txtom Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 Another first weekend of Decemberin pensacola has passed, and a good one it was. Some of the nights ran a little long, and it was pretty cool, but those things happen. Excellent racing was to be seen in all divisions. And the stands were PACKED. Period. Biggest crowd every day I have ever witnessed at Pensacola. Every wooden or concrete bench had a butt on it Sunday. Jason Boyd made his third (I think) trip over there with a Modified, and brought a good looking new car they finished in the hotel parking lot. Maybe everyone oughta do that, because he ran at the front all race, made some smooth passes on the leaders, and held off a couple local veterans to take a huge win for the Texas crowd. Folks, this was no fluke, he had one of the top cars, led over half the race, and in the end had a little luck and help, when fast qualifier #2 Wes Stephens and #145 Billy Melvin got to racing each other. Jason was the best that night over 57 or so cars that showed up. Allen Alexander had a great run in his sportsman car. Remember their Sportsman cars are a tick away from limited late models, glass bodies and all, and Allens car is a steel unibody with a lot of weight up high. Excellent showing for Allen, Big John and the rest of the team. Only Jason Young made the big show in the SLM cars. He had a pretty good car, but I think the long green run at the end of the race hurt him, as he was long out of tires when the checkered waved. Casey Smith fought a new car all weekend, and the rest of the Texas contigent fought various issues that kept them out of the big show. They timed 67 SLM cars, that means 29 cars went home, a DNQ list that included former winners Gary St Amant, Butch Miller, Former pole sitter Gary Helton, and a host of other big shoes. As for the race, it is a shame Brazier came up heavy on left weight. That .3 percent was not enough to make the difference in how that car ran; he could put it wherever he wanted, and went to the front at will. But over weight is overweight, and for Gill, he was too wide. Not taking anything from Brazier, but the end could have been more exciting if Gill and Rogers had not been held up by lapped traffic. Some cat named Scott from Idaho was in several skirmishes, and at the end held up Gill and Rogers badly. It is a wonder that he did not get dumped by Gill. While everyone knows I am not a fan of Rusty or Steven Wallace, it was neat to see Southland Fire Extinguisher on the car of Wallaces. I helped Freddy back when it was on his car, and I got to visit with Southland owner Nicky Prejean. Any of you old-timers that remember him, he is still the same. 5 feet tall, 5 feet around, etc. And still chewing on those cigars. Prejean is into drag racing, and the Snowball sponsorship was a 1 race deal. Lots of Texans at the race, both as fans and as competitors. Lots of no-shows for various reasons, but that is normal. Not a lot of lighter side news to report this year; no one pissed off the waitresses, went into the wrong bathrooms, or picked up dates at the Waffle House. The youngsters behaved themselves this year, for the most part. I am sorry to report that I missed Big John dancing. Seems they went to a strip club down there somewhere, and his fellow compadres told the club folks it was Big's birthday. As I hear it, he was on stage doing the chicken dance with a bunch of "B" grade strippers. On the other hand, maybe it was good that I missed that.................................. Another of our Texas contingent, John Schultz, (Modracer) driver of the #44 Mod, and a fine upstanding member of law enforcement, spent time explaining to one of the Derby Officials the bond between Cops and donuts. Good to see good working relations between the officials and the racers. The official, Mr. Wyatt, was most impressed with John's knowledge of that delicacy made of yeast, flour, sugar, and water. Also got to meet Steve Meyer, he goes by Snowball here and has done a great job keeping us posted on the events at Pensacola. Folks, he is not a track official, just another fan who loves what he sees there. The Bryants and the track are lucky to have a guy like Steve that puts his effort into promoting the races at 5 flags; from calling racers to posting on these forums. Steve has seen every Derby, and he is the same age as the Derby. Steve, sorry I did not get to talk long, but it was hard to move around in the stands with the crowd they had. He was sitting with another board member, VIR, and his son from Houston. Great to be able to put faces to the names. That is all for now, and I am waiting for my ticket renewal to come in the mail for next year. Me thinks Me will be making a few runs down this next year for the Blizzard races. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Lake Race Fan Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 Wow! Did I get to meet you this weekend? I'm Danny, "the son from Houston". I would have liked to have a put a face to your name. I don't post very often, but I always enjoy reading your posts. I grew up watching several of the guys you post about (Fryer, Niedecken,etc.) racing at Mobile. Steve is certainly an asset to 5 Flags, and a heck of a guy. I bet he is having withdrawals today with the Derby over for another year. Ha! Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted December 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 Danny, I was talking to Steve on Friday night, you were too busy eating to talk!! I was only over there a few minutes; They were about to start the racing, and I went back to my group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Lake Race Fan Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 Oh, man! I feel like George Costanza on Seinfeld when he was caught on TV stuffing his face at the tennis match! Ha! Ha! Can't even remember what I was eating. Ha! Ha! Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 I would have liked to have a put a face to your name. Ha no u don't it's not too pretty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer61 Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 thats funny right there. sorry tom,jk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowball Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 Hey Tom! It was nice meeting you. I saw you for such a short time, pardon me if I don't recognize you next time. I saw and met so many people over the weekend, they all just run together. Hopefully I'll see you at one of the Blizzards. I would recommend going to the first one for sure. Last year we had 38 for that one, and Mobile had 30. I'm hearing that alot of drivers are planning on running the whole Blizzard series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacecar Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 I wonder if the DQ's are somewhat related..... I wonder if teams have used offsets or wide wheels in the middle stages of the Snowball race to achieve a competitive advantage...... and then install the legal ones at the final pitstop of the race. But in this race without a caution for the last 100+ laps, that final pitstop never came. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jracer98 Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 HMMMMM... Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 I wonder if the DQ's are somewhat related..... I wonder if teams have used offsets or wide wheels in the middle stages of the Snowball race to achieve a competitive advantage...... and then install the legal ones at the final pitstop of the race. But in this race without a caution for the last 100+ laps, that final pitstop never came. Which is exactly why NA$CAR has Goodyear mount all their tires.... One of the oldest tricks in the book. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastman Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 does NA$CAR take note of all car wheel offset while mounting tires for every car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 Hoosier mounts the tires there but they dont check the offsets. Atleast they didnt when I went last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montgomery Motorhead Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 Just want to say that I had a great time at the Snowball Derby this year. This race is a race fans dream weekend. I have never been to a short track race that even comes close to the Derby. It is great to see the fans support this race like they do. Already looking forward to the 2007 Derby. I hated to see the win taken away from Johnny Brazier but from what I have heard he was warned at the World Classic at B.I.R. that he had better have the car right when he came to the Derby.............................I would just like to say thanks to Steve Meyer (Snowball) for keeping us updated on everything leading up to the Derby and also keeping us updated during the year about the Blizzard races...........I know Steve personally and he is without a doubt Five Flags Speedway's number one fan. He is 100% completely dedicated to this race track. Tim Bryant should be proud to have Steve helping him at Five Flags Speedway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudpacker Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 Checking the offsets while mounting a tire is irrelevant. People have different suspension parts and even spacers can be used to change track width. The only way to check this is when they are on the car. That is why track width is checked regularly after the race by many tech officials, because of their knowledge of this advantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vir Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 TXTOM, it was nice of you to stop by. I was delighted to meet you. As you know, I am a fan of several of the Texas drivers, particularly the Davidson's. I have seen several USRA races at Houston while visiting with my son. In fact, I used to schedule my visits to coincide with the races. I don't know what the problem is with Houston and USRA, but I hope they get it straightened out. Come by again next year so we can talk about racing, and find out what is going on in Texas. Usually Montgomery Motorhead sits with us, but he was sitting elsewhere when you stopped by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landlord Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 I was in tech after the races and was told the winner was .1 over.The head tech guy said they were allowing .1 over which would have been 58.1 and his car was at 58.2 In pre-race tech I watched all the cars go through and then straight to the starting grid.He was legal when he rolled through.His crew cheif told me the highest they had been all weekend was 57.7 How