The Wild West Shootout wrapped up on Sunday night, January 14th at the F K Rod Ends Arizona Speedway and it was defending World of Outlaws Late Model champion Brandon Sheppard that took home the win in the fifty lap Late Model feature to conclude the six night race meet in the Arizona desert. Other feature winners on Sunday included Dustin Strand in the Modifieds and Cole Searing in the X Mods.
Sheppard started on the pole and led all fifty laps of the Late Model feature to record the win worth thirteen grand to the Illinois driver who has been racing his family equipment this week as opposed to his regular Mark Richards ride on the Outlaw tour. Sheppard was relatively quiet most of this week with some consistent runs but not anything that contained a challenge for feature win laurels. He had recorded four top five finishes earlier in the series but Sunday he turned up the wick as he won a heat race and then redrew the pole for the main event.
He took right off and grabbed the lead from the drop of the green with Mike Marlar chasing him in the early going. Marlar remained relatively close for several laps but then Sheppard began to pull away and running at a frantic pace, he was able to build the lead to nearly a straightaway. Don Shaw was in third until overtaken by Ricky Weiss who then began to track down Marlar for second. It appeared that Weiss, who had been very strong all week would be the one to challenge Sheppard. However, Marlar was able to fight off the challenge and then put a little distance on Weiss as the top five began to get strung out.
Lapped traffic was a huge deal in this race as Sheppard was cutting through the back half of the field quickly and eventually he would lap all the way up to the sixth place car. There would be only seven laps left when the first yellow flag of the race would be thrown after Jason Rauen stalled and needed help leaving the track.
Sheppard would once again grab the lead but the battle for second would get wild as Marlar and Weiss exchanged wild slide jobs for the runner up position before Marlar would again secure the spot. They would race on to the checkered flag in that running order with Cade Dillard completing the top five. Sheppard reported that he lost power and the motor shut off on the final lap and the assumption was a blown motor. However, it was determined in the pits after the show that the problem was relatively minor and not a big budget breaker. Sheppard had already replaced a motor for the Sunday show and losing two motors over the course of the weekend would have been hard to swallow.
It was a rather odd race in some regards as second row starter David Breazeale suffered motor problems before the race even started and Kyle Beard also had difficulties that saw him pull off just after taking the green. Only a dozen cars were still around to take the checkered flag with Bobby Pierce finishing seventh and the first car a lap down.
Marlar's consistent finishes throughout the week earned him the Wild West Shootout point title in the Late Models and another three grand for that honor.
The Modifieds continued their great shows that they have been staging all week. And for the sixth straight night, it was a different winner who found his way to victory lane. Dustin Strand had been having a miserable week with both his cars as documented in an earlier blog. But on Sunday he finally put things together to earn a hard fought Modified feature win and cash the biggest amount that the Mods had raced for all week with him hauling two grand back to Grand Forks North Dakota.
Alex Stanford started on the pole and took the early lead, only to be overtaken by Ricky Thornton Jr who was looking to become the first repeat winner of the series. Thornton Jr led a number of laps with Strand moving into second and then grabbing the lead when Thornton Jr jumped the cushion in turn one and lost a bunch of time, falling back to about fifth spot before he regained control.
A couple yellows near the halfway point bunched the field but on every restart Strand would continue to hold his ground and maintain the lead. Thornton Jr was driving the wheels off his car however, and using the cushion he was able to get back up to second, but just when it looked like he might challenge Strand for the lead, his car suddenly shut down and he pulled into the infield.
Strand was then back in control and he drove on for the win without any serious challenges after that. Stanford, who just arrived in time to race on Saturday night, did himself well with a solid second place run while Stormy Scott came from twenty first to finish third. Shane Sabraski, Mr. consistent in this class, recorded another top five run in fourth, just ahead of Lucas Schott.
Johnny Scott was running in the top five early until a skirmish with Tyler Peterson saw Scott go for a spin and have to head to the tail of the pack. However, he was able to race his way back up to ninth and that was just enough for him to claim the Wild West Shootout points title.
As a group, the Modifieds did a great job all week of putting on some excellent shows marked by lots of close racing and a dearth of yellow flags for most events.
The X Mods provided the closest feature finish of the entire week with three cars running for the win right to the finish. Point leader Cole Searing and Jason VandeKamp started on the front row and battled wheel to wheel in the early going. VandeKamp was eventually able to take over the top spot with Searing still pushing hard.
Saturday night winner Josh Cain moved up from the third row and he was working the bottom lane well and he moved in on the rim riding VandeKamp. Cain continued to move in and just as he passed VandeKamp, the first yellow flew for a spin with only three laps to go. It didn't seem like Cain had gained the lead based on the criteria that was explained in how they determine whether a lap should be scored or not.
However, they did give Cain the front spot for the restart and this was key as he dove low into turn one in an effort to fight off VandeKamp and Searing and around his car went. He spun but was able to keep the car moving but he collected Shawn Strong and Greg Gorham who were both in contention for the win also. Both were eliminated in the pile up and Cain raised a ruckus when he was sent to the tail of the field and eventually pulled off the track.
This left VandeKamp and Searing to battle it out for the win with Searing hammering the cushion on the restart and taking over the top spot. However, after seeing the white flag he jumped the berm in turn one and VandeKamp drove under him to retake the lead. Searing again blasted the high side in turn three and when VandeKamp missed his mark in the final corner it was a drag race to the finish line with Searing winning on the outside by .004 seconds! Cole Haugland had his best run of the week as he came from eleventh to third and was trailed by Steve Muilenburg and Nick Rivera.
WISSOTA cars once again dominated the X Mod class with fifteen of the twenty four starters coming from that group and the top four finishers and six out of the top ten also running with that group. Searing, who was the only multiple winner in the X Mods, earned his third win of the week and clinched the point title too. Searing, who will return to running his Super Stock when the South Dakota racing season starts, informed that he may join the George team to race the special at Humboldt Kansas that kicked off the Midwest racing season.
The car counts reflected the finale in a long and grueling series with some drivers wanting to get a head start on the long pull home and with snow in the forecast for many areas, some wanted to get on the road and beat the weather. After a series high of X Mods on Saturday, the field dropped by eleven on Sunday. The Mods recorded their series low of thirty eight cars while the Late Models stayed very consistent with forty five timing in on Sunday. Overall the car counts fluctuated very little from day to day throughout the six nights of racing.
While perhaps not quite as big as Saturday night's crowd, the Sunday crowd was still a very good one and management did their best to get the show over as early as possible by combining the B features in the open wheel classes to just one in each division. The final checkered flag waved right around 9:30 pm.
Dates were announced on Sunday for the 2019 Wild West Shootout which will be the thirteenth annual. Races will be on January 5,6,9, 11, 12 and 13. Next year's race will be highlighted by a fourteen thousand to win Late Model finale with a grand on the line for starting money. More announcements regarding purse structure in the other two classes were promised to be announced as the season progresses.
It was without question the most successful Wild West Shootout yet and while the final checkered flag has hardly waved, people are already circling the dates for next year's event as this year's races were memorable and offered just about everything that a race fan could hope for. This year's race series will certainly be a strong candidate for the Racing Promotion Monthly special event of the year.
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Weiss Blows Away the Field in Arizona
Round five of the Wild West Shootout was held on Saturday night, January 13th and Ricky Weiss dominated the Late Model feature from start to finish as he earned his second main event win of this Winter series in The Desert. First time winners were Josh Cain and Stormy Scott as they topped the X Mod and Modified main events respectively.
Only a driving error by Ricky on night number two and a tangle with another car while battling for the lead on another night have kept Weiss from racing for the win on all five nights of the series so far as he has shown a domination in speed over the rest of the field.
With car builder Scott Bloomquist calling the shots from Tennessee and Scott's own crew chief on hand to assist the Weiss crew with adjustments, Weiss has been by far the fastest car in the pits and even though track officials threw the teams a curve ball by extensively "farming" the track right before the Late Model feature, it didn't seem to matter to Weiss who didn't miss a beat as he drove away from the field.
The "farming" just made the track much faster but Weiss, who claims his car is superior no matter what the track conditions, made it look easy as he pulled away from the pack, showed patience as he worked with the many lapped cars, and never gave any contender the opportunity to even get close to him during the forty lap sprint. Weiss' speed was such that in the non stop main he lapped all the way up to the tenth place car in the finishing order with only two of the twenty four starters not finishing the race.
Don Shaw, like Weiss, who has now won two events in this series, ran second for the first part of the race before fading back to a fifth place finish. Mike Marlar looked to be a challenger for a good finish until he spun exiting turn two but with a smart move, he kept his foot on the gas and turned back around and continued. Not only did this not trigger a yellow, it allowed him to return mid pack and he managed to salvage an eighth place finish.
It was a very good night for both Cade Dillard and Ryan Gustin also. Dillard, who has been very fast in spurts and didn't have the finishes to show for it, came from eighth to finish a distant second and Gustin came from the fifth row to place third. A steady but not fast enough to really challenge Brandon Sheppard came home fourth.
The Modifieds continued to show that while their field has been large, it also has been very balanced as the fifth different winner in five nights emerged with Stormy Scott taking home the win. He was running second in the early going behind Jake O'Neil when the LG2 of O'Neil emitted some smoke from the engine compartment and Jake quickly shut the car off and dived to the infield. This gave Stormy the lead and he held on the rest of the way for the win.
After building up a considerable lead, Stormy got slowed down fighting lapped traffic and his brother Johnny, one of the winners earlier this week, came charging in on him. Johnny actually looked to have the better set up at the end as Stormy appeared to be spinning his tires coming off the hard slick corners and Johnny really closed at the end. On the final lap, Stormy opened the door off turn two but with not a totally clear path on the inside, Johnny chose to hold his position and not try to force this issue and perhaps "booger out" his brother, especially so early in the new racing season!
Shane Sabraski continued with his fine showings during this Winter tour as he came from eleventh to finish a close third as he continues to get his Lethal chassis to corner beautifully, especially on the slick. Lucas Schott and R.C. Whitwell completed the top five with Schott crossing the line plastered to the front stretch guard rail after getting moved out at the finish line by a lapped car which caused considerable damage and required Schott to scale behind a wrecker.
After a first lap spin, the Modifieds also engaged in a caution free event with only two of the twenty four starters not completing the distance.
Both the X Mods and the Mods completed their feature races on a very black and slick track before track officials chose to "farm it" for the final event and while I would have liked to see the track prep come a bit earlier than it did, the drivers fully knew what to expect in terms of track conditions. The X Mods suffered just a bit more with the track as it took them four tries to get past lap one in their twenty lap finale but once that hurdle was completed, they rolled the last nineteen straight through.
Josh Cain became the first true X Mod to win a feature race in the class as all the previous winners had come from another sanctioning body. Cain, Miah Christensen and Lance Schill had a good three wide battle, intermixed with yellows, in the early going before Cain took over the top spot. Once in front, he was able to put a few car lengths on the field and while Christensen pressured him on a couple of occasions, Cain maintained his line to take home the win.
Eric Haugland has found something the last couple of nights and the North Dakota driver got his second straight top five finish while the current point leader in this division, Cole Searing, rounded out the top five after starting eleventh in the main.
For the second straight night the races were run on a considerably drier racing surface than the opening weekend and drivers were required to make the adjustment, that is until the late "farming session" turned the track blazing fast again for the Late Models. And of course, at the driver's meeting earlier just about every driver on hand had a different idea on just how the track should be prepared.
Car counts remained strong with forty six Late Models signing in to race along with forty six Modifieds and series high forty nine X Mods. Somewhat surprisingly, despite the fact that this is the final weekend of the series, a half dozen new cars from Tucson and Las Cruses showed up to race on Saturday.
Noted West Coast racing authority Ron Rhoda and I had a discussion about car counts and the unusual circumstances that surround this racing series. While it clearly is a very successful racing series and the car counts have been strong in all classes, the Wild West Shootout has the unique characteristic on being very successful despite having virtually no support from the local and area racers. Granted, there are a few cars from the Phoenix and surrounding areas completing, but truly only a handful compared to the number of racers from out of state and even out of the western part of the country. Just one look at the track point standings will assure you that there are just a bare few of the drivers that have earned points during the season at Arizona Speedway that have made an appearance this week.
Of course, the difference in rules plays a big part in that. With the nearest USRA track hours away, it truly is remarkable just how many Modifieds are on hand for this week's racing activities. Some are USRA cars that have towed a great distance and many make a motor swap just for this week, then go back to their old rules package at home. There are some Modifieds running the IMCA favored crate motor that are doing OK so perhaps some of the locals don't give themselves a chance when they should really be trying.
The local Sport Mods are much the same way, as in shows that mix and match the rules, drivers from all three sanctioning bodies seem to be competitive with each other. For the race fans on hand, perhaps the appearance of all the different drivers whom they don't get to see the rest of the year may be an added bonus for them.
Speaking of the fans, while there are certainly some fans who attend weekly races at Arizona Speedway on hand, the vast majority that have been here all week are either visitors who have made the trip just for the races or perhaps have relatives or friends that live in the Phoenix so they combine race attendance with visiting.
And speaking of the fans, they have been flocking to the Arizona Speedway this weekend. After setting an all time attendance record for the twelve year history of the Wild West Shootout on Friday night, that record lasted less than twenty four hours as it was broken once again on Saturday. And the spectacular weather with temperatures most of the week well above average certainly hasn't hurt that run on the spectator gates either.
