Brandon Watson wins Lucie Alywin Memorial 51 presented by North Toronto Auctions
Brandon Watson would start off exactly where he left off as he would the victory in the Lucie Alywin Memorial 50 presented by North Toronto Auctions after leading from the pole.
Trouble would start early as on the first lap of the first heat, Tyler Hawn would go for a spin. Watson would grab the heat win ahead of Gary Passer, Jesse Kennedy, No. 5, Rob Poole, Cole Powell, Ethan Cournyea and Hawn.
The second heat would feature some drama as George Wilson would spin on the first lap. Rob Clarke went on to grab the win ahead of Todd Campbell, Charlie Gallant, Glenn Watson, Kevin Cornelius, Wayne Issacs and Jim Bowman.
The third heat belonged to Shane Maginnis ahead of Dwayne Baker, Derrike Tiemersma, Sean Cronan, John Owen and Andrew Gresel.
The fourth heat would go to Kennedy ahead of Brandon Watson, Passer, Poole, Powell, Cournyea and Hawn.
The fifth heat would see Gallant make heavy contact with the turn three wall after contact from Wayne Issacs. Glenn Watson would grab the win ahead of Clarke, Cornelius, Wilson, Bowman and Issacs.
The last heat belonged to Tiemersma, ahead of Baker, Cronan, Maginnis, Owen and Gresel.
With qualifying in the books, it’d be Brandon Watson starting on the pole for the 50 lap feature ahead of Derrike Tiemersma, Rob Clarke, Shane Maginnis, Jesse Kennedy, Dwayne Baker, Gary Passer, Glenn Watson, Todd Campbell, Rob Poole, Sean Cronan, Kevin Cornelius, John Owen, George Wilson, Cole Powell, Jim Bowman, Ethan Cournyea, Tyler Hawn, Andrew Gresel and Charlie Gallant.
Brandon Watson and Tiemerma would battle for the lead early ahead. However the battle would be cut short by a wreck on the backstretch. Heading down into turn three, Maginnis got into the back of Clarke, causing the field to bottle up. In the process of that, Bowman got heavy front end damage, Cournyea on top of Owen and Gallant sustained front end damage. Gallant was done for the night, while the rest of the teams were able to make repairs and continue. On the caution, Sean Cronan would make his way down pit road also.
On the restart, Brandon Watson would get ahead of Tiemersma, and they were followed by Kennedy, Glenn Watson and Dwayne Baker.
There’d be another caution, though, as Dwayne Baker would have a flat tire on lap four. He would head down pit road and change the tire, back on
track. With 44 laps to go, Brandon Watson led Tiemersma, Kennedy, Glenn Watson, Poole, Cornelius, Passer, Campbell, Issacs, Powell, Maginnis, Cronan, Owen, Gresel, Clarke, Cournyea, Hawn, Bowman and Baker.
Brandon Watson would once again get away on the restart while Glenn Watson passed Kennedy for third. Meawhile, on lap eight, Cornelius would pass Poole for fifth. Though, there would then be another caution for debris as pieces fell off of Bowman’s car from the earlier wreck. While running ninth, Cronan would head down pit road and be done for the night with mechanical issues.
On the restart, Brandon Watson played the getaway ahead of Tiemerma while Glenn Watson and Kennedy battled for third. Kennedy would clear Watson on lap 18 for third, while Bowman would head down pit road on lap 21. Behind them, Poole would get by Cornelius for fifth on lap 22. Though, Cornelius would pass Poole back before the next caution at lap 41 for Clarke spinning Maginnis, with Owen getting a small piece. Maginnis would done for the night as his car would be leaking fluid. Clarke would also find himself done for the night shortly after.
With nine laps to go, it looked like Kennedy would be restarting third, though he would head down pit road with a flat tire. As a result, it was Brandon Watson leading Tiemersma, Glenn Watson, Cornelius, Poole, Baker, Owen, Campbell, Passer and Powell.
On the restart, Cornelius would get by Glenn Watson for third, just before another caution came out for Kennedy going around on lap 42. So with eight laps to go, you had Brandon Watson leading Tiemersma, Cornelius, Glenn Watson, Baker, Poole, Owen, Campbell, Wilson, Powell, Passer, Issacs, Gresel and Hawn.
