  |
|
|
|
2009 Race Recaps
September 5th, August 22nd,
August 15th, August 1st,
July 25th, King is crowned in the season finale A full moon was on the horizon for the final race of the 2009 LAMOT season. The starting grid was set according to points putting #99 T.J. Johnson and #0 Eldon King, III on the front row. Two points separated 1st and 2nd place going into the 30 lap feature with double points on the line. Double points awarded made it possible for 3rd place #2 Dave Whittaker and 4th place #31 Joe Carbone to also have a chance at the title. King worked around Johnson in the early going on the backstretch for the lead, while #24 Al Fisher was on the move taking over the 6th position from #07 Nick Crassi before getting by #65 Mike Ticco for the 5th spot (2:45). Crassi reeled in Ticco to regain the 6th spot exiting turn 2 (3:28). Laps trickled down as King went unchallenged with Johnson in tow until a spin in between turns 3&4 by #75 Scott Jarrell brought out the first yellow of the night (6:10) just past the halfway point of the race. The table turned after the caution flag, this time with Johnson in the favored 2nd place outside pole position. King set to maintain his lead looked to occupy as much track as possible before the start going wheel to wheel with Johnson under yellow as they awaited the green flag coming out of turn 2. The two contenders made slight contact heading into turn 3 (6:28) while a chain reaction spin with some contact involving five cars behind them ensued. Crassi and Jarrell had visible damage but would continue the race going on to each earn top 5 finishes. The next two restarts were called back for failing to start and for going too early. The third restart saw Johnson try to duck under King exiting turn 4 making contact with King's left rear (7:18) and leaving Fisher no where to go except the into the wall hard. Fisher's car would sustain severe damage ending what was a solid run into the top 3. Johnson was ordered pitside for the contact ending his championship bid. Whittaker and Crassi shared the front row on the restart until a final spin and caution would line King back up on the outside pole position. Whittaker tried to hold on underneath but King eventually took over the top spot for the win and the championship. Whittaker settled for 3rd as Ticco got underneath with 2 laps to go for 2nd place (9:07). Full Results Notes: #2 Dave Whittaker cemented the rookie of the year award........#30 Jason Gwin made his 13th LAMOT consecutive start "The championship is a first for King, and he joins his father, 1993 Late Model titlist Eldon King, Jr., on the roster of Holland title-holders." by Rick Mooney / Holland Speedway Press Release.
Source:
Andy Ticco
/ Race video by
Stephen
Kantor
and in-car camera video courtesy of Trankracing *TV quality race recordings made by the track, with multiple camera angles of the entire night's events can be purchased from Holland Speedway*
T.J. Johnson finds victory lane and the point lead Coincidentally the number 2 was the theme of the night to close out racing in the month of August for LAMOT. 2 races to go heading into the evening, 2 points separate the top 2 in the points standings before and after the night, #99 T.J. Johnson would win for the 2nd time this season and it was also the 2nd time Holland Speedway was fortunate to get racing in with rain in the surrounding areas. A pair of Chevrolet Impalas shared the front row with #75 Scott Wylie in the Jarrell Racing machine and #07 Nick Crassi along side. 30 laps were on tap for the evening's feature. One lap into the race a bump from #31 Joe Carbone to Crassi in turn 3 set off a chain reaction, with Crassi coming around and #24 Al Fisher scrambling along with #65 Mike Ticco and #30 Jason Gwin. Ticco would take the worst of it with right front damage ending his night. That would be the night's only caution. 29 green flag laps saw Johnson first work the high line past Wylie then ride unchallenged until #2 Dave Whittaker (winner of the last two features) would catch up to him. Meanwhile point leader #0 Eldon King worked past Wylie into the third spot with Wylie pressuring to take the spot back and Carbone slipped under Fisher for the fifth spot. At the midway point of the race Whittaker got underneath Johnson and the two would run side by side with Whittaker leading a few laps during the course. Eventually Johnson on the high line would regain the lead and not look back. With 2 to go Fisher would spin exiting turn two but resume racing to prevent the caution flag from waving. With one race left Johnson holds a 2 point leader over King. Full Results Notes: 4 spots changed hands in the standings after the race. The #99 of T.J. Johnson was racing on goodyear tires from the 2008 season, proving once again their durability.
