Lee Cooper Wins Triple Crown As Memorial Day Weekend Delivers 3 Races and 3 Winners

With all of the anticipation and excitement leading into the 2011 FASTRAK Triple Crown, the race fans in and around the Blue Ridge mountain range were treated to some of the best racing action in series history as the 2011 edition of the Triple Crown produced three different race winners. Former FASTRAK SE Touring Champion Lee Cooper, though he did not win either one of the three races, captured the 2011 Triple Crown championship with consistent and consecutive performances.

The 2011 Triple Crown got a off to a slow start on Friday as rain plagued 311 Speedway and northwest North Carolina for much of Thursday and Friday leading up to the event. While the sun appeared shortly after 3pm and gave everyone hope for the event, it was simply not to meant to be as another round of rain and storms invaded the speedway shortly after the event was cancelled. The series would like to thank everyone that made an effort to support and attend Round 1 at 311 Speedway.

With inclement weather winning out on Friday, series officials traveled north into southern Virginia and, after consulting with Wythe Raceway officials, redesigned their Triple Crown format by scheduling twin races at Wythe. All of the 34 participating teams were allotted 2 laps of qualifying. Lap 1 of each competitor was assigned to Twin Race #1 and lap 2 was assigned to Twin Race #2. Due to the immense challenge of turning 2 complete races in one night, Wythe and FASTRAK officials made the night’s redesigned schedule of events available to all of the participating teams.

When the time arrived for the feature, many of the teams were not on the grid for Race #1. Those teams, including fast qualifier and SE Touring leader Brandon Umberger, were reassigned to starting positions behind those on the grid. David Smith and Bobby Mays led the field to the green with Smith taking the early advantage. Caution flags flew on laps 3 and 5 respectively as teams settled into the event. Smith, the defending SE Touring Champion, paced the field up front as many of the higher qualifying teams attempted to work their way to the point. Umberger made a huge charge through the field making it up to the 4th position before experiencing mechanical failures. Smith took down Race 1 and was followed to the line by former SE Touring champion Lee Cooper, Donald Bradsher, Trent Ivey, and Chad Hale.

Race #2 brought additional intensity to the starting grid as fast qualifier Brandon Umberger and Bobby Mays shared the front row. Mays and Umberger traded paint on a couple of occasions in Race 1 as each racer had a strong car at the high banked ½ mile facility. Mays vaulted into the early race lead only to have Umberger make the pass shortly into the event. Mays then battled with Lee Cooper behind Umberger as the race neared the halfway point. The last half of the event saw Umberger increase his lead while Cooper, Mays, Kenny Peeples Jr, David Smith and Vic Chandler ran two by two for multiple laps. In the end, Umberger, who set a new track record during time trials, would continue his assault on the field in capturing Race 2. Peeples Jr, Smith, Cooper, and Ivey rounded out the top 5 finishers.

After a long and stressful but exciting night at Wythe, the teams moved to West Virginia’s Princeton Speedway for Sunday’s finale of the 2011 Triple Crown. Shell Racing Solutions time trials saw 39 teams take to the track for qualifying. Local standout Mike Faykus captured the pole for the 40 lap feature with Brandon Umberger joining him on the front row. Umberger vaulted into the race lead from the outside pole followed by Faykus and Aaron Barley. The d-shaped West Virginia track shined brightly as fans were immediately treat to 3 wide action at each end of the speedway. Chris Meadows quickly made his presence felt as he joined the lead group making it a 4 way battle for the lead. Umberger and Meadows traded the lead on consecutive double file restarts giving the Princeton fans plenty to cheer about. Lee Cooper and Faykus continued to battle behind the lead trio as side by racing was ongoing throughout the entire field, throughout the entire event. Near the midway point, Umberger and Barley battled again. They, along with the others, had raced hard and clean all night long. As the Umberger/Barley battle entered turn 3, Umberger’s car broke loose. That resulted in both he and Barley going around. With two strong competitors restarting from the tail of the field, Kenny Peeples entered the battle for the lead. Peeples vaulted around Meadows on the ensuing double file restart and held off the challenges from Meadows and Faykus for the duration of the event to take down the 3rd leg of the FASTRAK 2011 Triple Crown.

Via his three top 5 finishes, Greer, South Carolina’s Lee Cooper edged out Inman, South Carolina’s David Smith by one point for the King’s Crown and 2011 Triple Crown Championship. Cooper proved that consistent persistency and performance pays off as he held off a host of contenders for the traditional Memorial Day weekend triple header.

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