A Lack Of Enthusiasm

Apparently I don’t listen as closely as I should to my son Matt. He tells me that on a regular basis, and yesterday explained that I had made a mistake on my blog. Club tickets to Omaha Storm Chaser games are not $10.00 as I posted, rather $15.50 on Sunday-Thursday and $16.50 on Friday and Saturday. The tickets are located directly behind home plate and offer access to the Jim Beam Club.

Still, you know when you go to a ball game that it will start on time, and that approximately three hours later you will be walking out the front gate to your car after watching a complete game. Not many tracks can say they start on time and finish their program in just three hours. I’m not too smart, but it seems to me that might be a big reason why fans don’t flock to the track.

Below is my http://www.DirtonDirt.com Top 25 ballot for the week. I did make some changes, factoring in the tire penalties assessed Jimmy Owens and Jason Feger. I also rewarded drivers who raced last weekend over drivers who did not race.

2013 WEEKLY DRIVER POLL BALLOT

Name Ron Meyer
Please Enter Date Below
Position 04/29/13
1 Josh Richards
2 Jimmy Owens
3 Don O’Neal
4 Shane Clanton
5 Dennis Erb Jr.
6 Darrell Lanigan
7 Brian Birkhofer
8 Billy Moyer
9 Tim McCreadie
10 Jonathan Davenport
11 Scott Bloomquist
12 Steve Francis
13 Rick Eckert
14 Steve Casebolt
15 Eddie Carrier Jr.
16 Mike Marlar
17 Scott James
18 Eric Wells
19 John Blankenship
20 Jimmy Mars
21 Earl Pearson Jr.
22 Bobby Pierce
23 Bub McCool
24 Jason Feger
25 Tim Fuller

As always, check out the site for the combined rankings of the 19 voters.

I have to admit this was probably the least enthusiastic I have been since I was asked to be one of the site’s voters. To me the raft of tire penalties in late model racing is scandalous and calls to question the integrity of the sport. I fear it is becoming like steroids in baseball where even those who may not want to do it feel they have to or lose money to those who do.

One thing that bothers me is that perhaps only now is technology to catch tire cheaters catching up with the technology tire cheaters use.
And that is why so many penalties are coming out. A former crew chief suggested that there are new treatments coming out and competitors may be trying to see what they can get away with before the start of the big money season begins later this month. Why do I picture some wizened old timer with a chaw of Red Man filling his cheek and tobacco juice running down his chin thinking that cheating the system is a good thing? And we wonder why non-fans label anyone going to a dirt track show as rednecks.

I realize that since the very first race between motorized vehicles, competitors have been trying to gain an advantage on others they race against. “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t winning” is a saying that irritates the hell out of me. To push the envelope-nice paragraph, full of clichés-is one thing. If the intent is to cheat, that is a case when severe penalties need to be enforced.

I understand that intent is the key word. Did Jason Feger intend to doctor his tires with an illegal chemical, or was he merely cleaning them for winter storage as he contends? If he didn’t intend to, the penalty could be a fine-$1,500 pops into my mind for some reason-and he should be put on probation, with his tires checked regularly no matter where he finishes in races. If an appeal board decides there was intent, then the penalty should be as severe as has been mentioned-forfeiting his $20,000 winning from the Illini 100, suspension for 90 from all WoO and UMP races, as well as a fine and probation.

I think intent needs to be determined in the Jimmy Owens case too. Owens contends he was 100% legal, and his tires have never been a problem in Lucas Oil series tests. Bloomquist gave a long reason why his tires did not pass the recent test, and given how little I know, he may be telling the truth-it was not his first tire issue though. As far as Chris Madden, 4 times caught certainly shows intent and he needs to be hammered with a penalty from all sanctioning bodies.

When I started this blog I had no intention of turning it into another tire rant, but this issue has me wondering why bother caring about the sport any more if its participants care so little about the reputation of the sport.

Thanks for stopping by.

Time Gentlemen, Plus Lapped Cars

Ben Shelton had a great column in this month’s edition of Dirt Late Model magazine. It seems like I am not the only person who thinks that starting a show 45 minutes to an hour or more after the advertised time is not a good thing. Shelton makes his living covering the sport and sees far more races than I do. Although he has not marked late starting times on a calendar, he believes as many as 7 out of 10 dirt track shows start late. Wow. Name one other sport as bad as dirt track racing for late starts. You can’t-there aren’t any.

He went on to point out unorganized cautions as a source of some irritation. As I read his column I kept repeating “Amen, brother!” His point here was that many times it seems like minutes after a caution flag flies before a tow truck moves-minutes that add on to the length of the show. Then more minutes than necessary are spent clearing the track and getting cars lined up for the restart. When tracks are running 5-6 classes per night, they need to do everything possible to save time, not waste it.

Another columnist writing about safety wondered how many tracks practice or at least talk about what to do in various scenarios. You might think that is a no brainer, but I wonder. If safety personnel and the tow truck operators have in mind what they should be doing in a specific instance, it saves time and more importantly, seconds could be of great importance in a bad crash.

