Mini Cup Drag Racing
(Plus Modifeds go 50 ovals one yellow at a time!)
Saturday, July 28, 2007

Ever taken the wrong exit or passed by a place even after reading all the street signs? Well, the #88 of Randy Hall and the #31 of Kendall Therkelsen took that to new levels last night. Both drivers took a trip down the NHRA Drag Strip to promote tonight's RMR Super Oval race. Did they take a wrong turn? No, because there is no turning in drag racing! Both Randy and Kendall have taken many trips down the drag strip in several different vehicles but this is the first time they've taken their Mini Cups down the quarter mile. If you do the math, a 20-lap Main event is 30 quarter mile runs! Here's the Einstein formula:

.375 miles = 1 oval lap and .250 miles = 1 quarter mile
1 oval lap = 1.5 quarter miles
.250 (one quarter mile) x 1.5 = .375 miles (one oval lap)
20 lap Main Event x 1.5 = 30 quarter miles (7.5 mile race)

Randy and Kendall were told to stay in their own lane and no drafting! "That take's all the fun out of it!" said Randy while laughing. Everyone was worried they'd have trouble getting off the track since that turn is RIGHT and they are so used to turning LEFT. But, they managed to turn that into their favor with turning left at the end of the track and trailing back up the chase lane. Looks like they got to turn left after all. Because of the clutch set up in these Mini Cups, they sort of had to do a "On your mark, get set, go!" kind of a rolling start.

Randy has found the right mentor to jump from the drag strip to the 11-degree banking of the RMR Super Oval. Kendall has set up 14 of the 16 cars that are currently running in the Mini Cup class and at one time or another, had his hands on the remaining two. The Mini Cup class is the result of a team effort. It could be just as easy to say the Mini Cups tonight were a 14-car team instead of a 14-car field.

Once the pace car shut his lights down, the #10 driven by Joel Eaton [photo inset] started his charge early as he dove down low in Turn 1 to make his first move on the #8 driven by Justin Jensen who had started on the uphill side of Eaton. The pass didn't stick just yet because when the pair hit the start/finish line to close lap #1, these two cars were side-by-side to the point that only the transponders knew who hit there first.

The #6 driven by Derrick Layton [photo inset] had clutch trouble and rolled into the infield just past Turn 2 unable to power his machine any farther. It was initially thought he broke his chain but when it was found to be in working order, the next culprit could only be the clutch. Either way, repairs would have to wait and Derrick's finish tonight would be listed as a DQ. Before tonight's event, Derrick sat just outside the Top 10 in 11th overall. He's got two more events left in 2007 to land himself a Top 10 season finish.

The #53 driven by Isaiah Lovendahl who had finished sixth in his heat race took a back-end spin into the wall in Turn 2. The abrupt stop just below the Hoosier Tire wall sign caused quite a jolt on Lovendahl's body and his car's body. He complained on back pain and as a precautionary measure, the Applied Lending Safety Safari back-boarded him to ensure his physical safety. Lovendahl was awake and conversing with the Applied Lending Safety Safari but only further tests that can't be completed on the racing surface would ensure this Mini Cup driver would take another green flag.

The track went under red flag conditions and the entire rest of the line up stopped in the infield while their comrade was tended to. Some of the other Mini Cup competitors must've wondered how bad Lovendahl had been injured once the ambulance came onto the track. Tow trucks on the track are common place but the ambulance can be a different story. Some of the line up was stopped so they could see what was going on while others were stopped facing away from where the #53 sat on the banking. The #6 joined the #53 on the roll back tow truck and sat out the rest of the Main Event in the infield. We are back under the green flag and a single file line up. The #8 of Justin Jensen lead the restart but was immediately confronted by the #10 car he had dealt with earlier. The #10 made the pass and by the south end of Turn 2, the #8 was looking at the back end of Eaton's race car.

Two clean laps down and everyone was up to speed . . . that speed being an overall lap average of 68 mph! At this point the #16 of Tyler Sharp was looking for more real estate to advance his position but he couldn't find it with Jensen's #8 holding onto that #2 overall spot. By the halfway point in the Main, the #10, #8, #16, and #51 were drafting so close that if they didn't have different color paint schemes, you wouldn't know where one car ended and the next one started. While this was going on, the orange #31 driven by Therkelsen was eyeing that Top 4 field looking for a place to make his move.

