IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

May 13, 2004 FSCR Bob "Thunderfoot" Schaeffer Stomps the Competition at Thundercross The hot summer air in Okeechobee was hot and sticky as was the Track surface which would stay that way until midway thru the race.This situation proved to be as tough a challenge as the competition itself.It was anyones guess if the Track would go hard and slick so set-ups would again be a premium factor at the 1/4 mile speedplant. One driver in particular was able to keep his cool in the face of early race adversity as Bob "Thunderfoot" Schaeffer from New Castle Colorado got back to his Winning ways again this past Saturday Night by taking home the First Place Prize money enroute to his Second Win of 2004 by outgunning the USA Sprints Posse in a late race duel with Gary "The Gasman" Gimmler. The start of the Feature saw RC Roper "The Racin Cowboy" and Mike "Hollywood" Schroeder #6 Rocket-Out of turn 4 to bring the field down into turn 1 from thier front row positions.The 2 racers battled for a couple of laps until Schroeder launched His J&J Sprinter out front coming off of turn 2 as the 2 drivers bumped wheels. As Schroeder took over the lead Roper was already being challenged by Bob Schaeffer and Gary Gimmler who started 4th & 8th respectively. While battling coming off of turn 2 Ropers car spun collecting Kelly and Schaeffer.Although the #92 did a 3/4 spin he did not stop but Andy Kelly and Bob Schaeffer were forced to avoid the collision and came to a stop in turn 2. The two expert drivers displayed great car control just to avoid the # 92. But both Roper and Kelly were placed in the back of the field for causing the caution but as it turned out USA Sprints rules state that any car that comes to a 4 wheel stop for any reason is the car or cars who dictates the caution and those car or cars should go to the back. Roper decided in the best interest of the other competitors to go to the back even though the call was made incorrectly as the #92 did not stop. The #22 of Schaeffer was then placed in the 2nd spot behind Mike Schroeder and Ropers # 92 and Andy Kelly who was driving the # 14 car belonging to Johnny Law went to the back.Gary Gimmler driving the "Loxahatchie Outlaw" Dean Barthlomew's #63 Gambler was now in 3rd followed by "Tiny" Tim George in 4th. When the green was waived on lap 5 Schaeffer began pressuring Schroeder when in turn 2 Mike slid high allowing the # 22 Budweiser sponsored car to slip past into the lead. "Thunderfoot" began to distance himself as Gary Gimmler started to apply the heat to the back of the # 6 of Schroeder.The "Gasman" made his move off of turn 4 to get by Schroeder and then set sail after Schaeffer's # 22. Back in the pack "Tiny" Tim George and David "Skeeter" Kelly were waging a awesome battle for 4th & 5th spots that had the fans cheering the 2 drivers for nearly 10 laps. Andy "Hammer Down" Kelly made his way back into contention with a few laps left to come home with a impressive 1st time ride in Mikey Davis's #3. Gimmler a TBARA pavement "Standout" caught the high flying #22 of Schaeffer to begin a late race challenge that had everyone on edge of thier seats the last 5 laps.Gary was making up time in the corners only to have the # 22 power back ahead on the straights. Schaeffer did a masterful job and was able to hold off the late race storm of the "Gasman" to take the Victory. Gary Gimmler brought home the KSE Hard Charger Award by finshing 2nd.The next USA Sprints Southern Thunder Tour race will be at the Hendry County Speedway Saturday night May 22nd at 7pm. The Top Ten Results were: 1) Bob Schaeffer #22 2) Gary Gimmler #63 3) Mike Schroeder #6 4) Tim George #1 5) Andy Kelly #3 6) David Kelly #14 7) RC Roper # 92 8) Scott Rocchio #16 9) John Cicota #45 10) Shane Kreidler # 52 Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!