Usually I would be busy watching the weather forecasts as we are now one day in front of the IMCA Frostbusters and four days away from the season opener for the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders, however an invitation last Fall to a destination wedding this weekend has me watching weather of a much different kind than what appears to be headed for the upper Midwest the next five days. Yes, I wish that I could be at all the events that are scheduled for the next four nights, but no I will not miss the new "drama" that seems to go with racing when less than perfect weather becomes a factor.
It literally made me sick to my stomach to see all of the comments on Facebook as Mike Van Genderen and the Lee County Speedway tried their best to beat the weather and get both days of the Spring Extravaganza into the books last weekend. First it was all of the naysayers preaching how there was no way that this show would be able to be run and sadly they were correct about Friday, but before they can go around saying "I told you so", they were wrong about Saturday. Yes, it was disappointing when they had to cancel Friday's racing shortly after 3 p.m. as it became obvious that the track was not going to iron in, but the only thing that management could have remotely been wrong about was being so confident in an earlier post stating that everything was going to be fine. I can understand that people were upset and there were some people who voiced their displeasure in a mature and respectful way, but some of the comments were just so incredibly stupid that it made me wonder if they were being made tongue in cheek. No, if the first night of a two-day show where both nights are separate shows gets cancelled, the second night does not pay double! Are you joking, or do you just not understand the concept of revenues and expenses?
Then on Saturday there were several people who must have earned their degree in Meterology overnight who implied that anybody who was planning on going to Donnellson that night must be an idiot who cannot read a radar. So how did that work out for you?
I was not able to attend Saturday's show, but I was so glad that Mike and the crew were able to race and that the pits were full and the stands were busy given all of the crap that was spewed on Facebook leading up to it. I have made a promise that I will not subject myself to reading the comments again or I may have a hard time looking at certain people in the eye.
Joe Kosiski and the folks at the I-80 Speedway didn't like the forecast six days out and so they pulled the plug on this coming weekend's Spring Meltdown featuring the MLRA Late Models. I don't blame him, I saw the forecast a few days ago as well and despite what all of the social media "experts" have to say not a single one of them have any money at risk in the decision. I don't like sitting in the stands at any kind of event when the wind is gusting up to forty miles per hour even if the temperatures are in the 80's, let alone the 40's or 50's.
Of course this then starts some people on the discussion of whether or not we should even have events scheduled before May due to the unpredictable Spring weather. Apparently these people have short memories or they just never heard that the Spring Nationals in Beatrice drew over 300 cars and that Saturday night's edition of the Thaw Brawl produced the biggest crowd ever at the LaSalle Speedway according to promoter Tony Izzo Jr.
It has been a long time since I have made it over to LaSalle and I was very impressed with the racing action on Friday night. After toying with some Sunday night racing last year the track that once ran a weekly Saturday night program has cut back to special events only in 2016 and hopefully the Thaw Brawl will be a nice start to a successful year on the balance sheet. Some tracks just are not in the right situation to have a weekly show so "specials only" may be something that we see more of going forward.
So by now I'm sure that you know the winners and the stories from around the region, but perhaps here are a couple of items that you might have missed.
Two of the best UMP Modified drivers in the country each recorded two victories over the weekend. Defending UMP National Champion Mike Harrison won both nights during the Thaw Brawl in LaSalle against solid fields while Quincy's Michael Long cleaned house around the St. Louis area winning Friday night at Tri-City Speedway and Saturday at I-55 Raceway.
There were only three UMP Late Models signed into race at the Clarksville Speedway in Tennessee Saturday night with veteran driver Richard Frost taking the win.
The NSL's move into the 360 Winged Sprint Car division got its start this past weekend with a double header at 81 Speedway near Wichita and it was Derek Hager of Marion, Arkansas, winning both nights. Saturday's show paid $10,000-to-win and he defeated the likes of Brian Brown and Danny Lasoski. Checking today's "Cash Bowl" standings though it would appear that only four drivers satisfied all of the requirements to earn points.
Jonathan Davenport won again this past weekend. That's not really big news any more, except he did it this time behind the wheel of Randy Weaver's car #116 to take the $4,000 top prize in Senoia, Georgia.
Other than the updated National Late Model Points below, that's all that I have this time around. Hopefully you will get to see some racing around here over the next five nights but, if a promoter should happen to make the decision to pull the plug, just remember that he paid for the right to make that call.
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