I do think it is important to start on time, at least close to the advertised time. Matt and I attended a baseball game at Haymarket Part in Lincoln on Wednesday, and the first pitch was three minutes after the scheduled time. On Saturday at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha the first pitch of game one was five minutes late, and of game two, one minute late. With racing that would almost seem like an early start.

Even more important than starting on time is finishing by 10:00 p.m. That is the witching hour. People with little children are not going to stay longer. People who have to get up early the next morning to go to work don’t want to stay longer. With 5-6 classes if a show does not start on time there is no way it will be over by 10:00 p.m. Fans will be walking out without seeing feature races and that is a very, VERY bad thing. The casual fan is going to spend his entertainment money where he gets the most enjoyment, and if he misses the most important part of the racing show because it is running too long, he is going to spend that money elsewhere.

The following comment was made by someone trying to pass himself off as Ryne Sandberg: “Bruto missed a good game at Werner Park!! The Storm Chasers were whooped by the Iowa Cubs, but it was still a good game and an exciting atmosphere. Hadn’t yet been to a Storm Chasers game, but I was pleasantly surprised!

Nice park, good game, GREAT stadium steaks!!!!”

Matt has made this comment to me several times-for $10.00 you can sit in club seats close to the action at Werner Field and watch past and future big league ball players in action. There are rides and other activities for kids and there lots of promotions too. And the concessions are decent too.

I blog about auto racing not baseball-well not usually-but instead of spending our entertainment money going racing this last week, we spent it going to baseball games. We thought that baseball was the better value. From several emails I received, I am glad we decided to do baseball. I am pretty sure I would not have been a happy camper this morning had we decided on racing instead.

Only 22 cars were on hand for the SLMR show at Butler County Speedway. Kyle Berck won the feature, followed by JC Wyman and Andrew Kosiski.

I have expressed my opinion many times on lapped traffic affecting the outcome of a race. Too many times a great race is ruined because someone a lap or more down does not get out of the way of leaders. Last night at Duck River Raceway Park the top THREE cars in the WoO show were involved in a crash with a lapped car with just three laps remaining. Instead of finishing 1-2-3, Josh Richards, Scott James, and Rick Eckert crashed trying to get around the lapped car of Mark Gant, a local driver, and finished 9th, 11th, and 12th.

Enough ranting. Thanks for stopping by.

The Rain, The Park, & Other Things

Matt and I spent most of the day at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha watching Nebraska lose a baseball double header to Oklahoma State. The normally fun to watch hitting attack of NU was no fun at all. “Everybody was kung fu fighting.” Make that fake kung fu fighting-there was lots of swings, but very few hits. Where do I begin with the Husker pitching? Try the intersection of Suck Avenue and Can’t Keep A Lead Boulevard. Nebraska pitching is the B modified division of college baseball.

NU has now lost four straight games, games the team really needed to win to be considered for an at large berth in the NCAA tournament. Despite it all, we continue to go to their games-we are going to a game again next week. What can I say? Blame Matt. And yes, I still would rather go to an NU baseball game than watch sprint car races.

TRODT Speedway was shut down last night. While it was sunny in Nebraska, it was rainy in Illinois and Kentucky. Next up for XSANTV is late models from Southern Ohio Speedway on Friday and Saturday. The Friday preliminary pays $4,000 to win, while Saturday’s 100 lap feature will pay a stout $12,000 to the victor.

I only looked on the Facebook page of Nebraska 360 Sprints, the website for Nebraska 360 Sprints, the Butler County Speedway website, and the forums of Butler County Speedway and N360 Sprints on dirtdrivers.com, so maybe results were somewhere else, but the only news I can pass on about the debut of the series was that Jack Dover won the inaugural feature. I have nothing on how many cars, or who finished behind Dover.

The Scott brother rumbling through the USMTS series isn’t Stormy, but his twin Johnny. Johnny Scott won his second USMTS feature of the weekend, adding another $4,000 to his bank account. 42 USMTS mods filled the pits at Southern Oklahoma Speedway in Ardmore. One of the things I like about this series is that the big names often have to qualify through a B main to make the A feature. Last night Jason Hughes, Rodney Sanders, and Kelly Shryock all ran in a B. Another thing I like is there is plenty of passing. Sanders started 15th and raced to 5th, while Shryock started 17th and finished just behind Sanders.

After racing in Texas and Oklahoma this weekend, the series heads north in the coming week. First up is a Thursday show at Rice Lake Speedway in Wisconsin. Friday night the best of the best modified drivers head to Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wisconsin, and finish the weekend with a Saturday show at Ogilvie Raceway in Minnesota. Ryan Gustin will be racing with the USMTS this weekend after racing a late model with the MARS series. Gustin finished 19th at Tri-City Speedway in Pocola, Oklahoma on Friday, and the race at Muskogee was postponed until tonight.

