April 18, 1999 --Ralph Wheeler FMRA Midgets At Hialeah Hialeah - Rain threatened the entire nights activities Saturday at Hialeah Speedway. But mother nature was kind enough to provide a window. Hialeah personnel dried the track and decided to run features only.
The Midgets pushed off and before the race could be started the #4 car of Chuck Kilgore oiled the track badly. The red flag was displayed and enough speedy dry was applied to dry up the Everglades. This would prove critical in the outcome of the race.
When the green flag flew it was #55 Alan Craig jumping out to a strong lead over #14 Steve Wheeler in the Jon Smith Subs Special, and #55 Mike Elder in his Mike's Deck Service-Phantom Fabrication Chassied mount. Only a couple of cautions flew. One for fast rookie Ben Fritz who spun later saying he "Just over-drove it", the other for the storied veteran brothers Mark and Gary Gimmler who came together with Mark spinning to a stop unscathed and Gary continuing.
When the green flag flew again it was Craig out front with Wheeler pulling a train of the rest of the field close enough to throw a blanket over. Veteran tough guy #3 Jack Duffy of Sarasota was marching to the front on the outside. With new tires he was "Getting very brave with new shoe's" as his pit crew put it, but he would stall in his advance as he developed a miss under the hood.
One driver who would not be missing anything on this night was Gary Gimmler in his dated but lightning fast #29 car named Harvey. Gary and Harvey proceeded to come from the back to front in a hurry. Gary bicycled the #29 on two wheels around the turns and rocketed down the straight-aways, passing cars high and low. He looked like he may have a little trouble with good friend Wheeler though as the #14 car was coming in. The two set sail for #55 Craig but before they catch him Wheeler bobbled just as Gimmler had a whale of a run coming off turn # 2. Gimmler drove by and proceeded to turn the same trick on #55 Craig but Wheeler was able to follow him through the hole hoping for a mistake on Gimmler's part, which would never come. Gimmler won his 2nd race of the year.
Here are finishing positions as far back as the writer can recall. I apologize to the rest of the field for not getting the final rundown.
1. Gary Gimmler..............Palm Beach Gardens
2. Steve Wheeler.............Royal Palm Beach
3. Alan Craig....................Ocala
4. Mike Elder...................Bradenton
5. Mark Gimmler.............Palm Beach Gardens
6. Jack Duffy....................Sarasota
7. Wendy Mathis.............Ocala
8. Rod Anderson..............Tampa
9. *Ben Fritz.....................Ocala
* Indicates Rookie
-Ralph Wheeler Comment on this story? Post it on the Message Board! or e-mail to: comments@karnac.com |
