Archive for VSP
Apr
12
Volusia Sprints Race Report – 04.09.11
Posted by: | CommentsAfter receiving an urgent text from the FSCF.com corporate offices asking me to replace star race reporter Josh “Lifetime Probation” Wichers, I packed up my stuff and headed to Volusia Speedway Park for the start of the Ken Sands monthly sprint car experiment.
DATE: April 9, 2011
SERIES: Volusia Speedway Sprint Cars & Florida Mini Sprints Association.
ADMISSION PRICE: $12 for the grandstand and $25 for the pit pass.
FOOD ORDERED: Cheeseburger.
FOOD GRADE: B- . While my cheeseburger was a little on the cool side, a couple of folks I was being social with mentioned their food was warm and tasty, thus the grade increase from a C.
DRINKS ORDERED: Bud Light and Water.
DRINKS GRADE: C. The track continues to insist on selling Bud and Bud Light. Please show a little more imagination when it comes to serving beer.
CROWD GRADE: A. The crowd was very healthy for a regular weekly show.
NUMBER OF SPRINT CARS: 28 Sprint Cars, even though no Ryan Partin, Tommy Denton or Gene Lasker. There were 25 FMSA cars, sadly which did not include either of mine.
WHO WON: Sprint Cars – Danny Martin Jr. FMSA – Jesse Teed.
1- Danny Martin Jr. 2- 81 Sport Allen 3- 83R Mark Ruel Jr. 4- 3K Kurt Taylor 5- 27G Johnny Gilbertson 6- 43 Terry Witherspoon 7- 11 Tim O’Donnell 8- W3 Otto Scrape 9- 42 Tim Grubaugh 10- 1 Tim George 11- 36 Ken Laureno 12- 32 Larry Pickett 13- 21 Harley Zimmerman 14- 66 Wes Scrape 15- 59 Dan Statter 16- 4C Tyler Godwin 17- 3 Dennis Misuraca 18- 92 Matt Kurtz 19- 11 Ashlynn Durden 20- 27 Dan Pickett 21- 17D Bruce Durden 22- 20 Greg Avera 23- 3A AJ Maddox 24- 83 Bob Auld DNS- 71 Kody Stone DNS- 47W DNS- 17C Mark Chicca DNS- 9 Brandon Grubaugh
FSCF.COM DRIVER OF THE RACE: For the sprint cars I’m going with the man who picked up this same award last time out with the TBARA, Johnny “Gilby” Gilbertson. Johnny started 16th and ended up crossing the checkers with a strong 5th place finish. And this was after watching him struggle in the heat race and then thrashing on the car before the feature. Driver of the race for Gilby is well deserved. Also a tip of the cap is in order for Sport Allen, Mark Ruel Jr. and Kurt Taylor for posting strong runs. For the FMSA, I’m going with race winner Jesse Teed. It was Jesse’s first race this season and he won in dominating fashion after starting deep in the field.
FSCF.COM HARD LUCK AWARD: “OTG” Tyler Godwin. Tyler had a great starting position for the feature but fell victim to the two spin rule on Lap 6 and was done.
SERIES GRADE: A.
TRACK GRADE: C+. The track surface took some extra working in early in the night. It slicked off during the feature.
OTHER NOTES:
* From laps 12 to 20 were easily some of the best sprint car racing I’ve seen this year. Sport Allen, after starting on the front row, fell back to fifth or sixth before mounting a “Superman” type charge to the front. Allen and Martin battled for the lead through traffic.
* I have to give a shoutout to longtime FMSA campaigner Steve Crabtree for his strong second place run in that old Bailey upright car of his. Steve really gets the most out of that car. Great job Steve!
* I saw pavement car owners George Rudolph, Nick Manikis and Wendy Mathis in attendance. Could we see them add dirt to their sprint car diets? At least with Miss Mathis, she already has a couple dirt chassis’, but may have one or two sold.
* I think Ken Sands might have a winner here. The test will be April 23rd when the sprint cars return.
* Good to see our Australian racer Craig Skene and family in attendance once again. How soon before Craig moves over here for good?
RACE REPORTER: Brian Penrose
Mar
09
Looking into the Volusia Speedway Park crystal ball…
Posted by: | Comments
Feb
10
Volusia Speedway Park Race Report – 02.09.11
Posted by: | CommentsIt was a rough note taking night. The great promotional pen I got from the NGK booth at PRI fell apart early in the night’s activities. Next time I’ll have a backup pen. Lesson learned.
DATE: February 9,2011
SERIES: All-Star Circuit of Champions
ADMISSION PRICE: $29 for the grandstand
FOOD ORDERED:Pork chop sandwich, steak on a stick and nachos
FOOD GRADE: A. The pork chop and steak on a stick were not from the track concessions but I love the midway food during SpeedWeeks.
DRINKS ORDERED: Sweet Tea
DRINKS GRADE: B. The tea was very good but the track continues to insist on selling Bud & Bud Light. Please show a little more imagination.
CROWD GRADE: B+. The crowd was healthy but it wasn’t SpeedWeeks healthy.
NUMBER OF SPRINT CARS: 39
WHO WON: Sammy Swindell
FSCF.COM DRIVER OF THE RACE: It came down to Big Game Treestand teammates Sammy Swindell and Craig Dollansky. Dollansky started 17th and charged to a 2nd place finish. However, I’m going with Sammy Swindell. Swindell started 9th and quickly advanced to the lead. He was so strong he lapped The King and Joey Saldana. When was the last time those two were lapped in the same race?
FSCF.COM HARD LUCK AWARD: Kraig Kinser. Kraig was well on his way to a top 3 finish when the car rolled to a stop on the backstretch on lap 22. He was unable to return to the feature.
SERIES GRADE: A.
TRACK GRADE: A. The track surface was fast and smooth. They even turned the track over before the start of the heat races.
OTHER NOTES:
- Dale Blaney, Daryn Pittman and David Gravel have all had impressive runs in Florida so far. Gravel finished 3rd, Pittman 4th and Blaney was in the top 5 most of the race before falling late to a 10th place finish.
- Terry “Tin Cup” McCarl and Greg Hodnett both have struggled with their new rides. Hodnett languished in the back of the feature while McCarl failed to finish the B Main.
- It appears that Craig Dollansky has added 2010 World of Outlaws Champion crew chief D.J. Lindsey to his team. With last night’s run this looks like a potent combination.
- Nice run by former All-Star Champ Greg Wilson coming home in 5th.
- To Mrs. Layton, Chad was fast in hot laps (unfortunately it doesn’t pay to win hot laps). A bad qualifying time put him behind the eight ball the rest of the night. He finished 7th in his heat race. He was starting to come forward for the B Main but ran out of laps. Finished 8th in the B Main. I think they will be better thursday night.
- The Damion Gardner hauler was spotted out in the parking lot. There is one Hot Shoe we can see at Ocala next week for the wingless show.
- It will be interesting to see which WoO teams are using the All-Star nights as a test. After night one Swindell, Dollansky, Jason Meyers and Kraig Kinser look stout. The Kasey Kahne Racing (Saldana, Cody Darrah & Brad Sweet ) cars along with Tony Stewart Racing (Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz) struggled. I wonder if the switch to Goodyear still has some teams scrambling to find the set up their driver likes?
RACE REPORTER: “The Hot Foot” Brian Penrose