Sid Fugate Wins Amateur Nascar

13 racers took to the track for the Friday night Nascar races. Dan Parris joined the field for some racing tonight, as he always brings a good attitude, and a couple stories to tell.
The amateur race had 7 entries tonight, and everybody brought their “A” game. The racers in this class as a group have grown together, and really put on some fine racing. The race had 6 lead changes, and after 3 segments, 6 racers were within 1 lap of each other. Chris Alden jumped ahead by a few laps after segment 5, but again another flukey thing took him out of contention. Hang in there Chris, as anybody who has raced for awhile will go through these odd stretches! Sid Fugate who was only a couple laps back of Chris, took the lead and went onto win. Excellent driving is what got him the win, Gene Caldwell who was steady all night finished second, and Jim “Crazy J” Nelson was third. It was erroneously reported a few weeks ago that Sid had picked up his first podium, and this finish indeed is his 4th podium to date. Might be his first win (I think) HA!

7 experts were on hand, including Jim Nelson once again doing double duty. A special Booyah! goes to Mark Nelson, who was tonight’s top qualifier at a 4.55. Mark is a recent graduate of the amateur class, and spent the better part of the Summer, and early Fall, frankly getting his butt kicked. However, working on your car each week, and asking some questions has propelled him to one of the guys you have to deal with if you are thinking about winning the race. Mark is one of my favorite guys at the track, and he and his wife Cora are at the track every week.
Onto the race itself, Bill Clemans jumped out to the lead, followed by Lee Gilbert, and “The King” Dale Olive. Bill decided to set a fast pace tonight, and halfway through, was on target to finish with 302 laps. Aaron Roed spent the entire race chipping away at the lead, and pulled to within 7 sections going into the final segment. Aaron was finishing on Blue lane, while Bill was on Purple. Aww the little things that go into winning one of these races, as I edged Bill in qualifying, allowing myself to start on Purple, and end on Blue, something that Mr. Clemans likes to do as well. Bill is one of a couple guys at the track who I try and imitate their driving styles, and largely due to having a better lane to finish up on, I was able to take the win. Bill was second, and PSCR’s new superstar, Mark Nelson was third.

Saturday Nov. 21st is LMP, Group 10, GT 12, and 1/24 ES.