Source:
Andy Ticco
/ Race video by
Valerie Trank *TV quality race recordings made by the track, with multiple camera angles of the entire night's events can be purchased from Holland Speedway*
Dave Whittaker and Team Unforgiven go back to back with the win With several spots in the standings still up for grabs and the season winding down things got a little dicey despite the race going caution free. #24 Al Fisher fresh off his return to action August 1st nearly nabbed his first win of the season after starting in the front row along side #07 Nick Crassi for the 25 lap feature. Fisher led the first 2 laps before #99 T.J. Johnson would bring his car low exiting turn 4 and get the nose underneath as they approached the start/finish line, contact was made between the two cars sending Johnson zigzagging towards the infield. Johnson eventually straightened it out entering turn 1 while Fisher, unscathed from the contact, continued to lead the race. Last week's winner #2 Dave Whittaker set his sights on Fisher after going from 4th to 2nd as he got around both #0 Eldon King and #31 Joe Carbone. King tried getting by Carbone entering turn 1 causing Carbone to get loose and King to spinout, the race would continue under green. King would wind up 7th at the end. Just before the midway point Whittaker then took advantage of a Fisher bobble exiting turn 2 to take the lead in the middle of turns 3&4 and would not look back. Meanwhile Johnson recovered to finish 3rd after challenging Fisher for 2nd at the end. Scott Wylie made a rare full scale racecar appearance in #75 Scott Jarrell's ride from the back of the field to pass Carbone at the end for the 4th spot. Full Results Notes: With only 2 races to go 1st place is separated by 2 points, 3rd place by 4 points, and 5th place by 2 points. "Late Model racer Nick Crassi did a remarkable job to place sixth in his race after his week - though his Gowanda home and business were relatively unscathed by last Sunday’s flooding, Nick serves as the Village’s disaster coordinator, so he spent most of the week with very little sleep working with authorities and relief agencies to assist the many people victimized by the flood waters" by Rick Mooney / Holland Speedway Press Release.
Source:
Andy Ticco
/ Race video by
Mike Kantor *TV quality race recordings made by the track, with multiple camera angles of the entire night's events can be purchased from Holland Speedway*
#2 Dave Whittaker earns his first ever Late Model victory On the first race night of the year that resembled summer LAMOT helped ring in Holland Speedway's 50th anniversary with their 25 lap feature. When the green flew the field bottled up on the start exiting turn 2 but once they hit the front stretch it was 2nd place starter #07 Nick Crassi in the clear lead. Crassi would lead the first five laps easily until #2 Dave Whittaker and #99 T.J. Johnson chased him down. Whittaker ducked under Crassi exiting turn 2 and assumed the lead with Johnson right behind. A caution on lap 9 for a spin by #24 Al Fisher on the backstretch tightened up the field once again. Whittaker took the high line with Johnson underneath when the field went green again. Johnson would challenge for the lead with #31 Joe Carbone settling into 3rd but Whittaker hung on as another yellow came out. On lap 14 point leader #0 Eldon King put #65 Mike Ticco into the wall between turns 1&2 while trying to take over the 4th spot. #07 Nick Crassi and #77 Jason Kline would also get collected in the wreck. All cars would resume racing except for Kline. On the final restart Johnson would try again to take the lead but Whittaker held on for his first career Late Model victory. Al Fisher finished 4th behind Carbone and King would round out the top 5. Full Results Notes: #2 Dave Whittaker has led the most laps in the division so far after race #7. Whittaker's win makes him the first LAMOT driver to win without previous Late Model experience. LAMOT welcomed back to the division #24 Al Fisher. Fisher, a two time winner last season, was sidelined most of this year from back surgery.
