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December 1998 by Ed McLean MIKE FRANKLIN JR. WINS SECOND FLORIDA TITLE
Homestead, FL's Mike Franklin Jr. secured his second Florida Pro Series championship title on the high banks of the Colombia Motorsports Park oval after starting shotgun on the field.
Needing only to finish in 6th position or better to edge nearest competitor
Jeff Williams of Inverness to win his second professional touring title,
Franklin qualified his Archer Painting / CheckMate Trucking / Spitzer Dodge Avenger in 5th position.
But during the final warm-up session, Franklin noticed his Avenger was
developing a previously undetected overheating problem and that sent his MRF team scrambling to get the backup Monte Carlo ready. Making as many adjustments as possible in almost no time, Mike Franklin Jr. and his crew were faced with the prospect of starting the backup Monte Carlo in the very back of the field with an underpowered 9:1 power plant.
Starting from the very back of the field, Franklin's Florida Pro title
chances appeared bleak. The 26-year old Late Model veteran was faced with the challenge of finishing within six places of Jeff Williams who began the Suwanee Savings 200 in 10th wasn't as easy as it looked considering the hot, greasy, track conditions.
But Franklin would get a break as the final Florida Pro Series race of the
season was slated for 200 laps with a mandatory mid-way stop for fuel and tires. This added wrinkle would allow Franklin to run his Dodge Avenger hard in the first portion of the race with little regard for tire wear.
By lap 100 and the mid-way point, Franklin had advanced from 32nd position to start the race all the way to 12th place with Jeff Williams in seventh place and well within the championship window.
From there, Franklin made an assault on the top five and avoided several
nerve wracking wrecks including those involving front runners Jimmy Cope and Lee Faulk.
With laps winding down, Franklin and Williams swapped positions but
Franklin, avoiding a catastrophe, appeared to be headed for season-ending honors.
With five to go, the final caution flag of the day would fly when
championship competitor Jeff Williams was involved in turn 3 skirmish that would damage the cooling system on the only Ford Taurus in the field and send the Inverness veteran to the pits for the final time and relinquishing his championship aspirations
Franklin was extremely pleased with his second title, "We had our hands full today that's for sure. We came up here not to just win the title but to win the race as well. But considering the problems that we faced before the race and the lack of time that we had to prepare, a 5th place finish and another championship isn't too bad of a deal really. Even though we started shotgun on the field, we didn't have time to focus on the negatives."
Franklin will spend the off season making building race cars and making
decisions about his future. "We will take a hard look at our prospects for next year and rest a little and then get busy", Franklin added. |
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