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4/22/17, 11:43 PM   #1
Braving The Elements Has It's Rewards
Jerry Shaw
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As the afternoon progressed, the prospects were good. A USAC race had been cancelled due to weather that had swept through that track's area. So, there were plenty of big hitters in the vicinity. The Burg had called due to the amount of rain they had gotten. And other than a couple of races that were still on, in Ohio, all the stars were lined up for Lincoln Park Speedway to be the place you wanted to be, if you were an Indiana race fan. Then, word was starting to get out that there were only 17 sprinters in the pits, as start time was approaching. Then, upon pulling into the parking lot, it was astonishing how few cars were there. This was the same track that just 2 weeks ago, showing up at this same time got you a parking spot out by the quarry. To say that the bubble of anticipation that had been present in my mind just a few minutes ago had been burst, would be accurate. But, I walked up the hill and bought my ticket, none the less.

Then, just a few minutes later, while standing on the LPS observation deck, talking with my racing friends, as everybody does at this place, the cars started to roll out for wheel pack. There were still only 20 at this point, but uh oh, Kevin Thomas comes rolling out...then Brady Short...and Brent Beauchamp...and last night's USAC winner Justin Grant...and LPS track champ Shane Cockrum...then Tyler Thomas...then Jarret Andretti. A new bubble was here to replace the old one and you knew there was a pretty good chance that those who had bundled up and weren't going to be discouraged by low temps would be rewarded for doing so. And after the heat races were over and the feature lineup was known, the was a very slim chance that they wouldn't be. Beauchamp and Cockrum were on the front row and are tough as nails here. Short and Tyler Thomas were back in the 3rd row. Grant in the 5th row. And KT Jr all the way back on the outside of the 6th row. So this was a very race fan friendly lineup!

The green was waved and after a brief battle with Cockrum, Beauchamp established himself as the leader. Short was already on the move, though and sat in 4th place when they lined up after an early yellow. Grant just a few behind him and KT was on the move, as well. The race's first major battle happened when Short grabbed the 3rd spot and began to reel in Cockrum. This was a hard fought battle in which Brady threw every trick in the book at Shane before getting around him on the outside coming to the flagstand. He then set sail for the leader. A few laps after catching Brent and mixing it up with him for a few laps, we would have a new leader. But, as that unfolded, Justin Grant was now in 3rd place and looked to be the fastest car on the track or maybe not. KT Jr was right behind him in 4th place, from his 12th place starting position. Grant passed Beauchamp and began to quickly began to reel in the leader. And then Thomas was threatening Beauchamp for 3rd. In a lap or two, we had another new leader. But Brady battled back and didn't go down without a fight. It was three or four laps before he finally shed Brady Short. By that time, Short had a major problem. That problem was named Kevin Thomas Jr. Thomas took the runner up position away and by this point was the fastest car on the track, running a higher line in three and four and diving down low in one and two and getting great bite coming out of turn two. He caught Justin, passed him for the lead and opened up a little bit of margin. But, then Short mounted a comeback and had his eyes set on getiing second place back. Then a yellow came out, so we had a restart with KT as the leader, Grant in second and Short in third. Brady went right after Justin on the restart and was in second place again and KT began to skate away. Then on the white flag lap, Justin had a full head of steam, raced around the top and stole the runner up spot away from Brady coming to the checkered flag. What a race!! "But wait, there's more!!", as the infomercials say. After he parked it by the flagstand, KT got out of his car and walked directly across the track to the backstretch, where Justin was parked and they had an extended discussion. I would have like to have been a fly on the roll cage for those few minutes. Even though flies don't do too well, in tonight's temps. But when you see a race that is raced as hard as tonight's race was, somebody almost always ends up not happy with someone else.

So, if tonight you decided that you were going to the race track, no matter what and you were going to bundle up, find you a seat and just see what the racers would do to reward those impervious to the elements, like yourself, then good for you, you got to see a special race. All that didn't missed out and can only hear about it second hand.

