18 cars lining up for the start of the race.

What looked to be a promising start to an exciting race, quickly turned into a melee. Legends cars lined up on the back straight away, took the green flag out of turn four and then the unimaginable happened. A couple drivers got over zealous! One pushed Dave down the front straight a way and into turn one, causing him to lift. Another car came down, trying to improve his position, and the two cars would collide, causing a pileup. Another car that had no place to go would then slam into Dave.

Going into turn one

Dave holding his line.

Pushed from behind and another car coming down the track in front of him.

No where to go!

Melee

Dave, thinking he was finished for the evening, pulled into the pits, only to be instructed to jump into his backup car. The Scotty Gore team, Al Dailey team and the Jansen team came to Dave’s rescue and assisted him and his father in getting him out of the pits before racing resumed. Dave would start dead last and maneuver his way up through the field. A few laps later, there would be another incident on the front straight-a-way and Dave drove his car through the wreck as if he were threading a needle. Fans in the stands gasped in disbelief! Dave would come from last place to round out the night with an 8th place finish.

Dave threading the needle!
White car with sparks on the outside, Dave in the middle, and a blue car on the inside.

Later I would learn that the backup car was not setup for Old Dominion. It had the wrong gear, last years practice tires, which were grossly over inflated and had not been run in a while!

Two cute new fans!
Congratulations to the young lady in the white tee shirt.
She won a Beanie, a autographed photo, and a
Dave Daniels/DANCO Racing shirt in the stands.
Both young ladies were also given prizes in the pits.

A special thanks go out to our sponsors

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