Source:
Andy Ticco
/ Race video by
Stephen
Kantor
and in-car camera video courtesy of Trankracing *TV quality race recordings made by the track, with multiple camera angles of the entire night's events can be purchased from Holland Speedway*
Eldon King, III Picks up Win #4 On a night that looked destined for another rain-out in Holland mother nature blessed the track and LAMOT by soaking just the surrounding areas. In the 25 lap feature #77 Jason Kline and #65 Mike Ticco brought the field to green. Ticco would jump out to a solid lead as last week's runner-up #2 Dave Whittaker realed him in and eventually challenged for the lead down low while the field bunched up behind until a caution came out on lap 11. Kline was forced to retire after suffering a cut tire from racing contact. On the restart #30 Jason Gwin hit the turn 3 wall hard and was forced to go off on the tow-truck suffering right side damage. The second restart put Whittaker to Ticco's inside as Ticco chose the high line. Two laps later while fighting for position Whittaker moved up into #99 T.J. Johnson's door in the middle of turns 3&4 before coming down and making contact with #31 Joe Carbone bringing out the third and final caution of the night on lap 14. Point leader #0 Eldon King, III launched into turn 3 the leader after the restart next to Ticco and would not look back winning his fourth race of the year. Full Results Notes: 3 yellows marks the highest caution count for one race in LAMOT's young existence.
Source:
Andy Ticco
/ Race video by
Stephen
Kantor *TV quality race recordings made by the track, with multiple camera angles of the entire night's events can be purchased from Holland Speedway*
Eldon King takes the checkers On a cool night in July the LAMOT division battled one another for 20 laps. #77 Jason Kline and fellow rookie #2 Dave Whittaker brought the field to green with Whittaker taking advantage of the fast high line at Holland Speedway taking the early lead. Whittaker would check out to a sizable lead while Kline settled into second place and the rest of the field wrestled over the remaining spots. #0 Eldon King and last week's winner #31 Joe Carbone soon worked their way into the top 3 behind Whittaker as the laps ticked down. A spin on lap 13 brought out the only yellow of the night bunching up the field and putting point leader #0 Eldon King, III to Whittaker's outside on the restart. King capitalized on his restart position and led the rest of the way for his third victory of the year. #99 T.J. Johnson advanced two spots after the restart to make it into the top 3. Full Results Notes: LAMOT has had only 5 cautions in 5 races this year so far. The feature was a double points event.
Source:
Andy Ticco
/ Race video by
Stephen
Kantor *TV quality race recordings made by the track, with multiple camera angles of the entire night's events can be purchased from Holland Speedway* Joe Carbone declared the winner in another wild ending LAMOT feature After a rain soaked previous week LAMOT got back into action to close out the month of June with a 25-lap feature. #77 Jason Kline and #07 Nick Crassi shared the front row when green flag flew and Crassi led the first two laps as #0 Eldon King, III ducked underneath heading into turn 3 to take over the lead with #31 Joe Carbone in tow. The rest of the field jockeyed for position as the laps ticked down. Rookie Dave Whittaker was back in action after a severe crash in feature #1 of double feature night two weeks ago. He would eventually get around fellow LAMOT rookie Kline to finish in the third position. #99 T.J. Johnson was on the move the entire race coming from the 7th spot right up to King's bumper at the end. The two winners from June 13th's events would trade contact on the final lap. Carbone arrived late to the track due to family obligations, missing warm-ups, but it made little difference this evening as he ran a strong race and was declared the winner after King and Johnson were both penalized for the last lap. Full Results Notes: This was Joe Carbone's first Late Model victory at Holland Speedway. #65 Mike Ticco headed to the infield with 7 laps to go due to mechanical failure. Nick Crassi had his highest career LAMOT feature finish with a solid 2nd place. Field and In-car footage. If you start the field video (left) 16 seconds after the in-car video (right) the two will be in-synch. Running the videos simultaneously may slow your computer.
