To say the last race of the year was bitter sweet would be an understatement. We had some of the best racing of the season with the most touching moments, and then we had a bummer of a wreck and some typical end of the year nerves. All in all I think most folks will remember the day for it's good moments.
This is also the end to our third year as the late model sponsor at Findlay Stadium Stateline Speedway. This has been another great season and continues to be an example of the success of circle track racing. Of course there can always be difficulties. Tempers may rise and frustrations will occur, but with kind hearted dedication and the will to move forward, the racing community always finds a way to come out on top.
Qualifying
Haeden Plybon took the pole with a 13.886 followed by Scott Murphy with a 14.086 and Nick Gibson at 14.137.
Dice Roll
It was Haeden's job to roll the dice today and...drum roll...he rolled a ten.
Line Up
We had a decent count of fifteen cars. Here is the lineup in photos.
B Main Oh My
This is when things got ugly. They didn't get one lap down before The Big One took out a third of the field. Here is the wreck in a succession of photos. Obviously the photo at the beginning of the article was from turn two and just a couple seconds before.
(Thank you Dishaw Photography for the winner photos!)
After that, it took a while for the track to get cleaned up and then we started out again with 10 cars. Suddenly the day felt like a let down. But it wouldn't last long.
Thankfully there was some excellent driving to finish the race. Dalton Cristiani took a well earned win followed by Trayten Tarr and Jason O'Neill.
A Main
I didn't catch the second dice roll unfortunately. Here are the cars lined up on the main stretch.
Although we were down five cars, it did not affect the intensity poured out by our drivers. We got to experience one of the best battles of the year between three of the top qualifiers. Trayten Tarr had taken the lead, but right on his tail was Jason O'Neill and Nick Gibson going side by side for much of the last half. It went like that right up to the finish line. Scott Murphy came in 4th followed by Garret Sawyer in 5th.
Congratulations Winners!
(Thank you Dishaw Photography for the winner photos!)
Gauge Howell
I spoke of Gauge's passing in the last article. But the impact has not lessened on our community. There were many ways in which family and friends were able to remember Gauge and pass on their love to his family.
Trayten Tarr was able to pilot Gauge's late model to victory. Earlier in the day Trayten took a lap for Gauge and it was like a foretelling of what was to come. We got to see Gauge's sister Tessa Howell wave the green flag. And there was a large contingency of Gauge's family and friends in section 2.
So while this year may be remembered for the tragedy of his passing, it will not be forgotten how much Gauge was loved by so many.
Nick Gibson - Champion
Congratulations to our RaceCals Pro Late Model Champion!
In Closing
That's it for the final report of the year. We'll have to wait until May 2024 before the RaceCals Pro Late Models take the pavement again. It is a little bit of a relief to be able to take a break after such a busy six months. Whether we are preparing for what is needed at the track or printing the seasons orders, it always feels like a race of time until the season is over.
But soon we will begin preparation for the off-season events. There will be WARPA, RPM, and PRI. We'll work on the years end rush of industrial graphics for the Screen Tek side. There will probably even be some snowy sign installations. And then after Christmas we'll start working on race car wraps again. Probably up until May since racers like to wait until the last minute. ;)
Until then, have a great off-season. Feel free to send us an email at info@racecals.com.