A Good Idea Not Likely To Be Used Plus Other Dirt

 

I wrote yesterday of the MLRA race at US 36 Speedway.  Because of the continued wet weather, the race was postponed.  A source I call the “Eye Doctor” emailed me and said they should reschedule it for the Friday of Labor Day weekend as the MLRA has a show at Lucas Oil Speedway the next night and MARS does not have any races scheduled that weekend.  I think that makes total sense, meaning it will not be done that way.

 

Travis Dickes of Madison, Nebraska impressed a lot of people with his performance at Lucas Oil Speedway last weekend.  Check out www.DirtonDirt.com for a nice article on Dickes by Todd Turner.

 

The Appalachian Mountain Dirt Late Model Speedweek kicks off tonight.  Six races in six nights at tracks in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania and car counts of 50+ make this by far the best regional late model mini-tour in the US.  I wish a mini-tour like this existed in the Midwest, but I am not sure if drivers would support it-50 late models in the pits is a helluva lot better than 20.  I’m not sure if local tracks would support it.  And, I’m not sure if fans would support it even if local tracks did.  Maybe that is why a mini-tour like this does not exist in the Midwest.

 

I expect a name driver like Rick Eckert or Jimmy Mars to win a race or two in this mini-series. It is a nice opportunity to build some momentum for The Dream at Eldora.  Eckert would have to miss a few nights of the Appalachian series since the WoO late models are in action this weekend, but with three races close to his Pennsylvania home, I look for him to be a serious contender.  Five of the races pay $5,000 to win, while the series finale pays $7,000 to win.  I would think that would entice someone like Mars to run at least a few of the mini-series races since he does not follow either of the national late model tours.

 

Yes, the Appalachian Mountain Dirt Late Model Speedweek is on my “if I ever win the @#$% lottery bucket list.” Going to tracks like Potomac, Hagerstown, Winchester, Roaring Knob, Port Royal, and Lincoln would be fantastic, but now you can head to Eldora for three more nights of The Dream.  There are many dirt track vacations, but this one would have to be near the top of the list. It would be nice to take my lap top computer on the road and post my blog late at night after watching some great racing. Actually, I don’t have a lap top, a tablet, or a smart phone, and I can’t tell you the last time I was away from work for a week straight. 

 

In the strange but true file, last weekend WoO Sprint Car champion Donny Schatz won a late model race in Williston, North Dakota.  I watched Schatz run in the Prelude to the Dream last year, and that night he did not give any indication that he would ever run a late model again, let alone win a race.  Not quite as strange as the Schatz victory was Ryan Gustin winning an NCRA race in Wichita, Kansas.  It was the USMTS modified champ’s second win of the season in a late model.  I look for Gustin to run both a late model and a USMTS modified at Silver Dollar Nationals III in July.

 

For those of you into such things, Kenny Wallace will be racing at the Albion Speedway tonight, running both an IMCA modified and a limited late model.  Wallace will be signing autographs from 5:30-7:00 p.m.

 

I got an email from Triple Crown Travel about a major league baseball tour later in the summer.  The tour will make stops for four games including one at FenwayPark, and will spend a day at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. I’ll have to add that to my “if I ever win the @#$% lottery bucket list,” and the thought of doing that with my son and grandson does bring a smile to my face.  The first major league game I ever attended was a Kansas City A’s game not quite 48 years ago.  The A’s were playing the Minnesota Twins who featured Harmon Killebrew.  This was a tour also, put on by Fremont News & Travel, and it was a train trip, not a bus trip.  The train traveled on Burlington rails to Kansas City.  Taking a rail trip to a ball game with my son and his son sounds like a good time too.

 

No predictions this week.  Last week a TRODT onus put on them did no good for Brian Birkhofer, Billy Moyer, Tim McCreadie, or Shane Clanton and I am hoping for good weekends for all of them, so that keeps me from any late model prognostication.  And I simply do not care enough about NASCAR at Dover to jinx anyone.  Well, except maybe Carl Edwards.

 

For those of you who subscribe to Dirt Late Model magazine-all of you should-there was a really nice cover article on Donnie Moran and his son Devin.  Modesty prevents me from naming the author.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knoxville, Dover, Newton, Osborn, And Boone

For those of you who equate racing with open wheel winged wonders, here is a link to a contest you have dreamed of-the winner receives a trip for four to the Knoxville Sprint Car Nationals, two hotel rooms, a $500 Casey’s gas card, and Knoxville merchandise.

