Night number two of the World Finals Series at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway took place on Thursday night, November 3rd . On Thursday it would be Late Models racing for their second night while the DIRT Car Big Block Modifieds would be making their first appearance of the week. Each division would be running a full program and points racing would be key for both classes as both groups want to assure good starting positions for Saturday night's finale when the biggest bucks are doled out.
Sixty eight Late Models would sign in for night number two for them, the first group to have run back to back nights during the series this year. Changes would see both Chuckie Lepsch and Kevin Wilson make their first starts which almost assuredly guarantees them terrible starting positions for the Saturday night heats. Trevor Gundaker would be driving the same car for Reid Millard that he drove on Wednesday night, but it would look completely different. The Ed Dixon tribute body would be delivered back to the Dixon family who had requested that they get it after it made an appearance on a race car so Millard's #14 body went back on the car for this night. The Dixon tribute car had some very special graphics including pictures of many of Ed's race cars over the years and certainly something that the family would want as a keepsake. The Cody Cubbage car continues to be listed in the entrants order as well as the running order for time trials and races but the car has yet to be seen on the speedway property. Parker Price-Miller also scratched out of Thursday night action with apparent motor problems. Both Stewart Friesen and Carson Hocever were Truck racing in Phoenix with it possible they might fly back to race on Saturday night.
Thursday night's program would mirror that of the night before with qualifying followed by six heats, three Last Chance races and a forty lap main event. All six heats were won off the front row and while the track was a bit drier than it had been on Wednesday night, passing in the heat races was a tough chore.
The three Last Chance races would fill out the rest of the field with provisional starters Max Blair, Josh Richards and Gordy Gundaker added to the field which gave us twenty seven starters for the main. Having to use a provisional and start so far back in the field pretty much killed Blair's chances of gaining the Rookie of the Year title, a slim chance that was indeed extinguished with the results of the feature race.
In a tough field of competitors, the result of the feature race would produce at least a mild upset in my mind. And while Tanner English would earn the Rookie title on this night, to expect him to lead from start to finish and truly not be seriously challenged in the forty lap feature was not something that I could have predicted.
However, that is exactly what happened as he got the jump on Shane Clanton from the outside, a lane that seems to be good for starting and restarting but not worthy of racing on after that and he would then lead all forty laps to take the fifteen grand for the win.
Clanton could never really get close enough to produce a challenge of any sort as English just drove away from everyone and when he did get to lapped traffic, he made smart moves and never let up on his pace. And there would be plenty of lapped traffic as this race would go nonstop, green to checkered. And even rarer, all twenty seven drivers that started the race would still be around at the finish. There would be no flat tires, no stalled cars and no dive into the infield racers as the laps ran off. I would guess that a key reason why those not doing well didn't pull off was because of the points they would forfeit to some other team that stayed on the track. But it was of so rare to not see a stream of drivers dive to the infield by the halfway point if they weren't going anywhere forward.
English would finish comfortably in front with Clanton recorded his second straight runner up finish and guaranteeing a front row heat race start on Saturday when the Late Models next appear. Chris Madden would finish third and challenge Clanton at the end with Mike Marlar and Hudson O'Neal rounding out the top five.
Forty two Big Blocks would sign in to race for their first of three straight nights of racing action. This was a strong field of drivers, particularly when on considers that unlike the other two classes racing here, there are absolutely not local or regional teams and all the drivers in action must travel a considerable distance from the Northeast to race here. This is also the only class that has international competitors with Modified drivers from both Quebec and Ontario and it is always interesting to hear French spoken in the Big Block pits.
The Big Block format would see qualifying followed by four heats and two Last Chance races to set their field for their thirty lap main. They had a considerable number of provisional starters on this night as thirty cars took the green flag for their finale. And unlike the Late Models, the Big Block main had a couple minor yellows and yes, twice a pass for the lead in their main.
Their night got off to a rocky start when Keith Flach went head on into the third turn wall on the first lap of the first heat race but then things settled down after that .
Anthony Perrago would take the lead at the start of the main and lead the first seven laps of the finale. Two yellows, back to back for spins and a ute tire loose on the front chute, would slow the action at that point.
Back under green, as often seems to happen these days, a pass would be made for the lead following the yellow flag when Erick Rudolph would drive past Perrago on the high side and take over the point. Quickly following him into second was Mat Williamson and he soon began to put the pressure on Rudolph for the lead. He tired several times and had several near misses but finally on lap twenty he was able to slip past Rudolph coming off turn two and power into the lead.
Once in front, he pulled away from the lead group and was never challenged the rest of the way as he secured the win. Rudolph would hold off a hard challenge from Matt Sheppard to gain the second spot with Perrago and Demetrios Drellos completing the top five. Other than the quick two yellows, this race would run to the checkers for the last twenty three laps and only two of the starting field were not on the track at the finish.
Overall, things would go a lot smoother operational wise than they had on Wednesday night. The time trials were conducted much quicker and they actually started racing about fifteen minutes ahead of the actual posted starting time. All racing was complete by 10 pm also.
On Friday night it will be the Big Blocks and Sprint Cars running as the doubleheader with the Late Models taking the night off. Then, all three classes will get together on Saturday night for one big show with extra dollars on the line and three national champions to be officially crowned.
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