SUMMER SHOOTOUT: Legends Round 9 - 7/31/07
By Jason Buckley, Ashley Thomson and Celita Turner
WEIMER DEFEATS SIZZLER THIS WEEK WHILE OTHERS GET BURNED BY IT
Brian Weimer told LN last week he wasn't going to race this week, but changed his mind. (LN Photo)
From the time the Sizzler showed up last week, it has been doing nothing but causing trouble for the Legends Masters division. Just like Enforcer in the Crash Cars, the Sizzler hasn't let any one Masters driver stay on top for very long.
Last week, half of the top 10 in points wrecked out and drivers threatened not to return. This week, there was talk of favoritism and sabotage in the garage area. Brian Weimer had a run-in with the Sizzler last week when he wrecked, causing him to fall from first to seventh in points. Weimer claimed he may not return since he was out of the points race but, came back to see if the Sizzler wanted to tango one more time.
Starting from the third position, Weimer did a good job steering clear of the other drivers around him beating and banging. After avoiding a few cautions, Weimer passed Eddie Harwell for the lead about halfway through the race. It seemed to be smooth sailing from there for Weimer until Masters “master” Clay Hair started closing in on the #40’s bumper. Hair gave that bumper a tap, but Weimer held his line and took the win.
"It was pretty good,” said Weimer. “I had a good distance on him (Clay Hair) and then whenever there's three-to-go, you try to protect the bottom and slow down to go faster. He gave me a pretty good shove coming into (turns) three and four and moved me a little bit, but I think Clay was just racing smart. He has the championship probably wrapped up without any incidents next race. He did what he had to do. He could have moved me… probably."
Meanwhile, Weimer wasn't the only story on the track. On a late restart, several cars got together and spun out in turn one, including those of front-runners Clay Hair, Tom VanWingerden, John Sossoman, Jeff Turner and a few others. All the cars kept driving, but track officials decided to give Clay Hair his spot back. Usually when a driver is involved in an incident they go to the back.
This wasn’t the first incident Hair got away with.
The driving of Clay Hair (right) was the center of controversy Tuesday night. (Photo by Fastrac Images)
Just a few laps later, the top-four cars were running bumper-to-bumper. Weimer was leading by a few car lengths. Harwell was in second followed by Spry and then Hair. From the drivers’ perspectives, Hair pushed Spry into Harwell and caused them both to spin. A caution flew and Hair was never black-flagged for using his bumper.
Dennis White was watching from behind and did not think it was fair.
"If it would have been anybody else out there turning the 16 around, anybody else, if it would have been me, I would have been penalized. I would have been sent to the back because I caused the caution. But the 29 turns the 16 around and they give him his spot back, I'd like to know how that happens. I really would."
Harwell was just a victim in the accident and could not see what happened.
"I got into turn one and Cotton got into me,” said Harwell. “He said Clay shoved him. That's what he was mad about. Cotton and I are too good of friends. I know he didn't do it on purpose, so I believe Cotton. I don't know why they didn't put us back up there. They said Clay caused the first wreck, I don't know. All I knew is I got slammed and Cotton said he (Clay) hit him, which you can see Cotton's back bumper. It's drilled. Cotton and I have been the best of friends and parked beside him for six years. He's not going to take me out; I'm not going to take him out."
Spry, a long-time racer at the Summer Shootout, was short in what he had to say about the whole thing.
"They don't call Clay against nothin',” said the ultra-popular Spry. “No matter what he does, they don't penalize him. Simple fact. That's just it. I'm in the corner underneath Eddie and Eddie gets sideways and I get on the brakes and he's (Clay) behind me pushing me in the corner. That's the end of it."
After a re-interview with Hair about his fellow racer's comments, he didn't seem to think there was a problem.
"Roger Slack runs the races,” said Hair. “He penalized me once before so evidently he didn't see anything wrong with my driving."
PENNINGER AND MILLWOOD REBOUND WHILE CHAMPIONSHIP HEATS UP
Jordan Penninger took the Young Lions trophy home Tuesday. (LN Photo)
For the last two weeks, Jordan Penninger and Tyler Millwood have been the class of the Young Lion field at the Summer Shootout. During the final laps of round eight last week, they both got into trouble with about five laps to go and both were out of the race. However, Tuesday night, they both rebounded with a one-two finish, with Penninger taking the victory.
