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A damned fine show.
"Big Dad" Steve Pontious and I made a last minute decision to head up to Citrus and I was sure glad we did. We got there a little late but didn't miss any actual racing. Saw some old friends walking thru the pits and a few more up in the stands.
Hooked up with OSF for a bit during the preliminary features. Always good to see that he's not been locked away yet. Met a former racer friend of his that was sitting with him. Nice guy...was good to meet ya, John. Then we headed over and sat with old Uncle Don and his family for the Powell race and DANG!...what a show those boys put on!
Side Note:
Those wussies who say they don't like double file restarts can bite me.
This stellar field of heavy-hitters absolutely thrived on them.
My take:
Daniel Webster.
Very impressed by this guy. Passed Wayne on the outside then restarted twice from the topside and made it work. He changed his strategy the next time and took the bottom and it bit him. Wayne was able to keep him pinched down, killing his run off of 2 enough to take the lead back. Even so, he should be pretty proud of himself and the run he had.
Herb Neumann Jr.
Always tough here at Citrus. Not so much elsewhere that I recall but here I always see him run well. Very smooth.
Mike Bresnahan
Was gettin' the job done. After he got around Dutilly he was setting his sights on Anderson. Problem was, he never got around Dutilly. Jesse's rocket sled looked like it was on a rail for the first 20-25 laps. Then his corner speed went way down and it caused him to get a little squirrely trying to keep up off the corners and down the straightaways. And that's how he got into Bresnahan causing him to loop it and knock the front end out. Until then he was on course to catching Anderson. I think he coulda taken him.
Scot Grossenbacher
Best run I've ever seen for this team. Granted I heven't seen a whole lot of his races but he stayed out of trouble and was there at the end and running strong.
Jesse Dutilly
His car settled back down (or he did) about lap 50 and he ran a good, consistent race never more than a few car lengths back of Anderson. His car owner is Bruce Carbone a veteran driver himself. Dutilly is a front runner in any class he competes in and has always been a class act.
Billy Bigley
Ran around the top 7-8 all night and was able to avoid some of the incidents that caused some of the other front runners out or to the pits for repairs. A good solid run for Billy. Given my usual stance on underaged kids driving pro class race cars, I was impressed with his son Dylan's drive in the second Bigley entry. He was able to stay out of trouble and on the lead lap all night and looked very smooth in doing so. In fact the only contact he made with another car that I saw was when the guy behind him jacked him up in the middle of 1 and 2. He handled it like a pro, driving off the corner like it never happened and left the other car three lengths back. Still stand by my position on this but can't deny he had a good run. Congrats, Dylan.
Jake Perkins
Another of the kiddie corps who had an exceptional run this night. He was fast at the start and was passing cars heading to the front. I didn't see what happened that caused him to head to the pits so I don't know if he made contact with someone or had mechanical problems. But when he was on the track he was smooth and clean.
Winchell, Shelnut, Scofield and Pletcher
Of the three I think Winchell had the hot rod. Scofield was in and out of the pits but was able to stay on the lead lap (I'm guessing) and mustered up a 6th place finish. Pletcher wasn't as fast as the front runners but until he broke he ran in the top 12-13 and on the lead lap. Winchell was going forward but I think he caught some contact during the Bresnahan spin which caused a significant pileup. I also missed what happened to Shelnut as I think I had he and Scott Walters (both in Tommy Sytsma's cars, I think) mixed up all night.
Of course, Wayne Anderson
Geez....what is there to say. It's Wayne Freakin' Anderson. If he doesn't win it's because Dickie had him cloned when he was a baby and he won the damn race. Like him, hate him.....doesn't matter. He's Wayne Anderson and he's just...that...effing...good.
End of story.
All in all, the track was extremely racy and there was plenty of side by side racing for positions throughout the entire field. The double file restarts were a huge success and if they were going to be a problem then this is the track that would do it. The drivers seemed to race hard but with respect for one another. Would really like to go back sometime with something to race. I had some chicken strips and fries which were very edible by track food standards.
Enjoyed talking about the old Desoto/Lakeland/Orlando days with Professor Nerone and Scott Findlay. Bob(OSF) and John, we'll see ya'll at a race real soon. Tony C....Bob told me you were there and I wanted to get over and say "Hey" but I ran out of time. I'm sure I'll see you soon, dude.
Well, that's it.
It was a damned fine show and I'm glad we made the drive.
Kudos to Citrus County, FUPS and all the teams that made it for the Powell race.