could this have happened?One of the crew was blaming it on being low on gas,could being low on gas had anything to do with left side weight?All the crew was really a bunch of nice guys and for the most part took it pretty well(considering they just lost $20,000 dollars).They were just a bunch of good ol boys from Lick skillet Alabama that looked to have limited resources,I thought they did a fantastic job and really felt bad for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted December 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 One of the crew was blaming it on being low on gas,could being low on gas had anything to do with left side weight? Race cars can be built to gain left side weight as the fuel burns off. The GARC chassis that Brazier runs is especially noted for this. And I don't think anyone anticipated a long race ending green run like they had. Usually, there is a caution in the 20 to 40 to go window that racers will bolt on new rubber, maybe a splash of gas to help rear bite. I suspect Brazier ended up with a few gallons less fuel at the end than he would have liked. He probably guessed to end up with a certain amount that would have kept him around 58.0 or 1, not .3 or whatever they stated. One tenth of a percent is not very much, a few pounds at best. His window for being either legal or illegal may have been as little as two gallons of fuel. Brazier is known to push the left side weight at races, and was warned by Brooks about coming to the Derby. That may have been a factor, I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacecar Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 After the race, if Brazier was at 58.3%, while 58.1% would have been allowed...... then he was 5.3 lbs too heavy on the leftside. The officials should have allowed him to refuel and then verify that his total weight was correct and that his leftside percentage didn't exceed 58.0%. This would demonstrate that his car still was configured as it was when he started the race (i.e. no one removed a chunk of lead while pushing the car to the start grid, or that he had some kind of heavy-metal weight transfer device). If the officials had an ongoing problem with all GARC chassis cars having non-centered fuel cells (which I don't see a rule about this), then this should have been addressed during the extensive pre-race tech inspections. Without more inside information to this story, I'm not so quick to praise the officials and the fact that Brazier was DQ'd. I feel sorry for him to have lost the biggest race of his career. In past years at SAS, the SLM weight was based upon starting weight of the race. After the race, a weight check would be made to confirm that the end-of-race weight was reasonable (allowance of 2 lbs per lap). If it appeared that the weight might be questionable, then the racer was allowed to fill up with gas for final verification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modracer Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 Tom, You must have kept a notepad with you to take all of those notes because a man of your distinguished age could not have remembered all of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer61 Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 does NA$CAR take note of all car wheel offset while mounting tires for every car Nascar teams are required to use the same offset wheels. the only change is done with spacers, and those have to be screwed to the hub during pre-race inspection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowball Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Not sure what the rule book says, but I do know that they haven't been allowing cars to refuel after the races all year. I too feel sorry for him, but one thing I can say is that the tech officials at Five Flags have been consistent in their rulings all year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer61 Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 the tech officials at Five Flags have been consistent in their rulings all year. even if the call somtimes goes against you, that will always let the racers know what to expect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasprd Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 If you keep playing on the edge after you've been warned, don't be surprised when unpleasant things happen. Most of us learn that at a younger age... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbotoddie Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 does NA$CAR take note of all car wheel offset while mounting tires for every car The only Goodyear does for an unofficial check is to balance the tires. What I mean, is that all of the balancer settings are fixed so if someone has to change something, then the Nascar official(which there is one present during all tire mounting)is called over to inspect. turbotoddie Goodyear tire mounter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Day Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 I think Rick Brroks, Terry Watson, Charlie (aka Tattoo) and all the rest did a great job in tech. Hell i wish i could get them out here. But i was there and do know for a fact that Ricky Brooks told the drivers and crews all week long that after the event he would allow 58.1% and NO Fuel after the event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.