Starstruck Report, Southside Speedway News and Notes 6/4/2010

The Starstruck Report 6/4/10 News and Notes

Hello friends and welcome once again to another edition of the Starstruck Report. This week Southside Speedway had one of it's longest Late Model Sportsman races of the year, the Robbie Robertson Chesterfield 150. Unlike the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown, this was an official Southside Speedway race that counted in the points standings. This was a very hot and muggy night where your clothes could be soaked just sitting out in the stands. During the pre race, it was announced that Rev. Fred Spivey, who gave the invocation at the track many times, had passed away on May 23 of this year. Since he was a staple at the track, this edition of the Starstruck Report will be dedicated to his memory. We will miss you hear but we hope you are having fun watching all the great drivers who have left us race in heaven. Robbie Robertson, who the event was named for, was introduced during opening ceremonies and Nascar legend Bobby Allison. Both men were involved in a group picture with the Late Model Sportsman drivers.  Let's get to the action.

Late Model Sportsman (150 laps): Shayne Lockhart (95) had the fastest lap in qualifying. He rolled the dice and only was inverted one spot. Eddie Johnson (43) started the race on the pole.  In note to my regular readers, caution laps did count due to the length of this race. Shayne Lockhart took the lead on the first lap and looked very strong early. At lap 10, Shannon Marano (6) and Greg Fernandez (02) had some contact around turn 2. The cars straightened up. However, some debris was noticed on lap 12 and a real comedy of errors ensued. The officials had radio problems and you could hear the tower screaming at the flag man to put the caution out. The caution came out officially on lap 14 and by that point, all radio problems seemed to be in order. The race resumed on lap 19 and Lockhart (95) held off Johnson (43) to keep the lead. The second caution came out on lap 56 when Michael Solaimani (12) spun in turn 2. Shannon Marano (6) retired from the race at lap (58). Greg Fernandez (02) was the lucky dog and got the wave around. The race resumed on lap 62 with Lockhart (95) holding off Johnson's (43) challenge for the lead. The caution came out again on the next lap when Brandon Hendrick (39) and Jeff Oakley (15) wrecked in the backstretch. Hendrick (39) went in the pits and rejoined the race around lap 72.  Adam Resnick (4) received the wave around. The race resumed at lap 73 and Lockhart (95) held off another strong challenge from Johnson (43). Mike Kersey (7) went in the pits at lap 75.  The race remained green for several laps till Adam Resnick (4) spun in turn 2 on lap 107. The officials were working on lining up the cars before the cone restart but Resnick (4) stalled on the front stretch and ended his night.  The race resumed at lap 120 and Lockhart (95) held off Johnson (43) again. However, each restart was getting closer. In some ways, it appeared Lockhart (95) may have burnt up his tires some early in the race.  Brandon Hendrick's (39) night ended on lap 123. Doug Godsey's (05) car went in the pits at lap 132 and was off the pace by this point.  The final caution came out at lap 146 when Chris Dodson (0) spun in turn 2. Chris Hopkins (99) was sent to the back for contact with Dodson (0). The race ended up in an overtime green white checkered. On lap 152, Johnson (43) overtook Lockhart (95) in this restart and claimed the checkered flag.  Johnson's (43) car was ruled too low in tech and he was disqualified. 1. (95) Shayne Lockhart 2. (18) Brad Davis 3. (15) Jeff Oakley 4. (71) Steve Zuskin 5. (0) Chris Dodson 6. (99) Chris Hopkins 7. (41) Chris Johnson 8. (02)  Greg Fernandez 9. (1) Lin O'Neill 10. (25) David Mooney 11. (50) Raymond Pittman III 12. (12) Michael Solaimani 13. (05) Doug Godsey 14. (39) Brandon Hendrick 15. (4) Adam Resnick 16. (7) Mike Kersey 17. (6) Shannon Marano 18. (59) Tony Culley 19. (43) Eddie Johnson

Grand Stock (30 laps): Brian Mislivy (3) started this race on the pole by winning his heat race. Bill Nixon (49) was off the track before the race started but came back on after lap 1 was complete. Shawn Hopkins (84) night ended on lap 2 when he went in the pits. Doug Fields (44) brought out the first caution on lap 5 when he spun in the back stretch. Nixon (49) was the only lap car so he automatically received the lucky dog. The cars lined up for a cone restart. Mark Simpson (36) who took the outside of Mislivy (3) lead the first green flag lap on the restart but Mislivy (3) reclaimed it the following lap.  The second caution came out on lap 12. Doug Fields (44) spun in turn 2. Woody Ellington (11) and Cory Willoughby (7) had no where to go so there was a small pile up. Willoughby (7) was towed off since his radiator was busted. Ellington pulled in the pits and a bare chested Greg Fernandez (LMS 02) went to go help him. The tower had the pit officials make him go put a shirt on. On lap 20, Tommy Tatum (62), the current points leader, was blackflagged due to his car smoking heavily. Tatum (62) answered the blackflag two laps later. The hold came up and there was a fire right around the engine. Tatum (62) made it out of the car okay.  The caution flag waved again on lap 23 when Kevin Wilson (37) spun on lap 23 in turn 4. On the restart, Mislivy (3) held off the challenge from Simpson (36) intially but 4 laps later Simpson (36) would take the lead and hold on to claim the checkered flag. 1. (36) Mark Simpson 2. (3) Brian Myslivy 3. (69) Donnie Newman 4. (27)Daniel Shelton 5. (98) J. D. Eversole 6. (47) Kevin Wilson 7. (11) Woody Ellington 8. (49) Bill Nixon 9. (15) James Overman 10. (62) Tommy Tatum 11. (44) Doug Fields 12. (7) Cory Willoughby 13. (84) Shawn Hopkins

