Crazy CCMP finish

[Gary J]

Johnny Kay was leading on the final lap and got dumped by 2nd place 93 of Brandon Johnson.the 93 took the checkered flag 1st while Kay was sitting in turn 4. However they gave Kay the win without him crossing the finish line .Steve Dorer was 2nd and Dutilly 3rd in the 150 lap event.

[ShortTrackRacer]

That finish made no sense to me. According to the rule book, the 93 won. It says in the rule book whoever takes the checkered flag first wins. The 93 took the checkered first. They threw the checkered NOT the caution. IF they had thrown the caution, BOTH cars should have gone to the back, again according to the rules, Charlotte County DOES NOT PROTECT the leader.

I heard in the pits that they DQ'd the 93. That's another strange thing to do since the track screwed up. They at least could have put him the last car on the lead lap. I have never in all my years of racing heard of someone being DQ'd for spinning someone out once. They all ran a pretty clean race, it's not like he was beating and banging. But what do I know.....

[Gary J]

Right they shouldn't have DQed the 93 .He deserved a 10th place or so. Steve Dorer when interviewed was amazed at what the officials did.

[ShortTrackRacer]

You're right. It seems most of the drivers were pretty amazed at it. It was pretty messed up the way they handled things. I mean technically if it says in the rules the first car to cross the line wins, how can they take it away and give it to someone who crossed the line last when they both should have gone to the back. Kay brake checked the 93 pretty good there on the last lap in 3 & 4 so he wasn't totally innocent either, but they were fighting for a win on the last lap so they were giving it their all, so you can't really blame them. LOL

[Frasson118]

The 93 team used the cheap excuse of "not having any brakes". Funny how they worked just fine for 149 3/4 laps, and they worked just fine when he pulled into Victory Lane.

I don't know what officials were thinking with the final finishing order, but everyone there knows that Johnny Kay WON that race!

I have a bunch of comments from yesterdays races, and will post a complete list of observations later. I will say that it was one VERY fun afternoon!

[Rick B.]

Sounds to me like the correct call would have been.....

Now I was not there to see this, but sounds to me like if they deemed the 93 to have dumped the 48, then he should have been penalized to the back of the field. But the call to give someone a victory who is spun out and did not cross the finish line is not correct either. So put the 93 behind the 48 at the back if the 48 did not come across or if the 48 came across in 12th give him 12th and the 93 goes to back of lead lap cars. If a yellow had been thrown before a checkered and you make judgement calls then you could have given the 48 his spot back, sent the 93 to rear, but in that situation you are predicting the 48 would have crossed the finish line, can not do that...............................well I guess you can because that is what they did but it is not the right way to do it.

[carolwicks]

the majority of people i heard... alot of people...

Just about everyone thought Johnnie should have won. if he had not been wrecked, no one could have beat him at that time. they were coming into 4 to the checkered and johnny was in the lead. alot of people say the yellow should have come out, the 93 sent to the rear and the lap finished...
HOWEVER...I thought the rule is that if two cars spin or wreck, they both go to the back. In that case, Steve Dorer was the winner.
i think we all make decisions based on emotions. Based on emotions and how close Johnnie was to the finish line i can understand why the call was made and personally i am glad it was! Johnnie raced one heck of a race. 150 long laps! Greg had said at the meeting he would make a call based on his discretion if something like that happened. He did...
If i am not mistaken, the 93 car was involved in a similar confrontation earlier. I dont know Johnson so i cannot presume to talk about his normal driving abilities.
as for the wreck with Gary Padula... thats another thing we all seem to agree on... Gary and Joe were RACING... they were side by side... Wayne Morris came up on Gary and he (Gary) was squeezed in with nowhere to go. He never knew Wayne was there. After talking to Gary today he said his spotter was screaming at him to look for Wayne but his radio must not have been working and he never heard him and never saw Wayne. so it was a lousy thing that happened but lousy things happen on the track. I would hate to call that one. was bad luck for Gary but Im happy no one was hurt this weekend and as always, the LM and OWM put on a good show. Even tho the count was low, our drivers are proud and always entertain! Was great to see Eric Rudd in the winners circle. Eric has had so much bad luck and maybe its OVER! ;-)I had a great time and I thank all the drivers and the fans who did show up!
Awesome to see Jerry, Gary, Roger, and so many people we rarely see from out of town. They drove 3 hours to come to CCMP! Bet the beer sales went up ! ROFLLLLLLL
carolwicks aka OZZIE

[Cindy Petty]

Was nice meeting you Jerry............i wont tell anyone that i was sitting to your right when you almost fell down the bleachers.........shhhhhhh it will be our secret.........HAHAHA

you owe me a beer!!!

