WINSTON SALEM, NC :: Now we have had a few days for the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 300 to set in, let’s look back at a few of the great … and not so great things of the weekend. This is always fun.
Feels Like Home
First and foremost, let me get this out of the way, no track on earth compares to Martinsville. From the awesome racing, great sight-lines, family environment and fan friendly facility, Martinsville leaves the others in the dust. When you go to other ‘Cup’ tracks, it’s is mostly all business and no camaraderie with the staff and the people at races, being media, teams or fans. But Martinsville takes it back to a time when people respected each other. Clay Campbell, Mike Smith and his whole staff give the same respect and effort as they would when national TV and 50,000 fans are there, and they have more fun on this weekend than any other of the year. The simple things in life are most remembered, every year Mike and Clay both stop and talk and shoot the bull with me and at the end of the weekend they both say, “We want to thank you for coming, it means a lot to us”. NO … that in itself means the world to me, it was my pleasure.
Tire-gate
This year teams were thrown a loop with getting their tires for the race weekend. Instead of licking their tires like they do every year, they were given tires, what you got is what you got. Some teams said that the tires they got measured almost 3/4 of an inch smaller than what they are used to making everyone wonder what they would be on the track. This all showed in qualifying as every year we know who is going to be fast, but for this edition of Marty we had people in the front that we wondered if would stay there and some in the back of the pack that we knew would be coming. I personally liked it, the teams hated it, but it made the heat races more of a toss-up than ever. Usually we look at the heat race lineups and say “Well this one and this one will be awesome” … we couldn’t do that this year, they were all spread out evenly with excitement looming.
Heat Races for Every Race
We should have them for every big races of the year, no matter what track. I understand we couldn’t do it at the weekly events, we wouldn’t have many cars by the third week of the year but the big events sure, this is the big events and you go big or go home. In the past two years the heats at Martinsville have been pretty tame, but for 2013 the drivers didn’t hold anything back. Yeah there were cautions but that’s what you get when you have 90 cars going all-out to make a 42 car field.
Rhodes not to “Keen” On Heat Racing
Ben Rhodes has come on fire from the middle of the summer until now. After he finally got his first win under his belt he began doing it regularly, and at Martinsville he was put into the Morris/Pulliam/Lemons category for the weekend, he was fast. But in his heat race after getting spun early on, he had to drive for his life just to make the race. With only three corners to go to be in the main event, he had it all taken away. Tony Keen, who was running in ninth tapped Rhodes going into turn two … well I’ll call a spade a spade; he knocked hell out of him. Rhodes spun, got hit and his day was over as Keen’s machine went on to race for the grandfather clock. Needless to say the Rhodes team was not happy. Crew-chief Lee McCall had the best conversation of the day when he told keen how much he appreciated his driving skills. McCall is passionate about what he does and showed he wanted to be there for sure.
When it all comes down to it though, was it dirty driving? Why of course it was. Was it dirty driving at Martinsville on the last lap of the heat race to get a spot to make the big show or go home? Heck no it wasn’t. I would have been mad too, but at the same time you have remember where you are at, it’s the nature of the beast, if the shoe was on the other foot Ben would have done the same thing or at least I hope he would have. Would you feel better about yourself if you were sitting in the stands watching the car you were right behind go for $25,000 knowing you had a shot to be there? Neither driver did anything wrong, Ben was just a victim of circumstance, it happens to a few drivers every single year. He will go on to win a lot more races no doubt.
Campbell in the Land Down Under
Garrett Campbell wasn’t even going to race this race. He had Joey Mucciaciaro in one of his cars and was going to be his crew chief as he was at the test week before the race. But the test did it, he couldn’t take it and showed up for race weekend and had a pretty fast car but his day went downhill fast. On lap two of his heat race, Brodie Kostecki got into him in turn one spinning him and ultimately making him run the last chance race. Campbell was not too fond of the move and had words with the Kostecki team in the garage after the heat and had to have the officials separate them, which happens quite a bit at Martinsville early in the day. Garrett stood with me on the wall for the next heat watching his other car driven by Mucciarciaro and told me all about it, most of which I cannot say here. “Mooch” didn’t fare well in his heat missing the show so that just added fuel to Capmbell’s fire as he went out and easily dominated the last chance race getting in the show. It was short lived though as Campbell got hit in someone else’s mess on lap 22 and was forced to retire… a short end to a long day.
