Over the past twenty-four hours the temperatures here in the Midwest have challenged and, in many areas, have gone below the lowest temperatures ever recorded. Here in southeast Iowa we pushed 22 below zero and in the Quad Cities Channel 8 was saying that it had reached 32 degrees below zero this morning. This is simply amazing and I know that it was even worse for those of you who read the Back Stretch from northern Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Fortunately a big bounce back is now predicted over the next four days with temperatures in the 50's possible, but I will believe it when I see it.
With all of this cold air in the Midwest it is hard to believe that we are just a handful of weeks away from trying to start the 2019 racing season in the region and when the Webmistress uploads the next update there will be over 1,000 special events listed on the Specials Calendar at Positively Racing with more to come as several tracks in our coverage area have not yet released their dates. The specials calendar is traditionally our most popular item on the website so if you like it and use it, please make sure that your friends know where to find it as well.
Speedweeks in Georgia and Florida kicks off in earnest this weekend, but in case you missed it one of the ageless veterans of Sprint Car racing picked up the win last Friday night when the USCS 360 Sprint Cars were at the Hendry County Motorsports Park in Florida. Danny Smith held off Davie Franek to take the win with Tony Stewart third and the talented young lady Morgan Turpen finishing in the fourth sport. Sprint Car action takes flight this weekend with the All Stars at Bubba Raceway Park and as always their will be an interesting mix of drivers on the roster.
The Modifieds were the headliners last weekend as East Bay Raceway kicked off its Winter Nationals schedule. Floridians dominated the first three nights as two-time defending track champion Bryan Bernhardt won the opener before Kyle Bronson took the checkers the next two nights. In the finale though it was Lucas Lee from Paris, Tennessee, celebrating in victory lane. Burlington, Iowa, driver Bill Roberts Jr. was in action all four nights with his best showing being an eighth place run on the second night and other northerners in action included Kevin Adams, Gordy Gundaker, Curt Myers, Steve Meyer Jr., Gary Bentley, Brad DeYoung and Jayson Good. It used to be that the northern invaders had the advantage during Speedweeks, but that has definitely changed in the Modifieds as the Florida boys now defend their home turf in style. Bronson was the point champion over the four nights with Adams in second and local star Devin Dixon in third.
So off topic for a moment, but when you saw the pictures or perhaps this video a couple of weeks ago were you wondering why in the world that guy was beating a drum in the face of Joey Logano? I don't care what your political beliefs are, it is terrible how that whole thing got blown out of proportion and is proof that you can't believe what our so called news media tells you these days. From both sides!
If Joey would have been wearing his Pennzoil hat that would have never even made news, except for with Truex and Kenseth fans.
There was another instance of "just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should" this past weekend when the Sunday marathon known as the National 100 from East Alabama Speedway was shown live on Facebook. I ducked in and out a few times over a seven hour period and usually found cars circling the track under caution, or no action on the track at all. When I did get lucky and see some green flag racing it was pretty much follow the leader since the fast cars started in front of course. When I see a situation like this I still just shake my head and wonder, "now just how is this benefiting our sport?" The standard argument is that by seeing a track online someone will be more likely to go and buy a ticket to attend an event there in the future. Umm, nope. And since this was being provided for free, who actually benefits from this? No revenue for the track and no revenue for the video provider since I didn't notice any advertising, so to me all this did was to train people to stay at home and watch for additional "free racing" in the future. I don't get it, can someone please explain?
Coming up this weekend the first two nights of racing for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will be shown live on MavTV. Now that makes some sense because there will be commercials shown and I would assume that the track is going to get a cut of the revenue. What I am interested in seeing though is how the presence of live television effects the flow of the show for those fans who have purchased a ticket and are sitting in the stands. Let's just say that live TV has not been a friend when it comes to running an efficient show and the true barometer for me will come the following week when the Friday and Saturday shows at East Bay are shown live. In the past these races have been over as early as 9 p.m. Eastern time and rarely run past ten o'clock. And remember that later finish would be 9 p.m. for us here in the frozen north, so let's just see how it plays out.
