Completely Unofficial New Smyrna 7/30/16 Recap

FLORIDA STOCK CAR RACING KARNAC's FLORIDA STOCK CAR RACING
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Although one of the big stories was the re-opening of Citrus County Speedway, the fans got their money’s worth at New Smyrna Speedway last night, for sure.

The Modifieds:

Fast as fighter planes and sounding like they were turning about the same RPM, the modifieds were again at NSS. Tank Tucker appeared to have the field handled–until he broke, handing the lead to Wayne Parker, who went on to win the event. Wayne Bruns and Jerry Symons finished up the top three.

The Sportsman:

First, the disclaimer–I turn a wrench or two on the Jim Harris/Patrick Thomas #111. However, I also work hard to present objective reports. Doesn’t mean they are, it means I work at it. This review will be written from that viewpoint.

Things started out quite well. The #111 responded to a few adjustments and set fast time in qualifying. Only to be DQd in tech for a side skirt that was fractionally low, and a head scratcher since the new tire on that corner was larger than the previous one and the car has checked legal many times regarding ride height.

At any rate, that put Mr. Thomas at the end of the 14 car lineup for the 50 lap event. Earl Beckner Jr. started on the pole.

It was a mostly caution free race for the first part, and #111 was working well and Patrick picked his way through the field. Meanwhile, Beckner was motoring away.

At the half way point, give or take, Thomas was second and most of a straight away behind. He ran down Beckner under green. And this is where the fans all found themselves on the edge of their seats.

Patrick of course wanted the lead, and had the slightly faster car, and Beckner, understandably, did not want to give it up.

That created a great show, with Thomas repeatedly getting under Beckner, and Beckner closing the door. Imo, Thomas was there far enough to hold his position on several occasions, but backed out of it, allowing Earl to drop down going into a corner. And so it went until…

They split a lapped car going down the front stretch, with Thomas on the bottom. The very bottom, with no track under him. Beckner came from the outside of a three wide deal and divebombed to the bottom of the track. Beckner had the lead, but at this point Thomas was under him to the rear wheel.

And that is where hard impact was made, sending both cars into the turn one wall. Beckner dragged his done-for-the-night machine off the wall and slammed it into Patrick’s stationary car as a retaliatory gesture, further damaging both ends of Thomas’ machine.

Thomas, however, was able to also drag the #111 to the pits and the crew made quick, but of course incomplete repairs. After going back out, the car suffered a right flat as the green fell, and after a second caution that too was changed.

Meanwhile, there were only about five cars on the lead lap, Thomas being one of them. The damaged car was not right, but it was good enough for third behind Jason Vail and Matthew Green, in Beckner’s other car.

LR & RF Contact “Rules” as I see them:

Going in–If you are under a guy to his door it is “your” spot. If you can only get a piece of his rear quarter, it is “his” spot. The 2 or 3 feet in between is the controversial real estate, and typically both guys see contact there as the other’s fault.

And that is where the impact occurred. Again, Thomas was dead against the bottom. Thomas did not remotely steer to the right. Beckner came from three high to find Thomas’ right front wheel.

The Beckner team was understandably upset.

Patrick had the fastest car, battled through the field, and finished third with a car bent from one end of the other. He also was not pleased with the evening in general.

But the two have raced against each other for a long time, and both are professionals. I am confident that they will move on and be able to race closely again in the future.

The Wrap Up:

In an ironic twist of fate, Earl Beckner Jr. put up an extra $100 to go to the second and third place finishers. A nice gesture.

Patrick Thomas finished third. Reportedly the cash will go for new bodywork.

It was a great evening under the lights for the New Smyrna faithful. There will be another Sportsman event August 13th.

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Old School, your opinions of who’s under who and how far one car is under the other may or may not be correct but your only talking about it because f the result of what happened. Bottom line is if the111 lifts and follows the 71 thru 1 and 2 clean then either he or the 71 wins the race and thousands of repairs not necessary. The 111 was faster at that part of the race and probably could have made the pass. It’s impossible to make the turn from that straight angle from the very bottom. The lapped car did nothing ing. His job is to give up the outside groove which he did. Lots of damages avoided with smarter racing.

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I was/am up front with my Team affiliation.

To your point, a car can make that turn from the bottom–at some speed. They do just fine on the pace lap, for instance. Although we will never know what would have happened in two, the fact is that the #111 did not “push” into the 71.

Regarding damages, that is a two way street.

Earl Beckner Jr. is a good driver, and a seasoned driver. The fact that the 111 was beneath him was not a surprise.

He was “there” from at least the starter’s stand forward. Beckner’s spotter could see him, and Beckner could see him. In fact, I do not believe they could not have known there were two cars below him.

If Earl had simply left a lane open for a car that was in fact already there and already underneath him, the expenses could also have been avoided.

