Well the 66th running of the "Greatest Short Track Race in the Land" is now complete. Though not quite as exciting as last years version, it still was an entertaining evening at Anderson Speedway. A number of contenders had issues early on with Aaron Pierce finding the wall before lap 60 that put him out of this years race. Also both Kyle Hamiton and Bryan Clauson were involved with lapped cars and were both down laps early in the race. A nice recovery for Hamilton as he was able to bring it home in 5th spot at the end.
Tony Elliott, Caleb Armstrong, Troy DeCaire, Brian Gerster and Chris Windom also found no luck at all and will finish much lower in the standings than where they were running. Donnie Adams Jr and Russ Gamester were also strong in the early going but again their finishing places won't reflect the solid drives they had. Shane Cottle had a good run going, leading a lot of the middle portion of the event, but again as last year the motor expired too soon.
A few other folks who did have good runs were Geoff Kaiser, Jo Jo Helberg and Hamilton with solid top 5 finishes. But the bulk of the money and the laurels go to the repeat winner in the 07 Wilson Racing machine of Jacob Wilson. The young man drove a masterful race after starting in the 5th position and let the race come to him. He was in the top 5 most of the night and seemed on cruise control much of the way. He was followed across the line on the lead lap by Jerry Coons Jr. in his "rookie" season at the Little 5. Hard to believe that the "Coondog" could ever be considered a rookie.
It was one of the larger crowds in recent history by my estimation. The quality of the field and great weather I'm sure helped entice a number of folks to check it out. The number of campers seemed to be larger this year than in past seasons as well. Speedway owner Rick Dawson mentioned before the race that there were people from New Zealand, Australia, England and every state in the US. Quite a gathering indeed.
So the record will show Jacob Wilson as the winner of the 66th Annual Little 500. Congrats on a great drive.
Mike
Be nice to people on the way up. You might need them on the way down. Jimmy Durante