Like a blister that will only get worse before it gets better is the only way to describe the Late Model engine controversy at Motordrome Speedway.
Right now, there are serious divisions between those that do not have the "crate" engine and those that are running the engine. Of course, it's not a cut-and-dry issue. The drivers that are running the sealed motors will never say that they have an advantage, and those that don't have one will say they are at an extreme disadvantage.
By all accounts, Friday's 100-lap Late Model feature should have been the litmus test to show the differences. Anyone that was looking for either Neil Brown or Rick Miller to run away with the feature the way Miller did in the 75-lap feature in May were disappointed. So, the debate rages on.
Richard Mitchell won the 100-lap event Friday. Miller was second followed by Tommy Beck, who is reported to have a sealed engine ready to go into his car. After Bec, it was Mark Cottone, and in fifth, it was Neil Brown. Chuckie Keslar finished in sixth.
"I think there is some sort of difference," Miller, currently second in points, said. "Some of the guys with the carbureted engine run good too. We work on corner speed. It takes a whole package. So, I'm not buying that there is a huge difference. The difference I find is probably in the middle of the corners. The car picks up the gas a little better in the corners with the fuel-injected engine."
That seems to be the general understanding. The fuel-injected motor is better coming out of the turns, which gives you an advantage heading onto the straight and then into the next corner.
Cottone for one is extremely frustrated, and he is inching closer toward his bold statement back in April when, at Jennerstown Speedway, he said he might not even go to race at Motordrome this year. There's a "For Sale"sign on his car, and before the race, he hinted that Friday may have been his last night at the track this season, even though he stands third in the points race behind Brown and Miller.
"It's just total domination," Cottone said before the race. "It's not a level playing field. That engine is better at the bottom end, mid-range and at the top end. There is such a power difference that it's not even close. Everyone is frustrated, and we don't even know if we are going to come back here."
For Keslar, there was an effort to put a little levity into the situation. Despite his top-six finish, he doesn't see there being a chance right now for the cars running carburetion and even offered a tongue-in-cheek remedy.
"They are a lot faster," Keslar said. "They don't have to barrel into the corner the way we do because they have more speed on the straight. I could work the bumper into those guys if I could catch them; I've been accused of much worse."
Stay tuned because it's only going to get more interesting before the issue is resolved.
Geisler Makes Touring Series Debut
Travis Geisler made his Kodak Southeast Series debut this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway in the Bob Harmon Memorial Sunbelt Rentals 125 and came away with a top-10 finish. Although it could have been better, Geisler qualified 12th and was running sixth when he ran out of gas on the final lap and dropped to ninth. The race will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net at 2 p.m. June 16.
