SOPHIA, NC :: Mother Nature was in the house on Saturday 9-21-13 and called for a postponement of the UARA event for the fifth time this season. With that being said the UARA and Caraway Speedway decided to have a rain date of Sunday 9-22-13 in place.
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon the STARS hit the track for practice at 12:02 pm to get the days activities in place. With a tight schedule in place Dillon Bassett topped the board during the first scheduled practice at 17.428. In the second round it was Travis Swaim topping the chart with a 17.198.
It was during the second round of practice that bad luck struck Rookie contender Thomas Beane. His engine erupted and unfortunately his car found the wall. While his car was still sitting on the track a couple of competitors told me that if it was fixable they would come to the aid of the father/son team to help them get it race ready. Unfortunately that would not be the case and Beane was out for the day.
Travis Swaim claimed his seventh pole of the season with a 17.101 getting ever so close to that season record for poles he set in 2012 of eight. Garrett Campbell would start on the outside of Swaim with a 17.122 qualifying time.
When flagman Mike Allred (substituting for UARA regular Danny Willard who was home nursing a broken foot) let the green fly it was Campbell who hit the pedal to the metal and let it fly. Campbell grab the lead and set the pace.
Caution one would fall on lap 8 as Rookie Dylan Hall’s car lost an engine and slid from the frontstretch into the the middle of turns one and two. Due to an excessive amount of fluid, the race was red flagged for the track crew to get it all cleaned up. Hall would receive the Arbodies Hard Luck Award of the Race for his misfortune.
The field will go green again with Campbell leading the pack and showing no mercy for the field. He was on a mission and that was to lead every lap and win.
Caution two would fly as Rookie Chandler Levan took a spin in turn four. Levan and Taylor Stricklin would both head to the pits for chassis adjustments. Levan on the rear and Stricklin in the front. Stricklin showed the old school racing spirit as his car was sitting at his shop at 11 pm Saturday with no body on it. They decided to come for the Sunday event and got down to business and were at the gates when they opened on Sunday morning.
On the restart it is once again Campbell taking to the point and setting a blistering pace. He was on lap traffic by lap 80 and putting cars a lap down. Kaz Grala appears to be slowing a bit and post race it was discovered that he was having ignition problems.
Caution three hit the air as Chandler Levan spins once again in turn two on lap 96. Several cars take this opportunity to hit the pits for adjustments. Campbell leads the field to the green and would maintain that position until lap 113 at which time Dillon Bassett takes to the front of the pack and doesn’t look back. Campbell will receive the Tilton most lap lead Award for this event but it will be Bassett that claims the win, the Holley Performer of the Race and Driven Racing Oils fastest lap of the Race Award for his efforts. Charlie Long will once again receive the Comp Cams Engine Builder of the Race award.
Post race Bassett talked with substitute announcer Mike Neff. When asked if he was conserving tires Bassett said “I was going for it the whole time. I’ve done it for the last 3 or 4 races and that is what I am going to continue to do. Brakes we thought were going to be an issue but they were fine. They (his team) gave me an unbelievable race car and I can’t thank them enough.”
Neff asked Bassett if after winning 3 in a row if he was going to let anyone else win. Bassett gives his smile and says “We came here to win them all and that’s what we are going to try to do.”
Second place finisher Swaim said they were going to save tires in the beginning. “ It worked out and we got by everybody but one. They’ve really just been way above everybody else the last 3 races, so maybe we can figure out what’s going on there. Good job for my guys. We fought back and finished second.” Swaim would receive the FLUIDYNE Cool Under Pressure Award for his efforts.
Swaim was followed to the line by Joey Mucciacciaro in third and Campbell fourth. Muccicciaro said “ We had a good car in the beginning. The car started getting away from us there toward the end. It started getting real tight on us and burning the right rear off. It’s all about survival, I learned a lot this race and being new to this series I’m coming out trying to learn as much as I can. My hat’s off to Garrett Campbell and these guys. They have been giving me a great race car all year.”
Circle Wheel / Extreme Trophies and More Rookie of the Race Garrett Jones said “It’s a lot of fun but slick. Pretty good car and we managed a top five finish. We’re pretty happy with that.”
Rookie Chandler Levan had handling issues all day but received the Pigwire Electrifying Move of the Race Awards after managing to keep his car under control after going thru the entire 1st and 2nd turns sideways.
The UARA-STARS will be in action next at Newport Speedway on October 12, 2013 for the beginning of a triple header of three events in a row.
Unofficial Finish:
- Dillon Bassett
- Travis Swaim
- Joey Mucciacciaro
- Garrett Campbell
- Garrett Jones
- Randy Benson
- Taylor Stricklin
- Kaz Grala
- Chandler Levan
- Dylan Hall
- Thomas Beane DNQ
