SUMMER SHOOTOUT: Legends Round 10 - 8/7/07
By Jason Buckley, Ashley Thomson and Celita Turner
SIZZLER ENDS WITH A HOT TITLE FIGHT IN MASTERS DIVISION
John Sossoman won the Masters race. (LN Photo)
Championship night for the Legend Car Masters division was one for the books. Clay Hair and Dennis White were the two everybody kept their eyes on as they were only separated by 35 points going into the last night. All Hair needed to do was stay out of trouble and not let White get too far away from him. Sounds easy for the “master” of the Masters, but a bit of bad luck struck Hair which made it less than easy for him on Tuesday night.
A caution came out on lap sixteen which tightened the field and gave the drivers the option to choose. Hair made the choice to go to the outside and lineup next to leader John Sossoman on the front row.
Then Hair’s night took a turn for the worse. Brian Weimer, who was racing side-by-side with Hair on the restart, tapped Hair’s tire with his bumper and sent Hair spinning. Being so late in the race, Hair drove back to the front and protested to get his spot back but track officials put him back deep in the field on the restart. Brian Weimer was black flagged for the incident and was sent to the rear.
On the last restart, Dennis White finally appeared in the top five for the first time all night. With Hair spinning in front of him the lap before, White knew the points battle was close and had no idea who won the title.
"They made us sit (on the frontstretch) because it was so close and they had to add it up. While they were adding it up the anticipation was just incredible.”
Clay Hair is celebrating his championship with his family. (LN Photo)
Unfortunately for White, he missed his shot at the championship by one point.
“When they said '#29 you got it by one point,' it was just an all time low,” said White. “I know I should be happy and I'll be happy tomorrow, but not tonight. “I wanted it really bad. I hate to be like this. I had some cars out there that were a lot slower than me, but they would protect the bottom. Just one more spot, but it's done.”
Clay Hair came away with yet another trophy for his trophy case, but this is one that he won’t forget.
"I was just riding around there. I wasn't going to win the race. All I had to do was finish around the 17 car,” explained Hair. "The 40 car turned me. You can't get a run until the pace car gets out of the way and I took off. I thought I gave them all plenty of room. I had a wall on the right side of my car. I can only go so far.”
Hair has accomplished a lot in his Legend Car career and although he is proud of what he has been able to do within the sport, he stays humble.
"I don't feel like I'm on a pedastal. I've always said this is the toughest place in the world to win a race and if you can come here during the Summer Shootout and win one race that is a milestone."
While Hair celebrated the title and White was left wondering what could have been, John Sossoman was celebrating the victory in the final night of the Shootout.
"It feels great to come to Charlotte and win as always,” said Sossoman. “I got some new tires and new setup from Nick Pistone. I went from third to first thanks to those new tires.
"I've been driving these things for 12 years and it's kind of like riding a bicycle. Once you get on it, you've got it."
Pos
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Car #
29
17
16
1
88.1
24
7
40
22
91
Driver
Clay Hair
Dennis White
Cotton Spry
Tom Van Wingerden
Eddie Harwell
Will Cagle
Jan Ingram
Brian Weimer
Gary Shannon
Ronnie Laney
Points
3486
3485
3467
3453
3415
3411
3377
3368
3364
3310
Points Behind
0
-1
-19
-33
-71
-75
-109
-118
-122
-176
Legends
Masters Division
Unofficial Top-10 Standings
ANDERSON RUNS AWAY WITH WIN AND CHAMPIONSHIP
The Legends Pro Division race on Tuesday night certainly didn’t lack excitement. A race littered with cautions led to a few drivers getting their best finishes in the 10-week Summer Shootout, and Jordan Anderson running away with the win and the series championship.
Anderson was excited about his win, but elated about his championship.
“That was a great win,” Anderson said. “I never thought when I was out racing go carts at eight years old that I’d be out here winning a (Legends) Pro Championship. This has been a season long effort. I was just praying the whole race that this team would be able to bring this home and I’m glad to have this first-place trophy. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited before.”
Anderson’s father has been-by-side throughout the Shootout and was among the first to congratulate him and let him know how proud he was.
