In a Veterans
Day race that seen at least 3 veterans take the green at Iowa. Retired
Navy Seabee Veteran, Dave Daniels, would be the first to the checkered
flag after 175 laps of wild racing action. Vets in the field would
include Dave Daniels, in the #4 Kingsford Dodge. Army Engineer Veteran
TEX Perry in the #7 BadWolf Dodge. And US Air Force Veteran Ben Geer in
the #29 Cheez-It Chevrolet. Dave Daniels would take the pole for this
event and chose the outside line to start the race. Alex Crapser would
jump out to the early lead with Tony Pizzaro and Dave hangin not too far
behind. TEX Perry battled early to try to lead a lap but would fall
short due to the #29 of Geer spinning early. Tex would eventually lead
his 1st lap under caution. Battles would ensue at the restart between
the #10 of Crapser and #12 of Pizzaro with Daniels close in tow. Shortly
after the restart the #7 of Perry would contact the #29 of Geer headed
into turn 3 as Geer was avoiding contact with drivers in front of him.
Both would head to the pits to repair damage from the incident. The long
run would find Pizzaro with the lead and the #31 of Tim McDonnell close
behind. Daniels and 2 place points runner, Rod Weston would follow
shortly behind with TEX Perry and Crapser rounding out the leading pack.
Pit stops would make the race as leaders cycled through under caution
when the #29 spun and eventually retired. Pizzaro would again find
himself in the lead with Daniels 2nd and Crapser 3rd followed by Weston
and Perry. Weston and Perry would find their way by Crapser as quick as
possible to try to close on the 2 leaders. eventually Daniels and Perry
would find themselves at the front. Tim McDonnells solo spin would set
up the final run tossing fuel mileage out the window. As Daniels and
Perry would find themselves followed closely by Pizzaro and Weston to
battle to the checkers. Daniels was asked afterwards about the final few
laps and replied,"I looked in my mirror on the restart and I knew who
was behind me so there was no way I was going to make it easy for
them." Perry when faced with the same questions remarked, "We were in
radio contact the whole race. When Dave and I made it to the front and
the final caution came out, I asked him [Daniels], You aint gonna make
this easy are ya? And he said 'Oh he*l no.' and we both laughed. I knew
he wanted his first Iowa win badly and I'm still looking for my first
FDTS series win and had been really looking forward to getting here. I
really think we had the truck to beat. We just got beat by tires tonight
and a little Dave Daniels magic never hurt either."
Trucks head North to Victoria British Columbia this week to a brand new
track to the series. Preseason testing has proved Victoria to be a very
fast very competitive 2 lane track that should produce some of the best
racing we'll see all season.
Championship
points race is getting heated and it's only the 3rd race into the
season. Tony Pizzaro takes over the points lead from Rod Weston
following the FDTS' first race ever at the famed North Wilkesboro
Speedway.
Tony Pizzaro leads Rod Weston with 128 points to Rods
120. Rod also just happens to be tied with last seasons Homestead
winner Tim McDonnell and Scott Allen 8 points behind Pizzaro.
Tex Perry sits in 5th with 118 and Ben Geer shortly behind with 117.
JT Armstrong and Frank Womack sit tied for 7th each with 111. Ken Joynt
and this weeks winner Dave Daniels are tied for 9th with 107 each.
Christian Torres sits alone in 11th with 102 with Mark Hero close with
101 and Dale Cooper with 100. Dalton Lucas (98) Tommy 2Fingers (96) and
Johnny Reed Foley (63) round out the points championship standings
heading into the Lonestar State and the Remember the Alamo 117 at Texas
Motor Speedway on 11/4. Great job Drivers and lets come back fresh
after a much earned week off.
