STSS Sunshine Swing Day 2 Pit Notes (Thursday Feb 10, 2022) – Larry Wight Claims his First STSS Win at All-Tech Raceway

Larry Wight opened his 2022 STSS season with a 5^th place finish from 28^th place.  On his second race of 2022 he picked up his career first STSS win with a strong run leading almost the entire 35 lap race. 

Wight has a 5^th and 1^st in his 2022 outings and has jumped right into the middle of the STSS Sunshine Swing points battle (180) with a virtual tie with Billy Pauch Jr. (185) and Erick Rudolph (180).   All three drivers have finished top 5 in both nights of racing so far and have been consistent both days.

Danny Johnson has made his presence known with a 7^th and 4^th place finish so far this week.  The first night he wasn’t in the redraw but still finished 7^th from a 20^th starting position in a 30-lap feature with only two cautions.  On night 2 he posted another strong 4^th place finish after redrawing a 3^rd starting position.

Jordan Watson has also posted a 6^th and 7^th place finish in his first two days of racing.  On Wednesday night Watson qualified in the last transfer position and started dead last & 28th in the feature.  Watson earned a well-deserved hard charger award with a 6^th place finish from his 28^th starting position.

After crashing into the wall while in 5^th place at Wednesday’s season opener; Stewart Friesen continued with a slow start on Thursday and missed the redraw and started 13^th with a 13^th place finish.  It seems highly unlikely that Stewart Friesen will go three nights in a row without a top 5 finish even if it is early in the season.  

Addison Bowman has been one of the busiest drivers on the grounds driving in every heat, consolation and as many features as he can get into.  Last night Bowman pulled off a double header and qualified for both features.  Addison ran 2 heats, 2 consolations and both features.

Addison Bowman and David Schilling have the new Wegner 427 “weekend warrior” motor which is the newest motor to enter STSS competition.   Schilling has qualified at his first two days of the Sunshine Swing and Bowman has qualified for one feature and missed the other feature by one position.

602 Crate Sportsmen Pit Notes

 For the second 602 crate race of the season the winner in victory lane did not win the race.  Brandon Watkins drove into victory lane only to be disqualified for a helper spring infraction at post-race tech inspection.  That gave the victory to second place Scott Hitchens.  Scott had a complete turnaround with his shock set-up from Wednesday and got the car into the redraw instead of the last chance consolation.  Scott has a unique setup since he is one of the last crates around still on bars.

The drama from Wednesday night tech inspections just finished up with both 1^st and 2^nd being disqualified and handing the win to 3^rd place finisher Steve Davis.  In all three cars were disqualified from Wednesday’s top 5 tech with 1^st, 2^nd and 5^th all being disqualified.  It ain’t over till it’s over these days.

 The crate final podium for Thursday was Scott Hitchens, Tom Princiotta and Joe Toth.

Tommy Princiotta missed qualifying by one position in the season opener on day one of the Sunshine Swing.  On their second day, the heat draw was much better, and Tommy made the redraw and started 5^th in the feature.  Tommy was able to hold off a hard charging Joe Toth for 2^nd place on a track that locked down on the bottom.

Tommy reflected “We made some big changes to our setup from yesterday and it made a big difference today.  We also had a lot better draw for the heat too which also helped.  I really liked the track conditions in the feature and it suited us well.  The track took rubber and we could hug the bottom.  I missed the gear in the feature. I really think if I had different gearing I would have had something for the top two for sure.”

Consistency is difficult to achieve night in and night out when you factor in redraws and the depth of competition in the 602 crate class.  The first and second finishers from Wednesday night had to take a provisional to make the feature on Thursday night.

Still two nights remain in the 2022 edition of the STSS Sunshine Swing at All-Tech Raceway, beginning on Friday night with $6,000 up for grabs for the 40-lap feature.

Friday, February 11 – All-Tech Raceway/Lake City, Fla. – STSS Modifieds 40 laps, $6,000 to win & STSS Crate 602 Sportsman 30 laps, $2,000 to win

Saturday, February 12 – All-Tech Raceway/Lake City, Fla.  – STSS Modifieds 50 laps, $8,000 to win & STSS Crate 602 Sportsman 30 laps, $2,000 to win