PASS at NSS - great race

[bubba]

It pays to have low expectations, because when you see a great race it seems really great! Definitely a tale of two races - the first 75 were clean and probably the most competitive SLM racing i have seen in years. From the front of the pack to the rear - there were passes being made - cleanly. I was impressed by the car control being shown while being 2-3 wide.

The 2nd 75 were darn entertaining right until the checkered flew - just broken up by numerous wrecks.

Brad Leighton beat Johnny Clark - who seemed to have the best car until the last 15 laps. A late caution blew Clark's lead and Leighton capitalized.

I literally cannot recall how many lead passes there were and definitely cant keep track of how much was going on the back of the pack.

Good runs for all the FL guys as everyone seemed to lead at one point or another. Russell got wrecked late, though.

High points - lap 75 break - which i thought i would hate, double file restarts, green only lap count, lucky dog.

The PASS folks were very professional and ran a good race - good call cancelling the pre-race festivities - too cold for that stuff.

Major Speedweeks wood going now!

[backrow]

I agree. I throughly enjoyed that show. Leighton was on the rev limiter for the final 30 laps and he came tearing up through the field.

Sam Watts drove another good race and ended up 3rd againist some stout competition.

Was a little surprised at the sparse crowd. Those of you who stayed home missed a great show.

[derf]

good racing! bigger crowd than any regular show i've been to

[bubba]

Sam Watts was fast all day - i thought he might have something for them at the end.

Ben Rowe was up front all day till a wreck took him out. Probably a little envious to see Leighton take his old car to the win. For the record, it looked better as that yellow 4 than the white 55.

Ingram (?) in the 5 and Jay Fogleman seemed to have all the bad luck today coming from the back more times than i can count. Each gave it everything they had and were fun to watch.

I wonder what the effect of using the American Racer tires had on the local guys, none seemed as fast as they usually do.

They used the in car radios to talk with the drivers under caution - pretty cool to hear their thoughts. Better be careful who you talk to and when though with no delay on it!

Pretty sure i saw Tim Steele and perhaps his daughter and crew down a little early to take in the race and maybe scout things out a little. They were in the stands towards turn 4. I hadnt sat there in years and the perspective is much more fun to watch than in the top of the aluminum stands where I usually sit. You can see every wiggle from down there.

[Tim]

I'm speechless. Fantastic racing! 150 laps of up on the wheel drivinng every lap like it was the last racing.

[Todd McCreary]

Ben Rowe was up front all day till a wreck took him out.



you mean, "up front all day til Sam Watts turned him around and caused a huge pile up in turn 1".

Rowe got away from that with minor sheet metal damage. it was Ingraham that turned Rowe into the front stretch wall when he was coming back to the front.

i had been paying attention to Rowe ever since he drew the #8 pill and he told the announcer that "it would be okay if you inverted the field".

[andre]

You want an idea how Rowe and Clark have been racing each other for years, go check this one out, and check the whole page to see how that race ended at finish line and .....after and ...after:

http://www.passtourphotos.com/'__200...ace2-Unity.htm

[bubba]

Yea, I couldn't cleanly see either of the starting points of Rowes misfortune other than to say it didn't appear to be his fault either time. He was running a smart race and was patient but quick.

I don't recall who all was a part of it, but at one point they ran 2x2 two rows deep for what seemed like 10 laps. Absolutely awesome to watch - looked like the draft at Daytona...

[Andy S]

I don't recall who all was a part of it, but at one point they ran 2x2 two rows deep for what seemed like 10 laps. Absolutely awesome to watch - looked like the draft at Daytona...

I'll be checking my notes later this morning when I write up the report, but I think that was preceded by 4 or 5 laps where the front 5 rows stayed 2-wide before it broke down a little and left just the front 4. Plenty of 3-wide racing out of the corners too, and was I the only one thinking after 50 laps that this could go green all the way? What a mistake that was!

[Bigbuck]

missed a good show

I agree. I throughly enjoyed that show. Leighton was on the rev limiter for the final 30 laps and he came tearing up through the field.

Sam Watts drove another good race and ended up 3rd againist some stout competition.

Was a little surprised at the sparse crowd. Those of you who stayed home missed a great show.

Sounds like a grest race but DARN, it was comfortable on my couch beside the fire place, and since there were 5 of us going I'm probably a couple hundred dollars richer, with concessions etc. Glad it was a good race though.

[Frasson118]

One word describes it all.... OUTSTANDING.

One of the best Asphalt LM shows I've ever seen, and surely THE best one I'd seen at NSS.

Tons of passing, high quality teams, with drivers that handled themselves professionally (with a few exceptions!), made for a great day for a fan like me.

Bubba mentioned in another post, that this race restored his faith in Late Model racing.... and I couldn't agree more. At the halfway break, I already felt like I'd gotten my moneys worth.

These guys raced their guts out, every corner of every lap. There was no "biding their time" out there, or pit strategys to worry about. A lot of times whent there is a built-in halfway break, the drivers near the front usually just kind of ride it out the last few laps. Not these guys... it was hammer down right to the line.

The parity between the North, South & Florida teams was very evident. No single group had an outright advantage over the other group. I thought the Florida guys would either clean up, or get their clocks cleaned. Neither happened. I think this will bring a lot more Florida cars than the ones that showed up this year (I think 9 cars were from here), now that they know they can be very competetive.

Overall, I think this worked better than anyone could have imagined, and I sure hope this becomes an annual event (but not on the same weekend as the Speedfest in Lanier GA... I think it hurt both fields), and that they PLAN on it being an afternoon race. Nights in January are just too cold to deal with, and had this race been on Saturday night, I would not have been there to witness it.

One last thing... if you hear any drivers trying to tell you that double-file restarts won't work, realize thats just plain bullshit.