Untitled - Chase`n Race`n Online

Once a year, drivers from all over the southeast tune up those Limited and Open motors for one
of my favorite events of the year, the Otis Merritt Memorial, otherwise known as the Big O Tribute. While
Otis, or Big O as he was affectionately known, is no
longer with us, he left a legacy of excellent machine
work, and awesome horsepower produced in countless
Limiteds and Opens. But most importantly, Mr. Merritt
was a good man who lived a life worthy of celebrating,
and that's why every year, right around his birthday in
August, we crank up the power in his honor!
This year's event saw $5000 being paid out in
not one, but two classes, Pro Limited, and the Big O
Tribute Open Race! Anytime we pull out these monster
motors, it's exciting, but no one could have predicted
the fireworks that would go down on this warm September night.
For the Pro Limited 25 lap feature, thirty karts
lined up to take the green flag. Pole man, team Platinum driver Justin McDonald came out of the gate
strong, but with five to go, it became abundantly clear
that Brandon Owen was going to be there at the end.
With a straightaway lead for the duo, and only two laps
to go, it appeared that this main would be settled between the two. But when McDonald and Owen sailed
two tenths over Brett Miller, and Jamie Knopf. Keaton
Harrelson, and Dustin Day capped the top five.
The crown jewel of this event is the Open Modified Big O feature. With thirty heavy hitters and over
1100 total horsepower on the grid, you know it's gonna
be a good one; 25 laps with a break at lap 15 for fuel,
followed by a 10 lap shootout to the finish. As it usually goes in these segmented races, the top 5 seemed
mostly content to "play nice", with a lot of giving, and
not a lot of risk taking.
into turn three, Owen appeared to get more of a run
than he bargained for. The pair tangled, and there was
just no saving it, as the two spun off of four to watch the
last lap from the sidelines. Meanwhile, Donnie Nall who
had been cruising quietly back in the third spot, inherited the lead and went on to capture the win by almost
At the break, it was Pole man Daniel Armstrong driving
the pink Dale Johnson Motorsports #16 in honor of
Shane Byers and Breast Cancer Awareness, followed
by the Charger of Bryan VonCannon, and the big red
Ultramax of Jerry Mullis. Early hard charger Brandon
Owen and the always strong Jonathan Hickman were
lurking quietly in the 4th and 5th spots.
When the green dropped on the final 10 laps,
the top five went to work with a lot less giving, and a
lot more rubbin', or more like beating and banging. As
the laps wound down, with Armstrong still out front, and
Owen sneaking into that runner up spot, it appeared
that the stage was set for a knock down drag out. But,
as we learned earlier, things don't always go as expected. With 23 laps complete, all led by Armstrong,
the throttle cable on the #3 Phantom Triton snapped!
Owen slid by on the way to the 2012 Big O Tribute title!
VonCannon, Hickman, Eric Capps, and Jerry Mullis
chased Owen to the line.
Boomer Halk and Jim Sutton once again spent
an incredible amount of time and effort to put on a good
quality event, not only for Otis, but also for the racers.
Were there issues with the racing surface? Yes. But
did Boomer and promoter Mackie Flood do what they
had to do to give us a good racing surface? Yes. I absolutely cannot finish off this article without a giant tip
of the hat to John Prince, who in the middle of a day
of racing with his own son, William (who handily won
Pro Blue, I might add), spent two and a half hours on
the motor grader working a minor miracle on that race
track. If you're in the Augusta area and are in need of
a grading contractor, my suggestion to you is to give
John a call. It was a long day, night, and morning, but
as usual, it was one of the most exciting, earsplitting,
hair raising events of the year, and it was well worth it.
I think the "Big O" himself would've been proud.