(LDS) 2017 Smash Beer Get Smashed 108 Pre-Race

Qualifying Results:

FARC-Off eliminated for 2017

Chuck Johnson crossed the finish line 6th in the season finale here at Texas World last year to claim the FARC Lowe Dollar Series championship, having to beat his other four championship rivals to the stripe in order to do it under the unique playoff rules known as the FARC-Off, designed to include teams and drivers who couldn't make it to the track every week, but were fast in their few starts, in the championship fight among the top series regulars.

However, when the 2017 series calendar was released during the off-season, it also came with the announcement that there will not be another FARC-Off in 2017; the FARC Lowe Dollar Series title will once again be decided by a year-long points battle.

The FARC-Off format, which featured a knockout tournament over the last 7 races of the season that started with 15 drivers and narrowed the playing field down to 5 in a battle to the finish in the closing race, has been criticized by teams and fans alike for creating what they claimed was an artificial championship battle that rewarded the wrong competitors, as well as leaving teams and drivers without secure plans scrambling to put deals together for the final 7 races and maintain championship eligibility. Of the 15 drivers who qualified for the FARC-Off in 2016, only 9 of them were running the full schedule, and 3 of thepart-timers who qualified had to hop between 2 different rides during the tournament; Joshua Pacer (driving the Jonesport #88 and the Desert Star #83), Tristan Kristoph (#69; Wild West Racing and #68, Team Burr), and Johnson Clapp (#69, Wild West Racing, and #79, Kenn Groves Racing).

One controversial event influenced by the FARC-Off was Ashley Tucker's replacement by Mark Thompson in the M&J Racing #64; Thompson won 2 races for M&J to qualify, but the team could not provide an extra car for him at all 7 FARC-Off races, so Tucker found herself rideless after failing to qualify.

"It was a very hard call for the team," said FARC veteran Kevin Monroe, who returns for his 17th season with M&J this year, "Had [FARC] not said 'Okay, you don't need to run all the races to go for the title, just go out and win once or twice', had it just been the same rules as always, we would've never considered putting Mark in that car. I'm glad she found another good, secure ride, because she did not deserve to go through that. But the rules that they laid down put us in that bind."

Tristan Kristoph, who qualified for the FARC-Off with his victory at Road America for James West, infamously finished 10th in the opening race of the Round of 10 at DuQuoin in a John Burr-owned car, and was able to sit on that lone result to qualify for the Final Five thanks to the average finish eligibility rules. These tactice drew ire from those who claimed that the oft-sluggish Burr cars should not have been anywhere near the title fight.

Burr brushed off the heat; "It was a good system. It shuffled the deck and got guys up there you'd never get to see otherwise. We played by the rules. We figured if we couldn't keep up every race, then we'll just stay out of trouble and pick off the guys that don't. Everyone in that last race deserved to be there because they knew what they had to do. And hey, they guy who won [Chuck Johnson] showed up every week anyway, so I don't see why they still complained.

"But I guess they were loud enough to get it changed back, so now we've gotta work harder to get into that spotlight again."

Master Spark 4-Crown introduced at Texas World

When the green flag flies on this weekend's Smash Beer Get Smashed 108, the the stakes will be higher from the start, as the field will be fighting for double points the first of 4 times this season.

Master Spark Plugs came forward to introduce the new Master Spark 4-Crown, which shines a spotlight on the diversity of the FARC Lowe Dollar Series calendar by featuring one double-points race with a staggering 42-car starting field on each of the 4 track types that FARC will visit in 2017; speedways, short tracks, dirt tracks, and road courses.

The Master Spark 4-Crown will, again, kick off this weekend with the speedway race here at Texas World. The second double-points opportunity lies north of the border at the Duckroll Tires 150 on the road course at Mosport International Raceway in Ontario. The short track round of the 4-Crown will be held at Indianapolis Raceway Park for the running of the Lowe Dollar High Stakes 150, and then the final round will be a mud-slinger at the C9 Antifreeze 99 on DuQuoin State Fairgrounds' Magic Mile.