Martinsville Hates Me
To say Martinsville has been harsh on Peyton Sellers is an understatement. One of the greatest drivers of our generation, the paperclip seems to have it out for him each year. Last year, fast car and an engine goes boom. This year he had the car to beat in most people’s eyes but once again lady luck reared her ugly head. After having the third fastest time of 86 cars that took time, Sellers was dominating his race…..until. His car erupted in smoke and he hit pit road, the hood was taken off and the motor was in flames, so he drove back out with it still blazing, I have no idea how it do any more damage than it did. Power Steering was the issue and Sellers would have a mad dash to the front only to miss the race by one spot. The last chance race he fared no better as he was in a spot to make the race only to get in someone else’s mess to end his Martinsville journey early once more. But not just yet, at least in his car. Sellers would start the race in Tony Keen’s car which also comes out of Sellers Racing and would start at the back of the field, only to drive his way into the top ten early on. But the carnage of the day that far back in the pack was too much as Sellers would finish six laps down in 14th spot. Peyton drove his heart out on this day; while it wasn’t the result he wanted he did come away with some hardware as he took home an extra $5,000 winning the Virginia Triple Crown.
Flight School
Undoubtedly the biggest wreck of the day, and maybe the history of the Martinsville Late model race, was the Michael McGuire / Andersen Bowen accident in turn three. As the heat race was getting hot a heavy, Garrett Campbell would go three-wide to the inside of McGuire and Bowen off turn two as they drag raced down the backstretch. Campbell could clear them both but as they got to the turn at full speed, McGuire would get into the rear of the Bowen machine hitting the left rear tire with his right front sending him airborne and completely over the Bowen car. He would shoot into the air nearly 15ft before coming down directly on top of Bowen as they slammed hard into the wall destroying both cars with nothing left but twisted wreckage. Bowen would be checked out with some leg pain but was released as he just twisted his knee. While both cars were destroyed beyond repair and possible repair, both drivers will live to race another day which is the most important thing of all.
Surprise Surprise
Every year we see the same cars in the end up front, the last few years you would be foolish not to bet on Pulliam or Morris for the win. It’s always refreshing to get some new blood in the mix and this year we had quite a bit of it up front. When the checkered flag finally fell there was a car in victory lane, but for anyone there we all saw the car that was the one to beat. It wasn’t the guys in the limelight all the time, the car to beat on this day was Matt Waltz. Waltz is a Langley Speedway regular and has been racing for a while now, but never been the one talked about in a race such as Martinsville. After winning his heat race easily and starting third for the feature he stayed in the front all day long, making his move just after halfway to take over the lead. And lead he did, holding the top spot from lap 113 to 183. From lap 146 to 183 Waltz had Pullliam under him nearly every lap trying to take the lead but Waltz would wind his car up on the high side getting an awesome run down the straightaway beating Pulliam to the line every time. His storybook day would come to an end on lap 183 as Pulliam would get under him once more to inch ahead; Dillon Bassett would stick it in hard and make contact with Waltz sending him hard into the outside wall. We will never know for sure but I’ll go on the record with this……..if he hadn’t been wrecked at the end Sunday Matt Waltz would have a grandfather clock of his own.
