The 2nd Annual Workforce 40 once again brought in a large crowd to the Quincy Raceways Thursday night for a unique doubleheader featuring the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Models and the Neal Tire MOWA Sprint Cars presented by Casey's General Stores. With more than an inch of rain overnight, plus one more brief shower early in the afternoon, promoter Ken Dobson and his crew had to scramble just to get the facility in shape to not only find dry parking areas for the race haulers, but also for the fans who crammed into every available space and beyond the track's parking lot.
At the inaugural event eventual Outlaws champion Shane Clanton was within four laps of a victory here before one mistake allowed Billy Moyer to steal the win. On this night Clanton returned to Quincy with redemption on his mind and when he drew the pole position for the 40-lap main event he was in a great position to achieve his goal. Brian Shirley started to Clanton's outside and the opening laps were a battle of two different race lines around the recently reconfigured track. Shirley was banging off of the tall and treacherous cushion while Clanton worked the bottom and for the first ten laps it would be Shirley with the edge on the straightaways although Clanton would draw even in the corners.
Laps ten and eleven were virtual dead heats as the two crossed the stripe, but on lap twelve with heavy lapped traffic looming ahead, Clanton gained the advantage and took the lead. The defending champ then made quick work of that traffic and pulled away a bit while Shirley was now dealing with a challenge from current point leader Josh Richards. A pair of cautions on laps eighteen and twenty bunched the field and with Clanton again pulling away that battle for second got physical. Richards drove off the bottom of turn four and came up the track to take away the outside line down the front stretch, but with the momentum off the top of turn four Shirley did not lift and his left front caught the right rear quarter panel of Richards sending him for a spin in turn one.
Richards was sent to the rear while Shirley remained in second, but this time it was Rick Eckert who found the bottom to his liking and he would soon take the spot. There would be no catching Clanton though who raced away to a convincing $8,000 top prize, putting to rest the disappointment that he experienced here last year. Eckert finished in second, with Shirley third, Bobby Pierce came home fourth while Steve Casebolt moved from the fifth row to fifth at the checkers. Richards made it back up to eighth at the pay window.
In the companion MOWA 410 winged sprint 25-lap feature Parker Price-Miller started from the pole and led lap one before one of his top contenders Brady Bacon spun in turn two on the second lap and pulled an amazing wheelstand as he tried to keep the car in motion. Price-Miller opened a sizable advantage after the restart while the battle for second waged on between Joey Moughan and Paul Nienheiser with Nienhesier eventually taking the spot on lap fifteen. The lapped car of Steve Russell took a hard tumble in turn three on lap eighteen with Moughan also suffering race-ending damage as he could not avoid the flipping car and following the red the final seven laps were what Sprint Car fans absolutely love about the sport.
Nienheiser threw a slider at the leader in turns three and four with five laps remaining with Price-Miller turning back under him and regaining the lead down the front stretch. On the next lap Nienheiser tested the bottom line, but could not find enough bite to take the lead so he gathered himself back up and vaulted off of the cushion in turn two to make one last charge on the final lap. The crowd came to their feet as Nienheiser slid up the track, but since the young driver did not have the leader cleared he did not go all the way to the cushion and Parker Price-Miller would score the win with Nienheiser a fan favorite in second. Jake Blackhurst was right there waiting for a mistake in third, Joe B. Miller was fourth and A.J. Bruns who won the Illinois Sprint Speedweek opener in Peoria on Wednesday night was fifth.
The MOWA Sprint move on to Jacksonville tonight (Friday) and then to the Mighty Macon Speedway on Saturday.
A huge thanks to Mary and Larry Loney, Brian Neal, Doug Miller, Jack Walbring, promoter Ken Dobson and the entire CILTRAK crew for their hospitality and it was also nice to catch a moment with World of Outlaws Race Director Brett Emrick.
Another wedding for me this weekend so my next race will come on Monday for night one of Summer Fest at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Get on out to the races!
