"The Reaper" A repeater at KOA

Ryan Gustin became the first repeat winner in the King of America Modified special which wrapped up on Saturday night at the Humboldt Speedway. The feature race proved to be an excellent way to wrap up three nights of intensive racing at the quarter mile track in Southeast Kansas.

With all the bad weather that ragged this week throughout much of the country, it was a minor miracle that racing was able to be completed at Humboldt. Other than the last night rain on Friday that forced the conclusion of that show to be completed before Saturday night's racing could be run, the rest of the weekend went off totally as planned.

That, however, doesn't mean that things weren't a little bit dicey for Saturday's events though. Light rain started in the early afternoon and continued for several hours before it finally let up. While it wasn't heavy by any means, it still threatened to stop the show although Todd Staley had told us that they were going to complete the show on Saturday, even if we had to be there all night! Fortunately,  that wasn't necessary although the program did get a one hour late start due to some extra packing that was needed.And then, the second race of the night, the makeup B Mod feature, had to be stopped due to some heavier mist falling, but everyone stayed the course and once it let up, the track was repacked and racing continued.

While all this made things a bit tedious for awhile, in retrospect it might have been the best thing possible as the track ended up being in fantastic condition for the racing, and in particular, the seventy lap main event for the Modifieds. Some years have seen much track prep go right out the window with the track going one lane and rubbering up quickly, but there was none of that on Saturday. Cars were able to run multiple lanes all over the track and the surface didn't seem to give up on any of the racers, no matter what lane they were using. and on top of all that, there wasn't a whisper of dust throughout the evening.  Both the track prep crew and "Mother Nature" probably deserve equal credit for this.

The ladder racing to get into the main event for other than the top twelve in points was brutal with many good cars fighting for very few spots. There was much "take" and very little "give" as drivers fought tooth and nail to try and make the main event.

A couple very quirky things happened early in the evening with one driver able to recover from his bad luck and the other not able to. Stormy Scott was leading the rain delayed last heat race and looked to be gathering valuable points when his hood broke loose and blocked his vision. He had to stop for repairs and ended up a weak eleventh. This buried him in a C feature but with two determined drives, he was able to make it to the main event where he came from deep in the field once again to work his way all the way up to sixth at the finish.

Not so lucky was USMTS rookie contender Billy Vogel. He was leading a Last Chance race with only two laps to go when he looped his car and his two lap banzai to get back to the front ended up one position short and his night was done.

As for the Modified main event, it was one of the best features seen so far this season with plenty of passing and side by side racing. Seldom do you see drivers surge and then fade and then surge again but this race featured plenty of that as drivers lost time in traffic but then recovered while others adjusted their racing line to make all the difference in the work. There were also multiple leaders in the seventy lapper and that is often not the case in such an event.

Terry Phillips got the jump on the start but Gustin barreled the cushion to drive past him for the lead. Soon, Rodney Sanders started to move up in the low groove and he was able to drive into the lead. He started to check out on the field but he eventually started to loose ground when he got to the pack of the field.

Lapped traffic was intense and Sanders seemed to be slowing as he may have set too quick a pace and started to wear out his tires. Gustin moved in to challenge and eventually take over the lead but it was a short lived breather until Cade Dillard quickly moved in.

They swapped the lead a couple of times as they worked through the heavy traffic and just when it seemed that Dillard might take over the top spot for good, the lone yellow of the race flew. They had made fifty three green flag laps before the yellow, a remarkable performance by all.

Gustin went back to pounding the cushion however he seemed to make a slight adjustment to his line and it seemed to help as he started to stretch his lead on Dillard. Cade tried very hard but a couple times he over drove the corners in an all out effort which gave Gustin more breathing room. While all this was happening, Johnny Scott and Lucas Schott were also on the move and they climbed into the top five.

Gustin was home free and he motored home for the win. The race ended just in time for Schott as he lost a driveshaft on the last corner and while he lost third to Scott, he was still able to ease across the line and not lose more positions. Jason Hughes also picked up the pace the second half of the race as he came from twelfth to fifth at the finish. Sanders and Phillips both faded last in the race but did hold on to top ten finishes.

Besides Scott, the other driver that put on a lot of laps to earn his money was Kent Arment. He won a Last Chance race, moved on to an eighth place in a C Feature and then followed that up with a second in the B Feature. This gave the SoDaker the fourteenth starting spot in the main and he finished rounding out the top ten.

The B Mods had a busy night as they had two main events to complete. In the makeup race from Friday night, it was J.C. Morton who continued with his hot streak at this track as he earned a hard fought win. Curt Drake led for much of the race but Morton continued to press him and eventually would get under him and make a turn one pass for the win. Andy Bryant, Brian McGowen and South Dakota's D.J. Tesch completed the top five in that race.

The second feature race for the B Mods was a patience tester as after three nights of pretty smooth racing action, the B Mods got stuck in the mud on this one and it took seven yellows before they settled down enough to complete their twenty five lap main.

It was another pole sitter, Kris Jackson, that won this race. Jackson led all the way and was never seriously challenged. A fine run was turned in by Minnesota racer Alex Williamson who came from thirteenth to finish second ahead of Bryant. Mike Striegel, after struggling terribly here at Humboldt for the better part of two weekends which also included two major wrecks, finally got things together and grabbed a top five finish.

The crowd was by far the biggest on Saturday on any night of the three race nights but it still didn't come close to some of the crowds that Humboldt has hosted for this event. But to be truthful, the weather looked so grim that many certainly had to have made the decision that racing simply wasn't going to happen and it did appear that way for quite some time.

It was a tough three nights for many of the track employees as they fought through many weather related issues. However, they were rewarded with an excellent final event and certainly a good way for everyone to remember the KOA. Rumors were running rampant that this might be the last KOA held at Humboldt but nothing could be confirmed during the weekend. One must remember that lots of things can happen between now and 2018 and we will take a wait and see attitude and see what happens. For the time being, VII will be fondly remembered by Gustin and the fans on hand who were pleased by an entertaining main event.

Two Races Shy of a Full Show at Humboldt Feels Like a Win

Friday, March 24th marked night number two of the King of America Modified Nationals VII at the Humboldt Speedway in Kansas. As per the new format instituted for this year's race, night two would include all the qualifying heats for the USRA Modifieds to earn points for Saturday night's finale plus a full show of USRA B Mods would be held with their highest payoff of the weekend as the winner would go home with fifteen hundred dollars.

The forecast was grim at best for Friday with heavy storms and possibly damaging winds and hail in the outlook. If one would have followed the forecasts from the last few days, you would have been sitting at home, rather than subjecting yourself to the possible whims of Mother Nature. By all appearances, there were a bunch of both drivers and race fans that did exactly that, as there was a significant drop this year so far in both the pit side and spectator side of things. However, the hearty and/or fool hearty were still on hand, waiting to see just what the weather would bring.

While the storms seemed to toy with us most of the day and other parts of the region were getting some serious weather, the area around the race track remained dry. Alternatively, skies would darken and then they would lighten back up but except for a few drops of rain, nothing more serious occurred. Most of us were of the mindset that the night would be a winner if we could just get as much of the qualifying in as possible and hopefully not having to go to a double event format for Saturday. So, from that regard we were blessed.

