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Myself, Palmbayer, and his son Jeff, bolted right from the Governors Cup race at New Smyrna and headed to South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, Georgia. Here a bit of how things worked out:
Froze our asses off while sleeping in the camper in a North FL rest area.
Got to the track about 9:30 and immediately had a look around (thier first time there, my third). Walked right into the grandstands and pit area to have a look around. First thing we noticed, was that all haulers were being emptied and removed from the infield... GREAT move by SGMP.
The field of cars were, I believe, the same as NSS, at 26 cars, but these guys were from all over the Eastern US. A lot of these guys rarely, if ever, run together during the regular season. Quickest in practice, Justin Drawdy & crew wound up setting 3rd-fast time, while the front row went to Jack Landis and Snowball Derby winner, Augie Grill.
Chowed down some steak, eggs and Budweiser for breakfast, and started wondering when the crowd was going to show up. Unfortunatley, they never did. We did however meet a few cool people including Jimmy Knight of Knico Engines, and John and Michael from Tallahassee, who are building a new Late Model to run at Columbia and SGMP (nice looking ride too!). Also saw the front 3/4 of Fain Skinners car... the rear 1/4 wasn't on it. Skinners weekend was over before the green came out.
The racing itself, on the D-shaped track, turned out to be fantastic. Drawdy, who spun early trying to avoid hitting a car in front of him, spent the day getting back to the front. Ben Rowe, all the way from Maine, looked like it would be a long day for him. He was in and out of the pits quite a few times early on, even losing a lap. Luckily for him (and the race fans), they were using a Lucky Dog format, that allowed him (and many others throughout the day) to stay in contention for the win.
The results are posted elsewhere, but some observations and opinions of some of the racers.
Jason Hogan got into Shane Seig putting him out of the show. I heard there was some "discussions" later on.
John Coffman must have spun 5 times. They should consider a 3-strikes rule.
Corey Williams got in a few crunches, and car parts were dropping off like a leper. Before he finally gave up for the day, he lost the nose, both front quarter panels, the hood, the right side door, and I think the rear bumper. It looked like a Crash-A-Rama loser.
Augie Grill really is one hell of a talent.
Jack Landis appears to be a very clean racer. He had at least 100 chances to dump guys in front of him (mainly Drawdy) and never touched any of them. great job Jack... you have a new fan!
Alex Haase, a Kyle Busch protege' in a KB #51 car, was very impressive as well. I don't think that car had a single scratch, and just a donut or 2 on the doors.
Did I mention the racing was fantastic?
Drawdy held off Landis for about the last 75 laps, while Grill was all over both of them. With 2 to go, Augie finally got by to finish second.
Wandered the pits, making sure the top 5 made weight then went to the tower to meet RJ Scott, the CRA Director, and also met Roland & Kim, the track owner and his wife... all VERY nice people. They were kind of discouraged that the crowd just didn't show up, and we all kicked around some ideas for next years event. I think the 2nd Annual will happen, but surely not on the same weekend.
I did get this observation from there: The CRA rules package must be working, as the top 9 car were ALL from different states, and there are a LOT of cars in each of their home areas. The Florida engine rules are NOT working, not compatable, and need to be seriously looked at if we want this class to survive and possibly grow. With the exception of the Panhandle, the rest of Florida is all on it's own. No one to run with, and nobody running with them.
Plan on being at the next Southern Slam race. If this one is any indication, it has all the makings of becoming a "Classic" race, much like a Snowbal Derby or All-American 400.
It was diverse, it was exciting, and did I mention the racing was fantastic?
Next time, it's up to us race fans to make this thing work. The track did their part, the drivers did theirs, but the fans let them down.
As Palmbayer said on the way out, "If you didn't like that race, your not a race fan to begin with".
Froze our asses off while sleeping in the camper in a North FL rest area.
Got to the track about 9:30 and immediately had a look around (thier first time there, my third). Walked right into the grandstands and pit area to have a look around. First thing we noticed, was that all haulers were being emptied and removed from the infield... GREAT move by SGMP.
The field of cars were, I believe, the same as NSS, at 26 cars, but these guys were from all over the Eastern US. A lot of these guys rarely, if ever, run together during the regular season. Quickest in practice, Justin Drawdy & crew wound up setting 3rd-fast time, while the front row went to Jack Landis and Snowball Derby winner, Augie Grill.
Chowed down some steak, eggs and Budweiser for breakfast, and started wondering when the crowd was going to show up. Unfortunatley, they never did. We did however meet a few cool people including Jimmy Knight of Knico Engines, and John and Michael from Tallahassee, who are building a new Late Model to run at Columbia and SGMP (nice looking ride too!). Also saw the front 3/4 of Fain Skinners car... the rear 1/4 wasn't on it. Skinners weekend was over before the green came out.
The racing itself, on the D-shaped track, turned out to be fantastic. Drawdy, who spun early trying to avoid hitting a car in front of him, spent the day getting back to the front. Ben Rowe, all the way from Maine, looked like it would be a long day for him. He was in and out of the pits quite a few times early on, even losing a lap. Luckily for him (and the race fans), they were using a Lucky Dog format, that allowed him (and many others throughout the day) to stay in contention for the win.
The results are posted elsewhere, but some observations and opinions of some of the racers.
Jason Hogan got into Shane Seig putting him out of the show. I heard there was some "discussions" later on.
John Coffman must have spun 5 times. They should consider a 3-strikes rule.
Corey Williams got in a few crunches, and car parts were dropping off like a leper. Before he finally gave up for the day, he lost the nose, both front quarter panels, the hood, the right side door, and I think the rear bumper. It looked like a Crash-A-Rama loser.
Augie Grill really is one hell of a talent.
Jack Landis appears to be a very clean racer. He had at least 100 chances to dump guys in front of him (mainly Drawdy) and never touched any of them. great job Jack... you have a new fan!
Alex Haase, a Kyle Busch protege' in a KB #51 car, was very impressive as well. I don't think that car had a single scratch, and just a donut or 2 on the doors.
Did I mention the racing was fantastic?
Drawdy held off Landis for about the last 75 laps, while Grill was all over both of them. With 2 to go, Augie finally got by to finish second.
Wandered the pits, making sure the top 5 made weight then went to the tower to meet RJ Scott, the CRA Director, and also met Roland & Kim, the track owner and his wife... all VERY nice people. They were kind of discouraged that the crowd just didn't show up, and we all kicked around some ideas for next years event. I think the 2nd Annual will happen, but surely not on the same weekend.
I did get this observation from there: The CRA rules package must be working, as the top 9 car were ALL from different states, and there are a LOT of cars in each of their home areas. The Florida engine rules are NOT working, not compatable, and need to be seriously looked at if we want this class to survive and possibly grow. With the exception of the Panhandle, the rest of Florida is all on it's own. No one to run with, and nobody running with them.
Plan on being at the next Southern Slam race. If this one is any indication, it has all the makings of becoming a "Classic" race, much like a Snowbal Derby or All-American 400.
It was diverse, it was exciting, and did I mention the racing was fantastic?
Next time, it's up to us race fans to make this thing work. The track did their part, the drivers did theirs, but the fans let them down.
As Palmbayer said on the way out, "If you didn't like that race, your not a race fan to begin with".
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