Wrapping Up 2022 and Looking Ahead to the New Year

 

The 2022 racing season ended with a whimper when I was snowed in and couldn't get to what was planned to be my last race of the season. That being said, the 2022 racing season is now a wrap and before we move on to a new season, it is time to take a quick look back at 2022.

In retrospect, 2022 proved to be a good racing season overall. It seemed like many of the special events did very well both in crowd attendance and in participants. The “regular” season races struggled however, at a lot of tracks with only so-so attendance and car counts that were at some points pretty lame. It seemed that particularly after the 4^th of July holiday both cars and spectators started to fade from the weekly shows, probably for the logical reason that both segments felt a money crunch and were forced to make some tough decisions about when they raced or where and how often they spectated at.

This has always probably been the case but seems to be more pronounced in recent years, possibly due to the increase in “special” events that charge a higher rate to get in with many tracks feeling this is the route to take to remain solvent. The only problem is that these events only made it tougher for the weekly shows to survive as spectators had to budget their money and likely skipped some weekly shows if they wanted to attend the higher priced special events while racers chose to limit their participation in many cases to racing perhaps only one night a week along with the specials. This has been and will continue to be a difficult juggling act for promoters to deal with and racers to cope with. Everyone likes special events but the weekly shows are what the sport thrives on and without the local shows, no new drivers are developed while most fans will say that their first exposure to racing and the thing that got them to come back, was first seeing racing at the local track, not at some high powered gala special event.

For myself, it was another great season and an enjoyable one from start to finish. I was able to go to some racing in every month of the year and my trips took me from the deserts of the Southwest all the way to Florida and North Carolina on the East Coast. I saw just about every class out there race one time or another but my main diet was the dirt tracks of America with Late Models and Modifieds being my favorite classes. I got to see most of the sanctioning bodies in action and a great cross section of drivers from nearly coast to coast and as wide a variety of tracks as one can imagine. I got to see racing at some of the greatest “palaces” for dirt track racing around to the smallest and most rustic of facilities and most everything in between. From red clay to pea gravel, just about any kind of racing surface was seen and on a brief and rare occasion, even a surface of tar or asphalt(but not many!).

In 2021, I thought that I had reached the top end of what a season could look like when I attended two hundred and four nights of racing. Let's face it. I am very lucky in that I no longer have to go to work unless I feel like it and I have a very forgiving wife who allows me to humor my interest of spending a lot of time at the track. And she likes to go along to many of the biggest trips as she knows just about as many people at the track as I do as this disease called racing runs through her veins also. Being able to go to events in New Mexico, Arizona, Florida and other states before the snow melts in the Midwest surely lengthens the season and give us the chance to see many new and different tracks too.

An early start to the season plus a prolonged dry spell this Summer in the Midwest made it easier to catch a lot of races without fighting the weather as much as some years. At one point in June and July, made a stretch of attending races for nineteen straight nights and saw twenty eight races in the month of June.

In 2022 I topped my old record by a single night of racing, having attended two hundred and five nights of racing during a season that started on January 5^th and ended on December 3^rd. When I added up my season records recently I was surprised at the total as to me it didn't feel like I was that busy during the Summer. I do have a nice advantage as while some would say that I live in the “sticks in northern Wisconsin”, I actually have over a dozen race tracks within a couple hours drive or so and tracks that race on every night of the week except Monday. I'll bet there are plenty of folks that live in much more urban areas than that not able to make that claim. So, during the busiest months of the Summer, I really could stay pretty local and still see plenty of racing. But that's not necessary the way I do things as people like Jerry VanSickel tell me I should just move to Iowa because he runs into me so often in the Hawkeye state.

In fact, I attended races in sixteen different states plus one Canadian Province and saw racing at sixty eight different tracks during the year. I did also get to five new tracks this year, two in Missouri and one a piece in Iowa, Texas and the Province of Ontario Canada. July was my busiest month with twenty nine races and December was the slowest with only three.