USMTS and track officials were on "their A game" on this night and the drivers certainly cooperated also. Once the racing started, it was virtually nonstop action from then on as one race nearly beat the finish of the previous one on to the track. And the racing was excellent for the most part too. While one might not get too excited by a format that hosted mainly just heats, these were not your normal type heat races where drivers are just running hard enough to make a redraw or qualifying position. Every gain of position with the point system is vital so the drivers race with a purpose far beyond what a typical heat race would provide.

And the track didn't disappoint either. It appeared that they had removed quite a bit of the black material left from hard slick surface of Thursday and then had given it a good soaking. It provided for us a good two groove track that didn't appear to wear out, even as the races continued to march on to the track, heat after heat. And best of all, not once did they stop to do any maintenance on the track, other than to scrape the walls off of mud so the drivers could see the corners better.

As the proceedings started to wind down, the storms finally found their mark and with the fifteenth and final heat race for the Modifieds on the track, it finally started to rain and with the track hard by then, it didn't take it long for the track to become too slick to continue. So, for Saturday, the only races that will be needed to be completed before Saturday's program can commence are the final Modified heat and the B Mod feature. It certainly could have been much worse and we really caught a break.

The only unfortunate part was that with the Modified portion of the program night quite completed, officials won't be able to calculate the points and determine starting positions for everyone until that last race is in the books. However, that is certainly a minor inconvenience compared to what we might be looking at.

For Friday's qualifying, only one new Modified showed up and that was Brad Waits from Minnesota, who was rumored to have been trying to make it for Thursday's show but suffered a vehicle breakdown on his way down from Minnesota. Just as surprising was the fact that with the best payoff of the weekend on the line for the B Mods, only two new cars showed up from Thursday night's show. So, to this point, we are looking at a field that was down forty Mods from last year plus a handful of B Mods. The easiest thing to blame is the weather and perhaps the most sound reason too, but that many missing bodies in the pits for three nights must carry a significant hit to the promoters.

Among those that looked the strongest in the Modifieds over the course of the night were Rodney Sanders, the only driver to win two heats, Mitch Keeter, Ryan Gustin, Dereck Ramirez and defending champion Zack VanderBeek but until the points are calculated, we won't know how just exactly how everyone is sitting.

My only somewhat negative thought of the night is for the second straight night, the usually prompt staffs at Humboldt and the USMTS failed to get the show started on time. With virtually everyone just sitting around all day waiting for the races and waiting to see if it would rain, somehow the races still managed to get started late. Although it wasn't a huge amount of time, that missed opportunity was more than enough time to get the last Modified heat finished and if they behaved themselves, perhaps even the B Mod feature. Picky perhaps, but with everyone having one eye on the sky, it would have been nice to see that first green flag fly right when it was supposed to.

Keeter Continues to Hold the Key at Humboldt

The King of America VII kicked off Thursday night, March 23rd at the Whitworth family's Humboldt Speedway. Thursday night was not actually part of the "King" but instead the first round of the Midwest Region of USMTS for 2017. In a change of format for this year's event, rather than running four sets of point paying heat races over two nights and than taking the best three of them to determine the starting positions for Saturday night's "King" finale, this year they instead opted to run the first Midwest Region points race on Thursday, which will be followed on Friday night by three rounds of heat races to gather points for Saturday. New also this year is the fact that no heat may be thrown out so all three will be extremely important as point gathering events for Saturday night's ten grand to win championship.

Have you noticed that the trend now is when any kind of special event tacks on another day to its schedule, it's never just "an added race" anymore but instead becomes known as the "prelude" to whatever the event is. Such is the case for this race also so Thursday night's events were officially known as the "Prelude to the King."

Many wondered what this change in format would do for the overall event, or if indeed, it would have any affect on it at all. Of course, we can't say definitively for sure until Friday nights events are concluded but the opening night activities, which likely featured the vast majority of the cars that will be racing the rest of the weekend, produced what was likely one of the strongest fields of cars ever for the "King." Strong at least in quality. On the other hand, it was by far the smallest field of cars ever for this event which left some of us scratching our heads as to why.

For comparison sake, last year one hundred and six cars competed at least one of the three nights of this race. Thursday night, only sixty three cars signed in to race. Of course, a driver may show up on Friday at no penalty as Thursday night's racing will have no effect on what happens on Friday but the reality is that most drivers that plan on racing will be on hand for all three days.

Why the significant drop in entrants you ask. Perhaps this is the year that the mid pack driver with only a marginal chance of making the show decided to say his money and race a different event. Perhaps it was the weather forecast which was quite bleak for the Friday portion of the show and as I type this, it still will be a crap shoot whether racing takes place on Friday or not. Some drivers got burned two weeks ago when the B Mod race got pushed back to Sunday and many had to take off without getting the chance to run the main event. It could play out that way again this week although event promoter Todd Staley says they will finish it off Saturday no matter what. Likely some didn't want to chance it however.

So, for those that are "number crunchers" only, the turnout was likely disappointing but the reality is that the sixty three on hand do include just about every one of the best around and the racing will not suffer because of the number of drivers on hand. Likely the only discernible difference will be in the number of preliminaries on Saturday, and a few less of those events probably won't break anyone's heart.

Thursday's weather was unseasonable warm, sunny after a cloudy early morning and incredibly windy. All were very tough conditions to prep a race track and I thought the folks at Humboldt did about the best possible job they could given the circumstances.  We were hoping that once the sun set the wind might lay down but such was not the case as it continued to scream out of the South, right into the main grandstand. And it came with such force that we were all wearing our Winter coats, even though the actual surface temperature was still at seventy degrees! We all looked like a bunch of drug addicts huddled around while the folks on the back chute were still wearing their t-shirts!

Even though they had soaked "the snot" out of the track, it dried off quickly and was black from top to bottom by the early portion of the program. However, I didn't see any evidence that it locked down and truly, for as bad as the conditions were, it was a decent race track for the main events. Yes, it was very dirty on the front stretch but that too was totally understandable, racing as we were in hurricane conditions.

Seven heat races and three B features set the twenty six car field for the USMTS forty lap main event and each of these races was truly like a main event. Most notable was heat race number four that had Fito Gallardo, Terry Phillips, Hunter Marriott, Ryan Gustin, Ricky Thornton Jr and Rodney Sanders all in the same race! Yikes. And the irony was that only Gallardo, Phillips and Thornton earned enough passing points to avoid a B feature. In fact, Gustin will not even make the main event after having too big a mountain to climb in his B.

However, come feature time and it was none of the "heavy hitters" that took home the three grand for the win but instead area driver Mitch Keeter. Keeter started on the outside pole and while there were several good battles for position behind him, he was never one of them as at the start and on the three subsequent restarts, he would always pull away from the field.

