L8models
07-29-2005, 01:00 PM
Incidents lead to rule change at FMS
By Thomas Pope
Motor sports editor
Last-lap skirmishes the past two weeks at Fayetteville Motor Speedway have brought about a rule change for the rest of the season.
Previously, the rulebook stated that drivers race back to the flagstand on the first and last laps when there's a caution. The rule has been amended to mirror the one used to finish NASCAR races; i.e., a green restart lap, the white-flag lap, then the checkered flag.
Last Saturday, a last-lap collision between race leader Jeffrey Tyndall and second-place driver Jimmy "Porky" Edwards Jr. resulted in them spinning off the track. Tyndall's car flipped several times and landed on its wheels, while Edwards' suffered a broken suspension part. Shawn Beasley was the first driver to the finish line.
After talking to flagman Eddy Pollard and reviewing videotape of the incident, track co-owners Larry Norris and Ed Longhany concluded that Edwards was at fault. The win was awarded to Tyndall, Beasley was placed in second, and Edwards was dropped to 15th, the last car in the rundown.
It was consistent with the same call the track made one week earlier, when race leader D.J. Tyndall was hit from behind by Jim Hendley Sr. and spun out.
Even so, Edwards said he's perplexed by that decision, insisting that racing back to the finish line on the final lap should have been the overriding factor. He also alleges he's the victim of favoritism, citing Tyndall's role as Norris' driver until this year. Norris shut down his race team to purchase and operate the speedway with Longhany. Norris denies that charge.
"How they come up with what they did, I don't know," Edwards said.
Norris said the rule change should clarify the situation once and for all.
"The rulebook says if I spin you out, I go to the rear and you get your position back," Norris said. "We weren't even thinking that something like that would happen on the last lap, but two weeks in a row, it's happened.
"So we felt we needed to put something in the rulebook to deal specifically with that."
Differing opinions
Tyndall and Edwards are in disagreement about what transpired on the final lap.
Edwards was several car lengths behind Tyndall when they took the white flag. Tyndall slowed down to avoid a multi-car crash in the first turn and Edwards closed the gap.
As they exited the second corner, the lapped car driven by George Carling was in their path. Tyndall went to the top of the track to avoid contact, while Edwards ran into Carling. "The 40 car (Carling) was in front of me and I spun him out of the way," Edwards said.
Tyndall reclaimed the lead further down the backstretch, with videotape showing him more than half a car length in front as they prepared to make the turn in the third corner. That's when the cars collided and slid over the embankment, and Tyndall flipped several times.
"If Porky hadn't spun the 40 car, the thing with Jeffrey wouldn't have looked so intentional," Norris said.
Tyndall and Edwards both pinned the blame on the other.
Tyndall said Edwards "hit me intentionally. He hit me wide open. The left-rear tire went down and I was on the rim when I got to the top of the hill and started barrelrolling.
"Like I told Larry, I'd have rather pulled over and finished second if I'd known that was going to happen. I took the beating, but (car owner Sherrill Sewell) took the punishment because he's the one who's got to pay to put it back together."
Edwards said the contact was caused when Tyndall "drove over the front end of my car."
Ckick on the link below to watch the actual race footage to determine for yourself:
Final lap:Jeffrey Tyndall in the 06 yellow car, Jimmy Edwards Jr. in the 48 black car and George Carling in the 40 white car
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=sports&Story=7108658
And the final outcome? "It should have either gone back to the last completed lap or the way it finished, with Shawn winning," Edwards said, "but not what they came up with."
Hopes feud is over
There is, Norris said, the possibility that neither driver was at fault. After talking to a Pure Stock racer who was parked in the infield near where the crash began, Norris agrees with that driver's theory that in the heat of the moment - the first-turn pile-up and Edwards' run-in with Carling - Edwards simply wasn't aware he was at the point on the track where he should have begun turning left.
"I don't think he meant to take Jeffrey out," Norris said. "I told Jeffrey, 'I don't think he would've put your life in danger knowing you could turn over.' I don't think Porky even thought he was at the corner at the time, because if he didn't think he was in the corner, he'd naturally think that Jeffrey had run over him."
Norris also hopes that whatever hard feelings there are between the men won't spill over in any future events.
"As far as I'm concerned, that race is over with," he said. "We've got to have a little word of prayer with them, sit them down together and tell them this is the way it's going to be and hope things will be in the right direction."
