Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

14 cars on the track for Thursday practice. I believe all of this is accurate but if anyone sees anything wrong, spelling or otherwise, post the correction and I'll edit this.

99 Hud Cone
8B Mike Ling (sp?)
66 Tony Elliott
55 Jason Blonde
55 Shane Butler (Blonde team car)
55 Tommy Nichols - blew a lot of oil smoke and stopped on track
46 Russ Gamester
81 Dave Baumgarner
91 Dave Steele
39 Charlie Ladner
0 Danny Martin Jr.
42 Paulie Milum
68 Troy DeCaire
2C Curtis Carter

No accidents. Jack Hewitt's two seater also there. Jack drove at first and then Brian Tyler drove it with media people getting scared. lol
The flagman said Dave Steele had a lap about 14 flat. Not sure about others but I'll post some qualifying results tomorrow if it's not on the internet already when I get home.

....Opperman forever!

They have practice again on Friday from 11am until 1:15pm. Qualifying is from 1:30 - 4:30pm. They said they expect a full field of 30 cars.

http://florida400.net/

....Opperman forever!

I think I'll stay home and watch the news or maybe paint something and watch it dry. Asphalt, 400 laps, 40 degrees....I don't think the Ranger is gonna make it.

Hey Offie, I forgot to mention that they put two feet of dirt on the track! lol - just kidding.

Here's an article from the local paper for those of you who are interested in the Florida 400:

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/sports/16190926.htm

....Opperman forever!

Here's some more info including a link to some audio interviews:

http://www.karnac.net/cgi-bin/AnyBoard/anyboard.cgi/FSCR?cmd=get&cG=3373931323&zu=3337393132&v=2&gV=0&p=#37912

....Opperman forever!

someone say bristol ?

Brian Tyler is driving the two-seater but doesn't have a ride in the race, am I missing something? Many years ago he won a similiar race down there that paid $10,000. He used that money for bopping Steve Butler at the Big E though, oops. I'll be cheering for the BT Express and the Canuck. Take It Easy....

who ever said you had to buy 4 hoosiers was wrong You have to start on what you qualify on with a 50 hoosier right rear rule It is a thousand bucks to start Still time to make it Sat cars will start at rear 360 cars should outlast the 410s for 400 laps This is not a housepower track Wish I had my dirt car here Beautiful track and great people here in spite of Hewitt LOL Dick

Allan was at DeSoto Speedway today. He went back to Hosehead Southern headquarters in Jupiter and his 9:00pm update of the main page has a Florida 400 qualifying story and a Max Dolder photo of the front row.

....Opperman forever!

Dave Steele won the Florida 400. It was a GREAT race. Tons of side by side racing and passes for the lead. Dave and the rest of the drivers put on a fantastic show. Nice job by the promoters, DeSoto Speedway and everyone involved. Tony Elliott was second and Jason Blonde was third. 20 cars started and 12 finished with plenty of good racing all the way through. Better than a lot of the Little 500's I've been to. Nice size crowd for an unusually cold night. Next year's Florida 400 should only get bigger and better.
I can't wait for next year's Florida 400. They announced that there would be a winged sprint car and modified event on Friday night during Florida 400 weekend in 2007.

....Opperman forever!

Here's a treat for you pavement sprintcar fans. You can listen to a 2 hour and 20 minute audio cast of the Florida 400 race by Bill Green of KARNAC.com and ShortTrackAmerica1.com (Rob Klepper was the P.A. announcer and also did a super job on qualifying and race days). Here's a link to audio of the whole race from start to finish:

http://www.shorttrackamerica1.com/ht...eflorida.shtml

Here's a link to photos of the top three finishers:

http://www.karnac.net/cgi-bin/AnyBoa...V=0& p=#38018

Here's a link to the KARNAC message board where you can read other stuff:

http://www.karnac.net/FSCR/index.shtml

While you're at the message board, you can click on "Front Page" in the upper left of the red tool bar at the top and read other racing stuff including Kenny Schrader's win in a crate late model at East Bay Raceway last night. You can check out all of KARNAC at:

http://www.karnac.com

....Opperman forever!

This was my first asphalt race since the yawner at Orlando last year. What a difference. Mike Ling was worth the price of admission by himself .Passed Steele at least 4 times under green. Too bad he was called to the pits and went down some laps or the money would be going to Canada. Hats off to Joe and Jack and the promoter John. A little tweaking and this will rival the little 500 .Probably USAC will want to take it over. There is a choice for you. USAC or PRA or do it yourself. After Sat nite I think they should do it themselves .

1. Dave Steele
2. Jason Blonde
3. Tony Elliott (Got lapped twice at the end of the race.)

Mike Ling was worth the 5 hour drive, cold weather, and other things.

Anyone kno what car Mike Ling was drivin, pics??

Ling was driving the red 3B.

2 people post the top 3 and they aren't the same. Anyone seen the complete results?

Dave Steele and Jason Blonde were the only cars on the lead lap.

I posted what was on the track scoreboard after the race which is what others posted on other boards. I'm not surprised that Classic Corvettes says Jason Blonde was second because Blonde seemed to be in the thick of it more than Elliott, although the amount of time pitting can make or break a good performance on the track. I'm sure it was easy for the officials to determine who finished where with a check of the scoring after the race. They had a scorer for each car. I haven't seen a press release or story about the race anywhere yet. I look forward to seeing the official finishing order for the whole field.

....Opperman forever!

Florida 400 official finishing order.

I got this from phoning Jack Nowling's office.

Florida 400 results; December 9, 2006; DeSoto Speedway

1. 91 DAVE STEELE 400 laps
2. 66 Tony Elliott
3. 68 Troy DeCaire
4. 55 Jason Blonde
5. 3B Mike Ling
6. 5 Shane Butler
7. 40 Daryl Smith
8. 42 Paulie Milum
9. 50 Tommy Nichols
10. 39 Charles Ladner
11. 2C Curtis Carter
12. 99 Hud Cone
13. 35 Rod Anderson
14. 37 Mike Koss
15. 31 Travis Bleimeister
16. 81 Dave Baumgarner
17. 46 Russ Gamester
18. 9 Dude Teate
19. 8 Nick Manikis
20. 29 Bobby Gordon

The lady I spoke with on the phone said they would be sending a press release to Hoseheads, etc. with more info.

....Opperman forever!

Question: Russ Gamester had problems early and came in the pits, he went a bunch of laps down, came back out ran for a while longer and then retired from the race. Russ should of finished higher than 17th? How many laps was Elliott, Decaire, Blonde, and Ling down? Steele lapped Elliott twice at the end of the race. After the checkered was thrown the top 3 when to the finish line, which was the 91, 55, 66. The scoreboard even showed the finish in this order.