FATBOY ON THE FRONT ROW AT 5 FLAGS

Tommy Praytor Pensacola 5 Flags Speedway 5-20-11: After a 2 year lay off and having to wait a week for a rain delay Fatboy finally got to take the Final Destination Super Stock for another ride. “I said it was all about having fun and then as fast as you can hit the button on a stop watch it wasn’t anymore,” said Tommy “Reversing roles with Thomas was fun for both of us and for me really brought back some cool memories of Thomas spotting for me when he was 10. The Moose worked his butt of and gave me a great car and I probably left a at least 2 tenths on the table in qualifying.” The Fatman qualified 9^th and then the dreaded dice roll put him on the front row. Starting 9^th was fun, the front row was serious business. “My only shot was to get a good jump on the start and try to clear the pole sitter. I got a great start, maybe a little too good and race director Dan Spence made us redo the restart. Well everyone had seen my 1 time trick and they were all waiting on me the second time. Into turn 1 Thomas was screaming 3 wide your at the top. I knew it was going to be ugly.” The pole sitter bounced off of the Max Force machine 3 or 4 times and then the Fatman was up in the marbles falling backwards. The Moose found Tommy a spot to get down in around 8^th. A few laps later they were bouncing off Tommy and a pack of cars wrecked in turn 1. The Fatman got his Final Destination machine stopped without hitting anything but the race director determined Tommy was involved in the incident and now he would take up the tail end of the 16 car field. “I try to make sure Thomas keeps his cool on the radio after a tough deal and I didn’t set a very good example for him.” At the tail end the Fatman started to knock some of the rust off and started his march to the front. “After the first couple of laps I realized the group I was with was crazy and I joined the crowd. On my back up I think I hit just about everything but the lottery.” With 4 to go Tommy was up to 6^th and was looking for a top 5.  The final caution put Tommy on the outside lane for the final restart and the group he just passed was waiting for him. Hung out on the outside lane Tommy was shuffled back to 9^th. In the final laps he was able to pick a couple back off and finished 7^th. “I really had a good time, I absolutely sucked but I had a good time. Even after all these years we had a top 5 car and I just didn’t bring home the bacon. Thomas did a great job spotting for me. Now he knows how it feels to tell the driver the same thing over and over again and the driver not listen to you. Last week Vince Vaughn was in the stands to watch me race this week we had the “Snake”, Ken Stabler with us. The big stars come out when I drive! Seriously, the stars will be out this weekend with a huge Super Late Model double header on the coast.  There are whole bunch of Super Stock drivers that will be glad I’m back on the spotters stand for the Moose.”
 

Picture: Top-Tommy on the front row at 5 Flags. The Moose Ben and Andrew with Ken Stabler. Lots of pics being posted on Tommy’s Facebook page.