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2/7/2009
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THE SAMSULA MARATHON "FIRST
NIGHT OF RACING CURSE" CONTINUES
The Night the Lights Went
Out by Denise DuPont |
The first night of racing for the 43rd year of racing at New Smyrna Speedway
was a long, cold, dark night.
And when I say dark, I mean dark! When I say cold, I mean cold.
Even the track generator overheated from the cold.
Here is a summary from the first night of racing:
The night was cold (hovering close to 30 degrees)
The track was damp
Tensions were high
Some drivers were very aggressive
Fans were ready for racing
Racing started about ½ hour late because of length time trials
for each of the six divisions
All divisions had racing issues or incidents except for the SK
cars
Just as the Super Late Model Cars were ready to take the green
for their event, racing was
red flagged for a time out
Track generator overheated from the cold forcing Track lights had
to be turned off
Track lights were off for a little over twenty minutes
Fans danced in the dark to YMCA to stay warm while racing was
on hold
Hauler generator lights were bright as Christmas lights glowing
in the window while the rest of
the track was in darkness
Track owner Hart extended a buy one ticket get one free with a
ticket stub from tonight for any
one that is coming to the races tomorrow
Tour mods came on the track for hot laps about 10:30 PM with
temperatures hovering about
35 degrees
Some Mod Tour Type cars were severely damaged early on because of
overly aggressive
moves
Some of the list pf drivers who walked to the infield as their
cars were towed (most hammock
style) after major incidents: Kenny Horton,
Ryan Preece, Kevin Goodale, Jon McKennedy,
Matt Hirschman, Robbie Fuller, Dennis Costa
Jimmy Blewett hung on to win the hour long 25 lap modified race,
Chuck Hossfeld who had
the fastest car in time trials came across
the start finish line to take second followed by JR
Bertuccio, Bobby Grigas and Eric Goodale to
round off the top five.
The SK race was the last race of the night and it was shortened
to 15 laps
SK race had less cars, it was a short shoot out style race, it
finished without major incidents or
damage
Jimmy Blewett doing double duty had double wins in the #12 cars
There were a lot of new cars that went to the pits damaged
(severely)
Cars had issues with the first turn wall, four turn and back
stretch
Cars were able to pass on the outside
Cars were able to come from the back of the pack back through the
field
There were a lot of nice new cars that started the race
A lot of teams had to regroup and once again start the week with
long hours of repairs
Jimmy Blewetts words from Victory sum up his feelings about the
night: It was excellent
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Source: Denise
DuPont
/ New Smyrna Speedway
Posted: February
7, 2009 |
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