Monday, December 31, 2018

Wrapping Up 2018 and turning the calendar

My 2018 racing season is now complete and I am more than ready to turn the calendar to 2019. However, before I do that, it is time to take one more look back at the ending season, to confirm if nothing else what my gut tells me should be my response if anyone asks me what I thought about 2018.

It definitely was not a very good season in many ways. In fact, large parts of the season just plain sucked! I can not remember a season in recent memory at least where it seemed like every single trip to a race turned out to be a battle to outlast the elements and dodge the rain. The weather would certainly be the number one topic when talking about the soon to be complete year. It certainly affected my race schedule dramatically throughout the Summer and made the planning of many of my race outings more of a chore than a pleasurable experience.

There certainly were some highlight events and some great individual races but there were also a considerable number of nights that were marked by low car counts matched by half full grandstands.
It is tough enough to be a race promoter in these uncertain times but with all the battles with the weather in 2018, it had to have been a real "gut check" for a lot of race promoters and their employees. So many things for 2019 remain uncertain at this point and a large part of that unquestionably is a carry over from some difficult seasons endured by tracks in 2018.

My personal race statistics from 2018 reflect what a tepid year 2018 was. In fact, I'm somewhat embarrassed to even publish the stats on what was one of my worst personal years in quite some time.

In 2018 I attended one hundred and fifty two nights of racing which was a full thirty nights less than 2017. In fact, it was my worst year since 2008 in terms of races attended. Part of that was due to the fact that after having been able to get to Florida the last two years, there was no Florida trip in the budget for 2018. The other big loss was simply the high number of races that were rained out in 2018. It's not that I gave up on racing, but rather that there were so many shows that just weren't held or were cut back in the number of days they were held.

On the positive side, 2018 did mark the thirty eighth consecutive year that I attended over one hundred races during the season but most of the other stats are grim indeed.

In 2018 I attended races at fifty four different tracks but that is the lowest number of different tracks for me since 2005. I also attended races in twelve states but again that is low, with 2012 being the last year I traveled to that few of states for racing.

And perhaps most stunning to myself, I failed to get to any new tracks in 2018, the first time that has happened since 2003. I failed to keep a close eye on that mark, since if I would have realized it, I would have scheduled a trip to someplace new, no matter how far or irrelevant, just to keep the streak alive.

So, with no new tracks to report, I continue to sit at three hundred and eight tracks attended in twenty nine states and three Canadian Provinces.

Perhaps a bit surprising, the highest number of tracks visited in 2018 was in Iowa where I got to thirteen different tracks with Wisconsin and Minnesota close behind with a dozen each. Other states were considerably farther behind and I also failed to make it across the border into Canada in 2018. Perhaps that was in part because I was a bit afraid that they wouldn't let me back in! (Just kiddin').

Anyway, it was a sub par year for me and I am more than anxious to celebrate the New Year later today and move on with the hopes that 2019 will be a much better year, both for racing and for the country and world in general.

Plans are already starting to take shape in this area with some tracks having announced their schedules already while others wait a while longer with the hopes that they can craft a schedule that avoids the inevitable conflicts which split a rather limited fan base even more.

Our first races of 2019 will be at the FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway for the Wild West Shootout upcoming in just over a weeks time. A number of drivers from this area have already loaded up their cars and headed West and I hope to report on the goings on in the Valley of the Sun shortly. The weather forecast to this point is not particularly favorable but I'm hoping that it changes soon. It's time to race and once again, it's dejavoo all over again. 

Sunday, December 2, 2018

Pierce, Bell and Harrison Top Gateway Dirt Nationals Finales

After two days of preliminaries, it was time on Saturday night, December 1st to crown some champions in the third annual Gateway Dirt Nationals at the Dome at America's Center in downtown St. Louis, Missouri.

Last chance qualifying would start off another long day as promptly at 3 pm, the first of the Late Model Last Chance races would take the green flag. There would be six Last Chance races for the Late Models, followed by four each for the Midgets and Modifieds. Twelve to fourteen cars would start each of the races with only two in the Late Models and three in the Midgets and Modifieds moving up to the main events. Based on the scenario, you can just imagine the intensity level of the races and the lengths that some drivers would go to try and make it into the main events. Needless to say, the racing was aggressive to the highest level and the number of yellow flags and wrecked cars would attest to that premise. In fact, of the fourteen races that were run in the afternoon, only three went green to checkered and there were a few ruffled feathers among some of the drivers when they got spun or had tires speared flat by other drivers, all in an effort to get to the front.

After the preliminaries were completed, a break was taken to freshen up the track and get all the extra presentations set for when the official race program would start at 7:30 pm. There were lots of pyrotechnics and other flashy eye catchers to start of the show and the crowd was more than fired up to see all the special things that have been a part of this event. The crowd appeared to be a huge one with the entire lower bowl of the area appearing jammed  and some people even sitting in the upper sections of the arena.