Brooke Cousins, daughter of Modified driver Ryan Cousins and natives of Manitoba, has been singing the Canadian National Anthem all week and she has been doing a terrific job of it.
One more sign that Armageddon nears. At the driver's meeting Saturday, Race Director Kelly Carlton announced that the "stick men" signaling to their drivers from the infield would be limited to three foot long sticks so that they didn't get in each others way and possibly injure each other by accident!
Only a driving error by Ricky on night number two and a tangle with another car while battling for the lead on another night have kept Weiss from racing for the win on all five nights of the series so far as he has shown a domination in speed over the rest of the field.
With car builder Scott Bloomquist calling the shots from Tennessee and Scott's own crew chief on hand to assist the Weiss crew with adjustments, Weiss has been by far the fastest car in the pits and even though track officials threw the teams a curve ball by extensively "farming" the track right before the Late Model feature, it didn't seem to matter to Weiss who didn't miss a beat as he drove away from the field.
The "farming" just made the track much faster but Weiss, who claims his car is superior no matter what the track conditions, made it look easy as he pulled away from the pack, showed patience as he worked with the many lapped cars, and never gave any contender the opportunity to even get close to him during the forty lap sprint. Weiss' speed was such that in the non stop main he lapped all the way up to the tenth place car in the finishing order with only two of the twenty four starters not finishing the race.
Don Shaw, like Weiss, who has now won two events in this series, ran second for the first part of the race before fading back to a fifth place finish. Mike Marlar looked to be a challenger for a good finish until he spun exiting turn two but with a smart move, he kept his foot on the gas and turned back around and continued. Not only did this not trigger a yellow, it allowed him to return mid pack and he managed to salvage an eighth place finish.
It was a very good night for both Cade Dillard and Ryan Gustin also. Dillard, who has been very fast in spurts and didn't have the finishes to show for it, came from eighth to finish a distant second and Gustin came from the fifth row to place third. A steady but not fast enough to really challenge Brandon Sheppard came home fourth.
The Modifieds continued to show that while their field has been large, it also has been very balanced as the fifth different winner in five nights emerged with Stormy Scott taking home the win. He was running second in the early going behind Jake O'Neil when the LG2 of O'Neil emitted some smoke from the engine compartment and Jake quickly shut the car off and dived to the infield. This gave Stormy the lead and he held on the rest of the way for the win.
After building up a considerable lead, Stormy got slowed down fighting lapped traffic and his brother Johnny, one of the winners earlier this week, came charging in on him. Johnny actually looked to have the better set up at the end as Stormy appeared to be spinning his tires coming off the hard slick corners and Johnny really closed at the end. On the final lap, Stormy opened the door off turn two but with not a totally clear path on the inside, Johnny chose to hold his position and not try to force this issue and perhaps "booger out" his brother, especially so early in the new racing season!
Shane Sabraski continued with his fine showings during this Winter tour as he came from eleventh to finish a close third as he continues to get his Lethal chassis to corner beautifully, especially on the slick. Lucas Schott and R.C. Whitwell completed the top five with Schott crossing the line plastered to the front stretch guard rail after getting moved out at the finish line by a lapped car which caused considerable damage and required Schott to scale behind a wrecker.
After a first lap spin, the Modifieds also engaged in a caution free event with only two of the twenty four starters not completing the distance.
Both the X Mods and the Mods completed their feature races on a very black and slick track before track officials chose to "farm it" for the final event and while I would have liked to see the track prep come a bit earlier than it did, the drivers fully knew what to expect in terms of track conditions. The X Mods suffered just a bit more with the track as it took them four tries to get past lap one in their twenty lap finale but once that hurdle was completed, they rolled the last nineteen straight through.
Josh Cain became the first true X Mod to win a feature race in the class as all the previous winners had come from another sanctioning body. Cain, Miah Christensen and Lance Schill had a good three wide battle, intermixed with yellows, in the early going before Cain took over the top spot. Once in front, he was able to put a few car lengths on the field and while Christensen pressured him on a couple of occasions, Cain maintained his line to take home the win.
Eric Haugland has found something the last couple of nights and the North Dakota driver got his second straight top five finish while the current point leader in this division, Cole Searing, rounded out the top five after starting eleventh in the main.
For the second straight night the races were run on a considerably drier racing surface than the opening weekend and drivers were required to make the adjustment, that is until the late "farming session" turned the track blazing fast again for the Late Models. And of course, at the driver's meeting earlier just about every driver on hand had a different idea on just how the track should be prepared.
Car counts remained strong with forty six Late Models signing in to race along with forty six Modifieds and series high forty nine X Mods. Somewhat surprisingly, despite the fact that this is the final weekend of the series, a half dozen new cars from Tucson and Las Cruses showed up to race on Saturday.
Noted West Coast racing authority Ron Rhoda and I had a discussion about car counts and the unusual circumstances that surround this racing series. While it clearly is a very successful racing series and the car counts have been strong in all classes, the Wild West Shootout has the unique characteristic on being very successful despite having virtually no support from the local and area racers. Granted, there are a few cars from the Phoenix and surrounding areas completing, but truly only a handful compared to the number of racers from out of state and even out of the western part of the country. Just one look at the track point standings will assure you that there are just a bare few of the drivers that have earned points during the season at Arizona Speedway that have made an appearance this week.
Of course, the difference in rules plays a big part in that. With the nearest USRA track hours away, it truly is remarkable just how many Modifieds are on hand for this week's racing activities. Some are USRA cars that have towed a great distance and many make a motor swap just for this week, then go back to their old rules package at home. There are some Modifieds running the IMCA favored crate motor that are doing OK so perhaps some of the locals don't give themselves a chance when they should really be trying.
The local Sport Mods are much the same way, as in shows that mix and match the rules, drivers from all three sanctioning bodies seem to be competitive with each other. For the race fans on hand, perhaps the appearance of all the different drivers whom they don't get to see the rest of the year may be an added bonus for them.
Speaking of the fans, while there are certainly some fans who attend weekly races at Arizona Speedway on hand, the vast majority that have been here all week are either visitors who have made the trip just for the races or perhaps have relatives or friends that live in the Phoenix so they combine race attendance with visiting.
And speaking of the fans, they have been flocking to the Arizona Speedway this weekend. After setting an all time attendance record for the twelve year history of the Wild West Shootout on Friday night, that record lasted less than twenty four hours as it was broken once again on Saturday. And the spectacular weather with temperatures most of the week well above average certainly hasn't hurt that run on the spectator gates either.
Brooke Cousins, daughter of Modified driver Ryan Cousins and natives of Manitoba, has been singing the Canadian National Anthem all week and she has been doing a terrific job of it.
One more sign that Armageddon nears. At the driver's meeting Saturday, Race Director Kelly Carlton announced that the "stick men" signaling to their drivers from the infield would be limited to three foot long sticks so that they didn't get in each others way and possibly injure each other by accident!
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Marlar Finally Finds Victory Lane in Arizona
Mike Marlar has been close on every night of the Wild West Shootout so far, but victory lane proved difficult to reach. That is until Friday night, January 12th when he led from start to finish to take the thirty lap Late Model feature on night number four of the Wild West Shootout at the F K Rod Ends Arizona Speedway. The Modified class proved to be as wide open as it has been with the fourth different winner in four nights with Minnesota's Blake Jegtvig earning the first place honors while Cole Searing continued his remarkable week of racing in the X Mods as he became the first repeat winner in that division and padded his point lead for the Shootout.
Car counts continued to be strong for round four and sixteen drivers made their first appearance of the week on Friday night with new drivers in all three classes. Car counts were forty six in the Late Models, fifty in the Modifieds and a week long high of forty five X Mods.
Weather conditions continued to be spectacular although it definitely does cool down considerably once that blazing sun sets. However, with the brutal weather elsewhere in most of the country, you would be hard pressed to find anyone complaining about having to put a coat on!
The track was lightning fast early with Marlar setting the quickest time of the week so far at 14.535 seconds and Ricky Weiss close behind. However, race conditions gradually deteriorated over the course of the evening and track officials didn't seem to spend as much time as on some other nights with track prep once the show got started. It seemed on this night that the most immediate concern was keeping the show moving and getting done as soon as possible. Perhaps they have been getting some noise complaints from Wednesday night's show they had to address as I was told that there are a couple of area residents that complain almost on a weekly basis.
In any event, the track went low side early in both the X Mod and Modified features and the Late Models were dominant on the top side next to the rail with the track starting to take rubber about half through the Late Model feature. In all honesty, while the show was far from being a bust, it was not a night of compelling racing such as we have seen so far this week.
Marlar got the jump early on Chris Simpson and locked into his lane on the track, near the top side and everyone pretty much followed his lead. Simpson gave up spots to both Weiss and Bobby Pierce before he settled in. Weiss showed lots of speed once again and he was able to close in on Marlar and give a couple of attempts to drop under him in the corners but he couldn't make the pass and got back in line again. Ricky was back in his top car on Friday after going to his back up car on Wednesday night while they determined that his main car was fully functional again.
The leaders got into lapped traffic which proved problematic as a couple of them didn't seem to want to yield the fast groove and it proved dicey for Marlar for a few laps but he remained cool and made a big move off turn two when he got by two cars at once and padded his lead over Weiss which he maintained to the checkered.
A fine job was turned in by Earl Pearson Jr who was a last minute replacement for Jason Rauen who was apparently late arriving from the airport and once Earl signed in as the driver, it was too late to change drivers again. Earl started fifth and maintained for thirty laps as he ran a solid race in an unfamiliar car but a Black Diamond like what he will be racing this year.
The Modified feature looked like a "back in the day" Saturday night show at Tucson as area residents Jake O'Neil and R.C. Whitwell shared the front row for the twenty five lap main. However, a lap two spin by Whitwell proved costly as it eliminated Lucas Schott, Jason Krohn and Dustin Strand and sent Whitwell to the back where he did race his way all the way back up to tenth with not a single more yellow to help him out.
But the night belonged to Blake Jegtvig. Jegtvig, who was always one of the top runners at this event when it was held in Tucson, has had a couple of slow years by his standards recently with the feature wins not coming in bunches like previously. However, on this night he was hooked up well and was able to drive under O'Neil and take the lead early and once in front, put distance on the field. The Scott brothers moved into second and third and Stormy was able to close to within a few car lengths when Jegtvig hit traffic.
However, once Blake was clear again, he was able to extend his lead in the last few laps and drive home for the win. O'Neil eventually gave up on the top side and dropped low into fourth with Tyler Peterson getting his first top five of the week.
Searing continued his strong drives this week with another win in the X Mods. The Huron South Dakota driver, who normally races a Super Stock back in the Midwest and was third in WISSOTA national points last year in that class, has proved that he can wheel an open wheel car also. As a hired gun this week for the George Racing Team, he has strung together two wins and two second place finishes to dominate the X Mods. Friday night he led all the way for the win with his main challenge being Wednesday night's winner, Jason VandeKamp. He started seventh and quickly worked his way into second but while he could remain close, he never could muster a serious challenge for the win.
The drive of the race was executed by North Dakota's Eric Haugland. Seemingly the only driver in the class to be able to make the top side work, from the half way point of the race on he was making a concerted charge to the front as he drove by driver after driver using the outside lane. He came from fourteenth on the grid to move into third following a late restart with only two laps to go as he passed Lucas Rodin for the spot. WISSOTA drivers finished in the top four spots and had six of the top ten finishing positions.
Even the most veteran and savvy of drivers continue to comment on how hard this track is to read. They are amazed how quickly it can turn from being slimy to start to take rubber, such as it did in the Late Model feature. They are also surprised and shocked how often and quickly the fast lane around the track will move as this dirt here, perhaps in combination with the local weather conditions, seems difficult to predict. But that to is part of the fun of this adventure.
As we move into the second half of this racing vacation, the hard racing is starting to take its toll. While most of the competitors are still on hand and few have left for home early, some of the teams are starting to get tired of the daily repairs that seem to be required and some of those that have been struggling are now starting to push harder to get to the front and while this evening was quite free of "yellow flag fever", the mechanical toll on the cars is starting to increase with many teams forced to go to back up motors etc.
One team I talked that routinely does very well here in the Desert but has had a challenging week in the Strand Racing Team out of Grand Forks North Dakota. They are on their third motor for their X Mod and the second motor in the Modified. A crazy issue with their fuel cell that starved out the motor in the X Mods on restarts and cost them dearly while hurting two motors was finally resolved and Dustin's father Brian took the wheel of the X Mod on Friday night. Running a motor borrowed from Scott Bintz, Brian made the feature although he finished quite far back. Dustin, meanwhile, had his bad luck continue when he was in the wrong spot early in the Mod feature and got caught up in the Whitwell deal.
Another bad luck driver was California's Cody Laney. He blew a motor in his Mod on practice night and they finally got another motor back in the car for tonight's show. So, guess what happened? Just a few short laps into his heat race and the motor lets go in a cloud of smoke and his night is done.
