The attack of the crickets, yellow flags and early morning action.
09/28/2003
I headed down to Thunderhill raceway for the 7th Annual Stock Car Spectacular. Between the cricket landings, there was a lot of racing. THR Street Stocks, Dwarf Cars, Asphalt Modifieds, Romco Super Late Models and TX Super Racing Series. 125 cars, lots of laps and an awfully long race last night, ( I should say this morning).
The Streets Stocks had 2 features, the first based on qualifying points straight up racing, the second feature they inverted the field. I like when that is done, it makes for a good race to watch for the fans. The Street Stocks were not racing for points, there season ended 2 weeks ago because of the rain cancellation last week. The Dwarf Cars had heat races at 8 laps each, those took forever to get done, lots of yellow flags last night.
The Texas Asphalt Modifieds had a 50 lap race, I think it took them 60 or so to complete, again a lot of cautions during the race. One of the cars kept dry firing after he got spun around, the fuel just kept getting down on the exhaust system and igniting. The fire truck was on the why when he finally got the car to re-fire. I had never seen the Asphalt Modifieds before, they have an awful lot of horse power, I wondered if they normally ran on a bigger track. The guys sitting next to me said that the Oklahoma City track was a little bigger, but that was about it. I imagine if they could get on a full size speedway or a super speedway, it would be one heck of a race. I may look for there race schedule to see them again.
The All Star Trucks feature was a lot of fun. Two guys sat next to me that had just bought the # 5 truck last week. There driver managed to pass another truck, it looked like it handled very well and once they get the engine work done, he should be a major player next season. The #5 truck had to run with the yellow tape on the bumper indicating he was a rookie. They don’t let the rookies out front to start the race, even if they qualify well. They finished second to last but it was a good effort for there first race and a bad engine.
The Street Stock feature 2, had the inverted field remember no points during there race. Some of the slower cars were just getting in the way. They were way to loose, sliding up and down the track. It made it difficult to pass. This race brought out an enormous amount of cautions. It took forever to run this one. It was only a 25 lap race, but cautions didn’t count. They restarted the race 2 times due to cautions in the first lap. The black flag got used a bunch of times and the race kept going and stopping, going and stopping.
The Dwarfs were next up for there feature race, again a caution filled race. They kept loosing cars to spins and turns into the grass. The number of cars dwindled down as each caution flag came out. I even saw a couple of dwarfs on the flat bed wrecker. There was a spin out just below the flag stand, lots of kids from the crowd raced to the fence to see what happened. Some of the cars just stalled out and had to be push started by the other drivers. Again it was a long 25 lap race, caution laps didn’t count. Normally I don’t see the dwarfs breaking like the did, they usually just slide around and get back on the track. Not last night.
It was just about midnight when the ROMCO cars got on the track, the crickets were in full attack mode and it was distracting trying to watch the racing. The feature was a 125 lap race that took a long time to get run. They were racing for points but again kept loosing cars as the cautions would fly.
By the time the ROMCO Super Late Models got on the track, it was well past midnight. The race started with over 30 cars but by the time it was over there were only 21 or 22 cars left running. Need I say the cautions, the black flags and the wrecks took there toll. Each time the caution flag was thrown, the crowd dwindled. Good racing when they could get 10 20 laps caution free, it was a 125 lap event.
By the time the Texas Super Racing series got under way, I was dog tired, my back hurt and I was just trying to hang in there. Again caution was the word for the race. They shortened the race from 125 laps to 100 to get it over with. Caution at lap 25, cautions at lap 80 caution with 8 laps to go. I felt bad for the winners, they didn’t get the full fan appreciation. When the checkered flag fell, what was left of the crowd just left. I waited until the wining driver got out of his car, but didn’t wait for the other 2. It was about 1:45 by the time I got to the parking lot and was heading home.
Did I mention they ran out of food and beer by the dwarf car feature? I was so thirsty by the time I managed to pull into my driveway, I guzzled 2 big glasses of water. I tried to stop at the connivance stores on the way from the track, but it was so late, they had all closed. I didn’t make it to church this morning, I just couldn’t do it on 5 hours of sleep. I will put the tape in for the Taladaga race today, I think my eyes just may end up closing during the race.
