Sunday night, February 9th, the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series wrapped up their time in Florida with a visit to the All Tech Speedway South of Lake City Florida. This would be a new venue for the Lucas Oil drivers as this race replaced one that had been traditionally held at Bubba Raceway South of here in Ocala. No one seemed to know for sure but speculation was that this track got on the series because of a question of whether or not Bubba would be able to race following a series of issues at that track that made it questionable whether or not they would be racing this year.
All Tech started out life as an asphalt track that was covered with dirt, then sat vacant for several years before being resurrected a second time several years ago. I had been there once before on my last Florida visit when races at anther track close by were rained out and a kind local citizen told me about All Tech that was racing on that same day. I was stunned when I got there and found out what a nice place it was and that was before all the additional improvements since they have made since I was there three or four years ago.
Before when I was there, the seating consisted of a long cement slab that ran the entire length of the front chute, ideal for lawn chairs but not so much for just sitting on them. Now they have added ten rows of aluminum bleachers that run the full length of the main chute and greatly add to the number of people that the facility can seat. They have also added some nice bleachers for the pit areas and created a large camping space across the road from the track. Additional concession stands, food trucks and much more have been added and the place has also really been "spruced up" since the last time I was here.
They were very organized with them selling tickets even before the advertised gate opening hour and a series of parking attendants helped park the spectator units so that the parking was organized thus making it easier to leave the grounds and get maximum use out of the parking areas they had, as a huge crowd was in attendance.
On the negative side, they could use a scoreboard to help inform the fans, especially when the p.a. system was bad, which it was on Sunday night. It was almost impossible to hear the announcers all night so Bob Dillner(no great loss) and James Essex(a big loss) couldn't be heard hardly at all and time trials were just a rumor as to who did what. Ditto for the announcer for the Street Stocks, who went unnamed as did most of the Street drivers who's names were lost in the roar of the cars.
All Tech is a big half mile track with long chutes and relatively tight corners. It is a high speed track but it did slick up a lot, which in retrospect was probably a very good thing. With it slowing down, it made the racing better and for a big track, there was a considerable amount of "back and forth" jockeying for position. Most of the drivers had never raced here before and it was interesting to watch as they experimented with the best way of getting around the track. Also, the track seemed to change on nearly every lap as drivers would have one good lap and then stumble badly the next time around. Engines would "rev" as drivers broke traction and except for its difference in size, it seemed to be racing much like East Bay did the previous night. That is to say, hard to figure out.
Thirty four Late Models and nine Street Stocks were in attendance for this last Lucas Oil race. Qualifying, four heats and two B Features set the twenty six car, fifty lap main event for the Late Models. Tim McCreadie and Devin Moran had the front row and it was Moran that took the early lead. McCreadie faded back quickly and Jonathan Davenport moved up to second and began to challenge for the lead. It took him twenty laps to track down and then pass Moran for the lead with the yellow waving several times in the early going before the drivers started to build up some momentum.
Davenport then pulled away as Brandon Sheppard worked his way up into second and it looked like he might have something for Davenport. But then, on a restart, Sheppard made a mistake by choosing the inside line for a restart and he dropped back to fourth, losing everything he had gained and since it took time to catch and then pass cars, this was his undoing.
The last part of the race saw Davenport pull away to a comfortable lead with Mike Marlar trying to track him down. Sheppard got past Shane Clanton for third and then, showing much speed, nearly caught Marlar for second on the last lap. Clanton had his best run of the week for fourth and Jimmy Owens came from dead last to finish fifth.
Earlier in a heat race, Tyler Bruening had gotten too high in turn four and slammed the wall hard and then was hit by both Owens and Josh Richards. Both those drivers rolled out back up cars and besides Owens coming from the back to fifth, Richards raced from twenty third to eighth. Bruening was shaken a bit and opted not to take an emergency provisional.
It was interesting to note that even at this high level of racing, tempers flare from time to time and drivers do "Saturday night kind of stupid" things. After Tanner English rubbed Shannon Buckingham just a little too hard for Buckingham's tastes while making a pass, on the next corner Shannon flat out dumped English right in front of a pack of cars, that all managed to avoid a grinding wreck. Both restarted in the back and that was that but it seemed to serve little purpose except to make qualifying for Buckingham just a bit harder. In fact, he had to take a provisional to make the main.
The Street Stock had a paltry field of nine cars on hand and Patrick Mennenga led from start to finish to win a grand for his run. The Late Models ran their feature first which was probably a good choice for the Sunday night crowd and by the time the Streets hit the track, there were only a handful of spectators on hand to watch that event.
The program started right on time and they moved through the action quickly with all racing done well before 10 pm. It was an impressive first time showing for the track at All Tech, everyone had to be happy with the racing and the crowd on hand and I would not be surprised to see this event now become a yearly part of the Florida Speedweeks scene. Thanks to everyone at All Tech as this central Florida track shown well on its first appearance on a national Late Model stage and seems headed for even bigger and better things.
No comments:
Post a Comment