The Herd of Turtles at The World's Fastest Mile

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#44-Christian Fittipaldi, ... 2544 39th
#90-Lance Hooper..............978 41st
#49-Derrike Cope, ............. 894 42nd
#74-Tony Raines, ............. 516 45th
#07-Ted Musgrave, ........... 258 50th
#89-Morgan Shepherd....... 252 51st
#37-Jeff Jefferson, .............234 53rd
#51-Jerry Robertson, ..........205 55th
#27-Scott Wimmer, ........... 171 58th
#60-Jack Sprague, ..............154 61st
#83-Ron Hornaday, ............ 54 70th
#11 Brett Bodine……..........no provs
#23 Kenny Wallace….........no provs
#93-Mike Harmon. ........ zippo


Well, nobody has dropped yet. Still at 51. Phoenix is a tricky track so experience is going to play a part. The question is do Sprague, Hornaday, Bodine, Wallace, and Musgrave have the horses?

And so, having kicked the crystal ball a few times..........

Bodine and Wallace probably. Musgrave, Hornaday, and Sprague maybe. Wimmer in a Davis car has got to be considered a threat to make it on time, and Bill Baumgardner's entry has been surprising at times too.

To stay I'm thinking Fittipaldi, Bodine, Wallace, Sprague, Wimmer, and Raines with Fittipaldi getting the last provisional if nothing else. I'ld give Hornaday a nod but I just don't think Bradshaw and company are up to it yet.

What's funny is that this is one qualifying session where there aren't a lot of sure bets. Anybody from about 36th back in the standings may be heading home if some of the other lessor knowns pull a rabbit out of their hat. Even Casey Atwood, Mike Wallace, and Todd Bodine might find themselves packing early.

Mike Harmon has over 350 short track Victories, and 5 short track Championships. If he's got a horse I'ld think he can ride it. Cope in the BAM-A-LAM-A-DING-DONG has got to be at least considered. And how do ya count out Ron with all his experience at Phoenix if the balding one brings him a real car to drive?

So off to Little Pocono we go. The World's Fastest Mile.....at least I think it still holds that distinction.....with it's sweeper, dogleg, and decreasing radius corner.

Gonna be a fun day at qualifying that's for sure. Wonder if I can talk the wife out of enuf money to go. Hundred bucks outta do it.....naaahhhh.....got movin to do we hope, and besides I want to get to the Midget Races (with Tony Stewart) that are coming to The Bullring come the end of the month......oh well, we all got priorities.
 
Let's say I have gut feeling that Brett is not going to make this race on time. He'll be faster than many but probably not in the top 37.

If that is the case and the deal more of less runs as you laid it out, would that put the #90 in as last prov?
 
If Christian gets in on time and Brett fails to qualify, that's a possibillity.....but.....

Like I kinda intimated, even Casey who is next UP might not make the race if more than a few of these guys got rabbits in their hats. I don't think ANY of the turtles except for Fittipaldi has a chance at a provisional start and even that is an outside chance.

God I wish I could go. I love qualifying.
 
Oh yeah, forgot about Casey sitting there at 40th.

Though there is a distinct possibility that will be Leffler.

I always go to qualifying if at all possible. Usually challenge myself to spot the fast laps before looking at the stopwatch. And to see how close my handheld timing matched to the official times.
 
Seems almost a certainty that Casey is sitting without provs at all in the #91. Not a "for sure" deal, but too many sources to ignore.

Which means that another car is added to the list, yes?
 
One to go according to Jay's chart. And with Leffler in and Atwood out they might just have to use it
 
I was wondering when this week's herd of turtles was coming. Maybe i'm just impatient. lol.

All I can say is it took me some time to figure out where some of these guys crawled out of. Jeff Jefferson was ARCA, I think, but I cannot figure out Jerry Robertson.

There's going to be a lot of teams going home this weekend, and i think it is pretty certain who some of those will be.

Christian Fittapaldi will be in the race, so will Kenny Wallace. I think Jack Sprague and Scott Wimmer will be the upsets. I'll give Derrike Cope and Ted Musgrave a chance too.
 
The 7 will probably need a provisional with Leffler driving. I'd like to see Wimmer, Hooper, Raines and Musgrave qualify for this one. Mainly because I like the 3 of them and I have seen Hooper race before and he can usually impress.
 
At least 6 of the turtles should be getting in the race today, so it should be a fun race to watch.
 
Gotta remember that Wallace, Bodine, and Fittipaldi round it out as the 40 regulars. Ya get three more spots before Chris goes bye-bye if he's not up to speed.

I've been calling for Wallace to not break the field since he ran out of provs so now that I've given him the nod, I'll likely get burned.

Robertson in the Ware Racing 51 might as well stay home. Not even The Jeff could get the 51 in on time, and the 37 is owned by Derrick Cope. It also won't have the horses.
 
