1.17.09 Strong indoor showing for Kot

Atlantic City, NJ
The 2009 Gambler's Classic was starting to shape up well for Jeff Kot in the #95 TYPHOON digital Studio/Behrent's Performance Warehouse entry. Practice went well and the team was set for single car time trials. Kot took the green flag, turns one and two were strong with a fast lap being put down so far. entering turn three Kot's throttle stuck wide open toward the turn three wall. Jeff was able to slow the car enough where he barley made contact with the front right tire. The skid marks started at the entry to turn three and continued all the way to the wall. The throttle return spring failed on the 95 and cost Jeff any chance at qualifying well. At the end of time trials Kot found himself near the bottom of the list. Making the feature race in two days didn't look too promising.

Jeff would have to start last in 3 races and somehow make it to the top transfer positions. In race one, The Eliminator race, Kot would find himself last and would have to race his way to at least 4th to transfer to the next Eliminator race. With the green flag in the air Kot wasted no time moving up. In one lap he passed three cars, the 95 was hooked up. Before long Kot found him in position to attempt to win the race. Kot was sitting second when the race ended under caution. He had qualified for the next round.

Eliminator Race #2 was next. Kot would be stating last again with even more cars in the field. In this racing format, each lap they remove the last place car. If you spin or wreck you are out also. Knowing that he would be the first car to get taken off the tack had Kot pushing himself and his car on the verge of wrecking. Jeff was able to avoid some bad wrecks and make some much need passes to work his way to the point. It was a format that had fans on the edge of their seats and drivers trying to survive the aggressive race. Not only did Kot get to the front but he finished third and once again had a car that was extremely strong.
Making the transfer through the second Eliminator race had Kot breathing a bit easier. He was use to the next format...final heat race to make it into the A main for the second consecutive time. Kot was buried in the field and had to make it to third again and if he did, he was into the main show. A first lap wreck, which Kot avoided, took out a few good cars. On the next restart Kot started moving through the field again. There were some close calls and some cars being torn up. Kot again worked his way to the third position and qualified for the A Main Feature.

The team was pumped to have pulled off what most people thought wouldn't happen, including their driver. Jeff knew it was a long shot but focused on one race at a time. Finally a few minutes to joke around with the other drivers who made the A Main. A lot of champions from all over the racing world including NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Modified Champion, last years winner of the event, 2 previous winners of the AC event and Billy Pauch who has over 600 wins (also won Friday night's A Main) and Jeff's teammate for the third straight year. Kot was introduced starting in the 23rd position to the sold out crowd. It was finally time to try and win this A Main event. Jeff again avoided a few big wrecks while stopping for another wreck, when he was slammed from behind causing him to lose some positions. Once the racing started again Jeff worked his way all the way up to sixth place and looked to have a shot at winning the event before a blown brake line forced him out of the event with only a few laps remaining. It was frustrating to have the night end on a part failure but logging more laps than anyone all weekend had taken it's toll on the #95. Kot finished in the event with a top 10 and was pretty pleased how the weekend ended after such a rough start.
Jeff wanted to thank all his fans that he saw during fanfest on the track, Dave for all his great action shots on the track and the team for preparing the car so quickly between events. It's a great way to start the season!