Friday, July 29, 2016
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Dubuque County Fair Kicks Off In Fine Fashion
County fair races are commonplace here in the upper Midwest this time of year and while most fairs will feature one or two nights of action, the Dubuque County Fair schedules three nights of racing during its six-night run and they put up some pretty good money as well. Tuesday night was the opener with an interesting doubleheader featuring the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders and the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds and a great crowd rolled in on a beautiful evening.
The Hawkeye Dirt Tour produced a strong field of forty Modifieds with five heat races and three B-Mains needed to determine the 24-car starting field for a 30-lap $1,200-to-win main event. Late Model ace Justin Kay has been running his Modified more recently, especially when there are four digits in front of the decimal on the winner's check and let's just say that the guy has the magic touch when it comes to drawing for position. With only two cars advancing out of the heat races tonight it was a big help to start up front, which Kay did allowing him to walk away with the win in the fifth heat and then for the second HDT event in a row Justin pulled out the #1 pill during the redraw to start the feature from the pole position.
That combination of luck, skill and a well prepared race car produced a feature win last Thursday night in Knoxville after a late race slidejob from Chris Abelson and there was a bit of deja vu in this one as it was Ableson who once again tried that maneuver here in Dubuque following a restart. As Kay drove away from the field in the early laps, the racing for second was intense with Abelson using a slidejob in turns one and two to help him move from his sixth starting spot up to second by lap four. A caution on lap six for a turn two tangle between Jeff Larson and Brian Irvine brought the field back to Kay, but even Abelson who for the third year in a row is the best in the state could not stay with the leader once the green flag reappeared.
The caution waved again on lap seventeen after Bryce Garnhart clipped the track tire and spun in turn four and it would be on this restart where the action for the lead would pick up considerably. Well, at least for a lap or two.
With Abelson choosing the outside of the double row behind the leader, Darin Duffy lined up to his inside and using the momentum off of turn four at the drop of the green Abelson charged to the inside in turn one and slid up the track in front of Kay. Justin calmly kicked off the cushion to drive back under Abelson in turn two, but with both drivers not using their "best line" it allowed the low riding Duffy to actually have the lead off of turn two and down the back straightaway. With Kay now back ahead of Abelson, he drove past Duffy in three and four to retain the lead in the score book and the battle was now on for second as Kay once again drove away from his competition. Duffy would hold off Abelson for a couple of laps until the Sioux City driver used a slider to shut the door on Duffy in turn four and return to the second spot.
As the laps counted down it was Kay once again driving away to a feature win, his fifth this season in a Modified to go along with eight wins in a Late Model, while Abelson who has already tallied twenty-two Modified wins on the season, had to settle for second on this night. Duffy held down the third spot with Ryan DeShaw in fourth and Kelly Shryock made the drive of the night coming from the twelfth row after using a Dirt Tour provisional to finish in fifth.
After watching Abelson use the slidejob on more than one occasion, fans had to be anticipating the final event of the evening as the Sprint Invaders lined up for 25-laps of feature racing on a track that was very wide, but still sported a heavy cushion on both ends. The brothers Schneiderman, Josh and Jarrod would start from the front row and as Josh grabbed the lead it would be their uncle, John Schulz who would apply the pressure throwing sliders at his nephew on both ends during the first two laps. With Josh fighting him off, Schulz then settled into second as the leaders rode the cushion until lap seven when Rob Weuve spun in turn four.
On the restart Schulz again tried to slide the leader in one and two with no success, but in turn three he went in a bit deeper and the two drivers raced side-by-side off of turn four with Schulz holding a slight edge as the lap was scored. Josh Schneiderman would take back the lead in turns one and two, but when the caution flag waved for a slowing Ryan Jamison it would be Schulz who would be out front for the restart. It was a tough break for the three-time Sprint Invader champion Jamison who was making the low groove work coming from seventh to fourth before his mechanical issues.
