Now that the first annual VP Racing Fuels Gateway Dirt Nationals conducted at The Dome At America's Center is over and done with, it is time to reflect back on the event and point out both the good and the bad of the three nights of racing.
First of all, I would say that the good far accedes the bad for the event. What we had here was a spectacular and colossal event, something of the likes that we have not seen in over forty years and of the magnitude that we likely won't see anyone else attempt to replicate this race at any other location. It was truly a huge undertaking and while there were certainly some "hiccups" along the way, in its totality it was a huge success and probably more so them even its originators would have dared hope for.
The Edward Jones Dome is a perfect venue for such a colossal event. I have been to the Chili Bowl a number of times over the years, and that event is the standard that most people were comparing this race too. I can say that the Edward Jones Dome is vastly superior than "The Driller" in Tulsa. It is bigger, can seat many more people and the seating is much more comfortable than Tulsa could ever be. The air quality had a few issues on Thursday but was much better the rest of the weekend. The hallways, the concessions, the restrooms, everything is much nicer at he EJD than in Tulsa. So from a physical standpoint, EJD is the best place ever for an indoor show.
However, we were there to enjoy much more than just the building. We all wanted to see some good racing which would include side by side action and passing. Again, the Chili Bowl is the standard that all others try to replicate. The track at the Dome was wide enough to race on and did have more than one groove. After the two feature races of Friday night that wowed everyone, there was no doubt that the Kevin Gundaker prepared track was the equal of anything Tulsa could present. And with the bigger Late Models and Modifieds as compared with the Midgets in Tulsa, this accomplishment was ever more impressive. I always said that the races at Tulsa were some of the finest of the entire year and if you didn't look up, you wouldn't even know that it was the middle of Winter and you were indoors. After Friday night's show at the Edward Jones Dome, I could say the same thing without the smallest of question. And that is the ultimate compliment that I could pay to them. The track wasn't as good on Saturday as it was the previous night, but then again, the Chili Bowl track is not always as racy from night to night either.
The car counts were great. Granted, neither the Modifieds nor the Late Models hit their cutoff numbers, but to me those were super high numbers that really weren't realistic. The numbers they had were plenty of the quality of drivers and their equipment in both classes was outstanding. Not many races all year could match the numbers of cars that were on hand.
And the logistics of the show went off so smoothly. Granted, there were some "cluster" moments on Thursday night and I have to admit that I left the building on Thursday wondering if I had made a huge mistake driving all the way to St. Louis to be put through an evening of extreme frustration. There weren't many bright moments on Thursday or Thursday night or the time that washed over into early Friday morning, other than the fact that there were a lot of race cars on hand.
However, they "righted the ship" so well on Friday and for the next two nights started the show within minutes of the scheduled starting time and then gave us a spectacular racing event that more than made up for the frustration of Thursday's debacle. And truly, with an event of such huge proportions and something never undertaken before, could we realistically expect that there wouldn't be a few "clunkers" along the way.
It would be impossible to even make a decent estimate of the crowd on hand, but suffice to say that the spectator turnout was spectacular. I ran into lots of folks from my area and I'm nine hours from St. Louis. I'm guessing most other people had the same kind of experience as the crowds seemed huge. Whether or not this translates into the promoters making any money or not I do not know as the expenses for putting on this show must have been mind boggling.
Dustin Jarrett, Ben Shelton, Blake Anderson and Trenton Berry are all excellent announcers. However, I wish that they would put their primary focus on announcing for the crowd assembled in the building, rather than making their focus the PPV crowd at home on their couches. The people sitting in the stands, the ticket buyers, should be the number one priority and their announcing should be for them, not the crowd at home watching on the TV or computer. If racing deteriorates to a TV sport only, it will be dead.
With two hundred and twenty eight race cars on hand, what are the odds that the same two drivers would earn the pole position both Friday based on a combination of skill and luck? It would seem small but that's what happened with Bobby Bittle and Scott Bloomquist starting on the nose both nights.
