On October 20th at 7:00 PM, Two Fat Guys Sim Racing Promotions would make its’ long anticipated return to action with The Trucker’s Tangle 40. With over 50 drivers registered for the event, it was heavily anticipated that there would be a rather large field present, and there certainly was. 31 drivers in total entered the session with one thing in mind… winning. Heat race one would set some of the tone for much of the event with an absolute brawl for the 4th and final transfer spot.
Lap one would see a bold move in turn 3 that would prove that these drivers did not show up to make any friends, and by lap 2 they were going 3 wide before a small incident left sparks and one truck in the wall. Luckily all drivers collected themselves and continued, but the hard hitting action did not stop there. Nathan Waddell would collect the Jake Maynard Racing (JMR) Heat Race Winner Award for the first of four heat races with Patrick Solari in tow, a bit of foreshadowing to what the night had in store, with Derek Drymon and Jared Murphy holding onto the 3rd and 4th transfer spots.
It would be Tyler Jackson leading the charge into turn one in heat race number two with seven other screaming trucks on his tail. This heat race would remain much more tame until the end of lap 3, when competitor Ryan Hatch (running in 4th position at the time) would clip the inside wall in turn 4, evidently slowing his truck down enough for Cody Downard and Ty Dickenson in the 5th and 6th positions to begin making advances.
Hatch would drop to 5th by the back stretch, and 6th by the front stretch but would continue to battle hard against the very hungry drivers. Turn 3 would see Dickenson’s truck go into a four wheel slide on entry which would re-open the door for Hatch to reclaim 5th. Some contact in turn 3 on the following lap would result in Hatch going around, and all drivers would line up single file for a late race restart. Not much would happen from the restart to the checkered flag where Tyler Jackson would claim the second ‘JMR’ Heat Race Winner Award, Blake Dulgar would claim 2nd, and Michael Olsen and Cody Downard would hold onto the final 2 transfer spots.
League of Outlaws regular James Murphy would lead the field to the green flag for heat race 3 where a few trucks would struggle in turn 1 with an all too common push that would prove to become part of the challenge as the night carried on. Former DWRL owner Jim Reavis would take a first row seat to a textbook battle between Kane Williams and Taylor Vanden Bush for the 2nd position, fitted with side by side action, minor contact and respectful racing. In the end though, it was James Murphy who ran and hid with the JMR Heat Race Winner Award as Vanden Bush and K. Williams battled for the 2nd spot, with Reavis claiming the 4th and final transfer spot.
The 4th and final heat race was just as action packed as the first three with Joseph Pratt starting the show off of turn 4. As the field left turn 2, Joseph Pratt, Tyler Bickford and Matt Taylor would break away from the pack, but there were 4 trucks in contention for the 4th and final transfer spot. In turn 3, Cody Williams would slide up through the slick and Mitch Maynard would follow suit with Joshua Stewart on Maynard’s tail committing to the high side and Nathan Davis rolling through the bottom lane. Maynard and C. Williams would share some minor contact on the front stretch while battling for the 4th transfer spot as Stewart and Davis fought for 6th directly behind. The next 6 laps would see C. Williams on the top shelf and Maynard working the inside hub while side by side, an occasional mistake from either costing a valuable run. The field would see the white flag and Maynard would clear C. Williams enough to attempt a slide job in turn one, but with a low speed, contact was made. Joseph Pratt would claim the final JMR Heat Race Winner Award with Taylor, Bickford and Maynard receiving the other 4 transfer spots.
Nightfall was still early, but the venue’s lights were on and the C-Main was about to line up. Brent Beavers would control the start of the C-Main with Jeremy Akins to his outside and Donnie Watts directly behind. As the field hit turn one, Beavers would wash high and leave the door for Akins to pull off a textbook crossover for the lead with Watts holding onto 3rd. The feature would remain tame for a short time as the hard charging and hungry Lon Franks began knocking on Beavers’ back door from 3rd, two spots ahead of his 5th place starting spot. Beavers would wash high in 3 and 4, and Franks would take over the 2nd place position on the start of lap 3.
Akins would get a push on the top side at the start of the fourth lap, letting Franks and the rest of the bunch catch him, leading to Franks and Watts attempting a 3 wide ensemble down the back straight. Franks would hold the lead briefly through turn 3, but on the exit of four a racing deal between him and Watts would spell disaster for Franks as he took a real close look in our photographer’s eyes.
The field would return to green flag conditions with Franks now in 6th and Watts in 7th but this would not last for long. After a strong start by Franks and the top 4 trucks washing up in turn one and two, Franks saw the opportunity and took the bottom lane, advancing to the 3rd position by turn 3. A slide job by the leader Akins on Brent Beavers would lead to Akins, Beavers and Franks going 3 wide toward turn 1 for the lead. By turn 3, Akins would wash high and smack the wall but held onto it as Beavers and Franks clawed for the only available transfer spot. Beavers would fall back on the top side and it was Lon Franks emerging with the only transfer spot after a hard fought race between all drivers involved.