On the restart, Brandon Watson would get the run, while Glenn Watson would move himself up to second ahead of Tiemersma and Cornelius. Through turns three and four on lap 44, Cornelius got the car right sideways – saved it, but fell back to seventh behind Brandon Watson, Glenn Watson, Tiemersma, Baker, Poole and Campbell. Baker and Poole would battle for fourth, with Baker able to keep Poole at bay.
In the end, it’d be Brandon Watson taking the win ahead of Glenn Watson, Derrike Tiemersma, Dwayne Baker and Rob Poole. Todd Campbell finished sixth, followed by Kevin Cornelius, John Owen, Shawn Gowen and Cole Powell. Kyle Passer finished 11th, followed by Wayne Issacs, Tyler Hawn and Andrew Gresel. These results are of course unofficial.
Gary McLean wins North Toronto Auction 30 at Sunset Speedway
In continuing last year’s success, Gary McLean would win the North Toronto Auction 30 at Sunset Speedway after taking the lead from Matt Barton on lap nine.
Barton would grab the win in the first heat, followed by Brent McLean, Davey Terry, David McCullogh, Dean Scott and Ryan Dick. Scott had a spin partway through the race for a quick caution.
In the second heat, Bobby Tolton would go or a spin in the early going and be done early in the heat with overheating problems. After the restart, Branden Bullen would go for a spin in turn two. Gary McLean would grab the win ahead of Lane Zardo, Dave Osbourne and Bullen.
Partway through the third heat, Dick would run into problems, hitting the inside wall after having some other problems. Davey Terry would win ahead of Barton, Brent McLean, McCullogh and Scott.
Tolton would find more trouble in the second heat as he would go for another spin. McLean went on for the daily double ahead of Zardo and Osbourne.
With his two heat wins, Gary McLean would get the pole and lead early ahead of Barton, Terry, McCullogh and Brent McLean.
The first caution would come out on lap five for Bobby Tolton spinning in turns one and two.
On the restart, Barton would grab the lead ahead of Gary McLean, Brent McLean, Terry and Osbourne.
However, the caution would quickly fall once again when Tolton would have trouble once again. He would pull into the infield, done for the night.
On the restart, Barton and Gary McLean would be side-by-side for the lead with McLean clearing Barton on lap 10 ahead of Terry, Brent McLean and McCullogh.
On lap 12, Brent McLean would get alongside Terry for second while Terry was looking for a way around Barton. Brent McLean would pass Terry for third on lap 23.
Trouble would strike for Lane Zardo with four laps to go as he would head down pit road.
With two laps left, Barton would slip from second to third after being passed by Brent McLean.
Gary McLean would go on to the win ahead of his cousin Brent McLean, Matt Barton, Davey Terry and David McCullogh. Dave Osbourne finished sixth, followed by Branden Bullen and Dean Scott.
Ken Schrader Just Having Fun as ARCA’s Newest and Oldest Winner
Ken Schrader may just be the oldest winner in the history of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, but he is no doubt the happiest after taking the checkered flag first in the Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care this weekend at Toledo Speedway.
And in Schrader’s own words, he is simply an almost 58 year old driver that is “just having fun.”
“Well, being the oldest winner is sure better than being the oldest loser,” Schrader said with a laugh. “I love it.”
“That’s five (at Toledo) and we’ll take it.”
Schrader started on the outside pole in his No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet and led 163 laps in the event on his way to securing the win. Schrader was especially pleased as he has not been in an ARCA car for quite some time.
“I haven’t run an ARCA race in two and a half years because Tom Hessert from New Jersey has been driving our car,” Schrader said. “He did a good job and ran for us the last two years but he is doing something different this year.”
“So, we picked out a handful of races that Federated Auto Parts wanted to run and this was the first one,” Schrader continued. “We qualified second and won the thing.”
