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Golden Traingle Raceway Park USMTS Notes/Gator Preview...from afar....
That's right. They're all down there and I'm up here (gnashing the teeth) but it's all good 'cause we get USMTS in the home state of Louisiana next weekend with a Friday night start time of 7:30 at Champion Park Speedway near Minden, Louisiana (I-20, exit 38 just 38 miles west of the Texas line AND I HAVE SOME IMPORTANT TRAFFIC NEWS FOR YOU FOLKS TRAVELING IN FROM TEXAS ON I-20 SO DON"T FORGET TO ASK) and a 7PM Saturday night start at central Louisiana's now legendary Thunder Valley Speedway. TVS has hosted Hav-A-Tampa Late Models, World of Outlaw Sprint Cars and now, USMTS!
These notes are from a non-observer viewpoint as I wasn't there. Using some phone call info and being a stat-geek, I'll try and make it sound good anyway. This all makes me pretty much a guesser!
Apparently there's a lot of GOOD and a lot of UGLY about last night:
GOOD - Great job by Golden Triangle Raceway Park track owner Glen Johnson and crew in just getting this one in without having to use the Sunday rain date. Turnout was excellent! They did the best they could after the early morning downpours to get the place in racing shape. That should create a lot of confidence in the racing community that if GTRP schedules a show, they will make the effort to get the show in if humanly possible. That should pay off in the long run for the Johnsons. I think we could have done just as good turnout-wise on Sunday but that's always a gamble. I hear the improvements at GTRP are really nice too!
GOOD - CAR COUNT 61! That's 7 more than the Beaumont show had at it's first USMTS race last Spring and about 20 more than we had in October. AND, the defending champion will not defend. Defending race-winner Kelly Shryock was a no-show as was Zack VanderBeek. Just too many miles between Iowa and Houston. Wouldn't be surprised to see those two at Speedweek though and maybe even the Lake Country (Ardmore, OK)/Cowtown Speedway weekend on May 2nd & 3rd. (They could even make that 6 hour drive east from Fort Worth after Cowtown and run the Doug Murphrey Memorial with us on Sunday May 4th! USMTS tech rules in effect!) For most shows and for the season though, this just means two more A main spots for somebody and a new champion in 2008 but 3 more A main spots??? Wasn't expecting Bixby, Oklahoma's Greg Skaggs to be a no-show. He was top five in Southern Series points last year with a pair of wins. So, that's 61 WITHOUT those 3 who were there last year! Love to have them but GOOD START for 2008.
GOOD - The 30-lap A main! 21 of the 23 who started this one, finished it and there were some major movers in the show too. Unfortunately for Steve Holzkamper and his TRE Chassis #5 who was supposed to start 4th, he didn't get to run the A main. So for Steve, the best that came out of it was, he didn't have to use a provisional last night.
GOOD - HOWARD WILLIS! The master was on his game last night. He won his heat from sixth starting spot and then had some good USMTS luck this time and drew the pole! Bet that got loud approval from the GTRP fans! He led all the way and looks for 2-in-a-row tonight at the Gator Motorplex where he just happens to instruct at the Russel Moore Driving School. Big win for Dirt Works??!! (That's what Howard had last year..) A win there and could we have the 60-something Willis going for the 2008 Southern Series championship? Would that not be cool? Sure would but alas, I thinks the skedyule is agin us! There's a pair of pesky Late Model shows on Friday and Saturday close to home next week for Howard. Willis just happens to be one of the best at that too!
GOOD - JASON HUGHES! After recovering from getting caught-up by someone else (yes I know who -- that's alright he'll get it back tonight in Willis!) in his heat, Hughes won the second B main, started 15th in the A and finished 2nd. Hughes and teammate Tommy Weder, Jr both won a Beaumont feature last fall with their Hughes Chassis and obviously have a great set-up there. Weder fell victim to some of the B-main carnage (see "UGLY" below) and either couldn't go with a provisional or didn't want to.
GOOD - DAVID MITCHELL! Great start for the Ashdown, Arkansas racer as he won his heat from 4th and posted a solid third. WTG guys! This former Champion Park track champion has to be chomping at the bit to get back there Friday night. If I'm not mistaken, this is the Bloomquist-Shaw car that won the Alltel 100 in what seems like a 100 years ago now...
GOOD - THE DUSTIN DUNCAN-JUSTSAYYES ROOKIE OF THE YEAR CONTENDERS!!!!
GOOD - DUSTIN "TATER" HYDE! This Texarkana Dustin Duncan-JustSayYes Rookie-of-the-Year contender was the top qualifier of the night with a 10th to 2nd run in the first heat and then backed it up with a career best 4th place finish in the feature with the Ducote Motorsports TRE Chassis #8J. Tater also had a 6th in Monticello's 73-car field last July.