The 2018 Awards Banquet for the Sprint Invaders was held this past Saturday night in Burlington and I was honored to serve as the emcee for the evening. Cody Wehrle celebrated his first series championship driving for Andy Huston and you couldn't ask for a kinder, more humble champion. I have known Cody's father Scott for nearly thirty years now as he raced in the old Pro Stock division at 34 Raceway when I announced there on a weekly basis and it has been a pleasure watching Cody grow up and become a champion. I have no doubt that he will continue to improve and don't be surprised if he defends his Sprint Invaders title and finds victory lane for the first time at Knoxville as well in 2019.
I enjoy working with the Sprint Invaders Association because it is like being a part of a big family that wants to go out each race night and put on the best Sprint Car racing possible. That family spirit was evidenced by the standing ovation given to John Greenwood as he was announced as a new inductee to the Sprint Invaders Hall of Fame. The veteran driver has been making the long pull from Woodward, Iowa, since the series started in the early 2000's and while the former IMCA Sprint Car Champion never won an Invaders race, he was often competitive and showed that family spirit throughout. Greenwood announced his retirement from driving at the end of the 2018 campaign, but you will still find him around the race tracks this coming season as he gets his son behind the wheel of a 305.
As of now the preliminary schedule for the Sprint Invaders looks pretty similar to 2018 except for the following. The Quincy event will move from September to Sunday April 14th and Lee County Speedway promoters Brian and Marcie Gaylord will add a third event to the schedule in Donnellson with an appearance during the oldest County Fair west of the Mississippi.
While at the banquet Saturday night I had an interesting conversation with an area promoter who has struggled to build his car count in one of his budget classes. We talked about the purse structure that the Fairbury American Legion Speedway uses for its Hobby Mod class, where all drivers are paid the same purse amount regardless of where they finish, and the theories behind it and he just might be motivated to give it a try in 2019. If it happens I told him that he can take all the credit if it works and his car count grows, or he can blame me if it bombs. Let's put it this way, the average car count would have to drop from six or seven in order to "bomb" so my chances of taking the blame are pretty small.
As I was working on the Special Events calendar this past weekend I noticed that the schedule for the Park Jefferson Speedway ended on July 27th. Now going through all of these tracks over the past few years I have seen a few occasions where for some reason the rest of the season's schedule had been truncated at a certain point and on all of those it was the same software that the track uses for their website. So, I sent an email to the track and sure enough they confirmed that the Season Championship event to be held on July 27th is the final race on the schedule for 2019 at this point. For you Sioux City area fans that are concerned about this, surely you noticed just how many races that they do have on the schedule between the opening weekend on April 12th and 13th and that final Saturday in July. Nineteen events are on the schedule including several special events so there will be no shortage of racing at Park Jeff.
AtoZ Promotions, the group that runs Park Jefferson, also announced recently that they will operate the Interstate Speedway that is literally just across the road from Park Jeff and they have yet to release a schedule for 2019. Who knows, maybe they will focus on August and September at the little bullring?
That's all for now, make sure that you check out Dirt On Dirt for full coverage of the Late Models during Speedweeks and check back here from time to time for more comments from the Back Stretch.
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Sunday, January 20, 2019
Chili Bowl Headlines and Other Notes From The Week
The Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is truly an amazing event. In fact for the first time in 2019 there are now five qualifying nights to go along with Saturday's finale as more than 350 drivers did their best just to make the show.
Checking the results from the five qualifiers there really weren't any surprises as the top two finishers from each night locked themselves into the Championship feature. On Monday night it was young Logan Seavey, the driver who many feel will be the next Open Wheel prodigy to make his way into NASCAR taking the win over Brady Bacon. The reigning Knoxville Nationals champion Brad Sweet looked to have that runner-up finish sewed up until a late bobble allowed Bacon to sizzle by. Have to give a mention to Chapin, Illinois, driver Paul Nienheiser who finished ninth in the opener despite minimal experience in a midget.