It took them three nights, but by part way through the show on Saturday, they finally had a lap counter going so that the fans knew how many laps were left in the race proceeding.
The "spin on your own and get your spot back" rule had many people puzzled and certainly did benefit a few select drivers over the course of the three nights. A UMP rule that the local fans were familiar with had all those from out of town used to seeing a spinning driver sent to the back scratching their heads in befuddlement.
With the success of Friday night's spectacular feature races, some of the key people in the running of the program seemed to take on an almost hostile "I told you so" attitude about the success of the event. They seemed offended that so many people had a negative and warning attitude about the race long before it was held. However, the promotion group right through the completion of the event continued to remind everyone at the race and at home to flood social media with their comments. Seeing that social media is overwhelmingly negative, they can't have it both ways and should not have been surprised that not everyone had "sunshine and seashells" comments to make.
There was a large amount of damaged race cars over the course of the three nights. Contact was constant and everyone in their haste to get to the front ran over someone else at least once. A few cars seemed like they spent much more time pointed the wrong direction on the fifth mile oval than going straight and car count was noticeably down in the Modifieds on Saturday due to damaged equipment. Some of those drivers will likely not return next year but I think there's also a whole other group of racers that held back this first year that are getting ready to send in entry forms for next year already!
The Thursday night format was awful. There's no nice way of saying it. Any program that starts shortly after 3 p.m and doesn't get done until 2:30 am the next day needs a whole lot of work. Of course, you could already guess that I, not being a fan of time trials, would have liked to see the time trials junked in exchange for passing points or even a draw/redraw format. Or if they must have time trials, only have one set of them. The second go round of the over two hundred cars didn't have anyone improve on their times due to the deteriorating racing surface yet it cost us at least an extra three hours to sit through that mess. Those people that sat through the whole Thursday show were the true heroes of the weekend. Or perhaps they were so traumatized by eight hours of time trials they couldn't move!
There were hints of what would happen next year but no real solid statements made at the conclusion of Saturday night's show. It did sound favorable that there would be a race in 2017. There were rumors that there might be more than one weekend of racing and that the Late Models and Modifieds would be split up for next year. While I liked having both classes there, there probably is some logic into having just one class per weekend, especially if the car counts get any larger.
One source of revenue that they missed the boat on was that there was no official program of any kind available. Even a simple drivers list of pre entered cars could have been sold for a buck and would not only have added a few bucks income, it would have been a nice service for the spectators to better help them keep track of the big field of drivers. However, the concession people made a fortune, and I was told that they sold more beer than they used to for a Rams game. That should not be surprising.
In summation, it was a great weekend of racing. It was a spectacular event and truly it was hard to believe, if you didn't know, that this was the first attempt at this race. One would assume that it would get better and better and that management would have learned a few things they could change to make it even better for 2017. It was a race that caught people's imagination and as they proved, a race that has been waiting for someone to grab the bull by the horns and get it done. Congratulations to Cody Sommer and his staff of believers for pulling off what surely must have been, even though it came on the last racing weekend of the year, the race of the year for 2016. I'm sorry I already sent in my RPM vote or I would have designated this race for that honor. I think as the buzz for this race gets out to all those fans waiting to see what would happen, they may have to open up another level at the EJD for next year!
Monday, December 19, 2016
Saturday, December 10, 2016
I'm Going Stir Crazy, When Does Racing Season Start Again????
It's been a month now since I've been to a race but it feels like more than a year. There was a time when racing past the middle of October was considered outrageous but now with the new norm, even this time of year any kind of break feels too long. Even keeping busy with working most days, refereeing basketball games and taking a couple of weeks off to get my knee operated on and cleaned up, the hours still seem to weigh long, especially when one gets up in the dark and goes home in darkness also.
