A throwback to the old days of car racing! Rockingham - Jan. 1, 2009

[Racefan99]

At Rockingham Motor Speedway today, the Frank Kimmel Series ran the Polar Bear 150. Someone just put the first lap of the race on YouTube (see link below).

I know there were over 60 cars on the pre-entry list (they started all the entries!), but I haven't seen the results yet, to know how many started or even who won.

In today's economy, where the upper Nascar divisions are struggling to field a full field of cars/trucks, it's refreshing to see a series like this where the costs are kept relatively low, and where there is no shortage of competitors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miuqBYKHcbg

Mike

[Marshall]

Chuck Barnes rocks in the Polar Bear 150

By Randy Hallman

Published: January 1, 2009

Chuck Barnes won the Polar Bear 150 street stock race today at the Rockingham Speedway, finishing about a second ahead of Anthony White of Clinton Indiana.

For most of the race, Barnes of Louisville, Ky., and Brett Hudson of Owensboro, Ky., battled each other, often side by side and seldom more than a few car lengths apart. But engine in Hudson's 1979 Monte Carlo failed with nine laps to go, and no other driver could challenge Barnes' 1984 Monte Carlo.

The race was slowed by 14 caution flags and stopped by three red flags. The last of the three reds came when Bryan Silas of Stuart, Fla., slid off the Turn 4 banking and slammed into the energy-absorbing barrels buffering the wall at the pit entrance.

Silas' car bounced high, spreading sheet metal from the car and debris from the barrels across pit road. But the driver apparently was not seriously hurt. He sprang from his car, stood on the car's still-intact roll cage and waved to the crowd with both arms.

The race saw a spectacular start with 66 cars in 22 three-abreast rows. At the finish of the 150-lap event, more than five hours later, 31 cars were running.

The one-mile Rockingham Speedway, was a fixture on the NASCAR Cup tour from 1965 to 2004, after which it was dropped from the schedule to make room for other events as NASCAR expanded its marketing reach. The track now hosts a variety of events in other racing series.

Track President Andy Hillenburg estimated the crowd at 8,000. Many fans were inside luxury suites atop the grandstands. The race was the inaugural event in what track officials hope will become a traditional midwinter date.

[Benny The Mule]

The only downside to all this is there is a lot of NASCRAP crew chiefs, crew members etc racing in the Kimmel races with a lot of (support) from their employers....hint, most peeps were in luxury boxes above track.

I got to see the Bristol race last year and it was awesome, sadly, even then you could tell teams with (unlimited ) budgets. And they were all out front. I hope NASCRAP don't ruin this series with a series for their employees to (play) in but the carcounts are already dropping.

[ronabneysr]

that was a good race

so was bristol - kentucky and i think the other one was rockingham i might be wrong .

i wonder how fast they would have went if they had not have had that big ole piece of lexan stuck up on roof