Having finally returned home from cool Arizona to brutally cold northern Wisconsin, here is the wrap up on the final weekend of racing at the Wild West Shootout at U.S.A. Raceway in Tucson.
This year's version of the WWS was certainly not short on story lines, with tons of things happening both on and off the track that spiced up the action. However, to be honest, the racing action here never needs any extra drama as the racing is more than good enough itself to carry its own water.
Among the biggest head liner grabbers were the Clanton-Shaw brou ha on Saturday, the incessant whining that came from some of the sports biggest stars and of course, the huge announcement that came on Sunday that the event would be moved to a different location for 2017. We'll get to all these things in just a minute, but first, a review of the last two days of racing is in order.
Darrell Lanigan was dominant in the Late Model division on Saturday while Ronnie Lee Hollingsworth finally was able to make some noise with a second place finish. Jonathan Davenport ran third while Iowa's Chris Simpson had another strong and consistent run. It's funny that despite all the gnashing of teeth about the format (i.e. passing points), more often than not the cream still rises to the top, it's just that instead of starting in front and cruising along, they actually have to pass some other cars to get to the front. What a novel idea!
For the very few times that Jason Krohn races a Late Model, he is really fast and if he focused more on his fendered car, I'd say the sky could be the limit for him. And he's one that doesn't complain about the format as he's used to having to qualify by racing hard in his heat race with his Modified.
Todd Shute was one mighty happy driver on Saturday and he certainly had every right to be so. One doesn't often pass both Rodney Sanders and Ryan Gustin back to back to win a feature race and that's exactly what Shute did. And as he noted, to be so strong in a form of the Modified racing that he has little experience in makes the achievement even that much more impressive. The most dominant car in the Modified class, driven by Cade Dillard, was not on hand for the last weekend of the event as he headed back to Louisiana after hammering the wall on Friday night.
Local driver Brandon Farrington found himself in victory circle on Saturday after recovering from an awful earlier portion of the week where he badly wrecked his car and spent a lot of time putting it back together to complete the week. Minnesota driver Chad Olsen had his best run in the X Mods with a second place finish. He and his crew have been working tirelessly all week, as Chad has been running cars in both Modified classes and has been treated with plenty of bad luck earlier in the week.
Of course, the main topic of conversation on Saturday was the run-in between Shane Clanton and Don Shaw as they dueled for the lead in the final corner of a Late Model heat race. In my eyes, Clanton picked on the wrong guy to try an intimidation move on to gain one more position as they raced to the checkered flag. A well executed "slide job" is among the most thrilling moves in all of dirt track racing, but also one of the riskiest. If a driver tries such a maneuver and doesn't have the driver he's trying to pass cleared, than I think he leaves himself wide open for whatever the the other driver chooses to do. Just like the move Davenport pulled on Ward on Friday, the "stars" are assuming the other drivers are just going to lay over and let the big name driver pull what ever they want.
Well, I know Don Shaw quite well and he is not one to be intimidated by anyone. Plus, unlike some drivers, he's got a big enough racing budget to be willing to stick his nose in where some others might not. And to top off things, He had not been having a good week, with lots of bad luck of his own as he went into this series with plenty of high hopes and strong equipment.
So, when Clanton made his move, Shaw stood his ground and the result was a wild wreck. And then for Clanton to storm out of his car and blame it on the passing points format was really lame, a tepid excuse that absolutely no one in the crowd bought in to. But he had to find something to blame the wreck on as, after all, it couldn't have possibly been his fault!
Veteran reporter Dustin Jarrett also used pretty poor judgement in my opinion, unless of course, he was actually looking for just the reaction he got! Nevertheless, a little restraint to give the drivers some time to cool off might have been in order.
Sunday, the six race series wrapped up with the biggest money on the line in all classes, including eleven grand to win the Late Model feature, the most ever offered for a WWS event.
In the Late Models, Davenport showed just how strong he continues to be as the new season starts. No one knows if his car was running under the newly mandated rules or was still in 2015 mode, but he was clearly the fastest car all week. A couple of times he wasn't dominant enough to catch other fast cars and on night he shot himself in the foot by not following some basic racing rules like going to the scales but in the end, the big money went to him.
However, in my mind, the biggest story in the Late Models was the tremendous run by Ricky Thornton Jr to finish second in a car that he hadn't ever even sat in until Wednesday night! He did a great job in a car that couldn't even make the show opening weekend and he was the only driver to be close to Davenport at the end. Thornton Jr should be called the magic man as he restored to life two race cars over the course of the week that weren't going anywhere. And as impressive as his run in J.R. Haley's Late Model run was, I was even more impressed that he could take a Modified that normally runs in the back of the pack and make it a second place finishing car was nothing short of a miracle.
The other two feature winners were both most deserving after enduring really rocky weeks. Jake Gallardo and father Fito had nothing but bad luck all week with a ton of mechanical issues and motor breakdowns in their Modifieds but finally on Sunday Jake was able to keep his car running for twenty five laps as he fought off a strong challenge from Stormy Scott, who also had a trying week, for his first win of 2016.
Donovan Flores had to take his X Mod back to Las Cruces and put it back together after a grinding opening night crash against the wall last Saturday. Then again on Saturday he found himself against the concrete in the main once again but on Sunday things finally came together as he held off Farrington and Jimmy Ray for his first win of the week.
Points were tallied for the six shows and the point champions received bonuses. Davenport was the run away winner in the Late Models while Shute's consistent runs earned him the Modified title. Grant Southworth, having probably the best racing week of his career, won his first WWS feature in his first appearance here in the desert and consistent runs allowed him to edge Ron Schreiner as they had to go to the third tie breaker to settle the issue as they both were tied in points and only one point ahead of Tyler Peterson.
Little did we know that the Late Models would end up being a battle between the World of Outlaws point champ and the Lucas Oil point champ. However, the battle I'm talking about was not the one for the win but the contest to see which would be known as the biggest whiner of the week! It may have been a tie actually, as both went above and beyond in finding everything under the sun to complain about.
Clanton took issue about nearly everything that happened over the course of the ten days while Davenport let it be known that he would never be returning to the desert to race. I guess the thirty thousand plus dollars that he made for one week while being on vacation just wasn't good enough for him. However, I'm fairly certain that there will be plenty of other drivers willing to race for the money next year if he doesn't show up.
The crowds were excellent the last two days of racing and were among the biggest that I can recall ever seeing for this event as I continue to see more and more fans from the Midwest that are making this a racing destination trip each year. Car counts were up every day of the series in both the Late Models and Modifieds from last year while the X Mod car count was pretty much in line with 2015.
I made a point of personally mentioning to co-promoter Chris Kearns what a good job he had done at the conclusion of Sunday's show. As good as the racing was and as good as the car counts were and as entertaining as the whole series was, it seemed like there was an inordinate amount of complaining by a select few that had to have made him feel a little beat down. I wanted him to know that the race fans appreciated his efforts at keeping this series alive and growing and becoming one of the premier "must see" events of the year. And despite all the lobbying of a select few, I wanted him to know that the fans in the stands paying the bills overwhelmingly support the passing points format, a format that allows for much more actual racing, allows the programs to start right on time and helps keep the racing surface from being worn out before the first green flag is dropped.
The Sunday announcement that the series will be moved next year to Arizona Speedway near Apache Junction was met by me with mixed feelings. I have found U.S.A. Raceway to be a great place to watch racing and the overall racing since I have been coming to Tucson has been very good. I have grown to like Tucson and all the things there are to do there.
However, not knowing all the behind the scenes things taking place with changes scheduled in the track ownership and promoters for 2016, it seemed that the move was inevitable with no chance of the reconciliation.