Kyle Larson dominated Tuesday's action going flag-to-flag from the outside of row one while pole sitter Zach Daum chased him to the checkers. ASCS National Champ Sam Hafertepe Jr. was an impressive fifth despite his lack of experience in a midget and NASCAR Cup driver Alex Bowman finished ninth.
Crowd favorite Rico Abreu won from the front row on Wednesday night prompting victory lane announcer Blake Anderson to wear a Rico Mullet hat while on one knee to conduct the interview. World of Outlaw Sprint Car regular David Gravel earned the second transfer spot, so you can maybe rate that as a bit of a "surprise" although we all know that Gravel can mash the gas. Late Model driver Tim McCreadie, who is actually a past champion here at the Chili Bowl, finished in the sixth spot.
Christopher Bell was Thursday night's winner as he looks for his third straight Chili Bowl championship while Shane Golobic transferred in second. The name that caught my eye though was Josh Most as the Modified racer from Red Oak, Iowa, started 22nd and raced his way up to fifth at the checkers. Tracy Hines finished seventh after taking a big air tumble in his heat race and the new Competition Director for the World of Outlaws Late Model series, Casey Shuman was eighth.
Finally on Friday night, somebody other than a Keith Kunz Motorsports driver won a feature with Justin Grant taking the win over Tanner Thorson. NASCAR Cup competitor Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who is no stranger to Open Wheel racing by any means finished in fourth and Brad Loyet returned to racing for the first time since his terrible shop accident when a tire exploded and made the feature race but finished last, 24th.
When Christopher Bell out dueled Kyle Larson for the win at the Turkey Night Grand Prix in California in November a few people made the assertion that Bell was in Larson's head. That's absurd I thought at the time, this is Kyle Larson. He is the driver who intimidates others with just his presence, not the other way around, but after watching the final lap of last night's Chili Bowl I think those "few people" might just be right! Larson had the race won, all he had to do was keep his car glued to the bottom as Bell had given up on the top. Christopher actually looked like he had resigned himself to running second, but when Larson missed his mark entering turn one, Bell snatched the gift and charged through the opening to take the lead. Kyle tried to squeeze back under Bell in the final set of turns even making a bit of contact, but wisely not enough to take them both out and just like that Bell had won his third straight Golden Driller by leading just that one most important lap. It will now be awhile before they meet on dirt again as both will now be on their way to Daytona for their full-time jobs.
We continue to build up our Special Events Calendar at Positively Racing as more schedules are released and there were a few items of interest this week.
Last week I mentioned the possibility that the Fair Board would take over the operation of the Dubuque Speedway in 2019, but that proved to be wrong when it was announced that Nick McCrady and Trackside Promotions would run the show at the high-banked 3/8th-mile oval next season. McCrady had a successful freshman year of promoting at the Maquoketa Speedway in 2018 and will now run two tracks this year.
And, speaking of Maquoketa, their schedule was released this week and included will be three Sunday afternoons of racing in October. Now for you young readers that might not seem like a big deal, but twenty or more years ago there wasn't a full schedule of racing going on every week in October. In fact, the only thing that you could count on at that time was for Verne Schumann to have his three Sunday afternoon specials at the old Hawkeye Raceway near Blue Grass. There was just something special about getting up on a Sunday, perhaps going to the early church service and then making the trip north with the fall foliage in full glory to watch some racing with a field of cars where you just never knew who might show up. Then you would be driving home with the sun just setting giving you its own version of Fall colors and be home in time to have a late dinner and get a full night of sleep before going back to work on Monday. I hope to revive those memories a time or two with a trip to Maquoketa next October.
