The sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky and there is absolutely no mention of even a possibility of rain here in Dubuque this morning, just twenty miles away from the Farley Speedway where the 47th Annual Yankee Dirt Classic will be held tonight featuring the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models and the XSAN Hawkeye Dirt Tour IMCA Modifieds. Sport Mods, Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks will also be in action. Yes, it will be a bit colder than normal for this time of year, so bundle up and come on out for a full night of action beginning at 6:30.
I am doing my usual Fall Saturday morning routine jumping back and forth between listening to Track Talk with the Racin' Boys on the internet and watching College Game Day on ESPN. If you are in that same routine then it would have been no surprise to you to hear Scott and Kirk talk about Kyle Larson for about five minutes and speculate on how he would have had a win and made the Chase if he would have been driving for Hendrick. They then concluded that it is still likely that he will win one of the ten remaining races on this year's Sprint Cup schedule. One of these days, man, one of these days.....
Would you have ever thought that College Game Day would be broadcast from a location where the day's game featured the University of Incarnate Word?
This is the first Notebook entry since my good friend Ryan Clark ended his fifteen year run as the track announcer at the Independence Motor Speedway and, while he would have never wanted to have the spotlight, I thought that it was great that the track and his friends paid tribute to him on his final night. A great voice, a quick wit and an incredible passion for dirt track racing makes Ryan one of the best announcers that you will find anywhere and while he will no longer work at Independence on a weekly basis, you will still get to hear him from time to time at tracks, likely including Independence, when he fills in for somebody and at special events such as the IMCA Super Nationals. And not only is Ryan a great announcer, he might just be an even better writer and Barry and I are thrilled to have him associated with us at Positively Racing with his In Staging blog. Congratulations Ryan and enjoy the new found flexibility in your schedule, I will look forward to running into you more often in 2015.
My favorite Sprint Car driver made a major announcement a couple of weeks ago. Effectively immediately Sammy Swindell has retired from Sprint Car racing, that's it, cold turkey. The only racing that he plans to do from here on out will be the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and while I could try to put together some words to honor the driver that I pulled for over the past three decades, I could not even come close to the tribute that freelance writer Troy Harrison put forth this week, so whether you loved "Slammin' Sammy" or hated him I encourage you to click this link and re-live the Hall of Fame caliber career of Sammy Swindell.
Ryan Bowers made an impressive debut with the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders Thursday night driving around Austin Johnson and Bret Tripplett in the final six laps to take the $1,500 win during the Yankee Dirt Classic at the Farley Speedway, but the bigger conversation in the Sprint Car pits was the continuing development of a potential new 410 Sprint Car series that would run throughout the upper Midwest and would pay out an amazing point fund with the champion taking $75,000 and the tenth place driver still making as much as $15,000. A list of drivers who are potentially committed to this series was being shared and if everything falls into place this will be something special. Is it a viable concept? Does it have the financial backing needed to pay out these kind of numbers? Well, how much money did someone have to spend to support two World of Outlaw teams over the past several years?
Up until this week I thought that I would be spending next Saturday night, September 20th, at the Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa working a Sprint Invaders show, but when the track cancelled that date it opened me up to an impressive list of opportunities. My shortest trip would be to go to the Davenport Speedway for the Deery show at a facility that has one of the strongest IMCA Late Model weekly programs that you will find anywhere. Todd Staley and his USRA/USMTS crew will be busy with the Featherlite Fall Jamboree at the Deer Creek Speedway, an event that I ave always wanted to take in at some point and the Adams County Speedway in Corning features their Pro Am/Stock Car division with "The Tradition", another event that has been on my bucket list for some time now. Big money will be on the line during the World Nationals at the Marshalltown Speedway as well as during the Fall Brawl at the I-80 Speedway in southeast Nebraska. Peoria, Raceway Park, Tri-City Speedway, Elko, Beaver Dam, Red Cedar and season championship night at the Clarke County Speedway in Osceola would also be great choices so I am going to take my time, watch the weather, and perhaps make my decision as late as Saturday morning. I do know that on Wednesday night the 17th I will be in Oskaloosa for season championship night at the Southern Iowa Speedway and then on Sunday night the Quincy Raceways will host the MOWA 410 Sprints.
Plenty of racing still to be found, get out and enjoy the show of your choice!
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