As I was getting ready to head out to my first race of the 2019 season on Friday the big news broke, The Mueller Report was complete and had been given to the Attorney General for his review. Oh my gosh, after more than two years of nearly daily updates on what tawdry details this investigation was sure to uncover it was finally here, you could sense the giddiness of anticipation in so many people. What was it going to be? Would Trump be forced to resign due to the fact that the only reason that he was elected President was because he had enlisted the full cooperation of the Russians to sway the 2016 election in his favor?
I watch the first twenty minutes of Good Morning America as I do my morning workout each day and I swear that Pierre Thomas has been like a kid in a candy store every time that he reported on the investigation over the past two years. Of course nearly all of his segments included the phrase "if true", so if that didn't tip you off as to the validity of what he was reporting, I don't know what would, but yet there he was three to four days a week building the anticipation of the indictments that were sure to come.
And then on Sunday, a four page summary of the Mueller Report was given to Congress and it specifically said: No Collusion. It was the political equivalent of Geraldo Rivera's much hyped opening of Al Capone's Vault back in 1986, but that dud did not cost the American tax payers 25 million dollars to produce.
BUT WAIT, say the Democrats and the general media, the Report does not exonerate the President on the charge of Obstruction of Justice and that will be their rallying cry now in order to try to salvage something from this empty vault.
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For those of you who are reading this and thinking that I am just some right winger who has finally revealed my stripes, you are wrong. I didn't vote for Trump and I often cringe on how he handles himself in such an un-Presidential manner. What I do have a problem with is the general media and how they "report" the news of the day anymore. On this day I am the one that is giddy that Pierre Thomas looked depressed during his segment this morning and in knowing that Martha Raddatz is likely shedding some tears as she did while on air the night of the 2016 election.
If you are in the media and want to take sides, go do it on CNN or Fox News, anybody who tunes in to those so-called "news channels" knows what they are going to get. But if you are on ABC, NBC or CBS, it is time to get back to the days of Walter Cronkite and just give us the news of the day in a factual manner without any kind of slant. Now that would be a breath of fresh air, wouldn't it?
The one thing that the Mueller Report did reveal, that I am guessing that most will not even notice, is that it confirmed that the Russians used social media in an effort to create political discord. So take a moment, check your news feed and if you have a Facebook friend who is sharing biased political stories from the left or the right more than once a day, reach out and congratulate them on being influenced by the Russians. I'm sure that it will make their day!
Oh yes, and just one last note on this, any political comments on the Positively Racing Facebook page, no matter from what side, will be deleted.
Now back to what you come to the Back Stretch for, some thoughts and news on auto racing!
Just two weeks ago I would have told you that the chances of the Pepsi Lee County Speedway being able to have their annual Spring Extravaganza on March 22nd and 23rd would have been slim at best. The last of the snow had just melted away and it was obvious that the frost was still in the ground, but with a stretch of four or five straight days of sunny skies and a strong wind the track, and the facility dried out enough for the show to go on. The fear of rough track conditions was likely the primary factor in the car count being less than expected, but the hard work of Brian Gaylord, Dave Sapp and the entire LCS crew resulted in a surface that did chunk out some on the low line, but there was plenty of other smoother lines to choose from and the racing was pretty darn good all weekend.
Seventy-six cars signed in on Friday night in the five divisions and that jumped to ninety-one on Saturday even though there was a threat of rain moving in during the evening. And while the radar did look a bit ominous as the night went on, only a few sprinkles fell during the Sport Mod feature, not even enough to warrant a caution.
I get it, if I had a race car and I thought that the track would be rough, I would probably have kept it in the garage as well, but thank goodness that the drivers of this past weekend did not. There was a nice crowd on hand both nights, race fans who are obviously eager to get back out to the track and they were treated to some good action. Now granted I did not talk to many, but I did not hear anybody complaining about the car counts and for me with the cool Spring evenings the car counts were just right as both nights were completed in right around three and a half hours from the first hot lap session to the final checkered flag.
I used to be a "car count" snob, but as I have aged I have found that it isn't the car count at a special event that matters to me as much as does the "mix" of the drivers. You know? I love seeing drivers from different areas compete against each other at special events and we definitely had that at the Spring Extravaganza.
Dustin Bluhm towed his beautiful #45 Late Model all the way down from Herman, Minnesota, 538 miles and after spinning while leading on Friday night, he found redemption on Saturday fighting off Tommy Elston in a thrilling finish to take the win. Bryan Berger traveled 577 miles from Ortley, South Dakota, to drive one of Todd Frank's three Late Models and after winning the heat on Friday he finished fifth in the main event.
Derek Green pulled 334 miles from Granada, Minnesota, and Dan Mackenthun came 382 miles from Hamburg, Minnesota, to compete in the Stock Car division with Green scoring a second-place finish on Saturday night. It was even a 255 mile pull for Adam Klocke from Carroll and a tip of the hat to Saturday's winner Damon Murty who makes the 133 mile tow often to Lee County. Heck, even Albion transplant Jeff Mueller had to make a 172 mile trip back south to his former home track and you can tell that he has adjusted to his new "northern climate" as he roamed the pits in shorts and flip flops both nights.
It was a 180 mile trip for Sherrill's Tyler Soppe who won the Sport Mod feature on Friday and then finished second to Austen Becerra on Saturday. It was good to see Jeremy Mills in attendance as well, a driver who was a big supporter of my NKF Tour that started a four year run twenty years ago. Mills pulled his Modified 265 miles down from Britt and ran strong both nights. And how about that beautiful Modified car number 442 of Aaron Johnson who made the long tow of 498 miles from Brainerd, Minnesota? Johnson finished fifth on Friday and sixth on Saturday.
The division that you had to really be impressed with though were the Sport Compacts as not only did several of them come from a long ways away, but they also provided the diehards with some clean and competitive racing as the last event of each night. Burlington's Jacob Houston scored the clean sweep, but check out some of the travel distances of this field who were more than 150 miles from home.
5th, Chris Vannausdle, Villisca IA 217 miles
6th, Oliver Monson, Humboldt IA 265 miles
8th, Nathan Wahlstrom, 9th Zach Bohlmeyer and 21st Drake Bohlmeyer, all three from Beatrice NE 375 miles assuming that they were able to take the most direct route due to flooding
13th, John Gill, Marshalltown IA 161 miles
15th, Kyle Roose, Allison IA 188 miles
17th, Nathan Forey, Waverly IA 172 miles
20th, Jake Smith, St. Joseph MN 444 miles
23rd, R.J. Esqueda, Madelia MN 360 miles
25th, Zach Jackson, Bemidji MN 587 miles
26th, Dustin Forbes, Rock Falls IL 163 miles
Thanks to all of the drivers, whether you came from near or far this past weekend as all of you put on two very entertaining nights of racing!
Checking the forecast for the week ahead I am not very optimistic at this point about when or where my next race will be. If all goes as planned it will be at 34 Raceway west of Burlington this Saturday night where the Sprint Invaders are scheduled to kickoff their 2019 campaign along with the I-Smile Silver Late Models. Then the following week I have Tuesday April 2nd circled on my calendar for the Caleb Hammond Memorial at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa followed by two of the IMCA Frostbusters on Wednesday at Stuart and Thursday in Vinton. I will have to take a break for another commitment on Friday before returning to 34 Raceway on Saturday April 7th as the IRA and MOWA Sprint Cars converge on the 3/8th-mile highbanks for the opening event for both series.
Of course weather could force a change of plans along the way, but I do hope to see you again soon on the Back Stretch!
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