I-37 Speedway Winter Series Race#5 2/21/04

[rebelracewriter]

I-37 Speedway Winter Series Race #5 2/21/04

 

Fifth different Winner in Five Races.

The 20 lap IMCA Modified A-main started 18 cars with Dale Flanagan and Blake Pigeon on the front row. On the first try, D. Flanagan got out front, but Mickey Helms spun off the backstretch to bring about a complete restart. The second attempt wasn’t much prettier with Michael Carlock finding the tire wall as the pack stormed into turn 1. The third time was a charm as the field was lined up single file, with D. Flanagan again getting the lead on green.

 

As D. Flanagan inched ahead, Rick Green got past Pigeon for second on lap 2, while Jamie Holder was looking inside past National Champion, Henry Witt for seventh. Bill Pittaway snuck by Pigeon on lap 4 to snag third. By lap 5 D. Flanagan had built nearly a full straightaway lead over Green, Pittaway, Pigeon and Danny Brown.

 

Witt moved to high side trying to get by Joey Whitehead on lap 6. Lap 7 saw Brown pass Pigeon for fourth, and Whitehead get back past Witt for sixth. Raymond Tague brought out the caution on lap 8 when he spun in turn 4 erasing the big lead of D Flanagan. On the restart Witt got by both Whitehead and Pigeon to move into fifth, bringing Whitehead along.

 

At halfway D. Flanagan was moving out again, with Green, Pittaway and the Witt/Whitehead train getting past Brown for fourth and fifth. Holder brought out the final yellow, spinning between turns 3-4. D. Flanagan once again jumped out to a good lead as the green flew. Lap 11 saw Witt go up top looking to get by Pittaway for third.

 

Brown and Hardy Henderson swapped sixth on lap 12 and lap13 had Witt, Green and Pittaway three wide for second as they came down the front stretch. With five to go, D. Flanagan held a half straightaway lead over Witt, with Pittaway trying the high side to get around Green for third. Pittaway completed the pass on lap 16.

 

D. Flanagan ran up on lap traffic, allowing Witt to close slightly. But once clear, D. Flanagan pulled back out to nearly a full straight lead as Witt battled the same traffic. As the white flag was shown, D. Flanagan was still motoring away from Witt who and big gap back to Pittaway in third. At the finish it was D. Flanagan becoming the fifth different winner in five races putting the Flanagan Muffler Shop/Sammy’s Auto Parts/L & L Carburetors/ Diamond Series Chassis in the winners circle. The chassis is totally homemade creation by Chad Flanagan, powered by a Neil Flanagan motor, set up by Pat Flanagan in the car owned by Mike Flanagan. Certainly the Flanagans make racing a family outing.

 

 

IMCA Modifieds

Pos/Car#/Driver/Start

1 57 Dale Flanagan (1)

2 701 Henry Witt (7)

3 37 Bill Pittaway (5)

4 82 Rick Green (3)

5 711 Joey Whitehead (6)

6 55 Danny Brown (4)

7 63 Hardy Henderson (9)

8 78 Trevor Egbert (17)

9 09 Blake Pigeon (2)

10 99 Jamie Holder (8)

11 97x Doug Lorenz (18)

12 57x Neil Flanagan (14)

13 000 Mickey Helms (11)

14 98 Wayne Crouse (15)

15 32 Raymond Tague (16)

16 76 Michael Carlock (12)

17 91 Tracey Fink (13)

18 97 Joe Barnec (10)

Pittaway and Witt took heat race honors.

 

Number 100 for 2003 National Champion???

Coming in to the 20 lap, 13 car IMCA Stock main, the question was, would Duain Pritchett pocket win number 100, becoming the fastest person to total 100 wins in IMCA Stocks? Donald Lewis and Robin Lutholtz led the field to green, with Pritchett in 6th starting spot. Travis Evans got into turn one first coming out of row two, with it three wide for second. On lap 2 Chad Estes got past Jason Batt for second, while Pritchett got around James Hyde for fourth.

 

The next lap Pritchett made the move on Batt to grab third, while up front, Evans and Estes were battling for the lead. On lap 6 Lutholtz turned down on Doug Lorenz sending them both through the infield. Both continued without a caution being thrown. The top three of Evans, Estes and Pritchett were nose to tail as they ran up on the slower Lutholtz. Evans went high, while Estes tried low, contact was made and Lutholtz went hard into the wall, while Estes spun and stopped.

