Should be a good one if the weather holds.
Pro Lates, Modifieds & bombers as well.
From my perspective, it was a good one.
After being placed 11th on the grid, Patrick Thomas finished third in feature.
Beckner won.
The #111 won the dash for cash, and the car is in one piece.
20 cars for a weekly event is pretty darn good, plus it was a good race!
Agreed. It was an excellent and entertaining race. The dash for cash delivered too.
I have to say that Patrick Thomas is one of the few racers who consistently “gets it.” We are in the entertainment business, and if you like watching cars pick through traffic, then he provides a great deal of entertainment.
Much of short track racing, and New Smyrna in particular, had been crippled by entitled drivers who felt they deserved nothing less than starting on the pole, and winning un-molested every week. They didn’t want to run heats (“why should I risk my car for a race that doesn’t matter?”), just start me off the front and give me lots of money.
That has badly affected our sport over the years. I can tell you this, Patrick found himself starting 11’th out of 19, and running against a solid field of contenders, including 4 fast cars in the first 3 rows. I didn’t catch the details (too much chattering on my part), but it sounded like his starting position was because of an unexpected rule change. Maybe Ryan can clarify this for me. Even though he had to work hard for his 3’rd place finish, he explained in his interview that this weeks winner will be starting 11’th next time, and that maybe there will be a different winner. It is good for the class.
So few of us recognize that the entertainment factor still pays the bills in local racing. Patrick was also willing to “risk his car in a race that doesn’t matter”, and put on a good show by winning the dash from the back. Most of the other front-running cars skipped the dash, but for whatever reason his car made it a good one.
Think about it…what made legends out of our short track heroes from a generation or two ago? It was their ability and willingness to battle from the back to the front! That is why we noticed them and came back week after week to see them.
On a funnier note, I got a kick out of Jerry Symons’ victory circle interview. Jerry won the modified feature and led most of the way. But if you listened to him, you would think he ran last and went off the track on the hook: "well, the motor missed, and we slowed way down after the heat. We have been terrible all year…trying to get better, etc…
Congrats to Jerry on a well-run race!
how dare you post about NSS on here!!
I bought the speed51 pass for the SSS race at five flags and it was very entertaining. can’t wait until all those guys are down here for the gov cup!