Golden Isles Speedway
Francis-Beitler pairing produces first victory
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writer
Officials check on Mark Andersen. (ronskinnerphotos.com)
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (Feb. 2) — When World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Steve Francis hooked up with the potent Beitler Enterprises team for 2008, observers tagged the team a winning combination. It didn't take long for that first victory to appear as Francis led the final 24 laps of the 50-lap finale at Golden Isles Speedway's Super Bowl of Racing IV. Speedweeks roster | Prelims | Slideshow
Starting third, Francis moved into second early in the race and began stalking polesitter Billy Moyer. Francis moved in for the kill near the race's midpoint, then pulled away amid lapped traffic in the closing laps for a $10,000 victory on the O'Reilly Southern All Star Series.
"It's been an up-and-down week," the Ashland, Ky., driver said in victory lane at the 4/10-mile oval in southeast Georgia. "We started off horrible but managed to get an eighth out of the first night. Then we came back and ran second and thought we had something, ran eighth the next night. Then we missed two or three (features) in a row there and to come back and be able to win tonight really means a lot."
Moyer, a Hall of Fame driver from Batesville, Ark., stayed within striking distance of Francis much of the second half of the race, but he faded in the final laps to settle for second while fellow front-row starter Eric Jacobsen, a Californian making his Golden Isles debut, finished third. Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., got his best Super Bowl finish by rallying from the 20th starting spot to finish fourth.
Moyer and Jacobsen were lucky to even be racing at the finish after the race got off to a wild start. Exiting turn two on the first lap, they banged together when Moyer pushed high and Jacobsen spun. Moyer quickly pitted to change a flat tire and restarted on the pole while Jacobsen pitted to repair his steering.
On the second start, Moyer pulled up lame with suspension damage to draw yet another caution, and soon the red was out when Mark Andersen of Blanchard, Mich., got upside down in turn three in the scramble to slow the 27-car field. Andersen climbed from the car uninjured and the field was lined up for another complete restart, this time with Jacobsen, who returned from the pits and returned to his front-row spot.
The third start was smooth as Moyer, Jacobsen and Francis took the top three spots ahead of Scott Bloomquist, who had won the previous two Super Bowl events but was forced to pit during one of the early cautions.
Another turn-two scramble on the fourth lap — involving Derek Ellis, Josh Richards and others — brought out another caution, but the race went green the rest of the way.
Bloomquist ended up pulling out on the 20th lap and another Super Bowl standout, three-race winner Jimmy Owens advanced from his 13th position almost into contention, but settled for sixth. Still, that was plenty good enough to secure his $10,000 bonus as the Dart Winternationals points champion at Golden Isles.
"It's been great. All week it's just been going up and up. We haven't hardly put a scratch on the car all week," said the Newport, Tenn., driver, who totalled nearly $50,000 in earnings in seven races, including the bonus. "It's been killer."
Francis was glad to drive the West Friendsville, Md.-based No. 19 to victory lane after making just his fifth feature start with the Dale Beitler-owned team. "We're just finally glad to win one of these things," he said. "I've gotta thank Dale Beitler. He put a lot of money and effort into this thing this winter and made it a first-class deal."
Notebook
The winner's Rocket Chassis is sponsored by Reliable Painting and Valvoline. ... In victory lane, Francis thanked track owner Frankie Lloyd and his employees for putting on what was originally scheduled for 10 $10,000-to-win races (three events rained out. "They put up a lot of money of for us racers," Francis said. ... Francis earned $19,900 overall in race purses, third most behind Owens ($39,600) and Scott Bloomquist ($24,500). Other top earners were Earl Pearson Jr. ($17,350), Billy Moyer ($14,300), Chris Madden ($11,600) and Shane Clanton ($11,000). No other drivers cracked the $10,000 mark. ... Only eight drivers made all seven features: Owens, Pearson, Moyer, Chris Madden, Ivedent Lloyd Jr., Tim Fuller, Kelly Boen and Terry Casey. ... Although the Southern All Stars don't typically use group qualifying, the series went to the system because the moisture in the track would have caused a vast disparity in times from the beginning to the end of the 59 drivers qualifying. The group qualifying sets 10 drivers who qualify and heat race only among each other. ... The only new driver on hand for Saturday's action was Eric Jacobsen of Santa Cruz, Calif., fielding his Bloomquist Race Car. ... After wrecking his car Friday, Southern All Star rookie of the year candidate Anthony Hill took a seat in fellow Georgia driver Clint Smith's backup car to he could gather series points. "We've got it set up for East Bay now," Smith said, "and he's going to try it out for us." ... A total of 27 drivers that raced at Golden Isles earlier in Super Late Model competition had already departed from the track. During the 11-day event, 83 Super Late Model teams entered cars. ... Tyler Ivey was offered a spot in the feature as a promoter's option, but he scratched from the main event. ... Two drivers on Saturday made their only feature starts of the Super Bowl: Mark Andersen of Blanchard, Mich., and Derek Ellis of Chatsworth, Ga. Both were involved in wrecks in the early laps. ... The event drew the best Super Bowl crowd with the grandstands virtually full.
Correction: An earlier version of this story reported seven driver made all seven features; Chris Madden also made every feature.