In addition to the doubled race points, all bonuses will be doubled as well. The Master Spark 4-Crown races will also feature 4 Wild Cards and 2 Promoter's Options in addition to the 36 cars that will time their way in.

Dwyer, Stater benefit from Wild Card spots

The tweaks made to the FARC Lowe Dollar Series' qualifying format in 2017 introduce the "Wild Card" spots, up to 4 positions that are randomly awarded to teams that fail to time their way in.

It didn't take long for the Wild Card system to save some fan-favorites who would have otherwise missed the show, as Bobby Dwyer and Todd Stater received Wild Card spots after having problems setting safe qualifying times for the season-opening Smash Beer Get Smashed 108.

Stater, veteran of FARC racing, put himself back into the spotlight by winning his first race with Dave Hetzel's newly-formed team in 2016 and leading the points for much of the year. He will get a second chance to pick up some speed in front of his fans this weekend by starting 40th with the second Wild Card awarded.

Fans will also be treated to Bobby Dwyer getting his first shot at gracing the FARC Lowe Dollar Series with the Dwyer family's legacy, as he received the first Wild Card and will start 39th in the Dale Clough Racing #00, which he will pilot at select races this season.

Billy Bob Bradburn will start 41st in the Smash Beer Get Smashed 108 as the third Wild Card, and 51 year-old Swiss rookie Breggium Antutonnen will start 42nd in his Master Sport Racing entry as the fourth Wild Card.

Master Sport Motorsports' two cars both qualify, albiet, under wildcards.

Alexa Lake in one of her four starts, qualified 10th. While the owner of Master Sport Motorsports, after having a mechanical issue of the tire kind, failed to qualify.

He managed to claim the fourth wildcard spot to his uttermost surprise. The Swiss driver claimed that his left rear tire began to go flat on his first timed lap. This issue caused his second lap to be waved off after the tire exploded out of turn two. No damage sustained to the car. His first lap qualifying time was three seconds out of the entire pack.

That being said, he was grateful that the lords of FARC had decided to grant the 61 year old Swiss driver a second chance.

Reporter: "Unknown rookie Brandon Chrasta in his FARC Lowe Dollar debut will start 4th in this year's season opener, how did that lap feel, Brandon?"
Me: "I think it's awesome! It's been a childhood dream of mine to race in this great Motorsport series, and now it's being realized! I just can't thank my team enough here, and this 42 is fast, look out for us in the race."
Reporter: "And that's Brandon Chrasta, obviously overjoyed with this 4th place qualifying run."

Kidd Has "Burning, Itching Sensation" On Return To Texas World

The 2016 season ended with a bitter taste for Jim Kidd at the FARC Lone Star Championships. Kidd started 11th on the grid but finished 27th with a busted radiator and faulty fuel injector in a bizarre pace lap crash that never should have happened. Kidd had found his way to the front of the pack and had a car that was a serious contender for the win. Kidd's teammate, Billy Bob Childers, started 13th, also led some laps, and had a car capable of challenging for the race win before ultimately finishing 4th despite being held up by backmarkers that influenced the outcome of the race.

Childers and Kidd claimed 6th and 7th respectively in the overall 2016 points championship, but that race ending was not what Kidd had envisioned. Kidd, who hails from Waco, Texas, wanted it badly.

"It has left me with a burning sensation to get back in the car and on that track in particular. I've been itching for this day since 2016 ended," Kidd stated.

2017 brings the dawn of a new season for Power Surge America and with it daunting new tasks. Building a new chassis and becoming acclimated to it in time for the start of the Smash Beer Get Smashed 108 at the Texas World Speedway located in College Station, Texas to name a couple. College Station is a mere hour and a half (91.4 miles) away from Waco and Kidd is very familiar with this track.

Using a Promoter's Option, Kidd blazed a trail to the outside of the front row in his #18 Blazing Sadddles Hemorrhoid Ointment car.