Source:
Andy Ticco
/ Race video by
Stephen
Kantor and in-car camera video courtesy of Trankracing *TV quality race recordings made by the track, with multiple camera angles of the entire night's events can be purchased from Holland Speedway* King and Johnson split Twin 20's The first of two features on the night for the LAMOT division got off to a rough start. On lap 2 behind leaders #65 Mike Ticco and #77 Jason Kline, #2 Dave Whittaker got loose off of turn 2 and made hard contact with the concrete wall as #07 Nick Crassi and week 1 winner Eldon King, III would also get collected. Whittaker's car received considerable damage and would not be able to finish the race or compete in the second feature of the night, while Crassi and King would be able to continue. When the racing resumed Kline and Ticco would do battle once again for the lead with Ticco eventually taking it, but that was short lived as #99 T.J. Johnson was in hot pursuit. On lap 7 the two would make contact sending Ticco spinning and the yellow came out once again. When racing resumed #31 Joe Carbone, in his first action of the year, was on the pole with King alongside. King would eventually take over the lead and but had a mirror full of Carbone the rest of the race. King held the high line for his second victory of the year as Johnson moved up to third by the end and Kline managed his first of two top 5's of the night with the fourth spot. #75 Scott Jarrell made it back after taking a wild ride in the heat race of the season opener on May 23rd to finish sixth after starting last. Full Results Race #1 (laps 8-20)
The second 20 lap feature of the night went green to checkers. #99 T.J. Johnson got under #65 Mike Ticco entering turn 2 to take lead on lap 3. Johnson would hold on the rest of the way but Ticco remained close throughout. The best action of the night came with Joe Carbone and Eldon King, III doing battle nearly the entire race. The two veterans ran side by side for several laps with King working the high side as he did in the night's first feature. #77 Jason Kline would eventually slip past #07 Nick Crassi to sneak into the top 5. Full Results Notes: Eldon King, III grabbed his 8th career Late Model victory at Holland. After the double features #65 Mike Ticco now has 7 races on his Goodyear tires (4 races in 2008 + 3 races in 2009). Race #2
Source:
Andy Ticco
/ Video by
Stephen
Kantor *TV quality race recordings made by the track, with multiple camera angles of the entire night's events can be purchased from Holland Speedway* Wild and wacky photo finish to kick off the 2009 season One race into the season and there's already plenty of action to talk about in LAMOT. The night began with a 10 lap heat race to determine the starting positions for the 25 lap feature. Heat positions were selected by random draw. #75 Scott Jarrell and #65 Mike Ticco started in the front row. Ticco would jump out to an early lead before the yellow flag flew for a spin. Contact between Jarrell and #07 Nick Crassi on the front stretch sent Jarrell sliding into the inside track sideways up and over the figure 8 retaining way. Jarrell would walk away from the incident but his car was too damaged to start the feature. On the restart rookie LAMOT driver #2 Dave Whittaker to the lead on the outside and never looked back, while Ticco had pressure from the 2008 LAMOT champion #99 T.J. Johnson throughout the remaining laps. The top five finishers in the heat were Whittaker, Ticco, Johnson, #0 Eldon King, III, and LAMOT rookie #77 Jason Kline. Heat Race
The 25 lap LAMOT feature saw field line up as they finished in the heat race earlier in the night. Outside pole-sitter #2 Dave Whittaker would jump out to an early lead as he did in the heat race. On lap 3 the caution would come out as King and Ticco made contact exiting turn 4, both cars would restart behind Crassi and Kline. Laps 4-22 went green with Whittaker fighting off challenges from Johnson and then opening up a gap between himself and the field. Meanwhile, Crassi, Ticco, and King traded paint and positions. With 2 laps to go #30 Jason Gwin spun in turn 3 with Kline spinning right behind him as well bringing out the 2nd caution of the night. The restart bunched the field up one more time and this time saw Johnson take the lead on the outside on lap 24, with the white flag waving. On the final lap with the field heading down the backstretch Whittaker went low on Johnson in turn 3 and the two bumped twice coming out of turn 4 as the checkered flag waved sending Johnson across the line backwards and Whittaker across the line sideways before making contact with the frontstretch wall. Johnson was initially declared the winner and went through victory lane celebrations but later in the evening upon a close video review #0 Eldon King, III was declared the winner as it was concluded he crossed the finish line inches ahead of Johnson. This was Eldon King's 7th career Late Model victory at Holland. T.J. Johnson was strong as the #99 is still using the Goodyear tires from last year, the race Saturday night marks the 6th race on one set of tires. Full Results
Source:
Andy Ticco
/ Video by
Stephen
Kantor *TV quality race recordings made by the track, with multiple camera angles of the entire night's events can be purchased from Holland Speedway* To the top |
