Last night I saw the USAC sprints race at Ocala. This was my first time watching them in person, although I had seen them on TV in the past. I’ve been around racing for my complete 55 year lifespan and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a race as good as this one. The track was awesome and these guys race. Totally awesome. Here are a few pictures showing just some of the wheelies that were happening. The shot of the two cars is on the last lap in turn two. The 71 has both front wheels off the ground trying to pass the leader. He finally made the pass in turn 4 and did a wheelie down the straight to take the checkered flag.
come down to PGS on March 12 and see not only wingless sprints but OWmadness. gonna be a great night. i will even let you and sandy sit with me! hopefully you will be feeling better by then.
OZ
I’ve seen a lot of sprint car races in my time, but that was easily one of, if not THE best I have ever seen. Damion Gardner stalking Jon Stanbrough for the last half of the race and then pulling off an amazing last lap, last corner pass and pulling a wheelie to the checkers was just brilliant.
I was so impressed I had to buy me a Damion Gardner t-shirt.
They freaking lapped up to Tracy Hines and Dave Darland…
Definitely the best race I’ve seen in Speedweeks. Those guys have so much motor and tire, there wasn’t really a groove – they’d just drive from the wall to the infield and everyplace in between. Really glad almost whole race was green – great watching the leaders work traffic.
So who’re the hot shoes in USAC these days? Haven’t heard a whole lot from them lately, and since they’re not on ESPN any more, I don’t know if I even know any of the guys/girls running nowadays. Last I knew, guys like Tracy Hines…sheesh, that’s all I can really think of right off-hand…were the big guns in USAC…
These days Levi Jones, Dave Darland, Bobby East, Jerry Coons Jr., Bud Kaeding, Tracy Hines, Damion Gardner would be considered your USAC heavy hitters. Jon Stanbrough is a badass in wingless sprints regardless of sanction.
[QUOTE=carolwicks;65311]come down to PGS on March 12 and see not only wingless sprints but OWmadness. gonna be a great night. i will even let you and sandy sit with me! hopefully you will be feeling better by then.
OZ[/QUOTE]
Sounds like good news to me, Carol. Last I heard the sprints were out of PGS? Checkered flag group, TBARA, or un-sanctioned? I’d like to hear more if there are details available.
it is an independent group put together by Tony Carreno and some other sprint racers. Oh yes… Tony now has a sprint… The group is called “Independent Pavement Sprint Car Alliances”…Dave Steele and other great ppl involved. They had 11 drivers show at the last race at Citrus but it rained. i think there will be at least 15 - 20 at PGS… Hope so. rather than have sprints sitting idle Tony devised a way for all to be happy. lets see how it goes…
carol aka oz
i apologize. i just answered Shilohs post. didnt mean to change the subject… as it turns out, Tony (OWM61) has added a new post about the race. again, im sorry my post wasnt relative to the start of this thread but just to answer Shiloh.
carol aka oz
To elaborate on Carol’s post. There is no comparison between a wingless sprint race on asphalt and a wingless sprint show on dirt. Absolutely no comparison except the looks of the cars. The racing is totally different. But it was a nice attempt to hijack the thread. I just got home from night two at Ocala and it was nearly as good as night one. Just amazing and it was really nice to see Shane Hmeil there after his devastating accident last summer. Totally awesome off the wall racing. I was a die hard Big Block modified fan that became a late model convert. I’ve now become a convert to the USAC wingless sprints on dirt.
in spite of Winger taking every opportunity to insult me, I have to agree he is one heck of a photographer and the pics are awesome. check out his website… my son is a pro photographer so i tend to be critical…i cannot find anything to criticize when Bob posts his photos… surprise surprise…lol
Winger… you mentioned once that i ignored you when we met. i am known for being friendly so if i did do that i apologize. i must have been caught up in a moment. Im so sorry. Hope you will forgive my unintentional rudeness… i didnt even know that happened. sometimes i just get excited because there is so much going on around me and …well all i can do is say im sorry.
carol aka oz
Non wing on dirt. The only way to fly!!! I will always respect the wing divers for the speed they can deal with but it so narrows the track and you end up with the proverbial freight train. If yoy have never been to a non wing race you owe to your self to make it a must do for your “bucket list” II am glad I was ther for this one.
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hopefully you will be feeling better by then.