2022 marked the forty second consecutive year that I have attended over one hundred nights of racing and overall, I have been to three hundred and thirty one different tracks in twenty nine states and three Canadian Provinces. I started with great racing at Vado Raceway Park in New Mexico and ended up with the spectacular show at the Dome at America's Center and in between had much fun and enjoyment at a host of different tracks. I saw the last race ever(sadly) at I-80 Speedway and dodged a tornado near Southern Oklahoma Speedway in Ardmore and did so much more during the course of the year.

I've been around the block enough times that no matter where I go, I generally run into someone that I know and can chat with. And there are so many interesting folks out there at the tracks, from the lady at the back gate at East Bay Raceway Park that only sees me once a year but can remember my name like she spoke to me every day of the week to the rabid race fans North of the border in Canada to all the nice promoters, announcers, p.r. people and track workers at all the tracks from West to East and everywhere in between plus all the spectators that remain loyal to the sport. And without all of them, we would have nothing.

Turn the page now to 2023. I will be ready to hit the road once again, not tiring of it as of yet. Things will be just a bit different in the coming year as Linda will now be retired too. Perhaps she will hit the road with me, along with every trip. Perhaps she will just pick and choose her visits or perhaps we will both be home knitting socks, who knows?

We will, however, be taking advantage of the fact that we can seek warmer weather instead of riding out this constant pattern of snow and then cold here in the Midwest. We plan to start out at Cocopah Speedway near Yuma AZ, then migrate to New Mexico for the Wild West Shootout before swinging back to central Arizona for Don Shaw's shows and then heading for the sun and surf in Florida. We hope to see a lot of Midwestern drivers racing, perhaps particularly in New Mexico and Arizona and hope to see a lot of Midwestern fans also following the racing action.

Our plan is to cover as much of this racing as possible and report the stories and cover the drivers that make the news early in this new season. Thanks for reading this and best wishes for a prosperous 2023.

Erb and Thornton Jr Top Gateway Nationals Finales

 The Gateway Dirt Nationals completed its three night stand at the Dome at America's Center on Saturday night, December 3rd and in front of a huge crowd of vocal race fans, Tyler Erb and Ricky Thornton Jr would top the feature races for the Late Models and Modifieds respectively. Saturday night would be the finale of what would seem to have been the most successful Gateway Nationals yet, certainly in terms of attendance as the first a and second rims all the way around the building looked to be packed on what was a nice weekend for visiting the city and traveling to St. Louis. 

On the final night, all drivers would get the chance to participate if their equipment was still able to run and while there were a few that were too junked out or blown up to race on Saturday, most of the entered drivers would give it that one last shot to make the big show. Chances would be slim except for those starting right toward the front of the final qualifiers but most everyone would give it a go. 

These Qualifiers are among the most tedious races of the entire weekend, For an example, it took nearly three hours to complete the six Late Model qualifiers with none having less than three yellows with most many more and included flips by Jaden Frame and Kylan Garner along with delays to put the wheel fence back together after it was partially torn down. With nearly twenty cars in each one and only two moving on to the feature race, you can imagine what the intensity level was for each race and the resulting mayhem. 

The Modifieds did slightly better with not quite as many yellows and with only four Last Chance races, they flew by in comparison to the Late Model events. Running behind schedule for the first time all weekend, the redraws were accomplished during the down time provided by the fence repairs. New this year was the Last Last Chance race where the top two in each of the Last Chance events got one more shot with only the winner moving on. Throw in one provisional in each class and the twenty car starting fields for each feature would be set. 

Plenty of pageantry, spectacular indoor fireworks and the driver introductions would add to the fun and get the crowd whipped into a frenzy before the Late Model feature would take to the track. For the first ten laps, it looked like and upset of gigantic proportions might take place as Friday night's surprise winner, Cody Bauer  would get the jump and lead the early laps with Tanner English, Wil Herrington and Erb challenging. Ryan Unzicker, a pick of many, was the first car out of the race with mechanical issues followed closely by Garrett Alberson. 

Neither Bobby Pierce nor Brandon Sheppard were showing much and both would eventually fall out of the race. Herrington was running very strong as he got by English for second and Erb seemed to pick up the pack as he moved into third. When Bauer slipped high in treacherous corner two, Herrington was right there to take over the lead with English and Erb continuing to fight for position. 

