Day Two.

In the last entry, I talked about all of Saturday's news and finishes from the first half of the Spring Sizzler. In this installment, we shall look at what happened on Day Two. There wasn't much on the schedule, but a claim of a "threat of weather" made sure that everything was out of the way before 6pm. (There wasn't a threat of anything, mind you, because the sun came out in the middle of the Modified Tour race.) But because I've put this half of the blog until Thursday -- *slaps self upside the head* -- let's just get this done and out of the way before I put it off any longer. With that, let's begin.

And as tradition like the past God-knows-how-many years (I've lost track, honestly, so I'm not looking to pick fights over it), Sunday's action started with the SK Modifieds. The action in that race started with Eric Berndt out in front until a lap-4 incident with Corey Hutchings and Zach Sylvester spinning in turn one brought out the first yellow in the event. On the restart, Berndt lost the lead to Woody Pitkat, and he would have the lead for a solid one lap as Bo Gunning spun in turns three and four on lap-5... Which was the second caution. When the green came back out, it was Pitkat once again out in front, but once again, a caution would tighten the field back up. This time, the caution came out on lap-8 when Kenny Horton and Curt Brainard wrecked coming out of turn four. Pitkat resumed command of the field on the restart for only two laps as... You guessed it. The caution flew on lap-10 for dirt that had kicked up onto the track surface in turn four. That was all cleaned up and racing resumed with Pitkat right back out front. Five laps later, however, the caution flew after Brad Hietala, Willie Hardie, and Kurt Lenahan were involved in a three-car accident on the backstretch. Pitkat would hold onto the lead on the restart, but at the 18-lap mark, he seemed to fumble, which allowed Rob Summers to gain possession of first. Summers would be in the lead on lap-19 when the caution would fly again for a two-car accident on the backstretch involving Sylvester and Frank Ruocco. After the cleanup commenced, the green came back out and it would be Summers at the head of the field with Pitkat still behind him. The lead would belong to Summers until lap-24 when Wade Mattesen spun in turn two to bring out the final caution of the feature. Summers went back into full control on the restart, but even with Pitkat inching closer on every lap, it wouldn't faze him and he took down his first win of the season. Pitkat would finish second, followed by Chris Jones and Keith Rocco.

We take a break from the full recap (and I took a break from full-fledged notes) because the next race was the Whelen Modified Tour's 200-lap main event. Cliff Notes version of this, kids: Thirteen cautions equaling out to a whole 71 laps of caution laps. Seven lead changes between five different drivers. And after one hour, 47 minutes, and two seconds, Ted Christopher won career feature number 98 after he finished first in the race. The next three to finish were Eric Beers, Chuck Hossfeld, and Mike Stefanik.

I took the notes back out for the final feature of the weekend, which happened to be the Late Model feature. We start with the opening lap of the event here. Wayne Coury, Jr took the lead from the outside of the front row and held it for three laps as the caution came out for Scott Foster, Jr who spun in turn three. It was a quick caution, and the green came right back out to the tune of Coury still in the lead. The race would be green for quite a few laps, and the next yellow would not be seen until lap-12 when Doug Blowers, Corey Hutchings, and Michael Bennett got together in turns one and two. It would be green and then yellow on lap-13 for a two-car "spin" of sorts as Foster and Brian Chapin spun in turns three and four. On the restart, Coury would still be in command, but his tenure as the leader would be cut short on lap-18 as things got a little chaotic. The yellow would come out for a spin on the frontstretch, courtesy of Dillon Moltz. Then on the second attempt, Bennett would spin in turn three (and I think some damage was done there, but it couldn't have been much since he finished in 12th). In the (final) restart, Coury eventually lost the lead to Tom Butler, who would hold the lead until lap-22 when Woody Pitkat took over, bringing Mike Quintiliano along with him. Pitkat would prove to be too much, and he would come across the stripe to pick up his first (Late Model) win of the season. Quintiliano would finish second, Ryan Posocco would be third, followed by Butler in fourth.

So that's two race days and two blog days. So now that the Sizzler is officially behind us, we divert our attention to the first Friday night of the season. The place won't be as chaotic Friday as it was this past weekend, I can tell you that much. The schedule of events is here, weather permitting (there is a "threat of weather", but it doesn't look like it could be much unless it hits the pavement). With all of that being said, it's time for me to close this edition. The blog doesn't officially turn three years old until later this month, but it is the three month anniversary of this thing. (May 16, 2006 was the date of the first entry. Short, because of rain.) But until tomorrow, stay safe and dry and I hope to see you at the track.