SOUTH BOSTON: WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Each race weekend, "What To Watch For", by aaroracing.com writer Daniel Addington will feature in the Pre-Race Thread highlighting what could happen in the race based on past events and trends we've seen. This week, we're at South Boston for the 5th race of 2015.
1. Don't Run the Outside Lane
- We've seen in recent years here in the 2 races run here at SoBo, that when you are on the outside, well, you're toast. The inside, like most other tracks, is the way to go, but here, the outside is almost impossible to run at all, and running there will drop you to the back, quickly.
2. No Driver who has Led the Most Laps, has Won
- Although Nate Smith finished 2nd here last year, he did lead the most laps, and so did Joey Johnson in 2011. Neither of them won, obviously, with Johnson experiencing pit issues during his performance. It seems like the dominant car doesn't really ever win here, which is the case for a lot of the AERS tracks.
3. C-S Motorsports
- Carson Crompton and Nate Smith combined to lead 113 of the 203 laps completed in this event last year and swept the first two finish spots. The year before, Joey Johnson, a C-S driver, led 66 of the races 127 laps, but fell late due to a pretty bad pit stop, but then again, Nate Smith finished 42nd... If those were any indication though, I'd really expect to see at least 2 of the 4 C-S cars near the front, if not all 4.
4. Tame Racing
- There were 2 yellows in 2011 here at SoBo, and 5 last year in an extended distance. This track, while it's the shortest on the schedule, provides very clean racing and long green runs. This should also provide more lap cars and lap traffic. There were only 4 cars on the lead lap at the finish of last years' event.
5. Starting Position Just Does Not Matter
- 3rd and 27th were the starting positions of the winners at the previous SoBo winners. However, looking at the standings from those races, the starting positions are scattered and spread out among the finishing order. The only places I wouldn't want to start are 40th on back, so good luck to Glossum, Oppenheimer and Jacobs, because a driver starting 40th or worse's best finish here is 20th, and that is far and away the best.
What to Expect
- As far as individual performances here go, I'd actually recommend Mikael Carter as one of the guys to win the race. After winning this event in 2011 (his last win by the way...), he followed it up with a nice 11th place run here last year, and rolls off 16th in this one, so we'll see what he can do. Carson Crompton has a 1st and a 7th here, and seeing how he has teammates with success here as well, he is going to be my pick to win this race. 2nd in the standings, Shawn Glossum has an average finish of 39th here at SoBo, with a 40th in 2011 and a 38th last year. He rolls off 40th this week, so it's not looking like it'll be much better this year so far. Points leader Todd Bradshaw finished 10th here in his only SoBo start here last year, and starts 6th. Jerry Richson starts 1st, and has finishes here of 22nd and 39th. Allen Reeds has a 10th and a 4th here, and starts in the 33rd position. But I will stay put with picking Carson Crompton for this one. Hopefully I can get my first correct pick this week, but I seriously doubt it.
Thu Feb 08, 2024 8:00 pm by NickSant15