It looked like Herrington might fight off the challenges and hold on for the win but a yellow with less than ten laps to go would prove his undoing. On the wild restart, the leaders tried to go three wide down the front chute with Erb somehow finding room to squeeze between Herrington and English to take over the lead. Just about at the same time, Herrington broke and was done and would trigger one last yellow flag. 

Erb would drive away on the restart while English had to fight off  Ricky Thornton Jr to hold on to second in a race that would see only eight cars on the track at the conclusion. This was the perfect kind of track for Erb to shine at as the "cowboy" driving style fitting this bumpy and challenging surface was right up his alley. When he revealed in victory lane that his father had passed away on Wednesday of this week unexpectedly, it brought even more emotion to what is always a very dramatic victory lane ceremony. This revelation even choked up the announcers. Defending champion Tyler Carpenter was behind the eight ball all night, having to run a Last Chance race after his set-to with Hudson O'Neal on Thursday night but he did manage to claw his way up to fourth at the finish which will no doubt give him even more incentive to return next year with both guns blazing. Mike Spatola would complete the top five in a race that while there was a bunch of bouncing around and break downs, there would be only four yellows which might have been an event record. Erb earned thirty grand for his win. 

The Modified drivers would complete the evening with their thirty lap main event and for the first twelve laps it looked like teen ager Michael Ledford might pull off the upset. He got the jump on the field and bounced his way into the lead as the track was brutally rough by this point. He put distance on the  field as Jordan Grabouski would move into second after one of the favorites, Drake Troutman, would blow up early. Also, Tyler Peterson, who had moved into third quickly and seemed one of the few that might challenge for the win, had bad luck when it got a flat tire and was done. 

Ledford would continue to lead with Thornton Jr challenging "Grabo" on lap after lap for second. Finally Thornton Jr would get past for second and then begin to track down Ledford. We will never know for sure whether or not Ricky could have caught and passed Ledford for the lead for on lap thirteen Ledford would break in turn one and his night would be over. 

That gave Ricky the lead and he would then drive away from the field. The last sixteen laps of this race would go green and not much would change among the leaders. All were hugging the inside line and holding on for dear life with Thornton Jr pulling away from the pack. The biggest race was for second with Mike McKinney tracking down and then passing Grabouski for second late in the race. Kyle Steffens and Chase Holland would round out the top five. 

Thornton Jr was racing a Royal chassis, apparently the only one in existence right now but I would assume their phone is now ringing off the wall from calls from potential customers. Thornton Jr would earn ten grand for his win. 

As far as the racing went on Saturday night, it was typical Dome racing with lots of break downs and everyone holding on for dear life as the track conditions went down hill as the week continued. Apparently it is not possible to get this track so that it is not a dust bowl while still also not racing like a mine field. I'm wondering if a tutorial from the staff in Tulsa would help but then again, the types of cars are different, the dirt is likely different and there are probably many other factors that make the two like comparing apples and oranges. And as far as the racers go, they come into this event expecting it to be rough so when it is, they are not surprised. I'm just surprised that there are so many each year just waiting in line for their chance to race here, knowing that the odds are high they might return home with their race car in a basket. But there is only one Dome race and it is spectacularly different than any race all year and lots of people want to be a part of it at least once. For many it is a "bucket list" event to scratch off their list. 

I was really surprised by the number of teams that applied special "Dome" graphics to their race cars. Some were very attractive and inventive and they deserved some kind of special recognition for their efforts and additional expense. There should be at minimum, some sort of contest for them, especially knowing that many would not go home looking like they did when they arrived!

One thing that does need to be addressed before next year is the unsafe racing conditions in turn two. The fact that this turn narrows down to the back chute with the blunt end exposed cement for the driveway is quite frankly a safety hazard that needs to be addressed now. Most of the accidents happened all week right at that location and time after time, everyone held their breath that the driver would clamber out of his car OK after nasty wreck after nasty wreck took place in the same location. Eventually the luck will run out and someone is going to get hurt if something is not changed there. Let's not wait until something bad happens before changes are made. 