Schrader, as one of the older veterans in the field, battled a bit with the youngest pole winner in the ARCA Series, Kyle Benjamin, who took that honor at the tender age of 15 years. But Schrader admitted that his biggest competition was Grant Enfinger, who he battled side by side at one point in the race but who eventually cut down a tire to finish 15th.
“Kyle, we didn’t fight with too much,” Schrader said. “I just fell in behind him at the start and we went about 20 laps and we got around him and then he had some trouble.”
“But Grant Enfinger – he looks young compared to me but he’s not young, young – he was really the strongest car all day,” Schrader continued. “I had a lot of fun racing with him.”
Schrader admits that, while he enjoys racing at the highest levels of NASCAR, the ARCA Series has a special place in his heart.
“Well, first off I still love the Cup Series but we’re just too old to play that game week in and week out,” Schrader said. “And that takes too much sponsorship.”
“The ARCA Series, where you run tracks like three-eighths at Elko to Talladega to mile dirt tracks to road courses, I just love the diversity of the ARCA Series.”
And of course Schrader receives a hero’s welcome whenever he does race in the ARCA events, just like he did at the Toledo event, although he modestly disagrees with that.
“I’m no hero,” Schrader said. “I’ve just been there lots of times.”
“It’s different now because there are so many young kids coming up and they’re doing a phenomenal job,” Schrader said. “Veteran Frank (Kimmel) has been there a long time and I’ve been there off and on for quite awhile.”
“A lot of folks in the grand stands don’t know the young kids yet so they just remember us or their parents told them about us.”
Although this was Schrader’s 61st ARCA start, he is not so impressed with that. Instead, he would much rather talk about the number of races he won in the series, which he does admit is pretty impressive.
“61 starts are not very many though,” Schrader said. “I think we ran our first one in 1981 or so.”
“So, that’s 60 some over all those years,” Schrader continued. “The most I’ve run in a year is five or so.”
“But we’ve won 16 of them.”
Schrader is not just running the ARCA Series this year but also has many other races on his dance card. And admittedly being behind the wheel of a race car is what keeps him going and traveling all over the country.
“We’re running the Sprint Cup car ten times and then we’re going to run a couple of Truck races, Bristol and the Eldora, Ohio Truck race on the dirt,” Schrader said. “And then we’re running four or five ARCA races and my little dirt modified somewhere between 60 to 70 nights.”
“Last year, we ran in 18 states and the year before in 22 states, Schrader continued. “So, we go all over with that thing.”
“I don’t know,” Schrader said. “I must not be very smart because I still get up in the morning and want to go race.”
At this weekend’s race, however, Schrader also paid tribute to Dick Trickle, a NASCAR legend that was lost due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound this past week.
“There are so many of us across the country that Dick has taught,” Schrader said. “We learned from talking to him and racing with him.”
“There’s young kids that he has taught, guys my age that he taught, and racers that are now retired that he taught,” Schrader continued. “He was one of the smartest racers there was.”
“There’s so many of us that Dick raised, like Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin and Kenny Wallace,” Schrader said. “What we learned from talking to him and listening to him as well as watching him was amazing.”
“I hate, hate what happened there but I know that he had to really be in some pain to do that.”
In spite of that pain and loss, Schrader was in full celebration mode after scoring the ARCA win. But he puts it all in perspective as only Ken Schrader can.
“It was a real fun day that obviously put Federated Auto Parts in Victory Lane,” Schrader said. “But when we wake up tomorrow, it doesn’t make any difference and we just have to get ready to go to Elko.”
“I feel good about our sport though,” Schrader continued. “We had a good weather day and a packed grandstand out at the ARCA race.”
“It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Was The New All-Star Race Format a Winner or a Loser?
Now that the All-Star Race is over with, the criticism/praise of NASCAR’s new format begins! After fairly exciting on track action during the first four segments, Jimmie Johnson stole the show in the final 10 lap dash after taking he overtook teammate Kasey Kahne for the lead with eight to go. The Busch brothers dominated the first four segments but came home 3rd and 5th after the Hendrick duo of Kahne and Johnson beat them off pit road. So, did this new format create better racing or does NASCAR have to redo it all again for the 30th running of the All-Star Race in 2014?
