Completely Unofficial New Smyrna 6/27 Recap

[OldSchool+]

Joe Jacalone Racing:

Once again Joe returned to the high banks of New Smyrna after trouble shooting various minor issues with the car since his last outing. The car ran well for the third race on his 750 tires. A rare miscue possibly involving the configuration of the pedal layout within the car caused a spin for the typically smooth driving Jacalone, but happily no contact with anything. Out of a starting field of 11, Joe brought the car home in seventh place.

Racing in General:

A smooth night of racing from the drivers and a smoothly run show from New Smyrna.

The Story(s):

Jerry Symons-- Blew up his seriously quick modified in practice before the event, but trailered the car home and the crew changed the motor and made it back in time for the feature! The replacement motor sounded strong and Jerry finished third in the event.

Patrick Thomas-- Evaded capture--again--and the Hart bounty money went unpaid, as he diced his way through the field for the win, demonstrating his typical cautious but aggressive style. Patrick is a humble man, but at this point, I am thinking he has earned himself a nickname--"The Bandit"!!

Conclusion:

A great night at the track, finished off with a cold beer at the end of the evening with Joe and his crew chief "Kenny". Life is good, racefans!

[jacko241]

46 cars in the pits, fair crowd, some good racing, and good job by the officials running the show. I think it was over by 10, but we were having such a good time bench racing we didn't leave till after 11!

Thanks for the help, OS. You made a great night even better!

[Ryan29]

I made my way to the track last night since I was excited to see the sportsman cars since they actually have cars show up to race. 17 showed up so it was a decent turn out. The race it self was kind of a bummer though. The first 10 laps were good and then there was a 2 car wreck in turn 2. during the caution I think we lost 5 or 6 cars including the leader (car 34) at the time. The rest of the race finished with 9 or 10 cars on the track and ended when teamates tangled off turn 4 coming to the white leading to a confusing finish. Congrats to Patrick Thomas he has them covered! Honestly the heat races were more exciting than the feature.

The Mods had a decent turn out but the race was pretty much a parade. At least the had a first time winner.

The Pro Late Models had 9 cars but the race was boring and the field was pretty much strung out and no one could touch the 5X car.

The Bombers have so much promise to be a great racing class if they could get more of them to show up. They had a decent caution free race with some really good side by side battles. I remember one week they had some 15 cars show up for this division, but last night there was only 8, what gives? For a cheap, show up and race division you would thing there would be more racers that would show up to have some fun.

If the cars counts would improve and become more stable, NSS would be the place to be on Saturday. They run a great show and the facility is very nice! I hope there is a good turn out for Fridays big show next week!

*****

Whats up with the Dahm racing team? I believe they race in the Sportsman, Super Stock and Mod class and I love that they support so many classes. But, they don't come out for their heat races, they come out for the feature at the last second and they are so terribly slow in every single class. Whats their story? I'm not bashing, I'm just a bit curious.

[Racer6x]

I think the dahm team just likes to be out there. They remind me of the perry team and the old 81 team(brown car) and the old 7lb 6oz late model.

[jacko241]

My hats off to them, they support NSS like crazy.

[Benny The Mule]

good run for you Jacko. and as far as the (slow) cars. I have known many families and teams that fielded cars which were less than top performers. But, they brought machines and people to the track every week and that can be a good thing.

[jacko241]

Thanks Benny. If it wern't for us turtles out there, who would the fast guys pass?

[OldSchool+]

It ain't football.

There is only one winner.

But without a "field" of cars, there is no racing, and therefore no winners.

Thanks to NSS for being more than cordial.

[Ryan29]

That makes perfect sense! I'm glad the Dahms bring their cars to the track every week. If i had a car and could afford it I would be out there too no matter how fast I was.

[Boneman]

Ok, I'll be the bad guy.

The #21 team needs to get it together. All of the cars are flat black and have a very plain appearance. Only the #21 super stock actually runs on 8 cylinders, and that is also the only one that usually tries to race. Both modifieds are start and parkers that look terrible, sound terrible, run slow and add nothing to the show. The sportsman car is just as bad. If the track is selling tickets to customers who want to see racecars in action, how can NSS allows this team to put on such a poor showing for the customers year after year?

Yes, they are good people, Mike CAN drive, and does ok in Super Stock...sometimes. A few years ago, Maureen won a few features in strictly stock, and the championship too.

The fact is that most of the team are uncompetitive start and park cars. Remember, NSS has told other teams to get step up and improve their appearance, and I don't understand why it has not happened yet.

[OldSchool+]

Bad Guy,

Seems like there have always been cars like that at every track, every week.

Certainly not your fine ride, but I see sprint cars from time to time that appear to be decades old and run like it, too. I always wonder what the story is, but never question them being there.

Seems like if the cars meet safety tech and their pit gate money is not counterfit, they should be on the track. Now, if the flagman deems their speed not to be up to "safe" standards, he can take action.

Also seems like Florida tracks should not be turning away cars, but either way it is their deal, not mine.

[Boneman]

Several years ago, TBARA had a real problem with too many start and parkers. Those guys may have looked good on paper, but the track owners protested, so the cars had to improve or stay home. It took years to regain the confidence of the track owners. I was involved in many of those discussions, and believe me, they held very strong opinions about uncompetitive cars.

Bottom line: start and parkers add nothing to the show, IMHO. I'll go a little further; I am sure they actually tick off some of the fans who expect better entertainment for their money.

[OldSchool+]

huh.

For the record, I think of typical low dollar cars more as start-and-crap-out-ers rather than start and parkers. "Start & Park" suggests they are there for the purse money (as per nascar practice).

I would suggest that the tracks could come up with a percentage of the "fast guys" speed that would have to be maintained and that would take care of most of it.

Additionally, do you think that paying a little more for the back of the field may help?

Finally, there have always been optimistic types in the pits that work in junkyards and etc. These are the guys that spell the "N" backwards on the side of the car and so forth. I have always thought a) Man, they really don't know what they are up against, & b) more power to 'em.

[OldSchool+]

ps--A show with only a few cars is also not popular in the stands, nor is one with 1-3 cars that "check out".

[scottgarrity07]

I'm with Rex on this. Yes they can start and park and make money. Not much but it pays for their night out. Crap looking cars hurt the image of the track. Not running the heat helps the bottom line while showing no attempt at all to be competitive. Not to mention the safety hazard their slow cars present on that fast track. Take the money for all those junks and put it in 1 or 2 competitive cars. I'm all for minimum speed and appearance standards at all tracks. I commend them for being dedicated and nice guys but they add nothing and actually hurt the show.