I asked Pat Doar about Arizona Speedway as he has raced there in the past and he thought it would be a good place for this series. He said the track is slightly smaller than U.S.A. Raceway and probably not as fast as it tends to slick up. However, he remembered it as a track that you could pass on and that is the most important thing. Ricky Thornton Jr. had good things to say about the track too so we will hope for the best for 2017 there. In any event, the series, which seems to be getting stronger and stronger should not be adversely affected by the move in locations. And there should be new things to explore and do as we get more familiar with the Phoenix area next year.
Thanks to promoters Kearns and Kevin Montgomery for providing what is one of the most entertaining racing weeks of the year.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Wild West Shootout Round 4
The Wild West Shootout continued on Friday, Jan. 15 with round four of the six race series. As expected, most of the drivers that passed on the Wednesday night show were back in action along with several new drivers that pulled in for the three race weekend to wrap up the series. While the car counts were anything but small for Wednesday's show, they still shot up for the Friday night action with sixty Late Models, forty three Modifieds and thirty seven X Mods on hand for action with eleven drivers taking to the track for the first time in 2016.
The track was in excellent shape for the racing action on Friday as it slicked off quickly and after perhaps being a little high side dominant early, when it slicked off it allowed the drivers to run all over the track.
Despite the huge numbers of Late Models on hand and the obvious talent that ran deep through the field, the thirty lap feature for the division saw the two drivers that have dominated the action this week continue to do so. With solid runs in their heat races that allowed them to harvest lots of passing points, it was Jonathan Davenport and Don O'Neal that started in the front row side by side and they pulled away from the field to contest their own battle for the lead with everyone else chasing them. O'Neal got the jump at the start and Davenport chased him for the distance. Several times it looked like O'Neal might stretch his advantage, but then Davenport would make another rush as he moved around the track to find a faster line. While O'Neal rode mostly through the middle of the track, Davenport was all over the surface and many of the others tried the high side too as the track was truly wide for racing on different grooves.
With just a few laps to go, Davenport made his last rush and he actually stole the lead at the line briefly. However, O'Neal came back and as they raced through the last couple of laps, Chris Simpson was the car they had to deal with and things broke free on the outside where O'Neal happened to be and he was able to drive to a slight edge and go on for the win. Brandon Sheppard appears to be getting faster every night and he was a close third at the finish. Steve Francis and A.J. Diemel continued their consistent runs with top five finishes. Other than the opening night when the bad fast track caused some yellow flags, the Late Model portion of the program went smoothly again with the thirty lapper going nonstop.
Davenport may have diminished his star somewhat with his tactics early in the evening. He pulled a wicked slide job on South Dakota's Scott Ward as he didn't have him cleared in turn four yet kept crowding Ward who chose to anchor the brakes rather than wreck the sports current biggest star. For Ward's efforts he was rewarded by a car that jumped to the right when he hit the brakes and then hammered the wall, ending his night. Typically Ward, who is as aggressive as they come, wouldn't have even considered backing off but he was put in a difficult position, as who in the country would have accepted it if he had turned around Davenport, even though his ill conceived maneuver deserved just such treatment.
Some of the Modified drivers that one would expect to be in the hunt for wins continued to have problems on Friday. Jake Gallardo went through two cars over the course of the evening as he blew up his primary car in hot laps and then dropped out of the feature with more issues. His father Fito was also an early retiree from the Modified main. Rodney Sanders again left his Mod in the trailer as he concentrated on his Late Model and Cade Dillard, who started out the week on fire, hammered the front stretch wall at the mid point of the main, ending his night.
Only Ryan Gustin was able to keep things on an expected order, as he used the extreme high side of the track to score a thrilling win. It took Gustin a few laps to build up his momentum, but after he did he was able to drive past Matt Leer and take over the lead. Once in front, he really stretched his advantage to nearly a straightaway but he refused to back off as he continued to drive deep into the corners on what seemed to be a dangerous course.
Sure enough, with only about a handful of laps left, he got too high in turn four and hammered the front stretch wall but through some sort of a miracle, was able to keep going. He backed off at this point and continued on for the win with Leer finishing a fine second. Iowa drivers Brad Dierks and Todd Shute had fine runs coming home in the next spots while Stormy Scott finished behind them. Gustin's same fearless style allowed him to charge from sixteenth to sixth in the Late Model finale.
Wisconsin's Grant Southworth has been strong all week in the X Mods and Friday night he dominated for his first win here and surely the biggest of his career. His MB Customs car works very well in the middle of the track and again on Friday he was able to drive around people for positions while the majority of the field hugged the low groove. Once in front, he pulled away to a big lead as local driver Brandon Farrington attempted to knock down the concrete walls as he rode the very high groove that still allowed him to get second spot.
WISSOTA drivers secured the next two spots with Chad Olsen getting his best run of the week in his MasterSbilt car and Tyler Peterson executed another hard charge, coming from seventeenth to fourth with only one yellow flag to aid him. Another local driver, Brian Clark, completed the top five.
It was very cold and windy on Friday, surely one of the coldest nights that I have spent at the Wild West Shootout over the years. I ran into promoter Chris Kearns before the show and he was bemoaning the temperatures, as it was much more pleasant on the Thursday off night. However, he and I probably were both surprised later as despite the less than perfect conditions, a very nice crowd showed up for the racing action as it appears that the event has finally started to gain a foot hold with the racing folks as I continued to see more and more people from the northern regimes that showed up for the final weekend of racing.
The track was in excellent shape for the racing action on Friday as it slicked off quickly and after perhaps being a little high side dominant early, when it slicked off it allowed the drivers to run all over the track.
Despite the huge numbers of Late Models on hand and the obvious talent that ran deep through the field, the thirty lap feature for the division saw the two drivers that have dominated the action this week continue to do so. With solid runs in their heat races that allowed them to harvest lots of passing points, it was Jonathan Davenport and Don O'Neal that started in the front row side by side and they pulled away from the field to contest their own battle for the lead with everyone else chasing them. O'Neal got the jump at the start and Davenport chased him for the distance. Several times it looked like O'Neal might stretch his advantage, but then Davenport would make another rush as he moved around the track to find a faster line. While O'Neal rode mostly through the middle of the track, Davenport was all over the surface and many of the others tried the high side too as the track was truly wide for racing on different grooves.
With just a few laps to go, Davenport made his last rush and he actually stole the lead at the line briefly. However, O'Neal came back and as they raced through the last couple of laps, Chris Simpson was the car they had to deal with and things broke free on the outside where O'Neal happened to be and he was able to drive to a slight edge and go on for the win. Brandon Sheppard appears to be getting faster every night and he was a close third at the finish. Steve Francis and A.J. Diemel continued their consistent runs with top five finishes. Other than the opening night when the bad fast track caused some yellow flags, the Late Model portion of the program went smoothly again with the thirty lapper going nonstop.
Davenport may have diminished his star somewhat with his tactics early in the evening. He pulled a wicked slide job on South Dakota's Scott Ward as he didn't have him cleared in turn four yet kept crowding Ward who chose to anchor the brakes rather than wreck the sports current biggest star. For Ward's efforts he was rewarded by a car that jumped to the right when he hit the brakes and then hammered the wall, ending his night. Typically Ward, who is as aggressive as they come, wouldn't have even considered backing off but he was put in a difficult position, as who in the country would have accepted it if he had turned around Davenport, even though his ill conceived maneuver deserved just such treatment.
