MILLBRIDGE - 5/6/07 LEGENDS
By Matthew Dillner
PRO - PASCHAL USES GENTLE HORN TO BEAT FALCON
Sometimes in Legends Racing you hear the term ‘bump or be bumped’. Well, Jordan Paschal knows that he is still young in racing and learning a lot in the Legends ranks. And that learning process led him to a victory at Millbridge in the Pro Division in week-six action.
Last week Paschal lost the win on the last lap when he got into Kara Clarke (who was a semi-pro competitor – both divisions were combined last week). During that same race the #99 leaned on Falcon Smith to get by his #34 car.
Fast Forward to this week and Paschal had to work his way around Falcon once again. The difference this week was that Paschal passed him cleanly, although he did utilize his front-bumper..
“We got into it last week and ended up taking him out,” said Paschal after the race. “So today I just wanted to make sure I passed him clean. I gave him a little bit of my bumper but got it done as clean as I could I guess.”
Paschal (#99) slides under Falcon Smith. (LN Photo)
“He used us as a little bit of a banking last week but that is alright,” said Smith. Jordan and I are pretty good friends and we’ve raced together for years now. He drove me a real clean race out there today and I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.”
Jordan Paschal turned around the previous weeks' misfortune and won a spot in the Dirt Nationals.
Falcon Smith led the race from the drop of the green but quickly had his hands full with the black and white-99. The two cars battled side-by-side for several laps. Paschal couldn’t get a run off the corner working the low-groove. So screened by a cloud of dust in turns three and four, he tapped the #34 just enough to move him up a groove and get by.
“I had to give him a little bit (of bumper), explained Paschal. “I kept on trying to get runs on him. I couldn’t get enough of a run on him on the bottom. He could keep his momentum up on the high side. He wasn’t making any mistakes and I was betting on him making one. But then it was coming down to it and he was driving a really good race. I just had to put the bumper to him.”
“I knew it was coming,” said Smith. “I was waiting on it. I just couldn’t keep it down there when he did it. He had to do what he needed to do to win and I would have done the same thing if I was in his shoes.
SEMI-PRO - CLARKE IS GOING TO THE NATIONALS AFTER BIG MILLBRIDGE WIN
Pack your bags Kara Clarke, you are going to go on a road-trip to Missouri. With her win at Millbridge on Sunday, Clarke earned a guaranteed starting spot in the Legends Dirt Nationals at Lebanon I-44 Speedway in Missouri on September 20th - 22nd.
“I called my dad up as soon as I got out of the car,” said an excited Clarke. “I asked him, ‘have you ever been to Missouri?’ He asked, ‘do we get to go?’ So I said, ‘yes let’s go.’
“We’re going to go to Missouri and see how a big dirt track is and go up against the big dogs. I’m extremely excited about that. My dad told me that if we won today, we could go to Missouri. I was like, ‘thanks for the pressure,’ but it helped. To know that I have a guaranteed spot is a big confidence boost. We went to our first Nationals (asphalt nationals) last year and we got our butt handed to us. Hopefully that won’t be the case this year when we go to both the asphalt and now the dirt nationals.”
Clarke had her 3rd win of the Millbridge season erased on the white-flag lap after contact with Jordan Paschal. This week, Clarke checked out from the drop of the green and never looked back. Actually, she did look back with a smile.
“I’ve never been more happy to see five-to-go in my life. It definitely felt a whole lot better than the week before. Especially to take a look up in my rear-view mirror and see that I had a little space to work with was nice.
Clarke had plenty of room behind her coming to the stripe to take the win at Millbridge.
I think the start really helped us. Matt had to drift up and there was nothing really at the top of the track today. If you are on the bottom, you are the winner. That gave us a little bit of room to work with at the start. We really had the best car all day and led all the laps in the heat race and the feature.
LARRY FRIDDLE IS ONE WISE LEGENDS MASTER
Larry Friddle stood by his car relaxed most of the time in the pit area at Millbridge Speedway. You could see a smile on his face as wide as his old school, open-faced helmet. The reason: just by showing up to Millbridge for a laid-back day of Sunday racing, he automatically received a starting spot in the Legends Nationals in Missouri. Friddle is a wise man, and the only Masters Division driver to show up at Millbridge.
Larry Friddle had a lot to smile about after a pretty relaxing day of racing.
"I enjoy it out here," says Friddle. "It’s my first dirt race this year and it is a touring race so it counts for national points. I usually only do about two dirt races a year.
“I’m going to win!” laughed Friddle of being the only Masters Division driver at the track.
On the notion of being one of the smartest guys out there Friddle replied, “I don’t know. My wife doesn’t think so.”
Though the lone man with an “M” on his front fender, Friddle did get to at least compete in a combined race with the Semi-Pro division.
“I do it for fun and I like to travel. That is how I won the last three touring championships. I live down in Greenville and it is only 100-miles away. I like all the guys that run here and enjoy working with Josh Waring (Hurricane Racing). We’ve been water-logged down there for three days so I am thankful that we have clear skies up here today.”
DIVISION RESULTS - PRO
1) #99 Jordan Paschal
2) #34 Falcon Smith
3) #94 Matt Willingham
4) #91 Kyle Beattie
DIVISION RESULTS - SEMI PRO
1) #21 Kara Clarke
2) #4 Matt Lundstrum
DIVISION RESULTS - MASTERS
1) #8 Larry Friddle
