WILLIAMSTON, S.C. – The Must See Racing Sprint Car Series presented by Engine Pro kicks off its 12th season this weekend at Anderson Motor Speedway.
Thursday night saw an open practice session during which 14 cars participated, 11 of which were officially timed. Friday night will be the first of two consecutive nights of racing at the speedway. It will be MSR’s first appearance to the three-eighths-mile, high-banked oval since 2018.
More cars are expected to arrive in time for Friday night’s event.
– Plant City, Fla., driver Troy DeCaire encountered several issues en route to Anderson Motor Speedway. In addition to trying to find scarce fuel to complete his journey, he lost a box and all its contents on I-75. DeCaire recovered all the contents despite dodging oncoming traffic as he attempted to recover the contents.
DeCaire arrived with only 45 minutes left in practice and ripped off the fastest lap of the day with a lap of 13.458 seconds. Fellow Floridian driver Joey “The Ace” Aguilar was second fastest on the day with a lap of 13.996 seconds.
An interesting side note on the two Florida drivers is the fact that both DeCaire and Aguilar chose to skip a Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series race this weekend in Auburndale, Fla. Both drivers are currently in the title Hunt. DeCaire and his car owners Ken and Theresa Statham are the 2019 SSSS champions, while Aguilar’s car owner Kirk Morgan is the 2020 SSSS champion car owner.
– The fuel shortage in the Southeast was a big topic of conversation. Nearly every team who made the trek either coming from Florida, or several Midwestern states, encountered issues along the way if they weren’t using diesel.
– Veteran Bangor, Mich., driver Jeff Bloom indicated before hot laps Thursday that he was entering his 55th consecutive seasons as a driver. Unfortunately, a driveline issue ended his night prematurely after only two laps. Bloom is expected to have his issues corrected in time for Friday’s season opener.
– Irvington, Ala., driver Dave Mader III had previously planned to compete in this weekend’s events. Mader was forced to withdraw from this weekend’s event after another commitment emerged. Mader is expected to rejoin the series before the season ends.
Mader had recently finished second in a recent ARCA event at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April.
– Former USAC sprint car competitor Steve Surniak is entered in the Mike Blake-owned No. 81 Dynamite Chassis. The duo looked impressive Thursday with the third quickest lap of the day.
Surniak, who now lives in Carlisle, Pa., drove for Blake last September at Jennerstown (Pa.) Speedway and had a solid run.
– Five-time MSR champion Jimmy McCune only turned 10 total laps in the practice session but still ended up fourth quick on the day. McCune explained he was on used tires and couldn’t tell how old and how many laps they had on them.
McCune has won all three previous Must See appearances at Anderson Motor Speedway and will be a contender for additional wins this weekend.
The times:
1. 36-Troy DeCaire, 13.458; 2. 11-Joey Aguilar, 13.996; 3. 81-Steve Surniak, 14.074; 4. 88-Jimmy McCune, 14.084; 5. 16-Nolan Allison, 14.097; 6. 8b-Adam Biltz, 14.097; 7. 9s-Charlie Schultz, 14.177; 8. 13L-Joe Liguori, 14.193; 9. 85-Rick Holley, 14.227; 10. 72s-Joe Speakman, 14.363; 11. 7-Tom Jewell, 14.486.