Victory: Ross Is Boss At Caraway Speedway

By Jason Buckley

Friday night racing at Caraway Speedway (NC) is a place where Steven Ross hasn’t been this season.  He has been focused on running at Concord Motorsport Park (NC), where he has been dominating in the races and track points chase for the Semi Pro Legends division.   A change in plans Friday had Ross unloading his car at Caraway instead of Concord.  In one of the most exciting Legends races of the 2007 season, Ross took the combined-class victory to add to his stellar season thus far.

“We were 147 points ahead at Concord,” said Ross.  “No matter who won there, I wasn’t going to get overtaken in the points, so we decided to try something different and come here (Caraway Speedway).  This is my first time here this year.”

Ross was one of 20 cars that made the trip to Caraway Speedway.  Early on Ross showed he was one of the fastest cars by winning the first heat race ahead of John Stancill, who is second in points at Concord to Ross.  In the second heat, Paddy Rodenbeck finished ahead of Johnny Gottsacker and Jordan Anderson. 

With four Nick Pistone Racing drivers at the front of the field for the feature, Ross had his hands full trying to best the NPR fleet.  The early laps of the race were intense, with lead changes just about every lap.  Stancill, Anderson and Ross all swapped the lead over the first several laps until Stancill dropped out with broken a throttle cable.  That moved Gottsacker and Rodenbeck up closer in the mix as the four drivers battled hard for position.

Steven Ross has the winner pose down pat after all his wins this season. (LN Photo)

Gottsacker had the lead in front of his new NPR teammate Rodenbeck with just six laps to go.  Going into turn three with four laps to go, the two cars hooked bumpers sending the field scrambling to get around them.

“With so many great cars running up front, it is hard to get by them,” said Rodenbeck.  “We ended up just spinning. It is just hard with so many good cars running up front with this team.  We are really competitive with each other, but it is all fun.”

Kyle Beattie's #96 Legends car has been fast everywhere he takes it. (LN Photo)

With the two leaders put to the back of the pack for bringing out the caution, Ross was again on the point for the final few laps of the race.  With a hard charging Kyle Beattie behind him, Ross held serve at the front, crossing the finish line for his first Caraway Speedway victory of the season despite having to work extra hard in the car throughout the race.

“The car was real loose, but besides that the race was great,” said Ross.  “It was a real tough race.  I had to be up on the wheel the whole time.  The brake issues I had made it even tougher.  I had to pump the brakes down the straightaway so I could stop in the corner.  That was really tough to do and race at the same time.  It was hard to stay out front and manage the brake problems with all these good cars out here.  Besides that the race went good.”

After starting the race from the 10th position, a second-place finish (first for the Pro division) for Beattie was like a win for him after his car erupted in a huge ball of fire last week at Caraway.

Last week we had some pretty good horsepower in there,” said Beattie.  “I went off into turn three, and as soon as I let off the gas it went up in flames.  The flames weren’t all that big until I stopped.  The whole car caught on fire.  I was fortunate enough that the guys from Metrolina Greenhouse came down and sprayed me off with the fire extinguishers because the track safety crew wasn’t anywhere close.

“We brought the exact same car, tires and setup back here.  We put this motor in it and we took it to Hank Scott today and got it tuned on. The car was handling great.  I didn’t have the pull like some of these guys did.  I was having to really drive it in the corner hard.  Where I would beat a lot of guys is when they would wash up in turns two and four and I would be able to sneak in there under them.”

Wayne Austin snuck up into the third place at the end of the race, taking the Masters division win.  With veteran racing skills, Austin let the race unfold in front of him until it was time to push his car towards the front.

“I told Kyle Beattie and Jordan Anderson what we had to do is just be patient,” said Austin.  “Just let it unfold in front of us and if we had anything for them at the end of the race, we would go race.  But, we came up just a little short tonight. 

Pro driver Jordan Anderson (left) discusses race strategy with Masters driver Wayne Austin (right). (LN Photo)

“I didn’t run the car hard the whole race.  I knew there was going to be action up there.  I have been racing a long time and knew the young kids would race hard.  I am too old and don’t want to get hurt, but a third is a good finish.”

For Jordan Anderson, a fourth-place finish (second in the Pro division) was a bit disappointing.  Anderson was confused on a restart when the officials lined him up in sixth position.  He thought he should have been further ahead.

“The car was handling excellent,” said Anderson.  “I couldn’t have asked for a better car.  That is when Johnny Gottsacker and Paddy Rodenbeck decided to turn on their crazy switch I guess you could say.  Both of them were driving pretty crazy.  Paddy about wrecked me one time in the corner, then Paddy and Johnny wrecked down there in the corner and about collected me in it.  They sent me back to sixth spot.  I am still trying to figure that one out on how I can miss the wreck and they sent me back to sixth.  I don’t understand that.  It cost me the Pro victory tonight but to come away with a second place in Pro is not too bad.  It was a good points night.”

Division Winners

Semi Pro: Steven Ross (1st overall)

Pro: Kyle Beattie (2nd overall)

Masters: Wayne Austin (3rd overall)