[SMRACING]

I COMPLETLY AGREE WITH YOU.. YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT THE 93'S WEBSITE AT WWW.SUNCOASTMOTORSPORTS.NET

[SMRACING]

This Weekend Was The First Weekend At Charlotte County Speedway For The Suncoast Motorsports Team #93! It Was A Hectic Race With A Shocking Ending! To Start, The #93, With Driver Brandon Johnson, Qualified In 6th Position. The Car Was Running Great And The #93 Managed To Start On The Pole Of The 150 Lap Race. Brandon Johnson Led Over 25 Laps And Never Fell Back Behind Third Position. As The Race Went On, The #93 Crew Managed To Stay In Third Place Until The #15 Car, Who Was Holding Second Position At The Time, Spun Out And Caused A Caution Which Resulted In Johnson Moving Up One Postion To Second Place. The Race Went On And The #93 Latemodel Was Starting To Get Loose In The Rearend And The Brakes Were Going Out As Well , But The Suncoast Motorsports Crew Did Not Pit To Fix The Problem Becuase They Had Such A Rewarding Position And Brandon Jonson Managed To Hold The Car Together Throughout The Race! On The 149th Lap, The #93 Came Around Turn Three In 2nd Position And Tapped The Leader In The Rear, Because Of A Result Of The Bad Breaks, And Unfortunately Took Out The 1st Place Car. What Normally Would Be Viewed As A Caution Was A Victory. They Continued The Race, With No Caution, And The #93 Being The First One To Pass The Finish Line While The 149th Lap Leader Was Still Spun Out In Turn Three! The Overall Winner Of The Breast Cancer Awareness 150 Was The 1st Place Car Of The 149th Lap Which Did Not End Up Passing The Finish Line! The Race Cars Came To A Stop And Everyone, Including Some Of The Other Drivers In The Race, Agreed To Do A Redo Of The 149th Lap And What Should Have Been Treated As Any Other Caution But The Officials Of The Track Did Not Agree. The Suncoast Motorsports #93 Finished The Race In The Overall Postion Of Seventh And Did Not Get Disqualified Which Was Previously Informed. As For The #93 Crew And Driver, Brandon Johnson, They Are All Looking Forward To The Next Event Which Will Be Held At Laneir National Speedway On January 24th- 25th And Is Going To Put This Past Race Behind Them So They Can Focus On The Next, Just Like Any Good Race Car Team Would Do

THIS INFO CAME FROM THE #93'S WEBSITE.. WWW.SUNCOASTMOTORSPORS.NET

[ShortTrackRacer]

The 93 team used the cheap excuse of "not having any brakes". Funny how they worked just fine for 149 3/4 laps, and they worked just fine when he pulled into Victory Lane.

I don't know what officials were thinking with the final finishing order, but everyone there knows that Johnny Kay WON that race!

I have a bunch of comments from yesterdays races, and will post a complete list of observations later. I will say that it was one VERY fun afternoon!

Actually they said halfway through the pedal was going to the floor. Kay's worked just fine on lap 149 and 3/4 though, especially since he admitted flat out he parked it....

[sunshinestateracing1]

I might be wrong

I might be wrong but I took this finish listing from CCMP Board and I do not think that the 93 was DQ'D looks like he finished on the end of the lead lap.

Late Models
1. 48 Johnny Kay - Pompano Beach
2. 10 Steve Dorer - Lakeland
3. 33 Jesse Dutilly
4. 5 Steve Gill
5. 4 Randy Fox - Lehigh Acres
6. 59 Dustin Dunn - Jupiter
7. 15 Joe Winchell - Dade City
8. 36C Ross Chastain - Alva
9. 21 Blake Koch - West Palm Beach
10. 93 Brandon Johnson - Longwood
11. 127 Kyle Maynard - Ocala
12. 16K Eddie King - Altuiras
13. 16S Guy Sheets - Fort Lauderdale
14. 08 Drew Brannon - Miami
15. 77 Ed Leeke - Fort Lauderdale
16. 36P Gary Padulla - Pompano Beach
17. 56 Wayne Morris - Mulberry