The enormity of this race is almost hand to comprehend. The size of the crowds, the number of race rigs under one roof and the huge number of workers that are needed to keep this thing going and in some kind of order is almost mind blowing. The real heroes are all the workers that put in endless hours over the course of this week, only to have to tear everything down and clean everything up, almost starting as the checkered flag flies after Saturday night's feature races. I sometimes get frustrated with some of the things that happen like the delays, down time dusty or rough conditions etc, but truly it is a race that everyone needs to experience at least once. And once you see it, you will likely want to come back again. To gain an idea of the enormity of this race, the 50/50 split the pot saw one winner take home $45,328.50!

Thanks to everyone that had a part in the production of this event. It truly is one of a kind and in today's world, that is hard to say but certainly is true in this case. 

Bauer and Thornton Jr Top A Wild Night at the America's Center Dome

 Friday night, December 2nd saw the second half of the entered field race in their preliminary event at the Gateway Nationals at America's Center in downtown St. Louis Missouri. While the Thursday night show was relatively timid by Dome standards, Friday night's action more than made up for the calm waters that had prevailed on the previous night. In a night filled with controversy, wild action and two roll overs that were uncharacteristically celebrated as some sort of victory performance, relative unknown Cody Bauer from Michigan would surprise the Late Model field while  jack of all trades Ricky Thornton Jr would dominate the Modified field. 

After a relatively staid night of racing on Thursday, largely due to a track that while smooth had no speed or second lane in it and produced some pedestrian racing, the track crew got to work early on Friday morning and "juiced" up the racing surface for Friday night. And while it did get a bit bumpy before the night was over(the fear that likely caused them to run the surface so hard on Thursday night), it also produced much more speed and offered some extra racing room which made all the difference in allowing the drivers to actually do some racing. As soon as the first heat race hit the track, the difference was obvious in what the drivers could do and they responded by producing a night that many will find memorable in several regards. 

And while the wins by Bauer and Thornton Jr were big news, those stories would likely be secondary to the other drama that took place during the course of the evening including the "dust up" between Tyler Carpenter and Hudson O'Neal and the celebratory flips by Charlie Mefford and Peyton Taylor that were celebrated almost as hard as feature wins which seemed strange to me but were highly appreciated by the "foaming at the mouth" crowd that more than once reminded of the Coliseum crowds in Rome of old that were screaming for blood which some of the "Gladiators" provided to them. 

Fifty four Late Models signed in for night two with quite a number of pre registered drivers not actually showing up for the event, which left the Thursday night and Friday night fields slightly unbalanced. However, the format would remain the same with qualifying, six heats and a pair of B Features to set the running order for the twenty five lap main event and again, the top three finishers in this race would avoid the final set of qualifying heats on Saturday night. 

The track would me much faster on Friday night with Tyler Erb being the quickest overall with a time nearly a full second quicker than Bobby Pierce had turned on Thursday night. Carpenter would be quickest among the second flight of qualifiers. The highlight, if you want to call it that, of the heats was the skirmish between Carpenter and O'Neal in heat four(more on that later), but the six heats were all won off the front row extra four the fourth heat that ended up with only three cars running after the collisions and paybacks were done. 

Carpenter would make a come back and qualify through one of the two B Features that were rough and rugged from start to finish and eighteen drivers would then take the green for the feature race. Actually, make that nineteen when Kenny Collins was added following a scoring error in one of the B Features. 

The feature race saw a great battle between the unheralded Bauer, Garrett Alberson and Tyler Erb for the win. Bauer fought off numerous challenges from the pair throughout the race including a late one resulting from a yellow with only four laps to go. Alberson went for broke on the restart and nearly stole the lead away but he got squeezed up into the back stretch wall, an area on the track where it seems that all the action takes place, and his resulting trip into the concrete broke his car and he finished deep in the field. It seems like some squeeze jobs are allowed and others not so much but the result was that Bauer would hold on for the win and a trip to victory lane for the "little guys" in the field this weekend. Wil Herrington would make a late charge to take second  with Erb also finding himself locked in for the Saturday night dance. 

