If you read my blog from yesterday you will see that I let the weather forecast effect my decision on whether or not to make the trip to Malden. I am happy to report that the weather held off and the track was able to run their big USCS Sprint and Modified show. Looks like they had well over twenty 410 Sprints in attendance with Marshall Skinner taking the win over Derek Hagar, Jim Moughan, Tommy Worley and Chris Williams. Robert Powers kept the Modified trophy in Missouri with Mississippi's Chris Moore in second and Tennessee's Hunter Rasdon in third. Paul Reeder and Austin Matthews completed the top five. This event kicks off the 2010 All Missouri Points chase and I guess that I will have to try to make my first trip to Malden at some other point down the line.
Yes, I could have hit the road and seen some racing yesterday, but as you'll see in my Saturday blog I still had a great day and it was topped off by the big upset that was pulled off by the Northern Iowa Panthers over top-ranked Kansas. My son Morgan played against Ali Farokmanesh at a couple of camps when he was in high school and Mo said then that this kid was a player to keep our eye on. We saw him play some high school games for Iowa City West and he always played with great confidence, so it was no surprise when he stepped up and took the shot that had just about everybody watching saying "nooooooo, pull it out and burn some clock". Ali knew that he would bury it, and when he did the Panthers buried Kansas. I am looking forward to seeing if the Panthers can make that next step to the "Elite Eight", they are definitely one of the best of several cinderella stories in this year's tournament.
The World of Outlaw Late Models had two shows this weekend with Darrell Lanigan winning at Ocala Florida and young Austin Hubbard taking the win at Screven Speedway in southern Georgia. For Hubbard it was his first career win with the Outlaws and it is a good bet that there will be many more to come. Iowa's Jill George who is competing for the Rookie-of-the-Year title on the 2010 WoO schedule finished 19th at Ocala, one spot behind another female competitor April Farmer, and she did not make the feature at Screven finishing sixth in the first B-Main. Defending champ Josh Richards holds the point lead after this weekend while Jill is tied for 16th in the standings with Jordan Bland. The Outlaws head to Texas for a doubleheader this coming weekend at Battleground Speedway and Lone Star Speedway.
The World of Outlaw Sprints ran a doubleheader at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap Tennessee, near Bristol, with Joey Saldana winning Friday night and current point leader Jason Meyers taking the Saturday victory. Sprint Cup star Kasey Kahne was in action on Friday and set quick time blazing around the VERY high-banked 3/8-mile in just 10.258 seconds. Kahne finished 19th in the main event, but one of his team drivers had an impressive weekend. Brad Sweet had never even seen the place before pulling in Friday night, but he ran fourth on Friday and third on Saturday. It was notable that Jason Meyers' quick-time on Saturday night was nearly a full second and a half slower than Kahne's quick time on Friday. The WoO Sprints next event is at Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, Oklahoma, on April 10th.
Great to see former dirt racer Justin Allgaier earn his first win on the Nationwide Series at Bristol yesterday. No surprise that some dirt track experience would payoff on the high-banked half-mile.
Good news, the snow has melted here and the forecast calls for warmer and drier conditions this week. Hopefully this means that we will be able to kickoff the local racing schedule over the next few weeks.
Be Positive, Support The Sport!
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