SUMMER SHOOTOUT: Round 6 Leftovers - 7/10/07
By Jason Buckley, Matt Dillner and Celita Turner
CONFIDENT CAGLE GETTIN’ IT DONE AT 69
Will Cagle is all smiles after a good run Tuesday at the Shootout. (photo by Fastrac Images)
Will Cagle is a racing legend and is now racing Legends…Cars, that is. The 69-year old Modified great is back behind the wheel and doing pretty well. Cagle sticks out like a sore thumb with his trademark gold suit, white gloves, open-faced helmet and goggles. The old-school Master almost made his return to victory lane during round six of the Summer Shootout. Cagle took the lead in the closing stages of the race but was bumped out of the way on his way to the white flag and ended up with a third-place finish.
“It felt great, but I wish I would have won,” said the white-haired driver. “I think we showed them tonight that a 69-year old can still be competitive and run. I just want to get on up in ARCA, Busch and possible Nextel Cup because I know there are guys up there I can beat.”
LIGHTNING STRIKE TAKES OUT LOWE’S SCORING PYLON
Monday night’s practice session was pretty well scrubbed due to a major storm that hit the Concord area. Besides the rain coming down in buckets, lightning was lighting up the sky and pounding the ground. Unfortunately for Lowe’s Motor Speedway, lightning struck the track grounds multiple times, knocking out the scoring pylon in one hit.
According to Roger Slack, the speedway tried to rob parts from the Dirt Track’s scoreboard, but the parts were not compatible. So the night’s racing was done without a scoring pylon for the drivers, teams and fans to see what lap the races were on and who was leading.
BUBBLY BAILEY BUSTS OUT A TOP-FIVE
Bailey Freeman was all smiles after her race. (LN Photo)
If you saw Bailey Freeman in the pits after the Legends Young Lions race, you might have thought she just won the race. The 17-year old was hopping and skipping her way around with big smile on her face. Freeman, who moved up to Legends Car racing from the Bandolero ranks this year, finished fifth. The learning curve has been tough for Freeman, so getting a good finish so early in her Legends career had her on cloud nine.
“Oh my gosh, I am so excited,” said a bubbly Freeman. “There were so many wrecks and you pretty much just had to miss them all. There were cars everywhere. Coming out of turn four, there was a huge wreck in turns one and two and they told us to race to the checker. The second-place car got spun and I got past for a top-five. It was so crazy. This is my sixth race, two at Concord and four here. I have had bad week after bad week and haven’t caught a break and I am just so excited.”
Bailey of course is not the only racing Freeman. Her brother John is a former Shootout Champion who currently races in the NASCAR Busch East Series.
GLENSKI'S WINNING STREAK HALTED AND CARBURETOR PROTESTED
After winning back-to-back races last week at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Ryan Glenski’s winning streak was halted by a spin early in the Bandolero Young Guns feature race that came after contact with one of his toughest competitors and the guy leading him in the points, Clint King.
Ryan Glenski has been fast all season in his #28 Bandolero, and a protest will help determine if he is legal. (photo by Fastrac Images)
After starting fourth, Glenski started falling back a little bit.
“They had a little speedy dry on the top grove so we couldn’t get down,” Glenski said. “Clint (King) gave us a little push coming out of four and we spun. We didn’t have a yellow, so we had to get back going on a green.
After the spin, Glenski was at the back of the pack. But he quickly made it back up front by passing cars on the restarts. Glenski arrived in the tech area after the race to learn that he was being protested by a fellow competitor.
“(INEX Tech Director) Scott (Reinhardt) doesn’t want us to know,” he said of who initiated the protest. “That’s professional. We don’t really need to know though. They think any little bit will get you, but from the years of experience I have, it definitely gives me the edge so I’m glad they’re protesting. We might get a little money off of it. They put the money up so if we’re legal we get all of it so that’s pretty good.”
Glenski said there was no doubt in his mind that his car was legal, and that sometimes the protests are just to keep the playing field level and it’s a part of racing.
“I know that we’re legal and it’s definitely a part of racing. Everybody thinks there kid is gonna be faster than everybody else. I don’t blame them; that’s how fathers are. That’s how my dad is. But once you get beaten by someone, it’s hard to let it happen so they try and get it taken away from you by something in the motor or whatever is making you faster.”
NO GLOVES? NO PROBLEM … YOU JUST WON’T RACE
This week track officials instituted the new gloves rule for the drivers. In the driver’s meeting last week, Roger Slack informed all drivers gloves would be mandatory to race this week. In this week’s meeting, Slack told the drivers the new rule was in effect, and no driver would be allowed on the track without racing gloves.
The track made this important rule after Thomas Van Wingerden’s Legends car erupted in flames last week, causing a huge fireball around the car. Van Wingerden was unhurt and was wearing racing gloves at the time.