"We've struggled with our setup preparations," Bart Black, crew chief of the #18 car stated.

"Oh yeah we did", Kidd agreed.

"Our early attempts at a setup went through several preparations," Black expounded. "Preparations 1 through 7 were a complete failure. But now, ladies and gentlemen, we finally have a working setup, which we shall call... Preparation 8."

"On the whole Preparation 8 feels good," Kidd corroborated.

"You sure about that?" Black joked.

"No, I totally agree with you. Preparation 8 does feel good... on the whole," Kidd responded.

There you have it. Maybe Preparation 8 will be able to sooth Jim Kidd's itch and burning desire to win the Smash Beer Get Smashed 108.

Preparation 8....

Timothy Ruiz and Xavier Ruiz News at Texas

Timothy Ruiz, the self proclaim rookie driver, start this season off with a bang.

Spoiler:

Timothy was shaken by his position in the grid. "I...I have no word....I was not expecting to qualify well, let alone around the front." Timothy said. As you recall, Ruiz scored 2 top 10 in a single double event and crashed out in other race. Rex Ruiz, Timothy and Xavier's dad, would comment on Timothy's position. "I can't be more prouder for Timothy's effort." After unable to run in 2015 and most of 2016, Timothy would start his quote on quote "rookie year" with a solid start.

While it's all and good for Timothy Ruiz's side, things can't be said the same Xavier Ruiz, Timothy's older brother. Xavier bragged that he would dominate the qualifying and take the pole.

Spoiler:

Xavier was distraught and had some...choice words about it. "Son of a ***** *****, Why the **** did that **** happen to me! The car is the mother***** best **** around with a god damn pig!" Xavier said. Needless to say...he's not happy with the result. We'll see if Xavier will have a bounce back later on as Timothy will start in the front of the field.

Collteir "Incredibly Ready" to start rookie FARC season
Maine driver Aaron Collteir may have qualified a decent 23rd, but if you were to ask him about it you'd think he won the pole.
"I'm honesty incredibly ready. Bill, Charlie and everyone else back in Wisconsin worked their -excuse me, their asses- off to set this car up. I'm just glad we're in!"
Sponsorship and lack of equipment will keep the team limited to a half season; however, the team is expected to be fairly competitive.

Lake confident, Antutonnen ready.
After a great qualifying run, Alexa Lake told reporters that she was undoubtebly ready and confident that she'd pull a great showing on her first of four races. "I've got a feeling for this car! It's going to be one world of fun, out there!"

She noted to the reporters that there was a small leak in the transmission, but, the transmission after being patched, blew out anyways in the Happy Hour segment. She has replaced the transmission and is ready to go!

Antutonnen, on the other hand, seemed nonchalant about his tyre failure. While coming around turn 4, his left front tyre exploded and he clapped the wall hard on the back end. Beyond reparable. He went to his back-up and simply stated "This will do."

Questions arose to Antutonnen on his earning of the fourth and final wildcard spot. To which he all replied "I believe in myself, and I am confident that my [Cedrik] Waalwer and [Alexa] Lake will take care of it. I am very confident that when I am absent the car, Waalwer will do me proud."

Of course, he failed to mention that he was in the race. Stay tuned for more!

36 Year Old Short Track Veteran gears up for the big season
Rick Forest, the independent owner/driver and short track star has high hopes for the 2017 season after his 2016 campaign was almost over as quickly as it started.

" Yeah, our Spark Energy Drink Lycoia has a fair bit of speed in it this week, and I'm just hoping to keep it in one piece and gain experience in these FARC Lowe Dollar Series cars. They are a lot different than what I'm used to driving, but we have made big preparations over the off season, and I'm looking forward to what our first full time affair will bring," Said a very determined Rick Forest.

Rick Forest and his family owned outfit switched from Saar to Lycoia over the off-season, and along with a new partnership with Spark Energy Drinks, the team hopes to make up for their torrid initial season. The 36 year old veteran will roll off outside row 6 on race day.