The WoO race at Tazewell Speedway was rained out. The series heads to Duck River Raceway Park in Wheel, Tennessee tonight.

Yes, I did watch the NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Richmond last night. It was a race. I did nap, but not long. I do not regret spending time watching it. And, of course, I wonder who NASCAR will clobber with a huge penalty this week. Juan Pablo Montoya looked like he had the race won, but a late lap caution allowed Kevin Harvick to win for the first time this season. Clint Bowyer finished second. Among those wrecking at least once were Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, and Jimmy Johnson. Next week is Talladega for the most hyped series in all of motor sports.

There is no race today, no baseball game I am going to, so maybe I’ll read a book, work the Sunday crossword puzzle and take a nice nap. Thanks for stopping by.

Owens, POWRI Midgets, USMTS, WoO, Feger, And More

Jimmy Owens is appealing the NDRL ruling that he used a chemically altered tire in route to his win at Federated I-55 Speedway in Pevely, Missouri. It would be interesting to learn more than the decision of the appeal board-i.e. witnesses and rebuttals, as well as the reasoning behind the decision. I doubt that will happen, but given the problems that continue to crop up regarding illegal tires, I think it would be appropriate for a more open process. Owens raced with the WoO series last night in Tennessee.

TRODT Speedway was showing racing from Jacksonville Speedway in Illinois courtesy of XSANTV. POWRI Midgets, Micro Sprints, 410 Outlaw Winged Sprints, and Street Stocks were racing. I have to admit I like the size challenged open wheel cars. Not quite as much as the 410 non-winged sprints, but a lot more than any of the winged open wheel cars.

Unfortunately, when these cars go over, they go over and over and over. What might be just a rut for a Street Stock is a launching pad for a midget. And as my friend Randy has pointed out, there is no wing to absorb the energy of the crash.

It would be an expensive show, but a non-winged 410 and midget show would be a good one. I suppose that spells USAC, one of my least favorite acronyms, but it would still be a good show. Illinois has a 4 night POWRI Midget week in June. Even with Micro Sprints as a support class, those would still be decent races. XSANTV will televise 7-9 more POWRI events, and yes, I will be watching them.

Whoever did the scheduling in Jacksonville gets two thumbs up from TRODT. The POWRI midget semi’s followed the heats. A micro sprint semi came after the midget semi’s and the midget feature was the first feature staged. Shane Cockrum won his first POWRI midget feature, and was followed across the finish line by Andrew Felker, and Darren Hagen-like I know who the hell these guys are.

Call me stupid, but since this was the first time I ever watched micro sprints, I don’t understand why they don’t have to be pushed, while sprints do.

The modified show from Kentucky scheduled for tonight has been cancelled. XSANTV did some scrambling-they are very good at this-and will webstream the show from Fairbury American Legion Speedway in Illinois in place of the mod action.

While there was a lull in the action from Jacksonville, I was checking updates from the $5,000 to win UMP DIRTcar show at Farmer’s City, Illinois and the WoO event from Smoky Mountain Speedway on http://www.DirtonDirt.com. Yeah, that is almost sick. That I also checked out the USMTS site for any updates from Kennedale Speedway Park in Texas probably was a little over the top. There were no updates last night, but results this morning show that Johnny Scott won the race, taking home $4,000. Chris Brown won the USMTS feature on Thursday, but had to use a provisional to make last night’s show. He finished 8th. The other provisional went to Iowan Zack VanderBeek, putting Stormy Scott on the trailer after he finished 14th is his B Main. Wherever USMTS champion Ryan Gustin might have been, it was not in Texas last night.

There were 35 cars on hand for the WoO race. Mike Marlar set fast time. Heat winners were Steve Casebolt, Marlar, Shane Clanton, and Jonathan Davenport. Clanton led every lap of the feature, with Casebolt, Jimmy Owens, and Josh Richards following him across the finish line.

In Farmers City, Tyler Reddick set fast time. Heat winners were Brian Shirley, Kevin Weaver, Dennis Erb Jr., and Ryan Unzicker. Jason Feger, like Jimmy Owens another possible tire miscreant, passed Erb with three laps left in the feature to take the win. Erb finished second, Bobby Pierce was third, and Reddick finished fourth. 32 cars signed in.

Interesting that Feger and Owens not only chose to race this weekend, but put on quite a show, seeming to make the statement that tires that tested outside benchmark figures had nothing to do with their big time wins earlier in the season. I haven’t followed Feger enough to really comment on his success, but Owens has been a dominant figure in the Lucas Oil series the past few years, meaning he has had to have tires checked frequently and nothing was found amiss. I am beyond confused on this issue.

In fact, I am so confused I am getting ready to go to Omaha to watch NU play baseball against Oklahoma State today. I am not going to think about tires at all. Tonight I’ll watch either the NASCAR race from Richmond or go to XSANTV to watch the dirt track show from Fairbury American Legion Speedway in Illinois.
Thanks for stopping by.

