Franklin Co. Speedway 7/12/08

Franklin Co. Speedway 7/12/08

First, my apologies for no newsletter after Langley. It did turn out to be a good trip and a good race. We had 13 teams make the journey but in the end, it was Jason Adkins and the Cusson racing gang taking the win. Everyone found it to be a tough track to conquer since it was pretty flat but the Cusson gang made the choice to go a day earlier and get in some very valuable practice time which paid off in the end. Also, a huge Thanks to Steve Forney, Kelly and Amanda for being such great hosts for the weekend. Everybody that missed the pig roast on Sunday really missed a treat. Also the top 5 finishers had a little extra $$ in their check as Steve made an additional $100 donation to the purse prior to the race designated for the top 5. So, if you haven’t done so already, make sure you not only thank him for the weekend, but remember he is also one of our associate sponsors and another reason we can continue to do what we do.

Now to our last event. What would start out as a beautiful day for racing, great weather, good field of cars and returning to Franklin County Speedway, turned into probably the most controversial event of the season. More about that to come, but first, congratulations to the Aztec Rental #88 of Jason Moye, starting on the pole and taking the win, coming back after losing his chain but having plenty of time in the pits during a lengthy caution to get the chain back on, start at the back of the field and make his way back to the front. Great job to Jason and Jay for a job well done. The question did come up about why Jason wasn’t a lap or more down with the answer being he came in under caution and went back out before the restart of the same lap but luck was on his side providing plenty of time in the pits.

Because the track was committed to providing additional practice time to the ASA Modifieds, we were only given one practice session which would be our qualifying session as well. One of the faster cars, the #9 of Darrel Williams (who has nicknamed himself “crash test dummy”) was on pace to qualify 6^th but on the 10^th lap of the session, he spun out getting into the curb and taking a multi tumble ride through turn 2. The good news is Darrel was quick to give everybody the 2 thumbs up letting us know he was ok. He also felt it would be too much work to try to get it back into the race and not worth taking the chance of the car not being right and maybe causing additional problems during the race. I’m sure he appreciated all the offers to help but in the end, probably made the best call. So with practice / qualifying over, it would be a Jason & Jason front row with the #17 starting on the outside followed by Travis Roach in 3^rd, Kevin Berkstresser in 4^th, Matt Wade 5^th, Andy Defilippis 6^th, Jason Watkins 7^th, Tyler Roach 8^th, Amanda Forney 9^th, Fred Jackson 10^th, Justin LaDuke 11^th, Gary Greenway 12^th, Jerry Perdue 13^th and Darrel Williams who was not able to start the race.

From the drop of the green flag, the #88 would lead the way to the first caution on lap 7 when the #48 of Freddie Jackson took a spin into the wall, coming into the pits and ending his night with too much damage to return. Also the #20 of Gary Greenway would come in with an ill handling car. Kevin Berkstresser then found his way to the front leading up to the 2^nd caution of the night on lap 11. I’m not sure exactly what happened to bring out the caution but the #24 of Tyler Roach saw his night ended, #88 lost his chain and as stated earlier was able to get his chain back on and back onto the track to retake the green. Coming through turns 3 & 4 on the restart, the #8 of Jerry Perdue happened to be a good ways back behind the three lead cars, going to the outside pulling the #1 and #88 with him up to the front of the pack. Unfortunately for Jerry, our race rules state “holding back to get a run at the green flag, will result in a Black Flag or DQ”, thus the decision to place him at the back of the field for the event. So when the checkered flag dropped, it would be Jason Moye, followed by a great 2^nd place finish for #16 Kevin Berkstresser, 3^rd would be #17 Jason Adkins, 4^th position goes to Matt Wade in the #1, Andy Defilippis gets his best finish so far in 5^th as well as another gain in the Rookie point standings, 6^th goes to Amanda Forney, 7^th to Justin LaDuke, 8^th to Travis Roach, 9^th to Tyler Roach, 10^th to Jason Watkins, 11^th to Freddie Jackson followed by 12^th for Gary Greenway, 13^th place points to Darrel Williams with the final position going to Jerry Perdue.

After the conclusion of the race, the eboard (all seven members) gathered to discuss and attempt to clear up some additional incidents that happened both on and off the track. It was very difficult to work through the problems with the roar of the modifieds and although everyone agreed there was a need for penalties, no final decisions were made at that time. However, after extensive discussions with all involved, reviewing some race video, several photos, individual discussions with the Eboard members, and talking to FCS track officials, the following penalties have been imposed. The #15 has been penalized 50 points for hitting another car under caution and the #8 was moved to the rear of the field with last place points for laying back and getting a jump on the restart of lap 11. There were no DQ’s or fines imposed.

Next race – Shenandoah speedway 7/26. Hope to see everybody there.

Willie