As I was keying in the revised schedule at the Quincy Raceways I noticed two events for the Iowa Sprint Car League. A quick search of Facebook reveals that somebody is starting up a series for non-wing Sprint Cars with a schedule to be released soon.
Good news for race fans in the Sioux City area as they will not be losing a track with the announcement this week that the Raceway Park bull ring that sits just across the road from the Park Jefferson Speedway will continue to operate in 2019 with a new promoter and a new name, Interstate Speedway. Proof once again of my "Net Zero" theory. (Read through the archives if you are new to the Back Stretch)
Did you see the latest episode of Dirt Knights this week? Let's just say that it wasn't very complimentary of the Knoxville Raceway and its staff. Knoxville's 2019 schedule does not include its traditional July date for the Modifieds and Sport Mods and one has to wonder if that is the reason why the show was edited the way that it was. The 2018 event was run on the same night that the tornadoes hit in both Pella and Marshalltown which would explain the very small crowd that you see in the stands from the camera shots in the infield and I would guess that the bottom line from a financial standpoint did not look very good. It was the first one that I had missed for several years as we had a Sprint Invader race at Bloomfield that night that also somehow was able to be run despite the crazy weather and also drew a smaller than expected crowd.
As I watched the Knoxville episode I actually chuckled a few times when the drivers talked about how they were treated like "gum on the shoe" of the Knoxville officials because they were Modifieds and not Sprint Cars. What they don't realize is that is how ALL classes that race at Knoxville are handled.
The officials at Knoxville are strict, buttoned up and professional. I'll use the "we want to park together" situation that we saw on this episode as an example. The officials know that there are going to be 140 or more haulers that they will need to park in an orderly fashion so when you pull into the infield this isn't like other places where you go find an open spot that appeals to you and then set out three or four tires to save spots for your buddies who will be rolling in later. If you want to park together, you better wait for each other outside the track and then all come in together. And that still might not work out for you the way that you want. Why? Because if one of you has a big toterhome hauler and the other is on a small open flat bed trailer behind a pickup truck the Knoxville official is going to park the toterhome somewhere in the middle of the infield while the open trailer will be told to park up against the infield guardrail going down the backstretch and into turn three. And if you try to explain why you need to park together to him just remember that he has probably already heard the same argument ten times already tonight so don't be surprised if he uses a little colorful language with you because he still sees another fifty haulers in line and needs to get you moving.
Oh yes, and the reason why you don't get to park together is because by parking the haulers in this manner the fans in the stands will have a better chance of seeing the entire race track! I had the honor of working a full season at Knoxville in 1998 and before every race night we had an officials meeting at 4 p.m. It was not to discuss how we were going to treat the drivers like crap, it was to talk about how we were going to put on the best and safest program possible for both the drivers and the fans and I am confident that goal still runs true each race night at Knoxville whether it is Modifieds, Late Models, Sprint Cars or the annual Enduro that is on the schedule.
Todd Turner invited me to be a part of this week's Fast Talk segment at Dirt On Dirt. Check it out on Monday to see if my answers were good enough to make it to print! It might just be a one time thing, but I was honored to be asked. Turner, Michael Rigsby and the rest of the DoD team are living out my dream and I couldn't be happier for them.
Off topic a bit I saw a story this week where major league baseball players are concerned that potentially high salaried free agents Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are still unsigned just weeks before Spring Training gets started. This is the second year in a row where free agency in baseball has not produced the huge contracts that were expected and I believe it is because the sport has finally hit that peak when it comes to salaries. Let's face it, the players can't just keep on making more and more money each year because eventually, to pay them, the cost of attending a game goes beyond the budget of the sport's fan base and now it looks like the owners are coming to that realization. If you think about it we have seen the same trend in NASCAR over the past few years as well.
Late Models have the weekend off this week as Speedweeks draw near and following is the Back Stretch Top 25 through the early season events.