Many were watching Carpenter who would start eighteenth on the grid and he had a successful run, getting all the way up to fifth at the finish and giving himself a good starting spot for the heats on Saturday as half the crowd cheered his advance through the field while the other half shot him the "bird" every time he went by. I'm telling you, this crowd was explosive tonight, fueled in part by way too much alcohol to drink with some behaviors bordering on the tasteless. It's getting to be a shame, but I certainly wouldn't be bringing and children to this race anymore if I had to make that choice. 

The Modified field was dominated by Thornton Jr . He was quick qualifier and after starting third on the grid, it took him only a few laps to get past Jordan Grabouski and then motor away to a resounding win. His main competition, it appeared, would be Minnesota's Shane Sabraski but "Sugar Shane" got squeezed into the infamous back stretch wall right at the start and a flat tire would end his evening. 

With only two yellows to slow the action and the last ten laps ran off nonstop, Thornton Jr opened up nearly a full straightaway over the rest of the field. One of the yellows was actually a red when a big pileup on the back chute saw Taylor flip and appear to wreck his car along with that of Tom Berry Jr. However, Taylor was grinning like he won the feature when he emerged from the wreck as I guess the "game plan" for this weekend is either to win or look spectacular for the cameras as this race seems to have degenerated into one part dirt track racing, one part a circus and one part WWE. 

However, Taylor's performance was pretty staid compared to that of  Charlie Mefford as the young Modified driver went for a ride in the B Feature. After the wreck, he was dancing around like he had either won the main event or he had fire ants in his fire suit as I guess it's most important to look spectacular or act goofy, as long as the cameras or focused on you. 

Thornton Jr would score an easy win over Mike McKinney who would start dead last in the field and make a steady drive to the front with "Grabo" also making the top three. 

Of course, what everyone will be talking about when this race is history is the scrum between Carpenter and O'Neal in their heat that saw O'Neal squeezed into the back stretch wall as they battled for the lead in heat number four. After wrecking, O'Neal responding by crashing into Carpenter's car and giving him a flat tire so he had to run the B Feature. Carpenter was lucky enough to not suffer extreme damage and he still recovered to make it a fairly successful night, not the kind that saw O'Neal disqualified for the remainder of the night and car damage that will end his weekend. 

Of course, everyone has their own opinion over who's fault it was or if indeed, it was just the result of "Dome" racing with the personalities involved just adding gasoline to the fire, so to speak. Carpenter has his loyal following but his "mouth running" and "poor old me" attitude plus "potty mouth" turn some off and O'Neal, while having driven in a relatively gentleman like way so far in his career, has the blood lines of his father Don, one who never be accused on turning the other cheek for sure. So there's plenty of blame, if you will, to be passed around in the whole incident. What bothers me more than anything is that we are getting on to the very edge of control here. I came to watch an auto race, not the WWE and I think we are bordering on letting things get out of hand here and as the old adage goes. "It's all fun and games until someone gets their eye poked out" and with these alcohol enflamed fans, things are getting just a bit scary for my tastes while Cody Summers and the others involved just sit back, fan the flames and put more money in their wallets. 

Hopefully I am just over reacting a bit here and things will run off smoothly on Saturday night but I wouldn't be surprised if something new happens to fan the flames further. Meanwhile, the folks at FLO are hoping that you watched on TV last night, will call all your buddies to tell them that they better buy the program and watch 'cause it going to get really crazy on Saturday night.  

Pierce and Troutman Top Opener at Gateway Dirt Nationals

 As the calendar flips over to the month of December, one of the most touted events of the year kicks off its three night run as the Gateway Dirt Nationals at the Dome at America's Center in St. Louis takes off on Thursday night, December 1st. 