Quirky Denizens, Including Three Sprint Car Series-Friday Post #2

When possible I like to prepare my blog posts a day in advance. I had this post prepared Thursday night and it was going to be my post for today, until Jimmy Owens was busted for an illegal tire. So, you get two posts from me today. Be sure to read my “Re-Tired” post too.

I have been reading about baseball in the 50’s. To me that decade and the early 60’s was the sport’s golden age. Yes, it does coincide with my youth, but if you take a serious look at all the stars and great teams of that era, you would have to agree with me.

Actually, I have not been reading about baseball stars of the era, rather workman like players who filled out rosters and never got much publicity for their efforts. To put it nicely, some of these players were rather strange. Oddball might be an appropriate word. Crazy, flaky, and kooky also fit. Though baseball had-and has-more than its fair share of unique individuals, it is not the only sport with whack jobs.

Most of us know of some quirky denizens who haunt our local tracks, but think of this-even with track closings in recent years, there are still close to 1,000 dirt tracks in the USA. I can think of 6-7 incomparable souls sitting by me at the races, so applying the law of average, there has to be at least 100 unparalleled race rarities at most tracks. A conservative estimate of dirt track double talkers would be 100,000. Think of how many books I could write just about the characters of dirt track racing. Think of how many of those books no one would buy, let alone read. Of course those unrivaled race track fiends could be the source of 100,000 blogs. Isn’t that a scary thought?

A certain nameless race track fiend has a birthday next week. In case I forget in a few days, Happy Birthday to one of the real wits of dirt track racing. Who is it? Hint: his racing nickname came from a really bad movie starring Burt Reynolds. Yeah, Burt Reynolds had a lot of bad movies, but the person I am talking of is not named Smokey, Bandit, Gator, Boss Hogg, Jack Horner, David Dilbeck, Stick, J.J. McClure, or Billy Clyde Puckett.

I am being badgered to attend the WoO Sprint Car show at I-80 Speedway on June 9th, and not by a sprint car fan. This blackmailer is offering a sizable donation to the Silver Dollar Nationals Fans Fund if I attend, so I may have to. Anyway, there is nothing better in racing than a sprint car show with B Mods as a support class. Oh wait, there are a lot of things better in racing. Well, I still am going to go, even if my race going buddy does not.

The 410 WoO driving divas were to race at both the Salina High Banks in Oklahoma and I-55 Speedway in Pevely, Missouri this weekend. The Oklahoma race is still a go, but the race in Missouri has been cancelled. The track south of St. Louis is near Mississippi River tributaries, and there is major flooding along the Mississippi. The Heartlands have moved from severe drought to major flooding in just a few weeks-amazing. Unfortunately a lot of the moisture that Midland farmers need is heading to the Gulf of Mexico.

I had hopes that at least one of the WoO late model Tennessee Triple Header would be televised on DIRTvision.com, but none are. I would love to see what Tazewell Speedway is like. I am not really into listening to races-it doesn’t seem to be as conducive as stick and ball sports to audio, but anyone who wants to listen to those shows can listen for free. Just go to the DIRTvision.com site and click on the “watch/listen” icon. The site won’t cybercast late models again until June 26th-27th with the Firecracker 100 from Lernerville, Pennsylvania.

The UNOH All-Stars 410 sprints are in Pennsylvania to do battle with the famed Pennsylvania Posse this weekend. Friday racing is at Williams Grove Speedway and Saturday action is at Port Royal Speedway.

Last, but certainly not least, I would be remiss if I did not mention as I have several times in the past, the Nebraska 360 Sprint Car Series opens its season Saturday night at Butler County Speedway, north and east of Rising City, Nebraska. Believe it or not, I have been to Rising City-the town, not the track-about 20 times, though not for many years. I don’t know if it is still the case, but when I went there Rising City was one of the few small Nebraska towns that did not have a bar. I have only been to the track twice, and the third time will not be the charm this weekend Randy.

I enjoy kidding my sprint car friends because they deserve it. I do hope that this series is a major success though. Good people are running the series, and I don’t want to see a form of racing that I keep hearing was founded in Nebraska come to an end in the Cornhusker State.

Again, this is actually my second post for Friday. Please read “Re-Tired” too. Thanks for stopping by.

Re-Tired. This Is Getting Out Of Hand.

Yet another name driver has been stripped of a major race win because of tires that failed to meet benchmark standards in a lab test. Jimmy Owens must forfeit his NDRL win at Federated Auto Parts I-55 Speedway, along with the $20,000 winner’s share of the purse. Owens must also pay a $1,500 fine and pay lab test costs before he will be allowed to compete in further NDRL events.
It seems like every time I visit http://www.DirtonDirt.com I am reading of a driver being penalized for illegal tires. Scott Bloomquist, Chris Madden, Jason Feger, and now Owens-all have been penalized within the past month. Exploring gray areas is almost expected of racers, but if samples are being taken of tires at national and regional events, even weekly races, it seems the likelihood of getting caught is great and the risks are extreme. I realize that a sizable number of drivers are trying to make a living on dirt, that most are highly talented and experienced, and even if they are racing for more money than ever before, the pie isn’t that great when you divide it. Are tires becoming dirt track racing’s equivalent of steroids? Is everyone trying to get an edge with tires?
Or, is there something wrong with the test procedures?

