Wade Day Scores Big At Home Track

Topics:  Wade Day

ISCARS PR
September 30, 2005

Daytona Beach, FL - International Sport Compact Auto Racing Series (ISCARS) rolled into Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, Virginia Saturday, September 17th for race number two of the 2005 season.

Wade Day and the Highland Motorsports prepared Toyota Celica has been one of the cars to beat and was an obvious favorite at LPR.

Day, the 2002 Track Champion at LPR also won the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Atlantic Division that year. “We have logged a lot of laps at LPR,” says Day. “Winning here in front of our local fans is big for us.”

A strong field of cars and top notch drivers showed their talent by putting on an incident free race, with cautions only for spins, fluid or debris on the track. With potential sponsors attending the event, it was a perfect scenario to showcase the professional image the series has to offer.

Wade Day was the fastest qualifier with an average speed of 80.190 on the high banked three-eighths mile oval. ISCARS impounds the cars immediately after qualifying, limiting the adjustments that can be made. Day’s team requested a carburetor change, which was monitored by the ISCARS Officials. The change resulted in Day being relegated to the tail end of the field for the start of the race.

Brandon Ward took the lead on the first lap and continued to hold the top spot through lap 19 when Johnny Chapman was able to motor past him exiting turn two. Danny Bagwell passed Ward for second place two laps later.

Meanwhile, Day was charging from the rear, passing cars on most every lap. By lap 34 he had worked his way up to race Justin Hobgood for fourth place. Day and Hobgood swapped positions for several laps before Day finally secured the position. On lap 24, Chapman’s fuel pump stopped working and he took the car straight to the pits. Chapman, driving for series veteran Mickey York, also experienced mechanical woes while running strong at Shenandoah. “Mickey keeps giving me a good car,” Chapman said. “If we can just get past these little issues that bite us, we will have a car to beat.”

With Chapman falling out of the race, the lead was handed to Danny Bagwell. From the start of the event, Bagwell’s car was obviously strong. Fans could see him working his brakes hard entering each corner, as it appeared he was able to drive in much deeper but had to back off early to keep from running into the car in front of him. After the race, Bagwell pointed out that he had placed, what he called, a monkey sticker on his front bumper. “I was determined to do my part to run a clean race. So, I put it there to show everyone after the event that my bumper was never used to gain a spot,” commented Bagwell.

Bagwell held the lead through lap 54 when Day finally found the “Daylight” needed to move underneath Bagwell and take over the top spot. The first caution was displayed on lap 57 for debris on the backstretch. The next caution was on lap 86 when Scott Krehlings power steering dropped fluid around the track. ISCARS red flagged the event while track crews cleaned racing groove.

ISCARS displayed a competition caution for the mid-race break to allow the teams ten minutes to make adjustments. Eric Wilson’s crew made significant adjustments which gave him the competitive edge he needed to work his way into the top five.

With only one other caution on lap 141, for a spin involving rookie driver Mark Howard, the race was Day’s to lose. The restart came on lap 143 and Bagwell immediately went after Day. The top seven cars ran nose to tail for two laps. Then it was Day and Bagwell pulling away to contest the win. Day held him off for his first series’ win.

Joey Miller, Justin Hobgood, Eric Wilson, Scott Weaver, Jake Hobgood, Mike Watts, Ned Combs, and Mark Howard rounded out the top ten.

Other notes: Wade Day, whose car displays number 96, ironically led 96 out of 150 laps. There were five cautions for a total of 21 laps.

There were 4 lead changes among 4 leaders. Ward led 1-18; Chapman 19-41; Bagwell 42-54; and Day 55-150.

Next Race: Music City Motorplex Saturday, October 8, 2005. Music City Motorplex is located at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville.