Joe Russell, from Rockingham, stands by his car after having the engine blow during Thursday’s Polar Bear 150 at the Rockingham Speedway. Russell finished 57th.
The race went over a little more than four hours long with track owner Andy Hillenburg admitting the stoppage in action was due to the continuing drop of the yellow flag.
“There was a stretch where we had a lot of caution laps in the middle of the race,” Hillenburg said. “I can’t explain why there were so many accidents.”
The worse of the on-track accidents occurred on lap 123. Bryan Silas, who also competed in last year’s Carolina 500 and the American 200 at the Rock, tumbled coming out of turn four and his No. 57 Monte Carlo was crushed when it hit the barriers at the entrance to pit road.
“I’m not exactly sure what happened,” Silas said. “I’m not sure if someone tapped me in the left rear. I felt even with that, I don’t think that was it. I saved it the first time. The second time I felt like I had no grip in the corner. After that I knew it was going to be painful. Thank God I’m all right. I’m glad the guys built a good car. I don’t think if it was one of those other teams it would have held up. We were having a good day before the wreck. I had no idea where we were running but I was having fun. I want to thank everyone who got me here.”
Driver Rick Erwin explained the number of inexperienced drivers played a part in the troubles on the track.
“These street stock cars have a tendency to wreck,” Erwin said. “These guys have never been here before, including myself and with this many cars it was hard to stay off each other. These tires are very unforgiving once they break loose and they spin.”
Rockingham native Joe Russell wasn’t involved in a car accident. However, Russell quipped he would have rather torn up his car instead of blowing his engine out that put him out of the race after going just nine laps.
“The engine cost me more than the car,” Russell said. “It was a brand new engine worth about $3,000, but that’s why they call it racing. The car started running hot under the hood on me. The smarter thing would’ve been to bring it in.”
Nevertheless, Russell, who has been racing on and off for six years mostly in the South Carolina was happy to participate in the race.
“We were able to put the car together in a week, and I didn’t practice or qualify,” Russell said. “I just jumped into the race. Next time, I’ll probably start a little bit earlier, but it was always my dream to run here and I got to fulfill it. I hope to come back again.”
Two drivers dominated the race: Brett Hudson and Chuck Barnes Sr. They traded the lead back and forth through the cautions. Barnes ended up taking the checkered flag, while Hudson finished 32nd after blowing his engine with 10 laps remaining.
“We definitely had something for them at the end,” said Hudson. “I knew we had a problem on the last caution, the water pressure was up and down. I was hoping it would hold until the end.”
Despite some of the problems on the track, Hillenburg was pleased no one suffered any injuries.
“When the racing was going on, it was pretty fantastic,” Hillenburg said. “We wanted a safe day. Even though, we had a lot of accidents, all the drivers were OK.”
Contact sports reporter Corey Davis at 997-3111, ext. 44; e-mail cdavis@yourdailyjournal.com
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