As far as the DoD Top 25 balloting, every voter will have to determine their own thinking regarding tire penalties. Chris Madden is not in my Top 25, the other three are. My vote for Feger was primarily due to his victory in the Illini 100. With that taken away I don’t have a lot of reason to list him on my ballot. Owens and Bloomquist are an entirely different matter. A Top 25 without either of these drivers is a joke.

If I go with the same thinking on these drivers as I did with Feger, I would discount a 5th place finish in a Southern Spring Nationals event for Bloomquist and Owens first place NDRL finish. With that thinking I would not drop Bloomquist at all. Owens would certainly drop below Josh Richards, though how much farther I am not sure. I have the weekend to think about what I am going to do with my vote.

I do not have a clue as to how to stop tire cheating. Madden seems to have become a serial offender-maybe he isn’t cheating more than others, he is just getting caught again and again. Bloomquist has been around the block more than once regarding tires, but I can’t recall reading anything about Feger or Owens having been penalized for illegal tires in the past. Should a multi-time offender be treated different than a first time offender? Should a first time offender be suspended? For how long? Should a multi-time offender face a stiffer penalty?

Would an agreement between sanctioning bodies help the situation? God forbid that for a moment egos could be set aside for the betterment of the sport. There are several national tours and more regional tours than I can count. If a driver is suspended by one sanctioning body he can merely travel a different road to some other track and race with another tour. What if that wasn’t the case? What if the sanctions agreed that a suspension by one would be a suspension by all? When getting caught means losing one’s source of income, I would think any racer earning a living on dirt would not chemically treat a tire again.

When two of the most successful late model drivers in recent years are smacked down in a short period of time, I honestly do not know what to think. Should I be disappointed? I am. Should I be angered? Should I be outraged? I’m not. Maybe I have been around the sport so long that I am inured to cheating. I would like to think not, but I just do not know. Perhaps most bothersome to me is it won’t be long before the integrity of the sport is called to question. That is a sad situation.

Thanks for stopping by.

NASCAR Math: 3 Paper Clips = $200,000 Plus More Dirt

Although I have written about him recently-mainly to incite one reader-I am not a big fan of Matt Kenseth. Actually, I am not a little fan either. Still, I was surprised when I found out the engine from his Kansas win failed to pass inspection and the Joe Gibbs racing team was hit with a huge penalty.

Apparently a connecting rod in the engine was too light. I am techno challenged, but experts have claimed that this was likely a quality control problem on the part (JGR engines are provided by Toyota Racing Development) and would not have provided a competitive advantage. The rod was 2.3 grams light-about the weight of three small paper clips. The neighboring rod was actually 4 grams overweight.

So, JGR did not realize it had an illegal part, and the part was not responsible for Kenseth’s win. Of course there should be some type of penalty, but a week after issuing bizarre penalties to Roger Penske teams, NASCAR officials issued Kenseth insane penalties. Kenseth was docked 50 points-more than what winning the race got him, plus the win does not count for seeding in The Chase or to secure a wild card spot in The Chase. Kenseth’s crew chief Jason Radcliff was fined $200,000 and suspended for six races. Joe Gibbs had his owner’s license suspended for the next six races.

The penalties for JGR and Penske Racing are simply absurd. Hit the drivers with a 25 point penalty-plenty severe-fine the crew chiefs $25,000 and put them on probation for six races. The severity of the penalties, especially if they are abated in the appeal process, makes NASCAR makes NASCAR a joke with no punch line. Only in NASCAR-and maybe the Pentagon-do three paper clips cost $200,000.

Matt talked last night about going to the baseball games in Omaha on Saturday, but coming home in time to watch the Sprint Cup race from Richmond that night. While Richmond is one of the better tracks on the NASCAR circuit, I am not enthused at all about the race. Two weeks ago I did not watch the Sprint Cup race at all. Last Sunday I watched less than 25% of the race. I want to watch racing, racing where the winner is decided on the track, not in the pits or in some boardroom in Daytona Beach. Maybe I’ll just watch UMP modifieds from Kentucky on XSANTV on Saturday night.

Speaking of baseball, yes it was chilly last night in Lincoln. I thought of taking a blanket, should have taken a blanket, but did not take a blanket, a lack of action I regretted. I enjoy baseball though, and sorry Randy, much more than I do watching sprint cars in action. Nebraska has a great hitting team, but until they get some pitching, their record is going to remain mediocre. A slew of pitchers gave up 15 hits to Kansas State, walked 8 batters, and hit 4 other batters. Nebraska trailed 8-1 after two innings, but came back to take the lead 9-8 in the fifth inning. Unfortunately NU pitchers gave up 5 runs in the sixth and seventh innings and the Huskers lost 13-8.

