Waiting and watching the weather as I toss out this Notebook entry hoping to go to the opening night of the Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals. The qualifying nights at Knoxville are my favorite as it is the only event of the year where national tour drivers qualify and then have to run their heat races with an eight car invert. Yes, there are other shows like the Silver Dollar Nationals where two sets of heat races are run, but that first set is based upon a pill draw so as a fast car you have just as much of a chance to start on the front row as you do to start at the rear. At Knoxville the fastest qualifier starts sixth in the first heat race and then has to RACE his way into the top three just to make the night's A-Main. It makes for some incredible racing and the fans love it!
Just like the Sprint Car Nationals there are always people who want to gripe about the format and make suggestions on how to "improve" it. But the thing that I love about Knoxville is that they just shrug those off, likely because they realize that these are coming from the vocal minority and they stick with what they are doing. This is something that other promoters need to do as well because there is always going to be some ill-informed self-proclaimed expert on social media bitching about something.
I have made it my goal to try to avoid the stupidity on Facebook, but sometimes you just can't miss it so now I want to share it as well. With a cold front sweeping through Iowa later this afternoon the chance of rain is high, but there is also a chance that the storms will not build until the front is east of Knoxville. So on the Knoxville Raceway Facebook page one gentleman asks...
If they rain out Thursday will they run a double show on Friday?
To which another person replies...
I would think so
Really? Why would you think that sir? To run a double show would be hard on the drivers and the crews and would require the track to pay out both the Thursday night and Friday night purse all in one night, which of course would mean that these two gentlemen (and everybody else in attendance) would need to pay double the ticket price just to see this double show that they are apparently lobbying for. I doubt that they would like that and would then really go nuts with their Facebook posts. There was also a young lady who asked "So will $1 beers be on Friday then?" with a couple of stupid wondering face emojis included. I don't know the answer to that one sweetheart, but if you are going to base your decision on whether or not to attend the show on that, well then that's just dumb. Do these people ever stop to consider that the format is set up in a manner so that if it rains out on Thursday or Friday night, there is no need to do anything different since a driver uses the best of his two qualifying nights to establish himself in Saturday's lineups?
You see, I am again falling into the trap where you start to think that the stupid few represent the majority of the race fans out there, something that I KNOW is not true.
Of all things that seems to bring out the worst of the worst when it comes to morons on Facebook it is when weather forces a promoter to make alternative plans. Two cases of this came recently at the IMCA Super Nationals in Boone and following an early rainout of the WAR Sprint Car show at 34 Raceway. At Boone most of the whining came from fans of drivers who had their Last Chance races cut after a long rain delay on Saturday. "Those drivers deserve a chance to race their way in" was the general rallying cry when the schedule was altered so that the show could be completed at a reasonable time, apparently forgetting that those drivers had three chances earlier in the week to race their way in.
Sorry, Mother Nature intervened, get over it.
At 34 apparently a few people were so focused on the money that they had spent on the 50/50 drawing and what the track was doing with it that they even brought up state laws about gambling. Okay, so first of all, I was there and the rain that started to fall just as hot laps were starting was obviously on the horizon well before. So even buying a 50/50 ticket in those circumstances showed questionable judgment on behalf of the purchaser in the first place, but then to make such a big deal out of it on social media afterward is just moronic. As it turned out the huge prize of $21 was given away later in the week with a posting of the winning ticket on the track's Facebook page. So let me get this straight, the track was giving back full refunds for the cost of your ticket, but you were distressed over the buck or two that you dropped on the 50/50 drawing? Did you buy forty dollars worth of tickets or something? If yes, I hope that the winner was one of the other two buyers who bought one ticket each.
And yet there are still people out there that insist that social media does not have a negative impact on our sport.
I had another story to tell about time management when a track faces a curfew, but I will put that off when I can comment more "in general" rather than calling out a track that I really do enjoy attending from time to time.
I was surprised to see the announcement this week that FloSports had acquired Dirt On Dirt. Michael and Amber Rigsby started Dirt On Dirt twelve years ago and they, along with a talented staff who shares the same passion that the Rigsbys do for Dirt Late Model racing have built it into what I thought was the industry leader when it came to an online source for news, video and live coverage of dirt track racing. My son Morgan though tells me that his subscription to FloRacing has been the best money he has spent since moving to Dallas so it sounds like the strong are only getting stronger with this acquisition. With Michael now becoming the general manager of FloRacing I am confident that his passion for the sport will continue to shine through.
I am excited for Al Hejna, Ryne Staley and Todd Staley as construction of the remodeled Mason City Motor Speedway is now complete and they will hold their first race on the shortened track this Sunday September 15th. Normally I would make the trip up, but with commitments to our annual church auction I will have to delay my first trip to either the following week, or if they decide to continue with Sunday racing into the Fall. Either way I hope to make at least one Sunday trip to Mason City before the snow flies.
With the Modified World Nationals at the Marshalltown Speedway for this weekend being postponed to the final week of October that now makes for a very busy racing weekend for that late in the season around here. Two day shows now at Marshalltown, Webster City and Quincy are all on the weekend that Shiverfest used to own and was often two weeks later than any other racing in the tri-states. Oh yes, and the CJ Speedway will now double down on the following weekend, Saturday and Sunday November 2nd and 3rd with their 3rd Annual Turkey Dash. The first event was run under less than ideal conditions two years ago on the same day that the Hawkeyes embarrassed the Buckeyes at Kinnick keeping them out of the playoffs that year and last year a rain system barely clipped the speedway during the hot laps ending the show even though I drove back home to sunshine thirty miles to the south. Hopefully promoter Larry Richardson can get good weather for both days this year as I believe that this event can be an absolute home run and remember, if rain intervenes on one day or another, please don't be an idiot on Facebook (see above).
As is it stands right now the Turkey Dash will close out the 2019 All Iowa Points chase so for a look at where you, or your favorite driver currently ranks ans he head into the Fall click here.
Don't forget that the Pepsi Lee County Speedway in Donnellson will be racing on Saturday night this weekend featuring the Iowa Sprint League non wing cars. Winged 305's racing for $1,000-to-win, the D-2 Midgets and IMCA Modifieds will also be in action and that might just be where you find me on Saturday.
As of noon the radar is looking good for Knoxville tonight, hopefully we will see you there on the Back Stretch!
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