Keeter has been incredibly hard to beat at "the Hummer" so far this season, winning two of three events when the Mods ran as the support class to the B Mods two weeks ago and following that up by winning the season opener last Saturday night. He's using a pretty standard set up for around here with a GRT chassis and a Yeoman engine but he's definitely got something figured out as his car rolls so free through the corners and has great bite coming off the corners that no one has figured out how to pass him.

It will be interesting to see if he is able to maintain his pace when the all important heat races are contested on Friday. Behind Keeter, a good battle for second saw Cade Dillard and Lucas Schott swap positions on nearly every restart while Josh Angst and Dereck Ramirez did the same thing behind them. It was a pretty nice finish for two young Minnesota hotshots in Schott and Angst who only race here a time or so all year yet both looked very strong in their MB chassis. TP had one of his better runs of late as he moved up a number of spots.

It will be interesting to see how everyone handles the divergent styles needed for the next two nights as Friday will bring all out charges needed to gain points in the relatively short heats while those that make the feature will have to go into "tire saving" mode for the seventy lap feature race.

The "Ironman Challenge Series" for the B Mods also was on the card on Thursday night. Forty two of the B Mods were on hand and represented a wide area of the country that ran as far North as Minnesota and North Dakota.

While the field slugged it out to make the main, when push came to shove at the end it was two regional drivers in J.C. Morton and Ryan Gilmore that battled it out for the win. Morton, the big winner here two weeks ago, continued his hot streak as he fought off several challenges from Gilmore to take the twenty lap finale. The only non regular to have significant success was Minnesota's Alex Williamson who finished fourth after starting ninth. Cody Jolly and Missouri's Mike Tanner also finished in the top five. Friday night even more B Mods are expected as the winning share jumps up to fifteen hundred bucks.

It was like the old days on Thursday at Humboldt as the USMTS officials, along with the Humboldt officials, really cracked off the program in rapid fashion. Understanding that it was a week night and with the weather being so unpredictable, they moved the show along quickly but still, with the large number of races to be run, it was about 10:45 before the final checkered waved.

Gregg and Sukup Big Winners at JMS

On Sunday, March 19th, I made the long drive West to the Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction Nebraska for day number two of the Mike Chapin Memorial Spring Thaw.

It has been two years since I was last at JMS and there were some changes that have taken place since that last visit. For one, the track is now sanctioned by IMCA as it was a NASCAR sanctioned track back then. A more immediate change has been a restructuring of the race track that was new for this weekend for the first time. The track has been shortened with both ends of the track pulled in and this was the first race weekend since those changes were made. Finally, the Late Models, who I believe were non sanctioned previously, are now sanctioned by the NeSmith Racing Series which is a group that focuses on crate Late Model racing.

With all the surrounding tracks all sanctioned by IMCA, it was truly only a matter of time until JMS lined up with the other tracks to offer same sanctioning. The rules when it was NASCAR sanctioned were the same as they are now with the major change being that drivers no longer have to hold two licenses from different sanctioning bodies. The hope was that with JMS an IMCA track, car counts would improve. I believe that premise is still a work in progress.

As far as shortening the track, I asked track owner Delmar Friesen about that personally. He told me that drivers had repeatedly spoken to him about the fact that the track needed to be slowed down some and that it was too hard on motors as well as sometimes resulting in spread out races. JMS is a gorgeous race track and one of the finest in the Midwest without doubt. Everything about it is first class in all regards. However, since the very first time I saw races there, I was of the opinion that if there was one thing that could have been changed, it would have been to make the track just a little bit smaller.

What they did was pull in both corners basically the width of the track. The wall that surrounds the track is still there, but it is now considerably away from the racing surface. The banking of the track stops and a flat run off area is behind that with the wall then behind that. Surprisingly, with that much major construction just a few weeks ago, the track was in excellent shape and was very smooth. It was a day show on Sunday and as Delmar himself said, it will be weeks until a fair judging of the new surface can be made to determine if the new layout improves the racing. However, for afternoon racing, it was some of the best day time racing I've seen in quite some time. As I said, the track stayed nice and smooth and with the steep banking at JMS, the cars are still able to drive deep into the corners and not just hug the bottom. The track got black from top to bottom but I didn't see any evidence that it was rubbering up  and there was next to none as far as dust. Delmar had to do track prep only once and all he did do was mist the cushion while he didn't touch the groove at all. For an  early Spring race under brutal(for racing at least with sun, wind and plenty of warmth) conditions, I thought the track conditions were excellent.

There is excitement in the Late Model division with the addition of NeSmith sanctioning. Down to the South in Kansas, crate Late Model racing is starting to take hold and they run under NeSmith rules also so there was a fine invasion of Kansas Late Models for this weekend's shows. And the Kansas crew reports that many of them will race regularly or semi regularly at JMS during the season so the hopes are high that the Late Model counts were be noticeably larger in 2017.

There were about one hundred and ten cars on hand in the six divisions that were racing on Sunday. While that is not bad, it still seems that for some reason the car counts don't seem to match up with the grandness of the offered facility. Perhaps part of the problem is that McCool Junction/York is a relatively rural area with not a huge population base. But as Delmar said rather bitterly I might ad, no matter what they do they just can't seem to draw any race cars from East of highway 81, no matter what they do. Now they feel that they will pick up more cars from the Lexington area as well as from Kansas while the Eastern cars continue to do their own thing.

It was a treat to see Delmar again and meet his dog Lucky who follows her master where ever he goes at the facility, including riding in the water truck. It was also a pleasure to again cross paths with Wayne Dake who has again returned to JMS as the co-announcer. Wayne is a mainstay of Nebraska and Midwest racing and has called races at a lot of different tracks across the Midwest. While he says he's cutting back, and JMS is the only track he still works at, being a "people person" gives him the chance to see many of his old friends from a wide range of racing contacts.

As stated earlier, for an afternoon show, it was one of the quickest run and smoothest day time shows I've seen in a long time. There were very few yellow flags and the assorted spins and track maintenance sessions that normally accompany day time racing. And this was day time racing to the extreme with temperatures in the eighties, bright sun and some wind to go with it. In fact, after having to bundle up like an Eskimo for most shows in the last few weeks, a coat wasn't even needed on Sunday.

Among the biggest winners of the day and weekend were Mike Nichols and Jared Hackler. Nichols redrew the front row for the Stock Car feature and wasn't pressured in the nonstop main. He also won on Saturday. Hackler also redrew the front row and won for the second straight day as he dominated the Sport Mods. And I almost forgot Roy Armstrong too. He was also a double winner, taking Hobby Stock features on both days also.

Justin Gregg dominated the Modified feature after he started on the pole and led all the way. Dylan Smith was the big mover in the Modifieds and if the race would have had a few more laps, he likely could have been a challenger as he was getting faster by the lap and simply ran out of time.

The only controversy occurred during the Late Model feature. And truly it wasn't controversy as much as just bad luck. Chris Buller had taken the lead from the beginning of the main and led the first eighteen laps. However, he was having trouble with a lapped car and when they got together on the back chute, Buller ended up in the wall and lost an apparent victory. Ben Sukup inherited the lead and drove home to the win in his new Swartz chassis car.

