2008 Summer Shootout Legends Stories - Round Eight - July 29th, 2008
Lowe's Motor Speedway - Concord, North Carolina (Quarter-Mile Track)
PRO: ANDERSON ANNOYS CAREY ON HIS WAY TO VICTORY ~ By Elgin Traylor
Here are the facts that surrounded the Legends Pro Feature: Jordan Anderson took the checkered flag and Nick Carey was upset about how it went down.
Rewinding back to the race, Carey started on the pole after having a wreck last week, which forced him to do major body work over the weekend. This week Carey jumped out to the lead with Anderson right behind him. Carey was looking to improve on a season-best fourth-place finish. Anderson was hoping to gain points in the chase for the championship.
Jordan Anderson has been to victory lane twice this season at the Shootout. (LN Photo)
Anderson took the lead after a restart from Carey just before halfway and sailed to the win, but it was the way Anderson drove that sparked a tale of two very different perspectives between the two racers.
“You are going to bump, you are going to bang,” said Anderson. “This is a flat quarter-mile track, but fans like that. They like it to a certain extent. You look at drivers in Cup nowadays and the fan favorite may now be Kyle Busch just because he is driving like that. With so many drivers out here nowadays, to pass on this track you have to give a little bump; you have to make it exciting. Heck, I remember coming out here in a Bandolero, Roger (Roger Slack) said if you are going to do bumping, do it on the front straightaway.”
Carey felt Anderson crossed the line between racing and hockey’s version of the two minutes for roughing call.
“Jordan Anderson got into me last week. He bumped me going into the turn and in the center, then he just rode me and destroyed my car on the backstretch,” said a dejected Carey after the run. “I rebuild the car got back here and won the pole and I ran with him for 15 laps and he’s beating the hell out of me. He ran me out of the groove to get the lead. The last restart he brake checked me coming to the green and I went to talk to him after the race and he said oh I thought it was a good race.”
Carey would have had a top five run if not for what he thought was a brake check that tore the bumper off the nose. He ended up at the back of the pack because of the damage from an altercation with another car.
“He’s just a total rough driver and he’s getting a reputation for it,” added Carey.
Anderson went to victory lane for the second time this season and closed in on the points lead a bit as leader Chris Buescher was third.
“All I can say is the #33 (Carey) ran an incredible race,” added Anderson. “I ran a good race and so did everyone else, and it was fun. That is a product of good hard racing; it was fun for both the drivers and the fans. Neither one of our cars got tore up. Unfortunately he got messed up with another car on a restart, but I do not have anything against him. I am looking forward to next week and having a good clean race with him.”
YOUNG LIONS: DEMOLITION DERBY IN THE YOUNG LIONS LEAVES SOME DRIVERS MIFFED ~ By Jason Buckley
Two races for some of the Young Lions racers almost seemed like two too many after numerous spins, wrecks, oil downs and chaos throughout the night. The first of the two features was cut short by five laps, and the second only went a total of six laps before the checkered flag was thrown. Through the smoke and mayhem it was Dylan Presnell driving to his second win during the Summer Shootout while Evan Swilling obtained his first.
In the first of the two features, a torrid battle up front between Presnell, Justin Grimes, Scott Hensley, Devin Jones and Bryce Walker kept the fans excited, that was until the yellows flew for wrecks and spins on the track. Presnell led the majority of the race, taking the checkered flag first ahead of Grimes and Hensley.
“I really had a good time racing with Clay. He’s a good, clean racer and you can run him inside and out without worrying about him crashing you.”
Sossoman began to narrow the gap around the turns, but as more wrecks ensued and the track became oiled down, his focus was interrupted.
“I really thought I was going to get him before the caution,” Sossoman explained. “I was gaining on him every time. I was getting into a real groove. My tires were heating up well and I really thought I was going to get him off of turn four.”
“You can always dissect it after the race,” said Hair. “I was kind of loose around those corners. I got to thank Todd Johnson. He slammed on his brakes when we were three-wide and let us go. That was pretty good of him. Most people would’ve tried to stay in it and wreck the whole field. He chose to back out and I commend him for that.”
Though Johnson lost his initial lead to Hair and Sossoman after the first caution, his performance was one of the more consistent aspects of the Masters race. He ended up fourth across the line, his best finish of the season, and thankfully prevented yet another crash.
“We’ve been struggling all year and we just needed to be up front and get some clean air,” said Johnson. “I think that, even if we had run through the rest of the race after the first caution, it would’ve just been Clay and Johnny up front and I could’ve just hung with those two guys.”
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Evan Swilling won his first Shootout race. (LN Photo)
In the second feature, frankly, it wasn’t much of a race. Three cautions flew in the first two laps, including one before the start of the race coming off turn four to get the green. The race even got stranger when officials took the cars off the track completely to put speedy dry down after an oil down, then chose to run the Thunder Roadster race on the quarter-mile track before resuming the wreck fest. After returning to green, the smash-em-up continued and officials ended up throwing the checkered flag with only six laps listed as being completed.