That's not necessarily true. Derrike Cope did make some races when he drove his own car, but I don't know how a rookie is going to do in it.

Jeff Jefferson I think comes out of Winston West. The cars are similar, but I don't think that will be that much of a help for him for qualifying.
 
And just for anybody that might be wondering how flat Phoenix can be the World's Fastest One Mile Track, here are some stats

courtesy of http://espn.go.com/rpm/

Phoenix Record..IRL: Arie Luyendyk.183.599 mph, 1996.
Pike's Peak........IRL: Greg Ray........ 179.879 mph, 2000.

Nazereth is ONLY point 946 miles.
Millwaukee is 1.032 miles
 
71,

Great post. What did the IRL cars do at Dover a couple years back?
 
Dover's track qualifying record is held by Rusty Wallace, 159.964 mph, Sept. 24, 1999.....the link is http://espn.go.com/rpm/tracks/dover.html

then you scroll to the right and use the pull down "tracks" menu to change tracks

Are ya sure the IRL even ran there?

And RPA......if Jefferson makes it that is going to really blow the heck out of everything that is sacred and true about nascar racing. :)
 
The IRL ran at Dover in 1998 and 1999.

In 1998 Tony Stewart sat on the pole with a speed of 185.204.

Never have thought to truly challenge tracks that bill themselves as "World's Fastest". Does Talledega still bill itself as the Worlds Fastest Speedway. They did at one time.

Winchester still bills itself as the Worlds Fastest Half Mile I think. And Concord Speedway bills itself as the Worlds Fastest Half Mile Tri-Oval.

I know there is a track somewhere that I have seen billed as the World's Fastest Quarter Mile. Matter of fact I think there is one for dirt and one paved. I can't remember where they are though.
 
I think I heard that the quarter mile track record got broke this year....think it was dirt
 
71, HS:

Thanks for the update. The mile tracks are by far and away my absolute favorites. Can't quite put a finger on why, but I love em.

Thanks again.
 
I like the flats.....drag stips with hairpins....do need to get the soft wall tech stuff in place tho. Funny that I think New Hampshire and Homestead are some of the neatest tracks on the circuit too
 
Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap TN bills itself as The Fastest Dirt Track on the Planet. 4/10 mile, banked at 33 degrees I think, so they may just be the fastest. Bill Elliott played around over there this spring, and said it was Bristol on dirt. Which, coincidentally, has been done.



www.volunteerspeedway.com if any of you wanna snoop...
 
That's why the "Fastest" thing is so hard to get a grip on for the thousands of tracks in the US.

From the website the track record at Volunteer is 121.982.

I know that late models at the Springfield Mile pretty regularly qualify at 125 or better.

Not sure what the Outlaws run on some of the faster dirt tracks they visit.
 
Ok I see your point.

Now we gotta play with "quicker" and "faster". Makes the project even more confusing!:)
 
Reckon now that I think about it, that would make Volunteer "faster" than Talledega.

Ain't gonna buy that one.:(
 
Dover has to be a faster mile than Phoenix. No question about it.
 
Looks like if practice holds:

In on time:

23 Wallace
83 Hornaday
27 Wimmer
07 Musgrave

Gotta pick it up a notch or two

11 Bodine
44 Fittipaldi (prov maybe)
60 Sprague
74 Raines
49 Cope
47 Hooper
89 Shepherd
51 Robertson
37 Jefferson
93 Harmon
 
after checking practice times.......it's gonna be like this....

#44-Christian Fittipaldi, ... 2544 39th
#90-Lance Hooper..............978 41st
#49-Derrike Cope, ............. 894 42nd,,,, gone
#74-Tony Raines, ............. 516 45th .......gone
#07-Ted Musgrave, ........... 258 50th
#89-Morgan Shepherd....... 252 51st ,,,,,gone
#37-Jeff Jefferson, .............234 53rd,,,,, gone
#51-Jerry Robertson, ..........205 55th,,,, gone
#27-Scott Wimmer, ........... 171 58th
#60-Jack Sprague, ..............154 61st......gone
#83-Ron Hornaday, ............ 54 70th
#11 Brett Bodine……..........no provs........gone
#23 Kenny Wallace….........no provs
#93-Mike Harmon. ........ zippo,,,,,,,,,,, gone
 
I'm thinking Chris will get it on time and Lance will get in with a prov.
 
Wow, looks like that Ron Hornaday team has a viable chance of getting into this race. He'd be the biggest surprise to make it into the field.

I'm glad Wimmer is running well.

Mike Harmon, you might want to get that car running a little bit faster than 7mph off of the pace to get the car in the field.
 
Well, Hooper withdrew and messed me all up.....and Jack made it on time giving the remaining provs to Cope and Raines....basically, I called 6 of the 8 go homes.

Sure is a lot easier when there's only 2 or 3 extras instead of 8.
 
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