“Last week I was passing for the lead and Millwood came down on me,” Penninger said. “We’d been leading the points since about week two and that kind of screwed us on that, but I’m glad we could get back this week and get our first win of the year. It feels good to finally get our first win.”
Millwood was hoping to get the win this week, but his car wasn’t cooperating with him.
“Tonight is definitely a nice rebound from last week,” said Millwood. “I just couldn’t get off the corner as good as Penninger was. I’d get him getting in the corner, but off the corner I couldn’t do anything with him. I ran 20 laps in second. I got close to him a couple times because he slipped up, but I was just too far back to get under him. The guy that won the race was just faster than me”
Both Penninger and Millwood are in The Sizzler, and with their good finishes, along with the good finishes that Trevor Farbo, Kyle Pierce, and Devin Layser posted, the championship battle that will be decided next week is certainly heating up.
Millwood said he’s going to take it easy next week.
“I’m going to figure out where I am in the points and where I have finish next week and where everyone else needs to finish and if there’s a chance I can win,” Millwood explained. “I’m going at it in a conservative approach.”
Penninger said since he locked up the Red, White and Blue championship, he wanted to focus on The Sizzler.
“I doubt (we can win The Sizzler) because last week was so bad,” he said. “The first six races I had six top fives, but I spun out during the rain night. I’ve been doing good up until The Sizzler, but now we’re back on track. I’m going to approach next week the same as this week and try to get another win.”
Tyler Millwood (left) is hoping for a good finish in the last round of the Shootout. (LN Photo)
Pierce hopes because of his third-place finish, he can keep his points lead. Why?
“Just because I finished in front of my competitor, Trevor Farbo,” he said, “I hope I can stay in front of the points. Next week I hope to get a good draw, do good in my heat races, come real strong and try to get those guys.”
Farbo was only 10 points behind Pierce, but with his fourth-place finish Tuesday night he has high expectations of what his performance needs to be next week.
“I have to win,” Farbo said. “We were hoping to have a better run tonight than we did. I think to have a chance, we have to win next week and hope guys have bad luck.”
“Next week I’m going all out,” Layser exclaimed. “I think I can get the championship but it depends on how things happen next week. Like this week, there were a couple of cars that got taken out and if that happens again next week with the front three in points then that gives everyone behind them a good shot.
He said that he would not race his competitors roughly, but he would be there.
“I refuse to run people over just to pass them,” Layser said, “but I’m going to put myself in a position to have a good shot at the championship.”
SLACK COMPLIMENTS ANDERSON AND HARTENSVELD ON GREAT PRO RACE
Jordan Anderson celebrated his win with his sister, who is his biggest fan. (LN Photo)
This year at the Summer Shootout, Roger Slack, Director of Events at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, has been very critical of the racing action on the track. Every week drivers are told in the driver’s meeting and on the radio during the races to not bump, not block, stay off the grass, slow down (under caution) and generally what to do and when to do it on the track. Sometimes it is like listening to a daycare worker trying to deal with multiple kids that will not listen when told to do something.
But every once in a while, drivers listen to what they are told and put on a great race for the fans. If they are lucky, they will get a verbal congratulations from Slack instead of the verbal lashing they receive for not listening. Tuesday night Jordan Anderson and Thomas Hartensveld received just after the two drivers put on one of the best battles in the 2007 Shootout over the final few laps of the Pro Legends event with Anderson beating Hartensveld by just a few feet.
Anderson and Hartensveld give each other a congratulatory hug after the race. (LN Photo)
Daniel Hemric scored his second Summer Shootout win on Tuesday. (LN Photo)
Steven Ross is looking towards the championship at the Shootout. (Photo by Fastrac Images)
“It was close,” said Anderson. “It reminded me of last week but then I was racing for third. Here I was racing for first and I came out on top. It was a good race and I am glad to be here.”
Hartensveld and Anderson started the race in fourth and fifth respectively. A lap one caution forced the officials to abandon the double-file starts, causing them to restart the race single file.
“I was happy we went to single file on the first restart,” said Hartensveld. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get ahead of Thomas (Van Wingerden, who started third) there, he is a good racer. I just followed my way up through there with him and was just trying to be patient.”
Van Wingerden worked his way to the lead with Hartensveld in tow. Anderson then got under Van Wingerden, pulling up on the back bumper of Hartensveld, working on him for the lead. For the last several laps, the two drivers swapped positions trying to determine who had the fastest car and who was going to lead at the checkered flag.