I also spoke with Don Shaw who got a scare right at the end of the winning run on Wednesday night when the motor quit and then blew much fire when it was restarted. Apparently it was just a minor issue, perhaps even a freak thing, and they could find no problems with the motor. That was a good thing as Shaw has only one motor for this trip and a failure would have forced him to do some "shopping" in the pit area. Friday night Shaw tried a banzai move on the start of his heat race knowing that he had to get to the top and the quick lane but it failed and he was forced to run a B Feature. This doomed his night on an evening where passing was at a premium and he had to just ride along in the main event.
Tonight's trivia question is this, who was the only driver that arrived on the grounds Friday that came from some place where it was actually warmer than here in Phoenix? The answer is, Lance Schill. The North Dakota driver left his rig here last week and then took his family on a vacation to Hawaii. He arrived back in town to race tonight with both his X Mod and Modified. While he showed lots of speed, the night did not end good for him and the Mod suffered an apparent blown motor while the X Mod was also a DNF.
With a calm night and the air hanging heavy over the Arizona Speedway, a thick haze of campfire smoke gave the entire facility a surreal appearance on Friday night. The final two sessions of this meet will be held with earlier starting times and the drivers will be lobbying for more track prep as needed to avoid the situation that occurred during tonight's Late Model feature.
One problematic area on a otherwise fine racing facility is the exit from the track in turn one. It is a straight shot off the front chute but is protected by a guard rail that then wraps all the way through turn two. It does have a couple of big tractor tires protecting it but also does offer a rather blunt end projecting right straight out to catch cars in peril. Twice tonight and about a half dozen times this week, drivers have hit the blunt end of this rail hard, damaging their cars but so far managing to avoid injury but it just looks like a bad accident waiting to happen. When cars hit the front stretch wall and can't get off the wall, they seem to slide straight into that blunt end which just isn't good. Hopefully some re-engineering of this section of the track is done by next year.
Friday night's crowd was huge, and perhaps the biggest ever for a Friday night for this series. It would appear that by all accounts that this has, to this point, been a hugely successful week of racing and helping everyone forget the huge disappointment of last year's double rain outs to end the week.
Car counts continued to be strong for round four and sixteen drivers made their first appearance of the week on Friday night with new drivers in all three classes. Car counts were forty six in the Late Models, fifty in the Modifieds and a week long high of forty five X Mods.
Weather conditions continued to be spectacular although it definitely does cool down considerably once that blazing sun sets. However, with the brutal weather elsewhere in most of the country, you would be hard pressed to find anyone complaining about having to put a coat on!
The track was lightning fast early with Marlar setting the quickest time of the week so far at 14.535 seconds and Ricky Weiss close behind. However, race conditions gradually deteriorated over the course of the evening and track officials didn't seem to spend as much time as on some other nights with track prep once the show got started. It seemed on this night that the most immediate concern was keeping the show moving and getting done as soon as possible. Perhaps they have been getting some noise complaints from Wednesday night's show they had to address as I was told that there are a couple of area residents that complain almost on a weekly basis.
In any event, the track went low side early in both the X Mod and Modified features and the Late Models were dominant on the top side next to the rail with the track starting to take rubber about half through the Late Model feature. In all honesty, while the show was far from being a bust, it was not a night of compelling racing such as we have seen so far this week.
Marlar got the jump early on Chris Simpson and locked into his lane on the track, near the top side and everyone pretty much followed his lead. Simpson gave up spots to both Weiss and Bobby Pierce before he settled in. Weiss showed lots of speed once again and he was able to close in on Marlar and give a couple of attempts to drop under him in the corners but he couldn't make the pass and got back in line again. Ricky was back in his top car on Friday after going to his back up car on Wednesday night while they determined that his main car was fully functional again.
The leaders got into lapped traffic which proved problematic as a couple of them didn't seem to want to yield the fast groove and it proved dicey for Marlar for a few laps but he remained cool and made a big move off turn two when he got by two cars at once and padded his lead over Weiss which he maintained to the checkered.
A fine job was turned in by Earl Pearson Jr who was a last minute replacement for Jason Rauen who was apparently late arriving from the airport and once Earl signed in as the driver, it was too late to change drivers again. Earl started fifth and maintained for thirty laps as he ran a solid race in an unfamiliar car but a Black Diamond like what he will be racing this year.
The Modified feature looked like a "back in the day" Saturday night show at Tucson as area residents Jake O'Neil and R.C. Whitwell shared the front row for the twenty five lap main. However, a lap two spin by Whitwell proved costly as it eliminated Lucas Schott, Jason Krohn and Dustin Strand and sent Whitwell to the back where he did race his way all the way back up to tenth with not a single more yellow to help him out.
But the night belonged to Blake Jegtvig. Jegtvig, who was always one of the top runners at this event when it was held in Tucson, has had a couple of slow years by his standards recently with the feature wins not coming in bunches like previously. However, on this night he was hooked up well and was able to drive under O'Neil and take the lead early and once in front, put distance on the field. The Scott brothers moved into second and third and Stormy was able to close to within a few car lengths when Jegtvig hit traffic.
However, once Blake was clear again, he was able to extend his lead in the last few laps and drive home for the win. O'Neil eventually gave up on the top side and dropped low into fourth with Tyler Peterson getting his first top five of the week.
Searing continued his strong drives this week with another win in the X Mods. The Huron South Dakota driver, who normally races a Super Stock back in the Midwest and was third in WISSOTA national points last year in that class, has proved that he can wheel an open wheel car also. As a hired gun this week for the George Racing Team, he has strung together two wins and two second place finishes to dominate the X Mods. Friday night he led all the way for the win with his main challenge being Wednesday night's winner, Jason VandeKamp. He started seventh and quickly worked his way into second but while he could remain close, he never could muster a serious challenge for the win.
The drive of the race was executed by North Dakota's Eric Haugland. Seemingly the only driver in the class to be able to make the top side work, from the half way point of the race on he was making a concerted charge to the front as he drove by driver after driver using the outside lane. He came from fourteenth on the grid to move into third following a late restart with only two laps to go as he passed Lucas Rodin for the spot. WISSOTA drivers finished in the top four spots and had six of the top ten finishing positions.
Even the most veteran and savvy of drivers continue to comment on how hard this track is to read. They are amazed how quickly it can turn from being slimy to start to take rubber, such as it did in the Late Model feature. They are also surprised and shocked how often and quickly the fast lane around the track will move as this dirt here, perhaps in combination with the local weather conditions, seems difficult to predict. But that to is part of the fun of this adventure.
As we move into the second half of this racing vacation, the hard racing is starting to take its toll. While most of the competitors are still on hand and few have left for home early, some of the teams are starting to get tired of the daily repairs that seem to be required and some of those that have been struggling are now starting to push harder to get to the front and while this evening was quite free of "yellow flag fever", the mechanical toll on the cars is starting to increase with many teams forced to go to back up motors etc.
One team I talked that routinely does very well here in the Desert but has had a challenging week in the Strand Racing Team out of Grand Forks North Dakota. They are on their third motor for their X Mod and the second motor in the Modified. A crazy issue with their fuel cell that starved out the motor in the X Mods on restarts and cost them dearly while hurting two motors was finally resolved and Dustin's father Brian took the wheel of the X Mod on Friday night. Running a motor borrowed from Scott Bintz, Brian made the feature although he finished quite far back. Dustin, meanwhile, had his bad luck continue when he was in the wrong spot early in the Mod feature and got caught up in the Whitwell deal.
Another bad luck driver was California's Cody Laney. He blew a motor in his Mod on practice night and they finally got another motor back in the car for tonight's show. So, guess what happened? Just a few short laps into his heat race and the motor lets go in a cloud of smoke and his night is done.
I also spoke with Don Shaw who got a scare right at the end of the winning run on Wednesday night when the motor quit and then blew much fire when it was restarted. Apparently it was just a minor issue, perhaps even a freak thing, and they could find no problems with the motor. That was a good thing as Shaw has only one motor for this trip and a failure would have forced him to do some "shopping" in the pit area. Friday night Shaw tried a banzai move on the start of his heat race knowing that he had to get to the top and the quick lane but it failed and he was forced to run a B Feature. This doomed his night on an evening where passing was at a premium and he had to just ride along in the main event.
Tonight's trivia question is this, who was the only driver that arrived on the grounds Friday that came from some place where it was actually warmer than here in Phoenix? The answer is, Lance Schill. The North Dakota driver left his rig here last week and then took his family on a vacation to Hawaii. He arrived back in town to race tonight with both his X Mod and Modified. While he showed lots of speed, the night did not end good for him and the Mod suffered an apparent blown motor while the X Mod was also a DNF.
With a calm night and the air hanging heavy over the Arizona Speedway, a thick haze of campfire smoke gave the entire facility a surreal appearance on Friday night. The final two sessions of this meet will be held with earlier starting times and the drivers will be lobbying for more track prep as needed to avoid the situation that occurred during tonight's Late Model feature.
One problematic area on a otherwise fine racing facility is the exit from the track in turn one. It is a straight shot off the front chute but is protected by a guard rail that then wraps all the way through turn two. It does have a couple of big tractor tires protecting it but also does offer a rather blunt end projecting right straight out to catch cars in peril. Twice tonight and about a half dozen times this week, drivers have hit the blunt end of this rail hard, damaging their cars but so far managing to avoid injury but it just looks like a bad accident waiting to happen. When cars hit the front stretch wall and can't get off the wall, they seem to slide straight into that blunt end which just isn't good. Hopefully some re-engineering of this section of the track is done by next year.
Friday night's crowd was huge, and perhaps the biggest ever for a Friday night for this series. It would appear that by all accounts that this has, to this point, been a hugely successful week of racing and helping everyone forget the huge disappointment of last year's double rain outs to end the week.
Friday, January 12, 2018
Gopher State Drivers Dominate Round Three of the WWS
While the majority of the drivers and their cars from the upper Midwest remain hunkered down in their warm houses and heated garages against the cold blasts of Winter, those that ventured out and traveled to the Desert more than held up their end of the bargain to the race fans here as drivers from the state of Minnesota won all three of the feature races contested on night three of the Wild West Shootout here at the F K Rod Ends Arizona Speedway in the San Tan Valley. On top of that, the top three finishers in the Modified feature were from the Gopher state and WISSOTA based drivers continued to shine with two of the three winners representing that sanctioning group and eight of the top ten in the X Mod feature from WISSOTA county.
Racing action remained wild and woolly and highly unpredictable as the drivers ran for the first time in the series in evening conditions. On top of that, a rare series of thunderstorms packing quite a bit of rain and a lightning show to boot hit late in the evening on Tuesday, just after the bonus practice session was completed, turning the pits into a muddy mess and thoroughly saturating the race track. With conditions much cooler on Wednesday and with the action starting two hours later with the sun already set, the track remained much tackier and it was a lightning quick surface for racing action that held much of the night. Thus, those drivers packing plenty of horsepower but perhaps having trouble either getting it to the ground or making their cars turn found the track to be much more favorable and forgiving for them. On the flip side, those that were gaining their edge due to sharp handling cars found that a lack of blinding speed would be hurting their cause on Wednesday night with the super tacky conditions.
Car counts were down slightly for the Wednesday night show as they always are as a number of the New Mexico and California drivers return home to work during the week with their return expected on Friday night. Thirty two X Mods, forty four Mods and forty six Late Models signed in to race on Friday although a couple were eliminated for the night early due to mechanical issues. The numbers though, compared favorably with last year's mid race race.
A few changes were noted for night three of the racing action and several teams had a busy off two days as repairs were made to their race cars. Pat Doar got his chance behind the wheel on Wednesday as he drove the Late Model his is sharing with Lance Matthees. Ricky Weiss, who got in a tangle with Bobby Pierce as they battled for the lead in the Late Model feature on Sunday, was back on the track with his car and continued to show blazing speed, if not a lot of good luck. After being the first driver for the week under the fifteen second plateau in time trials, he clobbered the back chute rail on his second attempt and severely damaged his car. He missed his heat while repairs were fashioned and he tried to return to tail a B feature but the car spit out a driveshaft on the warm up lap as things were obviously not totally rectified. If he can even keep the car running and can avoid trouble, a feature win yet this week seems still likely.
The one driver that has had smooth sailing so far this week is Don Shaw, who's story book week continues as he became the first repeat winner of the week, winning a hard fought main event title over Bobby Pierce and Mike Marlar. In much the same manner as his win on Sunday, he did not dominate from start to finish but instead let a couple of other drivers lead early and then fall by the way side, at which point Shaw was right there to take over the point.
Chris Simpson was the leader early but he didn't look comfortable with the high speeds in the corners and eventually jumped the cushion a couple times and fell all the way back to sixth at the finish. Cade Dillard was most impressive and the rookie Late Model driver show both speed and moxie and he threaded his way into the lead. However, he ran into grief with a lapped car as he tried to force the issue and got turned into the front stretch wall, just about where Weiss hit it on Sunday and he was done. Shaw then took over the top spot and despite strong challenges from Pierce, he maintained his line and drove home for the win. What a remarkable and unexpected week it has been so far for the Ham lake Minnesota driver and what a nice boost for his chassis builder Billy Moyer. Pierce and Brandon Sheppard are both getting up to speed and a win by either the rest of the way would not be surprising either but just the uncertainty that is surrounding the Late Models and the unveiling of new winners has already made this a memorable week.
