HFRL: Magnetic Racing at 'Tona
- Published ()
- Hurricane Force Racing League
Season Opener at Daytona International Speedway
Temperature: 55 Degrees, Cloudy
Winds: NW@20mph
For serious race fans, Daytona is the beginning and end-all to everything sacred about NASCAR racing. This week, it's where the gang from HFRL started the season on February 27th, 2002.
HFRL is an invitational league containing a roster of only those drivers with serious and competent credentials. All members have had plenty of opportunities to practice with each other for several weeks.
Most everyone took advantage of the time to get to know each other, have fun racing together, share information amongst themselves, and just hang out. HFRL members Ken, Shawn, David and Troy met at the Rock on 24 Feb, 2002 also, adding to the camaraderie of league racing.
The race started with #21, Troy Bouffard, getting pole position. Qualifying took place in temperatures ranging in the mid-50's. Since HFRL uses fixed, real time and location temperatures, speeds were a bit higher than normal as a result of the cooler air.
The start of the race saw 15 very hungry racers ready to do anything it took to get to the front. The first 27 laps were simply excellent. All the drivers were patient, aware and reactive. Everyone practiced "give and take" manners every lap. No less than a dozen lead changes occurred during that time without incident. Some drivers went from the front to the rear and back up to the front during that time.
Lap 28, #27, David Graham, was trying to get under #2 Rick Clark during their trip down the backstretch. David realized that it wasn't going to happen so he wisely backed off and gave Rick plenty of room to get straightened on the track before turn 3. Unfortunately, David did not see #21, Troy, up top near the wall when he moved high. There was nothing Troy could do to avoid David and the contact brought out the first yellow; the first much-needed yellow that everyone was probably glad to see.
Pit stops went well for most people. #30, Shawn Anthony, does a great job checking up quickly to keep from hitting #86, Jerry Davenport, on the way out of pit lane. Regrettably, Shawn nailed #25, Steve Tanner catching up to the pacing field on the backstretch. Steve received minor damage from the contact.
Lap 33, after the restart, #21, Troy, and #19 Aaron Needham got together on the backstretch preparing to enter turn 3. Aaron anticipated Troy going low into turn three a touch early and they got stuck together, sliding the #19 car into the wall to receive heavy damage in the back of the car.
Lap 39, #2, Rick Clark, and #18, Jim Russell, touch going into turn one. Rick was fighting to keep the car low and managed to get it to the line. Jim dove for the second groove quickly and landed on Rick's front fender. The contact sends Jim into the turn one wall for heavy damage. Everyone else gets under the accident without further trouble.
That brought out a long dash to the start/finish line to take the yellow. It looked as though most drivers were being patient and not racing each other heavily to the line. The speeds right before turn three seemed to slow a bit and drivers got caught up trying to slow down. All kinds of chaos broke out as cars tagged each other with #51, Ken Eppley, coming out for the worst as he flipped twice.
During Lap 40, #21, Troy and #19, Aaron catch up to the caution cars after pitting. Troy fell asleep at the wheel and tagged Aaron on accident. Thankfully, Aaron took on no additional damage, but his tires weren't too happy probably.
Lap 52, #30, Shawn, and #62, John Wilcko, almost make contact on the backstretch right before turn three. Shawn tries to sneak his car in front of John. John does a great job avoiding contact and keeping up his momentum at the same time. John is moving so fast and tight on the #30 car that Shawn develops an aero push. Shawn overcorrects and puts the car on the apron nearly sideways and pulls out an awesome save to continue on only a few positions for the worse.
Lap 55, the #51 car of Ken Eppley just can't take it anymore and blows the engine to bring out another yellow.
Lap 66, #21, Troy, gets a good run down the backstretch to challenge #2, Rick, for the low line going into turn three. Rick is thinking of his challenge to get under Jerry though. Rick pulls low also and Troy can't slow or turn away in time to avoid punting Rick. Both drivers have their hands full as they slide, but Rick can't straighten the car and goes into the wall receiving damage. His pit crew manages to save the rear end nicely, but the hood is gone for good.
Lap 71, #30, Shawn, shifts his car from 2nd gear to 1st gear during the restart and blows the engine immediately. Almost everyone behind him gets collected in a messy pile of confused and frustrated drivers.
Lap 79, #25, Steve and #86, Jerry make contact near the end of the race. Steve brings his car a little too low and enters groove one which is already occupied by Jerry. After a slight tap, Steve's car turns extremely hard toward the wall. This brings out the yellow and the realization that the end of the race will be decided as everyone crosses the start/finish line. Tensions are building and the conclusion of the race is very near. Everyone is jockeying for positions and making deals with the devil.
Troy has plenty of momentum as he gets the nose of his car under Jerry exiting turn four. It's a race for the win as the two head for the line but Troy has too much speed and gets a fender by Jerry for the win.
(For an opening race, this was very exciting. I am sure that all the drivers, including myself, are very surprised and happy about our fellow racers. Most incidents throughout the race were fairly innocent and negligence was nearly nonexistent. Although, the phenomenon of these cars acting like magnets the whole race, attracting other cars to each other ahead and behind constantly, certainly kept the entire race interesting and fun. It seemed that there was no escaping each other! Troy's last deal with the devil was to for his car to reverse polarity at the right time and push ahead of Jerry for the win. Oh well, I guess he is doomed, but he's got a 'Tona trophy to keep him company. See you all at Las Vegas.)