Denny Berghahn Jr. won the Sport Compact feature after a good battle with Kyle Owen. Tyler Thompson, the traveler from Sioux City who makes just about every Sport Compact show in the Western half of Iowa and eastern half of Nebraska, came charging up from eighth to finish a close second.

From start to finish, even with extra laps and cars, the program was completed in just over three hours, one of the quickest shows I've seen so far this Spring. JMS remains one of the nicest facilities in the Midwest for sure and if traveling through the central Nebraska area, you would not be sorry if you dropped in there for a race. I enjoyed my visit and just wished that I lived a lot closer so I could enjoy the place more often. Perhaps I can talk Delmar into hosting some sort of special event for Mods or Late Models early in the year like they used to host. That would be great. 

  

Marriott Great in Heavy Traffic for Memphis Win

The auto racing season opened up in the state of Missouri on Friday night, March 17th with night one of the Memphis Spring Nationals at the Scotland County Speedway just outside of Memphis Missouri. Under the promotion of Mike VanGenderen, a five division program was run on Friday night to mark the opening of the season at Memphis. At has been done in recent years, Memphis will not attempt to run a weekly program but instead will focus on several special events and among them are races that push the envelope at both starting and ending the racing season in the Midwest. Fans are already excited for 2017 with the highlight event likely to be the MLRA race that will be run here later this Summer.

A good field of cars was on hand with just over one hundred signed in to race. Only the Hobby Stocks were short on cars and that seems to be a continuing trend in this area as most will remember that Hobby Stocks were dropped from the program at Donnellson last year and many of the cars that race here at Memphis are also regulars at Donnellson. There were also a number of drivers from farther away that showed up to get some of their early season racing fix satisfied. From the farthest distance was likely the Stock Car driven on this night by Kyle Frederick from the Fox Valley area of Wisconsin. He was driving the house car of "The General", Troy Jerovetz, a car that was housed for a month earlier this year in Arizona with Frederick flying down to race it. He told me that they had driven in quite a bit of snow on the way to the races on Friday, but fortunately, all of that precipitation stayed to the North of Memphis. Frederick would later record a top ten finish in the Stock Car feature.

The day of racing started off early with an open practice session slated from 2-4 pm that helped pack in the track while raising quite a bit of dust at the same time. About forty cars took advantage of the opportunity to arrive early and get some practice laps. After that, the track crew scrapped off the rubber, packed and rewatered the track and racing began around 7:45 pm. For the opening night, the track stayed in good condition with it being smooth and while it took awhile, eventually the groove widened out and the racing got better as the evening progressed. While the racing got better, we were also reminded that it wasn't quite balmy out yet as a strong wind picked up out of the Northwest and blew a ton, causing the evening to get quite cool before the final checkered flag waved.

The highlight of the racing action was the Modified feature which was a dandy. Cayden Carter started in the front row but lost the lead to a "slider" from Hunter Marriott. Carter then caught back up to Marriott and the race was one as the two leaders pulled away from the pack and fought their own battle. There were plenty of lapped cars to deal with and that produced the best racing as the two leaders weaved through the traffic while Carter at the same time tried to size up Marriott for an opening to take the lead.

There was some hair raising action as the top two knifed through the backmarkers. Near the end, Carter took his best shot, getting beside Marriott but Hunter made a great move to dive low on the track and get a good run to the finish for the win. Austin Luellen, Kurt Kile and Kelly Shryock had their own battle for third.

It was a good night for the Carter family as Cayden also finished in third in the Stock Cars as well as earning the runner up honors in the Modifieds. Also, brother Brayden led all the way to win the Sport Mod main event. Tyler Sopped tried his best but there was no catching Carter in the main.

I was expecting fireworks in the Stock Car feature as a solid field of cars was on hand and a big battle in the main was in the cards. So it was quite surprising that once Jeff Mueller got the lead, he led from start to finish. The Stock Cars utilized the high groove and kind of got in line, with Mike Hughes tailgating Mueller all the way while Carter got freight trained right at the start from the pole to third. The top three stayed close together but no one was able to offer a serious challenge. I thought Hughes might make a banzai on the last lap but he settled in behind Mueller and rode home second.

While the Hobby Stocks had the smallest field of cars by far, their main was quite interesting and also provided by far the wildest moment of the night. While the rest of the night went quite smooth with no big wrecks, the Hobby feature produced a violent flip on the back chute with just a couple of laps remaining. Damon Murty was driving Bill Bonnett's car on this night and had led from the start of the event. Augie Bach was running a solid second but as the laps ran down, Murty seemed to be getting slower and slower on the chutes. It sounded like some sort of a motor issue which was confirmed when the car continued to pop as it headed for victory lane.

Anyway, Bach moved in to challenge and was really pushing as he went for the lead. However, he got too high leaving turn two  and clobbered the back stretch rail which sent him flying and he barrel rolled several times. The car was quite torn up and Bach had his cage rattled by the hard tumble. And what an awful way to start a racing season by tearing your brand new equipment all up.

Murty was able to block the fast groove for the two lap finish and he held off Scott Shull and Mike Kinkaid for the win.

A big field of Sport Compacts ran off a nice and orderly feature race with just a couple of yellow flags. Josh Barnes came from the second row to take the lead early and he pulled away from Brandon Reu and Luke Benischek for the win.

Before the races, Mike VanGenderen expressed a bit of concern over what the field of cars might be, given that it is very early in the season and many of his regular competitors are still not ready for the season. However, the car count turned out to be more than acceptable and the racing was more than satisfactory.

A couple of the drivers expected to be strong contenders in their divisions were eliminated when both Michael Long and Austen Becerra were done after hot laps when both had major motor issues and loaded up early.

An interesting side bar to this race is an unusual factor that Van Genderen was allowing for this weekend. Any driver, for a small fee, could take a "mulligan" and redraw if they pulled a really bad number. It was allowed only once for the weekend and I didn't hear how many, if any, drivers took advantage of the opportunity.

It was really brought home to me how much sooner Spring comes to this country that to us back up North. As we watched farm machinery and anhydrous ammonia tanks going up and down the highway as the races commenced, I guarantee you that no one is thinking about getting in our fields yet!

The track was a little wet for the start of the program and took some extra packing to get in race shape. That, and the big wreck with Bach that took some time, made the show run just a little bit late, especially considering how much it cooled off. However, the racing itself was nonstop with one race quickly followed by another and for opening night, everything else went pretty smooth. The crowd also was pretty good for a March opener, leading to optimistic hopes for the 2017 season.  

J.C. Morton Earns Eight Grand at Humboldt

After a one day delay for the weather, the third annual Battle at the Bullring was finished off on Sunday afternoon, March 12th at the Humboldt Speedway. And for the third straight night, the Modifieds would also run a full show along with the B Mod special.

The cars were lined up by points earned during their double heat races on both Thursday and Friday night. The top twelve were locked in and lined straight up while everyone else went into one of five B features with only the top two moving up to the main. Finishing positions third through sixth in the B feature would run a non qualifier that paid fifteen hundred to win, a far up step from what this class is used to racing for, even if it wasn't the main.