Champ Karts (20 laps): David Emory (22) started the race on the pole.  Right after the leaders passed the start finish line, Randy Emory (00) flipped his kart in the front stretch. The officials debated during the caution if one laps was completed or they needed a complete restart due to Emory (00) never crossing the start finish line and being the only kart that failed to do so. After much discussion, the later was chosen. The karts were lined up at the line and everyone had their original positions back. David Emory (22) retained his lead on the second attempt to start this race. On lap 4, Jason Higginbothom (44) took the lead. Emory (22) reclaimed the lead on lap 9. At lap 11, Tommy Chambers (08) spun in turn 4 but was able to get his kart back in control to avoid the caution. Lap 12, Jason Higginbotham (44) went off the pace and in the pits. Lap 16, Buzz Moore (11) took the lead and held on to claim the victory. There was a near altercation after the race but the police had it seperated before anything got out of hand. 1. (11) Buzz Moore 2. (22) David Emory 3. (98) J. D. Eversole 4. (00) Randy Emory 5. (18) Brad Davis 6. (38) Stanley Holmes 7. (01) Stan Holmes 8. (28) Ricky Gum 9. (02) Clint Gunn 10. (88) Josh Barefoot 11. (12) Daniel Davis 12. (08) Tommy Chambers 13. (2) Mitch Bartholomew 14. (44) Jason Higginbotham 15. (4) Kenny Miller

Ucar (25 laps):  Tony Mills (61) started this race on the pole.  Around lap 2, Andrew Condrey (36) almost spun in turn 4 but had the car under control to avoid a caution being put out. Around lap 5, Charlie Simons (3) spun in turn 3 but no caution was put out. Daniel Thomas (99) moved strong and claimed the lead on lap 6. Lap 8, some contact between Mills (61) and Kerns (78) almost caused a spin but both cars went under control so no caution was put out. Lap 21, Frank Silva (91) went in the pits after his car went off the pace. Thomas (99) would hold on for the win. 1. (99) Daniel Thomas 2. (18) Mike Chapman 3. (78) David Kerns 4. (87)Austin Dodge 5. (12) Jamie Hite 6. (34) Bryan Scott 7. (92) Rusty Bennett 8. (94) Michael R. Hall 9. (5) Jody Young 10. (61) Tony Mills 11. (36) Andrew Condrey 12. (09) David Gonce 13. (17x) Jordan Bell 14. (3) Charlie Simons 15. (4) David Blankenship 16. (44) Shawn Hendricks 17. (6) Corey Lawrence 18. (21) Jonathan Doane 19. (51) Rick Powers 20. (91) Frank Silva 21. (22) Butch Mixell

Now let's analyze the action.

Performance of the week: Daniel Thomas (99 Ucar) had the fastest car in his division and was the strongest leader we had for each division. There weren't any cautions in his race, making his car look stronger than other divisions where cone restarts really affected the outcome of the race.

Tough Luck Late Model Sportsman:  Shannon Marano (6) gets the nod. His early contact with Greg Fernandez (02) seemed to hurt the handling of his car and he was one of the first cars out of the race.

Tough Luck Grand Stock: Tommy Tatum (62) gets the nod this week. The fire under the engine and smoke caused him a DNF. Tatum (62) was the points leader going into this race. Donnie Newman (69) has the points lead by 20 points as a result of this DNF.

Tough Luck Champ Kart: This was harder to call since the race had no cautions. However, Jason Higginbotham (44) went off the pace late in the race. On top of that, he had an early lead in this race and ended up 14th.

Tough Luck Ucar: Frank Silva (91), usually a strong contender, had his car go south late in the race.  This seems like the easiest choice since no cautions were called in this race.

Whispers in the pits: As mentioned earlier, Southside Speedway has found itself in a strange position. We aren't near the midway point and we already have controversy on rules. While, I don't agree with all the calls, I would like to see the rules enforced consistently. For example, a car is either legal or not in the tech shed, period. It's not a topic I enjoy discussing at all on a regular basis. However, some recent calls keep this stuff in the forefront on pit road discussions. It's a real shame to see this type of controversy since the cone restarts have brought us some of the best racing we have seen in years at the track. It's harder to tell who will win the race because of it.

Flashback: I want to thank racing-reference.info for being a good source of information on the history of racing in this country. While I was able  to share some of the Grand National Races at Southside, I wanted to talk about a legend we lost last year. Wayne Patterson (14) ran 7 races in the Nascar Busch series in 1982. His best finish that year was 7th in Hickory, Nc's track.  Overall, Patterson (14) had 39 starts in the Busch (now Nationwide) series with a career of 7 top 10's and 1 top 5. Many long time fans of the track would remember Patterson driving the 14 Pabst Blue Ribbon late model.  Patterson was one of the winningest drivers at Southside Speedway and it's hard to believe he has been gone a year. I am hoping the track puts his name in the track hall of fame.

Looking ahead: Next week will be Little League night at the track.  The Ucar and Street Stock cars will see action. The event will be highlighted by 3 30 lap Modified races. Right now, Thomas Stinson ( Modified 4) has a lead of 160 over Mike Rudy (Modified 8) in the points. Three races can make a difference.  David Kern (Ucar 78) continues to lead that division by 20 points over defending champion Mike Chapman (Ucar 18). Brian Smith (Street Stock 6) leads by 20 points over Ricky Stotler (Street Stock 92). While it's still very early in the season, the points battles are all close and there will be alot of drama till the final checkered flag drops on September 3rd.

That's all for now and I will see you at the races.
*Larry Starstruck*  

Do you like the Starstruck Report. Visit my new group on facebook around it. All columns are open to discussion.  

Correction. Tony Culley wasn't driving the 59 Late Model. In fact, A J Winstead, a staple on the local modified circuit was driving this week.