However, there are a couple of events upcoming that will hopefully knock the staleness off of me. The first comes up next weekend with the first ever running of the VP Racing Fuels Gateway Dirt Nationals indoors at the Dome at America's Center in St. Louis. With both Late Models and Modifieds racing for three straight nights, this could one of the most colossal motorsports events staged in a very long time, or it could be one of the biggest fiascos ever attempted by man. Many of the people that I have talked to agree with me, and that is perhaps one of the reasons that they are going. They want to be there if it turns out to be as spectacular as it has the potential to be and they also want to be there if things implode and there are horror stories to be told and then retold.
The folks running this event have bitten off a huge chunk and if they are somehow able to pull off this event to anywhere near the spectacular status it could be, well then, good for them. There must be a huge investment of cash involved in such a monstrous undertaking and for the good of the sport, I hope it turns out to be a spectacular success. There will be many people on hand in person to see how this turns out and hopefully many more watching on pay per view at home or at their local watering station.
For quite some time, I wasn't sure if this event was going to fly, and I really dragged my feet on making any commitments as far as attending this race was concerned, but about five weeks ago I finally decided that I would give the promoters the benefit of the doubt and take a weekend drive to St. Louis. When I finally decided to "pull the pin" and attend, I received media credentials incredibly fast so I thank Jacob Nord for the quick response in advance. I still which for the first attempt at this race that they would have went for lower numbers of cars as any race, no matter how entrenched, would struggle with handling the potential of up to hundreds of race cars, particularly with all the extra logistics required for an indoor event. But again, I will withhold judgement and see how things play out next weekend. For sure, no matter how it all plays out, it should be a memorable weekend.
Not so long after that, we get ready to head to Arizona for the Wild West Shootout, one of the very best events that we attend every year and one that we look forward to almost from the minute that we get on the plane to head back North at its conclusion each year. Race fans, if there's one event that you want to put on your bucket list to attend, it is this series of races in Arizona where we have enjoyed some of the greatest racing and best times, of any events we have ever attended over this long and crazy race chasing journey of ours.
This year things will be somewhat different for this race meet as the location of the races has changed from Tucson to the Arizona Speedway near Mesa. We loved the USA Raceway(or whatever the name was from year to year for the track), very near Tucson and it was such a good track and so handy to the everything else that was needed including motels, the airport etc. However, the instability with the ownership of the track made continuing the race meet there impossible and I totally understand why promoter Chris Kearns was forced to find another location.
So this year the races will be at Arizona Speedway close to Phoenix and things could be much different. The Tucson track was a high speed track that in recent years particularly they had kept very moist so the racing was almost scary fast. I'm told that Arizona is much different in that it is smaller, runs normally smooth and slick and likely will require a totally different driving style. And that is fine with me, as long as the facility is first rate which was one thing that Tucson had going for it. 2017 will be a new adventure with new motels to find, new restaurants to discover and new attractions to find to entertain us during the off days of racing. But likely the sun will still shine brightly all day, the temperatures will be warm and that is all good.
Due to some major whining from some of the "big name" drivers in the Late Models who didn't like to actually have to race their way into the features, the format has been changed somewhat for 2017. Time trials will be held for at least the Late Models while I'm not sure about the other classes. I suppose the format will find the fast cars up front in the heats and some sort of stifling format that will reduce passing, unlike at Tucson where the heats where always thrilling using a draw format and then passing points to determine the feature event lineups. The lineups for the features were always interesting and tended to promote lots of feature race passing so I hope this big change doesn't negatively affect the racing at Arizona. But I will try to not jump to conclusions and instead let things play out.