The final tally saw six USRA B Mods, and three each WISSOTA Midwest Mods and IMCA Southern Sport Mods among the top twelve so if they were looking to even the playing field, it would appear that they did spread out the wealth to the different sanctioning bodies. Each group was then allowed one provisional while an additional ten cars would qualify out of the B features.

As expected, with the one day delay for the final day of racing, a number of drivers took off and headed home. About thirty B Mods failed to return for Sunday with some of them having already eliminating themselves earlier in the week. As mentioned earlier in a blog, with the large number of travelers in the Modified class, a goodly number of them headed home to try and beat the predicted snowstorm and only twenty were left to race on Sunday afternoon.

The track had been prepared much heavier than for any of the other nights and while it did eventually slick up and get black from top to bottom, there was no evidence of cars smoking right rear tires which was a pre race concern although it did appear that near the end of the B Mod fifty lapper that the track was starting to take rubber and drivers were falling in line quickly.

Early on, the B features saw many more wrecks, examples of hard driving and brutal slide jobs than the rest of the week put together. Obviously, everyone on hand wanted to make the main and they wre willing to pull out all stops to try and make that happen. The flagman was forced on several occasions to warn drivers for aggressive behavior.

Speaking of the flagman, he was involved in a scary looking accident during the final B Mod B feature. A car climbed the wall down the front chute and flung a bunch of heavy mud balls down the track. Several went over the fence but fell harmlessly in the "dead man's zone" between the track and the grandstand. However, one caught the flagman and dropped him to his knees as he was in some serious discomfort. Fortunately, other officials were able to get the cars slowed down and scramble up to his aid. He was hobbled for several minutes before getting to his feet, but being a trooper, he toughed it out and went back to his duties. I'm guessing he's going to be one sore guy come Monday morning.

Earning a top twelve starting spot for the B Mod feature was important was once their main started, there was not a large amount of passing. Pole sitter Steve Muilenburg led the opening laps with Brandon Kenny and Morton chasing him. Morton was able to get into second and gradually started to close in on Muilenburg as Steve seemed to start getting loose in the corners.

Taking advantage of a yellow, Morton got a great restart, pulled up beside Muilenburg and then took over the lead. Once in front, he gradually extended his margin until a couple more yellows brought the pack back to him. However, he was strong on each green and once again pulled away. There were only three yellows in the fifty laps and they were strategically placed so that Morton never had to deal with lapped traffic as not a single car in the field went a lap down on the track. Twenty of the twenty four starters were still running at the finish and Morton was in control for the last half of the race.

Muilenburg hung on for second with Kenny third. Andy Bryant and Michael Truscott completed the top five at the finish. On Thursday, Morton was very anxious to tell me about his new ride as he had secured a ride in both the Modifieds and B Mods for the year and told me he felt they had the equipment to do some really good things this year. Well, if the opening weekend is any indication, it appears that J.C. is very correct in his assessment.

The Mods wrapped up their weekend with another Mitch Keeter benefit race as he started on the pole and led all twenty laps for the win. Even Josh Angst couldn't stay with him and had to settle for second. Jake Timm had another top five finish while Terry Schultz overcame the disappointment of losing a good spot on Friday night due to mechanical issues by coming back with a top five finish.

So, the third annual Battle at the Bullring is now history. It was a tough week for everyone but they persevered and got the show completed. Just about all the issues were weather related and nothing that track management could do about them. Their decision about postponing the finale until Sunday will probably be discussed but I'm not sure that there was an answer that could have satisfied everyone and still have made the show happen. It was unfortunate that the weather was not much better on Sunday as a strong wind blowing directly into the main grandstand made it another miserably cold day and the crowd wasn't much bigger than the one on Friday night. Not never having attended this complete show before, I have no way of comparing the crowd to year's past but this is a show that is driven primarily by the back gate, as most people realize. The turnout of cars was great and represented a wide geographical area and I'm sure most will put it on their racing calendar once again for 2018. Thanks to Ryan Whitworth, the Whitworth family and all the workers at Humboldt who all put in a long and grinding week.

Sanders Start to Finish at Ardmore

While 99% of the drivers and fans on hand at Humboldt for the Battle at the Bullring were idled by bad weather, it is not like me to just sit around for twenty four hours and mark time when I'm in the area for a race. Therefore, as soon as I found out that the Saturday show at Humboldt was postponed, I started looking around for a possible alternative racing program to attend. Fortunately, I was far enough South that a trip down into Oklahoma was not out of the question. And even though the weather forecasts, while not all in agreement, certainly included at least a chance of rain in the forecast, I decided to roll the dice and headed for the Southern Oklahoma Speedway in Ardmore for the fifteenth round of the Southern Region of the USMTS.

The USMTS has been going strong since the ninth of February with Southern Region events and if they could beat the odds and get a show in on Sunday, they would have completed their fifteenth straight show without a rain out. It certainly must be a record for them as in previous years, they seem to have lost as many of their early shows as those that they actually raced on.

It couldn't have been good news for USMTS head Todd Staley to have seen me walking in the back gate at Ardmore. Here he was, trying to squeeze one last race in and then the jinx shows up! He had already moved the starting time of the show up by an hour to try and beat the anticipated rain which was on the way and then I walk in to muddy the waters on his plans.

However, at this point, things seemed to be looking good. The rain was all North of I-44 and the temperatures were seasonable. Track prep was underway, the pits were filling and fans were starting to arrive. It seemed like everything was progressing nicely.

Forty one USMTS cars signed in to race including a couple all the way from my home area. A couple others had already headed home, anticipating the wet weather and a long drive home. Also on hand were two heats worth of the track's Economy Mods and the Sport Mods.

However, there was one "chink" in the armor and that was the track's condition. I'm not sure how it happened but on a day that was built to start early, run a quick show and beat the weather, somehow the track got well over watered and when the show should have been taking the first green flag, we instead were treated to heavy equipment packing in the wet surface. By the time the track was in condition to race on, the hour early start had been blown, the weather conditions had deteriorated badly, rain was on the horizon and the winds had picked up considerably and were screaming right into the main grandstand, marking yet another uncomfortable night for the spectators.

As Staley has always been good at, once the show starts it moves along at a rapid pace and so it did at Ardmore. Heats were clicked right and then we went directly into the Sport Mod feature. However, it started sprinkling and from time to time, even harder than a sprinkle. The Sport Mods kept racing but the track was not the best for them, triggering a rash of yellows before Wayne Melton, who had led all the way, took the win.  At the lap eight mark, the rain got too heavy and the race was stopped. I thought we were done for the night but soon after, the mist stopped, the track packing equipment was back on the track and the race resumed to its finish.

The running order was changed and the USMTS cars hustled on to the track for their B Features but it was slick and racing difficult. However, they persevered and after completing those two B's, the Econo Feature hit the track. With only a couple yellows, it was completed quickly with Trent Gippy crowned the winner.

