All posts by Lowell Jewell

Leinen Wins Lanier

In what turned out to be a battle with the NetCode, a geek term that few can explain clearly, our first race under the lights was a little spooky. Pace car driving through walls,(who knew a Mustang could do that?) engines blowing for no apparent reason, leader getting the black flag on a restart, and Lowell finishing the race without hitting anything. Strange indeed.

The Grid at Lanier
The Grid at Lanier
Typical close racing at BRL
Typical close racing at BRL
A little damage, but a win for Leinen!
A little damage, but a win for Leinen!

Aside from all that, the racing was great as is the case every week! Points leader Matt Hoose took the pole position in qualifying and took off on point at the green flag. He led 18 of the 50 laps before being shown the aforementioned black flag on a restart. Four quick laps later he was disqualified for not serving the stop and go penalty. He ended the night in 11th and losing six points in the championship standings to 2nd place, Brian Young. That gap is now just 14 points with four races remaining. Young started 10th and finished 5th while 3rd place in the points, Jimmy Eifling started 13th and finished 9th.

Racing at night! Hard to top that for fun....
Racing at night! Hard to top that for fun….

Brad Spidle finished 3rd, Chris Forster finished 2nd and led a total of 11 laps. But the night belonged to Mitch Leinen who led 21 laps and crossed the line 1st at the wave of the checkered flag.

Next week we head for Hampton, VA for more short track action, under the lights at Langley Speedway!

2014 Schedule Coming Soon

Our 2014 schedule is being finalized and will be posted soon. There will be 3 championship seasons next year, each featuring 16 races in 15 weeks! At the mid point of each season will be a double header race. There will also be 2 road race events in each. 2014-A will feature Lime Rock Park in Connecticut and Daytona’s Short Road configuration in Daytona Beach, Florida under the lights!

Stay tuned!

UPDATE: The 2014-A schedule is now posted.

Hoose Wins USA International

Two in a row for points leader Matt Hoose as he once again dominates by taking the pole, leading every lap, and crossing the line first! But again, not without some pressure being applied. This time by runner up finisher Mitch Leinen. Kane Lackey finishes third with Lowell Jewell and Brian Young rounding out the top five. Hoose remains atop the championship standings with Brian Young 10 points back and Jimmy Eifling just 26 back. The five remaining races in our inaugural season are all night races! Lanier National Speedway is up next.

The grid at USA International Speedway
The grid at USA International Speedway
Close racing all night!
Close racing all night!
For position!
For position!
#21 in Victory Circle
#21 in Victory Circle

Hoose Wins Stafford

Our points leader going into the Stafford Motor Speedway race takes the pole, leads every lap, and wins in dominating fashion. Matt Hoose becomes our first 2-time winner of the season. It wasn’t an easy win though with Brad Spidle shadowing his every move, every lap. The one and only caution comes out on lap 46 setting up a one lap shoot out to decide the race. Spidle finished 2nd with David Schaeffer in 3rd. Brian Young started 9th and raced his way to an impressive 4th place finish. Hoose hangs on to the championship standings lead with Young 2nd and Jimmy Eifling 3rd. Next week we go back down to Florida and visit USA International Speedway!

On the grid at Stafford Springs
On the grid at Stafford Springs
Justin Lane - "slideways"
Justin Lane – “slideways”
Hoose in charge
Hoose in charge
Hoose wins again
Hoose wins again

Halliday Wins Oxford Plains

The Inaugural Legends Series points leader, Matt Hoose, took the pole position and led the first 25 laps in a very close and competitive race at Oxford Plains this weekend. Christopher Halliday and Brad Spidle got around him at the mid point leaving Hoose holding 3rd.

On the grid with Hoose on point
On the grid with Hoose on point
Battle for 2nd
Battle for 2nd
Halliday curb hopping on his way to the front
Halliday curb hopping on his way to the front

An unfortunate last lap – last turn incident spun Hoose and Spidle coming to the checkered flag. Hoose held on to 3rd but Spidle was knocked back to 5th place. Halliday led the last 25 laps to take the win. Ronald Henrie finished in the 4th spot.