Driver introductions are a big part of this show and a great source of entertainment to get the fans fired up to see the first green flag. By far, the Late Model drivers put on the best show and it was left to those two drivers that brought down the house last year to again get the crowd revved up. First, Scott Bloomquist was introduced and he broke through the smoke and haze with Rico Abreu on his shoulders that nearly brought down the house. But if anything, he was "one upped" again by Jason Welshan who produced a banner that stated" no provisional needed", a telling commentary on Bloomquist's efforts which required some sort of past champions provisional to get him into the show. His telling commentary was worth a howl for all, and I suspect even Scott B. was probably chuckling a little bit himself on that one.

With all the hoopla behind us, it was time to wave off the first of the three feature races with the Late Models going first. Unfortunately, on this night the hype would be much better than the substance as it was not a night for any classic racing action. Truly, the only one of the three features that would come any where close to expectations was the Modified main.

In my opinion, racing inside on such a tight track is very much a crap shoot to begin with and some nights are great and others not so go. And I would say that much of what made this weekend probably not the best this show has had to offer would center on the race track. Other years, the track would be at its worst for the opening night but each following night would produce a track that was much more raceable and not nearly so hard on the equipment. However, that was not the case this year as the track was brutal all three nights and it seemed that no matter what they did, it just did not show much improvement.

The attrition rate was very high in all three feature races with only half the Late Models and Modifieds around at the end while a slightly higher percentage of the Midgets would complete the full distance.

Bobby Pierce totally dominated the Late Model forty lapper. He started on the pole and led the entire race and seemed to be just cruising most of the distance. He was driving a smart race and his car's set up seemed to be supreme and he was able to roll around the track without getting airborne and bouncing around like most of the others did. It seemed that the only real challengers would be Brandon Sheppard and Shannon Babb and after Sheppard got a flat tire early and Babb did his best to destroy his car before finally throwing in the towel, the only way that Pierce would lose would be if he had some kind of mechanical issue.

Even the race played into his favor as both times he caught the back of the pack, and lapped traffic would likely be the only thing that could mess him up, the yellow flag waved and he had a clean track in front of him again. His margin at the finish was a solid one and runner up Billy Moyer was in a defensive mode, just trying to finish and protect his position. Don O'Neal finished third.

The Midget feature, I thought, might be the one where the cars would be able to go all over the track and we would see a lot of slide jobs and changing of positions. However, that proved not to be the case either. Early on, Christopher Bell and Tyler Courtney had a pretty good race for the lead, but once Bell got established, the race was for second. Ten yellows slowed the action including a couple of minor flips, but fortunately there were no big time wrecks which seemed a bit surprising, especially given the fact that the cars were taking a lot of air, depending on the line that the drivers were running. Courtney and Kyle Larson took shots at getting to the front but for both it resulted in them getting DNF's when their cars and the track came to odds.

It took three tries to get the last lap in but it was Bell that held his ground and didn't make a mistake that would open the door to any challenger. Shane Golobic drove a careful race and he advanced as others fell out and he would finish second while Rico came from tenth to third.

The Modified feature produced the only real battle for the lead. Josh Harris started in front and maintained that lead for the first half of the race as almost as if by magic, the first fourteen laps ran nonstop before the first spin produced a yellow. That first yellow saw a tail end car spin and race challengers Ray Bollinger and Dean Hoffman couldn't get stopped in time and were forced to go to  the tail of the field. One lap later the same scenario played out yet this time Mike McKinney was allowed to maintain his position, which had many of the crowd in our area scratching their heads and worse.

Harris continued to lead but he was blocking the low side and going so slow that while McKinney couldn't get under him, defending UMP national champion Mike Harrison said, "nuts to this" and he jumped to the cushion. It was a bold gamble and one that while we had seen it work successfully in other years, so far in 2018 it hadn't worked out.

However, Harrison kept the hammer down and he was able to edge past  Harris on the outside of turn one and for the first time in three nights, the roar of the crowd could be heard over the engine noise as his move was roundly applauded. Harris eventually went out with a flat tire and while McKinney was digging on the bottom and trying to get pat Harrison, Mike held on for the highly appreciated win. Levi Kissinger finished in the third spot.

And so the final night of the third annual event was in the books. Certainly the crowd size was spectacular as the popularity of the race seems to just grow and grow. I'm sure that there were many in the pits, however, not too pleased with the large amount of damage done to a high number of the race cars. While there will always be plenty of contact when racing in such tight corners, the issues associated with the rough track will have to be addressed to both minimize the damage to the cars and improve the overall racing action.

Between pre race activities, post race interviews and necessary track prep, the final three feature races took nearly three and a half hours to complete so it was again quite a long night. I am still of the opinion that a three class program, done as it was this year, will not fly for a number of reasons next year and I am anxious to see what the plans are for 2019. That being said however, there is no denying what a spectacular event this has grown into so quickly and for those people that have not been to this race yet, it is something that any race fan, no matter what your favorite class is, must experience once.

