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Slick and Racy, Senoia Raceway is a Budget Racer's Dream
April 4, 2018
|
Jonathan Joiner
It’s been a while since I’ve fallen in love with a racetrack, but after a weekend trip to Georgia, I can say without a doubt that I am madly in love with Senoia Raceway.
Late Saturday morning, I loaded up with my brother, Dirt Late Model driver Joseph Joiner, and along with our father, we made the four-and-a-half-hour trip to Senoia for a $10,000 to-win Super Late Model event sanctioned by the Schaffer’s Spring Nationals Series.
After starting tenth, Joseph finished the 60-lapper in the twelfth position. Dale McDowell won the race by a couple car lengths over Scott Bloomquist, while Aaron Ridley, Clint Smith, and Zach Leonhardi rounded out the top five.
We left the track just before midnight and pulled up in front of the shop a little after four o’clock Sunday morning. We climbed out of the truck stiff and half asleep, but we were all three excited about the possibility of returning to Senoia soon.
The thing about Senoia is it’s unlike any other track that’s within a day’s drive of our home in Milton, Florida: it’s slick and it’s racy. Cars race all over it, top to bottom, three and four wide.
But don’t just take my word for it. Even Scott Bloomquist—who has probably raced on more dirt tracks than I even know exists—raved about Senoia after winning Friday night’s $3,000 to-win tune up event.
“This racetrack’s pretty awesome and I can’t say enough for it,†Bloomquist said in Victory Lane Friday night. “This is one slick racetrack, so I wish it was in my backyard.â€
Same here, Scott.
Friday night’s third place finisher Shane Clanton also committed on the racing at Senoia:
“It’s always racy,†Clanton said. “It’s amazing as wide as this place is. You can race three and four wide.â€
While it’s great that drivers can race all over Senoia, the thing that makes it unique to me is how slick the racing surface is. This is the key. Senoia’s slick surface makes it possible for low budget racers like us to compete with the likes of Bloomquist, McDowell, and Clanton.
Saturday night, Joseph’s equipment consisted of a six-year-old chassis and three-year-old Chevrolet Performance CT525 LS engine. There are very few places where anyone can race competitively with regional and national level Super Late Model drivers using that kind of equipment.
Senoia is one of them.
We left the house Saturday morning knowing we would be down at least 250 horsepower compared to most of the drivers we would race against, but with Senoia’s slick surface, we knew we could put up a good fight nonetheless.
As far as Saturday night’s event goes, the heat race was by far the highlight of our evening. Joseph’s qualifying effort put him starting fifth in the third heat. The top four finishers would transfer to the feature.
Over the first half of the ten-lap heat race, Joseph raced hard with Frank Ingram for the fourth and final transfer position. Ingram raced around the bottom while Joseph used an extremely high line right up against the outside wall. Ahead of them, leader Dale McDowell made consistent laps through the middle of the corners.
On lap six, Joseph used high-side momentum to pull to the inside of Ingram going down the back straightaway. The two cars scrubbed doors through turns three and four with Joseph pulling ahead exiting the corner. Joseph continued to hammer around the top and passed Mason Massey for the third position a lap later. By the time he crossed the finish line, Joseph had nearly erased the sizeable lead that the top two cars of McDowell and Riley Hickman had built over the first half of the race.
I checked Race Monitor after the heats and saw that Joseph had turned the fastest time in his heat race and the third fastest time of all the Super Late Models so far that night.
Keep in mind that this was against a field that, along with Bloomquist, McDowell, and Clanton, included such accomplished and notable drivers as Casey Roberts, Timothy Culp, Michael Page, and Brandon Kinzer.
At just about any other track in our region, such a feat would be nearly impossible.
To say we were excited going into the feature would be an understatement. Not only had Joseph just turned the fastest lap in his heat race by more than four-tenths of a second, but he was also scheduled to start the main event in the tenth position, right beside Scott Bloomquist.
Earlier Saturday afternoon I had jokingly posted on Facebook that we were going to Senoia because we heard Bloomquist was there, and we figured we might as well show him how to get around that place.