Jewell and Hamer battle for position
Jewell and Hamer battle for position
Eifling chasing Rarick
Young chasing Rarick
Halliday first to the line
Halliday first to the line

Hoose holds onto the points lead just 13 ahead of Brian Young and 14 ahead of Jimmy Eifling. Lowell Jewell moves up into 4th despite finishing last in the race with a damaged car. David Schaeffer did not start, dropping him to 7th. 5th and 6th is Brad Spidle and Brian Neff respectively. James Ray, Huston Hamer and Sue Rarick round out the top 10. The series rolls on to Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut next week.

White Wins Martinsville

This weekend’s race was at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia and it attracted a 20 car field of bootleggers. Max Handley took the pole position with James Ray starting 2nd.

20 Rum-Runners
20 Rum-Runners

Lots of close, clean racing all through the field despite a very loose setup due, in part, to the 84 degree temperature.

Close racing at Martinsville
Close racing at Martinsville
Damn this traffic jam...
Damn this traffic jam…
3 - Wide
3 – Wide
Clean racing on display
Clean racing on display

Mason White, who started 5th, took the lead with 14 laps to go. He somehow held off a hard-charging Matt Hoose for the win, beating him by just 2/10ths of a second!

Mason "Jar" White takes the checkers
Mason “Jar” White takes the checkers

Hoose holds on to the point lead with Jimmy Eifling and Brian Young tied for 2nd. David Schaeffer drops to 4th and Lowell Jewell remains in 5th. Next week we travel north to Maine and pay a visit to Oxford Plains Speedway.

Hamer Wins Thompson

Huston Hamer takes the win at Thompson International Speedway in his 1st race of the regular season!

Matt Hoose on point
Matt Hoose on point

Matt Hoose started on the pole and led the 1st 17 laps with the top 5 running nose-to-tail. Hamer finally takes the lead with the help of a little tire rub on lap 18.

"Rub and Run" for the lead
“Rub and Run” for the lead

The next lap, Hoose tries to take the spot back and ends up on his roof in the infield.

Unfortunate end to the race
Unfortunate end to the race

No caution comes out and Hamer leads the final 33 laps to take the race 3 win. In fact that was the only spin and the race was completed with zero cautions! Great racing all through the field!

Hamer wins Thompson
Hamer wins Thompson

Hoose hangs on to the top spot in the point standings with Schaeffer, who had brake issues for the entire race, and Eifling tied for 2nd place. Only 5 points separate the top 5! Brian Young and Lowell Jewell are 4th and 5th respectively. Next week the series visits Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

Hoose Wins Concord

Race 2 of the Inaugural Legends Series brought us to Concord, NC where the weather was an improvement over last week’s foggy conditions. David Schaeffer started on the front row for the 2nd straight week, this time qualifying on the pole. Jimmy Eifling started 2nd.

Schaeffer led the first 13 laps when Matt Hoose passed him for the top spot. Hoose came from a 6th place start to take the lead and never looked back, getting his 1st win of the season. Eifling finished where he started in 2nd. Schaeffer finished in 3rd place.

Matt Hoose takes the checkered flag
Matt Hoose takes the checkered flag

Hoose is now the points leader with 10 races to go. Move Schaeffer up to 2nd and Eifling up to 3rd.

Next week we visit our country’s first paved race track, Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut.

Spidle Wins Opener

Race number 1 in our Inaugural Legends Series was at New Smyrna Speedway down in sunny… uh… foggy Florida. Taking the pole position was Lowell Jewell followed by his teammate David Schaeffer in 2nd.

Skitter Creek Racing on the front row
Skitter Creek Racing on the front row

The racing was intense throughout and a lot of fun! Jewell had led the first 13 laps when Brad Spidle made the pass to take over the top spot. After a few hard fought laps with Matt Hoose, Jewell fell back to 3rd.

Jewell and Hoose battle for 2nd
Jewell and Hoose battle for 2nd

Then in a spectacular crash, his car breaks loose coming off of turn 4 and slams hard into the outside wall. He was unable to make repairs in time to return to the track.

Race Over
Race Over

Spidle led 37 laps and took the checkered flag just ahead of Hoose. Schaeffer finished 3rd and that’s how they stack up in the point standings with 11 races to go.

Spidle Wins
Spidle Wins

Next week the series heads to Concord, NC.