My racing weekend that just ended was a bit on the frustrating side. How was yours?
For the past several months I have had Friday June 27th circled on my calendar for the return of the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Cars to nearby 34 Raceway in Burlington, but just eight days before that circled date I learned that I would have to travel to the east coast for business that day. I searched real hard for a set of flights that would still get me back into Burlington by mid-evening following a meeting that ended at noon Central time in Baltimore, but hey we do live in southeast Iowa so that was just not even a possibility. To enjoy my hobby I must have my job and it always comes first, but it was still hard to know that as I landed in Cedar Rapids around 9:30 Friday night the Outlaws were not far down the road from my home.
My son Morgan was able to attend and reported to me via text that the crowd was as large as he has ever seen at 34 and with another solid car count of 34 Outlaw Sprints along with 24 305's and 16 of the limited Midgets, the threatening weather forecast obviously did not chase anybody away. Donny Schatz extended his point lead with the victory, but his win was overshadowed by the scary accident involving Brad Sweet who had his car literally break in half just ahead of the driver compartment reportedly after hitting the track tire that protects where the concrete wall begins in turn three. It is amazing in this day and age that nobody seems to have any video of the crash that occurred while Sweet was racing Terry McCarl for the second spot. Morgan said that he feared the worst when he saw the crash and somehow Sweet not only escaped without injury, but he went on to win the following night at Beaver Dam. Full pits and a full grandstand will hopefully result in another visit to 34 Raceway by the Outlaws in 2015.
While I was on my business trip I was contacted by Kevin Feller with Simmons Promotions asking what my schedule was for the weekend. Announcer Jerry Mackey was fighting an illness and Kevin wanted to know if I could fill in for Jerry for the weekend. Obviously Friday at Farley was not a possibility, but I did say that I would be able to work at West Liberty on Saturday and in Dubuque on Sunday. Filling in for Jerry Mackey is no easy task as he is one of the best in the business, but I wanted to do whatever I could to help out, especially since the SPI family is always so quick to welcome me in for the night. Jerry called me on Saturday afternoon and said that while he was feeling better and would be there to test out his sea legs so to speak, he would count on me to handle the bulk of the duties for the evening. That made things even better as it was fun to work with Jerry, not just for him, something that I have not had the opportunity to do in the past.
With weather threatening, the SPI crew and the nice field of drivers did everything they could to get the show in but came up just two features short when the rain started to fall at 8:50 p.m. So that will leave the Modifieds and the Late Models to run double features sometime in the near future with the exact dates to be announced. One thing that I wanted to note was the cooperation shown by drivers in the Sport Compact, Sport Mod and Stock Car divisions who came to the track after the first shower to try to pack it in so that the rest of the show could be completed. These drivers had already run their features and could have easily just loaded up their cars and headed for home, but instead there they were back out on the track trying to complete the show for the fans. I wish that I would have written down all of the names of those who did this as it was a fantastic gesture and I would love to be able to single them out.
Don't forget that there will be no racing at West Liberty this Saturday July 5th, but the track will be back in action on Tuesday night July 8th with the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models in town. The IMCA Modifieds will also be in action as a support division and with twenty-six cars in attendance this past Saturday night, you would be challenged to find a stronger field of weekly IMCA Modifieds than they have at West Liberty.
My anticipated trip to Dubuque on Sunday night was cancelled early afternoon, but when I saw on Facebook that Bobby Hansen was going to be running at Vinton I checked the radar and decided to make the trip. The weather looked fine until I was ten miles from the track as an isolated shower had started building to the west. Several heat races were completed before that one clipped the track and despite a brief downpour, promoter Mick Trier and track manager Dana Benning were not about to throw in the towel. After letting the moisture settle for just a bit they put the sheeps foot out and then race cars and within about thirty minutes we were back to racing on a wide and fast surface.
With seven divisions on the card it was a busy night and as the Stock Cars rolled onto the speedway for the first feature the clouds were darkening again to the west and a check of the radar did not look good. Damon Murty prevailed in a tight battle with Scott Pippert and as Ryan Clark quickly interviewed Murty in victory lane I walked to my car to move it closer to the grandstand and to grab an umbrella. In the time that it took for me to do this the Sport Compact feature was completed and I expected the Sport Mod feature to be coming onto the track next. That was when the move of the night was made as it was decided to move the twenty-lap Late Model feature up one position in the program since the crowd had paid an extra two bucks for their appearance and since they are not there every week.
Richie Gustin raced to the early lead and continued to hold it through two restarts. On lap eight Todd Cooney moved into challenge and he and Gustin swapped a couple of slidejobs on each other that had the crowd oblivious to the approaching storm. Cooney held the lead through two more cautions and then with four laps remaining Justin Kay found the bite that he was looking for on the low line of turns one and two and with two laps remaining Kay inched into the lead just as the sprinkles started to fall. Cooney was not giving up though and as the white flag waved he had pulled nearly even with Kay and the top two IMCA Late Model drivers in the business right now raced wheel-to-wheel through turns one and two and down the backstretch. Perhaps the spot of rain made the difference as the bottom groove that Kay had used to takeover the lead just a minute earlier was no longer the fastest as Cooney steamed around the cushion and raced under the checkers by a full car-length to take the thrilling win. Kay was second, Charlie McKenna was not far behind in third, John Emerson came from tenth to fourth and Jerry King finished fifth.
The rain did ease up enough for the Sport Mods to get a few laps of racing in before the skies opened up and the rest of the night was lost with four more features to be made up next week. A big thanks to Trier, Benning and Clark for their hospitality and it was also great to see my longtime friend Kevin Kemp who handles the scoring duties at the Benton County Speedway. Yes, it would have been nice to see the whole show, but thanks to a late change in the schedule I got to see what I made the 110 mile trip for. Thanks Mick!
No racing for me Tuesday night as I celebrate my wife Christine's birthday. She still hasn't officially told me what age she will claim to be tomorrow, but I know the truth and my little "trophy wife" of twenty-five years will always be younger than me! On Wednesday I hope to be at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa for night number one of the Stock Car Shootout and then on Thursday night it is on to the Iowa State Fair Speedway in Des Moines for the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders. Here is hoping that we can all get out and enjoy some complete shows in the week ahead!
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