2010 28th Annual North/South 100 recap

This is my recap of the 28th Annual Sunoco Race Fuels North/South 100.  Again as it has been the last few years, this event was run under the banner of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. It all started at 4:30 CDT when I left the house with mom to make the trek to the city of Florence, Kentucky to check into the hotel and unload and hang for a bit.  I left for the track at about 2 to look around and see what all was going on.  It was most certainly a hot one.  Friday's portion consisted of Late Model qualifying, modified heats, and a full show for pure stocks.  Dale McDowell, who has had a down year for his standards, set fast time at a place even he admits isn't a place he's run too well at.  After the on track activities were finished, the party picked up at Florence Speedway.  The Kings do something not a single promoter I can think of around the country does at a big show.  They actually roast a hog and make pulled pork barbecue sandwiches which fans. drivers, and others can have, for FREE.  I would like to express my thanks to the King family for the wonderful food.  After that I kicked it with some of the fellows of the T3G and DRC.  Thanks to Teea Cook for the jello shots and to whoever made them as well, thanks!!  They were good.  Also seen Kent Robinson.  Can tell he's doing better since his accident that injured his shoulder at the Dream earlier this year.  It was good to see everyone!!  After all of this I made the drive back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep

On Saturday, after getting cleaned up and whatnot, we headed over to Bob Evans to meet up with a couple of people we are good friends with to eat breakfast.  Got my first taste of fried mush, and it reminds me a lot of waffles.  Good stuff.  After that we rolled out to Florence Mall to kill some time and do a bit of shopping.  After that it was off to the track.  I walked through the Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame again this year.  Picked up a shirt since a local driver who I grew up watching, Roger Long, was inducted.  The ceremonies were supposed to start at 6, but Mother Nature was in a foul mood.  The winds picked up and lightning lit up the Union, Kentucky skies at the track.  It did rain for a bit then quit.  When the ceremonies started, things looked to start to flare up again.  There was some lightning and rain fell harder than it had all day.  Overall, considering the conditions, things went well.  Things started about an hour late for the ceremonies, and it was that way all night, which is fine.  It does happen.  The first set of events were the Late Model heats.  Heat 4 was pretty racy out of the 6, but the other 5 were typical of Florence.  Leader got out front and it was pretty much single file with a few cars trying to work off the bottom and middle.  After this the modified feature was ran.  This event saw some fantastic side-by-side racing that was a definite preview of the 28th Annual North/South 100.  When the dust settled and the checkered flag flew, 41T of  Dennis Robertson held on for a hard fought win.  The late model semis were next, and not as racy but still not bad.  They did driver introductions and then the race went green.  When the green dropped, the all out war began.  Eddie Carrier Jr. led lap 1 but he felt pressure from Don O'Neal and Steve Francis early, with Chris "Smokey" Madden in that group as well.  Carrier Jr. led about the first 22 laps then the duo of Carrier Jr. and O'Neal threw sliders on one another from turns 1 down the back stretch, and into 3 O'Neal made the final one and eventually took the lead in 4.  The last caution was on lap 63 for Wendall Wallace slowing.  On the restart, Jimmy Owens showed how strong he was as he blew by Steve Francis and Eddie Carrier Jr. respectively.  It took Owens about 12 laps to reel O'Neal in.  O'Neal eventually surrendered the lead to Owens on lap 78, and at that point it looked as if Jimmy Owens had the race well in hand.  However, around this time, Earl Pearson Jr. was just starting to mow through the competitors in his way.  He was at that point visibly the fastest car on track.  Owens led the next 9 laps before being overtaken by the hard-charging Pearson Jr on lap 88.  At that point it looked like Pearson Jr's race to lose.  Earl ended up getting caught behind Brady Smith on the bottom, where Earl had been all race long.  Owens had dabbled up top for a bit and went back down, possibly knowing it was there and not wanting to tip his hand, so to speak.  Owens started reeling him back in and coming to the white flag, Owens actually led the lap by a nose, as the duo were side by side.  I was on my feet cheering as was the rest of the crowd at Florence Speedway.  Owens got a great run off of 2 up top and got ahead by a car length.  Earl bored it in deep on the low side, and Jimmy did the same up top, and Owens got the momentum from up top and won by no more than 3 car lengths.  It was eerily similar to 1 year ago with Jimmy Mars and Don O'Neal.  Everyone who left the track that night after this one definitely got their money's worth.  I know I did.  I want to thank the Kings for putting on such a great event!!  The facilities are nice, and the racing has been awesome.  Congratulations to Jimmy Owens on winning his 2nd North/South 100 title.                                                           

His first title came in 2007.  The victory for the Newport, Tennessee driver marked a victory for a rebels.  For this year, the South HAS risen again.  Who will come out on top?  The only way we will know is when the 29th Annual Sunoco Race Fuels North/South 100 is ran at King's Florence Speedway in Union, Kentucky.  I highly suggest if you haven't been, to order tickets and come to this one next year.