A new change for Arizona finds the Modifieds to be sanctioned by USRA and this series will be the actual start of the USRA point season for 2017. Previously at Tucson, they ran USRA rules but the events weren't sanctioned. I suspect this was done in part to try and guarantee solid fields of cars. With the move North, they are racing right in the heart of Arizona IMCA country with the Arizona Raceway in fact being an IMCA sanctioned track. How many of the local Modifieds will attempt to run this series is questionable with the difference if rules between the two. However, if the Arizona track does get as slick as I've heard, perhaps the IMCA crates would be just the ticket. I was wondering if in 2017 they might switch to IMCA Mods, given the new location of the series but with people like Royal Jones, a USRA stalwart, being one of the event sponsors, I understand why they remained more of the "open motor" type cars. Several of the Late Model drivers also have Modifieds which they will likely bring, and with a large contingent of northern drivers that like to travel to this series, they are more equipped to run the USRA style as opposed to IMCA. I know that there are a considerable number of drivers from my home area here that are looking forward to taking their cars out to Arizona and race in January and that includes cars in all three classes that race. In fact, many of the best X Mods will be cars from our area. The defending point champ in the X Mods, Grant Southworth, only lives about forty miles from our homestead.
Rich Thomas of Aberdeen South Dakota is one of the most beloved race car drivers in the upper Midwest. Rich, who is seventy five years old, still races three nights per week at South Dakota tracks and remains a competitive driver, despite his age. He also embraces his "old school" approach to racing as he has an open ramp truck, ala Ken Schrader, that he hauls his race car on. Sadly, Rich's wife Karon passed away recently after a long battle with cancer.
The area also lost a former racer recently with the passing of Eau Claire Wisconsin's Duane Mahder who was killed in an industrial accident. Mahder was a many time track champion at various Wisconsin dirt ovals with his Late Model and was a former WISSOTA Challenge Series point champion. Duane had retired from racing in 2009 but still helped out on his son Chad's Late Model and was a very visible presence in the pits as he loved to talk auto racing. Duane was also an accomplished ice racer on road courses and pitted for some of the best asphalt Late Model racers in the country before he started his own career racing on the dirt.
Defending Sunshine State Modified point champion Kevin Adams from Cameron Wisconsin is readying for another effort to regain the point title in Florida. He has two new Shaw chassis for the 2017 racing season and in a late season tune up for Florida, blew away an open motor field in an October race in central Wisconsin. He will be traveling with close friend Curt Myers to Florida. Myers, a two time and defending WISSOTA national Super Stock champion, has sold off his Super Stock equipment and will be moving up to Modifieds with an LG2 chassis. He plans to run both open USMTS shows plus local and regional WISSOTA races. Myers has previous experience running Modifieds as well as a stint in Late Models.
I know "the Boss", Jeff Broeg likes to keep up to date on tracks closing, tracks reopening etc so here's perhaps some news that he didn't see. After being closed for one year, the track in Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin will reopen for 2017. Previously known at Thunderhill Raceway, the track will now be called "The Hill Raceway" and be promoted by three local people in the Sturgeon Bay area. They plan to run of Friday nights and have dropped their IMCA sanction in favor of an open show featuring Sport Mods, Stock Cars, Street Stocks and Enduro Cars along with some other specials on various nights of the week featuring other classes of cars.
The track in Chilton Wisconsin has also been mentioned as a possible returnee to racing action. This track in recent years has only run specials with a couple races each year. However, with the loss of the Manitowoc race track after 2016(sold by the Fairboard for industrial growth) the Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car Inc. club has been looking for another track to run their 360 Sprint and Late Model shows and had expressed interest in updating the Chilton track and taking it over. I have not heard any news on this recently and perhaps there is someone out there that has some updated news.
I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls Minnesota is one of the premier tracks in the upper Midwest. If you haven't ever been there, trust me, it is first class in all regards. When they make a rule or add a division, people pay attention to see what comes of it. Track owner Dick Johanneck is the owner of Polydome Calf Nurseries, the corporate sponsor of the entire WISSOTA racing organization. And the Track Manager, Corey Eggen, is a member of the WISSOTA Board of Directors so this track carries plenty of weight.
They recently announced that they are adding a "Midwest Limited Late Model" class that will start racing at the track weekly. I have been in communication with Eggen and he tells me that the class is designed to be a "feeder" class for the Late Model division. While Modifieds have had Midwest Modifieds or Sport Mods or whatever you care to call them, the Late Models have had no such class and with Late Model numbers slipping here as they are throughout much of the Midwest. Eggen felt the need to do something to try and bolster the division.