With the restart it was now the nephew's turn to toss out the sliders as both drivers treated each other with respect, something that these two would have done even if it wasn't a family member that they were racing against, and just like earlier the leader was able to turn back under the challenger to hold the lead down the straightaways. Weuve spun again in the same spot on lap fifteen and the sliders came back again following the restart until Schulz was able to pull away. Schneiderman was making up ground as the white flag waved, but with a lapped car on the bottom he could not make one last bid as Schulz scored the win, his second of the season. Josh Schneiderman finished second with current point leader Chris Martin third, Jarrod Schneiderman was fourth and Cody Wehrle came from tenth to finish fifth. Wehrle had to fight off the late challenges from Damian Getchell who had found the middle line around the track to his liking as he advanced from twelfth to sixth with Harold Pohren, Jacob Glasgow, Tim Moore and Bob Weuve completing the top ten.
The Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders next action will be a weekend doubleheader on Friday August 19th at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson and Saturday August 20th at 34 Raceway near Burlington.
Sport Mods were also in action Tuesday night with eighteen cars signed in and 15-laps of racing action to determine who would collect the $450 winner's check. Jeff Gear would lead the opening lap before Tyler Soppe stormed by, but when Soppe spun at the exit of turn four on lap eight that would allow Troy Bauer to assume the lead. "King Kong" was not about to let that gift slip away as he held off Austin Schrage to take the win and Bauer celebrated by pounding his chest in victory lane. Timmy Current recovered from a lap three spin to race his way up to third. Mark Maas was fourth by inches over Tony Olson while Soppe charged back up to sixth at the checkers.
Racing action at the Dubuque County Fair continues tonight with the Julien Dubuque Classic featuring the Late Models and Modifieds and the fair will close out its run on Sunday with another night of IMCA racing action.
Christine told me that I could go racing again tonight, but I might just take care of some chores around the house in hope that the weather cooperates for Thursday's World of Outlaws Late Model and MOWA Sprints twinbill at Quincy. Hope to see you there!
The Hawkeye Dirt Tour produced a strong field of forty Modifieds with five heat races and three B-Mains needed to determine the 24-car starting field for a 30-lap $1,200-to-win main event. Late Model ace Justin Kay has been running his Modified more recently, especially when there are four digits in front of the decimal on the winner's check and let's just say that the guy has the magic touch when it comes to drawing for position. With only two cars advancing out of the heat races tonight it was a big help to start up front, which Kay did allowing him to walk away with the win in the fifth heat and then for the second HDT event in a row Justin pulled out the #1 pill during the redraw to start the feature from the pole position.
That combination of luck, skill and a well prepared race car produced a feature win last Thursday night in Knoxville after a late race slidejob from Chris Abelson and there was a bit of deja vu in this one as it was Ableson who once again tried that maneuver here in Dubuque following a restart. As Kay drove away from the field in the early laps, the racing for second was intense with Abelson using a slidejob in turns one and two to help him move from his sixth starting spot up to second by lap four. A caution on lap six for a turn two tangle between Jeff Larson and Brian Irvine brought the field back to Kay, but even Abelson who for the third year in a row is the best in the state could not stay with the leader once the green flag reappeared.
The caution waved again on lap seventeen after Bryce Garnhart clipped the track tire and spun in turn four and it would be on this restart where the action for the lead would pick up considerably. Well, at least for a lap or two.
With Abelson choosing the outside of the double row behind the leader, Darin Duffy lined up to his inside and using the momentum off of turn four at the drop of the green Abelson charged to the inside in turn one and slid up the track in front of Kay. Justin calmly kicked off the cushion to drive back under Abelson in turn two, but with both drivers not using their "best line" it allowed the low riding Duffy to actually have the lead off of turn two and down the back straightaway. With Kay now back ahead of Abelson, he drove past Duffy in three and four to retain the lead in the score book and the battle was now on for second as Kay once again drove away from his competition. Duffy would hold off Abelson for a couple of laps until the Sioux City driver used a slider to shut the door on Duffy in turn four and return to the second spot.