Some of the Modified drivers that one would expect to be in the hunt for wins continued to have problems on Friday. Jake Gallardo went through two cars over the course of the evening as he blew up his primary car in hot laps and then dropped out of the feature with more issues. His father Fito was also an early retiree from the Modified main. Rodney Sanders again left his Mod in the trailer as he concentrated on his Late Model and Cade Dillard, who started out the week on fire, hammered the front stretch wall at the mid point of the main, ending his night.
Only Ryan Gustin was able to keep things on an expected order, as he used the extreme high side of the track to score a thrilling win. It took Gustin a few laps to build up his momentum, but after he did he was able to drive past Matt Leer and take over the lead. Once in front, he really stretched his advantage to nearly a straightaway but he refused to back off as he continued to drive deep into the corners on what seemed to be a dangerous course.
Sure enough, with only about a handful of laps left, he got too high in turn four and hammered the front stretch wall but through some sort of a miracle, was able to keep going. He backed off at this point and continued on for the win with Leer finishing a fine second. Iowa drivers Brad Dierks and Todd Shute had fine runs coming home in the next spots while Stormy Scott finished behind them. Gustin's same fearless style allowed him to charge from sixteenth to sixth in the Late Model finale.
Wisconsin's Grant Southworth has been strong all week in the X Mods and Friday night he dominated for his first win here and surely the biggest of his career. His MB Customs car works very well in the middle of the track and again on Friday he was able to drive around people for positions while the majority of the field hugged the low groove. Once in front, he pulled away to a big lead as local driver Brandon Farrington attempted to knock down the concrete walls as he rode the very high groove that still allowed him to get second spot.
WISSOTA drivers secured the next two spots with Chad Olsen getting his best run of the week in his MasterSbilt car and Tyler Peterson executed another hard charge, coming from seventeenth to fourth with only one yellow flag to aid him. Another local driver, Brian Clark, completed the top five.
It was very cold and windy on Friday, surely one of the coldest nights that I have spent at the Wild West Shootout over the years. I ran into promoter Chris Kearns before the show and he was bemoaning the temperatures, as it was much more pleasant on the Thursday off night. However, he and I probably were both surprised later as despite the less than perfect conditions, a very nice crowd showed up for the racing action as it appears that the event has finally started to gain a foot hold with the racing folks as I continued to see more and more people from the northern regimes that showed up for the final weekend of racing.
Friday, January 15, 2016
More from Arizona
Racing continued from U.S.A. Raceway in Tucson with round three of the Wild West Shootout held on Wednesday, Jan. 13th. With a later start for the racing (7 p.m. as opposed to 5 p.m. for the weekend shows), another tacky track was presented to the drivers, although not as fast as it was for the opening round.
The car count was down slightly from the opening weekend but that always seems to be the case for this series. Several of the California drivers go home for work during the week and return by the second weekend along with some of the New Mexico and local drivers. There are always a number of haulers that remain in the pits on Wednesday but never unload with the teams either taking the night off or elsewhere. Still, with over fifty of the best Late Models around on the grounds along with about sixty Modifieds between their two classes, there was plenty of cars on hand to put on a good show.
However, with the way the lineups played out and the passing points distributed, three of the fastest Late Model drivers in the universe started right up front for their feature event, thus assuring that there wouldn't be a lot of passing in the main event. And for those that would wonder as 2016 started whether the rule changes in the Late Models would slow down Jonathan Davenport, the answer so far is no indeed.
Davenport continues to show tremendous speed in this series and the best cars around including Clanton and Lanigan simply haven't been able to stay with Jonathan so far. If not for his gaffe vs. the scales on opening night, we might all be talking about his chances of sweeping the series and pocketing the bonus money. Of course, if he manages to win out the rest of the week, he still is in line for a very nice bonus. And folks, we are talking about the competition being the best around and at a track that Davenport has never seen before!
Two other important stories to note in the Late Models Wednesday involved drivers new to the series. The first involved Donny Schatz, who arrived to the track Wednesday for the first time in the series, having just gotten back from Australia where he has already won five Sprint Car races to start 2016. I have had the opportunity to see Schatz race quite a few times since he started "playing" with a Late Model, mostly in regional shows near his home base in North Dakota. While I have seen him have some good runs, he never has stood out from the field and particularly so when he has tried to race the few open motor shows on his scheduled the past couple of years.
However, it seemed like a new Schatz Wednesday in the desert as he drove hard and with a purpose and where in the past he would have backed off in tight places, he dove the corners hard and with a goal of moving up. The result was a very impressive fourth place finish in the main after starting ninth.
The other driver who wowed in the Late Models was Ricky Thornton Jr. I have begun to wonder if there isn't anything on four wheels that he can't drive and look impressive doing so. Actually, he has made "magic" twice already this week here. His performance jumping behind the unfamiliar Modified of South Dakota's Terry Haven and carrying that car to a second place finish on Sunday was a mind blower to me. Now he has backed up that effort after switching to a Late Model.
He jumped behind the wheel of the #33X car owned by Wisconsin's J.R. Haley and formerly driven by Adam Hensel as a team mate to Ricky Weiss. Vic Hill drove the car last weekend as they fought a carburetor issue all weekend but Vic flew back to Tennessee and a driver was needed for the car this week. Haley tabbed Thornton Jr. to drive and from the moment he first ran the car in hot laps, he looked like he had been driving the car forever. Thornton Jr. made the feature field, started twentieth and drove up to eighth at the finish. Haley told me the ride had been offered as a one night try out but I'm guessing when I get to the track this afternoon that Thornton Jr. will again be behind the wheel.
A new winner was guaranteed in the Modified class when Cade Dillard dropped out of the event early with a suspension issue. With Ryan Gustin starting on the outside pole, you would suppose that the issue would not be in doubt and while Ryan did take the win, he was pushed considerably by Darren Fuqua as the Lakeside Speedway regular gave Gustin plenty of pressure.
Bad luck hit two WISSOTA drivers as Matt Gilbertson and Jake Hartung were having a great battle for second, with perhaps the most extended side by side racing that we have seen all week so far. Unfortunately, they got a little too close together, rubbed wheels and gave each other flat tires! A break with yellow flags allowed them to stay on the lead lap and they did a great job racing back up to fourth and fifth at the finish. Gilbertson was grateful to the Dillard crew, as he didn't have a spare tire to put on in the "hot pit" area and Dillard's crew loaned his a tire which allowed him to race back up to a top five finish. There was an unusual spate of flat tires in this race that saw seven yellows wave.
The X Mods saw Tyler Peterson continue his march as he won his second feature race in three outings, as his J Car continues to work terrific. He has really taken a liking to this track as every year he has been down in the desert he has been one of the few cars to beat. Wisconsin driver Grant Southworth made his second strong charge to the front in a row as he came from thirteenth to finish second with his MB Customs chassis working great in the second groove and in the second half of the race he was able to drive past car after car. Point leader Ron Schreiner struggled a bit with a bad heat race draw but he passed six cars to finish sixth in the main.
So far the temperature has remained well below average here in the desert and the one saving grace has been the quick shows that Chris Kearns and his crew put on. There is no messing around in his programs and an early finish to the evening shows can be counted on as long as the drivers cooperate. While there is a definite increase in the number of campers on hand for this year's show, most of them from far away, the overall crowds so far I would estimate as being about the same as last year, largely because if it is cool at all, the local race fans simply don't show up.
The car count was down slightly from the opening weekend but that always seems to be the case for this series. Several of the California drivers go home for work during the week and return by the second weekend along with some of the New Mexico and local drivers. There are always a number of haulers that remain in the pits on Wednesday but never unload with the teams either taking the night off or elsewhere. Still, with over fifty of the best Late Models around on the grounds along with about sixty Modifieds between their two classes, there was plenty of cars on hand to put on a good show.