The Mods hit the track quickly and the twenty four car field took the green flag. Sanders, with a weekend off from his Late Model ventures, jumped into the early lead and would actually hold the front spot for all fifty laps of the feature. Dereck Ramirez had a fine run in second but Sanders would maintain a big lead until lapped traffic started to be a problem. On this night, everyone was in the low groove and trying to displace some of the stubborn back markers was a problem for Sanders. He lost quite a bit of his lead and in fact, things got a little tense as he tried to clear the back markers. Once Sanders cleared all the bunched up traffic, he was able to put eight cars between himself and Ramirez and then cruise home. A spin on the last corner of the main created a jam up and the field was scored back to the white flag lap for their finish. Despite the tricky track conditions, there was only two yellow flags and four non finishers in the race as these guys know what they're doing.

Zack VanderBeek, as he is wont to do, made a big charge up through the field in the main. Pulling off in his heat, he started as a provisional in twenty third in the main and raced all the way up to fourth at the finish. He actually got past Chris Brown on the final lap but the tangle moved him back to fourth.

Wind whipped and wet, the crowd went streaming to their cars as soon as the final checkered waved. In a pattern that would continue all weekend, determined promoters persevered to get shows completed and unfortunately, the spectator side of things was quite bleak, not matching the quality of the racing that was accomplished.

Keeter Dominates on Night Two at Humboldt

Friday, March 10th was night number two of the third annual Battle at the Bullring at the Humboldt Speedway. B Mods again are participating in a double set of heat races with the points accumulated key to the lineups for the big finale.

Speaking of the finale, it was announced Friday before the show that with the impending bad weather for Saturday, the finals have already been moved back to Sunday afternoon. This was a rather interesting move but obviously track management believes that with the cold conditions and possible rain, that even if the show should somehow be completed, that there would not be enough people in the stands to make it financially work for them. It is rather interesting though, that with everyone already in town that they would make this announcement a full day ahead of time instead of waiting to see how the weather actually does turn out. Forecasts have occasionally been known to be wrong before and once you tell everyone that you aren't racing until Sunday, there's no way to change your schedule. While the rain date had been posted well ahead of time as being on Sunday afternoon, you know that there will be some drivers not able to stick around and will instead head home. One thing for sure, the local establishments should see a nice boost in their business as there will be a lot of people with idle time to kill all day and evening on Saturday.

Some drivers were lobbying for a double show on Friday so that the program could be completed and everyone sent on their way but the numbers for management probably wouldn't work out with that plan. Plus, Friday would have been a very grueling day for everyone. But it is what it is and those that want to race a main will stick around for Sunday.

Along with the B Mods, another strong field of forty Modifieds was on hand to run another full show in that class. Speaking of the Mods, last night's dominating driver that didn't make it to the checkered, Josh Angst, reported that his mechanical issue was a broken right rear axle. Having never broken an axle before, he immediately didn't recognize the problem while in the car but a quick check proved that as the issue. The team was very disappointed as they said the nice eight hundred dollar check could have paid their gas bill from Minnesota to Kansas. The problems for the team weren't done yet either as after a dominating heat race win on Friday, the #99 was disqualified in tech, apparently for a "chip" issue. Angst then had to start twelfth in a B feature and fight his way into the main.

Proving that he was clearly one of the fastest cars on the grounds, he then started seventeenth in the Modified main and fought his way up to a top five finish.

The tech shed was a beehive of activity over the weekend as you might imagine. With drivers from at three different sanctioning bodies racing together and everyone very serious about winning the eight grand top prize, keeping everyone on the "up and up" was a full time job for several people this week. And they proved that they weren't there just for show. By the end of business on Friday night, eleven times B Mod drivers were disqualified, almost all for improper "chips" in their motors! And a couple of Modified drivers also joined the list for similar transgressions. While it was annoying in a way to see so many fine efforts go down the drain, it was also important to understand that they were just following the rules that were established and trying to keep everyone on an even keel. Rules are rules and the "chip" rule in an important one in trying to keep everyone on an even playing field but apparently many drivers decided to try and see if they could slip one past the tech people and most failed. And losing a high point finish in a heat race could be very damaging in trying to get to the top twelve in points and avoid a dreaded B feature on Sunday afternoon.

On the track, the B Mods were starting to establish just who were the strongest runners and Steve Muilenburg and Travis Johnson became the only three time heat winners. Some of the top runners were having a rocky time of it and none probably more so than defending champion Sketter Estey who continues to have both bad draws and tough luck plague his changes of a repeat win.

The one driver perhaps more dominant than Angst in the Modifieds has been Missouri's Mitch Keeter. Friday night he started on the front row and ran off and hid from the competition, winning by nearly a straightaway. Jeremy Chambers had a strong run to finish second while Jake Timm and Kellly Estey also gained top five finishes. Especially impressive has been Estey's efforts as he doesn't have much experience running on the American Racer tires or against open motor competition. Speaking of the DQ's, Steve Holzkamper lost a top five in the Mods when tech found something they didn't like.

Interestingly, near the three quarter mark of Friday night's show, track management decided to "farm" the track. While I didn't think that it was "rubbering up" and seemed to be racing fine, they felt the need to "tickle" the surface and then water and repack it. This wasn't a popular decision, given that it was late and it was bone chillingly cold. The interesting thing was that when they restarted the racing, they only completed a couple more heats before the Mods took to the track for their feature and the track started to take rubber almost immediately with the right rear tires of the Mods smoking off the corners. Let's hope this doesn't happen for the big fifty lapper for the B Mods on Sunday pm.

Previously, I forgot to mention the latest upgrade to the facility at Humboldt. It seems like every year they do something to improve the facility and this year a new entrance into the spectator grandstand area has been completed. They also have built a new VIP booth that is suspended below the scoring tower and likely gives a great view of the track, although it sticking out did obsolete some of the top row seats in the grandstands.

The weather just is not cooperating for this event so far this year as along with the cold temperatures predicted, the rains moved in earlier than expected and it did drip during the last few events on Friday, not affecting the racing any but making spectating even more miserable.

Timm's New Car Earns Modified Win at "The Hummer"

The Battle at the Bullring started Thursday night, March 9th at the Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt Kansas. Probably better known as "The Hummer", this track is hosting their third annual special for the B Mods(or whatever name your sanctioning body hangs on this class). Paying eight grand to win, this is one of the highest paying open wheel support class events going and while other tracks have tried to put together a similar show, most of the others have failed while Humboldt's event continued to be strong and grow. This year they put a cap on the entries and at race time, one hundred and eighteen B Mods were in the pits to race. In a shocking development, one of the strongest local entries and a weekly competitor at the track, Tyler Kidwell, was disqualified in pre race tech when the crate motor that they had recently purchased was found to have altered seals on it and the tech officials ruled out the car. With no other motor available to them, Kidwell was forced to withdraw from the action and just watch.