As the laps counted down it was Kay once again driving away to a feature win, his fifth this season in a Modified to go along with eight wins in a Late Model, while Abelson who has already tallied twenty-two Modified wins on the season, had to settle for second on this night. Duffy held down the third spot with Ryan DeShaw in fourth and Kelly Shryock made the drive of the night coming from the twelfth row after using a Dirt Tour provisional to finish in fifth.
After watching Abelson use the slidejob on more than one occasion, fans had to be anticipating the final event of the evening as the Sprint Invaders lined up for 25-laps of feature racing on a track that was very wide, but still sported a heavy cushion on both ends. The brothers Schneiderman, Josh and Jarrod would start from the front row and as Josh grabbed the lead it would be their uncle, John Schulz who would apply the pressure throwing sliders at his nephew on both ends during the first two laps. With Josh fighting him off, Schulz then settled into second as the leaders rode the cushion until lap seven when Rob Weuve spun in turn four.
On the restart Schulz again tried to slide the leader in one and two with no success, but in turn three he went in a bit deeper and the two drivers raced side-by-side off of turn four with Schulz holding a slight edge as the lap was scored. Josh Schneiderman would take back the lead in turns one and two, but when the caution flag waved for a slowing Ryan Jamison it would be Schulz who would be out front for the restart. It was a tough break for the three-time Sprint Invader champion Jamison who was making the low groove work coming from seventh to fourth before his mechanical issues.
With the restart it was now the nephew's turn to toss out the sliders as both drivers treated each other with respect, something that these two would have done even if it wasn't a family member that they were racing against, and just like earlier the leader was able to turn back under the challenger to hold the lead down the straightaways. Weuve spun again in the same spot on lap fifteen and the sliders came back again following the restart until Schulz was able to pull away. Schneiderman was making up ground as the white flag waved, but with a lapped car on the bottom he could not make one last bid as Schulz scored the win, his second of the season. Josh Schneiderman finished second with current point leader Chris Martin third, Jarrod Schneiderman was fourth and Cody Wehrle came from tenth to finish fifth. Wehrle had to fight off the late challenges from Damian Getchell who had found the middle line around the track to his liking as he advanced from twelfth to sixth with Harold Pohren, Jacob Glasgow, Tim Moore and Bob Weuve completing the top ten.
The Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders next action will be a weekend doubleheader on Friday August 19th at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson and Saturday August 20th at 34 Raceway near Burlington.
Sport Mods were also in action Tuesday night with eighteen cars signed in and 15-laps of racing action to determine who would collect the $450 winner's check. Jeff Gear would lead the opening lap before Tyler Soppe stormed by, but when Soppe spun at the exit of turn four on lap eight that would allow Troy Bauer to assume the lead. "King Kong" was not about to let that gift slip away as he held off Austin Schrage to take the win and Bauer celebrated by pounding his chest in victory lane. Timmy Current recovered from a lap three spin to race his way up to third. Mark Maas was fourth by inches over Tony Olson while Soppe charged back up to sixth at the checkers.
Racing action at the Dubuque County Fair continues tonight with the Julien Dubuque Classic featuring the Late Models and Modifieds and the fair will close out its run on Sunday with another night of IMCA racing action.
Christine told me that I could go racing again tonight, but I might just take care of some chores around the house in hope that the weather cooperates for Thursday's World of Outlaws Late Model and MOWA Sprints twinbill at Quincy. Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Tuesday Notebook: July 26, 2016
"It's a beautiful night for racing!"
My wife Christine knows that I would say this if it were 95 degrees and so humid that you could cut the air with a knife, or if it was 40 degrees with snow flurries skittering through the air. As long as there is a race to be at, the weather doesn't really matter becuase it is a beautiful night!