However, with the way the lineups played out and the passing points distributed, three of the fastest Late Model drivers in the universe started right up front for their feature event, thus assuring that there wouldn't be a lot of passing in the main event. And for those that would wonder as 2016 started whether the rule changes in the Late Models would slow down Jonathan Davenport, the answer so far is no indeed.
Davenport continues to show tremendous speed in this series and the best cars around including Clanton and Lanigan simply haven't been able to stay with Jonathan so far. If not for his gaffe vs. the scales on opening night, we might all be talking about his chances of sweeping the series and pocketing the bonus money. Of course, if he manages to win out the rest of the week, he still is in line for a very nice bonus. And folks, we are talking about the competition being the best around and at a track that Davenport has never seen before!
Two other important stories to note in the Late Models Wednesday involved drivers new to the series. The first involved Donny Schatz, who arrived to the track Wednesday for the first time in the series, having just gotten back from Australia where he has already won five Sprint Car races to start 2016. I have had the opportunity to see Schatz race quite a few times since he started "playing" with a Late Model, mostly in regional shows near his home base in North Dakota. While I have seen him have some good runs, he never has stood out from the field and particularly so when he has tried to race the few open motor shows on his scheduled the past couple of years.
However, it seemed like a new Schatz Wednesday in the desert as he drove hard and with a purpose and where in the past he would have backed off in tight places, he dove the corners hard and with a goal of moving up. The result was a very impressive fourth place finish in the main after starting ninth.
The other driver who wowed in the Late Models was Ricky Thornton Jr. I have begun to wonder if there isn't anything on four wheels that he can't drive and look impressive doing so. Actually, he has made "magic" twice already this week here. His performance jumping behind the unfamiliar Modified of South Dakota's Terry Haven and carrying that car to a second place finish on Sunday was a mind blower to me. Now he has backed up that effort after switching to a Late Model.
He jumped behind the wheel of the #33X car owned by Wisconsin's J.R. Haley and formerly driven by Adam Hensel as a team mate to Ricky Weiss. Vic Hill drove the car last weekend as they fought a carburetor issue all weekend but Vic flew back to Tennessee and a driver was needed for the car this week. Haley tabbed Thornton Jr. to drive and from the moment he first ran the car in hot laps, he looked like he had been driving the car forever. Thornton Jr. made the feature field, started twentieth and drove up to eighth at the finish. Haley told me the ride had been offered as a one night try out but I'm guessing when I get to the track this afternoon that Thornton Jr. will again be behind the wheel.
A new winner was guaranteed in the Modified class when Cade Dillard dropped out of the event early with a suspension issue. With Ryan Gustin starting on the outside pole, you would suppose that the issue would not be in doubt and while Ryan did take the win, he was pushed considerably by Darren Fuqua as the Lakeside Speedway regular gave Gustin plenty of pressure.
Bad luck hit two WISSOTA drivers as Matt Gilbertson and Jake Hartung were having a great battle for second, with perhaps the most extended side by side racing that we have seen all week so far. Unfortunately, they got a little too close together, rubbed wheels and gave each other flat tires! A break with yellow flags allowed them to stay on the lead lap and they did a great job racing back up to fourth and fifth at the finish. Gilbertson was grateful to the Dillard crew, as he didn't have a spare tire to put on in the "hot pit" area and Dillard's crew loaned his a tire which allowed him to race back up to a top five finish. There was an unusual spate of flat tires in this race that saw seven yellows wave.
The X Mods saw Tyler Peterson continue his march as he won his second feature race in three outings, as his J Car continues to work terrific. He has really taken a liking to this track as every year he has been down in the desert he has been one of the few cars to beat. Wisconsin driver Grant Southworth made his second strong charge to the front in a row as he came from thirteenth to finish second with his MB Customs chassis working great in the second groove and in the second half of the race he was able to drive past car after car. Point leader Ron Schreiner struggled a bit with a bad heat race draw but he passed six cars to finish sixth in the main.
So far the temperature has remained well below average here in the desert and the one saving grace has been the quick shows that Chris Kearns and his crew put on. There is no messing around in his programs and an early finish to the evening shows can be counted on as long as the drivers cooperate. While there is a definite increase in the number of campers on hand for this year's show, most of them from far away, the overall crowds so far I would estimate as being about the same as last year, largely because if it is cool at all, the local race fans simply don't show up.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Wild West Shootout part one
The first weekend of the 2016 Wild West Shootout in Tucson has been completed and as this is being posted, round three will be on the track this evening.
So far, the first two nights of racing has been everything race fans had hoped for and more with lots of race cars, big names galore and intense racing that everyone holding their breath from time to time as bold racing moves blossomed like flowers in the saturated desert.
Things started out a little bumpy for us personally as our flight to the West was scrubbed due to bad weather in Denver and we had to scramble to make other flight arrangements but everything came together and we made it on time. Many of the racing teams reported some scary moments of their own hauling to Tucson as snows in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico made the traveling dicey, but they to all made it safely and on time. The closest call was made by Wisconsin's Doug Blashe who hit snows a couple of times on their way from the Green Bay area that held them up and they rolled into the pit area just as hot laps were in session. Even though they were too late to draw a number, they were in the great Southwest to race so they dropped the tail gate and caught the back of a heat and if nothing else, got some valuable practice laps. The Blashe team opted to do something different in 2016 and chose to come to Arizona, rather than racing in Florida like they normally do.
The Late Model field was fantastic for the opening weekend, with sixty cars signing in on night one and only Bobby Hogge, Billy Franklin and Greg Jelvik opting not to run on night two. With Donny Schatz' rig already here waiting his arrival from Australia and several local entries waiting for things to sort out a bit before they hit the track, it would appear that the fields will remain large and strong for the next four rounds of racing.
Of course, many were talking about Jonathan Davenport, both in anticipation of seeing him on the track for the first time and later, about his gaffe when he failed to go directly to the scale after winning a heat race, thus putting him in a great hole that even he couldn't dig himself out of in terms of winning on opening night. However, he still came from near the back to qualify through a B feature and came from nineteenth to fifth in the opening night main.
The Late Model car count was up ten from last year's event and the quality of the field was one to rave about. Not every big name in the country was here, but most were and the fields in Florida will be hard pressed to match both the numbers and quality of what we saw here on the desert. Another special element of this series is that the variety of racers is unprecedented with cars from all parts of the country that probably couldn't be seen anywhere else.
Don O'Neal was fearless in winning the opening night main, as Don often is when he races, and the strength of Davenport was on display in night two as he patiently worked his way up from the third row to pass Jimmy Mars with only a couple of laps remaining.
A couple of the most consistent drivers on opening weekend were Steve Francis and A.J. Diemel. Francis was very good both nights in the David Peterson entry and can there be a stronger part time as needed ride for Francis than this car? Diemel has been smooth both nights while recording top five finishes with both Shane Clanton and Jason Papich also recording good finishes both nights. At the end of night two's race, Papich may have been the fastest car on the track and to think where he started at in this series just a short few years ago!
Track conditions varied wildly over the two nights of racing, totally due to the unseasonable weather Tucson has been getting. With double the monthly rainfall already in the first few days of January, there were puddles lots of places where I had never seen standing water in the desert before and even the lower West end of the pit area was unusable due to the mud in that area! With rain still falling through the practice session on Friday night, the racing surface just didn't have time to dry out and it was bad fast on Saturday. Too bad fast, frankly. Even the most fearless of the racers expressed the feeling that the surface was just too fast for good racing. U.S.A. Raceway is a track that raises the hair on the back of the necks of many drivers the first time they race there anyway, as it is a huge momentum track where the brakes get little use. Throw in a very tacky surface on top of that and wow, it is a handful and a half for even the most brave.
