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Merry Christmas! REMINDER: You folks can put that vacation request in for the first week of June this year -- June 3rd through 8th. This will be the second annual USMTS Southern Series Speedweek and the Wednesday through Saturday have already been booked. We're planning on racing Tuesday night through Sunday night. 6 tracks in 6 nights so plan one of those vacation weeks for the first week of June!
Now, what about the Texans and some of the others who came to HRP for the first annual Texas Winter Nationals?:
From the Houston area:
Chris Brown! Holy cow, what a racer! With the exception of maybe just one corner, Chris was exceptional in the Saturday night race. Due to heat race issues, Brown was forced to start 16th in his B main but he blasted through the field to win it and start 15th in the A. In the A, he did it again....and again! His first trip through the field saw the #21 pass the likes of Howard Willis, Chris Henigan, Shane Hebert, Holzkamper, Weder, VanderBeek, Skaggs, Shryock and he finally caught early race leader Jason Hughes. Let me tell you, there ain't many drivers who can say they passed that list on any night in any year and he did it in just 10 laps. Yea, he had the help of a few cautions early in that one but he also had a lot of speed in his Skyrocket, a great handling car and he was driving the wheels off of it. Chris was trying to take the lead from Hughes with a slide job off turn four when he made what was probably his only mistake of the night. I'm sure he thought he had Hughes cleared. He didn't. And with $3000 on the line, Jason wasn't going to let off either no matter how much money he had already banked in 2007. Brown wound up spun out and found himself restarting in the back with 30 laps to go. In the next 17 consecutive green flag laps though, Chris had worked his way back up to 7th again. Then he got his only caution over the last 30 laps. Brown quickly got to fifth and then hooked up with Hughes again but by now, the pair was battling door-to-door for fourth but I think the "goody" was either gone of his tires or his set-up by then and who knows, maybe he was a little tired. He passed some 57 cars by then! (that includes the Limited Mod A main) With no more cautions the rest of the way, Brown would settle for fifth -- his 2nd USMTS top five of the weekend. Chris also had a fifth at the rodeo and didn't have to run a B at all the first two nights as he qualified top eight on Thursday and 11th on Friday. Brown took a USMTS win at 105 Speedway back in April and also had a top five in a USMTS race in Minnesota this year. Contender for the 2008 Southern Series title? I hope so!
Howard Willis was out early from the rodeo after using a USMTS provisional to make that show but the slick track conditions on Friday allowed Willis to show his veteran skills in his Dirt Works as he won the B that night to start 14th and then advanced to 6th by the white flag lap and ended the race in third after the Burford-Hughes spins and a DQ. On Saturday, he was part of that 4-car brawl for eighth and finished 9th.
Delta Flange/Batterbee Racing -- After missing out on the A-main the first two nights, former TUSA Mod Lite star Kevin Batterbee of Houston got it going at the barnburner. He qualified top eight and drew outside pole for the A-main. On the same night brother Kenny Batterbee missed the A by just one spot in his B which was his best showing of the weekend too. Kevin finished on the lead lap in Saturday's A and was part of that same 4-car battle and finished 11th.
John Whittington in a Bob Pierce Race Cars chassis joined Brown and Willis as the only Houston area cars to make the A all three nights with a best finish of 9th on Friday night. The Houston area had 7 cars in the show on Thursday with Steve Pugh from Willis qualifying for his first of 2 A mains on the weekend while John Armstrong and Pete Sagmiller qualified for their only A of the weekend. Armstrong finished the race and finished 11th on the night but hurt his motor and would be forced to spectate on Friday and Saturday. David Horner in the Modern Machine Works Skyrocket #56 joined Willis as a provisional starter on Thursday but he also qualified for the race on Saturday and finished 16th. Horner scored a thrilling USMTS win at South Texas Speedway in November. Phil Dixon was part of Friday's train race A main as well after qualifying 9th as was HRP veteran Mark McKim who qualified 13th. Brian Boram drove the Gaus Motorsports #B52 on Thursday & Saturday and got a 7th and 6th in the B mains, just a couple spots short of transferring.
Thanks to these other Houston area Modified racers for supporting the show!:
Former Arkansas Razorback football player 1999-2002 (I think that's the years he said) Brent Nicholas, originally from Fort Smith, now living in the Baytown area. (I learn something new every trip.) Brent missed A mains by just 2 spots twice. He and Extreme Trailers of Baytown helped out a lot for this weekend.
Also: Darryl Seals, Keith Wright, Steven Fite, Jeff Wood (who missed an A by one spot), Chad Fitzgerald (whom we've seen travel some this year with the Southern Series), Edward Wickham, Corey Babbit (missed an A by one spot), Tom Hameka (missed an A by one spot), Brennan Poole (missed an A by 2 spots), Robert Corbello, Kalif Sellier, John Arthur, Dennis LeCroy, Bryan Vollmer, Earl Whaltley, Glen Grant, Andy McLelland, Tom Barben, Dan Sikes, Foster Ellison, Frank Fruia, John Slinui and Rocky Willis. Hope I didn't leave any out.
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