After a one day delay for the weather, the third annual Battle at the Bullring was finished off on Sunday afternoon, March 12th at the Humboldt Speedway. And for the third straight night, the Modifieds would also run a full show along with the B Mod special.
The cars were lined up by points earned during their double heat races on both Thursday and Friday night. The top twelve were locked in and lined straight up while everyone else went into one of five B features with only the top two moving up to the main. Finishing positions third through sixth in the B feature would run a non qualifier that paid fifteen hundred to win, a far up step from what this class is used to racing for, even if it wasn't the main.
The final tally saw six USRA B Mods, and three each WISSOTA Midwest Mods and IMCA Southern Sport Mods among the top twelve so if they were looking to even the playing field, it would appear that they did spread out the wealth to the different sanctioning bodies. Each group was then allowed one provisional while an additional ten cars would qualify out of the B features.
As expected, with the one day delay for the final day of racing, a number of drivers took off and headed home. About thirty B Mods failed to return for Sunday with some of them having already eliminating themselves earlier in the week. As mentioned earlier in a blog, with the large number of travelers in the Modified class, a goodly number of them headed home to try and beat the predicted snowstorm and only twenty were left to race on Sunday afternoon.
The track had been prepared much heavier than for any of the other nights and while it did eventually slick up and get black from top to bottom, there was no evidence of cars smoking right rear tires which was a pre race concern although it did appear that near the end of the B Mod fifty lapper that the track was starting to take rubber and drivers were falling in line quickly.
Early on, the B features saw many more wrecks, examples of hard driving and brutal slide jobs than the rest of the week put together. Obviously, everyone on hand wanted to make the main and they wre willing to pull out all stops to try and make that happen. The flagman was forced on several occasions to warn drivers for aggressive behavior.
Speaking of the flagman, he was involved in a scary looking accident during the final B Mod B feature. A car climbed the wall down the front chute and flung a bunch of heavy mud balls down the track. Several went over the fence but fell harmlessly in the "dead man's zone" between the track and the grandstand. However, one caught the flagman and dropped him to his knees as he was in some serious discomfort. Fortunately, other officials were able to get the cars slowed down and scramble up to his aid. He was hobbled for several minutes before getting to his feet, but being a trooper, he toughed it out and went back to his duties. I'm guessing he's going to be one sore guy come Monday morning.
Earning a top twelve starting spot for the B Mod feature was important was once their main started, there was not a large amount of passing. Pole sitter Steve Muilenburg led the opening laps with Brandon Kenny and Morton chasing him. Morton was able to get into second and gradually started to close in on Muilenburg as Steve seemed to start getting loose in the corners.
Taking advantage of a yellow, Morton got a great restart, pulled up beside Muilenburg and then took over the lead. Once in front, he gradually extended his margin until a couple more yellows brought the pack back to him. However, he was strong on each green and once again pulled away. There were only three yellows in the fifty laps and they were strategically placed so that Morton never had to deal with lapped traffic as not a single car in the field went a lap down on the track. Twenty of the twenty four starters were still running at the finish and Morton was in control for the last half of the race.
Muilenburg hung on for second with Kenny third. Andy Bryant and Michael Truscott completed the top five at the finish. On Thursday, Morton was very anxious to tell me about his new ride as he had secured a ride in both the Modifieds and B Mods for the year and told me he felt they had the equipment to do some really good things this year. Well, if the opening weekend is any indication, it appears that J.C. is very correct in his assessment.
The Mods wrapped up their weekend with another Mitch Keeter benefit race as he started on the pole and led all twenty laps for the win. Even Josh Angst couldn't stay with him and had to settle for second. Jake Timm had another top five finish while Terry Schultz overcame the disappointment of losing a good spot on Friday night due to mechanical issues by coming back with a top five finish.
So, the third annual Battle at the Bullring is now history. It was a tough week for everyone but they persevered and got the show completed. Just about all the issues were weather related and nothing that track management could do about them. Their decision about postponing the finale until Sunday will probably be discussed but I'm not sure that there was an answer that could have satisfied everyone and still have made the show happen. It was unfortunate that the weather was not much better on Sunday as a strong wind blowing directly into the main grandstand made it another miserably cold day and the crowd wasn't much bigger than the one on Friday night. Not never having attended this complete show before, I have no way of comparing the crowd to year's past but this is a show that is driven primarily by the back gate, as most people realize. The turnout of cars was great and represented a wide geographical area and I'm sure most will put it on their racing calendar once again for 2018. Thanks to Ryan Whitworth, the Whitworth family and all the workers at Humboldt who all put in a long and grinding week.
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