 

http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com/contest/trip.aspx

 

Second and third place prizes include two tickets to the August race I like to call the other Knoxville Nationals-the real one being held in late September.  Yes, I did enter.  I was at the site and it seemed silly not too.  If I win I can use the Casey’s gas card and sell the rest cheap to a sprint car nut. I know Knoxville has a 360 sprint nationals, but do they have a 305 nationals yet?

 

This week is NASCAR Sprint Cup week at Dover, Delaware.  If ever there was a waste of cement and steel, wood and plastic the race track at Dover is it.  Hard to believe, but at one time this race was 500 miles long.  At 400 miles it seems longer than the Coke 600 at Charlotte, even with FOX Sports generating its own red flag.  To me the Dover race could be 300 miles and it would still be too long.  A race at Dover is like 60 B Mods at I-80 Speedway.  There is going to be a ton of yellow flags and most of them leave you shaking your head and wondering why.

 

I don’t plan on spending my Sunday afternoon with Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds, and Jeff Hammond hyping Dover.  Thank goodness for college baseball.  Or maybe there will be a Pawn Stars marathon on Sunday. My Sunday paper, Pawn Stars, and a nap sound pretty good. Yes Randy, I do know that the Indy cars are racing on both Saturday and Sunday at a Detroit road course.  They key words there are road course. I do admit to having some interest in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 from Newton, Iowa in late June.  Not enough to go, but enough to watch it on TV.

 

Actually, I have even more interest in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race from Iowa Speedway on June 8^th.  I wish someone who has a working relationship with Nationwide insurance could get tickets to that event.  Oh my God, I just visited the Iowa Speedway website.  On Friday July 12^th-the day before the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, the Frank Kimmel Street Stock Nationals will be held.  This will be a 100 lap race with cars that are basically IMCA Stock Cars on a 7/8 mile asphalt oval.  I cannot explain why I think Deery Brothers late models on asphalt in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is a circus race, but stock cars at Newton are major cool.  But I do.  I wonder if I can talk my race going partner into a trip east on I-80 to Newton on July 12^th. The cars do have to run a rev limit chip, so it isn’t like they would be racing at absurd speeds.

 

Speaking of my race going partner, Matt made some noise about the MLRA show at US 36 Raceway in Osborn, Missouri tomorrow night.  Something about the MARS vs. UMP races this weekend being cancelled, meaning that Stovall and Phillips and other MARS regulars might race with the MLRA this weekend.  Gee that sounds good Matt and I love the MLRA.  The MLRA has been my favorite series for years. The weather just seems too iffy to drive that far for a race that might be rained out.

 

The only thing crazier than a B Mod driver going through a turn on a dirt track is the Midwest weather.  We go from severe drought to flash floods in seemingly an eye blink.  I am tired of severe weather and so are my two favorite puppies.  Anyway, Craig Kelley sent a link to a photo of Boone Raceway.

 

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/484799_527160343988284_2038513698_n.jpg

 

I wonder if the races are on for Saturday night.  Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Top 25 Plus NASCAR In The Land Of Oz

Below is my May 27^th Top 25 ballot for www.dirtonDirt.com.  I made lots of changes, based on results of the Show-Me 100, three separate WoO races, and regional action.  By now, most drivers have wins, and many have multiple wins.  All of them have good finishes and bad finishes.  It won’t be easy for a driver not in my Top 25 to be added to my ballot, and likewise, one bad week won’t get someone dropped. Good weeks and bad weeks will scramble my ballot thought, and that certainly happened this week.

 

Yes, I did drop Dale McDowell this week.  He didn’t have a bad week; he didn’t have anything at all, and not racing on a holiday weekend seems very strange to me.  Most of the other drivers on my ballot raced 2-4 times, so McDowell not racing made it easier for me to drop him and add Chris Simpson, than it would have been to drop someone else to make room for Simpson.

 

I will consider adding his brother Chad when it snows in Nebraska in June, July, and August, and when he wins the World 100 and all three nights of the Knoxville Nationals in the same year.

