All-Stars vs. Locals in Grudge Match at SFCR on April 3

Millsey

Millsey

New Member
By JEFF MILLS
FARMINGTON, Mo. -- (January 31, 2004) The All-Star Circuit of Champions sprint car series will visit the St. Francois County Raceway (SFCR) during one of their first events of the season on Saturday, April 3rd.
The event is being co-promoted between the current promoters of the track (Larry Minkel of Farmington and Gary Montgomery of Fredericktown) and the new promoter Cory Franklin of Potosi.
Last year when the All-Stars visited SFCR the locals spanked the regulars of the circuit and sent them packing with their tails between their legs.
"The locals put it on them last year and kinda embarrassed them," Minkel said. "So this upcoming event is going to be a grudge match."
If Mother Nature cooperates, the timing of the show should allow for some of the largest numbers of participants in the history of the track for sprint cars.
"I think there will be a lot of cars there," Minkel said. "There will be cars from four or five different states I bet, including around 15 of the All-Stars."
The All-Stars are scheduled for a second night of racing at SFCR on Saturday, June 12th.
Minkel said he estimates the number of total sprint cars to participate in the event to exceed the 50-car count.
Also IMCA style Modifieds will also be on hand during the special event at the St. Francois County Raceway.
Advance tickets will be made available in the near future. For more information on the event contact Minkel at (573) 756-1734 or Franklin at (573) 438-4546. For more information on SFCR visit the track's website at: http://jeff.mills.tripod.com/sfcr.html
 
Unfortunately for the All-Stars, this time they get Tim with a fresh motor. Knowing Tim, he probably had 20 or 30 races on his motor when he nearly lapped the field last year. Should be a great show.
 
Mark, stop and think about it.... ALL of the local guys will have fresh stuff. Plus, with virtually nobody running sprints in this area right now Farmington (and Jacksonville) are already marked for greatness with sprints this season... This show should be UNREAL if we have any kind of decent weather at all..
 
Fred, what I'm talking about is the local guys don't have the kind of money it takes to constantly keep their equipment at the top of their game. By mid-season you do the best you can do with what you have. It doesn't work that way with the All-Stars. Money isn't anywhere near the object. Last year it was JULY 26th when they met.. One thing is for sure, this year they will come in with their eyes completely open and not expecting a cake walk.
 
Jeff, that's exactly what I was saying. I know that I've heard Tim getting atleast 30 races on his motors between rebuilds. Where the top All Star teams probably don't go more than 10 - 15 races. And like you said, those guys know that they can't come in here and expect a cake walk against our locals. But you know that they took notes and have more of an idea of what to expect from the track itself. I know that I'm not missing this one.
 
The All Star boys will have the advantage this time around. They will already have some races in and will be in a lot better shape than most of us. It will be hard to stay up in the seat for a 40 lapper. I still think we will be ok though.
 
I think that this show will be great this year. I wasn't there last year, but I'm sure that part of the reason the All-stars did so poorly was because of the odd shape that SFCR has. They're not used to that kind of track. It took some time to get used to that. This time they know how to race it a little better. Everyone is gonna have fresh equipment. Timmy, Joey, Worley, and Hull are gonna be very hard to beat, but the All-stars will bring it.
 
I've never heard anyone use the shape of the track as an excuse before... That's a new one.. I thought they all drove the same track... LOL...
 
I don't know how much of an advantage it was, the All-Star guys have to adapt to different tracks all the time. Every track has it's own personality. So I don't really think they would use that as an excuse. But before they moved the backstraight out and the track was more of a paperclip shape, I do remember hearing a few of the guys that raced at Benton weekly say that Farmington was pretty hard for them to adapt to because of turns 1&2 being different from 3&4 and that they were at a disadvantage to the drivers that raced it every week. As far as the All-Stars, I think it was more of an issue of what the racing groove did that surprised them. If you remember the All-Star dash, all of them were right around the bottom and I think that's what they were expecting for the feature. Then the locals went by them on the top.
 
I look at it like this....last year was last year, and 2004 is a completely new year. I look forward to seeeing the drivers of the All-Stars at our local track to compete with our locals. I expect two things...1) everyone will bring their A game and 2) expect high car counts...as I recall last year, there were 49 sprints in the pits, I expect even more this year, as some of the local tracks have folded or are not running sprints!! I simply cant wait!!!
 
The release says modifieds will also be part of the special event. Does that mean there will only be 2 classes on the 2 nights the All-stars are there?

If the same Allstar cars show up again, they should be much better this time. Many of them had never ran at SFCR before. They were very surprised that cars were able to run the top like Tim and several others did. Not to say a local won't win again because there are several local cars plenty capable. But I wouldn't look for the Allstars to embarrass themselves next time. Because it will be so early in the year, the locals won't have quite as much advantage this time. It should be a good show.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.




Back
Top