Thursday, November 11, 2021

Rudolph Tops STSS Cajun Round at Ark-La-Tex

 Round two of the Cajun Swing for the STSS Modifieds took place on Wednesday night, November 10th at the Ark-La-Tex Speedway near Vivian Louisiana. It would be the second year that the STSS Modifieds have raced as a part of the Cajun Swing having run a two night show here last year but it would mark the first time that I had laid eyeballs on the track located in the extreme Northwest corner of the state. 

Along with the Modifieds, the local classes of Factory Stocks, Crate Late Models, Pro Modifieds and Four Cylinders (or FWD or Hornets or whatever they are called on this night) would also be running full shows. 

To be kind, Ark-La-Tex Speedway is located right in the middle of nowhere, about forty minutes North of Shreveport in rural cattle country with no towns particularly close to it. While I did not get a chance to talk to speedway owner Gene Boyter who was busy watering and packing the track , I did get a chance to talk to his eighty five year old father who was riding the pits in his Gator and checking out the cars. 

He said that Gene had gotten interested in racing and as he got deeper and deeper into the sport, the family made the decision to build this race track on their own property with the track opening somewhere around 2000(he couldn't remember the exact year). They did their own work building the track and have raced on it since with the schedule these days just being special events with no weekly programs anymore. He said that 2021 was a bad year for them with most of their shows getting rained out.

The track itself is about a third mile covered with what appeared to be red dirt with medium banking. They built their own bleachers which consist of about three rows of fold back chairs with rows of cement slabs behind these seats that most spectators bring lawn chairs to sit on. Fortunately, I had mine along on this trip which has suited me for the last two nights after hardly ever using them in the home area. The bleachers sit quite close to the racing surface(to close for me actually) but the view is good and although I wore the track after the Modified feature, it wasn't so much that the track was dusty but more so that the bleachers sit so close that the turbulence raised by the Modified created a low level storm of dust. Track lighting is decent but the p.a. system was weak with the track announcers hard to hear and the driver's interviews a garbled mess.  For the second straight night I suffered through a no scoreboard night(can you here me Jeff!) which left laps running and left in events a mystery. There was a wall on the front chute and the back chute wall was recessed back from the track while the ends of the track had broad runoff areas which Tyler Siri would later test when he went flying off the end at high speed during his heat race. From first appearances to when the racing was completed, I'd say the track raced better than it looked like it would at first examination. 

Speaking of announcers, STSS announcer Jeff Ahlum, who I didn't know through my own ignorance last night, and I spoke for a few minutes before the show on Wednesday. We met  by accident and I must say it was a pleasure talking with him as I got more information about the series and Modified racing on the East Coast. Along with announcing races for the STSS, he is also the regular track announcer at Grandview Speedway in Pennsylvania and Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey, two tracks that have always piqued my interest in attending perhaps some day. His talents were not fully utilized on this night because it was so hard to hear him. 

The Modifieds brought twenty nine cars to Ark-La-Tex for the show on this Wednesday. Not surprisingly, there were no new cars on hand as pretty much everyone that would be racing was already on hand and three drivers failed to show from last night's field, including Jimmy McCommas who had unloaded his car but it sat crushed after last night's flip, apparently unfixable for the rest of the week. 

The support classes saw a nice field of twenty Factory Stocks while the other three classes had a tough time mustering double digit fields as the local classes have not been overly impressive so far this week. 

For almost  a week, this Wednesday night show has been in doubt as every weather forecast has called for rain at some point during the evening on this date. I must give great credit to the STSS group as they were plainly locked in on getting this show in the books and they took great pains to make sure that the show beat the rain. Twice they moved up the starting time, once during the morning hours and again after I arrived at the track. 

With the driver's meeting pushed ahead and hot laps ran off quickly, they actually started nearly a full hour earlier than the original posted time, all in an effort to get the show in before the storms hit with the first green flag flying just after 6 pm. For the drivers in the support classes that had to work for a living, it made things tough with quite a number registering with My Race Pass for heats but not making it on to the track until feature time as there was a steady stream of trailers arriving long after the first green flag waved. 

To move things along, the Modifieds were divided into just three heats on this night and the B Feature was waved as promoter Brett Deyo opted to start all cars in the feature to save time and move things along. 

The Modified feature would be another wild one for the second straight night with lots happening on the track and plenty of action as the stars of this series don't seem to mind in the least at putting a wheel or donut on each other to gain a position. Twenty eight cars started the main and with the smaller track and disparity in speeds among some of the cars still evident, it made for some wild action as the leaders threaded their way through traffic. 

Last night's winner Ryan Godown was the early leader after redrawing the outside pole with Rocky Warner and Mike Mahaney chasing him early. The leaders were in lapped traffic quickly and this made things even more wild. Stewart Friesen was on the move after starting fifth and was soon battling Warner for second. 

He got that spot and then moved in to challenge Godown for the lead. Ryan was running the cushion while Friesen experimented with the low side of the track. Several times Stewart got a nose inside Godown, only to have Ryan hold him off.  Matt Sheppard, who started twenty sixth after breaking in his heat while leading, was like a hot knife through butter as he working his way up to just outside the top five. 

