To the Volunteer State we go for state #16
#123 Volunteer Speedway, Bulls Gap, TN (4/10-mile dirt), 3/24/07...
With three of the four past weekends getting cancelled due to the weather in the Northeast and with Friday already washed out for Williams Grove, I decided to make the trip down to Volunteer Speedway for the World of Outlaw Sprint Car show. Weather wasn't to be a problem with partly sunny skies and temps in the low 80s.
I've heard many reports about this place and being a sprint car fan and the first ever appearance by the WoO, I figured this was the time. The race was scheduled in conjunction with the NASCAR events being held at Bristol Motor Speedway some 40 miles to the northeast. Traffic wasn't a problem on I-81 as came through around 30 minutes before the scheduled 2:30 start time.
Hot laps were scheduled to start at 6:45, but that didn't happen to some hour later as fans filtered their way in from Bristol. Traffic was backed up to the highway for hours as fans filled the speedway for a standing-room-only crowd and what was reported as the largest in the 30-year history of the track.
There were 35 WoO Sprints and 26 FASTRAK Crate Late Models in the pits. The late models had one qualifying lap and ran only a feature. Joey Saldana set a new all-time track record with a lap of 11.696 (123.119 mph) in sprint qualifying topping the mark of 11.743 set by a late model in a "run what ya brung" event.
The sprints were simply awesome to see on the 32-degree banking as the fast way around was on the extreme outside in turn four as they brushed their right rear tire against the wall. It reminded me of the first time I saw sprints at Eldora.
The sprint heats did not start until a couple minutes shy of 10 p.m. That's 2 hours later than what I had planned on. Four heat races, a dash, and a B main for the sprints came before the two features. The late models were first and their feature started at 11:32. The racing was very good by three backmarkers accounted for 8 of the 9 cautions pretty much ruining the racing. After the 9th caution, the drivers were given 5 more laps and they ran those off making for a 19-lap feature rather than the scheduled 25. Dale Ball took the win holding off Brad Hall.
It was now after midnight and not one sprint was lined up. The sprint feature didn't take the green until 12:20. The feature though was excellent! Jason Meyers led the first 20 laps. On lap 21 he and Donny Schatz made contact with Schatz doing a 360-spin and Meyers suffering a flat tire. Saldana was handed the lead and he held off hard-charging ninth place starter Tim Shaffer for the $10,000 win. Shaffer ran the bottom and was right on Saldana at the checkered coming up 0.199 behind.
I really enjoyed the facility and the racing was excellent, but there's no excuse for barely a two-division show ending at 1 a.m. with fireworks still to come. My challenge now was driving back to my motel I had reserved in Roanoke, Virginia so I could head on up to central PA on Sunday for Lincoln and Williams Grove's rescheduled races from Friday & Saturday night.
I got in bed at 3:45 a.m. and set the alarm for four hours later to make the good four hour drive to Lincoln. I arrived as the sprints were completing their hot laps and got in my seat with about 10 minutes to spare. for the 1 p.m. start. After Lincoln completed their sprint portion I headed on up to catch Williams Grove's opener on the fifth attempt. Well over 1200 miles later I returned home from a long weekend.
Volunteer made for my first race in Tennessee, which gave me 16 states to see a race in.
#123 Volunteer Speedway, TN 3/24/07
#122 Ohio Expo Center (Coliseum), OH 1/20/07
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With three of the four past weekends getting cancelled due to the weather in the Northeast and with Friday already washed out for Williams Grove, I decided to make the trip down to Volunteer Speedway for the World of Outlaw Sprint Car show. Weather wasn't to be a problem with partly sunny skies and temps in the low 80s.
I've heard many reports about this place and being a sprint car fan and the first ever appearance by the WoO, I figured this was the time. The race was scheduled in conjunction with the NASCAR events being held at Bristol Motor Speedway some 40 miles to the northeast. Traffic wasn't a problem on I-81 as came through around 30 minutes before the scheduled 2:30 start time.
Hot laps were scheduled to start at 6:45, but that didn't happen to some hour later as fans filtered their way in from Bristol. Traffic was backed up to the highway for hours as fans filled the speedway for a standing-room-only crowd and what was reported as the largest in the 30-year history of the track.
There were 35 WoO Sprints and 26 FASTRAK Crate Late Models in the pits. The late models had one qualifying lap and ran only a feature. Joey Saldana set a new all-time track record with a lap of 11.696 (123.119 mph) in sprint qualifying topping the mark of 11.743 set by a late model in a "run what ya brung" event.
The sprints were simply awesome to see on the 32-degree banking as the fast way around was on the extreme outside in turn four as they brushed their right rear tire against the wall. It reminded me of the first time I saw sprints at Eldora.
The sprint heats did not start until a couple minutes shy of 10 p.m. That's 2 hours later than what I had planned on. Four heat races, a dash, and a B main for the sprints came before the two features. The late models were first and their feature started at 11:32. The racing was very good by three backmarkers accounted for 8 of the 9 cautions pretty much ruining the racing. After the 9th caution, the drivers were given 5 more laps and they ran those off making for a 19-lap feature rather than the scheduled 25. Dale Ball took the win holding off Brad Hall.
It was now after midnight and not one sprint was lined up. The sprint feature didn't take the green until 12:20. The feature though was excellent! Jason Meyers led the first 20 laps. On lap 21 he and Donny Schatz made contact with Schatz doing a 360-spin and Meyers suffering a flat tire. Saldana was handed the lead and he held off hard-charging ninth place starter Tim Shaffer for the $10,000 win. Shaffer ran the bottom and was right on Saldana at the checkered coming up 0.199 behind.
I really enjoyed the facility and the racing was excellent, but there's no excuse for barely a two-division show ending at 1 a.m. with fireworks still to come. My challenge now was driving back to my motel I had reserved in Roanoke, Virginia so I could head on up to central PA on Sunday for Lincoln and Williams Grove's rescheduled races from Friday & Saturday night.
I got in bed at 3:45 a.m. and set the alarm for four hours later to make the good four hour drive to Lincoln. I arrived as the sprints were completing their hot laps and got in my seat with about 10 minutes to spare. for the 1 p.m. start. After Lincoln completed their sprint portion I headed on up to catch Williams Grove's opener on the fifth attempt. Well over 1200 miles later I returned home from a long weekend.
Volunteer made for my first race in Tennessee, which gave me 16 states to see a race in.
#123 Volunteer Speedway, TN 3/24/07
#122 Ohio Expo Center (Coliseum), OH 1/20/07
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posted by Mike Leone at 2:32 PM
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