Now here Joseph was starting the feature right beside him.
I don’t mean to idolize Bloomquist, but every dirt racer knows that he is the best of the best. Put simply, if you’re racing against him, you’re racing against the toughest competition the sport has to offer.
Yeah, Bloomquist may have underperformed in his heat while Joseph overperformed in his, but the fact of the matter was we were starting a $10,000 to-win Super Late Model race right beside the GOAT and we were (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) proud of it.
Unfortunately, we were brought back to reality at the start of the feature when Bloomquist quickly made his way to the front and Joseph struggled to stay in the top ten.
And by the midpoint of the race, it was clear that Senoia’s typically slick and racy track surface had rubbered up and locked down around the bottom. The track had also sped up over a second and a half compared to qualifying and heat race times.
Joseph had to fight tooth and nail just to stay close to the top ten. He fell back to thirteenth early then worked his way back up to eleventh. The race's only caution cost Joseph a position as he fell back to twelfth on the lap-28 restart. He held his line and finished the race in that position.
I know I’m going on and on about it, but my big takeaway from our trip to Senoia is how for racers like us that place really is a godsend. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against other tracks in our region, but when it comes to Super Late Model racing, Senoia levels the playing field more than any track I’ve seen.
I know the track took rubber during the feature Saturday night, but overall, it’s hard to complain, especially when you consider how racy the track was Friday night and during the heat races and B-mains early Saturday night.
In a time when Dirt Late Model racing seems to be all about money—when the winner typically comes from the group of drivers with the biggest motors and the most expensive chassis and shocks—it’s nice to know there are still a handful of tracks like Senoia. It’s nice to know that it’s still possible for budget-restricted racers to go to a track where nine times out of ten they can compete competitively regardless of how much money they have or haven’t spent on their motor.
Over the years, my family has adopted a catchy moto when it comes to racing on a budget:
Beat the best with less.
In Dirt Late Model racing that’s getting harder and harder to do. But at Senoia Raceway, it’s certainly possible.
Which is why we’ll be going back soon.
April 4, 2018
|
Jonathan Joiner
It’s been a while since I’ve fallen in love with a racetrack, but after a weekend trip to Georgia, I can say without a doubt that I am madly in love with Senoia Raceway.
Late Saturday morning, I loaded up with my brother, Dirt Late Model driver Joseph Joiner, and along with our father, we made the four-and-a-half-hour trip to Senoia for a $10,000 to-win Super Late Model event sanctioned by the Schaffer’s Spring Nationals Series.
After starting tenth, Joseph finished the 60-lapper in the twelfth position. Dale McDowell won the race by a couple car lengths over Scott Bloomquist, while Aaron Ridley, Clint Smith, and Zach Leonhardi rounded out the top five.
We left the track just before midnight and pulled up in front of the shop a little after four o’clock Sunday morning. We climbed out of the truck stiff and half asleep, but we were all three excited about the possibility of returning to Senoia soon.
The thing about Senoia is it’s unlike any other track that’s within a day’s drive of our home in Milton, Florida: it’s slick and it’s racy. Cars race all over it, top to bottom, three and four wide.
But don’t just take my word for it. Even Scott Bloomquist—who has probably raced on more dirt tracks than I even know exists—raved about Senoia after winning Friday night’s $3,000 to-win tune up event.
“This racetrack’s pretty awesome and I can’t say enough for it,†Bloomquist said in Victory Lane Friday night. “This is one slick racetrack, so I wish it was in my backyard.â€
Same here, Scott.
Friday night’s third place finisher Shane Clanton also committed on the racing at Senoia:
“It’s always racy,†Clanton said. “It’s amazing as wide as this place is. You can race three and four wide.â€
While it’s great that drivers can race all over Senoia, the thing that makes it unique to me is how slick the racing surface is. This is the key. Senoia’s slick surface makes it possible for low budget racers like us to compete with the likes of Bloomquist, McDowell, and Clanton.