One lap past halfway, things came to a head for the leaders in heavy traffic. Godown and Friesen came up on slower traffic the was running three wide down the front chute. Godown dove low to try and find a hole while Friesen, who was working the low line, was already in that lane. They came together as they headed into turn one with them clattering into each other and Friesen, on the inside, was driven into a yuke tire marking the inside of the track. He broke his front end but before leaving the track took a dive bomb at Godown so things are now "juiced up" for the rest of the week. 

Godown would lead on the restart but Erick Rudolph, who restarted fourth after starting the race in the eleven hole, really came to life at this point. His car seemed to really get fast on the top side of the track and he blew past both Sheppard and Warner on the restart and then closed on Godown. 

They exchanged slide jobs twice before Rudolph gained control and in the last few laps he pulled away for the win. That makes two straight nights that the winner has started ninth or deeper in the field, proving that passing can take place and that both tracks so far could support such movement. 

Godown would settle for second at the finish with Warner third. Derick McGrew and Willy Decker would complete the top five while Sheppard had to settle for sixth after having to pit and change a tire after his lofty charge up through the field. The Modifieds had their part of the show done before 8 pm and many of them took advantage of the early out to head down the road toward Monroe for Thursday night's action. 

It's a good thing that the Factory Stocks have good numbers of cars as for the second straight night they participated in a wreck fest that saw less than half the starters still around at the finish of their twenty lapper. 

Daulton Faulkner led from the pole and being a historically strong runner, it seemed like this race might be a runaway. However, Michael Hudson surprised by blowing past Faulkner on the high side and pulling into the lead. Last night's winner Stoney Dubois also drove past Faulkner for second as the surprises continued. 

It also seemed as if losing two spots shocked Faulkner as he suddenly seemed to get up on the wheel harder and he then picked the pace back up, driving past Dubois for second once again and then closing on leader Hudson. 

They were battling for the lead when Hudson got too hot into turn four and spun, taking himself out of  the action as a couple of other cars plowed into him. This put Faulkner back in the lead but the restart was ugly with Dubois spinning across the track with at least six other cars crashing into him and triggering a red flag. Most left the race with big time damage but somehow Dubois escaped with minor damage and the irony was that he got his spot back while many didn't have a car left to race with. 

Faulkner would then drive on unchallenged for the win over Gary Harvin and Dubois as once again in racing as with life, things are not always fair. 

The Crate Late Models, though there were only ten, also had a wild feature race that saw the winner piggy backing another car across the finish line. Dalton Patrick was the early leader of the feature and it looked like he might run away with things. However, John Sliney found the top side of the track and drove past Patrick to take over the lead. 

While these two were racing, behind them the demo derby broke out with a three car wreck on the front chute that had drivers shaking fists at each other while the true instigator, who had earlier dumped the second place car, continued to race on like nothing was wrong. 

Following that restart, Sliney continued to lead when suddenly Jarret Stuckey, who was running fourth, really picked up the pace. He moved into second and then challenged for the lead as the final laps played out. 

The white flag saw slide jobs exchanged twice with Stuckey throwing a tough slider in the last corner to edge in front. Sliney tried to cross him over with his aim not the best and he planted the front of his car on the rear deck of Stuckey's and Jarret dragged him across the finish line in taking the win. Stuckey, son of famous Late Model builder Ronnie, was followed by Sliney and Patrick. 

The Pro Modifieds appeared to be just like the Limited Mods I saw last night except they were running without roofs and some had bigger blades on the back with one even running a quick change rear end so I don't know exactly what their rules were. 

However, Chase Hatton, who won Tuesday night's Limited Mod feature at Boothill and had that car in his trailer but instead opted to run another car so there must be some difference in rules, would dominate. Trent Humphrey would lead the first two laps of this feature but then Hatton would drive by him and then pull away to score an easy win. 

I believe it to be Hatton's tenth win in this class at Ark-La-Tex this year and he was trailed by Humphrey and  Doug Vick Jr. 

The FWD (Forward) class would complete the evening and for the second straight night only a handful of them were on hand. Luke Dupont would lead the first five laps of this feature before Jack Dupont, half of the FWD drama last night at Boothill, would take over the lead. 

His advantage would last for just one lap before Luke would regain the lead and he would then drive on for the win with Jack doing his best to make a repass but not taking out a family member like last night's race. Josh Worn would finish third while the other half of last night's dust up, Makayla Storm, couldn't keep up to return the favor on this night. 

All night, track officials along with the STSS crew, did a great job of pushing through the program with the final checkered flag waving at 8:30 pm and the fans on hand grateful for their efforts so they could see a full show. 

With the storms apparently slowing down, they didn't arrive until the over night hours so it was another lesson that one shouldn't always rely on the forecasts but instead, if it isn't raining, go to the track and support the show. 

However, a surprise came later when I was waken from a sound sleep at about 1:30 a.m. when the tornado warnings went off in Shreveport with my tablet and the tv about scaring me out of about ten years growth. While the Doppler showed rotation near by, fortunately all we saw was a brief gust of wind and then some hard rain but there is not more helpless feeling than being on the top floor of a hotel in your undies and no where to hide!

Wednesday was my anniversary so thanks to my wife Linda for allowing me to travel this week to some place where it was warm while the first snow flakes were falling at home. 




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