His idea is that this will be an outlet for all the older Late Model chassis out there that no one wants to buy. The shocks etc. will be controlled and the motors will be like those run by the Limited Modifieds to keep the costs down. Tires will be allowed to be cut and ground so that drivers in this class can buy used tires from the Late Models. Eggen did make the point that this class is not designed to eliminate the Late Models that they already have and that WISSOTA sanctioned Late Models will continue to run on a weekly basis.
Eggen told me that he had commitments for nine cars in this new class two hours after the rules were announced including some drivers from as far away as Fargo North Dakota. Eggen's hope is to develop new drivers that some day may consider moving up to full Late Models and also bring some drivers back that have been on the sidelines due to costs involved in racing a full blown Late Model. This class will be similar to the Late Model class that Bob Timm started at Mississippi Thunder Speedway last year except the tires will be Hoosiers instead of American Racers. It will also be fairly close to what Lee County Speedway in Donnellson Iowa has running except while Lee County is going to crates only with their UMP sanctioning, WISSOTA as an organization had pushed more toward concept motors than crates and thus the motors in this new class will be limited but built motors and not crates. Right now the class is not sanctioned but I'm sure other tracks in the area, both those that run Late Models and those that don't, will monitor their progress and if they get enough interest, the sanctioning body may bring them under their wing and offer uniform rules and a point fund.
At this holiday season I'd like to send Christmas greetings out to all the fans, drivers, crews, promoters and track and series officials everywhere. Racing is a tough business these days and we all need to hang in there together as best we can.
If you see me in St. Louis or Arizona, stop and say hello. I'm always anxious to get feed back to see what people think of my ramblings. Some day I'll even get my picture up on the website so you will know who I am(or perhaps not).
However, there are a couple of events upcoming that will hopefully knock the staleness off of me. The first comes up next weekend with the first ever running of the VP Racing Fuels Gateway Dirt Nationals indoors at the Dome at America's Center in St. Louis. With both Late Models and Modifieds racing for three straight nights, this could one of the most colossal motorsports events staged in a very long time, or it could be one of the biggest fiascos ever attempted by man. Many of the people that I have talked to agree with me, and that is perhaps one of the reasons that they are going. They want to be there if it turns out to be as spectacular as it has the potential to be and they also want to be there if things implode and there are horror stories to be told and then retold.
The folks running this event have bitten off a huge chunk and if they are somehow able to pull off this event to anywhere near the spectacular status it could be, well then, good for them. There must be a huge investment of cash involved in such a monstrous undertaking and for the good of the sport, I hope it turns out to be a spectacular success. There will be many people on hand in person to see how this turns out and hopefully many more watching on pay per view at home or at their local watering station.
For quite some time, I wasn't sure if this event was going to fly, and I really dragged my feet on making any commitments as far as attending this race was concerned, but about five weeks ago I finally decided that I would give the promoters the benefit of the doubt and take a weekend drive to St. Louis. When I finally decided to "pull the pin" and attend, I received media credentials incredibly fast so I thank Jacob Nord for the quick response in advance. I still which for the first attempt at this race that they would have went for lower numbers of cars as any race, no matter how entrenched, would struggle with handling the potential of up to hundreds of race cars, particularly with all the extra logistics required for an indoor event. But again, I will withhold judgement and see how things play out next weekend. For sure, no matter how it all plays out, it should be a memorable weekend.
Not so long after that, we get ready to head to Arizona for the Wild West Shootout, one of the very best events that we attend every year and one that we look forward to almost from the minute that we get on the plane to head back North at its conclusion each year. Race fans, if there's one event that you want to put on your bucket list to attend, it is this series of races in Arizona where we have enjoyed some of the greatest racing and best times, of any events we have ever attended over this long and crazy race chasing journey of ours.
