November 7, Concord, NC--- The next race up was the TBARA Sprint Cars. Since the PR person for the series couldn’t be bothered to come to the press box to help our coverage, we’ll oblige him/her by not being bothered to cover the race, other than to mention the winner’s name. That person is Dave Steele.

Chuck Hossfeld and Matt Hirschman are on the front row, with Ryan Preece and Burt Myers the second row for the Tour-Type Modified race, as the drivers get set to run 125 laps. After taking several laps to warm the oil in the motors, they took a couple of hot laps to put heat in the Hoosier Tires, and then they were ready to go. As the sun has set, the temperatures have also gone down.

 At the green, it was Chuck Hossfeld to the lead, with Matt Hirschman, Ryan Preece, Burt Myers, and James Civali the top five. A quick spin by Dave Pecko in turn three on lap 2 brought out a quick caution. Cautions don’t count, so they will run the entire 125 laps under green.

At the restart, Hirschman went to the lead, followed by Hossfeld.  However, something broke on Civali’s car, as he came to rest at the exit of turn three entering the front stretch on lap 4.

When the race restarted, it was Hirschman and Hossfeld side by side, with Hossfeld being pushed too close to the wall, as he made contact, starting the “Big One”. Keith Rocco, Eric Beers, Ted Christopher, Bobby Grigas III, Les Hinckley, and some others were involved, as sparks were flying everywhere. With the pace car and the yellow flag out, the cars cut their motors. This red flag lasted for about 13 minutes.

The field lined up with Matt Hirschman on the pole, where he then blew right rear, going into the back stretch wall. He collected Preece, Earl Paules, and a couple of others, bringing out another red flag. This red flag lasted for 11 minutes.

That put Burt Myers on the pole, with Doug Coby, Eric Goodale, Daren Scherer, and Keith Rocco the top five. On the green, Myers went to the lead, followed by Coby, Goodale, Rocco, and Scherer. Woody Pitkat was now making a charge toward the front, moving up to third, and setting sail on the front two cars, which were now almost a half straight ahead.

Eric Beers brought out the next caution on lap 13 as he slowed on the track. Rules of the race state that the drivers must make a mandatory pit stop between lap 25 and 100. When in the pits, they must jack up on side of the car, with two wheels off the ground, even if they don’t change tires. A number of cars did come to the pits for service, and made it out before the green.

On the restart, Myers kept the lead with Coby, Goodale, Pitkat, and Rocco the top five.  On lap 16, Pitkat made it under Goodale for 3^rd. The next caution was on lap 19, when Bertuccio spun, collecting Gene Pack, and Jeff Malave. Bertuccio pulled along Ted Christopher to voice his displeasure. The next time TC came around the track, Bertuccio made some hand gestures toward TC, which we couldn’t quite make out. Bertuccio was towed to the pits, while TC continued. We didn’t see the start of the incident, and don’t know if TC had a hand in the incident.

Myers retained the lead, with Coby, Pitkat, Goodale, and Rocco rounding out the top five. The closest race is Jimmy Zacharias on the rear bumper of Keith Rocco, trying to take over the 5^th spot. That’s the way it stayed up front until they hit lap 25. This is the point where we started waiting for the mandatory pit stops.

By lap 30, Coby had pulled up to the back bumper of Myers, looking for the lead. TC got black-flagged on lap 31, pulled onto pit road, and then to the infield out of the race for a leak. Meanwhile, Goodale had temporarily fallen back out of the top five. The top five were now Myers, Coby, Pitkat, Goodale, and Brunnhoelzl.

On lap 49, Brunnhoelzl went around the outside of Goodale for the 4^th spot. GBIII appears to be wicked fast at this point of the race. He is now a fifth of a lap behind Pitkat, and a caution wouldn’t hurt to tighten up the field. That being said, by lap 55, you can tell that he is eating up the track, as GBIII makes up the difference.

Lap 60 had GBIII catching Pitkat and easily passing him on the outside for the 3^rd spot. The running order was now Myers, Coby, GBIII, Pitkat, and Goodale the top five. Georgie right now is the quickest car on the track, as he now starts setting sail on the top two cars, which are running nose to tail.

Doug Coby brought out the next caution in turn three on lap 70. He may have been watching his rearview mirror, but you never know. Only it was now time for wholesale pit stops. The leader as they came back on the track is Burt Myers, Rowan Pennink, George Brunnhoelzl III, Jamie Tomaino, and Matt Hirschman the new top five. At this point, Jason Myers was pushed behind the wall.

At the green, the top five stayed the same. Myers pulled out to a quick ten-car advantage. Then on lap 73, Tomaino came up passing Hirschman and Brunnhoelzl for 3^rd, as GBIII started to fade toward the back. It was now Myers, Pennink, Tomaino, Hirschman, and Ryan Preece. There was a brief caution on lap 82 for debris.

Several cars came to the pits, including GBII, as they jacked up the rear, then the right side, as the crew changed the right front tire, getting him back out on the track. He has a long way to go in 43 laps to get to the front.

Myers, Pennink, Tomaino, Hirschman, and Preece remained the top five on the green, with Doug Coby moving past Preece on lap 84. Eric Beers brought out the next caution, stopping on the front stretch. He was pushed to pit road, where the crew took a quick look, then into the infield out of the race.

Once again the top five remained the same when the green came out. Then again, it was an immediate yellow, as Woody Pitkat brought out the yellow with a spin. Brunnhoelzl was now 14^th when the field was aligned.

When the cars restarted, it was Myers, Pennink, Coby, Hirschman, and Tomaino the top five. Quietly, GBIII was now 11^th. Lap 91 saw him move to 10^th, the on lap 94 up to 9^th. Although the top three were now running under a blanket, we’re keeping an eye peeled on Brunnhoelzl.

Lap 100 saw the top five stay the same; but many eyes were on the battle for eighth. GBIII won that battle on lap 108. This is the type of run we’re accustomed to seeing from Christopher. Still, by lap 110, he is still in eighth in lapped traffic with only 15 laps to go. But he did make it to 7^th by lap 112. He moved around Goodale on lap 117 for the 6^th spot.

With five to go, it appears that Myers won’t have a problem keeping Pennink about 8 car lengths behind in his rear view mirror, looking to take the win two years in a row.

For Myers, it was a dominating win. Pennink, Coby, Hirschman, Tomaino, and Brunnhoelzl rounded out the top six. It’s not a stretch to say that GBIII put on a driving clinic, which is something that we’ll take back home with me to Long Island.