Monday, March 25, 2019

Thornton Jr and Timmerman Survive at "The Hummer" for Huge Payday

I should have known it. The odds of having rain in Kansas for at least one night of any three night special in March are about as high as the on site manager at any hotel I'm staying at would have a last name of Patel. In other words, incredibly high.

In rained in the morning and into the afternoon with some pesky late afternoon/early evening drizzles just enough to make the track slick and the conditions a little more miserable for man and beast. However, with so many fans and drivers not able to stick around for the Sunday rain date, track officials and all the track workers did an incredible job of fighting off all the elements and getting the racing program completed.

Unfortunately, the rain had already completed the damage it could inflict and a race track already much softer than usual was made even more chewy by the precipitation and the worst fears of all were realized when the track came apart badly and caused an almost incalculable amount of damage to the race cars in both classes. Track officials did every possible thing they could to try and mitigate the issues, but as soon as they either packed, scraped or "tickled" the track, once racing wheels got back on it, it started to form bumps and moguls once again. And to make matters worse, the track was also incredibly fast with drivers turning what was believed to be record laps, even if they were spending much more "air time" than they bargained for. And the "hammer down" situation put even more stress on the race cars with the attrition rate not surprisingly being very high. The drivers understood the situation before racing even began but when you're racing for the kind of money that was on the line at "The Hummer" on Saturday, the operative plan was to "go fast and hold on" and pray that the car would hang together.

A series of "ladder" races allowed the drivers one last chance to make the main and when all these were completed, it was feature time with the B Mods hitting the track first. Twenty five of them took the green flag for a race that was originally scheduled for fifty laps but was pared to forty because of track conditions. As it was, there were eight yellow flag slowdowns and only half of the field was still running at the end. Early on Dustin Daniels, who started on the pole, took the early lead but he was soon challenged by Andy Bryant who was on the move after starting thirteenth. Also moving up was Timmerman who started ninth on the grid.

Things got intense as Bryant began to put the pressure on the leader as they battled hard for the top spot. While racing for the top spot they came together on the front chute and both cars pulled up lame with flats. Both changed tires and went to the back and eventually got decent finishes due to the high attrition rate late in the race.

Timmerman then inherited the lead and was chased by Tony Bahr for many laps and through several yellow flag situations when the lead became tenuous on the restarts. Bahr tried running the cushion and rolling through the low side of the track but he just couldn't gain any ground on Timmerman. One last yellow set up a two lap sprint to the finish but Bahr's attempt to get pat didn't work and Timmerman took the win.

For Timmerman, it was a great win and one celebrated by many for the hard working group from Norwalk Iowa. Long ago, they cast their die with the USRA brand of racing and where they live, it resulted in a lot of long distance tows to race tracks. But they have been consistent competitors who always seem to show up at the last minute at far flung tracks where the Iron Man Series might be racing. Often it is just Adam and his father for a crew as they have shown a tough minded resolve as they worked with their equipment. They now have a new(or newer) GRT chassis and Adam was quick right from the start on Thursday. He ran a steady pace and an unfailing line as he withstood all challenges that Bahr threw at him.

After the race, Bahr was disqualified in technical inspection for a violation that I haven't yet been able to determine. That elevated Jackie Dalton to second ahead of Ryan Gillmore, Cody Thompson and J.C. Morton as the USRA cars dominated over all challengers this year.

The Modified feature was perhaps even more brutal than the B Mod main was. Only eight cars crossed the finish line at the end of the race which saw contender after contender drop by the way side with mechanical issues. The yellow waved eleven times and near the end those still left racing became concerned whether they would have enough fuel to finish up the race. Originally set for seventy five laps, it was first cut to sixty laps and then, when the concern that no one would finish and the hour grew later and later, it was finally cut to fifty.

Ryan Gustin, who had showed so much speed all week, was the early leader with Kyle Strickler moving in to challenge him. They had a good battle between early yellows before Strickler took over the top spot. Shortly after Gustin laid down a huge trail of liquid and he was done.

Strickler continued to lead but Thornton Jr was somehow finding a smooth way around the track that didn't upset his car like many of the others were having to endure. He drove past Jason Hughes and Rodney Sanders and then closed on Strickler. They took turns throwing some sliders at each other before Thornton Jr finally established the lead and began to comfortably pull away. Every yellow saw Strickler stop and talk to track officials as they searched for a problem and every time he rolled away he left a puddle of leading fuel that was not coming from the San Andres Fault. Eventually he ran out of "juick" and joined the growing list of DNF's which both Hughes and Sanders were also on.

Brady Gerdes just kept his nose clean and eventually found himself in second but Darron Fuqua had the speed to drive past him and take over the runner up slot. Meanwhile, Thornton Jr was just worried he was going to run out of fuel himself and was probably as happy as anyone when the white flat suddenly and surprisingly, was displayed. He had a big lead at the finish as he mastered the elements.

Already this Spring, Thornton Jr has reaffirmed just what an excellent Modified driver he is, winning races all over the country  and not worrying about what the letters of the sanctioning body are. He is an equal opportunity "spoil sport", messing things up for the regulars no matter what the sanctioning body is as he leads the life of the meandering race car driver. Why some big name Late Model team hasn't snatched up this guy remains one of the great mysteries.

Despite a truly miserable night, I thought the crowd was very good and with two large purses to pay out this weekend, it needed to be. Some in the crowd were observed slating their thirsts by drinking some kind of liquid out of a mason jar, something I had not seen in quite some time. However, they were pleasant drunks and caused no harm.

For all the adversity thrown at the promoters and workers of the track, I thought they did a wonderful job of making the track as good as possible and keeping the show moving and despite the fact the final checkered waved at 1 am, I heard no complaints about the late hour but in fact more that they were thankful that the workers had toughed it out and gotten in a show for them on a night when many others would have thrown in the towel early. There is a reason why Humboldt is held in such high regard by race fans across the Midwest.

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