MIni Cup Rookie Randy Hall and his #88 Wheeler Cat [photo inset] sponsored car has been keeping consistent lap times and keeping patient. Consistent lap times will bring you into passing situations and the #88 found himself in one. His pass on the #99 of Bill Austin [photo inset] started in the high line exit of Turn 4 and continued slowly but consistently all the way around to the start/finish line just over one full lap from where the pass started. The pass was clean and smooth and showed respect for the #99 by never forcing the position advancement by taking over his path of travel.

The Mini Cup Main had some close overall competition today. Here are some Mini Cup comparisons by the numbers:

• All but 3 of the 14-car field finish on the lead lap

• Of the Top 5 finishers, their best lap time only varied by 0.292 seconds

• Of the Top 5 finishers, their top speed only varied by 1.051 mph

• The 5th overall car finished only 1.008 seconds behind the leader

Maverik Modifieds
Rumor has it this Main earned the moniker of the "Energizer 50" because it kept going and going and going! There was 1 hour 15 minutes of yellow flags, wall crunches and carnage, and tempers rising (if you know what a chrome horn is . . .  they were used a few times in tonight's Main). The battle for the lead between #10 Jason Aposhian [photo inset] and #84 Mark Ith Jr. [photo inset] was nothing short of textbook racing. While that battle was going on, the #80 of Tod Alonzo [photo inset] was closing in and watching the fight between the #10 and #84. Alonzo was gaining ground on every lap with his late braking in Turn 3. Most of #84's attempts to get his machine in front of the #10 were on the inside lower-apron line in Turn 3. With all yellow flags waving in Turn 4 and up in the tower, fuel conservation had become an issue and it appeared the #84 had to surrender his fight with the #10 on the white flag lap because of low fuel causing him to finish 11th overall and one lap down. Tonight's race results show the #84 finishing some 10 cars back from the #10 but that's not what really happened. It also appeared the #80 of Alonzo fell victim to his own fuel shortage all-the-while he'd been in tow behind the battle waiting his turn to advance his position. Jason Aposhian now stands atop the Main Event wins column for the Maverick Modifieds with three of 'em to his credit.

Legends
The #48 of Chris Gedicks [photo inset] took the Main Event win with #33 Billy Osoro and #8 Kelly Van Cleave taking #2 and #3 respectively. Some serious fender contact on the lead lap to open the Main Event was brought courtesy of the #41 driven by Joe Blomquist when his Legend climbed up and onto the #39 of Steven Walters. Both cars were unable to finish and recorded zero laps completed.

Pro 4
Just three cars finished on the lead lap in the 15-car field of the Pro 4 Main Event. Tonight is the second visit of the Pro 4 cars for 2007. It was no matter for the #96 of Jeff Keller [photo inset] because he finished #1 overall tonight and #1 overall back on June 2nd. Jeff also qualified #1 with the quickest lap time (16.394 seconds) and fastest speed (82.347 mph). During the Main, he also logged the quickest lap time (16.055 seconds) and fastest speed (84.086 mph). Both visits of the Pro 4 cars to RMR for 2007 might have had the same winner but they've also penned the same driver in the #2 spot . . . the #4 of Daniel Madsen.

Super Stocks
If the more things change the more they stay the same then in turn the more things stay the same the more they change. And change came in the form of first-time Main Event winner of the #6 car driven by Eric Rhead [photo inset]. He can carve his name to the short list of Super Stock Main Event winners for 2007. The #6 wasn't the quickest car or the fastest car but the checkered flag was waved at the pink and black car before anyone else got a look at it. Has the Super Stock domination of the #7 and #86 come to a close? Find out by watching the Super Stocks the next time their class hits the RMR Super Oval on Saturday, August 12th (Monster Trucks).

Mark Pittman
Public Relations Director

Tonight's Winners

Note  Jason's proud crew can be seen holding up three fingers in his winner photo showing three Main Event wins.

Note  Eric's win must've worn him out because he's sitting down in the winner photo with his hard-earned trophy sitting on the ground next to him.

Note  Jeff stands alone on the track and in Victory Lane.

Note  Posing with a future Legends racer?

Note  Everybody (including other drivers) joins in the celebration of Joel's very first Main Event win.