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As I stated in the other thread I had some issues come up after the July 4th holiday. My dog became seriously ill and i spent most of last week in and out of the vet with her. She is doing better but she has developed a pretty serious liver disease and we may end up losing her. Now that things have calmed down and my head is clear I finally had time to jot down a quick recap of the race. I apologize for being so behind and I'll try my best not to let it happen again. I hope everyone had a great 4th and I look forward to getting back to racing on July 23rd!
The weather was out of control for a special Thursday edition of Whelen All American Series action at New Smyrna for the Clyde Hart Memorial Bright House Challenge Super Late Model 100! The rain held off for practice, but just before qualifying a large, slow moving storm crept over the speedway delaying the evenings races for a few hours. Once the rain stopped falling several cars and trucks from the pit area helped dry the race track (in pretty entertaining fashion too). Due to time, qualifying for the Super Late Models was canceled and the sportsman feature was hurried onto the track.
Unfortunately in practice we lost defending winner Kody Jett, to apparent engine issues and point leader Richard Goodrich also had issues and was unable to start. Goodrich told me he had an oil leak after the last race and he worked feverishly to fix it during the week, so it was tough seeing him load up and head home before the feature. Once the race began, Andy Nichols led early before relinquishing the lead to Earl Beckner. Becker has had nothing but bad luck this season but it looked like he had his new car dialed in, as he was on rails the entire race! He eventually built up close to a straight away lead before Timmy Todd Jr. Spun in turn 1 to bring out the events only caution flag. On the restart Becker jumped back out to the lead but as the laps wound down he had to deal with Shyanne Mathers. Mathers gave Beckner a run for his money but was unable to get around Beckner's 71 machine. It might have been a different story however, if there had been 5 more laps! None the less Beckner was finally able to get the monkey off his back and capture his first checkered flag of the season. Beckner also collected the $300 bonus from American Auto for winning his first race of the season. Mathers came home second and Patrick Thomas wound up in third place.
American Auto Sportsman Top 5:
1 71. Earl Beckner
2 22. Shyanne Mathers
3 111. Patrick Thomas
4 66. Andy Nicholls
5 25. Timmy Todd Jr.
Quickly after the Sportsman cars took the checkered flag, the Super Late Models were on the track for warm up laps. Since Qualifying was scrapped David Green, making his first start of the season was on pole. Once the green flag flew on the Clyde Hart Memorial 100, Jeff Scofield, fresh off his victory on Saturday night, charged to the lead from the outside of row 1 and opened up a nice lead. The action was hot and heavy in the middle of the field as drivers battled for position. There were a few tense moments but everyone kept their cars pointed in the right direction. On lap 10 Anthony Sergi suffered a flat tire and came to rest in turn 2 to bring out the caution flag. Unfortunately under this yellow mother nature decided she didn't want to see any more racing and the skies opened up again. Due to the amount of rain, how long it would take to redry the track and given it was already late, it was decided that we would have to postpone the race to a later date. It was a tough decision but we will try again on August 27th!
Super Late Model Top 5:
1 Mother Nature
2 Mother Nature
3 Mother Nature
4 Mother Nature
5 Mother Nature
A big thanks to everyone who came out and stuck around in the rain, save you ticket stubs so you can come back and enjoy the race at the end of August. New Smyrna Speedway stock car racing will resume after a couple of weeks off on July 23rd with Pro Late Models, Sportsman, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks and Bombers in action. We hope you all enjoy the break and we will see you all very soon!
The weather was out of control for a special Thursday edition of Whelen All American Series action at New Smyrna for the Clyde Hart Memorial Bright House Challenge Super Late Model 100! The rain held off for practice, but just before qualifying a large, slow moving storm crept over the speedway delaying the evenings races for a few hours. Once the rain stopped falling several cars and trucks from the pit area helped dry the race track (in pretty entertaining fashion too). Due to time, qualifying for the Super Late Models was canceled and the sportsman feature was hurried onto the track.
Unfortunately in practice we lost defending winner Kody Jett, to apparent engine issues and point leader Richard Goodrich also had issues and was unable to start. Goodrich told me he had an oil leak after the last race and he worked feverishly to fix it during the week, so it was tough seeing him load up and head home before the feature. Once the race began, Andy Nichols led early before relinquishing the lead to Earl Beckner. Becker has had nothing but bad luck this season but it looked like he had his new car dialed in, as he was on rails the entire race! He eventually built up close to a straight away lead before Timmy Todd Jr. Spun in turn 1 to bring out the events only caution flag. On the restart Becker jumped back out to the lead but as the laps wound down he had to deal with Shyanne Mathers. Mathers gave Beckner a run for his money but was unable to get around Beckner's 71 machine. It might have been a different story however, if there had been 5 more laps! None the less Beckner was finally able to get the monkey off his back and capture his first checkered flag of the season. Beckner also collected the $300 bonus from American Auto for winning his first race of the season. Mathers came home second and Patrick Thomas wound up in third place.
American Auto Sportsman Top 5:
1 71. Earl Beckner
2 22. Shyanne Mathers
3 111. Patrick Thomas
4 66. Andy Nicholls
5 25. Timmy Todd Jr.
Quickly after the Sportsman cars took the checkered flag, the Super Late Models were on the track for warm up laps. Since Qualifying was scrapped David Green, making his first start of the season was on pole. Once the green flag flew on the Clyde Hart Memorial 100, Jeff Scofield, fresh off his victory on Saturday night, charged to the lead from the outside of row 1 and opened up a nice lead. The action was hot and heavy in the middle of the field as drivers battled for position. There were a few tense moments but everyone kept their cars pointed in the right direction. On lap 10 Anthony Sergi suffered a flat tire and came to rest in turn 2 to bring out the caution flag. Unfortunately under this yellow mother nature decided she didn't want to see any more racing and the skies opened up again. Due to the amount of rain, how long it would take to redry the track and given it was already late, it was decided that we would have to postpone the race to a later date. It was a tough decision but we will try again on August 27th!
Super Late Model Top 5:
1 Mother Nature
2 Mother Nature
3 Mother Nature
4 Mother Nature
5 Mother Nature
A big thanks to everyone who came out and stuck around in the rain, save you ticket stubs so you can come back and enjoy the race at the end of August. New Smyrna Speedway stock car racing will resume after a couple of weeks off on July 23rd with Pro Late Models, Sportsman, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks and Bombers in action. We hope you all enjoy the break and we will see you all very soon!