Checking the results from the five qualifiers there really weren't any surprises as the top two finishers from each night locked themselves into the Championship feature. On Monday night it was young Logan Seavey, the driver who many feel will be the next Open Wheel prodigy to make his way into NASCAR taking the win over Brady Bacon. The reigning Knoxville Nationals champion Brad Sweet looked to have that runner-up finish sewed up until a late bobble allowed Bacon to sizzle by. Have to give a mention to Chapin, Illinois, driver Paul Nienheiser who finished ninth in the opener despite minimal experience in a midget.
Kyle Larson dominated Tuesday's action going flag-to-flag from the outside of row one while pole sitter Zach Daum chased him to the checkers. ASCS National Champ Sam Hafertepe Jr. was an impressive fifth despite his lack of experience in a midget and NASCAR Cup driver Alex Bowman finished ninth.
Crowd favorite Rico Abreu won from the front row on Wednesday night prompting victory lane announcer Blake Anderson to wear a Rico Mullet hat while on one knee to conduct the interview. World of Outlaw Sprint Car regular David Gravel earned the second transfer spot, so you can maybe rate that as a bit of a "surprise" although we all know that Gravel can mash the gas. Late Model driver Tim McCreadie, who is actually a past champion here at the Chili Bowl, finished in the sixth spot.
Christopher Bell was Thursday night's winner as he looks for his third straight Chili Bowl championship while Shane Golobic transferred in second. The name that caught my eye though was Josh Most as the Modified racer from Red Oak, Iowa, started 22nd and raced his way up to fifth at the checkers. Tracy Hines finished seventh after taking a big air tumble in his heat race and the new Competition Director for the World of Outlaws Late Model series, Casey Shuman was eighth.
Finally on Friday night, somebody other than a Keith Kunz Motorsports driver won a feature with Justin Grant taking the win over Tanner Thorson. NASCAR Cup competitor Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who is no stranger to Open Wheel racing by any means finished in fourth and Brad Loyet returned to racing for the first time since his terrible shop accident when a tire exploded and made the feature race but finished last, 24th.
When Christopher Bell out dueled Kyle Larson for the win at the Turkey Night Grand Prix in California in November a few people made the assertion that Bell was in Larson's head. That's absurd I thought at the time, this is Kyle Larson. He is the driver who intimidates others with just his presence, not the other way around, but after watching the final lap of last night's Chili Bowl I think those "few people" might just be right! Larson had the race won, all he had to do was keep his car glued to the bottom as Bell had given up on the top. Christopher actually looked like he had resigned himself to running second, but when Larson missed his mark entering turn one, Bell snatched the gift and charged through the opening to take the lead. Kyle tried to squeeze back under Bell in the final set of turns even making a bit of contact, but wisely not enough to take them both out and just like that Bell had won his third straight Golden Driller by leading just that one most important lap. It will now be awhile before they meet on dirt again as both will now be on their way to Daytona for their full-time jobs.
We continue to build up our Special Events Calendar at Positively Racing as more schedules are released and there were a few items of interest this week.
Last week I mentioned the possibility that the Fair Board would take over the operation of the Dubuque Speedway in 2019, but that proved to be wrong when it was announced that Nick McCrady and Trackside Promotions would run the show at the high-banked 3/8th-mile oval next season. McCrady had a successful freshman year of promoting at the Maquoketa Speedway in 2018 and will now run two tracks this year.
And, speaking of Maquoketa, their schedule was released this week and included will be three Sunday afternoons of racing in October. Now for you young readers that might not seem like a big deal, but twenty or more years ago there wasn't a full schedule of racing going on every week in October. In fact, the only thing that you could count on at that time was for Verne Schumann to have his three Sunday afternoon specials at the old Hawkeye Raceway near Blue Grass. There was just something special about getting up on a Sunday, perhaps going to the early church service and then making the trip north with the fall foliage in full glory to watch some racing with a field of cars where you just never knew who might show up. Then you would be driving home with the sun just setting giving you its own version of Fall colors and be home in time to have a late dinner and get a full night of sleep before going back to work on Monday. I hope to revive those memories a time or two with a trip to Maquoketa next October.