One of the most unique events of the racing season, the fifth mile dirt oval has once again been placed down on the concrete floor of the America's Center and this year it would be Late Models and Modifieds that would be in racing action. For the Late Models, it is "first come, first served" for entering the event with a cutoff number of cars allowed to enter and when that figure is reached, that is all that can participate. For the Modified drivers, they are invited by the track management to race and the number of entrants is limited to around sixty between the first two qualifying nights. The promoters focus on champions from various disciplines of Modified racing, winners of big events, local drivers with "name" appeal and others and it generally is pretty tough to get an invitation unless you've done something notable, carry a "big name" or are perhaps a local favorite of St. Louis area fans. 

The program on Thursday would consist of qualifying for both classes, heats, B Features and two main events. The top three finishers in each main would automatically qualify for Saturday night's big finale where the big money is passed out  but there is still plenty of money to be passed out on the opening two qualifying nights. 

A wide variety of drivers and their back rounds enter this event and you get virtually every brand of Late Model driver running this race. Everything from the biggest names in the sport of Late Model racing to drivers making their first ever runs in the Late Model class are here and that makes for some interesting issues from time to time. The depth of the Late Model field varies quite a bit from year to year and this year it seemed like more than ever, there were quite a few drivers that virtually no one had heard of before or had seen race. Even some of the industry insiders were rolling their eyes at some of the machines on hand but eventually things would work out OK and the cluster of yellow flags that some had feared didn't turn out to be the case. 

The Modified field, on the other hand, is always a strong one with virtually everyone on hand having earned their mettle either this year or over the course of their careers and the Modified racing is usually quite good with the narrow tires of the Modifieds often making it easier for them to use the whole track better than the Late Models. 

Perhaps more so than any other race on the calendar for the whole year, the track itself is always a major source of conversation. Granted, building a dirt track indoors in a little over a week and then trying to make it racy, smooth and dust free can't be much of a problem, right? It seems that they have gotten the system down pat after trial and error over the years and actually putting down the track is not nearly as much of a concern as it used to be. Producing a racy track is much more of a crap shoot and certainly depends much on how wet the dirt brought in is plus a multitude of other factors. There's probably just a little bit of luck involved too. 

Top priority to begin is getting the track smooth because there are plenty of videos out there that have documented the "bucking bronco" type of track that has been the final result in several years. This year they got the track smooth right from the start, developing a solid base that turned black and slick early and one that they only put just a tad bit of water on and then only right on the very top of the track and right on the jersey barricades on the inside. Qualifying was like racing on beach sand and the dust was horrendous. It was probably the worst dust situation since the race has started and while I don't think it affected the drivers, every fans was literally plastered with dust and dirt when they walked out the door at the end of the night. Quite frankly, it was miserable and it was mind boggling to think just how in the world they are gong to clean this building back up when the races are done on Saturday night. 

Honestly, the racing is much better and much more exciting when the track has some "character" and when it is like that, at least there is something for the drivers to get ahold of . As it would turn out on this night, everyone would pretty much hug the inside concrete and there would be no impressive outside charges to be seen. A couple of drivers tried briefly and some like Shannon Babb would make some minor progress, but eventually all, including Brandon Sheppard, would have to migrate back to the bottom to protect their position and take what they could. 

Sixty five Late Models would sign in to race on Thursday night, with a few on the entry list not showing up and several drivers switching rides for this event. Qualifying would set the running order for the heat races and as always, this would be probably the most important part of the night as starting up front in the heats was necessary for any success on the night. The field was split into two groups with Bobby Pierce and Tanner English being the quick qualifiers. Only a couple of hot laps were allowed before qualifying so it was important to be on "your game" quickly. 

Six heats would move up a pair of drivers from each heat with the winners redrawing. If you didn't finish in the top seven in your heat, you were done for the night with only third through seventh allowed to run one of two B Features with three moving up out of each. Only eighteen cars would start the feature race on this small track. 

The biggest excitement of the heat races would be when Kyle Hammer would fight the trend by going to the top side of the track, and with a "Hail Mary" last lap effort, edge Ryan Wilson by inches to make the show to which the crowd, starving for action, would give him a standing ovation, likely the first one he ever got. 

Bobby Pierce, who has had great success at this event over the years, would again add to his totals on this night as after topping qualifying, he would win his heat, redraw the pole and then lead all twenty five laps to score an easy victory as he was not challenged at all. The feature race had only one yellow flag so he didn't have to worry about restart challenges and the only cars that he had to pass all night were the two lapped cars he had to pass late in the feature. 