Jerry
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Last edited by Jerry Shaw; 4/23/17 at 12:30 AM.
 
4/22/17, 11:58 PM   #2
ryan84
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Great recap. Did Justin and KT get together during the race or something?
 
4/23/17, 12:03 AM   #3
Re: Braving The Elements Has It's Rewards
Jerry Shaw
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ryan84 View Post
Great recap. Did Justin and KT get together during the race or something?
Thanks. I didn't see anything over the line or really questionable during these battles. But Justin charged so hard coming to the checker that maybe there was contact after the race was over. But, I don't know, because right as a race like the one we saw tonight ends, all race fans are doing in that first minute or so, is looking around at other race fans with that "Wow!" look that everybody has.

Jerry
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Last edited by Jerry Shaw; 4/23/17 at 12:42 AM.
 
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4/23/17, 12:22 AM   #4
Eatin Dirt
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Not sure, but my guess is it was over a restart when JG had the lead and went high coming to the green and KTj took the low road. Just a guess. And by the way, I am damn glad I bundled up and went tonight.
 
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4/23/17, 1:20 AM   #5
Re: Braving The Elements Has It's Rewards
Sprintcarfanatic
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Lots of carharts at the Field tonight.
 
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4/23/17, 1:42 AM   #6
Re: Braving The Elements Has It's Rewards
WinglessLovers
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We brought the heavy artillery for the evening, sweatshirts, plenty of blankets and beanies with flaps which all worked to keep us snug as a bug to watch some fine racing. The track was dusty and black slick from all the rain and wind but it didn't prevent the sprint car drivers, especially Kevin Thomas Jr., Justin Grant and Brady Short along with others, from putting on a whale of a feature!! It was definitely worth the hauling in of extra warm items to conquer the cold and take in another enjoyable night of wingless racing. Onto Kickapoo tomorrow late afternoon!!!

Bruce and Pat Eckel
 
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4/23/17, 9:46 AM   #7
cmiracingvids
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ryan84 View Post
Great recap. Did Justin and KT get together during the race or something?
No. Grant looked like he adjusted some knobs or something. He was the best car, and was leading a restart with just a handful of laps left, and his car just wouldn't hook up. Same out of turn 2. (Where he had been a rocket ship).
KTJ only made slight contact once with Shane Cockrum down the backstretch and going into 3. But a yellow came out right after and put Cockrum back in front. KTJ was the class of the field, no doubt. Awesome to have him back in non wing racing!
 
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4/24/17, 1:46 PM   #8
Re: Braving The Elements Has It's Rewards
ronmil
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Would loved to have attended both LPS and Danville, but by the time LPS was announced as definitely running, I was committed to some issues here at home and I would not have had time to drive the 150 miles. The low temps weren't a plus either, but I have lots of warm clothes and could have handled that. As for Danville, there was a family gathering that I needed to attend. Hope they schedule more races at Danville. Haven't been there in several years, but the times I did attend provided some excellent racing.
Thanks for the excellent synopsis, Jerry!
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4/24/17, 7:55 PM   #9
mike mcghee
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It was a discussion over the restart, the cars are supposed to remain nose to tail until the cone. That didn't happen and KTj new it and apologized. Shame on LPS for letting it go but no hard feelings among all involved.
 
4/25/17, 1:15 PM   #10
Re: Braving The Elements Has It's Rewards
WinglessLovers
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mike mcghee View Post
It was a discussion over the restart, the cars are supposed to remain nose to tail until the cone. That didn't happen and KTj new it and apologized. Shame on LPS for letting it go but no hard feelings among all involved.
Mike,

Thank you for clearing up or clarifying what the discussion on the backstretch was about. Congratulations so far on a great early season run and hope that things continue well for your team throughout the year. Enjoyed seeing Justin win in Ol' Bub's home town. Keep up the good work and look forward to seeing you all down the line somewhere.

Bruce Eckel
 
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