THOMSON'S BAD LUCK FOLLOWS FROM FRIENDSHIP TO LOWE'S
The last two races for Pro Series driver Brandon Thomson have ended with him feeling a little beat up and frustrated. First, last Sunday a Friendship Motor Speedwa,y Thomson had barely gotten his car out of the trailer before he was loading it back up to head home.
Dennis White is having a great season this year at the Summer Shootout. (LN Photo)
Dennis White has been a changed driver this season. If you throw away the opening night of action, where he finished 12th, White has posted five top-four finishes including a pair of wins in the Legends Masters division. After years of running the Shootout, White is a happy to finally be one of the front-runners.
“We’re tickled to death,” said White after win number-two. “To be able to run with the caliber of drivers we are running with is amazing. We’ve been here for years and we’ve always run around ninth or 10th place. Nick Pistone Racing has set up an incredible car with me this year. I think it’s in the gear ratio we are running and the tires. We tried everyone’s tires and now we are running Nick Pistone (cut) tires and we are just coming off the corner really well.”
CALEB CALVARESI OK AFTER THREE-WIDE HEAT RACE WRECK
Racing gloves are now manditory at LMS. (LN Photo)
Brandon Thomson was ok after wrecking, but his car wasn't. (LN Photo)
The wreck that ended Thomson’s day at Friendship occurred during practice.
“I didn’t get to see what happened,” Thomson said, “but what I hear is someone spun out in front of Larry Friddle. He was almost stopped when I come out of turn two. The yellow wasn’t out yet and I was still coming full bore, he turned out in front of us and went over the right front. I got into the wall hard it bent up everything. It got the chassis real bad.”
Thomson loaded up his car and headed back home to play beat the clock to get his car prepared for Tuesday night’s racing action at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
“We headed back to BDI Racing and then tore it apart,” he said. “We cleaned all the parts and had the chassis ready Sunday afternoon. We called Jason at 600 (Racing) and he said he had one so I headed over there at 8:00 on Monday morning and got it. I made it back to BDI at about 9 and we started working immediately. We stopped one time to get lunch and go get some more parts. It was all day event. We got done setting it up about 6:30 and tried to come out here (LMS) and practice, but it rained out.”
Brandon raced his way into the feature at the Summer Shootout Tuesday night. However, Thomson and his team never had a chance to see if the adjustments they’d made to his No. 54 were the correct ones. He was involved in a wreck just as the green flag waved to start the race.
WHITE IS BREAKING OUT IN THE MASTERS
While feature races usually contain some of the hardest racing of the night, heat races also produce high energy tension-filled racing action. In some cases wrecks put drivers behind the wall and packing up before the feature starts, as Caleb Calvaresi found out.
Calvaresi was just minding his own business logging laps in the Bandolero Bandits heat race when a three-wide racing situation went wrong, sending his Bando into the backstretch wall hard. While he got out with only a scratch, his car was done for the night.
“I was just running my normal line and a kid just came in there and went right up the track into me,” said Calvaresi. “He put me in the wall. It kind of twisted my thumb because the wheel jammed. I got a little cut on my knuckle from the steering wheel. But with the safety we have with the Hans and the seat belts, I am all fine.
“We have to replace our left side and A-frame and I think a spindle on the right side, so we are done for the night.”
SHOOTOUT POINTS AFTER SIX OF 10 ROUNDS (TOP FIVE)
Legends Masters
1) Brian Weimer - 994
2) Dennis White - 992
3) Clay Hair - 915
4) Cotton Spry - 841
5) Jan Ingram - 801
Legends Pro
1) Tyler Green - 1010
2) Chris Buescher - 872
3) Michael Van Wingerden - 853
4) Jordan Anderson - 844
5) Paddy Rodenbeck - 814
Legends Semi-Pro
1) Kyle Hall - 922
2) Daniel Hemric - 873
3) Christian Pahud - 839
4) Matthew Stover - 837
5) John Ellenburg - 761
Legends Young Lions
1) Jordan Penninger - 985
2) Trevor Farbo - 909
3) Dylan Presnell - 885
4) Tyler Millwood - 873
5) Devin Layser - 843
Bandolero Outlaws
1) Chris Morgan - 1015
2) Kendall Sellers - 999
3) Josh Turner - 995
4) Christopher McKinney - 927
5) Chris Honeycutt - 902
Bandolero Young Guns
1) Clint King - 995
2) Ryan Glenski - 991
3) Ronnie Bassett, Jr. - 949
4) Nicholas Stroupe - 881
5) Bryce Walker - 848
Bandolero Bandits
1) Dillon Bassett - 1007
2) Kyle Plott - 986
3) Matt Wallace - 914
4) Davey Matthews - 814
5) Stephen Bergh, Jr. - 801
