The much anticipated unveiling of the Extreme Open Wheel Modifed series had finally arrived Saturday night at the fast mile of Columbia Motorsports Park. Although the field of racers was a little thin as many took a wait and see position, the racers that showed up for the inaugural race were all competitive racers that were ready to roll.
The drivers were experimenting with setups in the practice sessions with the new wingboards that the series allows to be used, and most of them hit on the right combination for their cars fairly quickly. The fans all seemed to like the new look of the racecars, even though the changes were fairly minimal, as far as wings go.
When Qualifying time came around, the cars showed new found speed on the timers. The top 4 qualifiers bested the old track record for the open wheel modifieds of 17.200 seconds on the mile.
Robbie Cooper, in the Bronson Lube / Flagship RV entry, set the fast time with a lap of 16.959 seconds.
Second was Kurt Jett in the Jett Concrete Modified, followed by Jason Garver, Lee Collins, and Alan McCafferty. Cooper pulled a three in the draw for inversion, putting Garver on the pole position, with Jett alongside on the front row. The Second row was filled by Cooper, and Collins, followed by McCafferty, Jerry Symons, Curtis Neumann, John Gerstner, Chris Escott and David Baxley filling up the top ten.
When the Green Flag waved to start the race, Garver powered to the lead with Cooper right on his bumper, with Collins right behind. Jett was hung out on the outside, and dropped to fourth spot. Garver and Cooper had no difficulty opening a lead on the rest of the field, and kept the fans excited as they battled for the top spot the entire 75 laps. By the 25 lap mark, the two front runners were all alone in their battle, with Collins and McCafferty battling for third.
The only caution of the race came on lap 27 for debris on the racetrack, and allowed the field to be regrouped. Once again, when the green flag waved, Garver and Cooper continued their battle for the #1 spot. Cooper tried again and again to find a way around the Leader, and on several occasions got a wheel beside Garver, but was unable to make the pass.
On lap 51, McCafferty finally worked his way around Lee Collins for third spot, and began to try to reel in the leaders.
With ten laps to go, Cooper dialed up the pressure on Garver, and was using every inch of race track, looking for a way into the lead. Lap 73, Cooper gets a wheel under Garver exiting turn 4, and looks like he may have a good enough run to grab the lead. The cars got together just past the flagstand, and both drivers did a great job maintaining control of the racecars. Garver held on for the win, with Cooper right on his bumper. After the top finishers cleared tech, the finishing order was declared official.
The drivers all seemed to agree that the new series and rules worked out well. The modifications are inexpensive(in racing dollars), and can easily be removed to continue to run at local tracks away from the series. The wingboards seem to make the cars somewhat quicker, and more stable on entry to the turns. The success of the series remains to be seen, but the commitment of series Director Rick Hall to the growth of the series is a major plus. Hall says he will continue to contact racers, and explain the plusses of the series. Hall is very much convinced that there are a large number of cars just waiting for a chance to run in this type of series, and series success, with large fields of racers, will only be a matter of time.
Official Finish 1. #27 Jason Garver Starke, Fl. 2. #98 Robbie Cooper Bronson, Fl. 3. #32 Alan McCafferty Clermont, Fl. 4. #89 Lee Collins Immokalee, Fl. 5. # 9 Kurt Jett Orange Park, FL. 6. #66 Jerry Symons New Smyrna, Fl. 7. #77 John Gerstner Eustis, Fl. 8. # 1 David Baxley Anthony, Fl. 9. #17 Jimmy Wagner Zephyrhills, Fl. 10. #01 Curtis Neumann Inverness, Fl. 11. # 8 Chris Escott St. Petersburg, Fl. 12. #85 Wayne Parker Middleburg, Fl.