 

 

 

 

2013 WEEKLY DRIVER POLL BALLOT
Name	Ron Meyer
	Please Enter Date Below
Position	05/27/13
1	Josh Richards
2	Jimmy Owens
3	Darrell Lanigan
4	Shane Clanton
5	Don O’Neal
6	Dennis Erb Jr.
7	Billy Moyer
8	Steve Francis
9	Scott Bloomquist
10	Tim McCreadie
11	Rick Eckert
12	Brian Birkhofer
13	John Blankenship
14	Jonathan Davenport
15	Steve Casebolt
16	Eddie Carrier Jr.
17	Brady Smith
18	Jimmy Mars
19	Mike Marlar
20	Earl Pearson Jr.
21	Chris Simpson
22	Bobby Pierce
23	Eric Wells
24	Scott James
25	Jason Feger

 

I am hoping that 15-16 of my Top 25 will be on hand for the Silver Dollar Nationals in July.  Some of you probably think I let my Lucas Oil over WoO bias greatly affect my rankings, but I think I am being fair.  3 of the top 4 on my ballot are WoO drivers so I don’t think I am ranking them lower than they deserve.  I am not a great fan of Richards or Lanigan and I have them 1 and 3 at this time.  Anyway, you can check my rankings against the overall ranking on www.DirtonDirt.com.

 

That site did have some good things to say about Nebraska driver Travis Dickes.  Dickes started 11^th in Thursday’s MLRA show, qualifying better than many of the name drivers who raced that night.  He finished 20^th. The Norfolk, Nebraska driver missed qualifying for the Show-Me 100 by one spot in his heat, one spot in his consolation race, and then finished second in the non-qualifiers race.  The winner of that race had the option of taking the $2,000 first place prize or tagging on to the back of the Show-Me field.  Dickes followed up his Wheatland weekend with an SLMR win at I-80 Speedway on Sunday, not at all rattled by battling veteran Kyle Berck for lap after lap around the 4/10ths mile Greenwood, Nebraska oval.

 

It must have been seeing ads for the Omaha Children’s Theater production of The Wizard of Oz that somehow had me waking up this morning thinking of casting a NASCAR version of the classic.  Dorothy would be living in a trailer in Alabama instead of on a farm in Kansas.  Auntie Em would be a tobacco chewer missing about half of her teeth. No weather problems in this play, rather Dorothy would get hit on the head by flying debris at a Sprint Cup race. A house would not fall on the Wicked Witch of the East; it would be a FOX Sports camera. The Land of Oz would be Charlotte, North Carolina. Obviously Danica Patrick would be Dorothy, and Ricky Stenhouse would be Toto.  Krista Voda would be the Good Witch, while Darrell Waltrip would be the Bad Witch-no cackles, just “boogety, boogety, boogety.” The Mayor of Munchkin City would be Jack Roush.  The Lollipop Guild would be Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, and Matt Kenseth.  Jimmie Johnson would be the first Munchkin to tell Dorothy to “follow the yellow brick road,” though he meant the street from Charlotte Motor Speedway to his bank. The Scarecrow is easy-Larry McReynolds.  The Tin Man is even easier-Carl Edwards.  The Cowardly Lion has to be Tony Stewart.  The Gate Keeper to the Land of Oz would be Mike Helton, just as the Wizard of Oz has to be Brian France-“no, I’m a very good person, just a very bad wizard.”  The Flying Monkeys would include Mike Joy, Jeff Hammond, Wally Dallenbach, and Kenny Wallace.  At the end Dorothy would not be saying there’s no place like home, she would be saying there’s a place like Daytona.  That is how you improve on an icon.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

Is Duck Dynasty Or NASCAR Racing The Most Important Redneck Reality Show On TV??

I can’t argue with the comments my friend Randy Palmer made about the Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Coke 600 from Charlotte. I can’t argue because I did not watch the NASCAR race at all and only watched the Indianapolis 500 between innings of the Nebraska baseball game.  I have heard too many times how great the Indy 500 was this year, the record number of lead changes, the record number of leaders, and Tony Kanaan finally winning.  Yes, those are great things. There have also been many Indy 500’s that were as much shambles as races.  

