Thursday, June 13, 2019

Thornton Jr Tops Dirt Duel at SIS

Wednesday, June 12th was night number two for the Dirt Duel at the Stuart International Speedway with all the feature races to be contested after Mother Nature brought the proceedings to a slightly premature conclusion on Tuesday night.

To be decided on Wednesday night would be big money winners in the Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks while the Modifieds would also be a part of the program running a complete show of their own also with a little extra money on the line for them also.

After a relatively smooth night of racing on Tuesday, not a lot of the teams faced major repairs as the crashing level was low on Tuesday. For the record, every single Hobby Stock and Sport Mod that raced on Tuesday returned to compete on Wednesday night while three Stock Cars did not return but one new entry, in a leap of faith, paid the additional entry fee and tried to make the main while starting in the back of a heat race. It didn't work, by the way.

While gale like winds buffeted the facility on Tuesday night before the rains hit, the wind was blowing even stronger on Wednesday, but it was from the North and that was problematic as the wind was screaming right into the main grandstand from the track itself. Later on, it would lay down but by then the damage had been done as the track prep crew found it very difficult to get moisture into the track and that resulted in what was quite a dusty night or race watching. It didn't seem to affect the racing surface as much as it did those of us blinking in the stands.

After a few races where the track was quite heavy and the racing "hammer down", the track dried out and we went through a period where everyone was right on the bottom hugging the tires through some of the heat races. But the drivers gradually widened the track out and soon we were back to the wide, multiple groove racing we has seen on Tuesday. It is a dirt track after all, and seldom is a track perfect throughout the entire night. It changes and the groove moves and that is one of the beauties of dirt track racing as opposed to the "tar" variety. Mike VanGenderen and his crew did "rip" the track twice and rewater it at strategic times during the night to try and "reinvigorate" the track but the combination of many laps of racing and the high winds did take a toll as we would see at the end of the night.

And we did have plenty of racing on Wednesday night. The six races left over from Tuesday night were spun off quickly and we got into Wednesday night's program. However, there were still plenty of races to be had as the Stock Cars and Sport Mods still had one more round of heat races for those eight not already in the show by Tuesday night points plus Last Chance races in both classes.

Don't forget that we also had two mini Features for the Manufacturer's race to cut that field to twenty four cars plus the main for that title which was the same length as a regular night feature race so there was a ton of racing and a ton of laps to be put on the track on Wednesday night. In a perfect world and without Tuesday night's rain, all the Manufacturer's events would have been done already and would have helped both save the track and make the show a bit shorter as it did get pretty long.

And there was indeed a risk to the Stock Car drivers getting involved with the Manufacturer's race. If it would have been on Tuesday, they would have had a  full day to repair any possible damage but with everything being on Wednesday, they were running a risk damaging their cars in that race and not being able to run the higher paying feature race, with scant minutes between the events to fix any damage. I'm not aware of anyone impacted in such manner on Wednesday, but it was a real danger. It would have been nice to eliminate the entire event as it took a little away from the main show, but with drivers having paid entry fees and manufacturers the same, it did have to be completed.

So, after eighteen qualifying events of various lengths, we were ready to go feature racing and the Modifieds were up first. After a first lap spin, the Modified feature would go nonstop and it was Josh"Happy" Gilman who would dominate the race and take the win. He got out in front early and pulled away from the field. He built up a big lead and Kyle Brown, who finished second, was unable to cut into his advantage. California driver Cody Laney finished third.

An interesting addition to the Modified field on this night was Oklahoma's Joe"Big Daddy" Duvall who was a late arrival at the track and it took a while to try and squeeze him into a pit slot. He was on his way to Wisconsin for a big race there next week and dropped in to test out his IMCA car. Josh Most rounded out the top five and he arrived even later than Duvall and had to park his rig out on the highway as there was no room at "the inn."

Hobby Stocks were up next and they did a wonderful job of racing in their main as with twenty one of them on the track going for a grand to win, only two yellow flags slowed the action. Cory Madden did dominate this race as after starting on the outside pole, he ran away and hid from the field. A late spin with only two laps to go made things interesting but on the final green, he pulled away to score a fairly comfortable win. His biggest challenge was the lapped traffic of which there was a lot and with the only other yellow being just at the halfway point, he had to deal with many of the slower cars a couple of times before the final checkered waved.

There was plenty of passing behind him however with Dylan Nelson coming from seventh to finish second and Solomon Bennett from thirteenth to third. A late charge saw Chuck Madden Jr up to fourth and Eric Knutson completed the top five.

The Stock Car Manufacturer's race was next and since twenty cars started it (four opted not to risk it starting from the back), and it was for twenty laps with a grand to the winner, it was for all intent and purposes a feature race too. Cayden rode the high side to get the win in this race and he looked like a stout pick for what would be coming up shortly after this event.