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Its the flagman and the lap cars fault.That was the 2nd time they had to split lap cars on the front stretch.Flagman needs to be more adamant about waving the flag,not just let it hang there like a rag.Lap cars need to get out of the way or have them parked.

Both are very good drivers,just a racing deal.

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But Kendo, you know the flagman cannot “make” them move over, even though it is discussed pretty much weekly in the driver’s meeting.

Earl was using the traffic to his advantage–as he should have. That is, when Thomas was under him, if there was a lapped car, Earl did not leave room for Thomas as they approached the lapped car. Fair enough.

But on this occasion, there was room low on the bottom, and Thomas took it. Also fair enough.

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[QUOTE=OldSchool+;170838]But Kendo, you know the flagman cannot “make” them move over, even though it is discussed pretty much weekly in the driver’s meeting.
.[/QUOTE]

Agreed, but have you watched that flagman? He looks like he is going to sleep up there.

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Perhaps he should check out “Julian” the longtime starter at Auburndale.

That dude is beyond high energy, and his white starters britches do figure-8s of their own!

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[QUOTE=OldSchool+;170838]But Kendo, you know the flagman cannot “make” them move over, even though it is discussed pretty much weekly in the driver’s meeting.
.[/QUOTE]

Have you watched that flagman on a regular basis,looks like he is falling asleep half the time.Needs to be more aggressive and show some displeasure if competitors are not following his commands.Maybe that’s why lap cars have to be discussed every week in the drivers meeting,when you have mirrors,a spotter,and a move over flag.
Watch the posted video,Not only is the lap car in the upper portion of middle groove, it appears that the flagman isn’t even waving the move over flag.

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I would like to invite people to go to New Smyrna speedways Facebook page to see the video highlight from this wreck.

And while I agree the lapped car was not really moving out of anybody’s way, the wreck would not have happened if the 71 wouldn’t have turned 2 lanes left way before the entry of the corner into my RF.

While yes I was being aggressive going 3 wide around a lapped car, the lap before I was pinched down into a lap car that the 71 used as a pick.

So mad at me for wrecking him in my opinion is wrong, he should be mad at the lapped car, his own spotter for not letting him know I was on the bottom, or the flag man for not moving the lapped car earlier before we got to him.

And the starting the car backup crap and running into front of my car is an entirely different issue that should have consequences, but worse than that the threats of going to crash me the next time he gets around me threats are even worse, and I would hope would be discussed with Mr. Beckner before he gets to race again.

Patrick Thomas 111

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Beckner has crashed a lot of cars in the pasted and at other tracks he is to rough of a driver if he was that fast Patrick would not have been trying to pass him. How many this years has he been involved in a handful .

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[QUOTE=kendo;170844]Have you watched that flagman on a regular basis,looks like he is falling asleep half the time.Needs to be more aggressive and show some displeasure if competitors are not following his commands.Maybe that’s why lap cars have to be discussed every week in the drivers meeting,when you have mirrors,a spotter,and a move over flag.
Watch the posted video,Not only is the lap car in the upper portion of middle groove, it appears that the flagman isn’t even waving the move over flag.[/QUOTE]

Maybe some people need to monitor the track radio and listen to the commands for a slower car to move over… or get off the track. Numerous times I hear it coming from the tower. Leader coming #?, Move to the bottom now… Black flag should come if they don’t though. J/S…
-JIM-

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I wasn’t there but by looking at the video dont know if you can blame the lap car on that one, looked as if the 111 was trying to push the lap car into the leader

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It has always amazed me how folks can see an accident or a video of an accident so differently, but hey, we are all entitled to our opinion…

That said, neither car touched the lapped car, and, to my way of thinking, neither driver “blamed” the lapped car for the incident per se.

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[QUOTE=OldSchool+;170855]It has always amazed me how folks can see an accident or a video of an accident so differently, but hey, we are all entitled to our opinion…

That said, neither car touched the lapped car, and, to my way of thinking, neither driver “blamed” the lapped car for the incident per se.[/QUOTE]
Lap car should have been on the bottom and inside lane on the front straight. Instead was in the middle, forcing the 111 to the inside and 71 outside. In turn one the 71 came down 2 lanes clipping the RF of the 111. Where was the spotter for the 71?
A hard racing incident for sure, but could have been avoided. IMHO.
-JIM-

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[QUOTE=OldSchool+;170855]It has always amazed me how folks can see an accident or a video of an accident so differently, but hey, we are all entitled to our opinion…

That said, neither car touched the lapped car, and, to my way of thinking, neither driver “blamed” the lapped car for the incident per se.[/QUOTE]

OS, they see what they WANT to see… The same is true with stick and ball sports when it comes to “questionable” calls.

