Mother nature blessed us with partly cloudy skies and temps in the 80’s. Drivers and their crews worked throughout the day expecting a green track, with changing conditions, as temps were predicted to drop throughout the evening.
Dave would qualify second for tonight’s event with his first lap at 17.70 and his second lap coming in at 17.74. Paul Green claimed the pole in time trials, qualifying at 17.680 mph.
Dave started tonight’s event in the 5th spot and rapidly speed his way to the front, behind the #11 car of Paul Green. Green, the points leader would blow a motor, which brought out the first caution flag on lap eight. Dave lead the race for 17 laps before there would be another incident that started in turn four, and ended up on the front stretch, which brought out the second caution. With five laps to go, green flag racing resumed. The rookie was challenged by yet another veteran, who launched a bid for the lead and used his bumper to move Dave out of the way for the win!
I guess that’s where
the term "that’s racing" derived from!
Technology verses the man
This year has proven to be
a challenge for DANCO Racing and the #34 Daniels
Auto Care Ford Fusion. We quickly learned that during the
off season our competitors made changes and did their homework.
New to the division, we had our work cut out for us! At 17 Dave
had to learn Mini Modified race lingo in order to communicate
feedback to his crew chief and father Mike Daniels. Both technology
and communication are important in determining race setups, without
it, you are at a disadvantage. The two of them have also been
working hard to get caught up on the latest technology in order
to compete with this years field. Each week we learn something
new about our car, our competitors and the sport.
Many would argue that racing is suppose to be all about the man
behind the wheel and not technology. The truth of the matter is,
NASCAR and short track racing have evolved. For the most part,
the good olde bootleg days have taken a back seat to engineering
and technology. The lost days include heads-up racing, rules that
pertain to all drivers, and where a win constituted guts and skill!
Today's drivers are conditioned athletes, who love their sport,
which is driven by pure adrenaline, experience, technology and
emotion. Many hours of preparation goes on behind the scenes in
order to provide the fans a great show!
Side note to fans- Old Dominion drivers appreciate your support
during the 2009 season. If you ever have the opportunity to come
out to the speedway and view race day events before the green
flag drops, I highly encourage it.
Practice starts at 2 PM
Spectator gate opens at 5, which is when time trials begin.
Pre-race ceremony begins at 6:45 PM
Green flag drops at 7 PM sharp!
We hope to see you at the track
on Saturday!
Stop by the DANCO Racing pit and meet our driver - Dave Daniels.
To view the Mini Modified race schedule - click
here
In Mini Stocks, Bobby Able won his first race of the year. Able started fourth and got around Dave Daniels after a restart with three to go.
"The car ran extremely well tonight," Able said. "If the race had gone another lap, Dave probably would've gotten by me."
"Bobby moved us out of the way and I couldn't get back to him," said Daniels, who took the lead in lap eight after Paul Green blew a motor. "I'm very pleased with second."
Daniels and Scotty Gore battled for the lead before Gore spun trying to get by Daniels with five to go.
Daniels was second, Gore third, Keith Riley fourth and Kevin Davis fifth.