Putnam Raceway - My return to the tracks !!!

[Denman]

After many long months not attending races due to the virus I finally decided to see some real live action. Putnam Raceway was my choice for the Top Gun Sprints. As luck would have it the Saturday night portion of River Run was rained out so I did not get to see the Top Gun Sprints. Weekend was not a complete loss as the Friday portion which included Late Models plus other divisions. Small car count in Late Models but what a race among the 9 cars which were there. Took less than a lap to forget the car count and witness some fine dirt racing. Mark Whitener took the win and had a decent battle with #02 Nevin Gainey at the start of the feature, Then Gainey went low, and spun relegating him to the back where he did a great job of getting back to the front for a third place finish. #46 Doug Horton was 2nd. Good show. Perhaps the best race of the night with plenty of side by side action for the lead came in the 8 car field of Street Stocks. David Showers, Jr #118 finally took the win after a race long battle with #04 Bubba Christian who took second. #74 Jason Garver was third. Thunder Stocks also had a great race with a 19 car field. #01 Jason Garver took the win with David Showers Sr #18 finishing second and Bubba Christian in the #1C taking home third. Joseph Watson #73 won the V-8 Real Stocks while John Padaggi took the win in the 12 car Gladiator final. Great job of bringing this track back to life by the new owner. Clean, good food, and really good racing. Track almost looks like a dirt Martinsville, a wee bit shorter, but still set up for some great racing. Wish the rain had stayed away Saturday as the Sprints would be awesome on this track. They had a single sprint car exhibit during intermission and he came as close to flipping as you can without going over. Well so much for now, will return to Putnam Raceway in the future....See Ya at the Races !!!

[timesplitter]

Ok i went to the putnam the aka the clip on Friday nite .well yes the racing was very good .I was impressed . Will go back at a later date to give them time to get the place back in shape .hope the new owner stays with it . What really needs to change is the water truck driver needs to not be afraid to put enough water on the track .that stinky water is free .way more water before practice and way more water after the heats .he needs to go to volusia and see how its done .no need for a dust bowl on a track that small . And practice needs to start an hour earlier . I'm sure in time all will be fixed I hope . The place has a lot of potential . Lots of work needs doing around the property for sure .

[Denman]

We sat down low and the dust didn't seem that bad from our vantage point. I've chalked up some of the lower points at the track to new ownership and just their second or third show. Our biggest issue of the night, may have been because of our low seats, was the announcer. Seems he went to the same school of announcers that learn to start to speak when the cars enter from 4th turn, down the front stretch and then into turn two. Then silence. He had a great voice for announcing but all we heard was just the talk about the show the next night. Very hard time getting driver's names and car numbers. All in all as mentioned I was not disappointed in our trip other then the rain on Saturday. Great to see a track try the Friday night regular shows during the season. Brings back memories of many days gone by when Ocala had Fridays and Volusia ran Saturday nights. Be great if the two tracks could work together. Time will tell but I believe they are off to a good start and headed in the right direction. Hope the drivers and owners will support the place.

[Boneman]

It is great news that a Florida track is back from the dead. I am thankful for all involved in this.

You have highlighted a pet peeve of announcers: some over-emphasize winner interviews at the expense of line ups. So many interviews are cookie cutter, and not many drivers are comfortable or skilled on the mic. Why not save them for special occasions, or at least stop with the winner, and do a big job of going through the line up instead?

I really like hearing who is driving what, where they are from, etc.. It can't be done in a half lap before green either. Start this when it is quiet.

Remember, its all about me.