The #29 Cheez-It Chevy team continued to celebrate in Gatorade Victory Lane at Daytona well into the wee hours of the morning. Not only had Ben Geer made his first NR2003 trip to Victory Lane but he did it in "Michael Waltrip" style. He won his first career race in the biggest of the season. In a race that officially only saw 2 caution periods, racing was extremely close all through the field. Until green flag pitstops you could have spit at the first truck and just missed the last one. TEX Perry captured the pole at the famed 2.5 mile superspeedway with Tony Pizzaro to his outside. At the drop of the green Tex jumped out to what he had hoped would be his first lap led of the Fall.Winter season. While just behind him Tim McDonnell had jumped to the upper lane just in front of Pizzaro and officially led the first 3 laps of the season. The two continued to run side-by-side for the first 4 laps until Tex just edged ahead of the 31. Many wondered if these first laps would set the pace for the entire season to come. Shortly thereafter Tex dropped to the apron as the field took to the backstretch and relegated himself to the back of the field. Approaching the first pitstops of the day the first of 2 cautions flew when initial leader Tim McDonnell was bounced into the outside wall almost destroying the rear of his truck. Teams patched him up and Tim would remain a contender all night long. Teams would have to dodge trucks for most of the middle of the race when 2 non-caution producing wrecks regulated good trucks to the rear of the field. The
later of these 2 incidents happened when JT Armstrong(admitting fault in the incident) would get turned off the front of another truck and spin to the infield just past pit road. JT would never recover from going a lap down. The final green flag stops would set up the #29 in
front with the #56 of defending champion Rod Weston behind him coming off pit road. Though Rod would fight hard to defend his Daytona performance from last season Ben would hold on to gain not only the points lead heading into Martinsville, next week, but his first ever NR2003 win and one for the record books.
Fight Dirty Truck teams are arriving in Daytona for the opening race ofthe Fall/Winter season at NORL. Rod Weston is looking to defend his FDTS Championship against a host of very talented drivers this season, some new some returning to try to dethrone Rod as the champion. The FDTS schedule jumps from 6 to 12 races this season with all tracks from last season returning and 6 new. A win at Daytona will certainly set the pace for the Fall/Winter season.
From the BIG track to the SHORT track, FDTS leaves Daytona and heads to the mountains of Virginia and to the Martinsville Speedway. This famed "Paperclip" seems like a slower pace but always produces great racing. Watch for the cream to rise to the top early and stay there for most of the race.
Martinsville to North Wilkesboro. NORL is doing it's part to SAVE THE SPEEDWAY. Though NASCAR racing ceased here years ago the FDTS takes its chance to fill the seats once again at North Wilkesboro. This track also produces great races not only up front but all through the field. Watch for underdogs to make their way to the front here and in turn make a bid for the championship.
Halfway across the country sits Texas Motor Speedway. Mostly dormant this time of year, FDTS is going to wake up the DFW with the "Remember the Alamo 117." This race last season produced first time winner Tim McDonnell in his #31 Honda Ridgeline. An early crash involving most of the drivers combined with Tim's smooth driving style to stay ahead of the crash, allowed him to effectively lap the field with second place driver JR Foley finishing 1 lap down. Watch for the #31 and #18 to be strong againthis season. Head north the the mid-west states and Iowa Speedway. This race last season proved as the midpoint in the championship. With only 3 drivers making the trip Iowa was almost thrown out of the schedule. Management has graciously invited FDTS back to disprove last seasons event and fill the stands. This mid-sized track can allow for long green flag runs. Watch for "short-track aces" to prove their worth here.
Also new for the FDTS is the trip to the chilly confines of Canada this season with a trip to the all new Victoria Speedway in the beautiful surroundings of British-Columbia. Previous testing at this track proved to be very racey with a comparable outside lane to provide for great racing all evening.A win here would surely produce a championship caliber driver.
From Snow to Dirt we move back into the US to Rossburg, OH and the famed dirt confines of Eldora Speedway. Tony Stewart has assured FDTS officials a perfect racing surface for our first trip to the dirt. Although this is just an exhibition race, racers should be able to enjoythemselves and relax a little and let the track come to them. Again watch the underdogs as no one can be counted out for this race. If all goes well Eldora could end up on futu
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