As I was keying in the revised schedule at the Quincy Raceways I noticed two events for the Iowa Sprint Car League. A quick search of Facebook reveals that somebody is starting up a series for non-wing Sprint Cars with a schedule to be released soon.
Good news for race fans in the Sioux City area as they will not be losing a track with the announcement this week that the Raceway Park bull ring that sits just across the road from the Park Jefferson Speedway will continue to operate in 2019 with a new promoter and a new name, Interstate Speedway. Proof once again of my "Net Zero" theory. (Read through the archives if you are new to the Back Stretch)
Did you see the latest episode of Dirt Knights this week? Let's just say that it wasn't very complimentary of the Knoxville Raceway and its staff. Knoxville's 2019 schedule does not include its traditional July date for the Modifieds and Sport Mods and one has to wonder if that is the reason why the show was edited the way that it was. The 2018 event was run on the same night that the tornadoes hit in both Pella and Marshalltown which would explain the very small crowd that you see in the stands from the camera shots in the infield and I would guess that the bottom line from a financial standpoint did not look very good. It was the first one that I had missed for several years as we had a Sprint Invader race at Bloomfield that night that also somehow was able to be run despite the crazy weather and also drew a smaller than expected crowd.
As I watched the Knoxville episode I actually chuckled a few times when the drivers talked about how they were treated like "gum on the shoe" of the Knoxville officials because they were Modifieds and not Sprint Cars. What they don't realize is that is how ALL classes that race at Knoxville are handled.
The officials at Knoxville are strict, buttoned up and professional. I'll use the "we want to park together" situation that we saw on this episode as an example. The officials know that there are going to be 140 or more haulers that they will need to park in an orderly fashion so when you pull into the infield this isn't like other places where you go find an open spot that appeals to you and then set out three or four tires to save spots for your buddies who will be rolling in later. If you want to park together, you better wait for each other outside the track and then all come in together. And that still might not work out for you the way that you want. Why? Because if one of you has a big toterhome hauler and the other is on a small open flat bed trailer behind a pickup truck the Knoxville official is going to park the toterhome somewhere in the middle of the infield while the open trailer will be told to park up against the infield guardrail going down the backstretch and into turn three. And if you try to explain why you need to park together to him just remember that he has probably already heard the same argument ten times already tonight so don't be surprised if he uses a little colorful language with you because he still sees another fifty haulers in line and needs to get you moving.
Oh yes, and the reason why you don't get to park together is because by parking the haulers in this manner the fans in the stands will have a better chance of seeing the entire race track! I had the honor of working a full season at Knoxville in 1998 and before every race night we had an officials meeting at 4 p.m. It was not to discuss how we were going to treat the drivers like crap, it was to talk about how we were going to put on the best and safest program possible for both the drivers and the fans and I am confident that goal still runs true each race night at Knoxville whether it is Modifieds, Late Models, Sprint Cars or the annual Enduro that is on the schedule.
Todd Turner invited me to be a part of this week's Fast Talk segment at Dirt On Dirt. Check it out on Monday to see if my answers were good enough to make it to print! It might just be a one time thing, but I was honored to be asked. Turner, Michael Rigsby and the rest of the DoD team are living out my dream and I couldn't be happier for them.
Off topic a bit I saw a story this week where major league baseball players are concerned that potentially high salaried free agents Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are still unsigned just weeks before Spring Training gets started. This is the second year in a row where free agency in baseball has not produced the huge contracts that were expected and I believe it is because the sport has finally hit that peak when it comes to salaries. Let's face it, the players can't just keep on making more and more money each year because eventually, to pay them, the cost of attending a game goes beyond the budget of the sport's fan base and now it looks like the owners are coming to that realization. If you think about it we have seen the same trend in NASCAR over the past few years as well.
