Friday saw night number two of the USMTS three race event at the Southern Oklahoma Speedway in Ardmore. Once again a big and strong field of Modifieds was on hand with fifty six drivers again signing in to race, although there were a half dozen new drivers on hand while a like number were missing, either to fix their machines or to go home and lick their wounds. Limited Modifieds again joined the show and for the first time, Hobby Stocks also raced to make it a three division program.
The pit activity was much more frenzied than one day earlier as many crews were repairing opening night damage or making changes to try and make their cars faster. Illinois racer Cody Bauman and crew were busy in the tech building changing a motor, an activity that would be rewarded later when he would race his way into the main event.
Minnesota's Jason Thoennes made one of the longer tows to this race and his crew was very busy as they got their car all torn up in a B feature tangle on Thursday night. They would get their tasks completed and Thoennes would again try to qualify for the main event. Unfortunately, the B feature bit him once again and for the second straight night he watched the main from the pits. He drew a pole position for his heat but starting right up front can be a curse with passing points as he lost just one spot in the heat , but that was enough to send him B feature racing.
Things were aggressive right from the start in the heat races with top runners Sanders and Jason Hughes perhaps guilty of laying on their competitors pretty hard in the corners as they tried to move forward. After their races there were some evil stares and revving of motors as they completed their cool down laps.
Part of the problem was that the track had made a complete change from the previous night, a change that apparently some of the drivers didn't see coming. Instead of being a power track all the way around on the high side, the first and second corner dried out very early in the evening with absolutely nothing to be found on the high side on that end of the track. This caused drivers to alter their racing strategy on the fly and the congestion on that end of the track was apparent.
By B feature time everyone was racing right around the bottom of the track and these last chance qualifiers were tedious, with more yellow flags than the rest of the week all told so far.
By feature time for the Modifieds, the best of the best had made the show and these guys had the track figured out, as the forty lap main event saw just a single yellow flag. Everyone was still scratching for traction and those that were able to hold their cars to the bottom groove were moving the best. Sanders had the door open for his early on the bottom coming off the second corner and he dove from the fourth row to the lead. Once in front, he opened up nearly a straightaway lead on the field while the battle behind was fierce for position. Jason Hughes moved into second but he had Dereck Ramirez, Austin Arneson, Stormy Scott and several others all racing in a big group.
The lone yellow with thirteen laps complete bunched the field but Sanders again pulled away with the battle for second raging. Lapped traffic was a major concern and Sanders had his work cut out for him as he tried to move through them while not giving up his preferred line.
As the race wore on, something interesting happened though, and the track started to change. Drivers like Arneson and Scott love the top side and they pound the cushion, even if it sometimes doesn't work the best for them. However, slowly at first and then at increasing rates, the top side of the track started to get faster and rubber began to be laid down. Sanders found the lapped cars harder to get past and in fact, a couple that he had just passed went buzzing past him again as they moved up the track. Whether he got a hand signal or the lapped cars proved to be the key, Rodney moved up the track just in the nick of time as a three car train was baring down on him and any further delay moving up the track would have cost him the lead.
The last ten laps saw the top four running in train fashion, with lapped cars also running the top side proving to be a major hazard. Several times Sanders had to slow quite dramatically to keep from running up the back of the lapped cars, yet not wanting to move down the track and fear getting "freight trained". As he slowed, the contenders behind had to make a choice and several times they dived lower into turn one, only to get shuffled back as they got hung out to dry. Hughes was the first, then Scott but when Arneson tried the same move, Scott got him back. Most of the top four runners had less than complementary things to saw about the cars that saw Ryne Staley's lay over flag multiple times but failed to move. About the only one who got out of the way was Jimmy Owens.
The last few laps looked a high speed game of checkers with drivers jumping and then re jumping positions. The top four crossed the line nose to tail and for the second straight night Zack VanderBeek proved to be a big charger, starting thirteenth and racing up to fifth.
The support divisions proved to be a big night for the Day's, if that makes any sense. The Hobby Stock feature went to Bo Day while the Limited Mod feature was won by Roudy Day. I'm not sure how they're related, but they pit next to each other so there must be some connection. Along with winning the Hobby Stock feature, Bo Day finished third in the Limited Mod main, after a runner up finish on Thursday night. Bo told me that he is not related to the Day Motorsports group, although he said he wished he was, as it would probably make racing a little cheaper for him!
The support divisions have done just exactly was would be hoped for them in a perfect world. For the second straight night the Limited Mods ran their feature nonstop while the Hobby Stocks had just a lone yellow flag, while also providing some entertaining feature events.
Interesting to me, when I looked over Bo Day's Hobby Stock on Thursday, I noticed that the car has two racing seats. He told me that in Texas, where he is from, the car is called a Factory Stock and that some of the tracks allow a passenger to ride along when they're racing! He indicated to me that his fiancee was planning to ride along with him on Friday. However, in checking the car tonight, I noticed that no passenger was on board. Perhaps the track wouldn't allow it.
I mentioned to Bo that I rode along in a race car once but that it was an ice racer in Wisconsin where most of the racers have passengers when they race. Racing on ice! He looked at me like I was nuts! Then I remembered that I am from a different world from most of these folks.
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