This year things will be somewhat different for this race meet as the location of the races has changed from Tucson to the Arizona Speedway near Mesa. We loved the USA Raceway(or whatever the name was from year to year for the track), very near Tucson and it was such a good track and so handy to the everything else that was needed including motels, the airport etc. However, the instability with the ownership of the track made continuing the race meet there impossible and I totally understand why promoter Chris Kearns was forced to find another location.
So this year the races will be at Arizona Speedway close to Phoenix and things could be much different. The Tucson track was a high speed track that in recent years particularly they had kept very moist so the racing was almost scary fast. I'm told that Arizona is much different in that it is smaller, runs normally smooth and slick and likely will require a totally different driving style. And that is fine with me, as long as the facility is first rate which was one thing that Tucson had going for it. 2017 will be a new adventure with new motels to find, new restaurants to discover and new attractions to find to entertain us during the off days of racing. But likely the sun will still shine brightly all day, the temperatures will be warm and that is all good.
Due to some major whining from some of the "big name" drivers in the Late Models who didn't like to actually have to race their way into the features, the format has been changed somewhat for 2017. Time trials will be held for at least the Late Models while I'm not sure about the other classes. I suppose the format will find the fast cars up front in the heats and some sort of stifling format that will reduce passing, unlike at Tucson where the heats where always thrilling using a draw format and then passing points to determine the feature event lineups. The lineups for the features were always interesting and tended to promote lots of feature race passing so I hope this big change doesn't negatively affect the racing at Arizona. But I will try to not jump to conclusions and instead let things play out.
A new change for Arizona finds the Modifieds to be sanctioned by USRA and this series will be the actual start of the USRA point season for 2017. Previously at Tucson, they ran USRA rules but the events weren't sanctioned. I suspect this was done in part to try and guarantee solid fields of cars. With the move North, they are racing right in the heart of Arizona IMCA country with the Arizona Raceway in fact being an IMCA sanctioned track. How many of the local Modifieds will attempt to run this series is questionable with the difference if rules between the two. However, if the Arizona track does get as slick as I've heard, perhaps the IMCA crates would be just the ticket. I was wondering if in 2017 they might switch to IMCA Mods, given the new location of the series but with people like Royal Jones, a USRA stalwart, being one of the event sponsors, I understand why they remained more of the "open motor" type cars. Several of the Late Model drivers also have Modifieds which they will likely bring, and with a large contingent of northern drivers that like to travel to this series, they are more equipped to run the USRA style as opposed to IMCA. I know that there are a considerable number of drivers from my home area here that are looking forward to taking their cars out to Arizona and race in January and that includes cars in all three classes that race. In fact, many of the best X Mods will be cars from our area. The defending point champ in the X Mods, Grant Southworth, only lives about forty miles from our homestead.
Rich Thomas of Aberdeen South Dakota is one of the most beloved race car drivers in the upper Midwest. Rich, who is seventy five years old, still races three nights per week at South Dakota tracks and remains a competitive driver, despite his age. He also embraces his "old school" approach to racing as he has an open ramp truck, ala Ken Schrader, that he hauls his race car on. Sadly, Rich's wife Karon passed away recently after a long battle with cancer.
The area also lost a former racer recently with the passing of Eau Claire Wisconsin's Duane Mahder who was killed in an industrial accident. Mahder was a many time track champion at various Wisconsin dirt ovals with his Late Model and was a former WISSOTA Challenge Series point champion. Duane had retired from racing in 2009 but still helped out on his son Chad's Late Model and was a very visible presence in the pits as he loved to talk auto racing. Duane was also an accomplished ice racer on road courses and pitted for some of the best asphalt Late Model racers in the country before he started his own career racing on the dirt.