By Sunday, the surface was baked out and much better as it got black and slick from top to bottom and turned into a totally different kind of track, one that was much more driver friendly and required some skills, not just a heavy right foot and a big heart! With no rain in the forecast for the rest of the week, this in the kind of racing I would expect from now on.
One of the real surprise drivers so far in the Late Models is a driver from my area, Dustin Strand from Grand Forks N.D. He is driving a new Victory chassis from Moyer and he has been extremely fast both nights so far, his first real times running an open motored cars. He had a real good run Saturday until a piece broke that sent him into the wall and Sunday he had some adjusting to do with the changing track while still discovering all that was wrong on the car after his wall banger.
Probably almost as impressive as the Late Model field was the great turnout of Modifieds with forty four of them signing in to race on Saturday and thirty nine on Sunday. This was nearly fifteen more than showed for last year's event and a really strong number. One must remember that there are nearly no Modifieds left in the local area between the lack of local racing in Tucson during the year and the remaining racing North of here all done under the IMCA banner, which requires pretty much a totally different car than what used to race here under USRA sanctioning. But with much support for this event from the folks in El Paso and Las Cruces through sponsorships, USRA rules were in force but even with that, a great field of drivers towed in to race.
The story so far in the Modifieds has been Cade Dillard as the Louisiana driver, with a new car owner this year and two MB Customs in the trailer, has been very fast. Saturday he shocked many by tracking down and passing Rodney Sanders for the win, something that just doesn't happen too often anywhere.
Just as surprising as that, the Gallardo family cars have struggled so far in opening round action and Ryan Gustin, another expected to shine, didn't finish round one after a tangle and opted not to race the Mod on Sunday. After a rough opening night of problems, Stormy Scott got things together and put in a solid run on Sunday.
For those that follow IMCA, they were probably keeping their eye on Ricky Thornton Jr. and he did not disappoint. In fact, his weekend was very much on the amazing side. Things started out badly when his open motor dropped a valve in hot laps Saturday and it appeared he was done for the weekend before he even got started. However, a friendship made with South Dakota's Terry Haven proved advantageous when Haven offered his car to Thornton. In fact, Haven was running a motor that had been sold to him by Thornton.
With only time to change the tires before the heat race and never having sat in the car before, Thornton went out and won his heat race and was running in the top five in the feature until he got a flat tire. With more time to set things up, Thornton led many laps of the feature before Dillard squeezed by for the win but Thornton finished a strong second. Obviously, the Thornton crew was very grateful to Haven, a retired farmer from South Dakota who winters in Arizona but always brings his race car with him. While Haven uses a MasterSbilt by JMR chassis, Thornton told me they had another open motor being delivered to them by midweek so that Ricky could be back in his own Shaw chassis. They plan to hit the first month of racing in Texas under USMTS sanctioning later this early Spring as they try to top the forty seven wins of last year.
The third class here in Tucson is the X Mods and their numbers have been solid too. The opening features have been split between "the Modern Day Cowboy", Ron Schreiner and North Dakota's Tyler Peterson. Schreiner, a Wisconsin native who was a top runner in both Late Models and Modifieds in the upper Midwest until he decided to leave the cold Wisconsin Winters, has been a dominant force in the X Mod class both in Tucson and at other area tracks, even though he's still running the chassis he had up North with is now six years old.
Peterson is one of the brightest young stars in the upper Midwest in open wheel racing, having dominated the Midwest Mods at Red River Valley area tracks as well as earning WISSOTA National Rookie of the Year honors in 2015 in the Modifieds. On Saturday, he got wrecked in his heat and had to qualify from the back of a B. He then raced from seventeenth to second in the feature, only to blow a motor on the last lap and not finish. Sunday things went much and he led all the way for the win.
I have to give one last shout out to the drivers from my area of the country for their great support of this event. While some might say they are just trying to escape the cold weather up North (which might be partially true!), cars from my area have always traveled well. This weekend here in Arizona, thirty nine per cent of both the X Mod and Modified fields are made up of WISSOTA sanctioned drivers and even though the WISSOTA Late Models run a spec motor that is under powered against the open motors, nearly twenty per cent of the Late Model field are also WISSOTA sanctioned cars, most if not all having switched over to open motors for this series.
Track officials have done a good job of moving along the huge show and while things ran a little late on Saturday due to all the yellows and wrecks caused by the heavy track, things went much more smoothly on Sunday. In fact, all three feature races were completed with only one yellow flag total. The racing has improved as the weekend moved on and it only promises to get better as the drivers dial in the track even better.
So far, the first two nights of racing has been everything race fans had hoped for and more with lots of race cars, big names galore and intense racing that everyone holding their breath from time to time as bold racing moves blossomed like flowers in the saturated desert.
Things started out a little bumpy for us personally as our flight to the West was scrubbed due to bad weather in Denver and we had to scramble to make other flight arrangements but everything came together and we made it on time. Many of the racing teams reported some scary moments of their own hauling to Tucson as snows in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico made the traveling dicey, but they to all made it safely and on time. The closest call was made by Wisconsin's Doug Blashe who hit snows a couple of times on their way from the Green Bay area that held them up and they rolled into the pit area just as hot laps were in session. Even though they were too late to draw a number, they were in the great Southwest to race so they dropped the tail gate and caught the back of a heat and if nothing else, got some valuable practice laps. The Blashe team opted to do something different in 2016 and chose to come to Arizona, rather than racing in Florida like they normally do.
The Late Model field was fantastic for the opening weekend, with sixty cars signing in on night one and only Bobby Hogge, Billy Franklin and Greg Jelvik opting not to run on night two. With Donny Schatz' rig already here waiting his arrival from Australia and several local entries waiting for things to sort out a bit before they hit the track, it would appear that the fields will remain large and strong for the next four rounds of racing.
Of course, many were talking about Jonathan Davenport, both in anticipation of seeing him on the track for the first time and later, about his gaffe when he failed to go directly to the scale after winning a heat race, thus putting him in a great hole that even he couldn't dig himself out of in terms of winning on opening night. However, he still came from near the back to qualify through a B feature and came from nineteenth to fifth in the opening night main.
The Late Model car count was up ten from last year's event and the quality of the field was one to rave about. Not every big name in the country was here, but most were and the fields in Florida will be hard pressed to match both the numbers and quality of what we saw here on the desert. Another special element of this series is that the variety of racers is unprecedented with cars from all parts of the country that probably couldn't be seen anywhere else.
Don O'Neal was fearless in winning the opening night main, as Don often is when he races, and the strength of Davenport was on display in night two as he patiently worked his way up from the third row to pass Jimmy Mars with only a couple of laps remaining.
A couple of the most consistent drivers on opening weekend were Steve Francis and A.J. Diemel. Francis was very good both nights in the David Peterson entry and can there be a stronger part time as needed ride for Francis than this car? Diemel has been smooth both nights while recording top five finishes with both Shane Clanton and Jason Papich also recording good finishes both nights. At the end of night two's race, Papich may have been the fastest car on the track and to think where he started at in this series just a short few years ago!
Track conditions varied wildly over the two nights of racing, totally due to the unseasonable weather Tucson has been getting. With double the monthly rainfall already in the first few days of January, there were puddles lots of places where I had never seen standing water in the desert before and even the lower West end of the pit area was unusable due to the mud in that area! With rain still falling through the practice session on Friday night, the racing surface just didn't have time to dry out and it was bad fast on Saturday. Too bad fast, frankly. Even the most fearless of the racers expressed the feeling that the surface was just too fast for good racing. U.S.A. Raceway is a track that raises the hair on the back of the necks of many drivers the first time they race there anyway, as it is a huge momentum track where the brakes get little use. Throw in a very tacky surface on top of that and wow, it is a handful and a half for even the most brave.