Motor sports editor Thomas Pope can be reached at popet@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3520.
By Thomas Pope
Motor sports editor
Last-lap skirmishes the past two weeks at Fayetteville Motor Speedway have brought about a rule change for the rest of the season.
Previously, the rulebook stated that drivers race back to the flagstand on the first and last laps when there's a caution. The rule has been amended to mirror the one used to finish NASCAR races; i.e., a green restart lap, the white-flag lap, then the checkered flag.
Last Saturday, a last-lap collision between race leader Jeffrey Tyndall and second-place driver Jimmy "Porky" Edwards Jr. resulted in them spinning off the track. Tyndall's car flipped several times and landed on its wheels, while Edwards' suffered a broken suspension part. Shawn Beasley was the first driver to the finish line.
After talking to flagman Eddy Pollard and reviewing videotape of the incident, track co-owners Larry Norris and Ed Longhany concluded that Edwards was at fault. The win was awarded to Tyndall, Beasley was placed in second, and Edwards was dropped to 15th, the last car in the rundown.
It was consistent with the same call the track made one week earlier, when race leader D.J. Tyndall was hit from behind by Jim Hendley Sr. and spun out.
Even so, Edwards said he's perplexed by that decision, insisting that racing back to the finish line on the final lap should have been the overriding factor. He also alleges he's the victim of favoritism, citing Tyndall's role as Norris' driver until this year. Norris shut down his race team to purchase and operate the speedway with Longhany. Norris denies that charge.
"How they come up with what they did, I don't know," Edwards said.
Norris said the rule change should clarify the situation once and for all.
"The rulebook says if I spin you out, I go to the rear and you get your position back," Norris said. "We weren't even thinking that something like that would happen on the last lap, but two weeks in a row, it's happened.
"So we felt we needed to put something in the rulebook to deal specifically with that."
Differing opinions
Tyndall and Edwards are in disagreement about what transpired on the final lap.
Edwards was several car lengths behind Tyndall when they took the white flag. Tyndall slowed down to avoid a multi-car crash in the first turn and Edwards closed the gap.
As they exited the second corner, the lapped car driven by George Carling was in their path. Tyndall went to the top of the track to avoid contact, while Edwards ran into Carling. "The 40 car (Carling) was in front of me and I spun him out of the way," Edwards said.
Tyndall reclaimed the lead further down the backstretch, with videotape showing him more than half a car length in front as they prepared to make the turn in the third corner. That's when the cars collided and slid over the embankment, and Tyndall flipped several times.
"If Porky hadn't spun the 40 car, the thing with Jeffrey wouldn't have looked so intentional," Norris said.
Tyndall and Edwards both pinned the blame on the other.
Tyndall said Edwards "hit me intentionally. He hit me wide open. The left-rear tire went down and I was on the rim when I got to the top of the hill and started barrelrolling.
"Like I told Larry, I'd have rather pulled over and finished second if I'd known that was going to happen. I took the beating, but (car owner Sherrill Sewell) took the punishment because he's the one who's got to pay to put it back together."
Edwards said the contact was caused when Tyndall "drove over the front end of my car."
Ckick on the link below to watch the actual race footage to determine for yourself:
Final lap:Jeffrey Tyndall in the 06 yellow car, Jimmy Edwards Jr. in the 48 black car and George Carling in the 40 white car
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=sports&Story=7108658
And the final outcome? "It should have either gone back to the last completed lap or the way it finished, with Shawn winning," Edwards said, "but not what they came up with."
Hopes feud is over
There is, Norris said, the possibility that neither driver was at fault. After talking to a Pure Stock racer who was parked in the infield near where the crash began, Norris agrees with that driver's theory that in the heat of the moment - the first-turn pile-up and Edwards' run-in with Carling - Edwards simply wasn't aware he was at the point on the track where he should have begun turning left.
"I don't think he meant to take Jeffrey out," Norris said. "I told Jeffrey, 'I don't think he would've put your life in danger knowing you could turn over.' I don't think Porky even thought he was at the corner at the time, because if he didn't think he was in the corner, he'd naturally think that Jeffrey had run over him."
Norris also hopes that whatever hard feelings there are between the men won't spill over in any future events.
"As far as I'm concerned, that race is over with," he said. "We've got to have a little word of prayer with them, sit them down together and tell them this is the way it's going to be and hope things will be in the right direction."
Motor sports editor Thomas Pope can be reached at popet@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3520.