 

Actually, my non-interest in Indy Car racing is surpassed only by my non-interest in Formula One Racing.  Oh, I almost forgot, and 305 sprint car racing too. I did make 18 attempts to watch a minute of the Indy 500, and the only F-1 racing I have watched in years came when I was running through all the sports channels on Time Warner Cable and came upon a race by accident.  It has also been years since I have been to a race where 305 sprints were a support class, and I have no intent on venturing to any show they are a part of, despite the serenade of their virtues I received Sunday night. 

 

Back to friend Randy’s comments-I will accept that the 2013 Indy 500 was a better race than the NASCAR race at Charlotte.  Of course without Googling or lying, I would like Randy to tell me what channel(s) other Indy car races can be found on, and what Indy car races other than the 500 he has watched this season.

 

Randy also claimed A mods as part of open wheel racing.  Yeah, I have heard of “open wheel modifieds.”  I don’t read any open wheel racing magazines.  Do any of them include modified drivers in their articles?

 

I am taking a poll-Which redneck reality show is the most important on TV, Duck Dynasty or NASCAR racing? Congratulations to FOX TV on once again not reporting the news, but being the news.  A Fox camera cable broke, damaging cars and injuring fans during the Charlotte race.  OK, what more would you expect out of a network with a signature line of “Boogety, boogety, boogety” and that features Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond as analysts? A lot of Duck Dynasty is made up, NASCAR is for real redneck.  Truly amazing.

 

In 2 ½ months multiple fans have been injured at two of NASCAR’s biggest races in bizarre incidents, and another died camping at the Talladega race.  In the past the greatest danger to life and limb was on the track at a NASCAR race.  I wonder if that is so anymore.

 

Congratulations to Jimmy Owens on winning his third straight Show-Me 100.  Owens is to this race what Jimmie Johnson is to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.  Despite repeated cautions that kept bringing Owens back to the field, he really was not challenged for most of the race. Though he is always good at Wheatland, I would watch out for Owens the rest of the season.  The NDRL tire fiasco damaged Owens reputation and I believe he will be out to prove that he is a winner without tainted tires.  Chris Simpson finished second in the Show-Me and that did affect my Top 25 for the week. 

 

As usual, my predictions for the weekend sucked.  Neither Billy Moyer nor Brian Birkhofer was a challenger in the Show-Me 100, nor were Tim McCreadie or Shane Clanton in WoO events.  I truly possess an amazing ability to be wrong on all of my picks.

 

XSANTV was a bust for me last weekend.  I hoped to watch the Little 500 from Anderson Speedway in Indiana, but rain forced the event to Sunday night when I was at I-80 Speedway.  I planned on watching the Hawkeye Dirt Tour modified show from I-35 Speedway last night, but it was rained out.  Next up on XSAN is another HDT show, this one from Hamilton County Speedway on June 4^th.

 

My holiday weekend highlight was not watching Nebraska win two baseball games on Saturday, though that was fun.  My highlight was not watching Abelson, Smith, Sobbing, and Berck do battle in the A mod feature of the Charlie Clark Memorial at I-80 Speedway, though I wish every race I watch was that good.  No, the highlight of my weekend was watching my almost 21 month old grandson play computer games with his mom on her Samsung Galaxy tablet. After a blog of mostly complaints, I needed a spirit lift, and thinking of Henry always makes me smile.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clark Memorial At I-80 Speedway

Just some perspective-I did watch about 6 hours of baseball on Saturday.  Adding a little however, I watched the baseball from my easy chair, concessions were cheap, the games were over shortly after 10:00 p.m., and my bedroom is about a 10 second walk from my easy chair, not a 50 minute drive home. Also, there were no B mods to watch Saturday.

I do not like 6 hour race shows. I have to admit that announcements of 176 cars filling the pits do not thrill me, especially when 60 of those cars are B mods.  This is just my opinion, just my thoughts.  If you enjoy lots of cars and a plethora of B mods, good for you. After a holiday weekend of rain-outs, I figured there would be lots of cars at the Charlie Clark Memorial, with drivers wanting to race somewhere.  I still went, so my complaints are tempered with that fact.