But for this Tuesday night, it actually is going to be "a beautiful night" with temps in the low 80's and no chance of rain as the annual Dubuque County Fair kicks off in fine fashion with the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders, the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds and the IMCA Northern Sport Mods. All of this, plus the great fair food and entertainment for just ten dollars, so I hope to see you there tonight!
As we close out the month of July this coming weekend let's take a quick look at the All Iowa Points standings. In the Late Models, three-time champion Rob Toland (2004, '06 & '07) is looking to add to his list and holds a 13-point edge over both Luke Goedert and Darrel DeFrance. This past Saturday night Toland towed out to the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City and scored a win on the big half-mile, something that caught my eye since Toland is much more comfortable on his Quad City area short tracks.
After starting slow, Chris Abelson has come on strong and now seems to be well on his way to his third straight All Iowa Points Modified title as he is 45 markers in front of Kelly Shryock. Veteran driver Ricky Stephan has surged into third while early season leaders Kyle Brown and Ricky Thornton Jr. have faded. Jacob Murray is also poised to post his best AIP finish ever as he now sits in fourth.
It is a two car race in the Limited Modifieds as defending champion Tony Olson leads Tyler Soppe by 11 points and in the Stock Cars three-time defending champion Damon Murty just this week took the lead away from Mike Nichols. Nichols is only three points back though and both Derek Green and 2012 Stock Car champion Donavon Smith are still in the hunt.
A month ago it looked like a sure bet that Shannon Anderson would collect his fifth All Iowa Points Hobby Stock title, but Cody Nielsen has now closed to within just 12 points of Anderson and with Shannon's regular Friday night track, the Iowa State Fair Speedway, closing out its schedule this Friday night this race could get real interesting.
Brandon Setser continues to lead the Four Cylinder division and this past Saturday night he did what a true All Iowa Points championship contender would do when his normal Saturday night track in Maquoketa cancelled early. Setser loaded up and went to Burlington where he won the feature at 34 Raceway to keep his point lead in double digits over defending champion Jay DeVries.
The Sprint Car battles are interesting and it is normally the "month of money", August, that determines who will be the champions in each. In the 410's Danny Lasoski is enjoying a double-digit lead on his way perhaps to his second straight, and seventh overall AIP championship. California transplant Tim Kaeding leads the 360 standings and he looks like he will be hard to beat while in the 305's the race is wide open. Two-time defending champion Clint Benson just took the lead away from Tyler Drueke while Christian Bowman, Robby Wolfgang and Devin Kline are all within seven points of the top.
The July 25th update was sent to the Webmistress last night, so check the Points page at Positively Racing soon for the upload where you will find the full rundown for all divisions so that you can see where you, or your favorite ranks in the racingest state in the country!
A few other notes from this past weekend......
Kirby Schultz is a new name in the IMCA Late Model ranks who recorded his first top-five finish this past weekend. Some tracks list him as being from Albia, Iowa, which to me seems to be an odd place for a new Late Model driver to spring up from while another listed him as being from Albion. This would make more sense since it is near Marshalltown, a track that will "pick up" the Late Models on Friday nights in August. So which is it?
Jon Sheets of Nevada, Missouri, made his ULMA Late Model debut on Saturday night at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland and he did it in fine fashion by taking the win over the usual strong field of cars. Sheets has had some moderate success in a Modified over the years and he has now set the bar high for his futuire Late Model endeavors!
Speaking of setting the bar high, how about the announcement from I-80 Speedway promoter Joe Kosiski that the 2017 Silver Dollar Nationals will pay a whopping $53,000 to the race winner? This race started out by paying out a $25,000 top prize, all in silver dollars, back in 2011 and has grown exponentially with Jonathan Davenport taking the win this past weekend. Much of the success can be attributed to the qualifying method that shuns time trials and instead uses a double heat race format that includes an inversion for the second set. This format obviously sells tickets and pay-per-view subscriptions at a rate that allows for not only the big money paid out to the winner, but the solid purse all the way to the bottom. Yet one driver who we already know from this past January hates a format where he actually has to "race" to win was again panning the system in an interview this past weekend. The funny thing is that not only with the Silver Dollar Nationals, but also with the shows in Tucson plus the Knoxville Late Model Nationals that does still qualify , but then (shockingly) has the nerve to invert the heat races, the cream still always rises to the top.