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Gateway Dirt Nationals Day Two

For those, like myself, that had been "grousing" that we spent a long day and night at the races on Thursday yet saw only a handful of races, they more than made up for it on Friday night. When a long day on Friday settling into the early overnight hours, we had seen a mind boggling thirty two races plus Midget qualifying that left us all limp and ready for a break.

Along with the Midget qualifying, we saw heats, B Features and twin Feature races for the Late Models and Midgets along with the B Features plus double features for the Modifieds. Not having been able to keep up with the schedule from early on yesterday, they continued on that path as everything seemed to take longer than was bargained for in the very optimistic schedule for the weekend and the Late Model features, which were last on the agenda, dragged on into the first hour of the new month. Of the huge number of races, only four all night didn't have at least one yellow flag and some had a multitude.

Track conditions started out OK but they quickly deteriorated and no matter what the track crew did, the moguls quickly returned and made racing a real challenge. The amount of torn up equipment was astronomical and just repair and replacement on front bumpers alone could have been a "gold mine" for some entrepreneur

The qualifying showed that, not surprisingly, the Midgets would be the quickest of all three classes but this track is far more suited to them than to the other two classes, even though this race was not conceived for them.

It was announced that the Thursday night crowd was the largest yet for the opening night and with the huge throng of people that were on hand Friday night, it would not be surprising to hear that the same thing held true for the second night of racing.

All the qualifying pared the fields down to twin twenty lap feature races with only the top four finishers in each one locked into Saturday night's finales. Everyone else, apparently, gets one more shot to make the main events and that could lead to another long afternoon of banging and rooting as everyone wants to get introduced under the bright lights on Saturday night.

The twin Modified features went first and these were the longest and slowest paced of the six features. They just didn't seem capable of making more than a lap or two without either spinning or crashing into each other. And of course, with the UMP rules in effect, if you don't stop during a wreck you get your spot back so when a crash is inevitable, many drivers just "gas up" their cars so they hit hard enough that they can keep on moving, no matter the cost!

Josh Harris led the distance to win the first Modified feature with Ray Bollinger, Mike McKinney and Chad Sellars also making the grade and moving on. Brent Mullins made a strong charge from seventeenth to get into the top four but then he got a bit too bold and went for more and got himself hung on the outside and he couldn't get back in line quick enough and missed the cut.

Kenny Wallace also led all the way to win the second Mod main. Dean Hoffman drove a very smart race and moved up as others fouled up and came from fourteenth to second. Nick Hoffman was next in line and in a real body slamming battle for fourth, Gary Bentley got the spot. Local and area drivers seem to have the advantage in this class with their experience racing on some of the tiny ovals that populate the St. Louis and across the river into Illinois scene.

Both the Midgets and Late Models raced much better than the Modifieds on this night, for whatever reason. The Midgets had very little trouble with the conditions and they were able to move to the top side of the track and avoid many of the bumps that seemed to dominate the low side of the track.  Christopher Bell and Zack Daum had a good early battle in the first Midget main before Bell took control and after that he checked out on the field. Logan Seavey and Shane Golobic were also locked in. Ricky Stenhouse Jr was making a great run toward the front until he pushed corner number four too hard and went for a tough tumble, which resulted in no injury to himself. Somewhat surprisingly, this would be the only flip of the night.

The second Midget feature saw Tyler Courtney and Kyle Larson have a very nice battle for the top spot as they traded the lead several times before Courtney locked in and took over the top side groove and then was able to stretch out his lead to the finish. Tanner Thorson and Jason McDougal also made the show through this race. I think non Midget fans were probably pleasantly surprised how smooth their part of the program went but truly, the drivers on hand for this event are the best around in these little cars.

The Late Models wrapped up the night with the majority of the crowd sticking around in the wee hours to see their feature races, as after all, wasn't this first organized as a showcase for the Late Model class and don't the Midgets have their special indoor event next month? But I digress.

Brandon Sheppard dominated the first feature, leading from wire to wire while a good battle for position played out behind him. Tim McCreadie ran a solid second and after some shuffling, it was Jason Welshan and Billy Moyer that also made the show. Jonathan Davenport was battling for that last spot for quite some time but came up short. The only yellow of this race was when Billy Moyer Jr. ran over his nose piece and hammered the turn three wall.

Bobby Pierce won the finale of the evening as again, Illinois drivers with tons of experience on these little bullrings once again shined. Don O'Neal provided a good challenge before settling for second while local drivers Jason Zobrist and Jeff Herzog provided the spark for the local fans with both also making the show. This race saw a late event pileup that shook up the finishing positions and allowed Herzog to slip into the top five.

Everyone piled out of the building at this point, only to discover that it was raining hard on the outside. Certainly this is one advantage of racing indoors as no matter what the conditions are like outside, as long as the fans and drivers can make it to the building, racing will take place. Crazy as it sounds, the forecast for Saturday is for temperatures in the sixties and sun.

I suspect that they can not continue on each year with shows that run this late at night and something has got to give. Whether it be to eliminate a class or perhaps make the Late Model field an invitation only class too, I will be waiting to see if some kind of announcement is forthcoming for the fourth annual edition of this race.