Lucas Schott, the young southern Minnesota USRA hot shot, dominated the Modified feature race on Wednesday. He started on the outside pole and led all the way in a race that had more than its share of yellow flags. Attrition was very high with only eleven cars on the track at the end out of twenty four starters. Many pulled off early, perhaps to save their equipment on a night when the motors were straining and there were a couple of motors that appeared to go South including those of Dustin Strand and heat race leader Richie Davis, having his first strong run until the power plant appeared to let go.
While Schott was strong on every restart and never was seriously challenged, the race behind them was a good one for position. Shane Sabraski put together another strong run as he finished a solid second and just like Sunday, Jason Krohn finished right behind him in third. Ricky Thornton Jr and Johnny Scott both passed a bunch of cars to finish in the top five after passing points were hard to grab in the heats due to the fact that everyone was blinding fast.
The Scott brothers and the Gallardo family cars both have shown a lot of speed but to this point, reliability has been a problem for all of them. It was heart break for Jake O'Neil who was scheduled to start on the pole for the Modified feature but failed to show. It was reported that a radiator problem was the cause. That was more than a bit ironic as one of the O'Neil family businesses is a radiator shop!
Race Director Kelly Carlton is really keeping the pace of the events going, particularly for these midweek night shows and Duece Arneson had to go to the back of the Modified main as he was late on the track for the start. He ten drove his way all the way up to seventh. Fito Gallardo was also tardy with the same penalty handed out to him.
Much frustration was released by Jason VandeKamp in the X Mod feature. Twice already this week, VandeKamp has had either wins or high finishes wiped out by late race mechanical issues, the tipping point being when he lost a driveshaft on his way to victory lane on the last lap of the feature race on Sunday. Not a driver who suffers from a lot of mechanical issues during the regular racing season, these fluke issues must have been galling to him and he took out his frustration on the rest of the field on Wednesday night.
After earning a front row starting spot in the main, he executed a "beat down" on the other drivers as he opened up a huge early lead and despite three yellows that brought the pack back to him, each time he drove away from them on the restart to comfortably earn his first ever Wild West Shootout trophy.
The battle behind VandeKamp was a good one and Cole Searing, having a great week of his own with three top five finishes, held off a very fast Steve Muilenburg for second. D.J. Tesch and Lucas Rodin, both also running well all week, completed the top five. While their open wheel cousins, the Modifieds, had a tough night on Wednesday, the X Mods were quite the opposite with only three yellow yellows in their main and only three non finishers.
The first glitch of the week occurred on Wednesday when a bank of lights failed to function correctly when they were turned on for the first time. Repairs were made quickly and the show was only delayed by a scant few minutes. One redesign at the track that I failed to mention earlier this week has been the redesigned exit off the track.
Previously the race cars exited the track by going straight off turn one to the pits and their exit road was dangerously close to the walkway where folks would pass back and forth between the grandstands in turn one and the pits with a cross over path needed to be used in an area that was somewhat dimly lighted and a real source of a possible accident.
Now the cars make a hard left turn after leaving the track and wind their way back to the pits by going near the sand drag area of the pits, which basically splits the pits in what is one of the more unusual pit areas to be found at any track. It's a little bit slower now but much safer.
The crowd was considerably smaller on Wednesday night but not surprising to the promoters as it is tough to get the local crowd out for a midweek show, particularly when it is so tough to move around this country to go anywhere during the "rush hour" which seems to start early and last late. Plus, it was probably too cool for some of the less than hardy local race fans. This night of racing is more for the drivers and the traveling spectators anyway.
In another sign that Armageddon is near, the whining of some of the Late Model drivers and their crews has been heard and acted upon favorably by track management. Last year all the "stick men" that signal their drivers during the Late Model races stood right in front of the crowd and blocked the view of those sitting in the lower sections of the bleachers. They complained and rightfully so, management made them move so the paying customers could see the show.
The way the track, fences, walls etc. are laid out here, there wasn't a good spot for them to stand other than right in front of the spectators so just about all the teams weren't utilizing "stick men" this year. Some of the drivers complained (apparently they can't drive unless someone is showing them where to go on the track) so on Wednesday, management had put down a chalked "penalty box" where the "stick men" could stay on the inside of the track inside the guard rail and signal to their drivers. Not a huge number of drivers used the new privilege but there were some in the "box", holding up their yardsticks and other such devices to their drivers. Apparently it isn't fool proof though, as the two main complainers, Pierce and Simpson, didn't mange to earn feature wins even with their newly gained co-drivers.
Night racing continues on Friday night before late afternoon shows on Saturday and Sunday complete what has been a spectacular week of racing to this point. Dirt on Dirt will continue their nightly broadcasts for those that want to watch live and can't get to the Desert.
Racing action remained wild and woolly and highly unpredictable as the drivers ran for the first time in the series in evening conditions. On top of that, a rare series of thunderstorms packing quite a bit of rain and a lightning show to boot hit late in the evening on Tuesday, just after the bonus practice session was completed, turning the pits into a muddy mess and thoroughly saturating the race track. With conditions much cooler on Wednesday and with the action starting two hours later with the sun already set, the track remained much tackier and it was a lightning quick surface for racing action that held much of the night. Thus, those drivers packing plenty of horsepower but perhaps having trouble either getting it to the ground or making their cars turn found the track to be much more favorable and forgiving for them. On the flip side, those that were gaining their edge due to sharp handling cars found that a lack of blinding speed would be hurting their cause on Wednesday night with the super tacky conditions.
Car counts were down slightly for the Wednesday night show as they always are as a number of the New Mexico and California drivers return home to work during the week with their return expected on Friday night. Thirty two X Mods, forty four Mods and forty six Late Models signed in to race on Friday although a couple were eliminated for the night early due to mechanical issues. The numbers though, compared favorably with last year's mid race race.
A few changes were noted for night three of the racing action and several teams had a busy off two days as repairs were made to their race cars. Pat Doar got his chance behind the wheel on Wednesday as he drove the Late Model his is sharing with Lance Matthees. Ricky Weiss, who got in a tangle with Bobby Pierce as they battled for the lead in the Late Model feature on Sunday, was back on the track with his car and continued to show blazing speed, if not a lot of good luck. After being the first driver for the week under the fifteen second plateau in time trials, he clobbered the back chute rail on his second attempt and severely damaged his car. He missed his heat while repairs were fashioned and he tried to return to tail a B feature but the car spit out a driveshaft on the warm up lap as things were obviously not totally rectified. If he can even keep the car running and can avoid trouble, a feature win yet this week seems still likely.
The one driver that has had smooth sailing so far this week is Don Shaw, who's story book week continues as he became the first repeat winner of the week, winning a hard fought main event title over Bobby Pierce and Mike Marlar. In much the same manner as his win on Sunday, he did not dominate from start to finish but instead let a couple of other drivers lead early and then fall by the way side, at which point Shaw was right there to take over the point.
Chris Simpson was the leader early but he didn't look comfortable with the high speeds in the corners and eventually jumped the cushion a couple times and fell all the way back to sixth at the finish. Cade Dillard was most impressive and the rookie Late Model driver show both speed and moxie and he threaded his way into the lead. However, he ran into grief with a lapped car as he tried to force the issue and got turned into the front stretch wall, just about where Weiss hit it on Sunday and he was done. Shaw then took over the top spot and despite strong challenges from Pierce, he maintained his line and drove home for the win. What a remarkable and unexpected week it has been so far for the Ham lake Minnesota driver and what a nice boost for his chassis builder Billy Moyer. Pierce and Brandon Sheppard are both getting up to speed and a win by either the rest of the way would not be surprising either but just the uncertainty that is surrounding the Late Models and the unveiling of new winners has already made this a memorable week.
Lucas Schott, the young southern Minnesota USRA hot shot, dominated the Modified feature race on Wednesday. He started on the outside pole and led all the way in a race that had more than its share of yellow flags. Attrition was very high with only eleven cars on the track at the end out of twenty four starters. Many pulled off early, perhaps to save their equipment on a night when the motors were straining and there were a couple of motors that appeared to go South including those of Dustin Strand and heat race leader Richie Davis, having his first strong run until the power plant appeared to let go.
While Schott was strong on every restart and never was seriously challenged, the race behind them was a good one for position. Shane Sabraski put together another strong run as he finished a solid second and just like Sunday, Jason Krohn finished right behind him in third. Ricky Thornton Jr and Johnny Scott both passed a bunch of cars to finish in the top five after passing points were hard to grab in the heats due to the fact that everyone was blinding fast.
The Scott brothers and the Gallardo family cars both have shown a lot of speed but to this point, reliability has been a problem for all of them. It was heart break for Jake O'Neil who was scheduled to start on the pole for the Modified feature but failed to show. It was reported that a radiator problem was the cause. That was more than a bit ironic as one of the O'Neil family businesses is a radiator shop!
Race Director Kelly Carlton is really keeping the pace of the events going, particularly for these midweek night shows and Duece Arneson had to go to the back of the Modified main as he was late on the track for the start. He ten drove his way all the way up to seventh. Fito Gallardo was also tardy with the same penalty handed out to him.
Much frustration was released by Jason VandeKamp in the X Mod feature. Twice already this week, VandeKamp has had either wins or high finishes wiped out by late race mechanical issues, the tipping point being when he lost a driveshaft on his way to victory lane on the last lap of the feature race on Sunday. Not a driver who suffers from a lot of mechanical issues during the regular racing season, these fluke issues must have been galling to him and he took out his frustration on the rest of the field on Wednesday night.
After earning a front row starting spot in the main, he executed a "beat down" on the other drivers as he opened up a huge early lead and despite three yellows that brought the pack back to him, each time he drove away from them on the restart to comfortably earn his first ever Wild West Shootout trophy.
The battle behind VandeKamp was a good one and Cole Searing, having a great week of his own with three top five finishes, held off a very fast Steve Muilenburg for second. D.J. Tesch and Lucas Rodin, both also running well all week, completed the top five. While their open wheel cousins, the Modifieds, had a tough night on Wednesday, the X Mods were quite the opposite with only three yellow yellows in their main and only three non finishers.
The first glitch of the week occurred on Wednesday when a bank of lights failed to function correctly when they were turned on for the first time. Repairs were made quickly and the show was only delayed by a scant few minutes. One redesign at the track that I failed to mention earlier this week has been the redesigned exit off the track.
Previously the race cars exited the track by going straight off turn one to the pits and their exit road was dangerously close to the walkway where folks would pass back and forth between the grandstands in turn one and the pits with a cross over path needed to be used in an area that was somewhat dimly lighted and a real source of a possible accident.
Now the cars make a hard left turn after leaving the track and wind their way back to the pits by going near the sand drag area of the pits, which basically splits the pits in what is one of the more unusual pit areas to be found at any track. It's a little bit slower now but much safer.
The crowd was considerably smaller on Wednesday night but not surprising to the promoters as it is tough to get the local crowd out for a midweek show, particularly when it is so tough to move around this country to go anywhere during the "rush hour" which seems to start early and last late. Plus, it was probably too cool for some of the less than hardy local race fans. This night of racing is more for the drivers and the traveling spectators anyway.
In another sign that Armageddon is near, the whining of some of the Late Model drivers and their crews has been heard and acted upon favorably by track management. Last year all the "stick men" that signal their drivers during the Late Model races stood right in front of the crowd and blocked the view of those sitting in the lower sections of the bleachers. They complained and rightfully so, management made them move so the paying customers could see the show.
The way the track, fences, walls etc. are laid out here, there wasn't a good spot for them to stand other than right in front of the spectators so just about all the teams weren't utilizing "stick men" this year. Some of the drivers complained (apparently they can't drive unless someone is showing them where to go on the track) so on Wednesday, management had put down a chalked "penalty box" where the "stick men" could stay on the inside of the track inside the guard rail and signal to their drivers. Not a huge number of drivers used the new privilege but there were some in the "box", holding up their yardsticks and other such devices to their drivers. Apparently it isn't fool proof though, as the two main complainers, Pierce and Simpson, didn't mange to earn feature wins even with their newly gained co-drivers.
Night racing continues on Friday night before late afternoon shows on Saturday and Sunday complete what has been a spectacular week of racing to this point. Dirt on Dirt will continue their nightly broadcasts for those that want to watch live and can't get to the Desert.
Monday, January 8, 2018
Surprise Finishes Spice Wild West Shootout
Sunday, January 7th marked the second race in the six race series to be held at the F K Rod Ends Arizona Speedway as the Wild West Shootout continued. Surprise endings in two of the three main events would make for some compelling action and much for the fans and competitors to chew on well after the racing program was concluded. Sunday night winners included Don Shaw in the Late Models, Johnny Scott in the Modifieds and Cole Searing in the X Mods.
It was another beautiful day in the desert with fifty Late Models, fifty Modifieds and forty one X Mods signing in to race for the second event. A half dozen new cars spread out between the three classes joined the field on Sunday with a few others not returning for various reasons. Because of the slightly larger field in the Modifieds and after some questions because of the extremely large heat race numbers in the Modifieds for Saturday's show, an extra heat race was added for the Modifieds. And since only the B Features and Feature races pay any money, it was not a big deal to management to add another race. Other than that small change, the number of races and format of the program remained such as it was on opening night.