“I think both of us started to have brake trouble there,” said Anderson. “I had mine lock up on me there when I took the lead the first time and he got it back. I was just praying the whole race that we wouldn’t touch each other. I think we changed the lead about five or six times. I was just patient at the beginning of the race and worked my way up there. I took the lead and tried not to look back but I got loose and he got back by me there.”
Hartensveld was able to work by Anderson, but he just couldn’t hold onto the lead, forcing him to finish a close side-by-side second at the line.
“I don’t know what happened there when Jordan caught me,” explained Hartensveld. “He was faster than me when I was in front of him but when I was behind him I felt like I was faster. This car the last few weeks has been unbelievable. After the adjustments we made a couple weeks ago, it really helped it. Maybe if we keep getting close like that we will get a win.”
Shortly after the five-lap lead-swapping race by Anderson and Hartensveld, Slack came over the radio and gave praises to both drivers. He said he was proud of their racing and the show they put on for the crowd.
“They raced each other clean and swapped the lead,” said Slack. “They went back and forth with relatively little to no contact. It just proved what the Pro division should be and can be when racers race with patience and talent.”
His words meant a lot to Anderson.
“Like I said last week, these are the Pro drivers out here,” said Anderson. “One day you might see me and Thomas doing the same thing racing in NASCAR at Daytona. You never know. But Roger saying that means a lot to me. Like Humpy said in the driver’s meeting, Roger has been out here since this program started. What he said means a lot.”
Hartensveld was also pleased with Slack’s comments, although it surprised him a bit since this year the drivers have been getting more of a tongue lashing due to their conduct on the track rather than compliments.
“It is definitely a major compliment that he said it,” said Hartensveld. “I am thankful that he said it because I didn’t think he would come on the radio and say something like that. I wasn’t sure if I heard the right thing.
“It was a good clean race and I don’t think any two other drivers would race like that.”
ROSS AND HEMRIC PREVIEW CHAMPIONSHIP RACE WITH ONE-TWO FINISH
With a three-race “Sizzler” championship chase in play this season at the Summer Shootout, drivers have had to be on top of their game for the first two races prior to the championship event on August 7th. Steven Ross and Daniel Hemric both left the first Sizzler round with top-five finishes, putting them both in good positions heading into the second round. By the end of round two, both drivers showed they mean business as Hemric took the Semi-Pro victory ahead of Ross, setting up a battle for the championship next week.
“I got a run on Steven coming up off the corner and I was able to hold it and make it stick and get another win,” said Hemric. “It is unbelievable to get my second win at the Summer Shootout. It is a big deal.”
Neither Hemric nor Ross started from the front row in the feature event, but both started close to the front, finding their way to the top two spots quickly.
“We started up near the front for the first time in the last few weeks,” said Hemric. “I just used my head and was patient. I came to the end (of the race) and the car got really good coming up off (the corner).”
Ross also used patience, but mainly used the ‘choose’ rule and a break on the track from his brother to work his way to the lead as he attempted to hold off Hemric for the top spot.
“We started about sixth,” said Ross. “Our car was working good and turning great. The caution came out and I have been pretty lucky with the choose this season. I was sixth in line and no one else chose so I just shot up there. Then I looked in my mirror and saw my brother Jonathan in second (second in line on the inside) so I knew if I didn’t get around the #01 (J.R. Allen) he was going to give me a hole to get in there. That helped me out a lot. That was a big favor from him.
“The car was still a little too tight in the center and loose off. Hemric was pressuring me a lot so I tried to look ahead and drive my line. He was a little better off two. He got under me and I tried to race him on the outside. I tried to get back to him and I got close but I knew it was going to be tough to pass him because he was strong.”
Both drivers crossed the line in the top two spots, which vaulted them both to the top two spots in the Championship heading into next week’s series finale as point leader Kyle Hall had trouble in the race finishing far back in the running order. Hemric has an unofficial 20-point lead over Ross, which will make the last race exciting to watch.
“I am pretty sure it will put me at the top (in the points) but I guess it doesn’t matter until it is over,” explained Hemric. “We will see what happens and see how we come in next week and try to get another top-five finish. We are running for the championship but we also know that the points will come if we finish good. I guess we will see what happens.”
Ross echoed Hemric’s comments.
“I think it is going to come down to being between Daniel Hemric and I for the championship,” said Ross. “If neither of us have bad luck we are going to be right up there racing and the championship is going to be really close. Everyone will have to be up on their ‘A’ game.”
