07/15/2010
Red Sox Racing league members returned to the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama on July 15th for the "Damn it's even Hotter in Alabama Grand Prix". Situated in the rolling hills of northern Alabama, the 2.38 mile track features seventeen corners that challenge even the most seasoned drivers with hairpins, blind corners and over 80 feet of elevation changes. Danger lurks around every corner.
Current point leader Les Turner tamed the track the last time it appeared on the RSR schedule, and duplicated that effort once again this season by earning the pole and leading all 40 laps en route to his fifth victory of the season. Turner left the event with a commanding 127 point lead in the championship race.
The qualifying session was dominated by Turner's blistering lap time of 1:19.873. His effort was almost a full second faster than Barry Blocker's second place qualifying time of 1:20.826. Jim Albertson, Michael Baley, and Darren Kersey were the only other drivers to post laps under the 1:21 mark. Scott Husted, Ed Sutcliff, Chad Tracy, Kevin Kyle, and Jeff Thomas started in positions 6 - 10. Jeff Sharp, Bill Hadden, Andrew Feldman, David Holzwarth, Divina Galica, William Kabela, Eric Porterfield, Dennis Heany, Tony Cook, Robinson Shields, and Wilbur Gildersleeve Jr. completed the starting grid.
Electrical problems forced Gildersleeve to miss the start of the race. "The ignition box in our car was damaged by a lightning strike earlier in the week. The crew worked hard to get everything replaced before race time, but they just ran out of time. We'll be back on the track next week down under."
The action was fast and furious during the initial laps of the race. Several drivers found themselves sliding off the track during two-wide battles for position, while others made mental mistakes which caused them to lose momentum after missing crucial braking points.
Turner was able to avoid the dangerous track conditions by quickly putting a safe distance between himself and the rest of the field. "I knew we had the car to beat tonight if I could just stay focused and keep it on the black stuff", said Turner after the race. "I dedicate this race win to my long time spotter, Koffee, who has not been doing well lately. Les didn’t show up at the podium for the post race celebrations after tonight’s race win. Teamdraft officials issued a statement that he had already left the track to go check on his best friend.
Second place finisher Blocker made two late race passes on Albertson and Sutcliff to earn his way onto the podium. "Jim and I battled hard for about 25 laps tonight. He looked like he was going to be impossible to pass, so I am very happy with the way things turned out."
Sutcliff finished the race in 3rd place. "Congrats to Les on the win. I had hoped to give him more competition, but he is just too strong at this track. Barry and Jim both drove great races too, I was lucky to sneak into the top three."
Husted made two late race passes to finish just off the podium. "The Hustedia.com Google Android Mazda was very consistent from start to finish. We were happy to qualify 6th and get off to a clean start. My lap times were very consistent and I was still running 1.21s late in the race. Michael Baley and I were racing each other hard for about 30 of the 40 laps. I was following him within 3 seconds for a vast majority of the race while he was 5th and I was in 6th.
Baley finally had a slip up and I was able to get by him for 5th, only to give it right back a few laps later when I double shifted getting into a corner and looped it. I didn't hit anything and stayed on track so I only lost 3 or 4 seconds to Michael. I was able to close back up to within 3 seconds and then with only 2 laps to go he spun, and I was able to take home a solid 4th place finish at the end of the day."
Albertson slipped to 5th place after a bobble on lap 38 forced him to surrender several positions. Jim found himself in the grass inside the pit lane wall, and had to reverse back out while tearing up some turf. "Once again the drivers in this league gave me reason to smile tonight. Les ran a great race. Barry and Ed raced me very cleanly as we battled for the 2nd spot late in the race."
Baley crossed the line in 6th place, but very nearly caught Albertson on the last lap. Kersey crossed the line in 7th place. Holzwarth finished in 8th, Hadden (9th), Thomas (10th), Feldman (11th), and Sharp (12th), while they gave the fans some of the most exciting battles of the event as they raced each other hard to stay on the lead lap.
9th place finisher Hadden had this to say about their battle: "This week we were happy to announce our new sponsorship deal with Umphrey’s McGee and USTORM.org – so special thanks to them. We took the UMazda to Barber with reasonable expectations and a mentality to bring it home in one piece. Leaving with a top 10 finish was just what we were looking for. After a full run of great racing with Thomas, Feldman, and Sharp, our times dropped off but we were still looking to maintain the top 10 result. Somehow Thomas showed up in my mirror on the last lap, and I was really fortunate to hold him off. I doubt we could have held him off for another lap. Congrats to Les on another great win, and we’re looking forward to taking the UMazda down under next week."
Kabela (13th) and Porterfield (14th) both finished the event two laps down to the field. Tracy (15th) retired early, as did Kyle (16th), Shields (17th), Galica (18th), Heaney (19th), and Cook (20th). Shields had climbed from his 20th starting position to 10th place, before having to retire from the race.
In other news, RSR league officials have remained quiet about two ongoing mysteries surrounding their drivers. In the first, an electronic jamming device found during the July 1st race in Wisconsin was initially believed to have been part of a sinister plot to sabotage the race. Representatives from every team in the paddock denied knowledge of the source or purpose for the device, and so far DNA testing on evidence found near the device has failed to identify a suspect, but something definitely smells fishy.
The second issue making news is the continued absence of RSR founder, John Henry this season. The last race Henry participated in was held at Watkins Glen on April 15th of this year. Unconfirmed rumors are still being investigated, but the most promising lead involves a reported sighting of Henry and his new bride taking Italian cooking classes as they sail through the Western Mediterranean.
RSR drivers face a daunting commute as they prepare for next week's race, the "Vegemite Sandwich Grand Prix" at Phillip Island Circuit in southern Australia.
Story courtesy of
Ed Sutcliff
Les Turner
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