Sunday saw young Louisiana Late Model talent Tanner Kellick go to a back up car after he suffered some mechanical issues to his car on Saturday and South Dakota's Casey Skyberg, who has helped support Ricky Thornton Jr's Late Model efforts here, turned over his car to Thornton Jr after Ricky had motor problems in hot laps on Saturday and wasn't able to race. They hope to fix the problem and get Ricky back in action in his own car later this week.
The most interesting addition to the field was that of Big Block Modified driver Mike Maresca from New York who was driving a Late Model for one of the first times in his career. With no practice laps, he was struggling a bit on Sunday and likely will use the Tuesday night practice session to get a lot more laps on his car prepared by Ohio's Russ King.
Rusty Kollman from North Dakota was sick yesterday and when you're too sick to race, you're really sick. However, despite still fighting the "crud", he did give it a go on Sunday. Canadian driver Al Giesbrecht arrived and raced on Sunday but the second car in the trailer, belonging to Scott Greer, remained in the trailer as Greer has not of yet arrived in the Southwest.
Despite being one of the last cars in the qualifying order, Chris Simpson once again turned the quick time of the night with his time being about two tenth of a second slower than Saturday as the track was just a bit dryer than the previous day.
Twenty four cars once again started each main event after a series of heats and B Features. An extra car, that of Tony Toste, started the Late Model feature after Toste eschewed the grand he won for the dash for the privilege of starting in the back of the feature race. After all, he is here to race, not watch. The move also pleased Minnesota driver Lance Matthees as he received half that money for finishing second in the dash after a pin hole in his tire saw his qualifying effort go down the drain with a lousy heat race effort that destroyed any chances of making the main event.
The Late Model feature ended up being one of the wildest events that will probably be contested throughout the entire Summer. Drama started before the green flag even flew as Bobby Pierce, slated to start on the pole, had to have a motor change executed before the race started. Motor problems at the end of his heat required the move as he didn't want to sacrifice his starting position by going to a back up car so they pulled the motor out of the back up car and put it in the qualified car.
The race itself had a spectacular start as while Pierce jumped into the lead, the field right behind him went four wide down the back chute with Ricky Weiss being the big winner there as he moved from seventh to second very quickly. Weiss appeared to be the fastest car on the track as he gradually closed on Pierce for the lead.
What ensued then was the kind of stuff that keeps fans returning to the track as Pierce and Weiss executed a series of wild slide jobs on each other that had the crowd swooning and at the same time holding their breath. At least four times they "dive bombed" each other with Pierce fighting off every attempt by Weiss. However, Ricky was staying right on the tail of the #32 car and when they reached some lapped traffic, it got crazy again.
Unfortunately, the thing that was feared in this wild battle took place when they made contact down the front chute with Weiss going for a wild slide out the driveway exit and making contact with the wall at the same time. Who's fault, if any it was, will be discussed for days to come with it probably never to be fully resolved in either camp. However, we must also remember that when racing gets that wild, sometimes accidents do happen with no one truly at fault.
However, Pierce wasn't out of the woods yet, as slowly and gradually Don Shaw had worked his way forward after starting thirteenth. First it was Mike Marlar who tried Pierce after the racing resumed, and he tried hard but he couldn't quite pull off the pass either.
Then, after a yellow, Shaw passed Marlar for second and he took his shot. The car of Shaw was working well on the black track and he was able to race just a little lower on the track and still keep his speed up and with just four laps to go, Shaw drove under Pierce for the lead in a move that many in the crowd cheered. It was a stunning victory for the Minnesota driver and for the second straight night, drivers from "the Great White North" had shocked the national driving stars. Judging from the talk in the pits afterward, these upsets are not playing well with some of the national wheel men as they are not used to playing "second fiddle" to anyone. I would guess that the racing might get even more heated when action resumes on Wednesday. Ryan Gustin and Brandon Sheppard completed the top five.
Earlier, Marlar had given everyone on the grounds a scare as he causally motored across the track following a post heat race interview, unaware that the next heat race was bearing down on him ready to start their event. It was a close call that saw the field take evasive action.
A very strong field of Modifieds took to the track but Johnny Scott had all the answers for the twenty three challengers as he led from start to finish to nail down the feature win. Scott came from tenth to second in his heat race and he continued his domination in the main as he drove off from the field and controlled the race despite six slowdowns that bunched up the field including a late race yellow for debris that forced a two lap sprint to the finish.
Shane Sabraski continued his strong performances as he drove to a well earned second place finish. Jason Krohn was strong too in finishing third with Jake O'Neil and Matt Leer completing the top five.
The X Mod feature concluded with one of the craziest looking finishes seen in quite some time. Jason VandeKamp was the class of the field as he drove away from Saturday night's winner Scott Bintz and built up nearly a full straightaway lead over the field. VandeKamp is a very successful racer in Minnesota who shines on slick tracks as his "keep the car straight" style fits perfectly there. With the track on this night very much the same, it was no surprise to me that he was giving the field a "beat down."
Bintz was not quite as dominant on Sunday and he gave up positions to D.J. Tesch and Cole Searing. With the race just about over, VandeKamp maintained his big lead. However, the unthinkable happened when his car spit out a driveshaft as he took the white flag. His car rapidly slowed as he drove down the back chute as he clearly wouldn't have the momentum to finish in front.
Second place runner Tesch paused for just a second as he caught up to VandeKamp, perhaps trying to figure out what was going on. Searing pounced on the opportunity as he blew around Tesch and drove home to the crazy win. Tesch did get second ahead of Bintz, Josh Cain and Miah Christensen with WISSOTA drivers sweeping the top three.
Ironically, VandeKamp had charged from deep in the field on Saturday all the way up to fourth and was looking to get more when he lost the driveshaft which caused considerable damage under the car. They thought they had everything fixed but the same issue cost him the win on Sunday. Searing has now finished second and first on his opening weekend in this new MB, after not having sat in the car before this weekend.
Forgive me for" busting my buttons" just a little bit but I must take a moment to brag up the drivers from the WISSOTA region where I see the majority of my racing. WISSOTA drivers have now won both the Late Model features, dominated the X Mods and also ran very well in the Modifieds. And while they race "heads up" with the other sanctioning bodies in the X Mods, except they have to run on the other people's tires, in both the Late Models and Mods they must make some extensive changes to their cars, yet have managed to run with and better some of the best in the country.
The Arizona Raceway remains a wildly unpredictable race track. It seems to change more often than almost any track I have seen, except perhaps East Bay Raceway, and can change even during the course of a race, much less than several times over the course of the evening and drivers continue to try and figure out this desert track. And the track also seems to not always respond in the same manner to track prep. All of which makes this even more interesting. And even as the track started to take rubber during the Late Model feature, there were drivers still running a variety of racing lines on the track.
This series is one of the very few that I am aware of where the pay off is still in cash. The sight of watching the workers at the office peel off a roll of one hundred dollar bills to the racers is both dazzling and scary as well as being very surprising.
Arizona Raceway is also a smoke free facility, something appreciated by many and respected I have seen so far by those that need a nicotine fix.
It was another beautiful day in the desert with fifty Late Models, fifty Modifieds and forty one X Mods signing in to race for the second event. A half dozen new cars spread out between the three classes joined the field on Sunday with a few others not returning for various reasons. Because of the slightly larger field in the Modifieds and after some questions because of the extremely large heat race numbers in the Modifieds for Saturday's show, an extra heat race was added for the Modifieds. And since only the B Features and Feature races pay any money, it was not a big deal to management to add another race. Other than that small change, the number of races and format of the program remained such as it was on opening night.
Sunday saw young Louisiana Late Model talent Tanner Kellick go to a back up car after he suffered some mechanical issues to his car on Saturday and South Dakota's Casey Skyberg, who has helped support Ricky Thornton Jr's Late Model efforts here, turned over his car to Thornton Jr after Ricky had motor problems in hot laps on Saturday and wasn't able to race. They hope to fix the problem and get Ricky back in action in his own car later this week.
The most interesting addition to the field was that of Big Block Modified driver Mike Maresca from New York who was driving a Late Model for one of the first times in his career. With no practice laps, he was struggling a bit on Sunday and likely will use the Tuesday night practice session to get a lot more laps on his car prepared by Ohio's Russ King.
Rusty Kollman from North Dakota was sick yesterday and when you're too sick to race, you're really sick. However, despite still fighting the "crud", he did give it a go on Sunday. Canadian driver Al Giesbrecht arrived and raced on Sunday but the second car in the trailer, belonging to Scott Greer, remained in the trailer as Greer has not of yet arrived in the Southwest.
Despite being one of the last cars in the qualifying order, Chris Simpson once again turned the quick time of the night with his time being about two tenth of a second slower than Saturday as the track was just a bit dryer than the previous day.
Twenty four cars once again started each main event after a series of heats and B Features. An extra car, that of Tony Toste, started the Late Model feature after Toste eschewed the grand he won for the dash for the privilege of starting in the back of the feature race. After all, he is here to race, not watch. The move also pleased Minnesota driver Lance Matthees as he received half that money for finishing second in the dash after a pin hole in his tire saw his qualifying effort go down the drain with a lousy heat race effort that destroyed any chances of making the main event.
The Late Model feature ended up being one of the wildest events that will probably be contested throughout the entire Summer. Drama started before the green flag even flew as Bobby Pierce, slated to start on the pole, had to have a motor change executed before the race started. Motor problems at the end of his heat required the move as he didn't want to sacrifice his starting position by going to a back up car so they pulled the motor out of the back up car and put it in the qualified car.
The race itself had a spectacular start as while Pierce jumped into the lead, the field right behind him went four wide down the back chute with Ricky Weiss being the big winner there as he moved from seventh to second very quickly. Weiss appeared to be the fastest car on the track as he gradually closed on Pierce for the lead.
What ensued then was the kind of stuff that keeps fans returning to the track as Pierce and Weiss executed a series of wild slide jobs on each other that had the crowd swooning and at the same time holding their breath. At least four times they "dive bombed" each other with Pierce fighting off every attempt by Weiss. However, Ricky was staying right on the tail of the #32 car and when they reached some lapped traffic, it got crazy again.
Unfortunately, the thing that was feared in this wild battle took place when they made contact down the front chute with Weiss going for a wild slide out the driveway exit and making contact with the wall at the same time. Who's fault, if any it was, will be discussed for days to come with it probably never to be fully resolved in either camp. However, we must also remember that when racing gets that wild, sometimes accidents do happen with no one truly at fault.
However, Pierce wasn't out of the woods yet, as slowly and gradually Don Shaw had worked his way forward after starting thirteenth. First it was Mike Marlar who tried Pierce after the racing resumed, and he tried hard but he couldn't quite pull off the pass either.
Then, after a yellow, Shaw passed Marlar for second and he took his shot. The car of Shaw was working well on the black track and he was able to race just a little lower on the track and still keep his speed up and with just four laps to go, Shaw drove under Pierce for the lead in a move that many in the crowd cheered. It was a stunning victory for the Minnesota driver and for the second straight night, drivers from "the Great White North" had shocked the national driving stars. Judging from the talk in the pits afterward, these upsets are not playing well with some of the national wheel men as they are not used to playing "second fiddle" to anyone. I would guess that the racing might get even more heated when action resumes on Wednesday. Ryan Gustin and Brandon Sheppard completed the top five.
Earlier, Marlar had given everyone on the grounds a scare as he causally motored across the track following a post heat race interview, unaware that the next heat race was bearing down on him ready to start their event. It was a close call that saw the field take evasive action.
A very strong field of Modifieds took to the track but Johnny Scott had all the answers for the twenty three challengers as he led from start to finish to nail down the feature win. Scott came from tenth to second in his heat race and he continued his domination in the main as he drove off from the field and controlled the race despite six slowdowns that bunched up the field including a late race yellow for debris that forced a two lap sprint to the finish.
Shane Sabraski continued his strong performances as he drove to a well earned second place finish. Jason Krohn was strong too in finishing third with Jake O'Neil and Matt Leer completing the top five.
The X Mod feature concluded with one of the craziest looking finishes seen in quite some time. Jason VandeKamp was the class of the field as he drove away from Saturday night's winner Scott Bintz and built up nearly a full straightaway lead over the field. VandeKamp is a very successful racer in Minnesota who shines on slick tracks as his "keep the car straight" style fits perfectly there. With the track on this night very much the same, it was no surprise to me that he was giving the field a "beat down."
Bintz was not quite as dominant on Sunday and he gave up positions to D.J. Tesch and Cole Searing. With the race just about over, VandeKamp maintained his big lead. However, the unthinkable happened when his car spit out a driveshaft as he took the white flag. His car rapidly slowed as he drove down the back chute as he clearly wouldn't have the momentum to finish in front.
Second place runner Tesch paused for just a second as he caught up to VandeKamp, perhaps trying to figure out what was going on. Searing pounced on the opportunity as he blew around Tesch and drove home to the crazy win. Tesch did get second ahead of Bintz, Josh Cain and Miah Christensen with WISSOTA drivers sweeping the top three.
Ironically, VandeKamp had charged from deep in the field on Saturday all the way up to fourth and was looking to get more when he lost the driveshaft which caused considerable damage under the car. They thought they had everything fixed but the same issue cost him the win on Sunday. Searing has now finished second and first on his opening weekend in this new MB, after not having sat in the car before this weekend.