I just checked the http://www.Dirtondirt.com Top 25 poll, and it does differ from mine. Four of my Top 25 were not included when the ballots were combined, and yes, enough of the other 18 voters added Chad Simpson to their ballot to secure a spot in the Top 25 for the Iowan.

I have been chastised for not including Simpson on my ballot, but I believe emotion overrules logic in a case or two on all of the ballots. It does with me on three different drivers-one up, one down, and one not around. The strangest things might trigger my emotion, but as some promoters know, I have a very long memory.

I submitted my ballot before I knew of the Jason Feger suspension, and others must have too as he remained in the Top 25. I am not sure how I will consider Feger in the next ballot. Much of his ranking came because of the Illini 100 victory, and he has now been DQ’ed in that race, but is appealing the penalties.

Some of you might think I am a hypocrite regarding Simpson. Too bad. I mean that as politely as possible. Some of you might think I am a hypocrite for my low ranking of Darrell Lanigan. I downgrade Lanigan for not competing outside the WoO, but it is doubtful many Lucas Oil drivers will be racing with the WoO during that sanction’s Tennessee Triple Header this weekend, even though the Lucas Oil series is off. My problem with Lanigan is not his skipping a regular series race put on by another sanction, it is skipping big dollar events like the North-South 100 or the NDRL race at Paducah, both not far from where he lives. Yeah, the man can race wherever he wants-and I can rank him wherever I want.

Matt and I flirted briefly with going to LaSalle Speedway in Illinois on May 10th and 11th for the Spring Shoot-Out, two complete Lucas Oil shows. Yes, we love the Lucas Oil late models. LaSalle is about 420 miles from Fremont, but mostly interstate highway. With Matt behind the wheel the trip would take a lot less time than MapQuest says. Unfortunately family priorities are making that a no-go. Instead, we are thinking of Lakeside Speedway on the Tuesday before the Silver Dollar Nationals for a Lucas Oil/USMTS show. We also love the USMTS.

Thanks for stopping by.

So ‘Tired,’ Plus TRODT Speedway Adds To Schedule

During Sunday’s STP 400 at Kansas Raceway, Danica Patrick was complaining that a slower car was making her life difficult. Really? Do you think this has never happened to multi-time NASCAR champions Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, or Jimmie Johnson? How do they handle such a situation? I am not a big David Gilliland fan, but I have to agree with his reply to Patrick-“shut up and race.” If you want to be accepted as just another driver, whining about something like this won’t get you there.

Tests on a tire Jason Feger used in winning the Illini 100 earlier this year failed to pass WoO guidelines. Separate samples were taken of Feger’s right front tire, and both failed lab testing. The sanctioning body clobbered Feger with penalties:
-DQ’ed from the Illini 100, forfeiting winner’s points and the $20,250 winner’s purse.
-a fine of $3,000.
-Loss of 1,000 championship points for the season, plus suspension from all WoO and DIRTcar UMP events from April 19th-July 19th.

I say clobbered, not just because of the $$ figure, but Feger will not be able to run in the UMP sanctioned Dream at Eldora, plus the suspension will be in effect through all but the final race of the UMP Summernationals Tour. Feger has been a major Hell Tour figure for years, and won the point title in 2010. Not only could he not run the Summernationals, but the UMP website lists 21 Illinois tracks. Feger could not run in any UMP sanctioned event close to his home.

Unless the penalties are lifted, it seems to me that Feger would have to write off half of the 2013 season, or run the Lucas Oil or regional tours to try and make a living. Feger does not deny illegal chemicals were used on the tire, but claims they were not used to soften the tires, rather to clean them for winter storage, and that at the time he did not realize the cleaner used contained illegal chemicals. He is appealing the penalties.

While Feger’s appeal may lessen the severity of the penalties, I don’t see how the WoO could abate all of the sanctions and retain any credibility at all. Even if his intent was not to soften tires, a mere slap on the wrist won’t do either-other drivers will see this as getting away with cheating and figure they can too.

I don’t know what to think about tire rules. On one hand, they have been made to prevent a driver from gaining an unfair advantage over other competitors, and I agree with that. However, it has turned into a wild version of “he said, she said.” Earlier in the season, tires off the Scott Bloomquist car failed inspection and the hall of famer stated it was because he drove through an oil spill in the pits. Chris Madden has been penalized four times-OK, that does sound like a serial scofflaw. Can a crew member even wipe off a tire with a shop rag? What chemicals might the rag have present that could be transferred to the tire? What about washing the car? Does the car wash soap contain some illegal substance?

It is almost as if the NCAA wrote tire rules for dirt race tracks as they are difficult to understand and someone is always going to try to find a gray area. I’m glad all I have to do is write about this, not rule on it.

US 30 Speedway has moved back their opening night one week due to wet grounds and lousy weather in general. Just as well-it appears baseball will be my relaxation this weekend. Matt and I are going to Lincoln tonight for the NU vs. Kansas State game, then to TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha on Saturday for the NU vs. Oklahoma State game.

