Sunday, September 2, 2018

Euro Elite 1: Late mechanical problem makes Said Ismail only retiree in series debut at Monza

Said Ismail picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Sun Energy Whelen Euro Elite 1 career in the Round 1 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza when his #88 MSTRC Chevrolet fell out with camshaft problems after completing 5 of the 7 laps.

The finish came in his 1st career start. In the SCRL Sun Energy Whelen Euro Elite 1, it's the 1st for car #88 and the 1st for reason by camshaft. Across all the series in the SCRL, it's the 11th for the #88 and 26th for reason by camshaft.

With the announcement that the SCRL was bringing back the Whelen Series, three smaller series was created for those who didn't sign up in time for the main series; the SCRL Snap-On Tools Whelen Southern Series and the SCRL Sun Energy Whelen Euro Elite 1 and 2 divisions, which would be run across the pond in Europe. Unlike the Euro 2 division, the main Euro division filled up in near record time, a entry list of 24 drivers strong, rookies such as Mark Owens, Floyd Wilson and Hasan Oven, well known veterans such as Nitahbk, Marcus Saatchi and Alexander Rowe as well as one time SCRL NASCAR Legends champion Bulldog67.

On race day, Ismail would roll off starting in the 17th spot while the #98 Wave Energy Chevrolet of Muhammad Zain Abdullah rolled off the grid in the final spot. When the green flag came out, Abdullah quickly knocked the #65 Bobcat of Buffalo / Husky Dodge of Floyd Wilson into the final spot, a position he would hold till Turn 5 when the #51 Bobcat of Buffalo Dodge of Toby Fox took the final spot and it was a spot he would remain in until drivers exited Turn 9 when the #83 Food Country USA Dodge of Han DeVice pulled onto pit road, the driver reporting a flat right front tire. With DeVice nearly a half lap down by lap two, if the driver would have remained there, it would have been his first career last place finish.

However with two laps to go while running in 13th, the #88 MSTRC Chevrolet of Said Ismail began to smoke as the driver pulled to the outside of the track, allowing for everyone behind him to pass as the driver limped back to pit road, pulling into the garage that was just before the start/finish line. The team lifted the hood and quickly found that the camshaft was broken, and due to only two laps remaining, decided to park the car, with the car being listed as "out" by the time the white flag was flown, around the same time the car was knocked back to last place.

The remaining Bottom Five finished on the same lap as the race leaders; 23rd was the aforementioned #83 of Han DeVice, 22nd was the #31 Blackwells Auto Chevrolet of Marcus Saatchi, 21st was the aforementioned #51 of Toby Fox and 20th was the aforementioned #65 of Floyd Wilson.

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first time the #88 has finished last at Monza as well as in a Euro Elite 1 race.
*This is the first time a driver has finished last due to camshaft problems since July 11, 2018 in the SCRL Wrangler Jeans Busch Grand National Series when Connor Hurley completed 16 of the 37 laps of the Darlington 250 at the Darlington Raceway.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
24) #88-Said Ismail / 5 laps / camshaft
23) #83-Han DeVice / 7 laps / running
22) #31-Marcus Saatchi / 7 laps / running
21) #51-Toby Fox / 7 laps / running
20) #65-Floyd Wilson / 7 laps / running

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