Forgive me for" busting my buttons" just a little bit but I must take a moment to brag up the drivers from the WISSOTA region where I see the majority of my racing. WISSOTA drivers have now won both the Late Model features, dominated the X Mods and also ran very well in the Modifieds. And while they race "heads up" with the other sanctioning bodies in the X Mods, except they have to run on the other people's tires, in both the Late Models and Mods they must make some extensive changes to their cars, yet have managed to run with and better some of the best in the country.
The Arizona Raceway remains a wildly unpredictable race track. It seems to change more often than almost any track I have seen, except perhaps East Bay Raceway, and can change even during the course of a race, much less than several times over the course of the evening and drivers continue to try and figure out this desert track. And the track also seems to not always respond in the same manner to track prep. All of which makes this even more interesting. And even as the track started to take rubber during the Late Model feature, there were drivers still running a variety of racing lines on the track.
This series is one of the very few that I am aware of where the pay off is still in cash. The sight of watching the workers at the office peel off a roll of one hundred dollar bills to the racers is both dazzling and scary as well as being very surprising.
Arizona Raceway is also a smoke free facility, something appreciated by many and respected I have seen so far by those that need a nicotine fix.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Weiss Shines in Wild West Shootout Opener
The opening night of the Wild West Shootout at F K Rod Ends Arizona Speedway saw some excellent racing and when the three winners stood on their cars' roofs in victory lane, there were some mild upsets as well as a couple of drivers that made it to victory lane in no surprise.
Ricky Weiss, the Canadian standout in the Late Model class, held the lead, then lost it and then with a stunning move near the end of the race, drove back around Chris Simpson to take the five grand win. Simpson, who switched cars today after having some motor issues with his new car last night, didn't seem to miss a beat as he gave Weiss all he could handle.
Ricky Thornton Jr, who as one pit observer said could win in the Modifieds if he were driving a wheel barrow, put on another amazing performance as he totally dominated a very strong field of open wheel cars.
And in the X Mods, North Dakota's Scott Bintz, who was the driver to beat when this series ran at Tucson but didn't have much luck last year, is back with a vengeance as he drove away from a big field of cars in that class to record a dominating win.
Opening night saw one hundred and forty eight cars on hand in the three classes offered with several more in the pits that opted to pass on opening night for various reasons. The total of cars racing on the opening night was just exactly the same as last year, with the X Mods being down four cars, four more Modifieds and the exact same number of Late Models on hand to take a green flag.
Track conditions were totally different than those seen for any race here last year during the series and considerably different than what was offered even last night. Track officials continued to try and slow the track down so it was prepared in a much dryer situation and it got black and slick much earlier and not nearly so much of a big berm to it. Still, the racing conditions were good and the fast way around the track seemed to move several times during the course of the night from low, to very high up against the rail, to back down low and then, shockingly at the end, back to the high groove where Weiss made his winning pass. The track does look a little bit different this year than last due to the high wood wall the surrounds the track, a concession to the neighbors to try and keep down the noise although to me it still looks like we're in the middle of "no where" there must be some living out there that can hear the cars when they fire.
Late Models time trialed in groups with six heat races offered. Fast cars started in front and only three came out of each heat. twin B features set the rest of the twenty four car starting field and a dash, sponsored by Pro Power Racing Engines was again held for those cars that just missed the main event. Clint Smith won that and decided to grab to cash and run, rather than start in the back of the main, much to the disappointment of Bill Schliepper, who then had to pay Smith.
The Late Model feature proved to be and interesting race with a very surprising finish, one that could have not been predicted even a few laps before the unthinkable happened. Weiss started on the pole and led the first part of the race, building up a good sized lead that Simpson gradually ate into. Even though the track looked fastest right on the bottom, there were a number of drivers that tried the middle and top and they certainly weren't ready to just line up on the bottom and "tail gate" each other like sometimes occurs. As Mike Marlar said, the field wasn't point chasing and they were there to just race and in some cases, to check out their cars for the year so they were willing to experiment, feeling there wasn't near as much to lose.
Don Shaw and Brandon Sheppard beat the cushion along with Cade Dillard, a Late Model rookie that looked very impressive. Shaw couldn't make the top side work and he gradually faded back but Sheppard pulled his way forward throughout the event. At about the half way point, Weiss started sliding off the bottom and Simpson quickly caught him and then drove under him to take over the lead. Weiss stayed fairly close but didn't appear to have anything to offer. Simpson did get slowed when he caught a couple of lapped cars and both Weiss and Mike Marlar started to close.
Weiss said he noticed than when Chase Junghans moved up the track as a lapped car to be passed that he actually pulled away from Simpson so, in a bold move, Weiss jumped to the high side also and within a couple laps he went flying right by Simpson like he was in another gear. With only a few laps left, Simpson then jumped to the top, barely squeezing off Marlar but Weiss had the groove covered and he drove home for the stunning victory. It was a great opener for Weiss who was debuting a brand new Bloomquist chassis, a brand he has been using for several years now. A strong run was put on by Garrett Alberson who was with the leaders the entire race and finished a strong fifth in Dr. Dave Deetz' car.
Simpson blamed his getting caught in the wrong lane at the precise wrong time on the fact that he couldn't see his "stick wavers" as the set up at Arizona Speedway makes it hard to find a spot for a crew member to position himself and signal the driver. Since one of the real attributes a good driver develops is to be able to read the track as it changes over the course of a race and be in the right spot at the right time, this comment fell on deaf ears to me as I've always thought that no one should be allowed to be signaling the drivers at all, unless we just want to put robots in the cars and run them by remote control.
After a first lap slowdown when Tanner Kellick broke, the Late Model drivers did an awesome job, running the last thirty nine laps non stop and with a long green flag run like that, it was enough time for the drivers to do some jumping around and trying different grooves and it made for an interesting race.
Thornton Jr continues to be very impressive in the Modifieds as he totally dominated what was a very strong field of cars. He started in the second row and was so much faster than front row starters Josh Angst and Matt Leer that he just about ran over them until he could find and opening and drive into the lead. After he got to the front, he simply drove away from everyone and after two yellows before a lap could be completed, the rest of the twenty five laps ran non stop and Ricky drove off into the sunset.
Even more amazing, Thornton was making his first run in a new chassis and car for himself and no disrespect to Johnny Saathoff, but I doubt that many people's first thoughts on the hot setup for an open Modified would be a Jet chassis, but Thornton Jr made it work in spades! The phone may be ringing off the hook come Monday morning in Beatrice Nebraska!
Young Minnesota guns Lucas Schott and Angst ended up second and fourth, Schott in a new MB and Angst in an MB they started racing last Summer. Very impressive also was Stormy Scott who came from twelfth to third and was still charging at the end. He and his brother Johnny passed on practice night but both ran strong Saturday with Johnny ending up sixth.
Justin Kay gave a good account of himself also as he ran right with the leaders throughout the race to take a top five. Matt Gilbertson ran very strong in the early going and raced up to fourth but he may have burned up his tires as he started to fade at the end while fellow Minnesota driver Shane Sabraski did the best job of moving up, coming from twentieth to eighth.
The X Mods were dominated by northern cars as they often are at these open types of shows. Four of the top five cars were WISSOTA cars with only Missouri's Steven Muilenburg breaking the trend. Bintz started on the pole and after front row fellow starter Dustin Strand had troubles on the start when his car wouldn't come up to speed which triggered a tangle, it was Bintz who drove away from the field, building up nearly a half straightaway lead over the pack.
Bintz was also debuting a new car as he drove a Millenium chassis that is built by Strand in his Grand Forks North Dakota shops. Cole Searing drove home to an outstanding second place finish, even more remarkable due to the fact that Searing doesn't even race this class on a regular basis. Back in Huron South Dakota where he races, he is a top notch Super Stock driver and finished third in national points in 2017, but his run in the open wheel car was a good one on Saturday. Lucas Rodin, a young North Dakota racer finished third and Shawn Ferkes, who didn't arrive until Saturday from Minnesota, completed the top five.
An interesting phenomena surrounds this entire event. Normally, at any special race meet, the core group of both drivers and fans is the local, weekly racers. However, at this race series, the local drivers are conspicuous by their absence as there are virtually no local drivers that race in the open wheel classes at all, even though both of these classes are regular classes at Arizona Speedway. I suppose the difference in sanctioning bodies and rules does make some difference but you'd think that more of the locals would at least give it a shot but in both open wheel classes, it is out of area drivers that make up the majority of the field.
In the X Mods, nearly half the field of cars is WISSOTA cars from North and South Dakota and Minnesota and the other big part of the field is cars from Las Cruces with that group of USRA drivers seemingly to be much bigger than the first race here last year. There were always a ton of them at Tucson but the longer distance to race when this meet was moved seemed to cut down on their presence last year but they are back up to speed this year.
The Modified class has very much the same flavor with many cars from the North and also New Mexico making up the majority of the field. If those guys ever stopped coming, I'm not sure that they would do for a car count.
In the same manner also, a strong portion of the crowd is now made up of northern race fans that either travel down for this race or winter in the Arizona area and now have something special to look forward to in January with this race now being a Phoenix area happening. I still hold the Tucson track in high regard but it is clear that management's move to Arizona Speedway has produced crowds much larger than ever were seen in Tucson.
As is expected with any Chris Kearns promotion, the racing action started within a scant few minutes of the advertised time and the crowd was a big one, although very late arriving. There were a few more breaks in the action than is normal here but all were for track maintenance and with the temperatures being as pleasant as they were, just sitting and relaxing for a few minutes was not all bad. Racing action continues on Sunday afternoon and for those that would like to watch live and avoid the boredom of NFL playoff football, Dirt on Dirt has the broadcast. Ben Shelton has been doing an awesome job calling the races and unlike some of the Late Model snob announcers that don't want to have anything to do with the other classes, he seems to relish the "support class" action and definitely gives them their "day in the sun" too.
In passing, one thing that surprises me about this facility as that with all the special events they have here for various divisions of racing, both fendered and open wheel, that the track doesn't have any sort of scoreboard or lap counter. That should be next on the upgrade list.
Ricky Weiss, the Canadian standout in the Late Model class, held the lead, then lost it and then with a stunning move near the end of the race, drove back around Chris Simpson to take the five grand win. Simpson, who switched cars today after having some motor issues with his new car last night, didn't seem to miss a beat as he gave Weiss all he could handle.
Ricky Thornton Jr, who as one pit observer said could win in the Modifieds if he were driving a wheel barrow, put on another amazing performance as he totally dominated a very strong field of open wheel cars.
And in the X Mods, North Dakota's Scott Bintz, who was the driver to beat when this series ran at Tucson but didn't have much luck last year, is back with a vengeance as he drove away from a big field of cars in that class to record a dominating win.
Opening night saw one hundred and forty eight cars on hand in the three classes offered with several more in the pits that opted to pass on opening night for various reasons. The total of cars racing on the opening night was just exactly the same as last year, with the X Mods being down four cars, four more Modifieds and the exact same number of Late Models on hand to take a green flag.
Track conditions were totally different than those seen for any race here last year during the series and considerably different than what was offered even last night. Track officials continued to try and slow the track down so it was prepared in a much dryer situation and it got black and slick much earlier and not nearly so much of a big berm to it. Still, the racing conditions were good and the fast way around the track seemed to move several times during the course of the night from low, to very high up against the rail, to back down low and then, shockingly at the end, back to the high groove where Weiss made his winning pass. The track does look a little bit different this year than last due to the high wood wall the surrounds the track, a concession to the neighbors to try and keep down the noise although to me it still looks like we're in the middle of "no where" there must be some living out there that can hear the cars when they fire.
Late Models time trialed in groups with six heat races offered. Fast cars started in front and only three came out of each heat. twin B features set the rest of the twenty four car starting field and a dash, sponsored by Pro Power Racing Engines was again held for those cars that just missed the main event. Clint Smith won that and decided to grab to cash and run, rather than start in the back of the main, much to the disappointment of Bill Schliepper, who then had to pay Smith.
The Late Model feature proved to be and interesting race with a very surprising finish, one that could have not been predicted even a few laps before the unthinkable happened. Weiss started on the pole and led the first part of the race, building up a good sized lead that Simpson gradually ate into. Even though the track looked fastest right on the bottom, there were a number of drivers that tried the middle and top and they certainly weren't ready to just line up on the bottom and "tail gate" each other like sometimes occurs. As Mike Marlar said, the field wasn't point chasing and they were there to just race and in some cases, to check out their cars for the year so they were willing to experiment, feeling there wasn't near as much to lose.
Don Shaw and Brandon Sheppard beat the cushion along with Cade Dillard, a Late Model rookie that looked very impressive. Shaw couldn't make the top side work and he gradually faded back but Sheppard pulled his way forward throughout the event. At about the half way point, Weiss started sliding off the bottom and Simpson quickly caught him and then drove under him to take over the lead. Weiss stayed fairly close but didn't appear to have anything to offer. Simpson did get slowed when he caught a couple of lapped cars and both Weiss and Mike Marlar started to close.
Weiss said he noticed than when Chase Junghans moved up the track as a lapped car to be passed that he actually pulled away from Simpson so, in a bold move, Weiss jumped to the high side also and within a couple laps he went flying right by Simpson like he was in another gear. With only a few laps left, Simpson then jumped to the top, barely squeezing off Marlar but Weiss had the groove covered and he drove home for the stunning victory. It was a great opener for Weiss who was debuting a brand new Bloomquist chassis, a brand he has been using for several years now. A strong run was put on by Garrett Alberson who was with the leaders the entire race and finished a strong fifth in Dr. Dave Deetz' car.