By Sunday, the surface was baked out and much better as it got black and slick from top to bottom and turned into a totally different kind of track, one that was much more driver friendly and required some skills, not just a heavy right foot and a big heart! With no rain in the forecast for the rest of the week, this in the kind of racing I would expect from now on.
One of the real surprise drivers so far in the Late Models is a driver from my area, Dustin Strand from Grand Forks N.D. He is driving a new Victory chassis from Moyer and he has been extremely fast both nights so far, his first real times running an open motored cars. He had a real good run Saturday until a piece broke that sent him into the wall and Sunday he had some adjusting to do with the changing track while still discovering all that was wrong on the car after his wall banger.
Probably almost as impressive as the Late Model field was the great turnout of Modifieds with forty four of them signing in to race on Saturday and thirty nine on Sunday. This was nearly fifteen more than showed for last year's event and a really strong number. One must remember that there are nearly no Modifieds left in the local area between the lack of local racing in Tucson during the year and the remaining racing North of here all done under the IMCA banner, which requires pretty much a totally different car than what used to race here under USRA sanctioning. But with much support for this event from the folks in El Paso and Las Cruces through sponsorships, USRA rules were in force but even with that, a great field of drivers towed in to race.
The story so far in the Modifieds has been Cade Dillard as the Louisiana driver, with a new car owner this year and two MB Customs in the trailer, has been very fast. Saturday he shocked many by tracking down and passing Rodney Sanders for the win, something that just doesn't happen too often anywhere.
Just as surprising as that, the Gallardo family cars have struggled so far in opening round action and Ryan Gustin, another expected to shine, didn't finish round one after a tangle and opted not to race the Mod on Sunday. After a rough opening night of problems, Stormy Scott got things together and put in a solid run on Sunday.
For those that follow IMCA, they were probably keeping their eye on Ricky Thornton Jr. and he did not disappoint. In fact, his weekend was very much on the amazing side. Things started out badly when his open motor dropped a valve in hot laps Saturday and it appeared he was done for the weekend before he even got started. However, a friendship made with South Dakota's Terry Haven proved advantageous when Haven offered his car to Thornton. In fact, Haven was running a motor that had been sold to him by Thornton.
With only time to change the tires before the heat race and never having sat in the car before, Thornton went out and won his heat race and was running in the top five in the feature until he got a flat tire. With more time to set things up, Thornton led many laps of the feature before Dillard squeezed by for the win but Thornton finished a strong second. Obviously, the Thornton crew was very grateful to Haven, a retired farmer from South Dakota who winters in Arizona but always brings his race car with him. While Haven uses a MasterSbilt by JMR chassis, Thornton told me they had another open motor being delivered to them by midweek so that Ricky could be back in his own Shaw chassis. They plan to hit the first month of racing in Texas under USMTS sanctioning later this early Spring as they try to top the forty seven wins of last year.
The third class here in Tucson is the X Mods and their numbers have been solid too. The opening features have been split between "the Modern Day Cowboy", Ron Schreiner and North Dakota's Tyler Peterson. Schreiner, a Wisconsin native who was a top runner in both Late Models and Modifieds in the upper Midwest until he decided to leave the cold Wisconsin Winters, has been a dominant force in the X Mod class both in Tucson and at other area tracks, even though he's still running the chassis he had up North with is now six years old.
Peterson is one of the brightest young stars in the upper Midwest in open wheel racing, having dominated the Midwest Mods at Red River Valley area tracks as well as earning WISSOTA National Rookie of the Year honors in 2015 in the Modifieds. On Saturday, he got wrecked in his heat and had to qualify from the back of a B. He then raced from seventeenth to second in the feature, only to blow a motor on the last lap and not finish. Sunday things went much and he led all the way for the win.
I have to give one last shout out to the drivers from my area of the country for their great support of this event. While some might say they are just trying to escape the cold weather up North (which might be partially true!), cars from my area have always traveled well. This weekend here in Arizona, thirty nine per cent of both the X Mod and Modified fields are made up of WISSOTA sanctioned drivers and even though the WISSOTA Late Models run a spec motor that is under powered against the open motors, nearly twenty per cent of the Late Model field are also WISSOTA sanctioned cars, most if not all having switched over to open motors for this series.
Track officials have done a good job of moving along the huge show and while things ran a little late on Saturday due to all the yellows and wrecks caused by the heavy track, things went much more smoothly on Sunday. In fact, all three feature races were completed with only one yellow flag total. The racing has improved as the weekend moved on and it only promises to get better as the drivers dial in the track even better.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Turning the calendar to 2016
With the holidays past us, it is time to put the 2015 racing season to bed and to look ahead at what 2016 may offer. Many things will be the same but there is always the inevitable change from year to year, some good and some things not so good. Let's talk about that in a moment. First let's break down 2015 and see how last season played out.
For me it was another good year of racing and in fact, one of my best ever in terms of races attended. In 2015 I attended one hundred and sixty five race events, which is the second highest year ever for me. It was also the fifth time that I have been to one hundred and sixty nights of racing or more in a year. It was also the thirty fifth consecutive year that I have attended at least one hundred nights of racing in a year.
In 2015 I saw racing at sixty six different race tracks in thirteen states. Interestingly, the sixty six different tracks ties my highest one year total of race tracks seen which happened last year, and that was also done in thirteen different states.
I saw four tracks for the first time ever in 2015. They were the Nobles Co. Speedway in Worthington MN, Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids IA, The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indy for an indoor midget race.
I have now been to two hundred and ninety three different tracks in twenty eight states and three Canadian provinces. Those numbers would pale in comparison to a Randy Lewis or a Guy Smith who have been to six or seven times more tracks than that, but my mission has never been to try and set any records. I simply like going to the races and as an inevitable consequence of that, the numbers per year and total tracks attended have started to mount.
My strong preference is dirt over asphalt with the 164 vs. 1 comparison pretty overwhelming, especially considering that my home state is probably more well known nationally for the asphalt tracks we have compared to the dirt tracks. However, I still consider the Badger state to have many good dirt tracks from border to border, West to East. My willingness to travel to watch races does give me the chance to get a wider perspective than some on what is going on with racing trends, and I'm happy to report that I feel just as comfortable in the pits and know nearly as many people as I wonder the pits in the Dakotas to Iowa and Nebraska as to my home stomping ground.
While there is never a truly bad night at the races, certainly there are some nights that are more fun than others. Some of the highlights that pop into my head immediately from the 2015 season include the Wild West Shootout in Tucson which is an event that any race fan would love, whether they are a Late Model or a Modified fan. I went to the Rebel 5K race in Davenport for the first time in 2015 and found that to be a great early season race. The Lucas Oil Racing Series visited the Oshkosh Speedzone Raceway for the first time in 2015 and that proved to be a great night of racing. The Zone is really one of the nicest racing facilities in the Midwest, yet I'd guess that many people beyond the Badger state have never heard of it.
One of my favorite races every year is the Street Stock Little Dream race at the Rice Lake Speedway in Wisconsin. I may be partisan because I go to the races there every week, but anyone that attends that race once will tell you that it belongs on your "bucket list" of events to see. The uniqueness of this event, where the crowd contributes mightily to the final purse, makes it for a fund night of uncertainty and last year's winner went home with over 14 thousand dollars, a huge chuck of change for the Streeters and they responded by fielding over sixty entries for the race from four states and two Canadian provinces.