XSANTV has added dates for this weekend and next weekend, so TRODT Speedway will be open for the weekend. On Friday night XSAN will be at Jacksonville Speedway in Illinois for a POWRI Midget show, with other open wheeled classes too. On Saturday XSAN will be at Cedar Ridge Speedway in Kentucky for UMP Modifieds.

In early May XSAN will be at Southern Ohio Speedway in Wheelersburg to cover the track’s 18th Annual Southern 100. Friday night’s show pays $4,000 to win, while Saturday night’s winner will collect a whopping $12,000. Both national tours are in action, but look for plenty of regional stars to run for this purse.

Thanks for stopping by.

My Top 25, IMCA Modifieds-West Coast, Plus I Agree With A Sprint Car Fan

Below is my http://www.DirtonDirt.com Top 25 late model drivers ballot for April 22nd. There were lots of changes based on WoO, Lucas Oil, Southern Spring Nationals, and CBC/ALMS/MARS races last week. I did plenty of shifting positions, plus I added 4 different drivers to my list. You’ll have to check out the DOD site to see how my picks compared to the other voters.

Name Ron Meyer
Please Enter Date Below
Position 04/22/13
1 Jimmy Owens
2 Josh Richards
3 Don O’Neal
4 Brian Birkhofer
5 Dennis Erb Jr.
6 Billy Moyer
7 Scott Bloomquist
8 Tim McCreadie
9 Jonathan Davenport
10 Steve Francis
11 Darrell Lanigan
12 Rick Eckert
13 Shane Clanton
14 Eddie Carrier Jr.
15 Mike Marlar
16 Jared Landers
17 John Blankenship
18 Earl Pearson Jr.
19 Steve Casebolt
20 Jason Feger
21 Bobby Pierce
22 Randy Weaver
23 Brian Shirley
24 Bub McCool
25 Tim Fuller

Hopefully my voting every week makes my blog a little better too. Before I voted yesterday I checked 9 different sites, meaning I access more information than I did in past years-by far. Steve ‘Race Guru’ Basch mentioned to me that my blog is a little more wordy than in the past (that was my translation of what he actually said), and looking everything over more closely gives me more to say.

Even though I look every week, it is far too early to think much about IMCA Point Standings. The leaders are all from fair weather states-tracks in the Midwest are just getting their season rolling. I do want to point out three names that are showing up in Modified Standings-Jason Noll, Brad Pounds, and Joshua Vogt. I am doing Dirt Modified articles on each of these drivers. Noll is currently 4th in Arizona state standings, 4th in Western Regional Standings, and 6th in National Standings. Pounds is atop the California Point Standings, while Vogt is ranked 3rd in Golden State points.

From Randy Palmer:
“I know you don’t like the delay it takes to push start the sprinters, but nothing is more aggravating to me than to see all the Late Models lined up on the front stretch only to hear the same redundant interview with each one of the drivers which I perceive to be about as useless as a fart in a windstorm.”

TRODT: I figure most sprint car fans turn the push-offs into a drinking game. One beer for each session of push-offs means 2-3 beers during hot laps, 3-4 beers during heats, 1-2 for consy’s, 1 for the A Main, and of course a few more for the red flags. Toss down a couple during intermission and 12-15 beers per race night is about normal for sprint car fans.

As far as lining up late models and interviewing drivers before a feature race, you are complaining to the wrong guy. You can’t possibly hate that more than I do. When it isn’t done at some late model crown jewel events, why in the world should it be done for a 30 lap MLRA race?

TRODT’s suggestions:
1. If the winner’s share of the purse is under $25,000 do NOT line up on the front stretch for prerace interviews.

2. If it is after 10:00 P.M. do not stop on the front stretch for prerace interviews, even if the winner’s share of the purse is $25,000 or more.

3. If the show is not a national tour event, skip the 4-wide pass by the grandstands. If every Tom, Dick, and MLRA does it, it really isn’t so special anymore.

4. Interview winners in batches-AFTER the last checkered flag flies. Yes, I do think that feature winners deserve to be feted. Six class race nights already drive me bonkers, and interviewing each winner after his feature makes it more so. First, the winner takes an obligatory parade lap. Then he has to way to make sure he is legal weight, meaning crossing the scales far from the front stretch. Next, he drives around to Victory Lane and has to unhook all his safety gear and climb out of the car. He’ll answer a few questions from a pit reporter, and then driver, family, and crew line up for photos. Finally, photos are done, driver climbs back into car and drives to tech inspection.

How much time does this take? My guess is 5 minutes per support class, meaning an additional 25 minutes added on each show when this is done. Do ALL the winner interviews after the final race is completed. If a person wants to stay for the interviews he can stay. The fact that most people are up and heading for the gate when the feature class winner is being interviewed ought to tell promoters how much interest everyone but family and friends has in this ritual. Me, the way my ride drives, I could be half way back to Fremont from a lot of tracks in those 25 minutes.