Simpson blamed his getting caught in the wrong lane at the precise wrong time on the fact that he couldn't see his "stick wavers" as the set up at Arizona Speedway makes it hard to find a spot for a crew member to position himself and signal the driver. Since one of the real attributes a good driver develops is to be able to read the track as it changes over the course of a race and be in the right spot at the right time, this comment fell on deaf ears to me as I've always thought that no one should be allowed to be signaling the drivers at all, unless we just want to put robots in the cars and run them by remote control.
After a first lap slowdown when Tanner Kellick broke, the Late Model drivers did an awesome job, running the last thirty nine laps non stop and with a long green flag run like that, it was enough time for the drivers to do some jumping around and trying different grooves and it made for an interesting race.
Thornton Jr continues to be very impressive in the Modifieds as he totally dominated what was a very strong field of cars. He started in the second row and was so much faster than front row starters Josh Angst and Matt Leer that he just about ran over them until he could find and opening and drive into the lead. After he got to the front, he simply drove away from everyone and after two yellows before a lap could be completed, the rest of the twenty five laps ran non stop and Ricky drove off into the sunset.
Even more amazing, Thornton was making his first run in a new chassis and car for himself and no disrespect to Johnny Saathoff, but I doubt that many people's first thoughts on the hot setup for an open Modified would be a Jet chassis, but Thornton Jr made it work in spades! The phone may be ringing off the hook come Monday morning in Beatrice Nebraska!
Young Minnesota guns Lucas Schott and Angst ended up second and fourth, Schott in a new MB and Angst in an MB they started racing last Summer. Very impressive also was Stormy Scott who came from twelfth to third and was still charging at the end. He and his brother Johnny passed on practice night but both ran strong Saturday with Johnny ending up sixth.
Justin Kay gave a good account of himself also as he ran right with the leaders throughout the race to take a top five. Matt Gilbertson ran very strong in the early going and raced up to fourth but he may have burned up his tires as he started to fade at the end while fellow Minnesota driver Shane Sabraski did the best job of moving up, coming from twentieth to eighth.
The X Mods were dominated by northern cars as they often are at these open types of shows. Four of the top five cars were WISSOTA cars with only Missouri's Steven Muilenburg breaking the trend. Bintz started on the pole and after front row fellow starter Dustin Strand had troubles on the start when his car wouldn't come up to speed which triggered a tangle, it was Bintz who drove away from the field, building up nearly a half straightaway lead over the pack.
Bintz was also debuting a new car as he drove a Millenium chassis that is built by Strand in his Grand Forks North Dakota shops. Cole Searing drove home to an outstanding second place finish, even more remarkable due to the fact that Searing doesn't even race this class on a regular basis. Back in Huron South Dakota where he races, he is a top notch Super Stock driver and finished third in national points in 2017, but his run in the open wheel car was a good one on Saturday. Lucas Rodin, a young North Dakota racer finished third and Shawn Ferkes, who didn't arrive until Saturday from Minnesota, completed the top five.
An interesting phenomena surrounds this entire event. Normally, at any special race meet, the core group of both drivers and fans is the local, weekly racers. However, at this race series, the local drivers are conspicuous by their absence as there are virtually no local drivers that race in the open wheel classes at all, even though both of these classes are regular classes at Arizona Speedway. I suppose the difference in sanctioning bodies and rules does make some difference but you'd think that more of the locals would at least give it a shot but in both open wheel classes, it is out of area drivers that make up the majority of the field.
In the X Mods, nearly half the field of cars is WISSOTA cars from North and South Dakota and Minnesota and the other big part of the field is cars from Las Cruces with that group of USRA drivers seemingly to be much bigger than the first race here last year. There were always a ton of them at Tucson but the longer distance to race when this meet was moved seemed to cut down on their presence last year but they are back up to speed this year.
The Modified class has very much the same flavor with many cars from the North and also New Mexico making up the majority of the field. If those guys ever stopped coming, I'm not sure that they would do for a car count.
In the same manner also, a strong portion of the crowd is now made up of northern race fans that either travel down for this race or winter in the Arizona area and now have something special to look forward to in January with this race now being a Phoenix area happening. I still hold the Tucson track in high regard but it is clear that management's move to Arizona Speedway has produced crowds much larger than ever were seen in Tucson.
As is expected with any Chris Kearns promotion, the racing action started within a scant few minutes of the advertised time and the crowd was a big one, although very late arriving. There were a few more breaks in the action than is normal here but all were for track maintenance and with the temperatures being as pleasant as they were, just sitting and relaxing for a few minutes was not all bad. Racing action continues on Sunday afternoon and for those that would like to watch live and avoid the boredom of NFL playoff football, Dirt on Dirt has the broadcast. Ben Shelton has been doing an awesome job calling the races and unlike some of the Late Model snob announcers that don't want to have anything to do with the other classes, he seems to relish the "support class" action and definitely gives them their "day in the sun" too.
In passing, one thing that surprises me about this facility as that with all the special events they have here for various divisions of racing, both fendered and open wheel, that the track doesn't have any sort of scoreboard or lap counter. That should be next on the upgrade list.
Saturday, January 6, 2018
FK Rod Ends Practice
FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway(boy, if that isn't awkward!) held a practice night on Friday, January 5th in preparation for the Wild West Shootout.
Unlike last year, the planes were flying on time and there were no hang ups with connecting flights and the "big bird" got to Phoenix actually ahead of schedule and we were able to get out to the track to catch the practice night.
The weather was spectacular for the first day in the desert. Temperatures were in the mid to high seventies and the sun was shinning down. For many of us from the Midwest, reports of an eighty or more change in temperatures in one day were the norm, and to a person, everyone was glad to get out of the "ice box" that we have been enduring for at least a couple of weeks.
Cars from all three classes were on hand to practice while other rigs rolled in during the evening and some remained buttoned up in their trailers with the rig operators having gotten their cargo to Arizona but some of the drivers still en route.
By my count, forty seven Late Models were seen in the pits along with just about that many Modifieds and about thirty X Mods. A number of the drivers entered in the event still have not arrived and more are expected for the opening race on Saturday.
Practice started just after six pm and continued for about three hours with the three divisions rotating through. The only stoppages were to knock down the cushion on a couple of instances. The track was well watered and despite all the laps that it took, no dust was observed. It did start out very wide but as the evening progressed, the berm built up quite a bit and the groove narrowed and it turned out to be a cushion pounder to get maximum speed by the end. Management has promised to work on this and try and slow the track down for Saturday, which would again likely produce a wider racing groove. Several of the drivers did experiment trying to race lower on the track where it was hard and starting to "blacken" up, but they were largely unsuccessful in passing anyone so to maximize the racing, it will probably be necessary to somehow slow down the cushion.
Although many of the cars weren't operating with their transponders, it appeared that with the naked eye that Brandon Sheppard, in his family owner car, was quite possibly the fastest of the Late Models. Bobby Pierce, sporting a mostly black new Rocket was also fast by my eye. Terry Phillips, with an all red car with black numerals, that I thought looked very nice, also seemed to be among the quickest.
As promised, Lance Matthees and Pat Doar were sharing a ride with Matthees Rocket chassis sporting a Andy Durham Ford motor from Doar. Lance was out for three practice sessions while Pat took to the wheel once as he is not a big fan of tall cushions. How they will split up the driving duties remains to be seen.
The biggest surprise of the night found Rodney Sanders behind the wheel of a Barry Wright race car after having much success driving MB Custioms in both the Late Models and Mods for several years. The story I was told was that Sanders' car owner is very high on Chris Madden, and when Madden switched to Wright chassis this year, they followed. I was told though that Sanders will race MB Modifieds and that he will return to the full USMTS series in 2018.
Dustin Strand did not have his Late Model out here this year. I was told by Dustin's father Brian that when they figured out the bottom line from last year in what they spent and made, the Modified produced a better "bottom line" for them so while Dustin will race a Late Model in the upper Midwest, he did not bring it with him to the desert. Instead, he has both a Mod and an X Mod as success with both those cars would be more important anyway, as that is what they sell for a living. They also have a number of Milleneum chassis customers they are helping out here.
The Modified field looked very balanced with a number of drivers getting around the track well and I think their races will be very competitive. Late arrivals Fito and Jake Gallardo looked quick but so did many others, too many to mention. IMCA stalwart Spencer Wilson from North Dakota slapped a big spoiler on his car and was getting around the track very well. Among the fastest Modifieds was that of Shane Sabraski, the WISSOTA driver from Minnesota.
Texas' Phil Dixon is trying to set a record for most big event visited in one year and he noted that he was the only Modified to have raced in the Dome in St. Louis and then have traveled to the desert. Due to everyone else at work being very busy, Dixon is alone by himself with no crew for this week.
Another driver going solo is South Dakota's Dustin Bluhm, although he is getting help from the Ricky Weiss crew, having borrowed an open Vic Hill motor from them to race this week. Weiss was testing two cars tonight, a new one and his WISSOTA car from last year.
Chris Simpson and Lucas Schott spent the night trying to track down some issues and both pulled on to the track several times for practice, only to head immediately to the infield and not get any hot laps. And both were trying to break in new cars.
Justin Duty, Blake Jegtvig, Chad Olsen and Austin Siebert all exited the track with big smoke issues at various times during the evening but all were seen later back on the track so the problems must not have been serious.
There were two more serious incidents before the night was over however. A mechanical issue saw X Mod driver Terry Bahr taken off on the hook while there was also one bad crash. A Modified believed to be driven by Jerry Craft slammed off the side of Olsen and then traveled head on into the fourth turn guard rail. The frame rails on that car looked to be bent badly and it seems likely we will have seen the last of that car for this meet.
By the end of the night, a sweat shirt was required but the heavy coat, hat and big boots were a thing of the past. The first night of racing will begin on Saturday and those that want to watch it live can check out Dirt on Dirt for live coverage with Ben Shelton doing the call.
Unlike last year, the planes were flying on time and there were no hang ups with connecting flights and the "big bird" got to Phoenix actually ahead of schedule and we were able to get out to the track to catch the practice night.
The weather was spectacular for the first day in the desert. Temperatures were in the mid to high seventies and the sun was shinning down. For many of us from the Midwest, reports of an eighty or more change in temperatures in one day were the norm, and to a person, everyone was glad to get out of the "ice box" that we have been enduring for at least a couple of weeks.
Cars from all three classes were on hand to practice while other rigs rolled in during the evening and some remained buttoned up in their trailers with the rig operators having gotten their cargo to Arizona but some of the drivers still en route.
By my count, forty seven Late Models were seen in the pits along with just about that many Modifieds and about thirty X Mods. A number of the drivers entered in the event still have not arrived and more are expected for the opening race on Saturday.
Practice started just after six pm and continued for about three hours with the three divisions rotating through. The only stoppages were to knock down the cushion on a couple of instances. The track was well watered and despite all the laps that it took, no dust was observed. It did start out very wide but as the evening progressed, the berm built up quite a bit and the groove narrowed and it turned out to be a cushion pounder to get maximum speed by the end. Management has promised to work on this and try and slow the track down for Saturday, which would again likely produce a wider racing groove. Several of the drivers did experiment trying to race lower on the track where it was hard and starting to "blacken" up, but they were largely unsuccessful in passing anyone so to maximize the racing, it will probably be necessary to somehow slow down the cushion.
Although many of the cars weren't operating with their transponders, it appeared that with the naked eye that Brandon Sheppard, in his family owner car, was quite possibly the fastest of the Late Models. Bobby Pierce, sporting a mostly black new Rocket was also fast by my eye. Terry Phillips, with an all red car with black numerals, that I thought looked very nice, also seemed to be among the quickest.
As promised, Lance Matthees and Pat Doar were sharing a ride with Matthees Rocket chassis sporting a Andy Durham Ford motor from Doar. Lance was out for three practice sessions while Pat took to the wheel once as he is not a big fan of tall cushions. How they will split up the driving duties remains to be seen.
The biggest surprise of the night found Rodney Sanders behind the wheel of a Barry Wright race car after having much success driving MB Custioms in both the Late Models and Mods for several years. The story I was told was that Sanders' car owner is very high on Chris Madden, and when Madden switched to Wright chassis this year, they followed. I was told though that Sanders will race MB Modifieds and that he will return to the full USMTS series in 2018.
Dustin Strand did not have his Late Model out here this year. I was told by Dustin's father Brian that when they figured out the bottom line from last year in what they spent and made, the Modified produced a better "bottom line" for them so while Dustin will race a Late Model in the upper Midwest, he did not bring it with him to the desert. Instead, he has both a Mod and an X Mod as success with both those cars would be more important anyway, as that is what they sell for a living. They also have a number of Milleneum chassis customers they are helping out here.
The Modified field looked very balanced with a number of drivers getting around the track well and I think their races will be very competitive. Late arrivals Fito and Jake Gallardo looked quick but so did many others, too many to mention. IMCA stalwart Spencer Wilson from North Dakota slapped a big spoiler on his car and was getting around the track very well. Among the fastest Modifieds was that of Shane Sabraski, the WISSOTA driver from Minnesota.