I always tout the John Seitz Memorial Race at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks North Dakota as one of the great events of any year. Over sixty Late Models are always on hand to battle it out on this little "bull ring" of a track that produces tremendous racing action along with the nights of Late Model racing, they also provide three nights of 410 sprints and great modified racing too.
Some other highlights of the year included a fantastic photo finish of a Late Model feature during the Twin 25's at AMSOIL Speedway in Superior Wisconsin where John Kaanta beat Jeff Provinzino by literally inches. Although the event was weather plagued in 2015, the Charlotte racing weekend was impressive and perhaps one that we'll try again some time.
Of course, there are always some "stinky" races, whether they be caused by the weather, poor car counts, poor race administration or just some of those nights when nothing seems to go right. I truly saw two of the worst in recent memory during the course of the 2015 season, but I won't name the tracks involved. I will only say that one was in Indiana and one in Nevada. Other than that, you'll have to use your own imagination!
As far as the breakdown, I visited fourteen tracks in Wisconsin, fifteen in Minnesota, fifteen in Iowa, three in South Dakota, two in North Dakota, four in Illinois, four in Missouri, one in Kansas, two in Nebraska, two in Nevada, on one each in Indiana, Arizona and North Carolina.
But, enough of 2015. Let's look at some things early in the 2016 racing season that have piqued my interest. The two tracks in Wisconsin that I wrote about last Fall that were reopening after being closed have made some decisions. The Spring Lake Speedway, which is near Unity Wisconsin in the central part of the state, has decided to sanction their Super Stocks, Street Stocks and MidMods with WISSOTA. They will run nonsanctioned Modifieds, which makes perfect sense since a few of the remaining racers in that area that they want and need to race with them have cars built to USRA specs.So they will undoubtedly write rules that allow USRA, WISSOTA and IMCA cars all to run.
The Tomahawk Speedway, back in business after having sat idle for two years, is waiting on another track to make a decision before they declare who they will sanction with and just exactly what rules they will use. Another area track, which has been for sale for an extended period and has been on and off with their racing, is too close for Tomahawk to run on the same night if they chose to request sanctioning, so Tomahawk is waiting to see if this other track decides to operate or not in 2016 which will play a big part in what Tomahawk decides to do.
The I-35 Speedway in Mason City, now known as Mason City Motor Speedway and a track that I generally get to a couple of times each year, has seen major changes. New promoters Al Hejna and Ryne Staley have convinced the county to make some major changes to the track and the sanctioning body has switched from IMCA to USRA. Pretty much surrounded by IMCA sanctioned tracks, they will have to rely on cars from the Deer Creek and Upper Iowa Speedway areas to help them fill out their fields. They will use the tactic of the "transitional rules" to help ease the switch over, a tactic used successfully by several of the sanctioning bodies.
In Southeast Iowa, Mike VanGenderen surprised me when he announced that he was bringing back Late Models to the weekly show at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. And in a bold move, he wrote a whole new set of rules for his Late Model class that include two options for the crate motored cars and rules that would allow the IMCA Late Models to also race. This new rules package didn't get high grades from some at the IMCA "head shed" when I asked them, but I can understand why. As with any "for profit" business, they make more money the more tracks they sanction and the more drivers who buy licenses. If these new rules go over and drivers start building cars based on these rules, it may cost IMCA more cars and tracks. Strange though, that for a sanctioning body that is so "gung ho" about crate motors in every other class, that they haven't tried to implement rules by now for their Late Models with a crate option.
As I write this, two of the finest dirt tracks in northeastern Wisconsin are going through some difficulties of their own. Seymour Speedway, which has been a Sunday night track for many years, and now that they have changed the track from a tri oval to a tree oval track has provided some of the best racing of any track in that area, is currently undergoing a major change in management.
For many years the track has been a club operated facility, negotiating a deal with the Fair Board. However, the club has struggled from time to time and as with many of the club operated tracks, has both struggled to find people willing to devote their time while also having the expertise needed to operate a special business like a race track is. They got into arrears in their payments to the county, and the threat was there that if they didn't get things squared away, the country would either find some other use for the fairgrounds or simply end racing. Dave Panske, who has been a member of the club for many years and a racing insider in the operation of the facility, has stepped forward to buy the assets of the club and promote the races in 2016. I was at Seymour a couple of times in 2015 and always saw good racing there but with all the tracks in northeastern Wisconsin, by the time that Sundays roll around, some times it's hard drawing both race cars and fans to the track. I wish Panske the best of luck with his efforts.
As I write this, I'm not certain if Luxemburg Speedway has found a promoter for 2016 or not. Luxemburg is truly one of the nicest racing plants in the state, but with so many tracks in close proximity, it has been a struggle for the last couple of years for former promoter Gene Mathu, and he had to fight many weather related issues as well.
Fargo North Dakota has always been one of racing's hot beds in the upper Midwest. There are a ton of racers from the Fargo area and when the Red River Valley Speedway shut down two years ago, it was a major loss for racing in that area. However, the drivers from Fargo didn't stop racing; they simply moved their racing to other tracks and places like I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls MN and Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon MN benefited from the extra drivers on hand that were displaced from their home track.
Now, Jake Bitker, who also runs the Norman County Raceway in Ada MN, about forty miles Northeast of Fargo, is going to be taking over as the promoter at Fargo and the track will again run a weekly program on Friday nights. Bitker also owns Performance Auto which is the biggest speed shop in Fargo and also sells various brands of racing chassis and motors.
I talked to Bitker last year in Tucson where he was helping on the Mods and Late Models that he owns, and at that time he told me that the Fair Board had been in contact with him but that the only way he would take over Fargo was if they let him run a weekly program and at that point, they were only interested in him promoting specials. Obviously, something has changed and someone has given in a year later.It will be interesting to see how well the fans support this new program which features neither Late Models or Sprint Cars on a weekly basis while both a local fan favorites, and what effect, if any, the reopening of Fargo plays on some of the other area tracks.
The Late Models have already had their first special of 2016 in Tennessee and the Sprints are racing already in Arizona. Within a few days we will be taking off for the Wild West Shootout in Tucson and many will soon be finalizing their plans to head to Florida. Those of us that are lucky enough to take advantage of some of these opportunities feel very blessed and anxiously await the start of another racing season.
For me it was another good year of racing and in fact, one of my best ever in terms of races attended. In 2015 I attended one hundred and sixty five race events, which is the second highest year ever for me. It was also the fifth time that I have been to one hundred and sixty nights of racing or more in a year. It was also the thirty fifth consecutive year that I have attended at least one hundred nights of racing in a year.
In 2015 I saw racing at sixty six different race tracks in thirteen states. Interestingly, the sixty six different tracks ties my highest one year total of race tracks seen which happened last year, and that was also done in thirteen different states.
I saw four tracks for the first time ever in 2015. They were the Nobles Co. Speedway in Worthington MN, Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids IA, The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indy for an indoor midget race.
I have now been to two hundred and ninety three different tracks in twenty eight states and three Canadian provinces. Those numbers would pale in comparison to a Randy Lewis or a Guy Smith who have been to six or seven times more tracks than that, but my mission has never been to try and set any records. I simply like going to the races and as an inevitable consequence of that, the numbers per year and total tracks attended have started to mount.