“It wasn’t no race at all,” said Swilling, who took the checkered flag first. “We couldn’t get in five laps without wrecking. It is crazy. Some of those guys out there don’t have any respect for you. They just go out there and wreck you on the first lap. I won, so that is all that matters.”
Bryce Walker, who made contact a few times with Swilling, felt the contact from behind, which shoved him into Swilling.
“On the initial start I was getting pushed and the #1 car (Swilling) got hit,” explained Walker. “I had nowhere to go. I was then getting pushed on another restart and I wheel-hopped the #1 car, driving to the inside of him.”
Jones finished third and also pointed the finger at the drivers.
“It is hard to get out there and pass people when everyone keeps wrecking,” said Jones. “The officials at Lowe’s can’t really do anything about it because they have to keep the show moving and keep the fans happy.”
Still though, Walker might have said it best after two races that resembled a demolition derby rather than an oval race.
“If people are going to be driving like everyone was driving, we shouldn’t be out there,” said Walker.
SEMI-PRO: AUSTIN HILL GETS AHEAD OF A HESITANT RACE ~ By James Spencer
It normally doesn’t take over ten minutes to run a first lap, but two consecutive wrecks kept the pace car busy at the beginning of Tuesday night’s Semi-Pro race.
The cautions took their toll on the field, sending such favorites as Ronnie Bassett Jr. and Justin Swilling to the very back. After the yellow flags had been put to good use, only Austin Hill and Jordan Penninger came ahead favorably, running a tight respective first and second for the remainder of the abbreviated race.
Austin Hill was all smiles after winning the Semi-Pro feature. (LN Photo)
“I was just trying to drive my car into the corner and keep it on the white line. If you can keep it on the white line then you’re going pretty fast,” said Austin Hill, holding his first place trophy.
Penninger stuck closely to Hill’s tail, waiting for an opportunity to take the lead. The chance almost came in the form of Hill’s faulty brakes.
“On about lap six or seven the left-front brake began to lock up,” Hill explained, “so that’s why [Penninger] ran me down. I had to decrease the left-front brake on the knob in the car. After I decreased that brake, the car just came to life and took off. I started pulling away from [Penninger]. When I saw that white flag, I just hit it into overdrive until the win.”
The victory bumped Hill to second place in point standings behind Cody Blackburn.
SIDEBAR: "THE BULL" LOSES RIDE, FINDS RIDE & HANGS ONTO POINTS LEAD ~ By Jason Buckley
This year, the Summer Shootout Series points championships are based on points given to the drivers, not the car owners as in years past. This makes it to where a driver has to attend all the races and cannot have a substitute driver to obtain points every round.
In the Legends Semi-Pro division, the points chase at the top of the charts was tight coming into the eighth round of the Summer Shootout Series with Cody “The Bull” Blackburn leading his Chris Rodgers Motorsports teammate Justin Swilling in second, just six points behind. After the heat race, where Blackburn spun to put him in the B main, Blackburn was seen leaving the Chris Rogers Motorsports pit area and without a ride.
“Me and Chris Rogers had a little argument over what was wrong with the car or it if was my driving or whatnot, so we decided to go separate ways,” explained Blackburn.
It wasn’t the end of his title bid though as Blackburn was able to secure a ride in Chris Buescher’s backup car, race into the feature from the B main, start towards the rear of the feature field and finish sixth.
“I just got in Chris Buescher’s car to keep the points alive,” said Blackburn. “We got to sixth, so that is enough to keep the points alive and we are still in the lead. So, everything is cool.
“I really have to thank “Wormy” (Michael Harper) and Chris Buescher because they gave me a ride tonight. I couldn’t get a ride anywhere and they gave me a great car.”
Rumors swirled around the garage throughout the night that Rogers booted Blackburn from the ride because he wanted his other driver in the division, Swilling, to win the title instead of Blackburn.
“I don’t know,” said Blackburn. “I think it is just rumors. You cannot believe any of that stuff.”
LegendsNation.com attempted to obtain Rogers’ side of the situation, but he declined to comment.
MASTERS: HAIR AND SOSSOMAN MAINTAIN MOMENTUM THROUGH YELLOW FLAGS ~ By James Spencer
John Sossoman has been Clay Hair's biggest rival this season at the Shootout. (LN Photo)
ICautions plagued Tuesday night’s Masters race. The inconsistency and continuous loss of inertia left point leaders Clay Hair and John Sossoman virtually unchallenged at the front of the field.
“John had a good car. It was a bit quicker. It looked like it was quicker in the turns,” Hair said of his most serious competition. “He looked like he was coming up on me but I don’t think he could ever make it stick. I just kept running the line.”
Hair had no problem taking the lead after the first yellow flag, but maintaining it was another matter. Sossoman ran an uncomfortably close second, shadowing Hair through the checkered flag and even making light contact in the straightaways.
“Clay’s car was pushing off of the corner a little bit,” said Sossoman. “I was loose and trying to swing out and get a jump off of the corner under him. I was trying to get up there but I couldn’t get on the gas.
