TRACKSIDE TIDBITS

TRACKSIDE TIDBITS

Jimmy Thiel had never won a Gold Cup race until a few weeks ago when he took home the Stan Yee Memorial race. He backed that up with a victory in the Gold Cup season finale race at Flat Rock.

"I'll tell you, when we (myself, Justin Schroeder, Andy Bozell) came up on Stan (Yee Jr, who was getting lapped) he started coming down right in front of me and there was nowhere to go, we were going so fast. Took out Justin, we were having a great run … he and I were battling … Andy Bozell were battling. I was biding time, just waiting for the right time to do my passing and it happened in my favor. The race we had there … Justin Schroeder is one of the greatest drivers in the world, he can drive a car man … Andy Bozell is a really good racer. That was one of the best races of the year right here," said the Lincoln Park, Mich., driver. "I want to thank my sponsor Dusty's Collision, Dusty, Dillon, my dad, my crew, Matty Bullock, he's out of town this week, I did it for you guys.

Frank Jiovani finished second after all kinds of trouble this season. He becomes the first Flat Rock weekly driver to win the Gold Cup since Dennis Strickland did it in 2011. After race #5, his hopes of a championship, which would've been his first in a late model, were slim. Points leader Harold Fair Jr. only had to take the green flag to win his fourth Gold Cup championship. Fate intervened on Jiovani side when Harold was involved in a bad wreck at the Kalamazoo Klash on Wednesday. Fair Jr. would not be able to get it fixed in time, but Frank still had to finish eighth or better (with no extra points for qualifying) to tie Harold who had a 170-points lead. Jiovani's Flat Rock car had been having electrical problems for several races and the team replaced all the electrical components, so hopefully the car would behave herself and he'd be able to finish at least eighth (which was a tie with Harold). The car behaved, and ran like a champ, no popping the whole race. Besides being the first Flat Rock regular to win the championship, he's the third first time winner in a row. This championship is the first for car owner Dick Barker.

"For the way we've ran this season, to finish second felt like a win. Congratulations to Jimmy (Thiel), he's run great this year. For what our team has gone through this year, the bad luck, the championship is just icing on the cake. I appreciate the sponsors, Moran Chevy, Diamond Pistons, DTS, Tim Hortons, Dani's as well as Royal Truck and Trailer and thanks to the fans who came out … great night for racing … we'll be back for the championship night (next week)," said the driver of the Moran Chevrolet, VanDoorn Racing Development, PAC Racing Springs, Painters Supply #45.

Andy Bozell finished third after leading the most laps (37 based on my records, there were times that both Andy and either Justin or Jimmy both had the lead according to RaceMonitor). "We had a really good car the first 50 laps of the race, it really rotated good and had good traction. It started to fade and every caution it just got worse and worse and worse. We worked pretty hard tonight and we have a blast at Flat Rock. It's a great race track, the competitors are great. We have a good time when we're here, the fans are awesome … we just love coming and supporting a super good short track. That's what we have to do to make this stuff survive. Anymore these cars are so close, you can see it in qualifying, you stack up 15 cars within a 10th of a second. When you get in a fight for the lead, it's bullring racing. You got to get out there, take your space and get it done and that's what everyone did out there tonight," said the driver of the Sweet Manufacturing, Bozell Motorsports, Hopkins Creek Whitetails, Hardings Markets, Lane Automotive, AllStar Performance #83.

Former series champion, Dennis Strickland finished fourth. "We were fortunate to have a good run at the Klash (Kalamazoo) and have a good finish (seventh place after winning the Last Chance Race). It was the first time we ever did that race. It was a bucket list type of thing, now I want to do it next year. We had a good time racing with these guys tonight, just didn't have the car to stay right up front and we gave it our shot," said the driver of the Central Transport, PB Fabrication #0.

From email: We have been struggling with this remodeled race car to get it to hook up at Flat Rock. When we got the pole Saturday night the crew worked on it more and got it a lot better. Racing against Phil (Bozell), Justin (Schroeder), Frankie (Jiovani) and Jimmy (Thiel) was a blast! So happy for Jimmy and his crew. Also ...We took the race car to Kalamazoo Wednesday just hoping to make the race and we won the Consi, transferred to the Klash and finished 7th. We always dreamed of being in the Klash. What a great week of racing! I sincerely want to thank P.B. Fabrication and Central Transport for the support and our crew for all their help. See you at the Glass City with a motor that Francis Engineering is refreshing up for us."

Stevie Cronenwett, "It was really tight out there. When the field is covered by a blanket like that it's so hard to pass. You have to be about two tenths of a second faster to pass someone here. You might want to put the bumper to someone. Dennis (Strickland) and I had a pretty good race there. I'm just happy to finally have a nice smooth run … we had no problems. We're still not where we want to be but great sponsors like Varsity Ford Ann Arbor, varsityford parts.com (if anyone is looking for Ford parts for their car they can save a lot of money when buying them online). First Centennial Title Agency of America, KBR (Kevin Butzin Recycling) Roush Competition Engines. Also need to Thank the crew. My Dad Steve Sr, Henry Giles, Brian Key, Adam and Brian Swale. And a huge thanks to all our wives, girlfriends, and children that allow us to do this."

