MASON-DIXON MELTDOWN - BANDOLEROS : 11/17/07
Concord Motorsport Park - Concord, NC
By Jason Buckley
POOLE AND HOLLEMAN CLAIM BANDO VICTORIES ON SLICK TRACK
Prior to the start of their race, a few Legends Cars in their heat events dumped fluid on the track. Officials placed speedy dry on track to soak up the fluids, but the grit still lingered on the surface, which caused slick conditions for the lighter Bandolero cars.
Robert Poole survived to win the Young Guns portion of the Mason-Dixon Meltdown. (Jamie Williams Photo)
Robert Poole spun twice during the race (top). Chandler LeVan and John Holleman (middle) slammed the wall in turn two early on while Dylan Pack (bottom) ended up in the wall as well. (Jamie Williams Photos)
The first two cautions flew due to Poole spinning on the slick track. A few laps later and it was Chandler LeVan and Holleman losing control, slamming the wall hard in turn two. Both drivers were ok, but their cars were done for the day.
“They really should have cleaned up that oil dry,” said LeVan. “They can run Legends through there but Bandoleros it is just hard. My car looks like a Modified because the whole body is moved to the left a little bit.”
Holleman still claimed the winner’s trophy for being the only Bandit to show up, but he wasn’t too thrilled seeing his car torn up.
“I was coming out of turn two and my car was sliding,” said Holleman. “I couldn’t control it. It just smacked the wall. There isn’t really anything else you can say about that.”
The race was once again slowed when Meghan Dillner looped her car in turn two, but she escaped without damage to continue on. Dylan Pack wasn’t as lucky as he slapped the turn two wall while leading, damaging his car and sending him off the track.
Once the survival race concluded, Poole had made his way back up to the lead, crossing the finish line first.
“That was a crazy race,” said Poole. “There was oil on the track from the Legends heat race before us,” said Poole. “The track was really slick. I spun out twice in turn four and I had to go to the rear twice. I worked my way back up as far as I could, then cars started hitting the wall. It was weird.
“It feels really good to win out here. I have been looking forward to this race. It has been on my calendar and I have been waiting.”
Tyler Lester was able to cross the line second, but it wasn’t without contact into the wall during the race.
“It was pretty cool trying to stay up there racing with the #25 car (Poole),” said Lester. “I ended up hitting the wall trying to chase down the #89 car (Pack).
John Holleman showed up to win the Bandits trophy. (Jamie Williams Photo)
“My car was loose,” said Lang. “Then everyone started spinning so I just tried to avoid everything. I just went low when everyone spun high and everyone ended up in the turn two wall. I saw Dylan Pack just drive off the track so I just kept going after that.
“It is a good finish for us.”
RESULTS
Young Guns
1) #25 - Robert Poole
2) #99 - Tyler Lester
3) #51 - Meghan Dillner
4) #10 - Gregory Lang
5) #89 - Dylan Pack
6) #8 - Chandler LeVan
Bandits
1) #4 - John Holleman
Only one word could describe the Bandolero 25-lap feature at the Mason-Dixon Meltdown.
Chaos.
In a race filled with spins and damaged cars, it was Robert Poole claiming the checkered flag first for the Young Gun division feature event as John Holleman won the Bandits division race while his car was parked in the garage with damage after an incident on the track.
The chaos started the night before when the lights wouldn’t come on at Concord Motorsport Park, forcing officials to move the race to Saturday during daylight. For the Legends crowd, most of the competitors showed as they were racing for cash, but of the 15 Bandolero racers that did make it out to race Friday night for trophies only eight showed to race Saturday, forcing officials to combine the lone Bandit driver Holleman with the seven Young Guns for their 25-lap feature.
Meghan Dillner (#51) and Gregory Lang (#10) finished third and fourth. (Jamie Williams Photo)
“I feel pretty good to get second in the Young Guns. The track was in poor condition to race on. There was a bunch of speedy dry in turns one and two. I hit it and that is what slowed me down a little bit. I think I could have gotten the 25 car.”
Dillner, who recovered from her spin to finish third, was happy with her run at the end of the day.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Dillner. “This was a big time catch-up thing for me because I haven’t raced here in about a year. I have only raced once or maybe twice here before. This was a lot of fun. I had a good car, a good team and that is pretty much it for me. I got a lot of practice here today and above all this is fun to be a part of the Mason-Dixon Meltdown.”
The only driver to not have major issues during the race was Gregory Lang, who took it easy and cruised to a fourth-place finish.
