "chill out". After the other features, they were allowed to give it another try, time permiting. And guess what? everyone chilled out, and the 2nd half turned into a pretty good race.

I believe the thinking was, is that it wasn't fair to the fans or other racers that they could possibly not even get to run (curfew), because this one class could NOT get their act together.

As it turned out, the other classes DID manage to run their races, with much more respect than it looked like the Mini's were capable of. Everyone got their full race in, and the fans got to see a pretty good 2nd half of the Mini feature.

More places should do this when 1 division is stinking up the entire show.

And by the way, congrats to Aaron Williamson who started very deep in the Sportsman feature and pulled out a last corner - last lap win. And also to Herb Neuman, who started 11th in the LM feature. In fact, the top 3 (Neuman, W. Anderson and Scott Grossenbacher) started 10th, 11th & 12th.

No wonder this place pulls in the cars & fans... it was a VERY well spent $13 for me. The management seems to try hard to please both fans and competitors.

All in all, one of the best shows I've seen in 2010.

[Frasson118]

And P.S. - Boneman... where the heck were you? You were the influence of where we were going to watch races on Saturday night, and you didn't make it there?

Anyways, if it wasn't for you intending to be there, we probably wouldn't have come. So Thanks anyhow... we saw a great show!

[Winger]

I can't believe you didn't stop by and say hello, Jerry. I sure could have used a beer after that race. LOL
I was curious how the fans would react to pulling those guys off the track. I've never seen a call by a track to do something like this before. You must remember the first extra distance race for the minis was shortened because of time constraints. There was an uproar over that. That may have been in the minds of the people making this call. If they had followed normal procedure, the race would have been over because of the time limit. The call turned out to be a good one this time. It really hard to be in the pits or infield and get a feel for what the normal race fan thinks. Your comments are appreciated by me, who has absolutely no say in anything. LOL

[Boneman]

Frass, I made the wrong call! I worked on my car all morning in the rain and it had me spooked. At decision time in the early afternoon, the weather forecast had a 50% chance of storms in Inverness, and 30% in Daytona, so I ended up at New Smyrna. I was willing to gamble on a 80 mile round trip, but didn't think it was right to gamble on a 240 mile trip in the rain. In hindsight, it was the wrong choice.

We had a fun night at NSS, but my race was very uneventful. I am in racing for adventure, so the 75 lapper would have been cool. I ran that event last year, and although there were more than a few yellows, it wasn't crazy like this one sounded.

I give Citrus County Speedway credit for two things. One, they made clear to me on the phone that they will do anything to get the race in. That is certainly reassuring, especially compared to the rain-out attitude that I encounter too frequently. Also, CCS was considerate and very practical to allow all three tire brands in the race.

Congrats to the track for pulling in 24 minis! I was in my second FASCAR race in a row with only 3 entries. I don't understand it, minis give you a lot of bang for the buck. The racing is really good, the weekly expenses are low, cars, we don't tear up much on the FASCAR tracks, but right now the class is really weak over here.

[Boneman]

Follow up: the NSS Bright House Challenge SLM 50 was an outstanding race. It ended up with something I'd never seen before: race winner David Rogers talkin' some smack in victory lane!

[Bigbuck]

Boney, congrats. on your top 5 atNew Smyrna!!!

[the truth]

boneman you probably made a good decision this time by going to nss , probably would have brought it home in pieces if you came over here to citrus for this demo derby .

[Dana Barlow]

They did the right thing!
The way I did it long ago is still a good way;Actully,back when I made class rules for Minis in south Fl. and then later for Pro4/Outlaw Mod's,My rule was any race that would need a planned stop would be Twin Mains with other class or class's inbetween, insted of just a stop,better show and time between to not only cool off both car and driver but make cars safer=better show.
I would flip a coin at the brake to fig invert or restrat as came off,pay off would be for each race and over top 5* for the nite,making the nites champnship winner from over all points*.
There another old rule of mine that is still good, well for the most part;
Races don't run any more laps longer then a max of 2x the car car count.

[flvideo]

I agree with that Dana 3 cars 6 laps. I remember a late Model race at Desoto several years ago where there was 9 cars and they ran 100 laps.
I put that among watching paint dry. I think 2 of them went out after 10 laps or so. BORRREING! Bob..

[ancrdave]

Actually, Boneman start and parked in the Mini Stock feature to save gas and tires... still finished third and got 50 bucks to boot!

[Boneman]

Sigh... I shouldn't debate a minor point, but here goes.

Dave, I ran my stuff as hard as I could, finished 1 second behind the winner and got $80. The track cut the laps, but didn't cut the purse.

[ancrdave]

You know I'm just funnin' with ya....

[Boneman]

Gotcha Dave. The problem with running as "fast" as I do, is that sometimes I have to explain the difference between running flat out and a start and park!

[Frasson118]

"I can't believe you didn't stop by and say hello, Jerry. I sure could have used a beer after that race."

Bob... I don't know HOW to find you afterwards at Citrus.

And, boy, that beer tasted goooooooood too!