Super 6 Gold Cup tidbits

  1. It is the third first time champion in a row, Jeff Ganus (2015), Steve Needles (2016), Frank Jiovani (2017) and fourth in the past five years (Dakota Carlson won his second Gold Cup championship in 2014, but in 2013 Scott Hantz won his first Gold Cup championship
  2. Jiovani is the 11th different champion in the 20 year history of the series.
  3. It's the first time since 2011 (Dennis Strickland) that a Flat Rock weekly driver won the Gold Cup championship
  4. It's the first time since 2013 that there was a change for the points lead on the last race. Oddly, in 2013, Dakota Carlson was the points leader going into the final race and he didn't run and Scott Hantz won his first championship. This year Harold Fair Jr was the points leader and only needed to take the green flag to win his fourth championship (he was in an accident at the Kalamazoo Klash and the car was too damaged.
  5. Jiovani didn't win a race this year in the Gold Cup, last time that happened was 2012 when Dakota Carlson didn't have a feature win during his championship year. It's the ninth time it's happened in 20 seasons.
  6. This season was the first time since 1999 that two different drivers won multiple races (Jimmy Thiel and Steve Needles; in 1999 it was Rick Knowles and Don St. Denis)
  7. This was the 20th season for the Gold Cup Series.
  8. Today's race was the first 75-lap Gold Cup race at Flat Rock; there were five 75-lappers at Toledo in 2009 and 2010.
  9. ¼ mile points: Justin Schroeder, 560; Phil Bozell, 545; Andy Bozell, 510; Frank Jiovani, 485; Dennis Strickland, 465; Jimmy Theil, 450; Stan Yee, 415; Jeff Plumb, 415; Joe Hawes, 410; Harold Fair Jr, 400
  10. ½ mile points: Harold Fair Jr, 600; Frank Jiovani, 550; Scott Pemberton, 525; Dennis Strickland, 490; Tommy Oleary, 460; Steve Needles, 425; Phil Bozell, 335; Kevin Stahl Jr, 335; Jimmy Ward Jr, 330; Scott MacKenzie, 310
  11. 48 drivers ran at least one race in the series this year; 39 drivers ran at Flat Rock and 29 drivers ran at Toledo.
  12. Despite not running the final race, Harold Fair Jr, still finished second in points (he was 170 points up going into the final race and Jiovani won by 25 points
  13. Jiovani was the 2012 Street Stock A division champion at Flat Rock and the Late Model Rookie of the year in 2013.

Billy Early won the Figure 8 feature for the second week in a row, "That's two in a row, I'll take it. Like I said last week our car count just makes it all … makes action all the time and makes it fun. I want to thank B&H Race Parts, Downriver Deisel, JLM Transport and Kevin Lapp Motors and the Lord … probably should've put Him first, shouldn't I."

Justin Schroeder, Late Model

Last night was some of the best racing of the year. Three-wide, bumping and banging. Had a blast 'til a lap car stopped in the middle of the track leaving us no place to go ending our night in the wall. Lots of work to do for next week but that's racing. Congrats to my buddy Jimmy Thiel on getting the win.

Hawes Racing, Late Model

Joe qualified in the 12th position last night. The field was super tight with only 6/100's of a second separating 5th thru 13th position. He drove a solid race but got caught up in an incident when the 66 of Jeff Plumb lost an engine, and he was rear ended by the P51 of Scott Pemberton. He managed to hold on for a 10th place finish. Steve had a mechanical issue with a broken throttle pedal. Crazy as that sounds, it actually happened. He started the feature but had to park the car after one lap for safety reasons.

Jesse Carrillo, Factory Stock

As the season came down to Aug 5th to finish good. I started fifth made it to second on the outside. And battled Cory when my power steering went out fluid all over my windshield. I fought hard to hold my car down for 45 laps. And ended up seventh not the finish I needed. But it was a difficult year but thankful for my sponsors Northwest Trailers, Fleet Enterprises, Platinum Adjusters. And my girlfriend and all our kids. They really kept my spirits up when i was down. And my buddy Ryan for all his help. Last race of the season will be a great one. Good luck to the champion can't wait to see who it is.

Paul Martell, Factory Stock

While preparing for the FS 50 lap feature, we changed engines hoping for a good run. I got off to a great start after starting ninth, working my way up to fourth. After several laps battling Jesse Carrillo, I finally got up to third. While working traffic, Craig Osenbaugh got around me and set sail for the lead. I managed to get by James Good for third with a handful of laps left, and crossed the checkered right behind Craig and Cory. While we're down, we're not out of the championship hunt. We'll bring everything we've got on the 25th, and leave it all on the track. I'm just happy to have a shot at it, and I know I'm up against excellent equipment. It's been a great Factory Stock season with three different winners in three events. It'll be fun to see how it shakes out.

Miss any races this season or want to watch them all again, visit Mike Miller's YouTube page at www.youtube.com/user/10yearnascarfan/videos 

 

It's near the end of the season for both tracks … let's see who reads to the end of my article. I'm looking for how your season was, champions, send me whatever you want printed. Email me at icechips@hotmail.com or find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/icechips, send me a message.

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