Texas' Phil Dixon is trying to set a record for most big event visited in one year and he noted that he was the only Modified to have raced in the Dome in St. Louis and then have traveled to the desert. Due to everyone else at work being very busy, Dixon is alone by himself with no crew for this week.
Another driver going solo is South Dakota's Dustin Bluhm, although he is getting help from the Ricky Weiss crew, having borrowed an open Vic Hill motor from them to race this week. Weiss was testing two cars tonight, a new one and his WISSOTA car from last year.
Chris Simpson and Lucas Schott spent the night trying to track down some issues and both pulled on to the track several times for practice, only to head immediately to the infield and not get any hot laps. And both were trying to break in new cars.
Justin Duty, Blake Jegtvig, Chad Olsen and Austin Siebert all exited the track with big smoke issues at various times during the evening but all were seen later back on the track so the problems must not have been serious.
There were two more serious incidents before the night was over however. A mechanical issue saw X Mod driver Terry Bahr taken off on the hook while there was also one bad crash. A Modified believed to be driven by Jerry Craft slammed off the side of Olsen and then traveled head on into the fourth turn guard rail. The frame rails on that car looked to be bent badly and it seems likely we will have seen the last of that car for this meet.
By the end of the night, a sweat shirt was required but the heavy coat, hat and big boots were a thing of the past. The first night of racing will begin on Saturday and those that want to watch it live can check out Dirt on Dirt for live coverage with Ben Shelton doing the call.
Monday, January 1, 2018
Wrapping Up 2017
As we turn the calendar over to 2018 and a new racing season, I thought that perhaps there might be someone out there interested in a quick summary of my 2017 racing season. Occasionally I run into someone that asks just how many races I saw in the preceding year and what were the highlights so I thought a brief compilation of last year might be in order.
2016 was a record shattering year for me in terms of number of races seen and I didn't think that 2017 would come anywhere near what the preceding year provided. Not that it ever is a competition anyway, because I do what I do simply because I enjoy it but as the year of 2017 progressed, It always felt like I was fighting the weather and kind of spinning my wheels. Much to my surprise, when I sat down this week to sum up 2017, if not for some really disagreeable weather in September and October, I might have actually exceeded my 2016 totals. As it turned out, I attended one hundred and eighty two races in 2017 and if not for a considerable number of cancellations in the Fall months, I would have likely exceeded my 2016 total. Surprise, surprise.
I saw at least one race during each of the twelve months of 2017 and it was my second best year ever, being exceeded only by the previous year. It was also my seventh time that I have been over one hundred and sixty races for a calendar year. 2017 also marked the thirty seventh consecutive year that I saw over one hundred races during a calendar year.
In 2017 I attended races at seventy three different tracks in sixteen states and one Canadian province. Visiting that many different tracks seems insane to me too and I was shocked and very much surprised in that numbesome of the high number of tracks visited could be accounted for by being forced to scramble around to find venues not affected by weather. I attended eight tracks for the first time in 2017 and my all time totals(as best as I can produce them) have me as having seen races at three hundred and eight tracks in twenty nine states and three Canadian provinces and there are still many tracks on my "bucket list" that I have not been to yet. All tracks that I attended were accessed by car except our Arizona trip in which we flew into Phoenix.
Not surprisingly, Wisconsin led the way with visits to seventeen tracks in the Badger state(On Wisconsin!!!) but Iowa and Minnesota were also close behind at fourteen and thirteen respectively. The Rice Lake Speedway, where I saw my first race when I was just a few months old, and has been my Saturday night home forever, led the way with seventeen nights of racing. No other track had double digit totals as I like to move around to different tracks, see a wide variety of different drivers, catch special events for lots of different classes, all the while "playing" the weather as best I can.
While most of the tracks close by me run under WISSOTA sanctioning,I see a considerable portion of my racing under that sanctioning body. However, I don't discriminate against other sanctioning bodies and over the course of a Summer I see racing under just about every sanctioning body that is around. My opinion is that the letters that form the titles of the sanctioning bodies have very little to do with the quality of the racing with so many other factors more important.
While there were far too many great races and individual moments to mention, a few of the highlights include the top notch early Spring races that the Humboldt Speedway in Kansas always puts on. The Whitworth family also makes at least one significant improvement to their track every year. I got the chance to see the first ever Late Model race at the historic Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie Wisconsin with a driver in Cole Spacek that I had seen race since he started while still in Middle School, take the win. Toby Kruse always puts on some special and interesting events at 141 Speedway. The last WISSOTA 100 held at the Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron South Dakota was a special event too. The John Seitz Memorial race at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks North Dakota is always a great event and in 2017 it took on special significance when the brother-in-law of the late John Seitz, Don Shaw, won the race. The World Finals in Charlotte is always a spectacular race as is the Dome race in St. Louis. I still don't understand why that race is such a "lightning rod" for criticism when where else could you see two hundred top quality race cars race in December while sitting in shirt sleeves in St. Louis? The "Little Dream" race for Street Stocks at Rice Lake is also one of my favorite races. Support class drivers racing for over fifteen thousand dollars to win, as they did in 2017, is always memorable.
The most disappointing point of the year was the double rain outs at Arizona Speedway in January. Who goes to the desert to watch it rain, or even imagines that it would do so? I also had to battle some of the wet stuff in Florida although that is more expected.
As with every year, there were certainly some "clunker" nights at the various tracks. However, there is really no point in pointing them out specifically as the drivers and spectators affected by such races will let the management know of their disappointment by not being on hand for following events and those will be the facilities that fall by the way side.
On a sunny Thursday night in July, I had an unusual experience that caused me to miss a night of racing. Due to some poor customer service with a business I dealt with, I ventured off to a night of racing unknowingly with loose lug nuts on my recently rotated wheels. Driving down the freeway, I suddenly had a terrible vibration and just as I pulled over to the side of the freeway, I lost the left front wheel off my car! That was interesting to say the least but i was back in action the following night. I now make sure to re torque my wheels after fifty miles.
Sometimes it helps to be flexible and there were several times during the year that I was able to catch an additional race due to a last minute rescheduled race due to weather issues. A postponement at Humboldt in March allowed me to venture down to Ada Oklahoma for a USMTS race and then catch Humboldt the following day. I hustled over to Farmer City Raceway for a WoO Late Model race on a Sunday after having been at 34 Raceway the night before. Ditto for a Sunday afternoon rescheduled race at the State Park Speedway, one of three tar races I attended in 2017. Twice I caught Jerry Hoffman's Springfield Raceway on the rebound on Sunday races while coming back from Muskogee and Plumerville Arkansas respectively. On a rainy Saturday we grabbed our past ports and drove up to Ontario for races.
The new tracks for 2017 included Arizona Speedway, Atchison County Raceway, North Florida Speedway, The Dirt Oval at Route 66 Raceway, Plymouth Dirt Track, Raceway Park in South Dakota, Lake Cumberland Speedway and Plumerville Super Speedway.
It is a real loss that Oshkosh Speedzone Raceway will be closed and never to open again as it was truly one of Wisconsin's nicest tracks. Atchison County "The Cage" sounds like it's done too so I was lucky to get there last year and Osky will be missed if they don't race in 2017, especially with the history surrounding that track.
Now it is time to move on to 2018 with certainly good and some disappointing things to await us all. The bags are packed and it is nearly time to jump on the plane and head to Arizona. With our recent surge of bitterly cold weather, the warm temperatures of the Southwest are eagerly looked forward to. I plan to provide reports from all six days of racing that will feature Late Models, Modifieds and X Mods.
2016 was a record shattering year for me in terms of number of races seen and I didn't think that 2017 would come anywhere near what the preceding year provided. Not that it ever is a competition anyway, because I do what I do simply because I enjoy it but as the year of 2017 progressed, It always felt like I was fighting the weather and kind of spinning my wheels. Much to my surprise, when I sat down this week to sum up 2017, if not for some really disagreeable weather in September and October, I might have actually exceeded my 2016 totals. As it turned out, I attended one hundred and eighty two races in 2017 and if not for a considerable number of cancellations in the Fall months, I would have likely exceeded my 2016 total. Surprise, surprise.
I saw at least one race during each of the twelve months of 2017 and it was my second best year ever, being exceeded only by the previous year. It was also my seventh time that I have been over one hundred and sixty races for a calendar year. 2017 also marked the thirty seventh consecutive year that I saw over one hundred races during a calendar year.
In 2017 I attended races at seventy three different tracks in sixteen states and one Canadian province. Visiting that many different tracks seems insane to me too and I was shocked and very much surprised in that numbesome of the high number of tracks visited could be accounted for by being forced to scramble around to find venues not affected by weather. I attended eight tracks for the first time in 2017 and my all time totals(as best as I can produce them) have me as having seen races at three hundred and eight tracks in twenty nine states and three Canadian provinces and there are still many tracks on my "bucket list" that I have not been to yet. All tracks that I attended were accessed by car except our Arizona trip in which we flew into Phoenix.
Not surprisingly, Wisconsin led the way with visits to seventeen tracks in the Badger state(On Wisconsin!!!) but Iowa and Minnesota were also close behind at fourteen and thirteen respectively. The Rice Lake Speedway, where I saw my first race when I was just a few months old, and has been my Saturday night home forever, led the way with seventeen nights of racing. No other track had double digit totals as I like to move around to different tracks, see a wide variety of different drivers, catch special events for lots of different classes, all the while "playing" the weather as best I can.
While most of the tracks close by me run under WISSOTA sanctioning,I see a considerable portion of my racing under that sanctioning body. However, I don't discriminate against other sanctioning bodies and over the course of a Summer I see racing under just about every sanctioning body that is around. My opinion is that the letters that form the titles of the sanctioning bodies have very little to do with the quality of the racing with so many other factors more important.
While there were far too many great races and individual moments to mention, a few of the highlights include the top notch early Spring races that the Humboldt Speedway in Kansas always puts on. The Whitworth family also makes at least one significant improvement to their track every year. I got the chance to see the first ever Late Model race at the historic Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie Wisconsin with a driver in Cole Spacek that I had seen race since he started while still in Middle School, take the win. Toby Kruse always puts on some special and interesting events at 141 Speedway. The last WISSOTA 100 held at the Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron South Dakota was a special event too. The John Seitz Memorial race at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks North Dakota is always a great event and in 2017 it took on special significance when the brother-in-law of the late John Seitz, Don Shaw, won the race. The World Finals in Charlotte is always a spectacular race as is the Dome race in St. Louis. I still don't understand why that race is such a "lightning rod" for criticism when where else could you see two hundred top quality race cars race in December while sitting in shirt sleeves in St. Louis? The "Little Dream" race for Street Stocks at Rice Lake is also one of my favorite races. Support class drivers racing for over fifteen thousand dollars to win, as they did in 2017, is always memorable.
The most disappointing point of the year was the double rain outs at Arizona Speedway in January. Who goes to the desert to watch it rain, or even imagines that it would do so? I also had to battle some of the wet stuff in Florida although that is more expected.
As with every year, there were certainly some "clunker" nights at the various tracks. However, there is really no point in pointing them out specifically as the drivers and spectators affected by such races will let the management know of their disappointment by not being on hand for following events and those will be the facilities that fall by the way side.
On a sunny Thursday night in July, I had an unusual experience that caused me to miss a night of racing. Due to some poor customer service with a business I dealt with, I ventured off to a night of racing unknowingly with loose lug nuts on my recently rotated wheels. Driving down the freeway, I suddenly had a terrible vibration and just as I pulled over to the side of the freeway, I lost the left front wheel off my car! That was interesting to say the least but i was back in action the following night. I now make sure to re torque my wheels after fifty miles.
Sometimes it helps to be flexible and there were several times during the year that I was able to catch an additional race due to a last minute rescheduled race due to weather issues. A postponement at Humboldt in March allowed me to venture down to Ada Oklahoma for a USMTS race and then catch Humboldt the following day. I hustled over to Farmer City Raceway for a WoO Late Model race on a Sunday after having been at 34 Raceway the night before. Ditto for a Sunday afternoon rescheduled race at the State Park Speedway, one of three tar races I attended in 2017. Twice I caught Jerry Hoffman's Springfield Raceway on the rebound on Sunday races while coming back from Muskogee and Plumerville Arkansas respectively. On a rainy Saturday we grabbed our past ports and drove up to Ontario for races.
The new tracks for 2017 included Arizona Speedway, Atchison County Raceway, North Florida Speedway, The Dirt Oval at Route 66 Raceway, Plymouth Dirt Track, Raceway Park in South Dakota, Lake Cumberland Speedway and Plumerville Super Speedway.
It is a real loss that Oshkosh Speedzone Raceway will be closed and never to open again as it was truly one of Wisconsin's nicest tracks. Atchison County "The Cage" sounds like it's done too so I was lucky to get there last year and Osky will be missed if they don't race in 2017, especially with the history surrounding that track.
Now it is time to move on to 2018 with certainly good and some disappointing things to await us all. The bags are packed and it is nearly time to jump on the plane and head to Arizona. With our recent surge of bitterly cold weather, the warm temperatures of the Southwest are eagerly looked forward to. I plan to provide reports from all six days of racing that will feature Late Models, Modifieds and X Mods.
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