[SMRACING]

HE SURE DID GET RECOGNIZED BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS KAY SPUN HIMSELF OUT JUST SO HE COULD WIN BECAUSE BRANDON WOULD HAVE PASSED HIM.. AND THE 93 ENDED UP SEVENTH IT SAYS ON THEIR WEBSITE WWW.SUNCOASTMOTORSPORTS.NET ! I GUESS ITS BETTER SEEING THE 93 UPFRONT INSTEAD OF IN THE REAR OF THE PACK FIGHTING FOR LAST PLACE! YOU GOTTA GIVE THE FANS SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT RIGHT? EVERYONE WAS CHEERING WHEN KAY SPUN OUT THEN EVERYONE CHEERED WHEN HE WON SO I GUESS THE CROWD JUST WANTED SOME ACTION AND THATS WHAT THEY GOT.. THE 93 SHOULDA WON THAT RACE OR ATLEAST LET THEIR BE A REDO AND THROW A CAUTION NOT JUST GIVE SOMEONE A WIN WITHOUT THAM EVEN PASSING THE FINISH LINE.. BUT IM SURE THE 93 WILL BE IN VICTORY LANE SOON ENOUGH SINCE THAT WAS ONLY A BACK UP CAR HE WAS RUNNING LAST NIGHT THAT HAS ONLY RACED ONE TIME BEFORE THAT IN 2007 AND NOT THE GOOD CAR! PRETTY DARN GOOD BEATING THE WHOLE TRACK WITH JUST A BACKUP CAR.

[Todd McCreary]

if he had not been wrecked, no one could have beat him at that time.

if "no one could have beat him", no one would have been close enough to him to have touched his rear bumper. not that i'm advocating dumping somebody but if you've spent a good portion of the race with another car all over your rear bumper, you're clearly not the fastest car at the track that night.

he also wouldn't have found it necessary to be brake checking people in the corner.

keep in mind, i didn't see this, i'm just going off of what you guys are saying.




you make judgement calls then you could have given the 48 his spot back

you follow the rule book, where possible. the CCMP people say the book covers this. i don't know.

i would say that the major error was failing to throw the caution for the wreck coming to the finish line. no one can claim that the flag man/race director missed that happening.

everything else follows from that.

and promoters, RD's and flag men might want to keep this in mind:
just because you threw the checker doesn't mean you can't take it back. let the field roll through turn one and then turn the yellow/red on. consult as needed and once you've got a decision ( that's in accordance with your own track rule book please ) line the field up however you decide behind the pace car and signal them one to go.

[SMRACING]

The Official Rules Taken Off Of Charlotte County Speedways Website!!

HERE IS THE OFFICIAL RULES TAKEN OFF CHARLOTTE COUNTY SPEEDWAYS WEBSITE IF ANYONE WANTS TO SEE FOR THEMSELF GO CHECK IT OUT AT http://charlottecountyracing.com/html/rules.shtml
THE RULES ARE:

g. Checkered Flag indicates the race has been completed. The driver that completes the race first is considered the winner. All other cars will be awarded their positions on the distance traveled in the event that they are not in the same lap as the leader. You must take the checkered flag to win

18 Any contact between two cars and one of them loses control, both of them will be sent to the rear. Leader will not be protected

BOTH OF THESE RULES SHOULD HAVE MADE IT CLEAR THAT THE #93 SHOULD HAVE WON THE 150 LAP RACE ON SUNDAY!
THIS IS THE RULE THAT THE OWNER OF THE TRACK GAVE THE 93 AFTER THE RACE WHICH WAS MADE UP ON THE SPOT WHICH YOU CAN ALSO VIEW THE ACTUAL DOCUMENT ON THE 93'S WEBSITE, WWW.SUNCOASTMOTORSPORTS.NET, THE RULE WAS WRITTEN AS I QUOTE:
"SPUNOUT RULE ON LAST LAP-
ANY CARS INVOLVED IN A LAST LAP SPINOUT WILL BE SCORED WHERE LEAD CAR WILL FINISH IN FRONT OF THE OTHER CAR INVOLVED IN SPINOUT EVEN IF THAT CAR KEEPS GOING"

WHICH DOES NOT MEAN MUCH SINCE SO YOU CAN MAKE THE CALL FOR YOURSELF! THE TRUE WINNER OF SUNDAYS RACE WAS THE #93 BRANDON JOHNSON!