Hungry? How about some bacon? Yes, then let's go to the Bacon Town Showdown on Sunday, July 7th at the Fairmont Raceway in Fairmont Minnesota.
First of all, let's clarify. I never heard of Fairmont being referred to before as Bacon Town so that's either a false statement or I learned something new on this Sunday. This race, featuring a fifteen thousand dollar top prize for the XR Super Series Dirt Late Models, also had the ONUM Modifieds (read no rules Modifieds) and USRA Hobby Stocks in action for a full racing program.
This race was originally scheduled for July 8th but was moved from that date when companion races at Spencer and Mason City fell apart for various reasons. Barry Braun and his staff then moved the race up one day to Sunday, likely to catch the Late Model crowd that was leaving Deer Creek after the Gopher was completed on Saturday night. This, I guess, worked to a point as there were plenty of people in the crowd that had come from Deer Creek the previous night, but that key element, the racers themselves, did not come in the numbers that they would have hoped for. Actually, I believe that there were only four drivers that ran at Deer Creek and then motored West on I-90 to Fairmont.
After I signed in and headed for the pits, I heard the rumor that there might be a cancellation of the race since at that point there were only ten Late Models on hand. For someone who drove four hours to see the race, that was concerning. However, cars continued to pull in and by race time they had eighteen Late Models to take qualifying laps. That included Rodney Sanders, on hand to race his Late Model but when Brent Larson did the math and saw how many cars were on hand, he put Sanders in his second car. Rodney, who has plenty of Late Model experience over the years, did a good job, running as high as fourth before he pulled off when the motor started to run hot. This was an issue for many of the drivers across the board in all classes.
The point structure for the XR Series is both a blessing and a curse, depending on how you look at it. The drivers are required to attend ten of the nineteen scheduled races to be eligible for point fund money, which gives them much flexibility on when and where to race. For example, point leader Devin Moran was racing in Ohio on Saturday night and under this system, he could pass on hauling back to Minnesota for Sunday night's show and use this as one of his "skip" events. This gives the drivers the flexibility to race when it works best for them and not have to mold their schedule to the XR events schedule. This way, they can sample the best of all worlds, so to speak and they must appreciate that.
The curse falls on the fans though. If they attend an XR show, they really don't know who and how many of the top drivers will be in attendance. Since they can skip a number of shows, unlike the other major series that when you attend one of their races, you know that the top fifteen on their point sheet will be there. The latest XR points that I could find show only three of the eighty six drivers that had participated in XR races through July 3rd to be in attendance at Fairmont. And they were Gustin, Larson and Bobby Pierce. The rest of the field was filled in with SLMR and spec motor racers that are terrific in their own right but under horsed against the open motor cars, particularly on a big track like the Fairmont half mile. This can often lead to spread out races and not a lot of passing. And half miles tend to promote that anyway.
On Sunday, Gustin would sweep everything that was possible. He was quick timer at 17.525 seconds, won his heat race by about a quarter mile and then would lead the thirty lap feature race from start to finish.
His main competition was Pierce but he seemed a half step slow of Gustin all night. He was second quick and won his heat but on every start and restart, Gustin would get the jump on him. He did on the opening green and also following yellows with zero and four laps complete for spins.
On lap ten, Dyllan Ricks, a veteran Modified driver who only recently got a Late Model, got into the turn three wall and flipped over on his roof. He was fine but Pierce dropped out at this point with distributor issues. This left Larson as the main open motor threat and he could not keep up with Gustin, who cruised easily with the better part of a straightaway advantage to the checkers. Larson settled for second and after a good battle for third, Tad Pospisil edged out Blair Nothdurft for that spot. When cars went a lap or two down, they were dropping into the infield and only seven cars finished the race.
However, for a few drivers, the night turned into a bonanza. Ryan Schaufler, a regular on the WISSOTA circuit who, quite honestly, to this point in his short Late Model career has not had many top finishes, earned $2200 for his efforts tonight, perhaps almost as much as he has made in the rest of his career! And without the participation of the spec engine cars, of which they had about half the field, there wouldn't have been enough cars to have a show.
I would have thought that some in the crowd would have been a bit upset, having dropped thirty bucks to watch what was clearly not a very balanced field with very few having a ghost of a chance of winning the race. However, that would be a wrong assumption as I heard not a single complaint about the race or the field of cars. This is Modified country and I got the feeling they were just happy to see some big name drivers at their local track. And when it looked like the crowd was going to be very sparse, they came in late and in good numbers and the crowd was actually quite good, particularly on a Sunday with only about a week's notice of the event. I hate to even utter the words, but it appears that social media is a force that is much more powerful than I would like to admit in getting the word out on upcoming events.
The Hobby Stocks and Modifieds both supplied enough cars for two heats and a main event. The Hobby Stock feature was a two car battle all the way with Dustin Gulbranson leading the first lap before he was passed by Blake Luinenberg for the lead. Gulbranson didn't give up and shadowed Blake for many laps, poking a nose under him several times but not quite being able to get past to regain the top spot.
It looked like it might come right down to the wire until a lap sixteen yellow for a two car spin when suddenly Luinenberg pulled into the infield and the disgusted actions by both Blake and his crewman indicated that the car was done and they silently took a push from a wrecker to their pit stall.
Gulbranson was then unchallenged over the last four laps as he drove on for the victory. Landon Krohn made a nice late rush to get second with Parker Anderson third.
Don Gerritsen Jr. drove a great race to win the twenty five lap Modified feature and the two grand top prize. This race, besides paying two grand to win was two hundred to start with no entry fee yet only sixteen drivers signed in. Perhaps it was the night or perhaps it was the rules with only two of the IMCA type cars in Todd Stinehart and Greg Jacobson attempting to take on the more open cars. Stinehart would do the best and earn $400 for seventh.
Gerritsen Jr started on the pole and took the lead early as he fought off first Ryan Wetzstein and then Rodney Sanders. The first fifteen laps ran off nonstop and Gerritsen Jr lead the whole way with Sanders following closely be never able to offer a challenge.
Two yellows in the last ten laps kept the field bunched, the second of which saw third place Wetzstein pull off . The final laps saw Gerritsen Jr maintain and perhaps even expand his lead slightly as he was not going to let Sanders make a late charge. He was clearly the class of the field and drove home for the win. Sanders settled for second and in a battle of the #3 cars, Kelly Shryock edged out Dustin Wiederhoeft for third. Half the field was still on the track at the end of the grueling event.
It was a quick running show and the final checkered waved well before 10 pm, letting what appeared to be a very satisfied crowd to exit the grounds and get ready for Monday morning. Thanks to the XR staff and the Fairmont Raceway folks. I had the chance to talk for a few minutes with their track announcer who would have the night off on Sunday as "Big Boy" was calling all three classes. Of course, this remains the illustrious Lonn Oelke, long time announcer for the USMTS and other tracks and one of the most interesting personalities in all of racing. It is always fun to catch him at the track. And he remains just as unfiltered as ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment