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2009 Tootsie Smith Memorial, Texarkana 67 Speedway
August 29th (Originally scheduled for August 1st, rained out)
ONE-night show, $50 entry fee, $25 pit pass, $10 grandstands.
1. 4$ Kris Rye, Corpus Christi, TX $3000
Plus
5 sheets of metal from Amark Metals for leading at half-way too! Really
happy that an 'outsider' and the 2008 IMCA Southern Sport Mod Rookie of
the Year won this race. Not that I'm dissin on the home boys but this
should help bring in even more travelers for this show in 2010 and
unless he moves to another class, we hope Kris will defend the title!
Making top 8 and drawing the pole was a big advantage in this one as
the track took rubber. They will try and make the track racier for
longer next year. A strong, diverse field of 49 cars on hand in 2009
and we'd like to see that grow in 2010. The promoters are going to try
and make it bigger and better next year too!
2. B17 Brandon Ball, Farmerville, LA $1000
Outstanding
run for this young guy in one of those Fast Chassis like Timmy Culp and
Joey Simmons race in. Brandon saw his home track of Dixie Speedway shut
down last year and never re-open. Glad he was able to make this one and
I bet he is too now! We were also expecting Waylon Ball from Eldorado
to enter in the B75 but didn't see him.
3. 18 Tim Clonch, Mesquite, TX $700
Mr.
DFW makes the scene and places well for Smiley's! Thanks to Smiley's --
where Mark Smith was an employee for a stretch -- for helping sponsor
this event and for many of the prizes distributed at the driver's
meeting. Tim checked out to win the 3rd B main and started 11th!
4. 124 Dennie Gieber, Flint, TX $400
The 'Bat Mobile' Qwik Chassis was rolling pretty well! Qwik was another sponsor of the race.
5. 10P Jody Prince, Sibley, LA $375
The
operator of J&J Racing in Haynesville, Louisiana is more well known
as a Late Model racer. Jody stays closer to the house these days as his
children have sports of their own that he's involved with. So he runs a
Limited a lot now at Champion Park Speedway in nearby Minden, LA. Glad
to have J&J as a sponsor of the Tootsie Smith Memorial as well!
6. D3 David Edwards, Natchitoches, LA $350
Another
Qwik Chassis that started 18th after grabbing the 4th and final
transfer spot in the first B main! David's been getting faster at a lot
of tracks lately!
7. 30 Joel Couvillion, Alexandria, LA $325
Joel brought the first Express Race Cars Chassis (from Lafayette, Louisiana) across the stripe. Started 12th.
8. C8 Timmy Culp, West Monroe, LA $320
Timmy won the 1st B main in his Culp's Automotive Fast Chassis.
9. 57 Steve Crane, Whitehouse, TX $315
The
owner of RCI and another sponsor of the race won the second B main
which was a pretty good race among Crane, Danny Hebert and Bo Day.
10. 94X Kevin McCoy, Mansfield, TX $310
Definitely had the nicest rig in the pits at this one! Wow! That's the way to travel.
11. Aaron Roy, Redlick, TX $305
Aaron
wasn't the first Roy brother in the show but after grabbing the final
transfer spot in the 2nd B main and starting 17th in his Hot Chassis
(another race sponsor), he made the best he could out of the feature.
12. 17X Robbie Davis, West Monroe, LA $300
Didn't get to talk to Robbie at this one but he used to run a chassis out of Oklahoma.
13. 22 Ronald 'Rollo' Pilkington, Marshall, TX $300
The
defending champion and current point leader at Ark-La-Tex Speedway
looked strong in his heat race but the Big Chief Chassis never got
rolling in the feature. Thanks to Rallo's business, Marshall Lube and
Auto for the cases of oil given away at the driver's meeting!
14. 94 Casey Hinton, Minden, LA $300
Casey
was a threat to win every where last year when he had his #28 out
there. Haven't seen him race much this year. He missed out in the B
main but won one of the two starting spots for non-qualifiers so, good
deal! (Make sure I have the right name with the right # here. This
wasn't Chris Shown, was it?)
