Chicagoland Race Recap (7/14/08)

            Race 19 for the 2008 EDD Cup Series Championship brings the drivers to the 1.5 mile Chicagoland Speedway. With 8 races to go before the chase begins, points start becoming more important to those drivers on the bubble. Snagging the pole for the sixth time this season is Snyder in the 82 Chevrolet with a speed of 185.637mph (29.089). Starting next to him is Modfan66 is the 03 BMW with a speed of 184.578mph (29.526). Points-leader White~gold rolls off in the seventh position.

            Snyder and Modfan66 lead a 26 car field to the green flag and the 94 lap race is underway. Snyder gets the advantage on the bottom and pulls ahead of Modfan66 to lead lap 1. Modfan66 starts to hunt the lead and on lap 4 blows by Snyder on the front stretch to take over the race lead. It doesn’t last though as a lap later Modfan66 gets loose and spins in turn 4. Slotracer in the 62 has no where to go and both cars hit the wall. Everyone else makes it through and everyone continues. Taking advantage of the caution, everyone but Lmsc27 and ELLIOTT-1 hit pit road for fresh tires and fuel.

            The green flag is back out on lap 10 with Lmsc27 leading ELLIOTT-1 and Snyder. Snyder doesn’t waste time and with the fresh tires dives under ELLIOTT-1 in turn 4 for second with Bell26 following him through. Two laps later Snyder runs down Lmsc27 and in turn 3 dives under him to retake the lead. Bell26 and IROC follows Snyder through to take over second and third. Lap 15 brings about a change for second when IROC goes by Bell26 in turn 3 to take over second and takes off after Snyder. Snyder and IROC start to slowly pull away and by lap 23 have a three second lead over the point-leader White~gold who has moved into third.

On Lap 23 green flag pit stops start to occur when Lmsc27, Doc and Racer45 dive onto pit road. Lap 25 brings ELLIOTT-1 down for his stop and Smokey follows two laps later. Eddie and Modfan66 stop on lap 28 followed a lap later by Snyder, IROC and Bell26. Happy29 takes over the lead with points-leader White~gold in second. Caution number two slows the field in the middle of green flag pit stops when Blues*Angel, who is slowing to get on pit road gets together with Racer45. Snyder and IROC drive through pit road without stopping so they don’t lose a lap, but Bell26 isn’t as lucky. The leaders all pit under the caution while IROC runs out of fuel but makes it around to his pit stall. Eddie stays out, putting himself on the tail-end of the field.

The race restarts on lap 35 with Happy29 leading Excalibur and Holman down into turn 1. Maloneyc01 blows an engine on lap 36, but get his car off the track and the race stays green. The lead 4 of Happy29, Excalibur, Holman and Snyder start to pull away from the rest of the field and by lap 46 have a two and half second lead over Jdlierle. On lap 46 Snyder and Holman racing for third, touch in turn 4 sending Holman into the wall. He continues only to retire a lap later and again the race stays green. Meanwhile Happy29 and Excalibur are still the lapped traffic and in the middle of it, Excalibur passes Happy29 in turn 1 for the lead on lap 50.

Once again green flag pit stops start to occur and on lap 50 Eddie brings the 14 car down pit road. On the track Snyder gets under Happy29 for second off turn 4 on lap 53 to take over second.  A lap later, IROC, Slotracer, Lmsc27 and Jizzle come off the track and down pit road for fresh tires and a full load of fuel. Lap 55 brings Cha Ching, Snyder, Happy29, Jdlierle, White~gold and MovinTarget down for their stops. Green flag stops end a lap later when Excalibur, Steadfast1, Jeffcoat, Tyeman and Iron hit the pits. After the cycle is finished, Snyder finds himself out front by two and a half seconds over IROC. Snyder’s lead doesn’t last long however as on lap 60 the yellow flag is waving again when Bell26’s engine lets go on the backstretch. Leaders pit under the yellow with the sole exception of Tyeman in the 066, who decides to stay out.

The race is back under way on lap 65 with Tyeman out front over Snyder and IROC. Lap car to the inside trap Tyeman and Snyder on the highline in turns 1 and 2, allowing IROC to dive under both of them and take over the race lead, with Happy29 following him through to second. The caution is quickly back out for the fourth time when Modfan66 in the middle of a three-wide battle spins and collects the 979 of Blues*Angel. Both continue.

The green flag is out over new race leader IROC on lap 70. However another quick caution slows the field before they even get up to speed, when Racer45 gets into the back of Lmsc27 on the restart and spins across traffic, nearly collecting Snyder when he spins in front of him. Steadfast1 is not so lucky however, and gets into the 72 when he spins back down across the track, forcing both cars to retire. Leaders decide to pit again under this caution with the exception of Eddie and Cha Ching.

The race resumes on lap 75 with Eddie out front leading Cha Ching and IROC.IROC, taking advantage of the fresh tires pulls out and passes Cha Ching for second in turn 3. A lap later and he passes Eddie in the same place to take over the race lead. Eddie falls back even further when on lap 77 Happy29 passes him for second in turn 2.

On lap 84, Jizzle spins on the backstretch and comes flying back up onto the track in front of the leaders who go low to avoid him. A fight for second heats up in turn 3 when Snyder moves to the outside of Happy29. Racing side-by-side at the line, Snyder clears Happy29 off turn 2 and sets out after IROC. Four laps later on lap 88, he gets a run off turn 4, sliding under IROC and down onto the apron to take the lead going down into turn 1. After clearing IROC, Snyder starts to slowly pull away and eventually crosses the line to take the checkered flag two seconds ahead of IROC for his third win of the season. Tyeman brings his Ford home in third, with Happy29 and Jdlierle finishing fourth and fifth. White~gold finishes seventh and holds onto his points-lead.

Race Stats:

Race Time – 1:04:51

Cautions – 5 for 19 laps

Lap Leader – 82 of Snyder (34 laps)

Hard Charger – 139 of Excalibur (+16)

Hard Luck – 26 of Bell26 (-17)

Safe Driver – 82 of Snyder

Lead Changes – 16 among 10 drivers

Fastest Lap – 26 of Bell26 (29.389)

Cars Running at Finish – 18 of 26