100 Lap MM race!

[flvideo]

Yes raceivers would be nice. Dave you are rught about saftey issue. With the UDLMCS we had raceivers and I saw several times where there were wrecks where Rob or who ever was on the raceivers that night were able to warn the drivers of impending danger. We interviewed several of the drivers and they were tickled with a 100 lap race. Maybe that is a little long for Mini Stocks. Although those were mostly little late Models. Bob...

[flvideo]

Heres some pics from Sat.

[Winger]

I've been going to tracks that have used raceceivers for years and they make a huge difference. The safety issue should not be overlooked either. I was at Eastbay one night and the officials told all the cars, on their raceceivers, to follow the pace truck. They told the pace truck to pull into the go kart track and go around. About half the cars in that division followed the pace truck and the others didn't have a clue. It was the tracks way of seeing who actually had a working raceceiver. It was funny. I don't know what the outcome of the test was, but there were probably some people in trouble.

Transponders also speed up the show considerably but my understanding is that they are quite expensive for both the track and cars.

[USAMedia]

Jim Curry & Mike Lwhorn Interviews

Winner Mike Lawhorn and race promoter Jim Curry of Curry Roofing post race interviews are on the front page of www.realracinusa.com

Curry explains his views about the success of the race.

[Todd McCreary]

They had 6 other classes and they ran heats in 5 of them. They had a introduction on the front straight and they didn't have the cars lined up right and it was a mess. Their wireless didn't work so they introduced them from up top. I tried to tape it to get all the drivers on in the beginning of my video, but it was so disorganized I quite taping it.




this baffles me.

i went to their special in January and they did a great job getting the show run off, everything was organized and they weren't anywhere near curfew. and the racing was fantastic as well.

[Jimmy McKinley]

Been around this sport of short track racing for MANY years, and to me, those ain't no "mini *stocks*", those are four-cylinder Late Models. To me, a "mini STOCK" was a Pinto, Mini Cooper, Anglia, Gremlin, etc. on 6-inch street-tread tires and 13" wheels, stock frames, etc. Just sayin', I guess.

I wish that were still a STOCK four-cylinder class somewheres that was easy to get into, but with all these fuel-injected computerized ricers invading the US, I don't see it happening any time soon.

[Fordmen]

mini 100

Just draw a pill and race 100 green flag laps. It is that simple..................................

[flvideo]

Jimmy you are right those are little late models. CCMP runs a class of real mini stocks 1st a month and they get sometimes 12 to run. These guys were excited about getting to run a 100 lapper and being the show so to speak and it got cut short. The sense I got in the pits they were ready to do this more often. I knew of 4 that hadn't raced in some time and talked to one that built a car for that race. I heard talk about resurrecting the old Mini Stock Challenge series. Bob....

[ancrdave]

The 4 cyl. Challengers at Volusia are the real deal... Tony Laporta has had the hot hand with a Nissan Sentra so far this year and he's in his 60's!... The class is fun to watch because you know what you are watching... There are a few Mustangs but also Escorts, Chevy Cavaliers, a VW, Dodge Neons etc. and they put on a great show... The "Mini Stocks" that will run this week are also very competitive but look like stuff outta Star Wars!

[Jimmy McKinley]

If the "mini Late Models" wanna run more big shows, I wouldn't promote 'em as "Mini *Stocks*". It's kinda misleading, as every region has their own interpretation of what constitutes a "Mini Stock". Promote it as a "Mini Late Model" show if they're gonna run those kinds of bodies and chassis. It's just my opinion. Again, been around this sport a LOOOOONG time, and "Mini Stocks" went away a LOOOOOONG time ago.

As to the show at Citrus...man. Sounds like the fans got cheated big-time. When was the decision made to shorten it to 54 laps? After the race started? I would think that some guys would have run harder if they had known beforehand. Citrus KNOWS they have a curfew; it'd be like going to the Governor's Cup and paying to see a 200-lapper, but because of all the cautions, it was only about 20 green-flag laps and maybe 60 officially-counted laps. And, the weekly divisions that ran, shouldn't have been promoted as "support" classes; they support the track every week! The event probably should have been run with only one or two other classes.

[flvideo]

Yes Jimmy 2 or even 3 other classes would have been fine. I don't know for certain when the actual decision was made to cut the race but the first I remember hearing about it was when they started back after the 50 lap mark and had 2 cautions before they got lap 51 complete. I can understand the frustration on fans side, drivers side, and the tracks side, but that being said a better compromise could have been made.
I like the idea of Mini Late Models. In essence thats what they are. Maybe that will catch on. They are fun to watch especially when theres a lot of them. Another fun class to watch is the Outlaw Modified class. I was reading the history on their web site a while back and they started out as Modified Minis but at some point they evolved with a Modified open wheel type car, they are pretty fast and seem to be agile. Bob...

[MW68SS]

It took 1 hour to run the 1st 50 laps counting caution laps. How long do you think it would have took to run the last 50 with them not counting caution laps. I know the track could have done things different but 1 hour to run maybe 25-30 green flag laps. We went to the race and wished it could have went the whole distance but the rate they were going they would have needed another fuel stop before they was done and the fans would have seen 1 feature race Saturday night. Maybe next time the track will do things different and the racers will realize they have 100 laps in front of them cause it was really cool being at a race where over 30 cars qualified just shouldn't have started over 24. Hope things like this can become a regular thing.

[Frasson118]

This is the perfect arguement for Heats and Consy's. There is NO reason to start that many Mini's on a 1/4 mile track. I'm sure the Promoter was thinking that all of the guys who showed up deserved to race, and he would be right. But it would still happen with Heats, and the Feature would have been MUCH smoother.

One more thing.... why in the world would a 100 lap Mini race need a fuel stop?????????

It sounds like the whole thing was a cluster****, and I'm sure things will be different next time around. Anyone who can get 37 cars for ANY division in Florida is doing something right. Now turn that concept into a solid, workable program, and you're onto something!

[Dana Barlow]

The 4 cyl. Challengers at Volusia are the real deal... Tony Laporta has had the hot hand with a Nissan Sentra so far this year and he's in his 60's!... The class is fun to watch because you know what you are watching... There are a few Mustangs but also Escorts, Chevy Cavaliers, a VW, Dodge Neons etc. and they put on a great show... The "Mini Stocks" that will run this week are also very competitive but look like stuff outta Star Wars!

What blast from the passed,Tony and I run min mods there back in the the 70's and 80's for Speedweeks,was always a good sport and fast hard challenger!
but they called them Datsons then