Snow in Iowa on March 25th is not that unusual. Snow in St. Louis on March 25th however is very much out of the ordinary and with the forecast calling for a wintry mix, the plug was pulled on this weekend's UMP Roundup/Party In Pevely mid-week. Of course, in true AWP fashion, there were people on the STLRacing forum who right away called the decision into question once again showing that even when a promoter makes a good call, the internet experts will pick it apart.
I heard on a Radio Iowa news segment this week that for the past three years there has been at least one location in Iowa that has received an inch or more of snow in April, so we are not likely out of the woods yet.
As I worked through the 2000 through 2005 race seasons this past year compiling the All Iowa Points it confirmed what I had thought all along. More years than not we lose a lot of races to the weather here in the upper Midwest during April and May, yet every year we act like it is a unique phenomenon. Holding early season races holds a much higher risk to reward ratio for the promoters as they run a greater risk of having a show negatively impacted, or cancelled by the weather. But, if they catch a mild and sunny day, the race-starved fans flock to the stands to provide that early season "reward" that all promoters need to get their season off to a good start. Race fans are a fickle bunch though, as when a race that is scheduled for early April and it gets wiped out by a cold rain there is always somebody saying how stupid it was to schedule a show so early in the first place. I'd like to think that the silent majority still feels thankful that the promoter would take that risk! Let's hope that this year's risk-takers are handsomely rewarded.
Kudos to Iowa Late Model shoe Chad Simpson who pulled out to Florence, Kentucky, last Saturday for the $5,000-to-win Spring 50 and finished fifth behind Eddie Carrier Jr., Scott James, Don O'Neal and Rod Conley. It was also noteworthy that teenager Bobby Pierce of Danville, Illinois, finished seventh.
Probably the biggest news in racing this week was the announcement that National Speed Sport News would no longer be found in the mailbox of its subscribers after more than seventy years in business. At first I was surprised by the news, but after thinking about it based upon my own experience with NSSN it made sense. I was a subscriber on a couple of occasions back in the 1990's and back then it was the place to go if you wanted to get news on NASCAR, Indy Car, IMSA, Formula One, etc. and I am assuming (since I haven't even looked at a copy over the past few years) that this remained their focus until the end. I also subscribed to a host of other regional papers at that time and frankly there were many weeks during the heart of the season where I would only crack open the Speed Sport to scan through Chris Economacki's column to see if there were any names from short-track racing mentioned. If I could have subscribed to Speed Sport from October through March only, when it was weekly while the regionals went part-time, then I would have, especially to catch Ron Hedger's "SuperFan" columns (that's how I got to know Gary Storey, Ed Reichert, etc.) in January and February. But they didn't offer the winter-only concept and so I let it lapse as I could get my NASCAR news from the national media and this new thing they called "the web", and I frankly couldn't give a crap about Formula One and IMSA (sorry Barry).
The question now is this. With the grand-daddy of all racing papers unplugging the presses will the remaining regionals be like dominos and follow suit, or will they find a way to capture and maintain an audience of subscribers and advertisers to survive and perhaps even grow? Newspapers have a heck of a lot more costs to cover than us internet jockeys and it is extremely tough to get racing promoters and businesses to spend money right now on advertising. PositivelyRacing.com averaged 7,000 unique visitors and just under 16,000 visits per month during the 2010 racing season, yet we have not convinced anybody yet that it would be worth $150 to have an ad on the site for the entire 2011 season. Can you imagine how tough of a sell it is for a paper with 2,500 subscribers to try to get the same amount for an ad in just one issue? And as a true sign of the times, in the press release announcing the end of Speed Sports' weekly publication, they did point out that the online edition would continue.
Illegally treated tires popped into the news again this week as the Carolina Clash Late Model series disqualified three drivers from their March 12th event at Carolina Speedway after tests indicated the issue. Race winner Ricky Weeks, third-place finisher Ross Bailes and Dustin Mitchell who finished eighth in the original rundown are all appealing the decision.
With the weather taking away any thoughts of going racing this weekend in our area make sure you check to see who might be having car shows near you. I plan on heading down to the Westland Mall in West Burlington on Saturday for 34 Raceway's annual show and remember that it is a Saturday-only show this year. Hope to see you there and I'll plan on putting some photos up here when I get back to the computer.
As we head into this non-racing weekend here are the current Florida Late Model point standings after Speedweeks and a couple of weekly shows at East Bay.
1 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg TN 31
2 Billy Moyer Batesville AR 23
3 Don O'Neal Martinsville IN 20
4 Jimmy Owens Newport TN 14
5 Jimmy Mars Elk Mound WI 13
6 Brady Smith Solon Springs WI 11
7 Austin Hubbard Seaford DE 10
8 Bryan Bernhardt Clearwater 10
9 Travis Varnadore Dover 8
10 Josh Richards Shinnston WV 7
11 Jason Feger Bloomington IL 6
12 Bub McCool Vicksburg MS 5
13 Brad Neat Dunville KY 5
14 Rick Eckert York PA 5
15 Tim McCreadie Watertown NY 5
16 Tyler Reddick Corning CA 5
17 Dan Schlieper Sullivan WI 4
18 Dennis Erb Jr. Carpentersville IL 4
19 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville FL 4
20 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville GA 4
21 Chris Madden Grays Court SC 3
22 Eddie Carrier Jr. Salt Rock WV 3
23 Maverick Varnadore 3
24 Steve Francis Ashland KY 3
25 Steve Mathis 3
26 David Pollen Jr. 2
27 David Breazeale Four Corners MS 2
28 Jared Landers Batesville AR 2
29 Roger Crouse 2
30 Ryan Unzicker El Paso IL 2
31 Vic Coffey Caledonia NY 2
32 Wendell Wallace Greenbriar AR 2
33 David Schmauss Tampa 1
34 Shan Smith 1
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