Now that the first annual VP Racing Fuels Gateway Dirt Nationals conducted at The Dome At America's Center is over and done with, it is time to reflect back on the event and point out both the good and the bad of the three nights of racing.
First of all, I would say that the good far accedes the bad for the event. What we had here was a spectacular and colossal event, something of the likes that we have not seen in over forty years and of the magnitude that we likely won't see anyone else attempt to replicate this race at any other location. It was truly a huge undertaking and while there were certainly some "hiccups" along the way, in its totality it was a huge success and probably more so them even its originators would have dared hope for.
The Edward Jones Dome is a perfect venue for such a colossal event. I have been to the Chili Bowl a number of times over the years, and that event is the standard that most people were comparing this race too. I can say that the Edward Jones Dome is vastly superior than "The Driller" in Tulsa. It is bigger, can seat many more people and the seating is much more comfortable than Tulsa could ever be. The air quality had a few issues on Thursday but was much better the rest of the weekend. The hallways, the concessions, the restrooms, everything is much nicer at he EJD than in Tulsa. So from a physical standpoint, EJD is the best place ever for an indoor show.
However, we were there to enjoy much more than just the building. We all wanted to see some good racing which would include side by side action and passing. Again, the Chili Bowl is the standard that all others try to replicate. The track at the Dome was wide enough to race on and did have more than one groove. After the two feature races of Friday night that wowed everyone, there was no doubt that the Kevin Gundaker prepared track was the equal of anything Tulsa could present. And with the bigger Late Models and Modifieds as compared with the Midgets in Tulsa, this accomplishment was ever more impressive. I always said that the races at Tulsa were some of the finest of the entire year and if you didn't look up, you wouldn't even know that it was the middle of Winter and you were indoors. After Friday night's show at the Edward Jones Dome, I could say the same thing without the smallest of question. And that is the ultimate compliment that I could pay to them. The track wasn't as good on Saturday as it was the previous night, but then again, the Chili Bowl track is not always as racy from night to night either.
The car counts were great. Granted, neither the Modifieds nor the Late Models hit their cutoff numbers, but to me those were super high numbers that really weren't realistic. The numbers they had were plenty of the quality of drivers and their equipment in both classes was outstanding. Not many races all year could match the numbers of cars that were on hand.
And the logistics of the show went off so smoothly. Granted, there were some "cluster" moments on Thursday night and I have to admit that I left the building on Thursday wondering if I had made a huge mistake driving all the way to St. Louis to be put through an evening of extreme frustration. There weren't many bright moments on Thursday or Thursday night or the time that washed over into early Friday morning, other than the fact that there were a lot of race cars on hand.
However, they "righted the ship" so well on Friday and for the next two nights started the show within minutes of the scheduled starting time and then gave us a spectacular racing event that more than made up for the frustration of Thursday's debacle. And truly, with an event of such huge proportions and something never undertaken before, could we realistically expect that there wouldn't be a few "clunkers" along the way.
It would be impossible to even make a decent estimate of the crowd on hand, but suffice to say that the spectator turnout was spectacular. I ran into lots of folks from my area and I'm nine hours from St. Louis. I'm guessing most other people had the same kind of experience as the crowds seemed huge. Whether or not this translates into the promoters making any money or not I do not know as the expenses for putting on this show must have been mind boggling.
Dustin Jarrett, Ben Shelton, Blake Anderson and Trenton Berry are all excellent announcers. However, I wish that they would put their primary focus on announcing for the crowd assembled in the building, rather than making their focus the PPV crowd at home on their couches. The people sitting in the stands, the ticket buyers, should be the number one priority and their announcing should be for them, not the crowd at home watching on the TV or computer. If racing deteriorates to a TV sport only, it will be dead.
With two hundred and twenty eight race cars on hand, what are the odds that the same two drivers would earn the pole position both Friday based on a combination of skill and luck? It would seem small but that's what happened with Bobby Bittle and Scott Bloomquist starting on the nose both nights.
It took them three nights, but by part way through the show on Saturday, they finally had a lap counter going so that the fans knew how many laps were left in the race proceeding.
The "spin on your own and get your spot back" rule had many people puzzled and certainly did benefit a few select drivers over the course of the three nights. A UMP rule that the local fans were familiar with had all those from out of town used to seeing a spinning driver sent to the back scratching their heads in befuddlement.
With the success of Friday night's spectacular feature races, some of the key people in the running of the program seemed to take on an almost hostile "I told you so" attitude about the success of the event. They seemed offended that so many people had a negative and warning attitude about the race long before it was held. However, the promotion group right through the completion of the event continued to remind everyone at the race and at home to flood social media with their comments. Seeing that social media is overwhelmingly negative, they can't have it both ways and should not have been surprised that not everyone had "sunshine and seashells" comments to make.
There was a large amount of damaged race cars over the course of the three nights. Contact was constant and everyone in their haste to get to the front ran over someone else at least once. A few cars seemed like they spent much more time pointed the wrong direction on the fifth mile oval than going straight and car count was noticeably down in the Modifieds on Saturday due to damaged equipment. Some of those drivers will likely not return next year but I think there's also a whole other group of racers that held back this first year that are getting ready to send in entry forms for next year already!
The Thursday night format was awful. There's no nice way of saying it. Any program that starts shortly after 3 p.m and doesn't get done until 2:30 am the next day needs a whole lot of work. Of course, you could already guess that I, not being a fan of time trials, would have liked to see the time trials junked in exchange for passing points or even a draw/redraw format. Or if they must have time trials, only have one set of them. The second go round of the over two hundred cars didn't have anyone improve on their times due to the deteriorating racing surface yet it cost us at least an extra three hours to sit through that mess. Those people that sat through the whole Thursday show were the true heroes of the weekend. Or perhaps they were so traumatized by eight hours of time trials they couldn't move!
There were hints of what would happen next year but no real solid statements made at the conclusion of Saturday night's show. It did sound favorable that there would be a race in 2017. There were rumors that there might be more than one weekend of racing and that the Late Models and Modifieds would be split up for next year. While I liked having both classes there, there probably is some logic into having just one class per weekend, especially if the car counts get any larger.
One source of revenue that they missed the boat on was that there was no official program of any kind available. Even a simple drivers list of pre entered cars could have been sold for a buck and would not only have added a few bucks income, it would have been a nice service for the spectators to better help them keep track of the big field of drivers. However, the concession people made a fortune, and I was told that they sold more beer than they used to for a Rams game. That should not be surprising.
In summation, it was a great weekend of racing. It was a spectacular event and truly it was hard to believe, if you didn't know, that this was the first attempt at this race. One would assume that it would get better and better and that management would have learned a few things they could change to make it even better for 2017. It was a race that caught people's imagination and as they proved, a race that has been waiting for someone to grab the bull by the horns and get it done. Congratulations to Cody Sommer and his staff of believers for pulling off what surely must have been, even though it came on the last racing weekend of the year, the race of the year for 2016. I'm sorry I already sent in my RPM vote or I would have designated this race for that honor. I think as the buzz for this race gets out to all those fans waiting to see what would happen, they may have to open up another level at the EJD for next year!
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