For those that read this blog from time to time, you may have had the feeling that yesterday's blog was about my worst effort ever. And if you did, I fully agree with your assessment. It was a real chore evening getting anything produced yesterday.
Because it seems that after weeks of hop scotching the country, an illness caught up with me and I have been miserable the last three days or so. Chills and fever, runny nose and headaches, tremendous pressure on my eyes and all the good stuff likely from a good old fashioned head cold. I've been taking meds the last thirty six hours or so that seem to have kind of controlled things, but I am far from the road to recovery.
Of course I'm too stubborn to stay home from the races so I've been resting until the last possible minute before heading out to the track. This has been a week of eating, sleeping and more sleeping. Not the way one would want to end their vacation but that's the breaks sometimes. In any event, I'll try to do just a bit better today although right now I'm sweating so bad I can hardly see to type.
Big Block Modifieds and Late Models would again be the featured divisions on Wednesday. The Late Models would be running under the World of Outlaws rules and procedures but it would be the same drivers as had been running earlier this week. There would be forty eight of them signing in to race as Volusia just does not get the same big car counts as East Bay. We would swap announcers as DIRTcar announcer Chris Stepan was off to East Bay to announce Sprint Cars while the second year voice of the Outlaws, Ruben Mireles, would be calling the action for the Outlaws. Interestingly, with exactly the same number of race cars, the Outlaws would run six instead of four heats that had been run on previous nights and there would be three B Features as opposed to two previously. The top six would redraw for the feature race while the Big Block Mods would use a different format, even though they had exactly the same number of cars. And people wonder why the sport is hard to figure out at times.
We also got a big treat when Michael Waltrip, apparently taking a wrong turn on the highway heading for Daytona, ended up at VSP and even stole Dave Farney's green flag to start one of the heat races. I figured there must be some reason that Waltrip was at a dirt track when there was activity at the big track but he quickly became apparent that he was here to hustle his new beer and there are plenty of beer drinkers in this crowd for sure. I knew he had to be selling something to show up here.
Four heats for the Big Blocks and six for the Late Model would follow qualifying with Rex King Jr the quickest for the Big Blocks and Chris Madden quickest for the Late Models. It was a night of smooth driving as the racers were really hitting high speeds but the races went off cleanly with very few yellow flags, right up to feature time.
The Big Blocks would be going thirty laps on Thursday night and pole starter Jimmy Phelps would lead lap one as twenty five drivers would take the green. Phelps would lead only that first lap before he was passed by Demetrios Drellos who went roaring by him on the outside.
Phelps would not give up easily though, and he got up on the wheel and would close back up on the leader, having success as he retook the lead on lap nine and would maintain the lead up through the halfway point of the race. By this time, Anthony Perrego had worked his way up from this seventh starting spot and passed Drellos for second with Larry Wight and Mat Williamson in the top five. Drellos was really flying on the outside and one lap later he sped past Phelps to take over the lead.
He really began to extend his lead and was nearly a full straightaway ahead of the crowd with Phelps still holding second with Wight and Williamson following. The race had remained green to this point but with only five laps to go, Darren Smith jumped the cushion in turn one and took a violent flip which triggered the red flag. Smith was not hurt but the rear end of his car was twisted like a pretzel.
The last five laps would see a tremendous shake up of the field. With the vast majority of passes in the world of racing now coming directly after yellow flags, due to tires and changing track conditions in most cases, While Perrego continued to lead when the green was displayed, Williamson got up on the cushion and quickly dispatched both Wight and Drellos and then closed in on Perrego. With Anthony running the low side of the track, he was a sitting duck as Williamson blew past him with just two laps to go and then pulled away for the win. It was a bitter pill for Perrego to swallow as if not for the last yellow, he would have won by a full straightaway and instead had to settle for runner up honors for the second straight night. Wight, Phelps and Erick Rudolph would complete the top five.
And if the Big Block feature was not exciting enough, the Late Model main was even better with the winning pass coming off turn four on the final lap. Thirty cars would start the Late Model feature on this night as once we went to the Outlaws sanction, all the provisional starters began to pop up. Is it just me, or does it seem that the Outlaws every year have more drivers that tag along on the whole tour that couldn't ever make a show if there was no guaranteed starters yet they always appear at the back of the pack, never challenging for a top position but collecting a check just because they were there. Other than adding cars to the field, what benefit do they provide?
In any event, It would be Mike Marlar that would get the jump on Chris Madden to lead the opening laps. Ricky Thornton Jr was on the move though, and he quickly moved in to challenge Marlar and when Mike pushed up the track, it was Thornton Jr that would take over the lead. Thornton Jr would lead for three laps and then he would do the same as Marlar had done, jump the cushion in turn one and would hand the top spot back to Mike. As Marlar continued to lead, there was a terrific battle behind him as Madden, Bobby Pierce and Thornton Jr waged war with Nick Hoffman also moving in to make it a four car group racing for position.
Yellows on laps thirteen and nineteen slowed the action but both times Marlar would continue to lead with now Madden and Pierce his closest competitors. However, following the second yellow, Madden would make a hard charge into turn one and run Marlar up into the mud over the cushion, taking over the lead and sending Marlar reeling back into the pack. Then, as Madden continued to lead, there was a great battle for second as Hoffman and Pierce fought it out, going wheel to wheel for a number of laps.
It appeared that Madden had things under control but when Hoffman finally broke free from Pierce, he began to reel in Madden at a remarkable pace. In the last couple of laps he got right up behind the leader and going down the back chute on the final lap, Hoffman threw a slider into turn three that cleared Madden with room to spare and Hoffman would pull out an exciting win, the best race of the week. Madden would settle for second with Pierce, Thornton Jr and Daulton Wilson rounding out the top five. It was an excellent race and despite the high speeds that the drivers were running, there was still plenty of room on the track for passing while the cushion as been a tough foe for many .
All week the weather forecast has been showing that Saturday and Sunday (too bad 500 fans) look to be washouts and that forecast has simply not changed. Finally recognizing that fact, at the driver's meeting it was announced that the purse for Friday night's show and laps have been increased, just in case Saturday doesn't happen.
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