Brasfield Gets Hangover From Hell Victory!

The New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire is where the Sure Fire Racing League (SFRL) came back to race after taking some time off for the holidays. It was the fast time of 30.594 that took the pole and was laid down by the #38 Dennis “DJ” Brasfield with the #77 Justin Anderson who challenged Brasfield on the outside of Row 1.

20 drivers took the green flag for the New Year’s Hangover From Hell 125 and it was on Lap 1 that would bring out the first of 11 cautions. The #46 Jim Whaley Jr. who had moved into 3rd place, spun his tires coming out of Turn 2, causing him to slap the outside wall and ricocheting him into the side of your pole sitter, Dennis Brasfield. Also caught up in this mayhem, was newcomer, #08 Bruce Clay, the #33 Mark Koschik and the #071 Dean Viney.

Lap 14 saw the #46 Jim Whaley Jr. and the #071 Dean Viney trade paint driving in to Turn 1. From our angle, we couldn’t tell if Whaley drove in too hard or if Viney came down running his groove not realizing that Whaley was there. Viney was able to keep racing, but something electrical must have happened to Whaley’s car as he pitted and never returned to the track.

Turn 2 claimed another victim on Lap 18, as the #99 Mike Palmer lost control and slid across the track and smacked the inside wall on the backstretch, but did not bring out the caution flag. But on Lap 31, Mike Palmer self-spins once again between Turns 3 and 4 and rests his car near pit road, which forces the yellow flag to fly for safety reasons.

Turn 2 kept itself busy claiming yet another driver as the #905 Craig Sykes brought out the caution flag on Lap 45. Sykes was able to keep his machine off the wall and out of the path of other drivers. Lap 55 saw the #85 of Trevor Malone coming out of Turn 4, with a right front tire going flat putting him into the wall. With several cars behind him, Malone kept his car in the wall to avoid damaging any other driver. Sustaining too much damage when he hit the wall, Malone’s day was finished.

Lap 60 brought out the caution one more time as the #905 Craig Sykes and the #56 Chuck Shaw Jr. come together with some hard racing. Shaw’s spotter took responsibility for the mishap as he had a hard time seeing if the #56 was clear or not. Shaw almost saved his #56 Chevy, but as he got on the apron, his car took a sharp turn to the right shooting him back on to the track and collecting the #33 Mark Koschik and the #51 Paul “Buzz” Cohen.

The restart on Lap 66, finds the leader, #77 Justin Anderson and 2nd place challenger, #38 Dennis “DJ” Brasfield battling for the lead down in to Turn 1. Brasfield can’t hold it down as he drove in deep and as hard as he tried to keep it low, he still slightly got into the side of Anderson, who came down just a few mere inches, but was enough to make Anderson get out of the gas and sent him to the outside wall. Losing several positions, Anderson was able to keep racing.

Lap 68 doesn’t bring out the caution, but finds the #27 Terry Walters fishtailing coming out of Turn 2 and finds himself resting against the tires just outside of Turn 3. With dirt and grass on his tires, Walters struggles to keep his car on the track without spinning around. Walters didn’t have to wait long for a caution flag as the yellow came out on Lap 70.

Lap 70 saw the #38 of Brasfield, barrel into Turn 1 and get into the rear of the #071 Dean Viney, spinning him around. The #48 Mark McFadden spun in order to miss Viney who was in front of him and with all the smoke caused by these two cars spinning, no other cars were involved. On Lap 77, Turn 2 reached out and grabbed the #89 Matthew Quick spinning him off the track, but Matt was able to keep his car undamaged.

Turn 2 almost claimed another victim as the caution flew on Lap 80 as the #38 Brasfield started to lose control, but had a great save. Not so lucky, was the #905 Craig Sykes as he saw what was happening and got hard on his brakes thinking Brasfield was going to spin in front of him, but it was Sykes who ended up spinning his machine.

Lap 87 finds the 2nd and 3rd place drivers, #48 Mark McFadden and #11 William Davis trading paint and spinning each other causing both drivers to lose several positions. Unfortunately, Lap 90 found the #11 of Davis trying to make up ground to reclaim some positions. Turn 2 reached out and touched Davis sending him into yet another spin, bringing out the caution flag.

Just five laps into a green flag run, Lap 95 brings out the caution as the #93 Bruce Clay drives it deep in to Turn 3 and the momentum brings him out of his racing groove up into the #071 of Dean Viney. The #89 Matthew Quick gets caught up in this incident as well.

Caution flag again, this time on Lap 102 just before Turn 1, the newest member of the Sure Fire Racing League (SFRL), the #87 Raymond Ritenour misjudged the #071 Dean Viney’s braking point, making hard contact with the rear of Viney’s car. Viney was sent into a slide and abruptly slid up the track into the wall and the #51 Paul “Buzz” Cohen had nowhere to go but into the nose of Viney’s beat up #071 Chevy. Having too much damage, the #071 was towed to the garage with no hopes of finishing the race.

The #27 Terry Walters brings out the caution on Lap 107 as he steps on the gas too hard, too soon and spins his car into the inside wall on the front stretch. The green flag flies on Lap 113 and in Turn 1, the #87 Ritenour has to brake hard to stay out of the #22 Eric Nordhoff, and in doing so, Ritenour spins himself. Lap 115 brings out the final caution as the #48 Mark McFadden goes into Turn 1, getting into the marbles and spinning himself into the outside wall.

Checker flag waves in the air on Lap 125 for the #38 Dennis “DJ” Brasfield with #77 Justin Anderson finishing in 2nd place. Making his debut, the #22 Eric Nordhoff brings it home in 3rd, 4th place goes to the #55 Thomas “TJ” Christ and #911 Clifton Cockrell rounds out the top 5.

Next Sunday, on January 10, the Sure Fire Racing League (SFRL) goes to the 1.5 mile Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Kiss My Grits 125. So grab your sweet tea and your Southern Comfort and come watch the action.