Weather permitting, I will hopefully get a chance to see if Shane Clanton will fare better under his normal format when the World of Outlaws Late Models pair up with the MOWA 410 Sprints this Thursday night at the Quincy Raceways.
With Jeff Gordon returning to action and with it being Tony Stewart's final race at one of his favorite tracks I went ahead and recorded the Brickyard 400 on Sunday. It only took me about twenty minutes to watch though as Kyle Busch dominated in another event where there was little to no passing and the highlight, to me at least, was the ceremonial lap that Gordon and Stewart took side-by-side following the checkered flag. Unfortunately there were very few rans there to salute these two legends of our sport as the attendance was once again paltry at best. Yes, it was a hot and steamy day, but can you imagine just how many fewer people would have been there if not for the draw of Gordon and Stewart? Here is an interesting article written by Gregg Doyel of the Indy Star and I hate to say it, but NASCAR just might be better off by cutting ties with this event. It was a great "gimmick" when it began, but even the most loyal NASCAR fan will admit that the Brickyard has never produced good racing.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of two drivers who have passed away this week. Both Dave Farren and Gary Wilson provided me with many memories over the years, both on and off the track. Rest in peace gentlemen.
Jonathan Davenport's win at I-80 has pulled him back to even in the Back Stretch National Dirt Late Model points that uses a system where the winner's purse determines the point scale and it remains clear that Dirt Late Model racing clearly has a "big three" that everybody else is just chasing right now. Hope to see you tonight in Dubuque!
My wife Christine knows that I would say this if it were 95 degrees and so humid that you could cut the air with a knife, or if it was 40 degrees with snow flurries skittering through the air. As long as there is a race to be at, the weather doesn't really matter becuase it is a beautiful night!
But for this Tuesday night, it actually is going to be "a beautiful night" with temps in the low 80's and no chance of rain as the annual Dubuque County Fair kicks off in fine fashion with the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders, the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds and the IMCA Northern Sport Mods. All of this, plus the great fair food and entertainment for just ten dollars, so I hope to see you there tonight!
As we close out the month of July this coming weekend let's take a quick look at the All Iowa Points standings. In the Late Models, three-time champion Rob Toland (2004, '06 & '07) is looking to add to his list and holds a 13-point edge over both Luke Goedert and Darrel DeFrance. This past Saturday night Toland towed out to the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City and scored a win on the big half-mile, something that caught my eye since Toland is much more comfortable on his Quad City area short tracks.
After starting slow, Chris Abelson has come on strong and now seems to be well on his way to his third straight All Iowa Points Modified title as he is 45 markers in front of Kelly Shryock. Veteran driver Ricky Stephan has surged into third while early season leaders Kyle Brown and Ricky Thornton Jr. have faded. Jacob Murray is also poised to post his best AIP finish ever as he now sits in fourth.
It is a two car race in the Limited Modifieds as defending champion Tony Olson leads Tyler Soppe by 11 points and in the Stock Cars three-time defending champion Damon Murty just this week took the lead away from Mike Nichols. Nichols is only three points back though and both Derek Green and 2012 Stock Car champion Donavon Smith are still in the hunt.
A month ago it looked like a sure bet that Shannon Anderson would collect his fifth All Iowa Points Hobby Stock title, but Cody Nielsen has now closed to within just 12 points of Anderson and with Shannon's regular Friday night track, the Iowa State Fair Speedway, closing out its schedule this Friday night this race could get real interesting.
Brandon Setser continues to lead the Four Cylinder division and this past Saturday night he did what a true All Iowa Points championship contender would do when his normal Saturday night track in Maquoketa cancelled early. Setser loaded up and went to Burlington where he won the feature at 34 Raceway to keep his point lead in double digits over defending champion Jay DeVries.