Late Models have the weekend off this week as Speedweeks draw near and following is the Back Stretch Top 25 through the early season events.
| The "Back Stretch" | ||||
| Dirt Late Model Points | Poll | |||
| Pos. | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | . | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood IL | 9.6 |
| 2 | . | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin IL | 9.0 |
| 3 | . | Ricky Weiss | Winnipeg MAN | 7.8 |
| 4 | . | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg TN | 6.6 |
| 5 | . | Brandon Overton | Appling GA | 6.0 |
| 6 | . | Cade Dillard | Robeline LA | 5.4 |
| 7 | . | Hudson O'Neal | Martinsville IN | 3.6 |
| 8 | . | Chase Junghans | Manhattan KS | 3.0 |
| 9 | . | Michael Page | Douglasville GA | 3.0 |
| 10 | . | Travis Pennington | Stapleton GA | 3.0 |
| 11 | . | Jimmy Elliott | Cleveland TN | 2.4 |
| 12 | . | Kyle Beard | Trumann AR | 2.4 |
| 13 | . | Mark Whitener | Middleburg FL | 2.4 |
| 14 | . | Ray Cook | Brasstown NC | 2.4 |
| 15 | . | Austin Horton | Grantsville GA | 1.8 |
| 16 | . | Chris Simpson | Marion IA | 1.8 |
| 17 | . | Jadon Frame | 1.8 | |
| 18 | . | Jimmy Mars | Elk Mound WI | 1.8 |
| 19 | . | Jimmy Thomas | Phenix City AL | 1.8 |
| 20 | . | Cruz Skinner | Oxford AL | 1.2 |
| 21 | . | Dallas Cooper | Talladega AL | 1.2 |
| 22 | . | Mike Franklin | 1.2 | |
| 23 | . | Earl Pearson Jr. | Jacksonville FL | 0.6 |
| 24 | . | Joseph Brown | Columbus GA | 0.6 |
| 25 | . | Shannon Davis | 0.6 | |
| 26 | . | Will Herrington | Cochran GA | 0.6 |
Sunday, January 13, 2019
A Trip To Phoenix, But No Racing
It has been a few weeks since I have taken the time to write
here on the Back Stretch and I am actually now killing time by doing so while
on a flight to Phoenix to visit friends who have taken on the role of “snow
birds”. The original plan was to pack a car with me and four other gentlemen
who seldom if ever go to the races and go to one night of the Wild West
Shootout, but when they figured out the FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway was on the
total opposite end of the Phoenix metro area requiring nearly a two hour drive
that plan was nixed. Oh well, at least I will get to spend a relaxing weekend
with friends with sixty-five degree warmth rather than dealing with the snow that
is coming at home. I will have another one of these “near miss” trips in
February when my wife and I make are semi-annual beach trip to Clearwater the
same week that the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series will be at the East Bay
Raceway just less than an hour away. So close! But no racing for me until March
in 2019.
Plenty of interesting news over the past few weeks……
When I saw that Casey Shuman would be the new Race Director
for the World of Outlaws I thought that made sense until I noticed that it
would for the Late Models. Shuman has spent his entire life around the Sprint
Cars, most recently owning and operating the WAR non wing sprint car series
that has had solid growth over the past two years, so it will be a whole new
world for him with the Late Models. Shuman was at the opening weekend of the
Wild West shootout to familiarize himself with his new job and the question I
have now is who takes over the WAR series that has events scheduled at both
Donnellson and Burlington in 2019?
The soap opera that is the Badlands Speedway continues as
the news came out that Steve Rubin had agreed to purchase the track from
Snidely Whiplash, however a closer read
of the press release reveals that to complete the transaction Rubin must first
come up with enough investors to cover the insanely high price tag. This is equivalent
to a hostage situation where Whiplash (Brennan) will end up a winner if Rubin
is successful in raising the funds and the investors will then be faced with a
very long window of success needed before they see a return on their money. I
am sure that the race fans in the area are hoping that the deal will go
through, but if it does, the villian gets his way.