Saturday night, Joseph’s equipment consisted of a six-year-old chassis and three-year-old Chevrolet Performance CT525 LS engine. There are very few places where anyone can race competitively with regional and national level Super Late Model drivers using that kind of equipment.
Senoia is one of them.
We left the house Saturday morning knowing we would be down at least 250 horsepower compared to most of the drivers we would race against, but with Senoia’s slick surface, we knew we could put up a good fight nonetheless.
As far as Saturday night’s event goes, the heat race was by far the highlight of our evening. Joseph’s qualifying effort put him starting fifth in the third heat. The top four finishers would transfer to the feature.
Over the first half of the ten-lap heat race, Joseph raced hard with Frank Ingram for the fourth and final transfer position. Ingram raced around the bottom while Joseph used an extremely high line right up against the outside wall. Ahead of them, leader Dale McDowell made consistent laps through the middle of the corners.
On lap six, Joseph used high-side momentum to pull to the inside of Ingram going down the back straightaway. The two cars scrubbed doors through turns three and four with Joseph pulling ahead exiting the corner. Joseph continued to hammer around the top and passed Mason Massey for the third position a lap later. By the time he crossed the finish line, Joseph had nearly erased the sizeable lead that the top two cars of McDowell and Riley Hickman had built over the first half of the race.
I checked Race Monitor after the heats and saw that Joseph had turned the fastest time in his heat race and the third fastest time of all the Super Late Models so far that night.
Keep in mind that this was against a field that, along with Bloomquist, McDowell, and Clanton, included such accomplished and notable drivers as Casey Roberts, Timothy Culp, Michael Page, and Brandon Kinzer.
At just about any other track in our region, such a feat would be nearly impossible.
To say we were excited going into the feature would be an understatement. Not only had Joseph just turned the fastest lap in his heat race by more than four-tenths of a second, but he was also scheduled to start the main event in the tenth position, right beside Scott Bloomquist.
Earlier Saturday afternoon I had jokingly posted on Facebook that we were going to Senoia because we heard Bloomquist was there, and we figured we might as well show him how to get around that place.
Now here Joseph was starting the feature right beside him.
I don’t mean to idolize Bloomquist, but every dirt racer knows that he is the best of the best. Put simply, if you’re racing against him, you’re racing against the toughest competition the sport has to offer.
Yeah, Bloomquist may have underperformed in his heat while Joseph overperformed in his, but the fact of the matter was we were starting a $10,000 to-win Super Late Model race right beside the GOAT and we were (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) proud of it.
Unfortunately, we were brought back to reality at the start of the feature when Bloomquist quickly made his way to the front and Joseph struggled to stay in the top ten.
And by the midpoint of the race, it was clear that Senoia’s typically slick and racy track surface had rubbered up and locked down around the bottom. The track had also sped up over a second and a half compared to qualifying and heat race times.
Joseph had to fight tooth and nail just to stay close to the top ten. He fell back to thirteenth early then worked his way back up to eleventh. The race's only caution cost Joseph a position as he fell back to twelfth on the lap-28 restart. He held his line and finished the race in that position.
I know I’m going on and on about it, but my big takeaway from our trip to Senoia is how for racers like us that place really is a godsend. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against other tracks in our region, but when it comes to Super Late Model racing, Senoia levels the playing field more than any track I’ve seen.
I know the track took rubber during the feature Saturday night, but overall, it’s hard to complain, especially when you consider how racy the track was Friday night and during the heat races and B-mains early Saturday night.
In a time when Dirt Late Model racing seems to be all about money—when the winner typically comes from the group of drivers with the biggest motors and the most expensive chassis and shocks—it’s nice to know there are still a handful of tracks like Senoia. It’s nice to know that it’s still possible for budget-restricted racers to go to a track where nine times out of ten they can compete competitively regardless of how much money they have or haven’t spent on their motor.
Over the years, my family has adopted a catchy moto when it comes to racing on a budget:
Beat the best with less.
In Dirt Late Model racing that’s getting harder and harder to do. But at Senoia Raceway, it’s certainly possible.
Which is why we’ll be going back soon.
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