Michigan Race Recap (6/16/08)

By D. Snyder

Race 15 of the 2008 EDD Cup Series season brings the drivers to Michigan for 70 laps at the 2-mile D-shaped oval. Winning his fifth pole of the season was the 82 of Snyder with a speed of 194.060mph (37.102). Sharing the front row is the 03 driven by Modfan66 at 193.398mph (37.229). Series points-leader White~gold starts back in the tenth place starting position.

With Snyder and Modfan66 leading 27 cars down the front stretch, the green flag waves with Modfan66 getting the advantage going down into turn 1. Holding onto the lead, Modfan66 leads lap 1 and picks up 5 bonus points early. Lap 3 brings about the first lead-change of the race when Snyder slides his Chevrolet under Modfan66 off of turn 4 to take the lead. Snyder doesn’t hold the lead for long as two laps later, Modfan66 comes right back for the lead off of turn 2, bringing Bell26 in the 26 and Slotracer in the 62 with him. Lap 8 brings a pass for second when Slotracer passes Bell26 down the backstretch, with Snyder following him by who four laps later passes Slotracer in turn 1 and pulls up to Modfan66’s rear bumper.

Green flag pit-stops start to occur during this long run, starting on lap 14 when Bell26 and Lmsc27 break off from the pack to make their way down pit-road for fresh tires and fuel. Lap 16 brings most of field to pit-road, including leader Modfan66, Snyder, Slotracer and Nyracer. Jdlierle takes over the lead with Ice-10 following. Lap 17 brings the rest of the field down pit-road including points-leader White~gold and cycles the lead back to Modfan66 in the 03 with the 24 of Nyracer right behind, having the three-second lead over third place driver Jdlierle in the 01.

The first caution slows the field on lap 22 when the 066 Ford, driven by Tyeman spins in turn 3 and pounds the wall hard, ending his night and finishing a disappointing twenty fifth. Pit-road is a very busy place under this caution as everyone except the 56 of ELLIOTT-3 wants fresh rubber and full tank of gas. The race resumes on lap 27 with ELLIOTT-3 leading, with the 03 and 24 right on his bumper. Spinning his tires a bit on the restart allows Modfan66 to jump by ELLIOTT-3 and brings the 01 of Jdlierle with him. Two laps later Snyder passes Jdlierle to take over the second place spot going down into turn 1.

Slowly closing up on Modfan66, Snyder eventually snags the race lead away from the 03 on lap 33 coming off turn 4. Jdlielre follows Snyder through to take over second. Wanting the lead back, Modfan66 moves past Jdlierle for second on lap 35 and retakes the lead on lap 38, passing Snyder coming off turn 4, with Jdlierle following past for second. Lap 40 sees the start of the second round of green flag pit-stops with Snyder, Jarik and Ice Racer making their stops. Most of the field follows Jdlierle and Ice-10 down pit-road a lap later, including the points-leader, White~gold. Modfan66 and Nyracer stop on lap 42 and hand over the lead to Steadfast1 in the 963 and Caltech in the 860. Jdlierle takes over the lead after the cycle of pit-stops are complete with Snyder and Ice-10 following close behind, having a three and a half-second lead over fourth place driver Nyracer.

Things calm down for awhile till Snyder decides to retake the lead on lap 54 coming out of turn 4. A lap later green flag pit-stop resume for everyone when Modfan66 and Doc come down pit-road to the attention of their pit crews for tires and gas. Snyder pits from the lead a lap later with the 14 car driven by Eddie, handing the lead back to Jdlierle. He pits a lap later with White~gold, giving the lead to Ice-10, giving Ice his five bonus points before making his final stop of the race. Jdlierle retakes the lead on lap 59, with Snyder following closely, with Ice-10 back in third.

The last car to pit under the green flag is the 979 car driven by Blues*Angel who loops his car trying to get on pit road on lap 59 and bringing out the second caution of the race, destroying the four second lead Jdlierle and Snyder had built over third place Ice-10. The race restarts on lap 64 with Jdlierle leading Snyder and Ice-10. On the restart, Snyder spins the tires and Ice-10 and Nyracer take advantage of it, both passing the 82 in turn 1.

Caution number three slows the field again on lap 64 when Eddie gets loose and spins in turn 4. Unable to avoid the spinning 14 car, Ice Racer and Slotracer get tangled up in the accident while the rest of the field scatters. Trying to avoid the spinning cars, White~gold gets into the outside retaining wall and Jizzle gets into Eddie in the smoke while he is spinning across the track. Everyone continues except Eddie who is forced to retire.

The final race restart is on lap 69, making for a two lap shootout to see who will win. Jdlierle leads the 10 of Ice-10 and the 24 of Nyracer. On the final lap of the race, the front three go three-wide off of turn 4 coming to get the checker flag. Jdlierle and Nyracer touch, sending Nyracer right into Ice-10 sending both cars spinning hard into the wall. Jdlierle hangs onto his car to cross the line and win his second race of the year. Snyder avoids the spinning 10 and 24 and comes home second. Ice-10’s spinning car still manages to make it across the line in third. Movin-Target and Modfan66 dodge the spinning Nyracer (who finally crosses the line to finish eighth) to finish fourth and fifth. Jdlierle not only wins the race, but by White~gold’s fourteenth place finish, also manages to take over as the series points-leader by 23 points.

Race Stats:

Race Time – 59:00

Cautions – 4 for 12 laps

Lap Leader – 03 of Modfan66 (29 laps)

Hard Charger – 911 of Movin-Target (+16)

Hard Luck – 14 of Eddie (-14)

Safe Driver – 963 of Steadfast1

Lead Changes – 16 among 8 drivers

Fastest Lap – 10 of Ice-10 (37.013)

Cars Running at Finish – 22 of 27