2 cautions and a green flag pit stop didn't stop PhilDF, as Phil brought his Philadelphia Phillies Chevrolet to the finish line, with no drafting partner in sight!

Only 7 drivers showed up for this Special Event no-points race. Track of choice was a special GN70 version of Talladega. This track had no plate restrictions, so speeds of 218mph would be common. Les got the pole, but only by one digit, beating Eli by .001. These 66 laps with 1x wear would be a sort of practice run for our upcoming normal Talladega race.

Les led the first lap, with everyone else getting into a line. Eli tried early on to move ahead inside but the inside line just wasn't working and he fell back. Mike got some help from Dusty in moving to the front, finally settling behind his teammate Les. The outside lines seemed to be the way to go, and thats how it stayed for a while. Dusty constantly tried to get an inside line working but not much help was given. It looked like Dave was trying to stay out of trouble by staying in back, but he went too far back and lost the draft. Tony almost lost the draft at the same time as Dave but was able to catch back up as the single line continued.

Our first caution of the day would arrive on Lap 12. Dusty tried once again to make that inside line work, going high as Mike went low and both made contact. Mike took a hard right, right into the wall, and collected Eli and Tony. Both went for a spin as Mike was able to right his smoking car and continue on as the yellow flew. Both Tony's and Eli's Goodyears failed to deliver, as both their front tires exploded, with Eli having a bonus left rear tire go out as well. Eli kept it off the wall as that bonus tire exploded, but Tony didn't fare so well, getting some wall. Tony called the tow truck, while Eli tried in vain to steer his car to the pits on his one tire, eventually just parking it for the day. Dave is the one who made out on this deal, as he got his car back up to the lead pack. He knew he was still behind the pack so he just sped in pits to make sure the lap car didn't catch up, and he got EOLL.

Pitting all around. Our polesitter came out still in the lead. Mike came out vastly underpowered with his damaged engine. Ever hear of calling it quits, Mike? Never! :)

Green flag! Tony started falling behind due to too much damage. Meanwhile, Dusty and Phil kept close on Les, and Dave just watched and waited a little bit back in the draft. Good thing too, because our 2nd caution of the day occured on Lap 20 when Les got too close to Phil and tapped him from behind, but what happened is that Les was the one who got loose and spun to the inside. Dave just looked on and moved on. All of Les's tires went poof and he somehow managed to roll that thing to the line AND back around to pit on all rims. Pitting all around.

Dusty got to enjoy some of that quality front time as he led on the green, with Phil playing bumper tag as Dave looked on. Tony was going slow so it appeared he went into pits to repair some damage, however he sped going in and he kicked back in pits for some time. Dusty, Les, and Phil mixed it up continuously, while Dave just layed back and waited for something bad to happen. Tony wasn't getting any faster and not even the draft could help him, so he parked it for the day.

Dusty fell out of the draft and farther behind at one point, while Dave stayed a safe distance from the remaining 2 leaders. It would be all for nought, when Dave's left front tire exploded in the turn, sending him up for some wall action. Then Phil and Les decided to do some freaky stuff, with Phil coming into pits hot at 146mph and Les mowing the lawn. What's up with that? No penalties were given.

This would be the only green flag pit stop, and after everyone cycled thru, Phil was left with a 3 second lead with not one person in a draft with another. Phiil saw clear road, all the way to the checker, for his first win of the season!

Congrats Phil! Too bad it wasn't a points race, lol.