15. 9H Danny Hebert, Lafayette, LA $300
This
former SUPR Modified Champion was driving the Express Race Cars Chassis
that cousin Shane Hebert used to win $1500 at Lone Star Speedway back
on July 3rd. Shane, meantime was finishing 3rd twice with his Modified
at a pair of $5000 to wins in Tennessee.
16. 2 Adam Roy, Redlick, TX $300
Adam
had quite a run his heat race with his Hot Chassis going from 9th to
3rd to squeak into the top eight! He even had contact with his
brother's #35 along the way in that one.
17. 3 Mark Smith, Texarkana, AR $300
Here's
the reason for this race right here. Mark works all year long getting
sponsors together for this event. This year, the Tootsie Smith Memorial
named for Mark's late father changed venues and classes. I think Mark,
Michael and a lot of folks are pleased with the results too so look for
more next year. Mark made top 8 with a strong heat race but the motor
let go late in the feature.
18. 11P Gene Posey, Choudrant, LA $300
Gene
was the other non-qualifier to make the show through the drawing. Good
to see it too for this Fast Trax-Champion Park regular.
19. 23M Bo Day, Greenville, TX $300
The
Days are a prolific family of racers that win a lot around Super Bowl
and Thunderbird Speedways in the DFW area and it was great to see them
come over for the Tootsie Smith!
20. 4 Jimmy Day, Greenville, TX $300
Thought
this was Travis Evans for a while, Jimmy bought the black Texas
Longhorns #4 from Travis. He ran 2nd to Clonch in their B main.
21. 50 Steve Ward, Texarkana, AR
Top
8. Drew 4th, finished 2nd but was disqualified in tech for a lightened
crankshaft. I've known of Steve for a long time and he doesn't need an
advantage to run well but rules are rules. Still, we want to thank
Steve's Modified owner for putting up the Ray Morris Challenge. I think
he even upped that to $300. That went by drawing to someone running at
the end of the race who finished 12th or worse. Also, thanks to Ward's
4-wheel Drive for the Limited Rear-end that went by drawing to a
non-qualifier.
Folks all I got to say is, if they'll drop the
hammer on a hometown car who brings a couple of sponsors to this race,
then they'll do it to anybody! Better be legal if you plan on running
this show in 2010!
22. 210 Jacob Pirkle, Midlothian, TX
Top
8, Drew 6th, finished 3rd but was disqualified for having cap screws on
the rod caps. Jacob is an IMCA regular at Kennedale Speedway Park and
we're still glad he made the trip. From what I understand, he spoke
with track officials later and said they thought they purchased an IMCA
legal motor but obviously didn't although I'm not sure what advantage
that was but, again, rules are rules. They were going to look for
answers themselves when they got home.
The 'Just Missed':
14-year
old Joey Simmons from somewhere near Warren, Arkansas where his father
Mark is operating the brand new Arkansas Motorsports Park Dirt Track --
yea I said 14! -- missed by just two spots of making this show after
running in the a transfer spot for much of his B main in a Fast Chassis
(Dad builds those in Arkansas!). Watch this kid! By 18, look out!!!
One
of the guys who passed Joey was Dustin 'Tater' Hyde from Texarkana -- a
USMTS Southern Series regular who came up just one spot short of making
the race in a rare LIMITED Modified appearance.
North Oklahoma's
Travis Johnson made the long tow to Texarkana too but broke a rear end
in hot laps and had to change it which caused him to miss his scheduled
heat. He was allowed to start on the back of the 5th and final heat but
would not receive any passing points. He started 9th in his B and
missed the A by just one spot!
The 'No-shows'?
I know the
rainout on August 1st hurt a little bit but 49 cars for the first time
that Limiteds headline the Tootsie Smith Memorial is still pretty good.
I see no reason why we couldn't have gotten 55 to 60 though. All I have
to say if you were one of SEVERAL Limited Modified racers who said they
wanted more purse money or a big show and you could have made it to
this race but chose to race elsewhere, then....
What's up with that?
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