The Short Track Master
All these big names, Pulliam, Morris and Peters, the VIFRL 300 is a star-studded event. Youth and technology have taken over the racing world and many of the above mentioned are some of the best around. Then you get the veterans involved, a lot of them come just to have fun, not many have a chance anymore and they don’t race all the time and don’t have the money to compete… all except one man, Dennis Setzer. A former winner of this race, (and pretty much EVERY big short track race in the region) Setzer has always been one to watch in the Romeo Guest, Long Bros Ford. But over the last few years, the “showing up and kicking tail” they did for years past has not worked, you just can’t do it anymore. This year they came to testing and were solid all day in the race, but never had “speed” like the other cars had. For what they didn’t have in the car, they had it behind the wheel as the short track ace stayed out of trouble and came from 26th at halfway to finish third. If not for a scoring miscue on the final restart putting Setzer in third when he should have been second, we might be talking about an entirely different winner this year. You won’t find a cooler guy off the track and on-track his coolness equals success.
A Rivalry Is Born
All year long the National Championship has come down to two people, Lee Pulliam and Deac McCaskill. While they raced all year for the top spot, there was never any animosity, or so we thought. Coming down to a green-white-checkered with it all on the line, something we have never seen happened, McCaskill took Pulliam out…..hard. Not just a bump and run, he turned him around before they even got to the turn collecting a wad of cars including CE Falk and Davin Scites. Pulliam would get out and try to punch McCaskill as he drove by with his car damaged beyond repair also, needless to say punching into a moving car never works out well. There was chatter that McCaskill had said on the radio that he was fixing to get rough but only Deac himself will ever know the truth. Regardless the reason or how, it happened, and it happened BIG with all the money on the line at the biggest race of the year. Every racer gets into squabbles every now and then but this one could be the rivalry we have all been missing for quite a few years now.
The Race of His Life
At Martinsville it takes skill to beat the best in the country. Most rookies are happy to make laps, getting in the race is icing on the cake, but having a chance to win doesn’t come around very often. On Sunday we witnessed one of the best drives ever put on by a racer at the .526 mile track. Dillon Bassett was that driver, he came, he saw, he kicked butt and made everyone there know who he was.
I will call it like I see it, I’ve even told Dillon and his dad the same thing, he is wild at times but has so much talent it’s ridiculous, if they could ever transfer 1/4 of that aggressiveness into patience, he would never be stopped. On Sunday he drove the greatest race of his young career, making all the right moves and not pressing the issue until it was time to go. He raced with the best of the best and roughed them up just a little but not anything over the top, the few times he got into Pulliam at the end he gave him room and let him race back with him making it something fans will never forget. The last restart will always be controversial, Bassett says Lemons jumped the start, Lemons says Bassett spun his tires, I personally believe Bassett was passing out from the carbon monoxide getting in his car, AND Lemons jumped making them both wrong so it all comes out in the wash. He wanted that clock and $25,000, he didn’t get it but what he got was a lot of new fans and a lot of respect throughout the racing world.
Long Time a Coming
It was well deserved. Ten years of trying, ten years of having one of the fastest cars every year but always coming home empty handed. This year Tommy Lemons once again looked like his luck had run out. There is no doubt he had one of the top five fastest cars all weekend. No doubt it raced even better than it qualified. The only doubt would be what it always seems to be here, his luck.
Lemons was pressuring Peters for the lead at the halfway break and looked like he had the best car on-track. Right after the halfway invert Lemons noticeably had a problem, the culprit would be a flat left rear tire. He would get lucky and catch a caution to change it but his track position was gone as he fell back to 36th spot with less than 100 laps to go. Lemons would make his way through the field but the car was nothing like it was before, he bounced it off the wall with tire going down and knocked the toe out, she was driving like a tank now. Making it up towards the top ten with a handful of laps to go, Lemons knew where he was would be close to where he finished, the closer you get to the front the harder they are to pass. With ten laps to go he was 11th, but then a caution, then another. Then on the final restart, he went for broke and sailed it into turn one, no one within five car lengths. It had finally happened; the day wasn’t perfect, the car was nowhere near perfect, with ten to go he wasn’t even in the top ten. But all the planets aligned and the bad luck was over, Lemons had a Martinsville victory under his belt.