Jordan Anderson took home two trophies Tuesday for his performance. (LN Photo)
“This is something that he’s worked long and hard for so that makes it very special,” the elder Anderson said. “For me as a dad, the thing I’m most proud of is that he stood strong on his faith and the Lord was in control of this race and he didn’t have any doubts. He went forward and did his best and this is what the Lord blessed him with. That’s what I’m most proud of.”
Steven Abbey got his best run in two years at the Shootout after he started on the pole and only fell back two positions.
“It feels good to run third here,” Abbey said. “This is my best finish at Lowe’s out of the two years that I’ve been racing here. I’m very excited about tonight. It’s by far the best finish and race I’ve had here.”
Mitchell Coble helped a few drivers advance positions after he was black-flagged for an incident on the track with Jake Crum.
“We had to start way in the back because we had a bad heat race,” Coble said. “We had some idiots out there in the heat race that were driving crazy, but we took care of that in the feature. I locked up the brakes and slid into (Crum) a little bit. That’s what he said happened to him when he got into me so that’s what happened to me when I got into him a little bit. I locked up the brakes, got them little bit too hot and got into him a little bit.”
Coble finished 22nd in the feature and, unofficially, he dropped from second in the point standings and finished the season out in fourth spot.
Tyler Green gave Anderson a run for his money, but didn't quite have enough. (LN Photo)
While Anderson and Abbey made it look easy on the track, a few other drivers had to work hard for good finishes by dodging spinning cars and hoping.
“I hit the grass,” Coble said. “That seemed to be the place to be to get through the wrecks.”
Chrissy Wallace was another that had to dodge all the wrecks and with that she tied her best shootout finish with another fourth-place run.
“We started all the way back in the back and there were a few wrecks that we made it through there with no damage to the car,” Wallace said. “I was just looking ahead and paying attention and that got us a top five.”
Legends
Pro Division
Unofficial Top-10 Standings
Pos
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Car #
19
20
147
7
06
53
86
23
12
129
Driver
Jordan Anderson
Tyler Green
Casey Roderick
Mitchell Coble
Chris Buescher
Duncan Molesworth
Scott Knox
Michael Van Wingerden
Thomas Van Wingerden
Paddy Rodenbeck
Points
3530
3461
3454
3422
3420
3416
3399
3380
3354
3324
Points Behind
0
-69
-76
-108
-110
-114
-131
-150
-176
-206
POINTS LEADERS WRECK WHILE CHRISTIAN PAHUD CRUISES TO VICTORY AND CHAMPIONSHIP
For many years, the Semi-Pro division at the Summer Shootout has been one to watch. It usually contains the most aggressive drivers and contact-induced wrecks of any other division during the 10-round event. But this season many of the Semi-Pro drivers moved up to Pro, making that division a whirlwind of controversy. While the Semi-Pro division lost many of the aggressive drivers to the Pro division move, a new batch of drivers entered the scene ready to show they can race just as hard as their fellow Legends drivers.
That aggression played out in the final 2007 Summer Shootout event for the Semi-Pro division.
Entering the last race of the Shootout, Daniel Hemric and Steven Ross were in a tight battle for the top spot in the Championship chase. Hemric led Ross by 20 points, meaning Ross needed to make sure he finished a few positions ahead of Hemric to take the title. Neither driver started up front, but a wreck on the first lap involving Hemric gave Ross an early-race cushion in the points.
Christian Pahud survived, winning the race and the championship. (LN Photo)
Hemric spent most of the race running back to the bumper of Ross, who was running in sixth. Closing in on the finish, Hemric used a late-caution Choose to start on the outside of Ross. Going into turn one on the last lap, contact between the two drivers caused a huge mess of cars in turn two spinning and sliding, ending Hemric’s chance at the championship.
“We got in a wreck on the first lap,” said Hemric. “I knew we could come back and we did. We battled all the way back up to fifth place. We got the Choose on the restart and was running fourth and went into one and the #88 (Steven Ross) says he didn’t have a brake pedal and drove into the back of us. Obviously you can see what happened.
“I feel like I raced everybody clean all year. Finally it is the last night and we got in a wreck early and came back up front. I pretty much thought we had it. I guess it is not over until it is over.”
Even though it was the last lap of the race, race officials gave the black flag to Ross for aggressive driving, giving him an unofficial 27th-place finish, dropping him to fifth in the points.