The average finish rule worked perfectly in my opinion. The drivers raced hard from the entire race and it didn’t matter if it was for the lead or 12th spot. The final 10 laps were unfortunately anticlimactic courtesy of Jimmie Johnson which left most fans disappointed. A large contingent of people out there decided to just blame the format but that’s unfair to do. The average finish was a good idea and doesn’t need tweaking. On the other hand, how the end of the race is setup definitely need fixing. One of the most riveting moments of the race was when Bowyer, Edwards and Mark Martin stayed out on old tires which caused the field to stack up behind them and cars were all over the place jockeying for position. Prior to the final dash for cash though, everyone in the field was forced to be on the same exact strategy with the mandatory four tire pit stop and that needs to be changed.
NASCAR needs to give these guys more options so we can watch two or three different strategies unfold at the end of the race. Some may opt for four fresh tires, a few will take two and maybe even a team that’s feeling brave stays out. That would make the end of these races insane and chaotic which is the point of the All-Star Race, right? Crew chiefs should be given more leeway and I’m sure if they did Saturday night, somebody deep in the pack like Tony Stewart or Ricky Stenhouse Jr. may have stayed out and gone for broke setting up a wild showdown.
That would be a perfect change and would add some much needed excitement without NASCAR having to manufacturer any of their own with gimmicks like field inversions. Another minor change I’d like to see would be shortening the final sprint to the finish from ten laps to five. It’s not like ten laps is too long but five laps would just raise the intensity level and the sense of urgency that much more. If it was five laps to go when they went green this past weekend, Johnson and Kahne would have been battling door-to-door for the win with just 2 1/2 laps remaining instead of 7 1/2.
Other than that, keep the average finish rule and definitely keep that no pit road speed policy for qualifying! That qualifying session was one of the most enjoyable ones I’ve ever watched and doesn’t need to be touched. Overall, the racing throughout the event was good and kept my interest but the finish didn’t live up to the hype. I’m all for letting races play out on their own but the point of this exhibition event is to entertain the fans so those are my ideas to create the best show possible without compromising the integrity of the race. Overall, I give this race a B-; it’s an improvement from 2011 and 2012 but there’s still some work to do on NASCAR’s part.
All Star Race Qualifying Procedure Different, But A Positive Change
When NASCAR announced earlier last week the new wrinkle to Sprint All Star qualifying – that there would be no pit road speed limit in the mandatory four tire pit stop which every driver must do in a three lap qualifying session – many people were skeptical. Their main concern was of course safety. After all, there is a pit road speed limit for a reason. However, after the qualifying session took place on Friday, people are singing a different tune.
Regarding the issue of safety, NASCAR never took it out of its focus. Yes, cars could power through pit road at any speed the driver wished, but pit road was empty until the car came to a complete stop. Not until the car stopped and the NASCAR officials gave the signal could the pit crew service the car.
Safety, while it was thought to be jeopardy, was never at all. In fact, the only change this new procedure brought on was a positive one. The change? More excitement.
It has been no secret that in the recent years many fans have questioned the current, traditional two lap qualifying procedure that dominates most every weekend. Perhaps the worst of the scrutiny is around superspeedway qualifying, specifically Talladega, where qualifying can be the most boring part of the season. No one shed a tear when Talladega qualifying was rained out this April, that’s for sure.
However, this weekend in Charlotte, fans got a taste of something new. The drivers and teams found themselves out of their comfort zone. Drivers were on the edge entering pit road – some even went over it. Crews attempted nontraditional pit stops and even spotters played a hand in the session, but no one was put in danger. Qualifying was simply fun to watch.
Now does this mean NASCAR should implement this procedure for every race? No, of course not, but it does show that NASCAR is willing to look at nontraditional ideas to spice the sport up. NASCAR showed this earlier in the season when it announced that qualifying for the Sprint Cup Series at road courses would be similar to how the lineup is determined in the Nationwide Series at road course events – group qualifying. While there are some aspects of this sport that do not need to be spiced up, qualifying may be one of those that do – even if it is just a few times a year.
Regardless of the opinions on this qualifying procedure from Charlotte, there is no arguing that it was interesting to watch.