With Brian Gaylord taking over as the promoter at the Lee
County Speedway in Donnellson the 2019 schedule has even more specials than
ever before. I mentioned the WAR wingless Sprints earlier, plus the MOWA 410
Sprints and a third appearance by the Sprint Invaders have been added to a
slate that still includes both a Spring and Fall Extravaganza and of course my
favorite, Shiverfest. When the southeast Iowa track added the Crate Late Models
a few years ago who would have guessed that this would have been the precursor
to IMCA adding the Crate option for their Late Models? And now with 34 Raceway
and Lee County both running sanctioned Late Models again we can only hope to
see an increase in the car count in 2019.
I live in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, right around twenty miles
from these two tracks that have each posted a very exciting schedule for 2019.
Plus, just 35 miles up the road the CJ Speedway in Columbus Junction is going
all in with their weekly Friday night program putting up one of the best all
around purses that you will find outside of Fairbury. This race fan has no
reason to complain about my location!
My Wednesday night destination, the Southern Iowa Speedway
in Oskaloosa, is back again in 2019 with another “short” season of weekly
racing that will start in early April and end during the Southern Iowa Fair in
mid-July. I know that a few folks around Osky were a bit perturbed when former
Race Director, and now the owner of the Stuart Speedway Mike Van Genderen
announced that he would be moving the west central Iowa track to Wednesday
nights as well in 2019, but I see that move as having litte to no effect on
what we will see in Oskaloosa.
Two completely different types of tracks, Stuart being a
small quarter while Osky is a big half and any drivers who did come to Osky
from the Des Moines area on a regular basis last year are known to prefer the
bigger track.
For Van Genderen the move seems to make perfect sense. Stuart had traditionally been a Sunday night track until the state fairgrounds closed up a couple of years ago and it was thought that a move to Friday nights would capture some of those drivers and fans. A look at the results from the past two years will show that did not happen so now instead of competing with Friday IMCA tracks in Denison and Marshalltown, Stuart can now pull in those drivers as well as some Boone cars who do not want to risk racing one night prior to their shangri-la. If anybody has a reason to be concerned it would be the fans in Alta although the only driver that might make the switch would be Shannon Anderson and that would likely be welcomed by the rest of the Hobby Stock competitors at BVR who spent every Wednesday night chasing the IMCA National Champion to the checkers.
Still to be answered are questions in regard to two of my favorite tracks in Davenport and Dubuque. It sounds like Bob Wagener will promote a couple of shows at West Liberty in 2019, but whether or not he returns to Davenport where he has promoted a solid Friday night weekly pogram for many years remains. A big drop off in the Late Model car count in 2018 seemed to be the only blemish as the rest of the show was solid and perhaps the new rules for the IMCA Late Models might be the boost that is needed to get the counts back up.
In Dubuque it sounds as though the fair board will take over the promotion of the weekly racing with a Race Director to be named running the show. For me though it will be hard to pass up a trip to Vinton on a Sunday night where veteran promoter Mick Trier will reportedly be in his final season of putting on weekly racing at the Benton County Speedway. I have known Mick now for over forty years and while some of you may disagree with me, those will be some big shoes to fill in our sport as he is one of the best.
Wrapping this up now as we wait for our flight back to snowy Iowa and hopefully this delay will not stretch out any longer. It is bright and sunny here at PHX and just down the road the Wild West Shootout is getting set to wrap up its six race run. Bobby Pierce was the winner of the first three events and if not for a day race on Saturday and a flat right rear tire while leading that night he would have likely been five for five going into tonight's finale. Don't forget that you can watch live on Dirt On Dirt and for full Positively Racing coverage of the Wild West Shootout including the Modifieds and the X-Mods make sure that you check in with Ed Reichert's "One Fan's Travels".
Thanks for checking into the Back Stretch!
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