Saturday night, March 27, it was time to settle who were going to be crowned the champions of the tenth annual "King of America" for the Modifieds and the sixth annual "Battle at the Bullring" for the B Mods. With both classes running their big show Saturday, a considerable chunk of money will be on the line for both classes in what may be likely the biggest race to date for "The Hummer", the Humboldt Speedway.
A huge crowd was in line when the spectator gates were opened and it also may have been the biggest crowd in track history, or certainly close to being so. With race cars pitted in the spectator parking lots and campers camped in the same area, a lot of spectators found themselves "hoofing it" quite a distance to the actual track itself and it was quite a hodgepodge but everyone worked together to make it as smooth as possible.
Under the new format used by the USMTS this year, every night is a new and distinct show so unlike other years when just the rungs of the ladder are used to move up the non qualifiers, everyone started the night on equal ground on Saturday evening with time trials again used to determine the heat race lineups which are then raced for passing points that will then determine who is in and who must quality out of a B Feature.
The B Mods, on the other hand, had already determined their top twelve starters and then had to just use that ladder to qualify the rest of the field.
The Stock Cars were again running a full show for their third straight program of the weekend with heats to qualify the cars for the mains.
Time trials are a key part of the Modified program just now and it is clear that some drivers that routinely race fast are not quite as adapt at qualifying which puts them behind the eight ball before the first green flag drops. It will be interesting to see over the course of the year if this format continues to be used how a shake up in just who is doing the winning plays out.
The same format for the Mods saw seven heats and four B Features set a twenty four car starting field with four provisional starters then added, all ready to go the sixty laps of the main event. The redraw saw Casey Skyberg and Brady Gerdes start in the front row but with a first lap blast, it was Brooks Strength that took the early lead. Showing much speed on the straightaways, he led the opening laps as the field started to sort out behind him.
Showing the improvement that he has displayed every time he took to the track this weekend, Strength continued to show the way through the midpoint of the race. At halfway, Lucas Schott had moved into second and had Rodney Sanders, Jake O'Neil and Terry Phillips behind him.
They raced the first thirty five laps before the yellow was waved but the slow down didn't bother Strength who continued to lead but Sanders was making the strongest charge at this time. He moved up the track and found immediate dividends and he moved into second and it appeared that he might challenge the leaders. However, Strength continued to maintain his edge until the yellow flew for the second time with only ten laps left.
With just a sprint to the finish, it was time for Sanders to make or break but Strength had just exactly that as he actually pulled away from Rodney and was clearly the fastest car on the track. He continued to stretch his advantage and drove home unchallenged for the twenty grand win, thanks in large part to the contributions lined up by fellow driver Joe Duvall. This race paid a grand just to take the green.
How surprising that this weekend, when all the stars showed up and brought their "A" game that two of the three nights' mains would be won by drivers taking their first ever wins under the sanctioning body. Not only is that surprising, it certainly bodes well for the future as it would appear a whole new set of stars for this series are starting to emerge. Sanders would settle for second with Jake O'Neil third with only four of the original starters not racing at the end and everyone on the lead lap. This may have been the quickest run sixty lapper in quite some time.
The B Mods did not take a back seat to anyone with their main being a thriller. What a remarkable drive by J.C. Morton who started twentieth and won this race without a lot of yellow flags to aid his cause. He simply found a line that no one else was using and drove it to the front. He rode the rim like no one else and while a risky groove it was, he made it work to the utmost and rode it to a ten grand win.
Marcus Dunbar led the first lap before he was passed by local favorite Tyler Kidwell who would then lead for a considerable number of laps. However, Kidwell was pressured hard by Dunbar, Tony Bahr and Kris Jackson who had moved up from the sixth row. Kidwell managed to maintain a slight lead but the race for second was tight and wild.
Once Morton got into a striking position, he continued to drive the high side and coming down the front chute was able to drive past Kidwell and take over the lead. The battle behind him remained hot and on lap thirty four things came to a head when Dunbar and Jackson came together hard going into turn three. Dunbar's car was wrecked and the "Youper" from the upper peninsula of Michigan was clearly an irate driver.
The rest of the race saw Morton pull away as he had a line that was unbeatable and no one was able to stay with him as he drove home for the gigantic win and the ten grand top prize. Kidwell got shuffled back at the end with Jackson finishing second and Bahr third. Fifteen of the starting field were still on the track at the end.
The Stock Cars showed their balance this weekend as Saturday night produced the third different winner in three races. This time it was Derek Green, who has been close this weekend but until Saturday night wasn't able to seal the deal. He started on the pole for this race, led early but was then overtaken by the afternoon winner, Derek Brown. Brown would lead for a few laps but Green adjusted his line and once he did that, he was able to strong back around Brown and then pull away.
The Stock Cars ran off a nonstop main event and it was Green that took the top prize with Brown second and Kyle Falck finishing third. Only four of the starters were not racing at the end in what was a smooth race.
Again, it was a long night and Sunday had already dawned before the final checkered flag waved. This is why, in a perfect world, these two events are run on different dates when there isn't quite so many cars at once and races to be run. However, great flexibility was shown by everyone involved to make this year's event happen with the cards that they had been given. The biggest thanks should go out to the track workers, whatever their position, for their efforts that allowed three smooth programs despite the horrendously long hours they had to put in. I also need to thank the folks from Humboldt Speedway and the USMTS along with my friend Chris from Humboldt that always provides me with a place to park myself.
As much fun and enjoyment as this weekend provides, it is also tinged with some sadness. This event, along with races at Beatrice and I-80 is the place that I would most likely run into my late friend Ernie from Western Nebraska. All weekend I kept imaging that when I rounded a corner in the pits that I would come across him, cigar clenched in teeth, taking pictures and writing down driver's names. Sadly, that won't happen again in this world and for that it makes me sad.
No comments:
Post a Comment