GOOD - MORGAN BAGLEY! This Longview, Texas Rookie-of-the-Year contender won a feature at GTRP earlier this year and that trip paid off with a heat race win for the Mr. Frank Motorsports #17 which is one of those fast Larry Shaw Race Cars Chassis after a ferocious lead-swapping battle with the TRE of Jamie Burford (that one didn't end up well for the 19). Morgan drew 8th of 8 in the redraw but posted a solid top five. Oh yea, Morgan also has win at Gator Motorplex this year too!
GOOD - KYLE PLEASANT! This Rookie-of-the-Year contender from Robeline, Louisiana appears to have learned a new trait so far in 2008: How to battle back from adversity! Last week in Monticello, Pleasant ended up in a B main after a little bad luck in his 2nd round heat race. In the past, that would have snowballed on him but I don't think so anymore. Pleasant drove the Specialty Contractors Kraft Kar Chassis #6X from 11th starting spot quickly to 2nd at Monticello and then was just biding his time when a scoring snafu ended the race prematurely and kept him from taking his shot at race winner Robby Arnold's lead position. Fast forward to last night at Beaumont. Pleasant's 4th to 2nd run in his heat behind Holtzkamper's win was ONLY good enough for a pole in the third B-main. His heat was also the only one in which all 10 cars finished (see more of "UGLY" below). Kyle held serve in that B last night, won it, started 16th and advanced to a 6th place finish and was the top Kraft Kar agin with only 3 cars falling out of the event (actually 2 - one didn't start it). Keep an eye on that 6X tonight and next week at Champion & TVS. Pleasant had a good run going at Willis last year. He was up to fourth in the GRT then when a little contact with a #88xxx took him from contention. (Curiously, that 88xxx was a no-show too???) This year, I think he and Thomas have just have something figured out with that Kraft Kar!
GOOD - REST OF THE ROOKIE CROP! Not sure all of these guys are registered rookies but since they all have less than 15 starts in USMTS, lets assume. Let's hear it for: WES ARMSTRONG, Marshall, Texas, TRE Chassis, finished 8th (Qwik Race Cars Spring Nats Champion at Ark-La-Tex Speedway this year!), STEVE PUGH, Willis, TX (going to his home track tonight!), finished 23rd but made top 13 from heats (means no B main), BJ ROBINSON, Shreveport, LA, finished 11th & made top 13 from heats, JEFF HOEGH, New Caney, TX, finished 19th & made top 13, ADAM EPPERSON, Onalaska, TX, finished 16th and made top 13, CODY SMITH, Kaufman, TX, finished 14th and made top 13 (were he and Bobby Malchus the only DFW-area representatives? Say it ain't so guys...), DAVID SMITH III, Copperas Cove, TX, finished 12th and a B-main win!, SHANE HEBERT, Lafayette, LA, finished 17th, 11th to 2nd in his B!, BRYAN ROLAND, Woodward, OK/JEREMY ROSS, Locust Grove, OK, finished 20th & 21st but more importantly, both rookies made the A though qualifying!, STEVE MILLER, Georgetown, TX, finished 22nd, 14th to 3rd in his B.
Some more rookies: MICHAEL ROBERTSON, TIMOTHY CULP & LARRY CLEVENGER just missed by finishing 4th, 5th & 6th in the same B.
GOOD - SE Texas Veterans, TRACY DENBY, PHIL DIXON & JOHN WHITTINGTON getting 9th, 10th & 13th!!! Denby & Dixon made top 13 & Whittington went 14th to 2nd in his B!
GOOD points night for RANDY TIMMS who made the best of a bad qualifying night but taking his provisional start of 23rd and advancing to 7th place! No passing points or hard charger (provisionals don't get those) but good points night anyway with all things considered for last year's runner-up in the Western Flyer Truckin/ChildHelpUSA #5T Shaw Chassis! SCOTT GREEN from Kansas had the other provisional after Weder couldn't/wouldn't go after Green finished 4th out of 4 cars running in the last B which brings me to the....
UGLY - 19 of the 61 cars didn't finish their heats and no telling how many others finished with damage. 27 of the 48 B main cars either didn't start or didn't finish. 12 of the 16 in the 3rd B started and didn't finish. Stakes are high. First race jitters? We'll see tonight. Bet there's a lot of sheet metal being straightened today!
One interesting no-shows was Cleveland's Chris Brown. He's not fond of the Beaumont "bull-ring", could the above be why? Giving up a points race though, close to home with the Top Dog Bonus, etc., don't know about that?? Seems when I've been, it's not that bad... New owners may help too.
Who can rebound tonight? How about Keatchie, Louisiana's Jmaie Burford? He spun while trying to take the lead from Bagley for the third time (that must have been fun to watch those two race before the spin!) and collected Hughes. Then a DNF in his B. Last year at Willis, Burford swapped second around with Shryock before finishing 3rd -- his best on the tour in 2008. Now if Skaggs (last year's winner) and Shryock aren't going to be there???
Enoy the show at Gator TONIGHT!!!
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