Defending Sunshine State Modified point champion Kevin Adams from Cameron Wisconsin is readying for another effort to regain the point title in Florida. He has two new Shaw chassis for the 2017 racing season and in a late season tune up for Florida, blew away an open motor field in an October race in central Wisconsin. He will be traveling with close friend Curt Myers to Florida. Myers, a two time and defending WISSOTA national Super Stock champion, has sold off his Super Stock equipment and will be moving up to Modifieds with an LG2 chassis. He plans to run both open USMTS shows plus local and regional WISSOTA races. Myers has previous experience running Modifieds as well as a stint in Late Models.
I know "the Boss", Jeff Broeg likes to keep up to date on tracks closing, tracks reopening etc so here's perhaps some news that he didn't see. After being closed for one year, the track in Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin will reopen for 2017. Previously known at Thunderhill Raceway, the track will now be called "The Hill Raceway" and be promoted by three local people in the Sturgeon Bay area. They plan to run of Friday nights and have dropped their IMCA sanction in favor of an open show featuring Sport Mods, Stock Cars, Street Stocks and Enduro Cars along with some other specials on various nights of the week featuring other classes of cars.
The track in Chilton Wisconsin has also been mentioned as a possible returnee to racing action. This track in recent years has only run specials with a couple races each year. However, with the loss of the Manitowoc race track after 2016(sold by the Fairboard for industrial growth) the Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car Inc. club has been looking for another track to run their 360 Sprint and Late Model shows and had expressed interest in updating the Chilton track and taking it over. I have not heard any news on this recently and perhaps there is someone out there that has some updated news.
I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls Minnesota is one of the premier tracks in the upper Midwest. If you haven't ever been there, trust me, it is first class in all regards. When they make a rule or add a division, people pay attention to see what comes of it. Track owner Dick Johanneck is the owner of Polydome Calf Nurseries, the corporate sponsor of the entire WISSOTA racing organization. And the Track Manager, Corey Eggen, is a member of the WISSOTA Board of Directors so this track carries plenty of weight.
They recently announced that they are adding a "Midwest Limited Late Model" class that will start racing at the track weekly. I have been in communication with Eggen and he tells me that the class is designed to be a "feeder" class for the Late Model division. While Modifieds have had Midwest Modifieds or Sport Mods or whatever you care to call them, the Late Models have had no such class and with Late Model numbers slipping here as they are throughout much of the Midwest. Eggen felt the need to do something to try and bolster the division.
His idea is that this will be an outlet for all the older Late Model chassis out there that no one wants to buy. The shocks etc. will be controlled and the motors will be like those run by the Limited Modifieds to keep the costs down. Tires will be allowed to be cut and ground so that drivers in this class can buy used tires from the Late Models. Eggen did make the point that this class is not designed to eliminate the Late Models that they already have and that WISSOTA sanctioned Late Models will continue to run on a weekly basis.
Eggen told me that he had commitments for nine cars in this new class two hours after the rules were announced including some drivers from as far away as Fargo North Dakota. Eggen's hope is to develop new drivers that some day may consider moving up to full Late Models and also bring some drivers back that have been on the sidelines due to costs involved in racing a full blown Late Model. This class will be similar to the Late Model class that Bob Timm started at Mississippi Thunder Speedway last year except the tires will be Hoosiers instead of American Racers. It will also be fairly close to what Lee County Speedway in Donnellson Iowa has running except while Lee County is going to crates only with their UMP sanctioning, WISSOTA as an organization had pushed more toward concept motors than crates and thus the motors in this new class will be limited but built motors and not crates. Right now the class is not sanctioned but I'm sure other tracks in the area, both those that run Late Models and those that don't, will monitor their progress and if they get enough interest, the sanctioning body may bring them under their wing and offer uniform rules and a point fund.
At this holiday season I'd like to send Christmas greetings out to all the fans, drivers, crews, promoters and track and series officials everywhere. Racing is a tough business these days and we all need to hang in there together as best we can.
If you see me in St. Louis or Arizona, stop and say hello. I'm always anxious to get feed back to see what people think of my ramblings. Some day I'll even get my picture up on the website so you will know who I am(or perhaps not).
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