Drivers from the USRA, IMCA and WISSOTA sanctioning bodies were all in attendance and the number of states represented was stunning. Once again I have to beat my chest slightly and give a "shout out" to the WISSOTA drivers, many of which I see weekly or often racing at home, that again prove that they are among the best travelers in the entire county. Well over twenty five per cent of the field of B Mods racing here are from my region and walking through the pits, it almost felt like I was at one of my local tracks with a number of cars on hand that I see on a weekly basis, all the way down here in Southeastern Kansas. WISSOTA drivers were on hand from Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota and three that pulled all the way from Canada! In fact, one of them, from Winkler Manitoba with Rick Fehr driving and Modified driver James Wall serving as crew chief this weekend, almost didn't make it. They lost a wheel off their tow vehicle somewhere South of Fargo North Dakota and they had to get towed back to Fargo. Fixing the truck in a windy and snowy parking lot, they made Humboldt with a couple of hours to spare. There is nothing that can stop a determined racer from getting to the track it seems.

Along with the B Mods, who are running double heats Thursday and Friday and then tallying up the points to determine Saturday's finales, the track is also running a full show of USRA rules but now sanctioned by NASCAR Modifieds each night. This was a big off season move by Humboldt to switch their sanctioning to NASCAR from USRA but as NASCAR allows for its short tracks, the track may run under whatever rules package they desire. So while the Mods are still using USRA rules and running American Racer tires, the drivers have to purchase a NASCAR license but then they get the benefits of that body, which I must confess I'm not clear on what they are at this point. There was some talk about the sanction change in the pits but I'm sure there will be much more when Humboldt's regular season starts next week.

Even though they were racing for only eight hundred bucks to win the Modified feature, a strong field of forty Mods was on hand. Again I must brag up the WISSOTA contingent on hand as a nearly forty per cent of the Modifieds on hand were from my region, many getting their first action of 2017 and many also looking to tune up for the "King of American" race upcoming in two weeks here at "The Hummer". 

The weather has been very changeable lately and Thursday was a good indication of that. The day dawned sunny but within a few hours the grumbling of a thunderstorm rolled over the speedway. While they had some rain, fortunately the downpour endured by nearby Iola didn't happen at the track or otherwise we might have been sitting in a motel room on this night. The sun came back out, it got hot and sticky and was followed by lightning flashes much of the evening, fortunately from storms headed away from us. Then the winds changed to the North, the temperatures plunged and after being in shirtsleeves all afternoon, it was time to break out the heavy clothes. The weather the rest of the weekend sounds equally shaky.

After Wednesday night practice saw the track slick and hard from top to bottom, a condition not unusual at Humboldt, the rain in the morning and cooling temperatures made the track quite slimy as racing started. The fact that only the Modifieds hot lapped probably had something to do with that also. In any event, lots of drivers were surprised by the track conditions and some of the favorites had a rough time of it in the opening go round.

A surprise to me was the strong performance by the IMCA Southern Sport Mods. In my previous experiences, I had never seen them run that strong before when pared up with other sanctioning bodies but they had a number of heat race winners and other strong finishes by drivers such as Travis Johnson, Cody Smith, Kale Westover and Brandon Kenny. The Isaacs brothers also each won a heat while defending WISSOTA national champion Jeremy Nelson and defending event winner Sketter Estey also won heats in the second go round.

However, the best overall runs of the night were completed by Missouri veteran Stephen Muilenburg. And he did it at a distinct disadvantage. He brought a new car for practice on Wednesday night but blew up the motor. So he rolled out his well used back up car and promptly went out and won both his heat races, the only driver to do so. 

There were two heat winners disqualified for issues involving the "chips" on their engines and one certainly can't accuse the track of being biased when Riley Whitworth, of the family that owns the track, was one of those disqualified.

In the Modified division, the story on Thursday was the visiting drivers, who dominated the action. Josh Angst from Minnesota swept past another Minnesota driver in Kelly Estey to take the early lead and then pull away in the main event. Jake Timm, yet another Minnesota driver, moved into third and then took the runner up slot. Angst had built up nearly a straightaway lead when he suddenly slowed with mechanical issues and pulled into the infield, giving Timm the top spot.

With not many laps left, Timm cruised home for the win, although things got a little tight at the end as Jake struggled with lapped traffic. The finest run of the night was put on by Missouri's Mitch Keeter, who has forsaken his number #52 for a plain number #1 in 2017. Keeter started tenth and quickly went to the front. Other than Angst, he appeared to be the fastest car on the track as he moved into second and cut into Timm's lead considerably at the end. Estey finished up third in his new SSR chassis with Darren Fuqua and Cody Schniepp completing the top five.

Timm accomplished his win with a brand new car that was seeing its first track time, having just been picked up from Jimmy Mars shop on Tuesday of this week. Angst was also running an MB Customs chassis that was very fast also.

For such a big event with so many entrants and many not being familiar with running at "The Hummer", I was impressed how smoothly the show went. They actually managed to start ahead of the posted time and other than a delay when they decided to infuse the Modified B features in the middle of the second round of B Mod heats, there was absolutely no delays in the program whatsoever. All racing was completed by eleven and there were many laps of racing put on the track on this night. Hopefully, this smooth operation continues on the upcoming nights when the weather will likely be even more unpleasant.

Erb Earns "The Throne" at Toilet Bowl Classic

Night number two of the Tuckasse Toilet Bowl Classic was held on Saturday night, March 4th at William Scogin's Clarksville Speedway. After Friday night's long night of racing, everyone was hoping for better racing and a shorter night on night number two. Of course, our hopes failed to factor in that there were at least two additional classes racing on Saturday night along with more race cars on hand with additional money on the line. If you catch my hint on the direction in which things ended up trending, you are perfectly correct.

While the Late Models again fielded forty MARS entrants, a few local drivers did not return and were replaced by such strong runners as Steve Francis in Justin Ratliff's car, Tim Manville, Logan Martin and Rodney Melvin. However, there were only seven of the top twenty five from last year's final MARS standings, so it doesn't appear that there will be many serious point chasers in 2017.  Both the Modifieds and Crate Late Models had twenty six car fields on hand while the new classes racing included Pure Mini Stocks and Pure Street Stocks along with Mod Lites and Mini Sprints. Truly, there were plenty of classes for this special and plenty of laps to be put on the track.

But first things first. First we must qualify the top three classes once again and then line up the heat races straight up by time. Despite a stern warning by the promoter at the driver's meeting that the program must move along better than it did on Friday night and the races had to be done much sooner so that he and his crew could clean the grounds and get ready for drag racing at noon on Sunday, things didn't quite work out as planned.

After extended hot lap sessions for all classes, a couple of driver's meeting and qualifying, it was time for racing to begin. A glance at the watch showed that the track had made significant progress from Friday night. The first race hit the track at exactly 9 p.m., a whopping four minutes earlier than Friday night!

Again, the races were pretty predictable with Friday night's pattern holding pretty firm. Of the twenty three races run on Saturday, all but two were won right off the front row again, just like Friday as the drivers hugged the low groove and those trying to move up the track generally moving back in the pack. The lone exceptions were one of the Mini heats where they drew for position but the stunner was the Modified feature where some how, Allen Weisser found a way to move from the third row into the lead and eventually the win. A combination of a good start and and the seas parting for him found him moving from fifth into second on the first lap and when Steven Brooks slipped off the bottom, Weisser was right there to jump on the opening and drive into the lead. Once in front, he showed that he was the best car in the stacked field as he pulled away for the victory and his "pot."