My strong preference is dirt over asphalt with the 164 vs. 1 comparison pretty overwhelming, especially considering that my home state is probably more well known nationally for the asphalt tracks we have compared to the dirt tracks. However, I still consider the Badger state to have many good dirt tracks from border to border, West to East. My willingness to travel to watch races does give me the chance to get a wider perspective than some on what is going on with racing trends, and I'm happy to report that I feel just as comfortable in the pits and know nearly as many people as I wonder the pits in the Dakotas to Iowa and Nebraska as to my home stomping ground.
While there is never a truly bad night at the races, certainly there are some nights that are more fun than others. Some of the highlights that pop into my head immediately from the 2015 season include the Wild West Shootout in Tucson which is an event that any race fan would love, whether they are a Late Model or a Modified fan. I went to the Rebel 5K race in Davenport for the first time in 2015 and found that to be a great early season race. The Lucas Oil Racing Series visited the Oshkosh Speedzone Raceway for the first time in 2015 and that proved to be a great night of racing. The Zone is really one of the nicest racing facilities in the Midwest, yet I'd guess that many people beyond the Badger state have never heard of it.
One of my favorite races every year is the Street Stock Little Dream race at the Rice Lake Speedway in Wisconsin. I may be partisan because I go to the races there every week, but anyone that attends that race once will tell you that it belongs on your "bucket list" of events to see. The uniqueness of this event, where the crowd contributes mightily to the final purse, makes it for a fund night of uncertainty and last year's winner went home with over 14 thousand dollars, a huge chuck of change for the Streeters and they responded by fielding over sixty entries for the race from four states and two Canadian provinces.
I always tout the John Seitz Memorial Race at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks North Dakota as one of the great events of any year. Over sixty Late Models are always on hand to battle it out on this little "bull ring" of a track that produces tremendous racing action along with the nights of Late Model racing, they also provide three nights of 410 sprints and great modified racing too.
Some other highlights of the year included a fantastic photo finish of a Late Model feature during the Twin 25's at AMSOIL Speedway in Superior Wisconsin where John Kaanta beat Jeff Provinzino by literally inches. Although the event was weather plagued in 2015, the Charlotte racing weekend was impressive and perhaps one that we'll try again some time.
Of course, there are always some "stinky" races, whether they be caused by the weather, poor car counts, poor race administration or just some of those nights when nothing seems to go right. I truly saw two of the worst in recent memory during the course of the 2015 season, but I won't name the tracks involved. I will only say that one was in Indiana and one in Nevada. Other than that, you'll have to use your own imagination!
As far as the breakdown, I visited fourteen tracks in Wisconsin, fifteen in Minnesota, fifteen in Iowa, three in South Dakota, two in North Dakota, four in Illinois, four in Missouri, one in Kansas, two in Nebraska, two in Nevada, on one each in Indiana, Arizona and North Carolina.
But, enough of 2015. Let's look at some things early in the 2016 racing season that have piqued my interest. The two tracks in Wisconsin that I wrote about last Fall that were reopening after being closed have made some decisions. The Spring Lake Speedway, which is near Unity Wisconsin in the central part of the state, has decided to sanction their Super Stocks, Street Stocks and MidMods with WISSOTA. They will run nonsanctioned Modifieds, which makes perfect sense since a few of the remaining racers in that area that they want and need to race with them have cars built to USRA specs.So they will undoubtedly write rules that allow USRA, WISSOTA and IMCA cars all to run.
The Tomahawk Speedway, back in business after having sat idle for two years, is waiting on another track to make a decision before they declare who they will sanction with and just exactly what rules they will use. Another area track, which has been for sale for an extended period and has been on and off with their racing, is too close for Tomahawk to run on the same night if they chose to request sanctioning, so Tomahawk is waiting to see if this other track decides to operate or not in 2016 which will play a big part in what Tomahawk decides to do.
The I-35 Speedway in Mason City, now known as Mason City Motor Speedway and a track that I generally get to a couple of times each year, has seen major changes. New promoters Al Hejna and Ryne Staley have convinced the county to make some major changes to the track and the sanctioning body has switched from IMCA to USRA. Pretty much surrounded by IMCA sanctioned tracks, they will have to rely on cars from the Deer Creek and Upper Iowa Speedway areas to help them fill out their fields. They will use the tactic of the "transitional rules" to help ease the switch over, a tactic used successfully by several of the sanctioning bodies.
In Southeast Iowa, Mike VanGenderen surprised me when he announced that he was bringing back Late Models to the weekly show at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. And in a bold move, he wrote a whole new set of rules for his Late Model class that include two options for the crate motored cars and rules that would allow the IMCA Late Models to also race. This new rules package didn't get high grades from some at the IMCA "head shed" when I asked them, but I can understand why. As with any "for profit" business, they make more money the more tracks they sanction and the more drivers who buy licenses. If these new rules go over and drivers start building cars based on these rules, it may cost IMCA more cars and tracks. Strange though, that for a sanctioning body that is so "gung ho" about crate motors in every other class, that they haven't tried to implement rules by now for their Late Models with a crate option.
As I write this, two of the finest dirt tracks in northeastern Wisconsin are going through some difficulties of their own. Seymour Speedway, which has been a Sunday night track for many years, and now that they have changed the track from a tri oval to a tree oval track has provided some of the best racing of any track in that area, is currently undergoing a major change in management.
For many years the track has been a club operated facility, negotiating a deal with the Fair Board. However, the club has struggled from time to time and as with many of the club operated tracks, has both struggled to find people willing to devote their time while also having the expertise needed to operate a special business like a race track is. They got into arrears in their payments to the county, and the threat was there that if they didn't get things squared away, the country would either find some other use for the fairgrounds or simply end racing. Dave Panske, who has been a member of the club for many years and a racing insider in the operation of the facility, has stepped forward to buy the assets of the club and promote the races in 2016. I was at Seymour a couple of times in 2015 and always saw good racing there but with all the tracks in northeastern Wisconsin, by the time that Sundays roll around, some times it's hard drawing both race cars and fans to the track. I wish Panske the best of luck with his efforts.
As I write this, I'm not certain if Luxemburg Speedway has found a promoter for 2016 or not. Luxemburg is truly one of the nicest racing plants in the state, but with so many tracks in close proximity, it has been a struggle for the last couple of years for former promoter Gene Mathu, and he had to fight many weather related issues as well.
Fargo North Dakota has always been one of racing's hot beds in the upper Midwest. There are a ton of racers from the Fargo area and when the Red River Valley Speedway shut down two years ago, it was a major loss for racing in that area. However, the drivers from Fargo didn't stop racing; they simply moved their racing to other tracks and places like I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls MN and Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon MN benefited from the extra drivers on hand that were displaced from their home track.
Now, Jake Bitker, who also runs the Norman County Raceway in Ada MN, about forty miles Northeast of Fargo, is going to be taking over as the promoter at Fargo and the track will again run a weekly program on Friday nights. Bitker also owns Performance Auto which is the biggest speed shop in Fargo and also sells various brands of racing chassis and motors.
I talked to Bitker last year in Tucson where he was helping on the Mods and Late Models that he owns, and at that time he told me that the Fair Board had been in contact with him but that the only way he would take over Fargo was if they let him run a weekly program and at that point, they were only interested in him promoting specials. Obviously, something has changed and someone has given in a year later.It will be interesting to see how well the fans support this new program which features neither Late Models or Sprint Cars on a weekly basis while both a local fan favorites, and what effect, if any, the reopening of Fargo plays on some of the other area tracks.
The Late Models have already had their first special of 2016 in Tennessee and the Sprints are racing already in Arizona. Within a few days we will be taking off for the Wild West Shootout in Tucson and many will soon be finalizing their plans to head to Florida. Those of us that are lucky enough to take advantage of some of these opportunities feel very blessed and anxiously await the start of another racing season.
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