by Jerry Binner
While not as well known as the "Big" track just across the street, Talladega Short Track is one of the finest places to see a great race that I've been to. After driving from 6-Flags over Georgia (and forgetting all about the time zone change), Brenda Payne and myself checked in, looked around, and had a few beers while waiting for the action to get started. Tonight was a 50 lapper for the O'Reilly Southern All Star series, Super Late Models, plus a full card of Sportsman, Modifieds and Bombers.
Looking at the track from outside of turns 1 and 2, it appeared that the turns are about 25 feet above the parking lot, with a very steep drop-off if you slide over the edge. This hill would come into play as the night went along. Once we entered, we saw a beautifully prepared 1/3 mile, red Alabama clay surface, with wide corners, and high banking. I wandered up to the press box, and met Alfred Gurley, who, along with Lynn Phillips, promotes the track they call "the Hornets Nest".
I also met Perry Holman, part of the announcing team along with Grady Sapp, and Ross Tingle. These were great folks that made me feel completely welcome at their track. As many of you know, the ageless Red Farmer, one of the original Alabama Gang, is still a regular at TST, but was not here tonight, as he was helping Jason Jarrett in Pocono. Not seeing Red was my only disappointment of the night. The best was yet to come!
As the Late Models hot-lapped, many of the cars pulled the left front wheels off the ground, and twisted the chassis like a pretzel. They ran the bottom, middle and top of the corners, with no particular groove being faster than the others. A nice field of 36 cars would time-trial shortly.
Some of the familiar names were Mike Head, Shane Tankersley, Ronnie Johnson, and long-time local racers Ted Lackey, Ricky Williams, Greg Skinner, Chris Mullinax, and Ross Martin. After time-trials, Randle Walker in the Blue 21 car was Fast Qualifier for the night, with the top 5 all in the 13-second bracket.
Heat races were run for the 9-Modifieds, 13-Bombers, and 18-Sportsman cars, with great action in all of the classes. Twin B-Mains were also held for the OSAS cars, with the wins going to Ross Martin in the 47, and to James Cline in the 3 car.
On occasion, one of the racecars would slide up, out of the groove, and slip over the banking off of turn 1. The tracks regular fans have seen this enough, that when a car slides over, they stand and wave "Bye-bye" as it disappears. Most times, the car will reappear over the bank of turn 2 or the back straight. But if you go off turn 1 at the wrong angle, you're going for a RIDE.
It looks real easy to barrel-roll a car down those hills. With the field whittled down to the best 24 cars, plus Shane Tankersley, who took a provisional, it was time for some wild and exciting racing. At the drop of Clyde Haynes green flag, the action never stopped. With virtually no "junk" cars, the pack stayed tightly bunched, but with passing on every lap, at nearly every position.
No spot was safe, and standing on the gas was the only way to defend your territory. There were times that they went 3-wide for the lead, while also going 3-wide for 4th. It seemed as though nearly every driver was in the top-10 at one point or another during the race. The OSAS series has an unusual "Choose" rule for restarts, which kept things interesting also.
The leader gets to pick the inside, or outside lane on restarts, then 2nd place does, then 3rd, and so on. Sometimes, leader Mike Head would take the inside line, other times, the outside, with Skinner right there with him. Great runs from deeper in the field came from Ed Basey, Tim Roszell, Tim Bouche, and Shane Tankersley. Later in the race, Pole sitter Randle Walker tangled with the H-2 of Stacy Hall going into turn 1, and wasn't lucky enough to hit the correct angle for the hill.
He wound up flipping the car, as the track crew and team members ran to the scene. His car was a complete mess, but the driver walked away under his own power.
At the end of the 50 lap main event, Mike Head was standing in victory lane, with Skinner, Chris Mullinax, Danny Peoples, Tim Bouche, Ed Basey and Shane Tankersley, rounding out the top 7 finishers.
Even at the end of the features for the other divisions, there were still multiple racing grooves, and no dust at all. Each division put on a great race, very good lighting helped me see everything, and the sound system is better than most tracks have.
Each January, Talladega Short Track hosts the annual "Ice-Bowl" race, with 6 divisions of cars (about 90 Late Models, 60 Modifieds), with racing going over a 4 day run when no other tracks will be running. Plan ahead now, take a few days vacation, and spend it at TST. This was my first trip here, but it WON'T be my last. Thanks to all the track officials that made this, for me, one cool night of racing!
Special Thanks to Brenda for going with me, my sister Debbie for watching my son while I went racing, and Perry Holman for all your help.
You'll see me again soon at TST..
Jerry Binner-aka- Frasson118..
E-mail: jerrybinner@cfl.rr.com
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