I felt bad after posting last week's notebook when I didn't even mention the change of ownership at the Farley Speedway. Obviously Simmons Promotions needed an injection of cash and it is good that three gentlemen who have been involved in racing for a several years now made the investment. The big $50,000-to-win Modified show will definitely be interesting to see how it plays out, who all will show up and what surprises may be in the field. I will go out on a limb and predict that a Modified regular, not a Late Model or Sprint Car invader, will win the big money, but in the Sport Mods the winner will be someone who does not compete weekly in the division. One suggestion guys, you will have five times as many Sport Mod entrants if you set a restriction on who can compete, you know such as somebody who actually races them before and after that weekend. Just a thought....
R.C. Whitwell got off to a slow start with Gressel Racing by not even making the show last October at Lakeside and really didn't make up any ground after that so he was given the hook after the Wild West Shootout. The driver who many thought should have been hired in the first place for the team that runs both Modifieds and Late Models, Ricky Thornton Jr. now takes the wheel and we will soon find out if he can live up to the standards previously set by Ryan Gustin.
Call them the Keyser Konspiracy Theorists. With the rainout of the final two events at the Wild West Shootout many people act like it was a ploy to keep Bobby Pierce from collecting a $50,000 bonus from Keyser Manufacturing if he had won one more, or a $100,000 spiff if he had won them both. However, what these idiots (yes, if that was your conclusion from this series of events, I am positively calling you an idiot) don't understand is that Keyser has already paid an insurance premium that was an agreed upon amount before any of the series races took place. One payment, one cost, win or lose. They would have WANTED Pierce to win the bonus, and the bigger the better, because it would have just made their sponsorship even more effective through the name recognition. Hopefully, with the morons spouting off, they are not now seeing the opposite effect.
If you still have a doubt in your mind though, or if you just want a good report on the Arizona events, make sure to read the three most recent entries of One Fan's Travels by Ed Reichert.
The wet weather in the southwest has also washed out this weekend's events in New Mexico. Konspiracy!!
Being delayed one week by an unusual southern snowstorm sure didn't diminish the annual running of the Ice Bowl this past weekend at the Talladega Short Track with 334 cars and drivers participating in the three day show. Michael Page was the fastest qualifier in his group, started the first heat race from the pole and won it to earn the pole position for the main event, then led all fifty laps to collect the $6,000 top prize. If ever an event needed to use a passing points system with no qualifying it is this one and I would bet that they would be amazed at how many grooves "The Hornet's Nest" would have to offer if the fast guys had to get off the bottom to actually pass somebody during the heats. The track was so one-laned that one of the announcers said "he's brave, he's trying the high groove" when a driver actually challenged for a position in the top five. Here's the thing though, there were 334 cars in the pits and the grandstands looked pretty full on the video, so if it ain't broke.......
Foolishly I thought that we might get through an entire winter without somebody writing a missive about how Social Media is killing racing, but then yesterday I was alerted to this on the Springport Mid-Michigan Speedway website. For the past couple of years writings with this type of title have then been largely skewered mainly by people on social media who are more likely to make blanket statements that are loosely based on fact and think that, in some way, their rants are actually going to help, but this one is much different. First it includes a question mark in the title and then proceeds to provide an actual explanation of why negative social media is damaging to the sport, something that many of us have realized for years. The track then explains how it will use social media to its advantage and even gives examples of situations that it will not discuss on social media. Even the bashers will have a hard time attacking this one. We did however make it halfway through the winter....
The Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City is looking for a new track manager after Jason Van Sickle decided to focus his efforts on the track in Fort Dodge in 2017.
The infamous "raceaholic" has (once again) stated that he will no longer post on the Iowastockcars.com forum. The count down is now on until his next post. He and calverton from 4m.net should have coffee together sometime.
The updated National Dirt Late Model points follow as we now prepare for SpeedWeeks
| The "Back Stretch" | ||||
| Dirt Late Model Points | ||||
| Pos. | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | . | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood IL | 14 |
| 2 | . | Chris Simpson | Marion IA | 11 |
| 3 | . | Billy Moyer | Batesville AR | 6 |
| 4 | . | Brandon Overton | Appling GA | 4 |
| 5 | . | Michael Page | Douglasville GA | 4 |
| 6 | . | Donald McIntosh | Dawsonville GA | 3 |
| 7 | . | Jimmy Mars | Elk Mound WI | 3 |
| 8 | . | Ray Cook | Brasstown NC | 3 |
| 9 | . | Jason Hiett | Lincoln AL | 2 |
| 10 | . | Mike Marlar | Winfield TN | 2 |
| 11 | . | Ruben Mayfield | 2 | |
| 12 | . | Brian Smith | Barbourville KY | 1 |
| 13 | . | Garrett Alberson | Las Cruces NM | 1 |
| 14 | . | Jason Cardwell | Knoxville TN | 1 |
| 15 | . | Ricky Thornton Jr. | Chandler AZ | 1 |
| 16 | . | Tod Hernandez | Chattanooga TN | 1 |
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