Awesome show!

[Truck99]

Man what a show! Congrats to Allstate, Full throttle, Tavo, Thunderhill, and everybody else involved in the TX Thunder race. 20 cars and dang near a full house. The schedule was on time all night, and the fans got a full day of entertainment for a good price.

 

Sarah Fisher gets the award for coming from the back and passing the most number of cars!

 

Sorry to see Tavo pull off early. He had a strong car.

 

It seemed like the drivers they invterviewd enjoyed the track and would like to come back. Hope to see them again in 06.

 

I'd like to hear the final fan count once it's in. It was packed!

 

Oh, the top three were Portenga, Gaylord, and the 44.

[Budman]

It was really good to see that kind of crowd out there. Hopefully there will be some that return.

[2803fan]

We had a blast! The music was good. The food was good. And the racing was good! Well done!!!

[KahneFan]

The two-wide restarts were GREAT!!!! Granted it kind screws the person in 2nd, 4th, 6th... , but it was great from the stands!!

[txtom]

Completely agree with Chase;

Tavo, Aaron and the full throttle folks just set a new benchmark for area racing.

Everything about it was great. My dad and I got there about 2:30, made a lap around the pit area, (we had passes; thanks Tavo and Eddy) the catered food in the pit area was good, the West Series folks went out of their way to make sure the racers were taken care of. They even arranged for food and water delivery to the team trailers.

Several of the racers made comments about the support they got from the Texas fans, and the West officials seemed to be impressed with the support.

They had some good bands to fill in a little of the time, and there wasn't a shred of cardboard left with all the kids sliding down the hills.

About the only glitch I saw all night was the scoreboard acting up, but, with the racing they were doing, I wasn't paying any attention to the scoreboard. There were 7 or 8000 others who weren't worried about it, either.

How about those guys up front? Running two wide, passing inside and outside on the restarts, and they give each other room. Do they race hard? Heck yes, but they also showed respect for one another.

 

I don't think anyone can truthfully say they were disappointed last night.

 

West back in 2006? I'm ready.

[thrss1]

good show, great race well worth the price, but the best move i saw all night was while i was sitting in the parking lot trying to get out i look up and see a big white F20 cutting across the parking lot straight to the drive and was gone. good move Gunnar.

[KISS_Racing]

Have to agree... Had a great time!!!

 

Sarah just rocked!!! Bottom line is she just put a whoopin on the boys!!!!!

 

 

Better luck next year!

 

 

Maybe?

[Budman]

TRUE STORY -

 

Lucked into best seats in the house. High (row 29) of section C down near turn one.

Sat next to a lady and her husband. Mid 50's. I had almost as much fun watching and listening to her, as I did the race itself. First car race she had ever been to. She was absolutely THRILLED. Told them about the race on the 22nd. Told them it would be even better, and more exciting. They plan to be there. Think maybe I even talked them into going to the race at SAS next week. They were certainly thinking and talking about going to it!

 

Ya'll gotta back me up on my claim to her about the race on the 22nd. Wouldn't want to disappoint her!

[hubockercc]

TONIGHT RACE WAS GREAT HAD A BLAST.HOPE THEY GET TO COME BACK NEXT YEAR WELL WORTH IT.THAT SARAH FISHER GIRL CAN DRIVE.COME FROM THE BACK AFTER SPINNING TWICE IN FINISH 4TH/5TH.

[Rosie]

I agree. Great Race. My hat is off to all the folks that put this one on.

Was that Flagman entheusiastic or what?

 

Rosie

[tazmachine69]

I HAD A BLAST! It was an awesome day, ya'll did a great job! I enjoyed the concerts too. I really like Little Texas and they were awesome.

 

Sarah Fisher had a great car she had some unfortunate events happend and every time worked her way up. That was so kewl. I got her to sign my Sarah Fisher bobble head that I have of her in Indy Cars that was neat.

 

Can't wait until next year!!!!!!

[supertx]

What a great job by all the people involved. So much for the B.S. that there is not any race fans in the Austin area. Alot of the people that I talked to were new to the track.Lets see if all the series can capitalize on what a great job Full Throttle did .

[ThunderHillJill]

Like you, Budman, I met many first-timers yesterday who didn't even know our track existed until this event! Did my part to talk up our great venue and drivers in hopes that we'll bring these newcomers back on the 22nd and next season!! It was great to see those stands full!

 

Rosie, I'm with ya - that flagman was awesome! I watched him in the practice runs, during qualifying and at the main event... he was consistently energized throughout the entire day. He was a lot of fun to watch.

 

Kudos to you Thunder Hill, Allstate, and all the fantastic sponsors that made this happen!! What a great day/evening. Thoroughly enjoyed it & wanna help make it happen again! BTW, inquiring minds want to know if the scoreboard stays??!

[thrss1]

heard several people say that THR would be able to keep the scoreboard

[txtom]

The scoreboard will stay: It had a wiring issue that caused the problems last night. Should ne an easy fix.

[2wide]

It was pretty cool. Sure would like to have seen a full field of cars.

Add about 10-12 cars to what they had. That would have made things alot more

interesting! Only 10 cars running at the end.

Oh well, still had a great time.

 

Can't wait till the 22nd.

 

 

#05

[tqj3]

2wide-

I think NASCAR sets the field, and I don't think they'd allow more than 22-24 cars on a track that short.

[marvinmcgee]

One of the best races I have been to in years.

