A little bit about a lot of things here on a Monday.....
Our prayers are with Joan Feller who was critically injured in a crash on the last lap of the Legend Car feature at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids Friday night. Jeremiah Davis with the Cedar Rapids Gazette provides the details.
Everybody has an opinion and it is always interesting to see just how different some people can formulate one after watching the same thing. Yes, the Sprint Invaders had a short field of cars at the Dubuque County Fair last Thursday night with just 13. It was a minimum two hour tow on a Thursday night for most of the series regulars (Tim Moore of Rock Island had the shortest drive for once and he was the last to arrive) and with the ASCS National Series and NSL event also running that night in eastern Nebraska there was little to no chance of having anybody BUT the series regulars show up. The hope that a car or two from Wisconsin or Minnesota might make an appearance did not materialize either so SIA board member Bart Schneiderman crafted a plan to put on as good of a show as possible for the big crowd on hand. And, in my obviously boased opinion as the series announcer for the evening, I thought that the Sprint Car portion of the show was pretty darn good providing much more action than I have seen at some other shows this season. This person's opinion was that the racing was pretty darn good and that the hope would be that the Invaders will return in 2016. While in this thread you will see that the user knox1 was not as impressed and somehow feels that booking the show well in advance should have produced more cars? He even mentions my statement about how the Jimmy Davies racing team had trouble getting the door open on their hauler and that we were fortunate that they did finally get the #99 out for John Schulz to drive since we were faced with a short field. Oh well, I think that there were more people who agreed with rusty21 than knox1 on the evening.
Oh yes, and then of course we have the folks on Hoseheads who want to dispute track size and preparation. Geesh, gotta love the AWP's!
Speaking of opinions, and of the internet forums, Johnny Oberthein thinks that I was much more opinionated when I used to write my "old school" columns for the now defunct Hawkeye Racing News. My opinion is that Johnny gets a thrill out of arguing with people on the internet, and my time is too valuable to participate with him.
Thanks for reading all these years Johnny! And for not being an AWP......
Through Jerry Van Sickel's Facebook page today I learned that the I-35 Speedway in Mason City is now closed for the remainder of 2015 and that the search for a new promoter is on for 2016. I am sure that everybody has their own opinion on this one, but hey this is my blog so you are going to get mine whether it is right or wrong. :)
Car counts have been really down in Mason City in 2016 and, to me at least, the track is the first victim of perhaps just too much racing up in that region with weekly shows running Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. By Sunday night, when it was time to go race at the big 1/2-mile in Mason City, drivers and likely fans as well were either worn out, had spent their racing budget for the week, or both! It will be interesting to see if that busy lineup in that area will return intact in 2016.
Another track that is rumored to be perhaps having its last race ever soon is the Iowa State Fair Speedway in Des Moines. And, if so, I am glad that I was there recently for the Sprint Car show that nearly filled the big grandstand just like the good ol' days. Arriving early that evening I went for a walk around the fairgrounds and when I came around the paddock area just off of turn four the memories came rushing back to me and I could see the cars of Bill Rice, Don Hoffman, Joe Merryfield, Stan Stover, Ed Sanger and so many more perched on open trailers waiting to sign in at the pit gate and to do battle in front of a big state fair crowd. It literally took my breath away and I stopped walking just so that I could soak it all in for a few more minutes. Obviously I do not have the many memories like my friends Barry Johnson, Craig Allender and so many more who have attended weekly races at Des Moines over the years, so if the old track goes like they say, it will be a tough pill to swallow. But after that walk, I have made my peace with it.
Two big Late Model shows coming up tonight and tomorrow night as the MLRA Late Models race for $10,000-to-win in Farley and West Liberty. I have to hand it to Keith Simmons as he is brave enough to take the risk and put up the big money even though he knows that in the days leading up to races like this all we seem to see is a bunch of negativity about who is, or isn't going to be there to race. For these two shows Simmons will use the standard MLRA qualifying method of drawing for heat race positions and then using passing points to make the main event. This means that there will be some "big name" drivers who will not attend as they would prefer the "I'm Fast, Start Me In Front" format, but my attitude is "so what if they are not there!" I would rather watch twenty regional drivers race under this format than to have five more "stars" show up and watch follow the leader racing action and it is my hope that many of you who read this feel the same. I can't make it to Farley tonight, but I am definitely looking forward to being in West Liberty on Tuesday and I hope to see you there!
Okay, it is obvious that I have been on the forums too much recently and that has made me cranky. I need to get over that before my two weeks in Knoxville begins this Thursday with the 360 Nationals.
See you again soon here on the Back Stretch!
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