Keep the home fires
- Updated: October 22, 2016
Drought conditions, statewide ban prohibit any burning at Talladega Superspeedway, even as overnight temps dip into 40s
Crew members work quickly to get Christopher Bell out of the pits and back into the race. Bell advanced to the next round of the Truck Series Chase. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
TALLADEGA — About the only thing missing this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway are the hawkers selling firewood along Speedway Boulevard and the heavy smoke that lingers in the night air from the countless fires that keep the campers in the infield warm at night.
Because of the current drought emergency in Alabama and the state-mandated burning ban, open fires are as wrong this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway as turning right. The only thing burning here, then, will be the tires on the car on the track.
The tough thing is overnight temps in the area are expected to dip into the 40s, so campers are going to have to find another way to keep warm. (As if that’s ever been a problem).
“It’s a little strange because normally at night as I’m going around the racetrack there’s always a haze, always a smell in your nostrils,” track spokesman Russell Branham said. “When I go in our office, all the next week … it takes a good two weeks to get the smell out of our building.”
Campfires, fire pits and torches are among the items prohibited at the track this weekend. Many fans are making due by firing up grills that meet the three-feet-above-ground standard, but fire pits cannot be artificially elevated to meet the standard.
Race fans have been reminded of the rules by public address announcements and signs on Speedway Boulevard, in the infield and on social media.
Security officials and race personnel are patrolling the grounds. First-time violators will receive a verbal warning about the burning ban. Those failing to comply will be asked to leave.
So far, Branham said, it hasn’t seemed to snuff out the fans’ enjoyment of the activities.
“Everybody who works here, everybody who is somehow on our payroll this weekend, are all out there looking; this is a serious issue,” Branham said. “Everyone is out trying to make sure everyone stays safe this entire weekend.”
HEMRIC JUST SHORT: With all they had thrown at them, Daniel Hemric and his team did all they could to stay in the Chase, but just came up short in the end.
Hemric came into the Fred’s 250 tied for seventh in the soon-to-be six-man Truck Series Chase. Trouble found him at virtually every turn Saturday. He got involved in three incidents, but got back on the lead lap but in the end he missed moving on by 13 points.
“I thought we were going to be OK,” he said. “We knew coming here the variables of superspeedway racing could mean good days or bad days for other people and could set the tone for what happened to us. It just didn’t work out for us on the good end of things. I hate we got caught up in the stuff we did, but we did everything we could to try to salvage the best day we could and I felt like we did that. It just wasn’t what we needed.”
Forty-three laps into the race Hemric found himself sliding head-on into the wall in a incident that could have been disastrous for the field. He fell a lap down, but got it back as the Lucky Dog on the next caution.
He did get collected in the fifth caution of the race, an incident in Turn 2 that involved 14 trucks, meeting the wall needed. Then with 12 laps to go, running 13th at the time, he spun to bring out another caution.
What really cost Hemric was finishing 28th in the first Chase race after cutting a tire. He battled back with three thirds and two seconds, including Las Vegas in the race before here.
John Hunter Nemechek was already out of the race, so all Hemric had to do was pass one more driver to make the cut. A small window opened when Matt Crafton went behind the wall with about five laps to go, but Hemric couldn’t get any more out of his truck.
“After we got into our second or third wreck it was a matter of we just had to get everything we could get,” Hemric said. “All the way up until the last restart I told them unless there’s anything definitely that I can do to make sure we can advance just let me know what that is. If not, just let me do what I do and I promise you I’ll get all I can.
“We just tried to fight and put ourselves in the best situation we could. Unfortunately that situation (to pass Crafton) didn’t present itself, but I promise you we still made the most of our day with what we had.”
Daniel Hemric (top left) brought his Ford truck (19) through three incidents Saturday, but just fell short of advancing in the Truck Series Chase. (Photos by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
END OF THE ROAD: John Hunter Nemechek’s bid for a Camping World Truck Series championship ended early in Saturday’s fred’s 250 when his motor blew less than 15 laps into the race. Nemechek was tied for seventh going into the Chase eliminator race and would have needed a win or a lot of help to advance.
He said there were “really no signs” of trouble before the engine let go.
“Disappointed, frustrated,” Nemechek said. “I thought we were going to be able to have a shot to race our way in here. Unfortunately, we got the bad side of it.”
Team members work to figure out just went wrong to cause Chase contender John Hunter Nemechek’s engine to go early in the race. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
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