April 7: First final

  Upon being congratulated for making his first promod final, Paul Gibbs replied: "I gave it away. I must have rolled deep into the lights." A red light did cost Paul and the Cuda Beast team their first event victory, Saturday night at Holiday Beach, but the race seems to have marked a turning point after for them.
    The weekend was a testament to the hard work of the Beast team -- Paul, Karen, Keith, and Louise, and two new guys, Wesley Walker and Michael Black from just down the road in Blue Ridge who have been welcome hands around the shop -- and not giving up.
    The two races -- Friday at Lassiter Mountain and Saturday at the Beach, to open the Central Alabama Promod Series -- were polar opposites. At Lassiter, the Beast never got down the track, in large part because of a malfunctioning timing computer. They lost in the semis after a first-round bye, and thrashed the car until 4 a.m. to fix the computer problem.
    Arriving at Holiday Beach, they pulled the transmission to try to find out why the Beast wouldn't stay in reverse (for each race, Paul had to hold it in gear with the shift lever). With timing computer fixed, Paul laid down a 4.26 to qualify fourth. He said  that was his only straight-as-a-string run; for all the others, the car was all over the place on a slick track, and he was constantly in and out of the throttle.
     Tim Segars, the winner at Lassiter, was again top qualifier and looked to sweep the races, but his 4.39, the quickest in the first round, lost to Bil Clanton's 4.40. Paul won with a 4.48 to set up the race pictured above. Paul beat Bil Clanton for the first time, 4.54 to 5.42, a pedal-fest for both drivers. Paul was particularly proud of that race, citing Clanton as one of the toughest racers to beat (and also good folks, as Bil and Ralph Clanton were among the people who helped the team sort out the transmission Saturday).
    That set up the final between Paul and Kenny Scott, who had qualified with a 4.47. Based on ETs to that point, Paul had Scott covered, but the red light negated the Beast's 4.35, while Scott ran a 5.27.
      Both tracks were new to the team. Holiday Beach has an incline at the end, and the Beast was scraping the front spoiler as it crossed the finish line and entered the shutoff area. Paul said he'll probably raise the ride height a half-inch or so next time. At Lassiter, Paul said he'd like to have more light.
     The next outing for the Beast will be May 10-11, back to Lassiter and the Beach for the second event of the Central Alabama series. There's a points program, and Paul should be at or near the top. The tracks should be well raced-in by then, and the weather warmer. Paul is passing up a race at Huntsville to put some new rods in the engine, and also a reverse gear.