Saturday, March 29, 2014

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.....

With sunny skies and the warmest temperatures in the past six months in the forecast this Sunday, March 30th, is now a very busy one on the racing schedule as promoters try to get a show in. And, with the extended forecast for the week ahead, it just might be the only racing that we see for a bit. Now that doesn't mean that there isn't some good action going on tonight (Saturday) as well!

One event that has not been effected by this week's weather has been the annual King of America event down in Humboldt, Kansas, as Todd Staley and the speedway crew has packed the pits with 93 Modifieds attempting to qualify over the past two nights. Defending USMTS champion Rodney Sanders will start from the pole of tonight's grand finale that will pay $10,000-to-win. The USRA Iron Man Challenge B-Mods have also been in action with more than sixty drivers in competition.

The Lee County Speedway in Donnellson was originally scheduled to run its Spring Extravaganza this weekend on Friday and Saturday, but earlier in the week promoter Mike VanGenderen checked the weather forecast and slid the show back one day each. Racing tonight will start at 6 p.m. then on Sunday another full program of Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts will get underway at 4 p.m.

Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City pushed its season opener from Friday night to this Sunday afternoon. Promoter Mike Johnson will open up his other facility, I-35 Speedway in Winston, Missouri, tonight.

Late Model fans have their sights set on the La Salle Speedway this weekend for the annual Thaw Brawl where the original schedule called for a $2,000-to-win show on Friday night and the $15,000-to-win headliner on Saturday night. I had all the cold weather gear loaded and ready to go yesterday, but learned late in the morning that the Friday show had been moved to Sunday. The big money race will still be run tonight.

My destination on Sunday will be 34 Raceway near Burlington where the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders will kickoff their 2014 schedule. The 360 c.i. Winged Sprint Car organization is coming off one of its most successful seasons ever in 2013 with solid car counts and great racing throughout and I am excited to see the sprints hit the high-banks on Sunday evening. Hot laps will get underway at 5:30 with racing to follow and the program will also feature the Mod Lites, Midget Lites and 4 Cylinders. Hope to see you there!

The warm weather looks to be short-lived though as my favorite meteorologist Terry Swails is even hinting at a potential snowstorm for Wednesday and Thursday. That forecast has prompted IMCA to push back its four-race Frostbuster series one week with Oskaloosa kicking things off on Thursday April 10th. There still several special events on the schedule for the weekend of April 4th so we will have to see how the weather shakes out. The good thing is that we are now at the point where there are plenty of races to choose from around the region so if the weather is kind to just one, it will be time to go racing!!

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