My opinion, the Flagger should have gotten the Lapped car out of the way sooner and the 71 should have never dropped down an entire 3 lanes. The 71 knew what he was doing, he just didn’t expect that Patrick had made it that far. It was an attempted block to make sure Patrick didn’t get next to him because he knew once he did, it was all over. He failed. If the 71 had held a consistent line rather than attempt a block, there would be zero issue. Yes I am a little biased because Patrick helps me, but regardless I say zero fault on Patrick and 100% on the Flagger, Lap Car and Spotter of the 71.

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There’s a lot going there. If a lapper moves waaaay down to the inside or out at the very edge of the track where no one ever is he/she is likely to get out of shape in the marbles and not make the corner because they’re too low to have the right angle for entry etc not unlike the 111 car, I think a lane or so hi or low is all that is expected or required for the move over. They are trying to race too.

imho it’s a racin deal bcuz the 111 was making a super agrressive move, as he should if he’s a winner which he is, and had a terrible angle…no way you were going to make the corner without sliding up some Patrick (imho). 71 slammed the door like nobody’s business across 3 lanes, probably because the spotter yelled clear, and he wasn’t really.

Slamming into you like that was a dick move. I usually reserve that for more clear acts of idiocy where I KNOW I’m in the right or a pattern has emerged but to each his own.

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“I think a lane or so hi or low is all that is expected or required [of a car being lapped] for the move over. They are trying to race too.”--Lurkin

Agreed. In fact, everything up to the point of impact is kind of a moot point.

After the point of impact, and as per “the rules” in post one, the only question is “Did the low guy spin the high guy out or did the high guy come down on the low guy?”.

“The 71 knew what he was doing, he just didn’t expect that Patrick had made it that far. It was an attempted block to make sure Patrick didn’t get next to him because he knew once he did, it was all over. He failed. If the 71 had held a consistent line rather than attempt a block, there would be zero issue.”–PJ

Phil Jacques, ladies and gentlemen, the voice of calm and reason…

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[QUOTE=OldSchool+;170864]“I think a lane or so hi or low is all that is expected or required [of a car being lapped] for the move over. They are trying to race too.”--Lurkin

Agreed. In fact, everything up to the point of impact is kind of a moot point.

After the point of impact, and as per “the rules” in post one, the only question is “Did the low guy spin the high guy out or did the high guy come down on the low guy?”.

“The 71 knew what he was doing, he just didn’t expect that Patrick had made it that far. It was an attempted block to make sure Patrick didn’t get next to him because he knew once he did, it was all over. He failed. If the 71 had held a consistent line rather than attempt a block, there would be zero issue.”–PJ

Phil Jacques, ladies and gentlemen, the voice of calm and reason…[/QUOTE]

I was in the same position myself on Wednesday… Had a guy come down across my nose and spin and collected me. He didn’t finish, I got put back to 15th and drove back to a 6th place finish. It was a slightly different circumstance as he and I were running for the lead and he (I assume) tried to throw a block when I got my nose up along side him, but similar result. Hold a consistent line and race the guy you are racing rather than try to be cheap and block, and it wouldn’t happen. It never benefits anybody in these situations. A smarter decision and less desperation on the part of the 71 would have resulted in a 2nd place finish, rather than 12th or wherever he finished.

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I know and like both of these guys so I think I can be pretty honest with both of them…I was not at the track but did watch the video…

They were both at fault and in that sense I guess you can call it a racing incident.

I was a professional umpire and have officiated numerous sports at numerous levels of competition. The one thing I can tell you, and I think someone kind of stated this in an earlier post …people see things the way they want them to come out. So both Patrick and JR (Earl) are right and wrong.

JR did dive into the corner a bit earlier than he normally would or does, and Patrick drove into the corner in a position that there was no way he was going to make that stick with out either slowing way down or driving through JR.

From what I could tell from the video, JR was clear when he dove to the bottom but if he knew Patrick was down there, had to know it wouldn’t end well by turning down so early. But I think even if JR had taken the corner normally, Patrick would have clipped him or would have had to take evasive action to miss him and may have been collected by the lap car. If JR would have given a lane on the bottom he probably would have drove on and won.

Good stuff though

Just my two cents…

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Fred,

All logical, but mostly speculation.

Beckner was not ahead, or “clear” of Thomas when they passed the start finish line.

Thomas was on the bottom. He did not move up the track at all prior to the point of impact.

That only leaves one other way for the cars to get together.

As far as speculation, I personally believe that if the 71 had left a lane, the #111 would have successfully jumped on the binders and not hit him. Depending on how much the 71 overdrove (or not) the entry, it possibly would have put the 71 in a strong position as they headed down the backstretch.

What would have happened next is anyone’s guess, but the #111 was clearly the faster car.