The Sprint Car battles are interesting and it is normally the "month of money", August, that determines who will be the champions in each. In the 410's Danny Lasoski is enjoying a double-digit lead on his way perhaps to his second straight, and seventh overall AIP championship. California transplant Tim Kaeding leads the 360 standings and he looks like he will be hard to beat while in the 305's the race is wide open. Two-time defending champion Clint Benson just took the lead away from Tyler Drueke while Christian Bowman, Robby Wolfgang and Devin Kline are all within seven points of the top.
The July 25th update was sent to the Webmistress last night, so check the Points page at Positively Racing soon for the upload where you will find the full rundown for all divisions so that you can see where you, or your favorite ranks in the racingest state in the country!
A few other notes from this past weekend......
Kirby Schultz is a new name in the IMCA Late Model ranks who recorded his first top-five finish this past weekend. Some tracks list him as being from Albia, Iowa, which to me seems to be an odd place for a new Late Model driver to spring up from while another listed him as being from Albion. This would make more sense since it is near Marshalltown, a track that will "pick up" the Late Models on Friday nights in August. So which is it?
Jon Sheets of Nevada, Missouri, made his ULMA Late Model debut on Saturday night at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland and he did it in fine fashion by taking the win over the usual strong field of cars. Sheets has had some moderate success in a Modified over the years and he has now set the bar high for his futuire Late Model endeavors!
Speaking of setting the bar high, how about the announcement from I-80 Speedway promoter Joe Kosiski that the 2017 Silver Dollar Nationals will pay a whopping $53,000 to the race winner? This race started out by paying out a $25,000 top prize, all in silver dollars, back in 2011 and has grown exponentially with Jonathan Davenport taking the win this past weekend. Much of the success can be attributed to the qualifying method that shuns time trials and instead uses a double heat race format that includes an inversion for the second set. This format obviously sells tickets and pay-per-view subscriptions at a rate that allows for not only the big money paid out to the winner, but the solid purse all the way to the bottom. Yet one driver who we already know from this past January hates a format where he actually has to "race" to win was again panning the system in an interview this past weekend. The funny thing is that not only with the Silver Dollar Nationals, but also with the shows in Tucson plus the Knoxville Late Model Nationals that does still qualify , but then (shockingly) has the nerve to invert the heat races, the cream still always rises to the top.
Weather permitting, I will hopefully get a chance to see if Shane Clanton will fare better under his normal format when the World of Outlaws Late Models pair up with the MOWA 410 Sprints this Thursday night at the Quincy Raceways.
With Jeff Gordon returning to action and with it being Tony Stewart's final race at one of his favorite tracks I went ahead and recorded the Brickyard 400 on Sunday. It only took me about twenty minutes to watch though as Kyle Busch dominated in another event where there was little to no passing and the highlight, to me at least, was the ceremonial lap that Gordon and Stewart took side-by-side following the checkered flag. Unfortunately there were very few rans there to salute these two legends of our sport as the attendance was once again paltry at best. Yes, it was a hot and steamy day, but can you imagine just how many fewer people would have been there if not for the draw of Gordon and Stewart? Here is an interesting article written by Gregg Doyel of the Indy Star and I hate to say it, but NASCAR just might be better off by cutting ties with this event. It was a great "gimmick" when it began, but even the most loyal NASCAR fan will admit that the Brickyard has never produced good racing.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of two drivers who have passed away this week. Both Dave Farren and Gary Wilson provided me with many memories over the years, both on and off the track. Rest in peace gentlemen.
Jonathan Davenport's win at I-80 has pulled him back to even in the Back Stretch National Dirt Late Model points that uses a system where the winner's purse determines the point scale and it remains clear that Dirt Late Model racing clearly has a "big three" that everybody else is just chasing right now. Hope to see you tonight in Dubuque!
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