It was quite a productive and busy night for Carter as he won four races over the course of the night! He won a left over heat race from Tuesday, a heat race from Wednesday night's show, a Manufacturer's race qualifier and the Manufacturer's race itself. His car was probably panting for air by the time they got to the "big show" which was the last race of the night. Unfortunately, he was not able to win race number five of the night, which might have been some kind of world record,  as he got caught to the outside when the track changed and he dropped back, finishing out of the top ten.
There were also many other drivers that ran in that many races on Wednesday within a show that was a challenge to both man and machine as well as to us in the grandstand suffering from "butt numbness."

While it was a productive night from Cayden Carter, it didn't turn out so bad for his brother Brayden who won the Sport Mod feature and doubled up on the cash earnings of his brother, topping the thirty lap finale and earning two grand for his efforts.

The Sport Mod feature was the best race of the night in my mind, with a tremendous amount of dicing for positions and more twists and turns than a cheap soap opera. The track played a part in this as well. Before both this race and the finale, the Stock Car feature, the high side was misted to try and speed up that groove. While it helped, it was also treacherous as if you ran the high side you got a big boost of speed, but get just a few inches too high and you would hit a wet spot and either slide back dramatically or perhaps, spin out.

During this race we saw that happen to several drivers including early leader Josh Foster. Carter himself, following a restart, got too high in turn one and dropped all the way back to fifth but with a tremendous effort, fought his way back into the lead and then held off the severe challenge of Johnathon Logue Jr to take the win. The top five cars races very close together for much of the race and at certain times, it appeared that any one of them had a legitimate chance to take the win. Chase Rudolf ended up third with Carter VandenBerg and Tyler Inman completing the top five. Only three cars of the starting field failed to go the distance.

Another track misting and it was time for the finale which was the whopping fifty lapper for the Stock Cars with three grand to the winner. This race saw pole sitter Abe Huls lead for nearly the first half of the race with several other drivers putting pressure on him. The tricky upper lip of the track also tripped up a few drivers in this race including Joe Zrostlik, Elijah Zevenbergen,  Luke Lemmens and Buck Schafroth who all spun at one time or another in the top lane with them triggering yellows for the loops. Those, by the way, were the only yellows of the event which otherwise went very smoothly.

Thornton Jr started eighth on the grid and gradually worked his way forward as the first half of he race saw drivers dicing for position and trying to work themselves into challenging positions without taking unnecessary risks.

While Huls worked the low groove, Thornton Jr was up the track, using the middle line and sometimes even higher in turn four to make moved and gradually work his way into a challenging spot. He gradually built up momentum and just before the halfway point of the race, he eased past Huls down the front chute and took over the lead.

It was right about this time that the track finally said "I'm pooped out and tired of all the laps on me", and started to take rubber. Thornton Jr quickly realized this and dropped to the bottom of the track with most others following him and those that tried to still work the high side found themselves charging backward. For awhile Thornton Jr was able to build up a lead using this line but his car was very tight on the bottom and he had to start really slowing down in the corners to keep it planted there and soon Huls and Johnny Spaw were catching him at a quick pace.

A key moment for Thornton Jr was after he got stuck behind a slower Shawn Ritter and the second and third place cars were knocking on his rear bumper and just about ready to try and pin him behind the slower car, that Ritter slid up the track and all three were able to get past him.

The last few laps saw Huls dogging Thornton Jr as he got right to his rear bumper and hoped for a mistake. To Abe's credit, he had the opportunity to "plant" Thornton Jr several times as Ricky was slow in the corners but even the temptation of three grand wouldn't allow Huls to break the "driver's code" of ethics and while he rode the rear bumper of Thornton Jr on the last lap, he didn't try and knock him out of the way, as many of today's NASCAR "punks" would have done. Instead, he settled for second and was able to hold his head high after the finish. Spaw was a close third with Kyle Brown and Josh Daniels completing the top five. Daniels came from sixteenth to finish in the top five.

For Thornton Jr, it was just another incredible win for the Arizona native as he just keeps on a roll, both in his Stock Car and his Modified. He reported in victory lane that the win on Wednesday was his twenty fifth of the season so far, an incredible total since we are not yet at the halfway point of the racing season with many of his wins being of the special, higher paying variety. I'm sure that next week he will be at 141 going for the ten grand there with his Modified and who knows, perhaps take the Stock Car as well if he can find someone to pull it there.

It was a very good two nights of racing at Stuart, despite the weather issues. As usual MVG and his crew were "on the money" with their organization and execution of the races and while it was a late one on Wednesday, I see no way that it could have been done any sooner, given the circumstances and number of events that they had to complete. The crowd size seemed to indicate that it was a successful event and likely will continue next year. Many people have indicated to me that they never thought that they would see the Stuart track back to the level that it is now and hosting as many special events as they have already this year. Next on the agenda of specials is the Ron Little Memorial race on July 2nd. Perhaps I will see you there. 

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