The B Main would roll off the grid with Jordan Miller and Cody Williams leading the trucks to the green with only one transfer spot available, they all knew they had to put everything on the line to make this happen. 8 trucks made their way to turn 1 with Miller and C. Williams holding a four truck length lead over third. The battle would be short lived, however as Nathan Davis in 3rd would commit to the bottom too soon at the start on lap two and blister the inner Armco barrier, resulting in a caution.
The field would quickly reset with Davis now parked on the infield, and it would be Cody Williams gaining the early advantage as Jordan Miller would fall back a few car length, letting Ryan Hatch and Ty Dickenson attempt to steal the 2nd spot. Hatch would catch C. Williams and contact would be made while engaging for the lead but both drivers would hold onto their trucks, but one lap later Hatch would get a push on the inside of C. Williams and both trucks would go high on the exit of four with Hatch stealing the lead to start lap 6.
C. Williams would muscle back to the inside of Hatch in turn 3 on lap 6 and the duo would bang doors all the way to the flag stand on the inside of the front stretch. On the exit of 2, C. Williams would barely clip the inside barrier and Hatch’s front end would climb the left rear of Williams’ truck, sending both into the outer fence on the back stretch and bringing out a caution, returning Jordan Miller to the lead. Hatch was considered at fault for the incident by race control and sent pit side for the remainder of the race. Miller would lead the field back to green flag conditions under a single file start with Ty Dickenson now in 2nd. Dickenson would wash high in 1 and Miller would gain over 6 truck lengths worth of a lead down the back stretch and cruise smooth to collect the only transfer spot.
The drivers would take to the track for a quick five minute warm up session before the A Main touched the grid and the drivers were turned loose for 40 laps. The field would set with Nathan Waddell leading a field of 17 other drivers. The starting order was as follows; (1st) Nathan Waddell, (2nd) Tyler Jackson, (3rd) James A Murphy, (4th) Joseph Pratt, (5th) Patrick L Solari, (6th) Blake Dulgar, (7th) Taylor Vanden Bush, (8th) Matt Taylor15, (9th) Derek Drymon, (10th) Michael Olsen5, (11th) Kane Williams, (12th) Tyler Bickford, (13th) Jared Murphy2, (14th) Cody Downard, (15th) Jim Reavis, (16th) Mitchell Maynard, (17th) Lon Franks, (18th) Jordan Miller6.
Nathan Waddell would light the fuse for the event, sending over 16,000 collective horsepower screaming into turn one. (See our video and just listen to that beautiful sound!)
The race would remain tight as the top two worked to pull away from the rest of the field. You could look anywhere and see drivers two or even three wide, pulling sliders and making slight contact as the tried to keep up with the leaders. Lap 5 would see the first caution of the night as an accordion effect would leave Kane Williams facing the inside wall in the same spot Lon Franks was during the C Main.
The field would set back to green and Waddell would pull to another lead with Joseph Pratt right there on his tail up until lap 11 when another caution came out, involving Kane Williams yet again on the opposite end of the speedway down in turn 2, clipping the inside barriers and spinning. The field barely got would back up before another caution on lap 14 would occur, this time including Cody Downard clipping the inside wall and spinning in turn 2 leaving Jordan Miller, Kane Williams and Lon Franks with nowhere to go. A longer caution would ensue as slight contact under pacing conditions led to retaliation by Michael Olsen, which sent the initial driver over the fence and into the pits. Olsen was met with an EOL penalty and the race restarted with the other driver rejoining the field a lap down before receiving their lap back.
The trucks up front all chased after Waddell and Pratt who were single file with only a few car lengths separating them. The rear of the field was thick with contact, traffic and three wide action as a gaggle of drivers from 12th to 17th all ran tightly trading off spots and pushing it three wide on multiple occasions. Eventually the field spaced out and there was space, during this time Michael Olsen tagged the inside barrier on lap 28, spun around but the field was saved from a caution by an almost immediate front end impact by Jordan Miller and quick thinking by Olsen to continue driving. Kane Williams would tag the inside barrier on lap 29 and bring out another caution, which would be determined as him fault by race control and would end his night after reaching the 2 spin limit.
The field would restart with 30 laps in the books and only 10 laps to go for race leader Nathan Waddell and Joseph Pratt still holding down that runner-up position. Patrick Solari the event’s defending champion was on the hunt in third and trying to make up as much ground as possible for a late race pass. Caution would come out once more for a huge crash on the front stretch near the rear of the field. Many trucks were involved, but the field reset quickly before clicking off the remaining laps.
The field would restart single file and Waddell would lead them all into 1 and 2. Pratt’s truck rode through the slick as a hungry Solari held onto the bottom and got alongside for that 2nd position. The next four laps would see a side by side battle for 2nd position as Waddell tried everything he could to pull away, but one final caution stacked everyone up for the last time and a 3 lap shootout with the defending champion now within striking distance.
A roar of life returned to the track as the trucks entered turn 1 with Solari doing everything he could to keep the pressure on Waddell. But it was Nathan Waddell who would hold off the defending champion Patrick Solari and become victorious in The 2nd Trucker’s Tangle 40, held at iRacing’s rendition of Lincoln Speedway.