TOP SUB-PLOT OF 2009 |
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Matt Panure
Mid American Stock Car Series
December 3, 2009
FORT ATKINSON, Wis. (December 3, 2009) – There are moments that define a driver’s season. There are moments that define how a season ends. Then, there are moments that define the true spirit of competition and camaraderie. The top sub-plot of the 2009 Mid-American Stock Car Series season is one of those moments.
1. Drivers endure heat, attrition in wild Return to Rapids
After a rainout on April 25, the Mid-American Stock Car series returned to Hawkeye Downs Speedway in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to race at the half-mile for the first time in five seasons. Very few of them expected just how extraordinary the conditions would be that day.
Drivers making the trek from east may have felt they were going to watch another rain-shower-filled day at Hawkeye as persistent showers pushed out of the area in the early morning. As drivers began to enter the facility, their hopes of racing that day were on the rise. So were the temperatures.
The early portions of the event were completed quickly. Brian Back grabbed fast time for the second time in ’09, and heat races were won by Bret Widdis, Justin Neisius and Dave McCalla. The afternoon sky was perfectly clear and drivers were confident that the feature would be run that afternoon.
The feature field rolled out with a 93 degree temperature and a heat index near 110 degrees. Forty laps went on the scoreboard and the green flag dropped.
Then a yellow flag dropped, then another – and another. The first yellow flag found fast qualifier Brian Back as a victim as he suffered a flat right rear on the restart and ended his day. Another caution flew when Louie Goss slammed hard into the outside retaining wall in turn three. “I made it snow in 90 degree weather,” he said in reference to sending portions of soft wall flying into the air.
After a lengthy cleanup drivers began to feel the effects of the heat. Several drivers dropped out of the feature due to heat exhaustion, others continued to brave the elements.
Another wild altercation with 13 laps remaining forced MASCS officials to make a decision. Officials decided to stop the field and bring coolers out to the track with water for the competitors. The final 13 laps went caution-free and Bill Prietzel emerged victorious.
Prietzel exited his machine very slowly, showing complete exhaustion. A slumping Prietzel accepted his trophy in victory lane and made his return to the pit area, where he took a long break before loading up his Monte Carlo.
As drivers exited Hawkeye Downs and headed to their homes, the mayhem continued. Back suffered another flat tire, this time on his trailer. Matt Pyburn, who earlier in the day had lost the use of his primary hauler and ran out of gas with his back up hauler a quarter-mile from the speedway, lost a wheel on the hauler on his return trip to Wisconsin Rapids.
It was a day that defined the true spirit of Mid-American racing. Drivers braved the elements to get to the track, to stay on the track and to ensure that they could make it to the next race. The Return to Rapids can be remembered as one of the wildest stories of Mid-American’s 2009 season.