With the chaos on the last lap, race officials were not quite sure when the race concluded on who won the championship. While they tabulated the points, Christian Pahud celebrated in victory lane as the race winner. Pahud stayed up front and out of trouble the whole race, which is what he needed to do as he was fourth in points going into the final race, 61 points behind the leaders. Once the officials sorted out the points, Pahud not only won the race, but took the championship by nine points over Hemric.
“Wow,” said a stunned Pahud after the event. “I knew I had to go out there and win this week, just making sure we would get it done. We were just hoping for the best.
“The #48 (Hemric) put it into the wall the first lap. I was kind of hoping he wouldn’t make it back up through the field, but at the same time I was hoping he would because we are good friends. He ended up wrecking on the last lap and we got lucky.”
The drama for Pahud was on the final lap of the race. While he might have been nervous on the final restart, the events that happened behind him in turns one and two clinched the championship for him.
“I came across and got the white flag and no one else did,” said Pahud. “I kind of thought it was over until they started lining us back up again. After that I just slumped down in my seat. I just ran it into turn one as hard as I could hoping the guy behind me couldn’t get to my bumper.
Hemric's bumper shows damage after contact. (LN Photo)
“I heard them black flag the #88 (Ross) over the RACEiver. I don’t think it would have mattered though because he wouldn’t have made it back to the finish line. He was leaking oil.”
While Pahud and Hemric ended up in the first two spots in the points, Kyle Hall used a solid third-place finish to move him from fifth to third in the overall points chase. Hall was relieved he wasn’t a part of the last-lap wreck.
“I am not sure what happened with Ross and Hemric,” said Hall. “Ross got black flagged and I saw Hemric’s car sitting there so I put two and two together. It is typical for Ross to punt somebody. I hate it for Hemric. He had a great run going all season. I guess we benefited from it a little bit. To come from sixth in points to third, I can’t be happier.”
Another driver that moved up in the points was John Ellenburg. With his second-place race finish, Ellenburg moved from seventh to fourth in the final points rundown.
Although Ellenburg would have preferred the win, he was satisfied with where he finished.
“The #63 (Pahud); he raced me clean,” said Ellenburg. “On the last restart, it messed me up. I was going to make my move there and I got bumped high there. All in all though, I got a second place. I can’t complain.
“I put as much time in this car as I can, no matter how long it takes. I make sure every bolt is right. Finishing second like this and having a good run makes me feel good, especially after the bad luck that we have had over the last few weeks.”
While Hall and Ellenburg were both pleased with their race finishes and advance up the championship points chart, the night belonged to Pahud, who still had a stunned look on his face well after the race ended and he was declared the champion.
“It means a lot to me,” explained Pahud. “This is my first year racing Legends cars. We blew two motors during the season. We were running in spare cars for about two or three races. To come out on top is amazing.”
[Editor’s note: LegendsNation.com attempted to acquire comments from Steven Ross regarding the incident and subsequent black flag from the officials, but was unable to locate him after the event concluded. Calls made to Ross were not returned by press time.]
Legends
Semi-Pro Division
Unofficial Top-10 Standings
Pos
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Car #
63
48
69
13
88
01
26
124
99
138
Driver
Christian Pahud
Daniel Hemric
Kyle Hall
John Ellenburg
Steven Ross
J.R. Allen
Matthew Stover
Austin Hill
Rob Sanders
Justin Swilling
Points
3474
3465
3435
3434
3412
3383
3377
3340
3304
3298
Points Behind
0
-9
-39
-40
-62
-91
-97
-134
-170
-176
PENNINGER WINS RACE; PIERCE WINS CHAMPIONSHIP IN YOUNG LIONS
This year the Lowe’s Motor Speedway officials decided to split the Semi-Pro division into two classes, creating the Young Lions division. This group was created for the younger inexperienced drivers that want to compete and learn instead of packing up and going home like half of the 2006 Semi-Pro division drivers did weekly.
Since the division was new to the Summer Shootout, the drivers that participated in the division knew they were racing for the first ever Young Lions championship issued at the track.
Heading into the final race of the championship, Kyle Pierce had a slight lead in the points over Trevor Farbo with Tyler Millwood, Dylan Presnell and Jordan Penninger on their heels. When the smoke from the action cleared, Pierce drove his #28 car to a second-place race finish, earning him the championship.
Kyle Pierce took the first ever Summer Shootout Young Lions Division Championship. (LN Photo)
“It was a patience race,” said Pierce. “I just tried to work my way through there and take advantage of everyone else’s mistakes. I did, they messed up and I took it over.”
One by one, Pierce watched as his championship contenders fell by the wayside.
With only a few laps in the books, Presnell spun his Legends, knocking him out of the championship chase. Millwood had an on track incident with another competitor, which ended when he was punted off the track and out of the championship chase. That left Farbo and Penninger as drivers Pierce had to contend with, but Farbo didn’t last long as he went off the track and out of the race.
Farbo was visibly upset in the garage area, especially with his Clay Hair Motorsports teammate Wyatt Dallenbach.
“The #11 car (Dallenbach) was racing me like he was going for the win and the championship,” said Farbo. “I guess he wanted to win tonight that bad that he just had to race me rough. He ended up bumping me out of the way and getting by me. I got freight-trained. I got in the back of somebody and somebody got in the back of me and I ended up spinning out. I got hit from the side and it knocked my shock off. That was the end of our night and our summer.
“It surprised me. I looked in my mirror and he is driving it off in there trying to hit me. I didn’t really expect that out of him. I guess he was trying to return the favor for something he thought I did a couple weeks ago that caused him some trouble. I don’t really know what his problem was but we are out of it now.”
Trevor Farbo sideways. (LN Photo)
Dallenbach didn’t seem phased by the incident, and wasn’t sure why Farbo was mad at him.
“I am not sure,” said Dallenbach. “From what I saw he ran in the back of me and I don’t know why he is mad because he almost took me out. I didn’t do anything on purpose. I guess he went in too hard and hit me and he got messed up. I am not sure what he is thinking.”
Farbo explained his frustration of coming up just short of the championship.
“It is impossible to control your emotions,” said Farbo. “You put your heart and soul into this whole thing for the championship for 10 weeks in the summer. All this money, all this help and volunteering, and it sucks when somebody takes it away like that. It is impossible to control your emotions.”
Legends
Young Lions Division
Unofficial Top-10 Standings
Pos
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Car #
28
7
35
78
31
83
66
57
24
46
Driver
Kyle Pierce
Jordan Penninger
Trevor Farbo
Devin Layser
Tyler Millwood
Dylan Presnell
Tyler Kivett
Bailey Freeman
Nick Hoffman
Chris Moore
Points
3520
3491
3456
3448
3447
3434
3414
3405
3375
3273
Points Behind
0
-29
-64
-72
-73
-86
-106
-115
-145
-247
Up front, Pierce had to control his emotions as he closed in on the leader Penninger, his only competition left in the chase for the championship. Pierce rode around in second behind him, which is all he needed to clinch the title.
“I didn’t know what happened (with Farbo),” said Pierce. “I went under him and all of a sudden I felt someone slam into me. I looked in my mirror and there was nobody there so I don’t know what happened, but I hate it for him whatever happened.
“I knew when I went out there I had to work really, really hard. I just tried to race it clean and get by everybody. I feel great. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to pull it off. I had a lot of pressure on me. I just tried to do the best I could. It is a good acceleration point for us to come back next year.”
Tyler Millwood's championship bid ended as he was booted off the track. (LN Photo)
Pierce won the championship title, but Penninger won the race. In fact, Penninger won the last two races in the Sizzler points runoff, and if the points were not reset after the seventh week he would be the champion.
While he seemed a bit disappointed that he did everything he could and came up short, he was satisfied with the added victory.
“The car was pretty good tonight,” said Penninger. “I think if I would have won and he (Pierce) would have finished sixth and the same with Farbo we could have won the points. I wish we could have finished better the first race of the Sizzler when we got wrecked and finished 14th.
“I think they should not run the Sizzler. Someone can have a good points lead and lose it all in one bad race and it screws you up. They are trying to make it like the Chase (NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Chase championship) but they have 10 races and can screw up once.
“The Sizzler just didn’t work out for us, but I am glad we could get two wins out of it.”