Erb got the jump on last night's winner Rodney Sanders on the green and Sanders then spent thirty five laps trying to get under him. Sanders actually looked the quickest but he played things clean and didn't try to "booger out" Erb for the lead. Dennis was very good in the heavy lapped traffic and didn't allow Sanders any openings. Scott Crigler, who was quick qualifier, ran a strong third with Gordy Gundaker also having a good run.

It was a great night for the Illinois drivers as Weisser's team mate Chris Osborne Jr won the Crate feature race, thus giving the Illinois drivers a sweep of the top three divisions. Weisser actually gave his team mate his biggest thrill as they were battling for the lead when they came together and Weisser spun while Osborne was able to keep going and eventually collect his own "throne."

With the first feature race not taking the green until 11:45 p.m, it was bizarre when suddenly there was a sense of urgency that saw the last two features, the Modifieds and Pure Mini Stocks , see their feature races cut in length. I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that we had reached the 1 am hour and perhaps a curfew but I can't speculate on that. Somehow, it seemed a little late in the goings on to be taking action at this point, when plenty of time could have been trimmed hours before. The final checkered flag flew at around one thirty in the morning, or about the time that they were issuing "last call" orders back home.

One saving grace was that it was much warmer on Saturday than Friday night and not uncomfortable at all in the bleachers. I'm also happy to report that there was a very nice crowd on hand Saturday although to be frank, there were more than a few that were gone before the first feature ever hit the track. I'm thinking they won't be back again for a while either.

There was a solid turnout of cars for this event and it has clearly found a place as the first event following Speedweeks. My hope is that they realize that the late nights just aren't appealing to even the most hard core of fans and when you attract interested new observers to the sport, it is not in your best interests as a track to run off such a long show that they leave with a bad taste in their mouths and perhaps don't return again. Cut classes if you must, and eliminate qualifying for all those that don't require it under their rules, but do something drastic to speed up your show. A long program does not necessarily translate into a good program.

Long Night at Clarksville Produces Little Racing; Sanders MARS Victory

The Midwestern racing season opened up on Friday, March 3rd at William  Scogin's Clarksville Speedway in Tennessee with the opening weekend of the MARS Late Model Series in a weekend doubleheader. Along with the MARS Late Models, the UMP Modifieds, UMP Pro/Crate Late Models and the local class of Mini Mods also raced on Friday.

Scogin and his associates recently purchased the MARS Series and split it into a West and East division with this race being one that both divisions would be completing at. Of course, this race weekend is one that races under the unique title of the Tuckesee Toilet Bowl with feature winners receiving special plunger trophies on Friday with the "big thrones" wheeled out to the winners on Saturday night. Certainly these mementos are among the most unique winner's trophies anywhere in the world of racing.

Forty Late Models signed in to race on opening night with a wide range of hometowns represented. Drivers were on hand from Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, plus the home state to race for the big prize. The Modified field was not huge at twenty three but there were a large number of really excellent open wheel racers on hand and one must remember that they were only racing for six hundred bucks to win on Friday, so you would not expect too many travels from far away. However, with the strength of the drivers on hand, an intense open wheel race was expected. The Crate Late Models also had over twenty entries including defending UMP National Champion A.J. May along with several other Illinois entries, anxious to  get their racing season started early.

I would love to be able to expand on a lot of great things experienced during the program on Friday, keeping with the theme of this website. However, it was not a night that will go down in memory as one of the great nights of racing seen. Actually, in many regards, it was a night that I hope that I don't have to experience again in quite some time.

First of all there was the weather. Of course the track has absolutely nothing that they can do about the temperatures, but there are certain things that they can do to attempt to mitigate the weather conditions. These would include starting anywhere close to the advertised starting time, running a prompt show and trying to expedite the race program as much as possible. None of these were done as far as I could see. Friday night's weather made me realize how much more pleasant things were in Florida, only one week ago.

The scheduled warm up time for the race cars didn't start too much after the posted time but after that, things went rapidly down hill. And of course, they had to qualify all three of the top classes, which put the spectators huddled on hand in a state of metamorphosis before the first green flag ever flew. In reality, the first race took the green at 9:04 p.m., not a race schedule that would excite anyone. And to make matters worse, for some reason, even with low twenties in the Modifieds and Crate Lates, they decided to run four heats which meant we were treated to four and five car heats in the Crates, and five or six cars in the Modified heats. Unbelievable!

They did only run one race for their Mini Mods(of course there were only four of them), and the Mod Lites also ran just a feature race so sometime well after 11 p.m., the first feature finally hit the track while many of the spectators were already packing up their propane heaters and heading for the gates.

I have been at Clarksville several times over the years and the racing surface, while looking interesting to the eye, has had a record of being on the spotty side. It is a bright red clay surface, about a quarter mile in length and does have pretty good banking. The cars do fly around this track but sometimes the racing can get one grooved too. Friday night the track started off a little bit wet and during the hot laps the drivers were trying many grooves. As it dried out though, the drivers started to migrate toward the bottom of the track. Of course, eighty to ninety cars taking multiple timed laps where they all use the same groove doesn't help that situation either.

By race time, everyone was fighting for the low groove and passing was at an extreme premium. Here are the gruesome facts. Eighteen races were contested counting all four classes(minus Mod Lites where I didn't pay any attention and instead, tried to warm up!). Of those eighteen races, fifteen were won right off the pole and three were won from the outside pole. In other words, not a single race winner started farther back in the field than the outside pole! Now, you tell me, does that make for interesting racing or what? The races went smoothly enough, with not a lot of yellow flags except for the Crate feature where they goofed around and spun their way into eight yellow flags. Otherwise, it was basically follow the leader in everything else with anyone foolish enough to try the outside quickly dropping like a rock.

Twenty four cars started the Late Model feature with Rodney Sanders on the pole. He had to fight off a couple of challenges from Tony Jackson Jr and once, things got a little tight when he caught the back of the field and was having trouble with the lapped traffic. A fortuitous yellow got them out of his way right at the halfway point and from then on, it was smooth sailing. Terry English was able to get past Jackson Jr on a double file file restart (called a "Dover Delaware" style restart by the knowledgeable local announcer"), and he did apply as much pressure as he could but as long as Sanders didn't get too hot into the corners, he was in no trouble on the one lane track.

Actually, "Randy" Sanders (as he was called several times during the night by that same crack announcer") best move was when he got past fast qualifier Kent Robinson in his heat. This gave him the pole for the feature and put him on easy street.

In the Modified and Crate features, there were no challenges either as Clayton Miller and Michael Zimmerman dominated their main events. Both these races were a little long in yellows and by then most of the crowd had heading for their vehicles and some warmth. The final checkered waved at 12:45 a.m. and my vehicle told me that it was only 32 degrees, minus wind chill.

There were some positive things however. The scoreboard has nice big numbers(unlike Volusia in Florida) and it is very easy to read the time trial results. Now if we could just convince them to cut back on the time trials period we might have more of a race track to run on. However, we are down here for the weekend and we will hope that things run smoother, quicker and to a more exciting conclusion on Saturday.