A Good Decision.....and more

A few thoughts here on the first Sunday of March.....

Todd Staley, the USMTS and the folks at the Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Nebraska, made a good decision on Tuesday when they pulled the plug on the two-day show that was scheduled for Friday and Saturday of this weekend. With the recent snow cover on the track and the forecasted weather it would have been brutal conditions for drivers and fans alike. I was in Omaha for business Friday evening and my original plan was to then head west to McCool, but with the temperature in the high 20's and a thirty mile per hour wind whistling out of the north, even if they would have been racing I would have headed for home instead! The show has been rescheduled for June 3rd and 4th.

The early cancellation gave drivers the option to head south for the Texas World Dirt Trach Championships at the dirt track just outside of Texas Motor Speedway where for the second week in a row Terry Phillips took home the big money by winning in his Modified. Recent USMTS winner John O. Whittington ran second while another Tour regular Rodney Sanders was sixth. In the SUPR sanctioned Late Model portion of the program another southwest Missouri based driver was the winner as Will Vaught outdistanced Chris Brown and Late Model rookie Morgan Bagley. I noted that West Liberty Iowa's Todd Hormel once again made the trip down to Texas to compete. Hormel is the classic "budget racer" often pulling his #69 Late Model to the local tracks on a flatbed trailer behind a pickup truck, but he gets the most out of what he has, stays out of trouble, and every once in awhile jumps up into the top ten. Todd had one fifth-place finish this past season and was a Late Model feature winner at Columbus Junction in 2005. In Texas on Saturday, as the lone representative from Iowa, Hormel finished eighth in the first heat race and was sixth in the first Last Chance Qualifer missing out on making the twenty-two car feature field.

On February 3rd promoter Kevin Gundaker made a forum post on stlracing.com titled "Lake Ozark Speedway 2011 Season Opener Saturday April 16th!" stating that the rules had been posted to the website and that a practice day would be held on April 10th. Just a month later he shocked mid-Missouri with the announcement that G&G Ozark Motorsports will cease operations at the speedway. So unless another party buys or leases the track there will be no racing at the beautiful facility that sits just to the north of the Lake of the Ozarks. Yes, it can be a tough draw to pull people out to the races from a resort area on a Saturday night, but I have always been impressed with the crowds on the nights that I have attended. Granted, most of these were for "special events" so maybe the weekly crowds were just not up to snuff, but this will leave at least eighty racers looking for another Saturday night venue.

Another mid-Missouri Saturday night track that looked like it would be dormant for 2010, 24 Raceway in Moberly may now have new life, but on Sunday nights. Stock Car driver Rick Girard of Columbia who got his feet wet last Fall running some shows in Memphis appears to being going "all in" as a promoter this season running the Scotland County Speedway on Saturday nights and 24 Raceway on Sundays.

Up in the northeast Iowa community of West Union where there just happens to be not one, but two dirt tracks, things have been interesting since August of 2010 when the fairgrounds track closed out its season earlier than originally planned. Apparently Lee Hansmeier, the owner of the shuttered Echo Valley Speedway, then hinted that his track might just re-open again in 2011 with a Friday night program only to have the fairboard announce this winter that they temselves would be running on Friday nights. And with a grandstand admission price of only five dollars!! On Thursday, this was posted to the Echo Valley Speedway website "It is very disappointing to me that early last fall we announced that Echo Valley would try running our weekly races on Friday Nights in 2011, only to find out 2 weeks ago that the Fayette County Fairboard was also going to race Friday nights with a lower than normal admission price. After countless sleepless nights I have finally figured out that there is no way I can compete with a tax supported and non-tax paying organization. Therefore, I must announce that Echo Valley will not race in 2011. Maybe we can have a special or two. The Banquet Center & Can Redemption Center will continue to operate as normal. Watch our website for upcoming new adventures at Echo Valley!!!"

So what has gotten in to Danica Patrick? After looking totally lost and overmatched in her 2010 NASCAR showings, she has definitely reversed her fortunes behind the wheel of a stock car in 2011 leading a lap under green in Daytona and finishing fourth yesterday in the Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas. Danica now ranks fourth in the Nationwide points standings although that will be short-lived when she gets back to her full Indy Car schedule. The young lady is proving that she is not just a marketing friendly pretty face and is indeed the talented race car driver that many people thought she would be. I love the new rule by NASCAR forcing a driver to choose which series championship he or she is competing for. It is nice to see drivers like Reed Sorenson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Jason Leffler at the top of the Nationwide Standings instead of the Cup invaders.

I must say that I am a new fan of 2011 ARCA series competitor Maryeve Dufault. What do you think Herb?

Wapello Iowa native Danny Breuer picked up a $1,250 check for running second in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series event at East Bay Raceway in Gibsonton Florida on February 26th. Breuer who has raced out of Troutman North Carolina for the past several years chased winner Phillip Cobb.

Many fans, friends and family celebrated the life of Johnny Johnson last Saturday at the Burlington Country Club. The man was a self-made success who had no trouble speaking his mind and he had a huge influence on the sport that he loved. Johnny was very instrumental in the growth and stability of Late Model racing locally and nationally through his participation, sponsorship and opinions. He himself did not start racing until he was in his early 40's and he was still going strong winning races in his 70's before his battle with Alzheimer's took over. It was said on Saturday, and I completely believe it to be true, that despite all of his accomplishments and success in business and in racing, he was the most proud of his four children and their own successes. May racing's "Man In Black" Rest in Peace and Pride.

With the postponement at Junction my first race of 2011 will now be at either Beatrice or Pevely depending of course upon the weather. This week we'll be supporting the Mt. Pleasant Panther boys as they return to the Iowa State Basketball tournament facing MOC Floyd Valley in the first round on Wednesday. Go Panthers!