There are not enough flagmen like the one they had!!!! He must been the hardest working

guy they had!!!!

Only one gripe that needs to be addressed. There was NO Handicapped Parking to be found.

The people who pulled in behind us had a severely handicapped young man with them and when they asked where the H/C parking was , the guy directing the parking said the vendors had taken all the parking up next to the fence where the H/C parking usually was located.

They had to park out next to the road and have him walk in. The last time I looked it was a law that you had to have H/C parking available?????

Great Show otherwise!!!! Hope to see them bachk in 2006 ...possibly ore than once!!!!

Heard they were losing several racedates because of track closures????

[txtom]

Heard they were losing several racedates because of track closures????

 

While I do not know which tracks they run in a particular year, The west coast will lose Mesa Marin in Bakersfield this year, Carson City, Nevada has already closed this year, El Cajon closed last year, and Stockton 99 Speedway will close at the end of next year. Tri City in Washington State is year to year special events only, and a few more are facing pressure to sell to developers due to the land value the tracks sit on.

[txtom]

To add to my post above, It was announced that Nascar's other side, the ISC that owns several tracks, has purchased Pikes Peak Speedway in Colorado, with the intent of moving it's Busch date to Martinsville. The track will be stripped of everything usuable including stands, lighting, etc, and the property will be then resold.

 

If you count my previous post, you can count 5 racedates from the 2005 West Series Schedule that will be affected this year or next year due to track closures. That is almost half their schedule.

[Budman]

Tom,

 

Would seem they have a lot of holes to fill in next year's schedule. Hummm...........

 

very interesting.

[SASPEEDRACER24]

I was told by a little birdie that THR will have at least one date already negotiated for next year... I think with the turn-out and how much of an 'event' it was it should stay as a once a year thing just to keep the taste in folks mouths and keeps it more of an event... That kinda has happened with USRA to an extent where there are too many dates at any one particular race... For instance yr's ago SAS had only 2 dates and oktoberfast and the stands would be packed both nights and were packed during Oktoberfast.. but when they went to 3 nights it thinned out some and lost some of its exclusivity... All in all it was a very good show and showed how you can race at THR have good side by side action and some passing... On another note the driver of the #90 Abbott I think was the name only had 8 hours total seat time in a full bodied stock car and was his first race coming over from the Infinity Lights and IRL series. He was also a really nice guy. Tim Woods was definately a fun guy to be around as were quite a few other drivers... Lastly Mr. Portenga to me is a splitting image of John Daly... I should have pics up tomorrow...A for the scoreboard Jack had told me that it was messing up because it was getting interferance from one of the NASCAR frequencies they should have it fixed for the spectacular... Cant wait for SAS...

[ChuckLicata]

As usual, Marc Roy, you bring up some great points...here's some more thoughts..

 

1) Truly awesome spectacle and event at THR! Congrats to Aryn White (Full Throttle Productions) and Tavo Hellmund who put A LOT of their own blood, sweat & tears into this..Also, Mary Ann, H.E., Brian C, Jim Lynch and the entire THR staff (including Wes and the Dirty Half-Dozen) did a phenomenal job working with Aryn/Tavo and NASCAR in getting the place ready...There were plenty of others, I'm sure, I'm not naming; congrats to those folks, too..

 

2) As Marc noted, the drivers were great to work with...I got a chance to spend a few minutes and talk to Portenga, Tavo, Brett Thompson, Mike Duncan, Sarah Fisher, Scott Lynch and David Gilliland before the race, and they were all down-to-earth and easy to talk to...All the drivers mentioned they were surprised by the heat (I told them they should have been here a week ago)...they all felt the track was great and thought (and proved) the series cars could run 2 grooves..they all felt the halfway point would be v ery important because they'd make some big adjustments in the car, mostly because of the night-time driving...Ironically, Portenga said he the most nervous before the race; he was just hoping to stay near the overall points lead and come home with a Top-5...

 

3) What a crowd! From what I was told after the race, NASCAR officials were amazed at what "a great racing crowd" we had for the race..To me, it was the most incredible crowd I've ever seen at the track..anytime you can get a crowd to say - in unison - "let's goooo racing," you know everyone is having fun!

 

4) As most people will agree, it was great to meet Carole Keyton Strayhorn and Little Texas. The guys from Little Texas were hilarious! While we were waiting to do driver intros, they chatted up so much they could have put on their own comedy routine. They loved the crowd and doing the concert and said they'd love to come back for another event next year.

 

5) Outside of the folks who put on the event...could anyone have asked for a better crowd? So into the event..so into the racing..so into the music...so into having just good ol', flat out FUN...

[Budman]

Don't want to make more out of this than it is, but it can't be ignored either. Sarah Fisher's presence was definitely a factor. Where I was sitting in the crowd, a discernible positive reaction would run through the crowd each and every time she passed another car. You could see it, hear it and feel it, like for no other driver. Her popularity among the fans there is undeniable. During the early stages of the race, the lady sitting next to me said, "that's a female driving that #20, right?" When I nodded a yes to her, she giggled with delight.

[Josh42]

Very good show by everyone involved. Glad to see a packed house at THR. Me and Aaron where kinda jokin that next time lets get a sardine can company to sponsor the race cause we were packed in. Sarah Fisher had an awesome car the two incidents i saw that she was in was not her doin but she did a awesome job. Great job THr for getting this race and yes guys the track is now 2 Groove.