There was one moment when it looked like Ryan Unzicker might catch him but Pierce made a couple of good moves and when he got past the lapped car of Tanner Collins with six laps to go, that gave him the necessary margin to pull away again. Unzicker and English had a nice side by side battle for second fro several laps until English finally had to give up and settle for third. Ricky Thornton Jr and Shannon Babb would complete the top five. 

The Modifieds were required to be on their game even more than the Late Models as they got absolutely no practice on the track. The first time they hit the track, it was for qualifying and they didn't even get one lap to warm up their cars, it was simply green and go!

There were twenty nine Modifieds on hand with Michael Altobelli setting quick time. The Mods were only about three tenths slower than the Late Models on this track and the preliminary action saw them able to move around more than the Late Models with their narrower tires. However, after some early scrambling in their feature race, they were forced to go into "catfish" mode and hug the bottom of the track too. 

Four heats and a B Feature would set the eighteen car starting field for the Modified feature, which would be for twenty laps. Mike Harrison would start on the pole with Drake Troutman on his outside. Earlier, Harrison would draw perhaps the biggest reaction from the crowd when he "dumped" Joseph Thomas while Thomas was leading a heat race and then expressed absolutely no remorse or concern when he was interviewed after he won. 

While hard to hear over the loud booing of the crowd, Harrison's sneering attitude certainly did him no favors and each position that he dropped in the main was loudly cheered by the fans. 

The Mod feature got off to a rocky start when Ben Harmon got hung up in the fence and flipped on his top on the opening lap. He was OK and this turned out to be the only yellow/red of the event. The fence was torn up a bit but as an example of what the track crew has learned over the years, they had the equipment and material to fix the fence in just a few moments, something that probably wouldn't have been possible in the old days. 

The Mods got wild right at the start with Harrison, Troutman and Michael Ledford going three wide for the lead with eventually Harrison falling back and Troutman would then get the better of Ledford to take the top spot. 

He would then drive on untouched for the win. Defending champion of this event, Tyler Peterson again would  prove to be a force as he would start fifth and with a steady drive, get up to the second spot at the conclusion of the race. Ledford would settle for third and lock himself into the main on Saturday. Only four cars didn't finish the race and there were no lapped cars. 

Challenging Harrison for the biggest anti-ovation was Pierce in victory lane and that, I guess, is a given for him as he carries about an many detractors as he does fans. 

This event is a corporate treasure as the promotions and sponsorship wing of the Gateway Dirt Nationals has not missed a way to sell some sponsorships and put up billboards. Even the pit area has a sponsor for this event! The Illinois Rifle Association pit area as it has been called for this event, may have scored themselves a first as I do not recall a pit area ever having been sponsored before. 

The media star of the evening turned out to be none other than Iowa's "Crazy Martin" who got more screen time than anyone but the two feature winners. Quite the character, Martin would stick out in a crowd of thousands and the camera quickly spotted him as announcers Blake Anderson, Jarrett and Van Sickle cackled over some "Crazy Martin" stories. 

A couple of the voices of this event, Dustin Jarrett and Jerry Van Sickle, shared with me before the race that the time schedule for this night had the final checkered flag waving before 9 pm. Of course we rolled our eyes and had a good chuckle over that, but son of a gun, they hit that mark and more in by far the most smoothly run Gateway Dirt National night to date. The first race was on the track by 6 pm and with not much time taken for track prep, the show moved along very smoothly. There was a record low for yellow flags as a half dozen races went green to checkered and only one race all night had more than two yellow flags. Certainly the very smooth track had something to do with that and perhaps we traded action for quickness on this night but it was nice indeed to complete the races at an early hour.  Hopefully, now with one night completed and the track prep crew having established a solid foundation for the track that should keep it smooth the rest of the weekend, they can perhaps focus on getting more moisture up on the top side of the track so that lane can be opened up more and we can see more side by side racing the rest of the weekend and a little less "catfishing."