Round two of the Gateway Dirt Nationals took place on Friday night, December 18th at The Dome at America's Center in downtown St. Louis Missouri, right near both the Arc and the Mississippi River.
The program would be identical to Thursday night's show in that Late Models and Modifieds would qualify, run heats and B Features and wrap up the night with two main events that would lock in another three drivers in each division for Saturday night's big finale.
On Friday, another sixty four Late Model drivers and thirty Modified drivers would be laying it all on the line in an effort to make Saturday night's show.
It was announced at the driver's meeting on Friday that Thursday night's crowd was a record turn out for that night and based on what was seen on Friday, I would imagine that at some point there would also be an announcement that Friday night's crowd was also a record. So, thoughts that with the dates for this year's race falling so close to the Christmas holiday might slump the crowd have proven to be incorrect. Some folks might get shorted on their Christmas presents this year but enough money was scrapped up to pay for transportation, tickets and plenty of refreshments for the Gateway trip!
And just by the interviews by Trenton Berry asking folks where they are from and seeing the license plates in the parking lots etc., it is remarkable how many folks are from far flung places that chose to attend this race. Despite what you think about the atmosphere that Cody Summer has developed and cultivated for this event, it clearly has been much more than a one hit wonder and looks to be not only surviving but thriving. And there is much about the atmosphere for this event that I do not care for. Summer at the driver's meeting today mentioned that he wanted everything settled on the track but not brought into the pit area where there are kids around as this is a family event but I certainly wouldn't bring a child to this race, with some of the stuff on the track and in the grandstands that is not only condoned but encouraged.
Much was made about the fact that "it rained on the track during the morning" and that the surface was much heavier than it was on Thursday which , quite frankly, wouldn't have taken much H2O, and it did race heavier for the first few events but before long the dust clouds were billowing again toward the ceiling. There was enough dirt up by the wall that some of the drivers were able to bang the cushion for most of the night but that big, heavy berm of some years just wasn't there. And this track seems to have only two choices, either very dry and hard when it gets slick and smooth or if any moisture is added at all, it gets bumpy and humpy and cars are lurching all over. There doesn't seem to be any in between choice.
Things got off schedule early on Friday as a car flipped into the fence during Late Model time trials and a considerable break was needed to repair the fence and then later during Modified time trials there was a grinding two car collision after one car broke and stopped abruptly. So, by the time they dropped the first green flag they were about an hour behind their planned schedule but were pretty much able to stay on task after that. Even the two seater ride was marked by Tyler Carpenter knocking the right rear corner off that car.
The Late Model driver who wrecked, Shaun Wiltjer-Hunt, along with his crew did a remarkable job getting their car fixed to race, minus the whole front end but later, in another chain reaction collision and without the front end bracing that was cut off previously, he knocked off the radiator and did other damage that ended his night.
Much rough and border line dirty driving just expanded on Friday and while the track officials publicly clucked their tongues, I think secretly they were smiling as such controversy is what they like to brew in this WWE style event. Anything that takes place during this weekend should be taken with a grain of salt as it is more hippodrome than a racing event.
Such things as a blatant takeout by Kyle Steffens on Mike McKinney in a Mod heat and then for Steffens to say it is payback for some alleged event that happened years ago and Gordy Gundaker's blatant take out of Steve Sheppard Jr while Steve was leading a heat and then Race Director Kelly Carlton dropping the ball by allowing Gundaker to be restored as the leader after Sheppard was knocked out of that spot reek of poor judgement at the minimum and favoritism at the worst. But that sort of thing is both ignored and cultivated here.
After all the slamming and crashing and finger pointing and waving was done, eighteen cars made the grid for each of the two main events. The Late Models would go first with Chris Simpson shooting into the early lead in the Jason Suhre car out of central Illinois. This race was called back on the initial start when Simpson apparently got too good of start on Gundaker but the second attempt saw Simpson do the same so this time the race continued.
Only three laps were completed before Ryan Montgomery got shoved over on to his roof in a multi car pileup. Again, something you will only see here and that was when Montgomery got the car righted, he fired it up and rejoined the race! He would eventually finish eleventh.
Ricky Thornton Jr would move into second after starting fourth and would dog Simpson for the first half of the race. Following a spin by Ryan Unzicker on lap fifteen, Thornton Jr. would get a big run on the green. slide down inside Simpson and take over the lead. After that, the last eleven laps would go green to checkered and Thornton Jr would run away from the field.
So Thornton Jr. won his second main of the weekend already and will sit in a good spot to perhaps accomplish the first double win in event history. Simpson would go on to finish second but add him to the long list of whiners after he complained that Thornton Jr. slid him for the lead and then just about stopped in front of him. That is the kind of criticism you take when you have a forty win season. Brandon Sheppard would do some wall pounding and move up to third and lock himself in for Saturday also.
Drake Troutman would start on the pole for the Modified feature and would have seemed to be the likely winner. He would lead the first twelve laps of the race and through the four restarts following yellow flags. Jordan Grabouski would move up to second after starting fourth after he ran Dave Wietholder pretty much right off the track to claim second, a move that drew many "one fingered salutes" from the Wietholder faithful near me.
Grabouski would make his move following the last restart as he slid in front of Troutman in turn one to claim the short lead. However, Troutman would cross him back over and retake the lead but Troutman was too hot into turn three, slid up the track and got stuck in the fluff and Grabouski would drive under him and retake the top spot.
After that, both drivers went to the berm and with that turning into the fast lane and neither bobbling after that, Grabo would drive on for the win. Another wall pounder, Mike Harrison, would move up from sixth to claim the last lock in spot. With position changes seemingly most coming after yellow flags, one wonders if there would ever be any passing if there were no yellow flags these days.
The win was an impressive one for Grabouski who is not a driver that races against these other competitors in the field very often. But I guess a Modified is a Modified, whether it has a crate motor and hard tires on it or an open motor on gumballs. I guess they all drive pretty much the same.
The track does have a nice program for this event and even more surprisingly, it is free! Racing would be completed somewhere around 11 pm, later than hoped for but understandable given the unforseen circumstances that cropped up tonight. Saturday night will bring on a series of last chance races before the two big main events and as I type this, it is a good thing that tonight's events will be under a roof as it is pouring rain in St. Louis and outdoors this race would surely have been called off already. With all the rainouts at Marshalltown this year, perhaps J VAN should invest in a covered track. By the way, he is calling the action in the Modifieds this weekend for FLO.
No comments:
Post a Comment