Florida 400 lineup

[carl s]

from Hoseheads
FLORIDA 400 FIELD SET

By David Sink - Bradenton, FL - November 30, 2007 - Qualifications for the 2nd annual Florida 400 at the Desoto Super Speedway in Bradenton, FL were held Friday afternoon and it turned out to be an eventful day full of suprises.
Prior to qualifying there were some who thought that maybe a 360 c.i. motor wouldn't be an engine of choice for this event. Perhaps the 3/8 mile Desoto Super Speedway with its longer straights would require a larger 410 c.i. motor to claim a pole position for this Saturday's 400 lap marathon. Floridian driver, Brian Gingras, put this argument to rest after he captured the pole position for the 2nd annual event with his 360 c.i. engined sprinter.
Gingras who has limited laps in a non-winged sprint car said he suprised even himself. "We actually came here just to get some seat time for the PRI show. I don't have much seat time in a non-winged car. Its my first year running sprint cars and I got rookie of the year in TBARA". Gingras continued to explain his change in race tactics now that he will lead the field to the start of Saturday's event." We weren't prepared to win the race as we don't a fueling rig or anything. Its just me and another guy right now. We got some guys coming tomorrow so hopefully we can get a game plan together and run the race."
Another suprise was Ohio driver, Tim Buchanan, who has by far the smallest engine in the field and now finds himself starting in the eight position. Buchanan has a 305 c.i. powerplant compared to the much larger 360 and 410 c.i. motors he will be battling Saturday night.
Perhaps the biggest suprise of the afternoon came from the event promoters. Due to the huge turnout of competitors race officials have decided to start thirty-three cars instead of the advertised thirty starters. The race will now align in eleven rows of three much the same as the Little 500 held annually in Anderson, IN each Memorial Day weekend.
The 400 lap sprint car event is scheduled to take the green flag at 8pm Saturday night. Thirty-three drivers will now battle it out for the winners share of $12,000 plus lap money and contingencies. For more information go to www.florida400.net or call the Desoto Super Speedway offica at (941) 748-3171 for ticket info.

STARTING LINEUP
1. 99 Brian Gingras
2. 91 Dave Steele
3. 98 Bobby Santos III
4. 66 Troy Decaire
5. 14 Tim Barber
6. 5 Shane Butler
7. 11 Jacob Wilson
8. 99x Tim Buchanan
9. 66 Tony Elliott
10. 2 Scott Adema
11. 41 Steve Heisler
12. 100 Tom Patterson
13. 56 Jeff Vandusen
14. 99 Charlie Schultz
15. 81 Daryl Smith
16. 39 Charles Ladner
17. 18 Stan Butler
18. 55 Dave Baumgartner
19. 121 Jim Alvis Sr.
20. 11t TJ Winegardner
21. 21t Johny Gilbertson
22. 78 Shane Miller
23. 79 David Slawiak
24. 11x Lee Cipray
25. 46 Jim Swain
26. 11b Jimmy Riddle
27. 19 Keith Butler
28. 0 Danny Martin Jr.
29. 37 Mike Koss
30. 21r Richard Kessinger
31. 79 Dakota Stephens
32. 11r Brian Riddle
33. 2c Curtis Carter

[Max Revs]

Gee, thanks Carl .


Now I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms after deciding not to go this year. I'll hold on 'til Friday night, then I can get my racing fix at the PRI Orlando event.

[Littleman]

Sure wish I was down there. It was a good race last year. Funny, but I think if more promoting of this race were done, they'd have a bigger field.

[carl s]

'heard': there was 60 or so cars and little if any promoting
certainly 0 on the De Soto web site
they lost money last year and are intent on doing the same this year