Beaudoin Burns Em At Richmond!!!
It was a beautiful night for racing as the Sure Fire Racing League rolled into Virginias state capital to visit the always popular Richmond International Raceway. Richmond is the biggest track on the SFRL SK mod schedule and drivers were anxious to take on this unique challenge.
Carson Poe sat on top of the speed chart for most of the practice session with a time of 21.716 but in the closing moments Andre Beaudoin made a final tweak to his #31 machine and posted a quick time of 21.689 to claim the sessions top speed. Qualifying would see the #16 of Daryl Tiezzi post the quickest lap with a 21.747 journey around the 3/4 miler and again Poe would find himself second on the chart. Series newcomer Mike Journeaux put his family owned #73 P3 in the standings and series veteran Thomas Christ would be 4th.
As the green flag flew Tiezzi staked his claim to the lead with Poe following in his tire tracks. Lap 6 saw Journeaux lose control of his machine and take a long slide through the infield grass but his car was out of harms way as the starter kept the field under green. Lap 16 made the decision a bit easier as contact between the #13 of Poe and last race winner Jason Harned sent both cars to the pits for repairs while the rest of the field made routine adjustments and took on fresh rubber.
The green flag was in the air again and saw the #55 of Christ out front and showing the way with Beaudoin assuming the runner up spot. Behind them the racing was intense as positions were shuffled and the walls took a little abuse as the drivers pushed the limits of available grip. On lap 42 Beaudoin was able to get to the inside of Christ and take over the top spot. The #22of Eric Nordhoff was able to work his way past the #46 of Jim Whaley, Jr as the battle with Poe and Tiezzi raged on.
The long green flag segment took its toll on the rear tires of the #55 and he began to fall back to the clutches of the #22 who was able to make the pass on Christ and move into 2nd. A fuel miscalculation during the early yellow left the #31 of Beaudoin meant he was looking at running dry about 2 laps short of the finish so he had no choice but to back his pace down and allow Nordhoff to take the top spot with little fight on lap 77.
The race would take a drastic change when on lap 82 the #22 machine contacted the wall off of turn 2 and brought out the yellow. All cars arrived on pit road for badly needed tires and gas.
The late restart would see Christ out front with Beaudoin lining up outside, Nordhoff 3rd and Tiezzi 4th. on the break Christ would jump out to a quick lead but Beaudoin was not going to be denied and worked his way under the #55 to retake his lead and never look back. Nordhoff got a run to the outside of Christ but contact would send both cars spinning as the #22 was in the path of Harned and both cars were destroyed. In the end The #31 of Andre Beaudoin took home the checkers in the Toyota Car Care 100.
1. #31 Andre Beaudoin
2. #16 Daryl Tiezzi
3. #55 Thomas Christ
4. #22 Eric Nordhoff
5. #44 Jay Harned