 

On the restart the top three stayed glued together, with Charlie Wilson and Hyde running door to door for fourth. At the halfway point the top five were Evans, Pritchet, Batt, Wilson and Hyde, with Estes making his way back to sixth after restarting at the tail. Then the fun began.

 

Pritchett starting looking inside Evans for the lead running side by side on lap 11. Pritchett got the lead on lap 12, but Evans fought back. Lap 13 saw the lead duo again door to door and trading a little paint, while Estes moved into fourth past Wilson. Evans got the lead back on lap 14, with Batt trying to get by Pritchett for second. Pritchett held on, while Batt fell into the clutches of Estes on a tear to the front. Estes running the high groove was side by side with Batt on lap 16, while Evans inched ahead of Pritchett by a car length.

 

Pritchett closed back in with three to go, as Estes got past Batt for third. With two go Evans and Pritchett were tied at the door panels and Estes closing in. As the white flag flew, Evans and Pritchett continued to swap paint, with Estes looking for way around both in turns 1-2. Evans eked out an edge on the backstretch, while Estes kept Pritchett pinned high going into turns 3-4. As the checkers flew it was Evans grabbing the hard earned victory in his 4 Seasons Heating & Air Conditioning/Jimmy Evans Custom Homes/Clifford Racing Engines/Bartels Chassis. Pritchett was forced to settle for third as Estes grabbed second in the final corners.

 

IMCA Stocks

Pos/Car#/Driver/Start

1 4 Travis Evans (3)

2 83 Chad Estes (7)

3 22 Duain Pritchett (6)

4 99 Jason Batt (5)

5 97 Doug Lorenz (10)

6 55 Charlie Wilson (13)

7 9 James Hyde (4)

8 23 Shad Stevens (12)

9 51 Donald Lewis (1)

10 21 Tim Worthy (8)

11 Robin Lutholtz (2)

12 25 Toby Miller (9)

13 32 Matthew Bagley (11)

Robert Williams---DNS

MK Wallace---DNS

Batt and Pritchett won the two heat races.

 

Rookie on a Roll

Ben Anderlich and Dillon Smith paced the 6 car IMCA Hobby Stock feature to green, with Smith getting into turn one first. The top three of Smith Anderlich and Chris Ater began to pull away early, until Anderlich blew a tire on lap 4 and ran Ater up almost into the wall. This gave Smith a huge lead and allowed Joe Horne, the 70 yr. old track promoter, a chance to close on Ater. Horne then did a half spin on lap 7 making a great save.

 

As the crossed flags were shown it was Smith, Ater, Dustin Lemaster, Horne and Adam Torres. Ater had a big deficit to make up, but was closing lap by lap until he suffered a flat after a spin in turn 4. This gave the 16 year old Rookie of the Year contender, Smith a 3/4 lap lead over Horne in second. At the checkers it was Smith by nearly a full lap taking the win in his Brazos Roofing/1st National Bank of Hamilton/China Springs Cleaners/Donuts Designs/Lambs Muffler Center/Destroyer Chassis.

 

 

IMCA Hobby Stock

1 03 Dillon Smith (2)

2 67 Joe Horne (5)

3 36 Dustin Lemaster (4)

4 66 Adam Torres (6)

5 7 Chris Ater (3)

6 580 Ben Anderlich (1)

Ater scored the only heat win.

 

With this being final race of the I-37 Winter Series, I want to take a minute to thank Joe Horne, Frank Torres and crew for giving the IMCA points chasers a place to run, the race-aholics a place to spectate, as well as the hospitality they afforded me.

 

Also thanks to ALL the drivers who competed in the series, coming from up to 5 hours(or more) away. Without you guys there would be no show. I want to wish everyone the best of luck as you begin your local tracks season.

 

Last, but not least, I need to thank Jason Batt from the Kwik Kar Oil and Lube Race Team, for allowing me to jump in his car after the races and take some hot laps. This was the second time I've driven one of the team cars, hot lapping the car Doug Lorenz last year at Texas Thunder. Thanx for the adrenalin rush!

[Sarge]

Hey J!

 

Thank you for all the hard work you put in recapping the races. I am good at describing the action while it is going on, your the master of describing it after it is over.

 

I always enjoy reading one of your reports.

 

Bill "Sarge" Masom

[txhotmod]

Both of you guys are GREAT at doing what you do best

Thanks for all you support

SBG Racing --Mod 25

Big Al

Bobby Grobe