Spring Weather Has Sucked For A Decade Now

Title catch your eye? While watching the KCRG morning show today meteorologist Kaj O'Mara shared the statistic that over the past ten years the average temperature for the final week of March and the first week of April has been 1.3 degrees below normal. He stated that while this might not sound like much, it is a significant variance when you consider that it is over a ten year period.

O'Mara doesn't have to convince race fans in the Upper Midwest as we have all noticed that our favorite Spring specials and opening nights have been wiped out by cold and snow and rain more often than not in recent years. If you have been a regular reader of the Back Stretch you will know that I have stated in a few entries how the racing season has shifted to have fewer specials in the Spring while more events are scheduled later and later on the calendar. It is nice to now have an actual statistic to back up that theory!

Last week we lost the MARS Thaw Brawl at Davenport and so far this weekend we have lost the IRA/MOWA Sprint show at 34 Raceway, the IMCA doubleheader at I-70 Speedway and the USMTS weekend at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City has been pushed back a week to April 8th and 9th.

Two of the shows that are still on the schedule as of this writing are the Spring Meltdown at I-80 and the World of Outlaws Late Models at Farmer City. Last year I was able to convince my wife that we needed to go to the zoo in Omaha and then, while in Omaha, I convinced her that we needed to go to the races at I-80 that night. I don't think that I will be able to pull that off again this weekend as she already suggested the St. Louis Zoo instead. I can only trick her once before she wises up. 

The practice night at Farmer City for Thursday has been canceled, but I hope that they get the Friday and Saturday show in because I am interested to see what kind of feedback the event will get with the addition of the new Xtreme Midget Series. There is nothing that Late Model fans love more than to watch race cars get pushed off and then buzz around the track for a few laps when it is cold and windy. Oh yes, and I just saw that more than 35 Midgets have pre-entered for the weekend.

I did get my first Midwest show of the season in a couple of weeks ago when my wife and I were visiting friends who have a house on Lake Viking in northwest Missouri. On Saturday nights at their lake home you can see the glow of the lights and hear the faint rumble of the engines from the nearby I-35 Speedway and when they had their opener on March 19th, my friend and I ventured over to take in the action. We arrived after a couple of heat races had been completed and, since he has only been to the races three times in the past (all with me) I told him that we would set a ten o'clock curfew for ourselves so that we could get back to the house and catch the end of the Memphis vs. Gonzaga NCAA tournament game.

The racing was entertaining and was rolling along pretty good until the intermission began at 8:45. At 9:10 the B-Main for the B-Mods ran off quickly and we were now set for features. Unfortunately the E-Mods were first on the schedule and they spun and crashed their way to a twenty-five minute marathon where only ten of the scheduled twelve laps were completed before the checkered flag was mercifully waved.

The B-Mod feature was up next and the racing was good, but when Matt Dotson got upside down in turn three it was now just a couple of minutes from our curfew and we made the decision to head for home. While I was entertained by the racing, I was disappointed how the last hour and fifteen minutes played out and I hope that all tracks will consider what I wrote last year in regard to Class Order. I also want to thank all of the promoters in Iowa who thus far have fought off the urge to add the E-Mod class, because from what I have seen of it in my trips to tracks in Missouri, it is the best spent money by whoever sponsors the caution flags. 

So with a trip to the St. Louis Zoo now likely, I look ahead to the possibility of attending two or more Frostbusters next week as well as the season opener for the Sprint Invaders at 34 Raceway on April 9th. Of course that is weather permitting and it doesn't look like it's going to be warm and sunny at this point. If they race, I will bundle up and be there though and I do have to give a shoutout to the Nebraska Crown race at the Thayer County Raceway in Deshler as it was the first live stream race that I did not fall asleep while watching. Yes, the racing was good, but it was also on a Sunday afternoon and I was checking out basketball during the down times, so not a true "victory" when it comes to watching a full show without nodding off.

So many other things to talk about that are unrelated to racing, but I will leave you with this. Sunday's Oscars broadcast had a 16% increase in the ratings from last year. BUT, it still ranks as the second lowest rating for the Academy Awards ever. And imagine what those numbers would have been if social media had not have blown up with the "slap felt 'round the world" midway through the broadcast?

Get ready to go racing, Mother Nature has to cooperate sooner or later and thank you for visiting the Back Stretch!