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.
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