The racing action was being broadcast live on TV, so anyone who couldn't make it to the race track was able to watch it from the comfort of their homes, and they were treated to a great show. The sun was beaming down as the drivers arrived to the speedway, and warm temperatures caused the track to quickly dry up throughout the night, but the track officials at Attica weren't about to wet it down again before the A Main, because they assured our series that the track raced better under dry conditions and made strategy come into play more.
Setting the Sunoco quick time was last weeks winner, West Point, Mississippi's VLR_JW as he rocketed around the short track with a time of 11.56 to take the spot over VLR_18 and VLR_Shock. VLR_McGee qualified fourth, with VLR_BG starting 5th. Unfortunately for JW, his pole would only work for bragging rights, as a new rule this season states that the points leader each week has to start sixth for the feature if they make the A Main through the heat races...and by virtue of winning the season opener, this would put JW on the outside of row three for the feature.
After the heats and b mains were ran, it was time to line up the A Main. The track had slickened up as it dried out throughout the night, and some of the drivers were nervously wondering which tire compound to use in order to last the sixty laps and take home the top prize. The starting line up featured the best in the business going for the win with VLR_McGee starting on the pole, and teammate VLR_18 lining up second on the grid. BLS_F1yer lined up third by virtue of winning heat 3, followed by VLR_BG and VLR_Shock. VLR_JW started sixth after the new Points Leader Hotshoe rule came into effect for the first time, and he was followed by WFO_Blaze, VLR_Faschek, IFRT_S77, and joshow20.
Track official Mike Wilson waved the green flag as McGee and 18 lead the field down into turn 1 as 6,486 fans were on their feet cheering on their favorite drivers. McGee would get the jump but VLR_18 was staying right with him on the high side, as BLS_F1 and Shock making it a four way battle for the lead. By lap 3, 18 had cleared McGee on the high side to take the lead -- and it looked like track officials were right as there were battles all over the track. On lap six BLS_F1, VLR_Shock, and VLR_JW went three wide for third and coming out of turn two JW's car slid up into Shock who drifted in front of F1 on the high line causing F1 to lose control and fall back.
Up in the front it was 18 who was quickly putting distance between himself and the rest of the field, but it appeared he had soft tires and the question was how long would they last? The battle was quickly raging for second however, as VLR_JW was running down Friday nights VLR Crates winner VLR_53. However on lap 5 VLR_Shock drove it in to deep and got into JW sending them both sliding to the infield. They would regain control but lose a lot of time on McGee. The field began to spread out as everyone was trying to take it easy and battle it out at the end. WFO_BLAZE was one driver who looked good after moving up from seventh to fifth early on.
Halfway through the race on lap 30 VLR_18 had a monstrous lead and it appeared that even if his tires did wear out he could coast home and still win fairly easily. Meanwhile, the battle was raging for second as VLR_Shock quickly reeled in McGee after his early contact with JW, who was also closing in to make this a three car battle and the most exciting race on the track. Shock ran McGee down really quickly, but it would be much harder to pass him with McGee holding up on the top line. Based on the quickness that the #0 Toyota Camry ran down McGee it looked like McGee may have chosen the safe route and went with a harder tire compound than everyone else. For the time being it appeared to be working since all Shock could do was pull even with McGee, but seemed unable to make the pass...time was running out, though, and the soft tires on Shock's late model wouldn't last much longer battling like this.
VLR_JW quickly closed back in on this battle which raged on for fifteen laps with the fans on their feet, and it probably had the fans at home watching on their feet, too. By lap fifty, VLR_Shock's tires were almost down to the threads after the battling with McGee, and JW was able to move by for third. However, McGee's tires didn't drop off at all and even though the other two drivers ran him down they quickly began losing time on McGee again. VLR_18's tires began to wear, but he saved them well enough to win by nearly five seconds and it appeared that soft tires may have been the right call. The finishing order looked like this: 1. VLR_18 2. VLR_53 3. VLR_JW 4. VLR_Shock 5. WFO_BLAZE 6. BLS_F1yer 7. VLR_BG 8. joshow20 9. IFRT*S77 10. VLR_Faschek (DNF). We caught up with a couple of drivers after the race to get their thoughts:
VLR_18: "Man this 18 car was hooked up all race, I went with the soft tires and couldn't be happier. We were able to get the jump there early on and that was what it took to get to victory lane. Now that I took over the points lead I'll have to start sixth next week at Knoxville but I can't complain about winning. That should be fun, though, since it's a racy track with lots of passing. I'd like to thank my sponsors VLR, NOS Energy, and my crew for giving me another great car this week."
VLR_McGee: "We had a fast car but 18 was wicked fast. I'm not sure we even gained on him there in the last 20 laps after his tires wore out. But, I think we made the right choice and with the medium tires we were able to hold off the 0 and 70 at the end there when their tires fell off. I liked the strategy that came into play. We'll get 'em next week at Knoxville."
VLR_Shock: "I really thought we were going to get second because I ran down McGee from almost a straightaway but I could tell that I spent my tires out once we started battling, and it was all I could do to hold it together there at the end. I'm happy with the race, but you never want to go from thinking you're almost guaranteed a top 2 finish to trying to hang onto fourth at the end."
BLS_F1yer: "Fu*king Shock...!"
IFRT*S77: "My damn tires were wore out by lap ten. I felt like I was at a skating rink or something."
Qualifying Results: 1. VLR_JW 2. VLR_18 3. VLR_Shock 4. VLR_53 5. VLR_BG 6. IFRT_Starnes 7. WFO_BLAZE 8. VLR_4 9. BLS_F!yer 10. joshow20 11. SR31 12. Pro34 13. VLR_KP 14. IFRT_21 15. Squirrel 16. Hammer