"Big Dad" Steve Pontious and I made a last minute decision to head up to Citrus and I was sure glad we did. We got there a little late but didn't miss any actual racing. Saw some old friends walking thru the pits and a few more up in the stands.
Hooked up with OSF for a bit during the preliminary features. Always good to see that he's not been locked away yet. Met a former racer friend of his that was sitting with him. Nice guy...was good to meet ya, John. Then we headed over and sat with old Uncle Don and his family for the Powell race and DANG!...what a show those boys put on!
Side Note:
Those wussies who say they don't like double file restarts can bite me.
This stellar field of heavy-hitters absolutely thrived on them.
My take:
Daniel Webster.
Very impressed by this guy. Passed Wayne on the outside then restarted twice from the topside and made it work. He changed his strategy the next time and took the bottom and it bit him. Wayne was able to keep him pinched down, killing his run off of 2 enough to take the lead back. Even so, he should be pretty proud of himself and the run he had.
Herb Neumann Jr.
Always tough here at Citrus. Not so much elsewhere that I recall but here I always see him run well. Very smooth.
Mike Bresnahan
Was gettin' the job done. After he got around Dutilly he was setting his sights on Anderson. Problem was, he never got around Dutilly. Jesse's rocket sled looked like it was on a rail for the first 20-25 laps. Then his corner speed went way down and it caused him to get a little squirrely trying to keep up off the corners and down the straightaways. And that's how he got into Bresnahan causing him to loop it and knock the front end out. Until then he was on course to catching Anderson. I think he coulda taken him.
Scot Grossenbacher
Best run I've ever seen for this team. Granted I heven't seen a whole lot of his races but he stayed out of trouble and was there at the end and running strong.
Jesse Dutilly
His car settled back down (or he did) about lap 50 and he ran a good, consistent race never more than a few car lengths back of Anderson. His car owner is Bruce Carbone a veteran driver himself. Dutilly is a front runner in any class he competes in and has always been a class act.
Billy Bigley
Ran around the top 7-8 all night and was able to avoid some of the incidents that caused some of the other front runners out or to the pits for repairs. A good solid run for Billy. Given my usual stance on underaged kids driving pro class race cars, I was impressed with his son Dylan's drive in the second Bigley entry. He was able to stay out of trouble and on the lead lap all night and looked very smooth in doing so. In fact the only contact he made with another car that I saw was when the guy behind him jacked him up in the middle of 1 and 2. He handled it like a pro, driving off the corner like it never happened and left the other car three lengths back. Still stand by my position on this but can't deny he had a good run. Congrats, Dylan.
Jake Perkins
Another of the kiddie corps who had an exceptional run this night. He was fast at the start and was passing cars heading to the front. I didn't see what happened that caused him to head to the pits so I don't know if he made contact with someone or had mechanical problems. But when he was on the track he was smooth and clean.
Winchell, Shelnut, Scofield and Pletcher
Of the three I think Winchell had the hot rod. Scofield was in and out of the pits but was able to stay on the lead lap (I'm guessing) and mustered up a 6th place finish. Pletcher wasn't as fast as the front runners but until he broke he ran in the top 12-13 and on the lead lap. Winchell was going forward but I think he caught some contact during the Bresnahan spin which caused a significant pileup. I also missed what happened to Shelnut as I think I had he and Scott Walters (both in Tommy Sytsma's cars, I think) mixed up all night.
Of course, Wayne Anderson
Geez....what is there to say. It's Wayne Freakin' Anderson. If he doesn't win it's because Dickie had him cloned when he was a baby and he won the damn race. Like him, hate him.....doesn't matter. He's Wayne Anderson and he's just...that...effing...good.
End of story.
All in all, the track was extremely racy and there was plenty of side by side racing for positions throughout the entire field. The double file restarts were a huge success and if they were going to be a problem then this is the track that would do it. The drivers seemed to race hard but with respect for one another. Would really like to go back sometime with something to race. I had some chicken strips and fries which were very edible by track food standards.
Enjoyed talking about the old Desoto/Lakeland/Orlando days with Professor Nerone and Scott Findlay. Bob(OSF) and John, we'll see ya'll at a race real soon. Tony C....Bob told me you were there and I wanted to get over and say "Hey" but I ran out of time. I'm sure I'll see you soon, dude.
Well, that's it.
It was a damned fine show and I'm glad we made the drive.
Kudos to Citrus County, FUPS and all the teams that made it for the Powell race.
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