The $10, $20, $35 I pay at the front gate is paid for a quality race program. I am not paying by the minute. I don’t want a long show to feel I got my money’s worth. I want a show that starts close to the scheduled starting time and that is over by 10:00 p.m.; earlier would be appreciated.

Thanks for bringing up that point Randy. And thank you for stopping by.

Kansas, Illinois Twice, & West Virginia

I only watched the last 60 laps of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series race from Kansas Speedway, so really have nothing of any import to pass on. Matt Kenseth won the race-funny what a good driver can do with a good team. I only say this because my friend Tony is such a big Kenseth fan and wants me to name Kenseth the Official Sprint Cup Driver of TRODT. I am not that big of a Kenseth fan. Kasey Kahne finished about a second behind Kenseth.

Though I only watched the final 60 laps of the Kansas race, I saw nothing compelling, nor anything particularly revolting. Next weekend it is on to Richmond for a Saturday night race. I used to be upset when NASCAR ran races on Saturday night, but I realize that if given the chance, real race fans will DVR the NASCAR race and go to the local track, while NASCAR fans are not going to the local track unless someone like Tony Stewart shows up. I wonder if Stewart races a 305 sprint car.

Last night The Rest of the Dirt Speedway featured action from Vermilion County Speedway, a racy ¼ mile oval in Danville, Illinois. 15 UMP Street Stocks, 29 UMP Modifieds, 32 MOWA 410 winged sprints, and 41 non-wing sprints filled the pits. I am not sure what MOWA stands for-either Midwest Outlaw Winged Association, or Most Often Waiting Around. There were some semi-big names in the winged 410 class-Jac Haudenschild and Randy Hannigan, and big names like Dave Darland and Levi Jones in the non-winged sprints.

TRODT Speedway’s concessions were first rate again, serving Godfather’s Pizza straight from the oven, hot wings, and Diet Coke. I’ll put TRODT Speedways concessions against any other track in the country.

Watching last night’s show, I think I would be far more tolerant of sprint cars-other than Ivan and Randy I doubt I will ever be tolerant of sprint car fans-if they did not need to be pushed off, and pushed off, and pushed off, and pushed off, and pushed off, and pushed off. If you thought reading that was irritating, that ain’t half of what non-open wheel fans think of the time wasted pushing off these cars. I wonder how many weeks, months, years(?) of veteran Steve Kinser’s life have been wasted simply on waiting for his damn race car to fire off.

I only watched the heat race action from Danville. There was some lightning in the area and I really don’t want to fry my computer via a lightning strike. My thoughts on what I watched-I don’t like UMP Street Stocks as much as IMCA Stock Cars. Just like their IMCA counterpart, the UMP Modifieds put on a decent show. Absolutely, positively, no doubt whatsoever, 100% sure, non-winged sprints put on a far better show than their winged counterparts. Three wide action was common, and for me the highlight was a heat race that featured the People’s Champ, Dave Darland, and Levi Jones. Darland was battling another car for first, and Jones slipped under both to take the win.

Under duress I will probably go to a few winged sprint car shows this summer. It would be under no duress-well, unless they raced at some track I don’t like-for me to go to a 410 non-wing sprint car show. These drivers are nuts, but they put on a helluva show.

The Simpson brother I am not particularly fond of followed up his Burlington CBC/ALMS/MARS win with a win at the triple sanctioned event at Quincy, Illinois. Honestly, I was surprised at the quality of the field-in addition to Chad and his brother Chris, other drivers included Brian Shirley, Shannon Babb, Tyler Reddick, and Terry Phillips. NO, those wins against decent competition are not enough to get him on my http://www.DirtonDirt.com Top 25 ballot. I am not sure a World 100 win would get him on my ballot.

Eddie Carrier Jr. did make in on my ballot this weekend. The West Virginia driver won a Ray Cook promoted Southern Spring Nationals show earlier in the week, and last night bested a stellar Lucas Oil field at West Virginia Motor Speedway in Mineral Wells.

Unlike his WoO competitor Darrell Lanigan, Josh Richards has been competing outside his regular series. After a 3rd place finish in Saturday’s WoO show, Richards ran with Lucas Oil last night and finished 2nd to Carrier. Don O’Neal was 3rd, Brian Birkhofer was 4th, and Jimmy Owens was 5th.

With the freakish weather we are having, I am not sure if I am doing any “at the track” racing this week. Thursday night at US 30 is a possibility-since I paid my GOTRA dues I really should watch them race when I get a chance. Sunday at Butler County Speedway is a possibility with a 5:00 p.m. start and the SLMR in attendance. My race going buddy isn’t too enthused about either show though.

Nothing going on at TRODT Speedway either-the next XSANTV event isn’t until Wednesday May 7th, a Hawkeye Dirt Tour event from Benton County Speedway in Vinton, Iowa. I hope this doesn’t turn into a NASCAR only race week.

Tomorrow-my top 25, with 4 new drivers on the list. Thanks for stopping by.