Sunday, October 11th I was up early and down the road to the LaSalle Speedway in LaSalle Illinois. On tap for this special Sunday show would be the final event of the inaugural year for the MARS Late Model Series under the direction of Tony Izzo along with the Pro Crate Late Models of UMP racing for a thousand dollars to win. Sunday would be the third night for the MARS series this weekend, having wrapped up their season with an Illinois tripleheader that saw races in both Peoria and Fairbury before wrapping up the weekend here on an absolutely gorgeous day in October. If the weather stayed like it was on Sunday, we could race until December and make up for all the lost events from early this year. Unfortunately, we all know that we are operating on borrowed time, as the calendar tells us that things will soon be going downhill. So instead, everyone seemed to just be soaking in the warmth and sun and appreciating what a spectacular weather weekend we had, no matter what state in the Midwest you lived in.
It was a tough year for Izzo to have purchased the MARS series, what with the Pandemic that we all are still dealing with. So he was forced to cobble together a late schedule and add to it as tracks and dates became available and make the best of what he could.
This was the final night of their season but the points title had already been decided and Brian Shirley, with some good work earlier this weekend was able to claim the title and at intermission the trophies and awards for that series were handed out at trackside.
This was only the second race of the year at LaSalle in this goofy season of 2020 but both events that were held here seemed to be successful and while the crowd was not as big Sunday as the previous show had, the stands seemed to fill in nicely as race time approached.
Some changes were still in effect due to the Pandemic with no track inside concessions available with instead a number of food trucks that were spread around the concourse area. Also, the grandstands were taped off with every other row not allowed seating so as to increase the social distancing. And I did not see anyone violating that plan such as did happen frequently at some tracks in Iowa, most particularly Davenport.
For being just the second race of the year, the track itself was in excellent shape with some great side by side racing to be held on a nice and smooth surface and these drivers, veterans of knowing how to race this track, use every inch available and help themselves by working all lanes on the track. Unfortunately, the scoreboard was not working so the time trial results were a bit of a mystery plus what was most needed, the lap board, wasn't working either.
To help in providing a speedy program on a Sunday night, only the two classes were in action and this was a very wise decision indeed as it allowed a full racing program in those two classes yet guaranteed and early finish which of course, is a paramount thing for any Sunday show.
Twenty nine Late Models and eleven Pro Crates signed in to race on this Sunday. While the number of Late Models could have been a bit higher, quite frankly, if you get all the top drivers in Illinois, throw in a few other top runners from out of state such as Richards, Mars and Simpson and that's all you need to provide a more than adequate field. Crates don't race anywhere around close by to LaSalle so it was no surprise that their number was small but they still managed to put on a good feature race.
One disappointment was the poor performance of the "Silver Shark", Scott James. This was the first time I had an opportunity to see him race in 2020 but when a motor problem that they were pouring over in the pits before racing began didn't get any better and the motor skipped very badly in qualifying, they loaded up and left and I never got the chance to see him run.
Two heats for the Crates plus four quick heats and a B Feature for the Late Models and we were ready to go feature racing at an early hour. While there was a small field of Pro Crates, they did put on a nice feature race. All eleven cars that started the race finished and they managed to turn twenty laps without a single caution. And in a preview to the upcoming Rip-it 50, the same scenario played out for the win with the second place car working the entire contest before making the late race pass for the win.
In this event it was Chase Osterhoff who started on the pole and led most of the race until by working hard and pressing the issue, Aaron Heck was able to make a late race pass and then drive on for the win. It was an entertaining race and while low horsepower Late Models are really not my thing, they did a good job of racing hard and clean.
Twenty two cars started the Rip-it 50 which was a really intense race, just like most of the "bull ring" shows are in Illinois. Chris Simpson got the early lead from the outside pole but he was constantly challenged by Rusty Schlenk, Brandon Sheppard and several others with Mars, Shirley and Frankie Heckenast all in the mix at one time or another. Meanwhile Bobby Pierce and Josh Richards were putting on a show as they raced up through the field.
Bad luck struck Schlenk as he battled for the lead when a lapped car spun in front of the leaders in turn four and Schlenk clipped that car and wrecked his front end and he was done. This left it to Sheppard then to fight it out with Simpson for the win.
Sheppard just kept trying as he pounded the high side and got close, but each time Simpson had enough to hold him off. This continued for lap after lap with Shirley not getting his nose down low and providing his own challenge.
Sheppard simply won't give up as he kept on trying, lap after lap and finally, in the last ten laps he started to see some progress as he closed up slightly. He got to the point that he could start throwing some sliders and after the first one was repelled by Simpson, another strong blast down the front chute, with five laps to go, allowed him to beat Simpson to corner one and take over the lead. He stretched it slightly as he was clearly the fastest car at the end while Simpson barely held off Shirley for second. It was a dandy race and with only two very minor yellows, was almost nonstop intense short track action which is pretty tough to beat. Pierce managed to get up to fifth after starting in the eighth row and may have been the fastest on the track at the end but a poor qualifying effort doomed him.
Remarkably, even with all the close racing on this tight track, there was virtually no crashing or contact even, a testament to the skill all these drivers have. No wonder this bull ring action is so popular in Illinois. For Sheppard it was the thirtieth feature win in this remarkable year for him and not a single of those wins was against a "gimme' field of cars.
Racing was done before 9 pm, a perfect recipe for a Sunday night. Congrats to Izzo and his staff and all the working officials for a job well done and for carrying off that quick show that they promised. It will be interesting to see what kind of schedule Izzo is able to put together for 2021 with the hopes that a more normal year is in store for all of us.
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