Friday, March 25th, night one of the Spring Thaw Brawl was held at the Izzo family's LaSalle Speedway. Despite some very resent nasty weather that knocked off some of the other weekend programs, LaSalle was able to get in their early Spring special. The parking lots and pits were soft and the track was heavy and rolled up into some serious berms but everyone adapted and compensated and a good sized crowd was on hand despite a night that got very brisk before the last checkered flag waved.
The classes were racing with the featured Late Models being sanctioned by ALMS, MARS, Corn Belt and UMP in a hodge-podge shared event that required there to be nearly as many provisionals as there were drivers that raced their way into the show!
A strong field of forty three Late Models signed in with an interesting variety of drivers on hand. As expected, many of the stout drivers from Illinois were on hand but there were also a number of Indiana and Michigan drivers on hand too. Then there were the surprise entrants like Tim McCreadie, Billy Moyer Jr, Jared Landers, Paul Wilmoth and Hunter Rasdon that gave the field a cosmopolitan look.
I was never a huge Brian Birkhofer fan(heresy uttered on an Iowa based site I suppose), and while I have long recognized his large skill set and acknowledged his many great wins, he was never one of my "special interests" drivers. So, for me, it was not a huge deal that he would be coming out of his self imposed retirement this weekend driving a car for Ricky Kay.
However, for many, it was a huge deal and there were a goodly number of people in the grandstands that rose to their feet to give him a welcome when he first hit the track and there were many cameras and phones focused on him as he rolled around the track for the first time. Many seemed particularly pleased they had retained his standard number and color scheme.
His return was far less than scintillating as he qualified poorly and started near the back of his heat race. Ten, fighting an ill handling car, he over corrected and drove himself hard into the front stretch wall, heavily damaging the car and ending his evening.
For me, the Midwestern debut of Ricky Thornton Jr in a Late Model was a much more significant occurrence. Thornton Jr, driving a car for Minnesota owner J.R. Haley, drove the LaSalle track like he had been a regular here for years, rather than someone who was getting eyes on the track for the first time ever. He started the evening by being quick qualifier in his group and then won heat race number one. He started on the pole and ran with the leaders for fifty laps, finally finishing third after Frankie Heckenast was D.Q.'d for being light.
The Haley car is good equipment but nothing that everyone else doesn't have either. Folks, the bottom line is that Thornton Jr is a great talent and not one that comes along too often. If Ricky plays his cards smart, he should be able to write his own "meal ticket" in whatever way he wants his race program to further itself.
The Late Model feature was an endurance affair as the heavy track and bumpy conditions took their toll on the field. Brian Shirley was the class of the field and once he got past Landers, he was in control of the event. Perhaps his two biggest challengers both went out of the event on the back of a wrecker. Shannon Babb was spectacular but when he took too much air he flipped in turn four while Bobby Pierce expelled a lot of smoke out of his car before the motor finally gasped its last.
Mike Harrison held off Ray Bollinger Jr. to beat a good field of Modifieds and Josh Frye came from eighth to win the Street Stock feature after several of the leaders expired.
This report was purposely written in a somewhat sketchy manner after press credential issues came into play with the management of LaSalle Speedway. They certainly have the right as a private party to deny press credentials at their whim, but when they only offer half way media access they only receive a half way report.
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