What made the length of the Sunday show at I-80 Speedway tolerable for me was the battle between Kyle Berck and Travis Dickes for the SLMR win, and the incredible A mod racing, especially in the first of the Twin 22’s.  With seven past IMCA National Champions in the mod feature (3 modified champs, 3 Northern Sport Mod champs, and a late model champ), as well as many other top notch mod drivers, I expected a good race.  What fans in the stands got was a great race, bordering on incredible.  For lap after lap Chris Abelson, Dylan Smith, Kyle Berck, and Jesse Sobbing raced hard and close, with Smith the winner.

I do like the pit stop after the first 22 lap race.  I think pit crews like it, and it seems like other fans really like it too.  I am not sure if drivers do, but the pit stop makes the event unique.  4 minutes and 44 seconds gives plenty of time to change tires, add fuel, and give the driver a drink of water, but does not allow for major changes.  It is just right.

I also like inverting all the cars that were on the lead lap, with cars not on the lead lap starting at the tail of the field.  Luke Waninger had a great start in the second 22 lap event, and was caught only because of cautions.  Once Kyle Berck caught up with Waninger, it was a good race, but it took a late caution for Berck to finally get around the Iowa driver.  Jesse Sobbing came on strong at the end to finish second.

I realize that the format and the classes racing will likely remain the same in future Clark Memorials.  With a big back gate and what looked like a nice grandstand crowd I have no doubt the track made money, and will see 2013 as the formula for successful Clark Memorials.  To me though 53 A mods and 60 B mods would have been plenty of cars.  Those numbers translate into 11 heats, 5 consolation races, and 2 features. That is more than enough for my butt, especially with 10 of the events being B mod races.  There is simply no way to make a show with B mods go fast.

I know I have not written about the Show-Me 100 yet, or about the weird events at the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Charlotte.  That will give me something to write about tomorrow. Plus high winds and a tornado warning in Fremont kept me up until past 2:00 a.m.-I was home from the races shortly after 1:00 a.m., so I am thinking a nap is in order.  No race tonight on XSANTV, the HDT show from I-35 Speedway in Iowa has been cancelled already because of rain.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

B.S. Detector, Envy, Show Me, And More

I got an email yesterday that asked “how finely tuned is your b.s. detector?  I am friends with Tony Anville and Randy Palmer, and I sit with the Sunday Night Irregulars at race specials. As much as I am forced to use it, I would say my b.s. detector is top notch.

 

Late models fans aren’t trying very hard if they can’t find a race to go to this weekend. There are over 50 specials in 20 different states and several states have 3-4 nights of racing.  My schedule remains the same-barring any of the ‘r’ word.  I will be watching the Little 500 from Anderson Speedway in Indiana on XSANTV tonight and checking Show-Me 100 updates on http://www.DirtonDirt.com.  Tomorrow I will watch at least part of the Indy 500.  Late in the afternoon Matt and I will head to I-80 Speedway for the Charlie Clark Memorial, and on Monday it will be more XSANTV with the Hawkeye Dirt Tour from I-35 Speedway in Iowa.

 

I have to admit that I harbor more than a little envy of the staff of www.DirtonDirt.com. If there is a big late model race happening in the country they are there, plus they get to spend a few winter weeks in both Arizona and Florida. I realize that covering the sport is their job, but baseball writers say the same thing about going to the ball yard.  The gentlemen are in Wheatland this weekend for the Show-Me 100.  In two weeks they will be watching three nights of fantastic racing at Eldora Speedway, culminating in the $100,000 to win Dream.  In late June, it is Lernerville Speedway in Pennsylvania for the $30,000 to win Firecracker 100.  The Silver Dollar Nationals is July’s big money event, and August has three straight weekends of B-I-G dollar events starting with Cedar Lake’s $50,000 to win USA Nationals; the USA Nationals is followed by the North-South 100 at Florence Speedway in Kentucky.  The third weekend of August will see the Lucas Oil late models in Batesville, Arkansas for the Topless 100.

 

All those races are on my bucket list, and all those tracks are ones I would love to visit.  The DOD boys get to do that every year, so yes, I do envy them.  And that is before all the big end of the season shows starting with the World 100.

 

 

Scott Bloomquist is trying to knock my Show-Me 100 prediction off the track. Bloomer has not had a great season-by his standards-but last night he set fast time and won his heat, putting him on the pole for tonight’s $30,000 to win show.  Don O’Neal starts second, followed by Tyler Reddick and Jimmy Owens.  Brian Birkhofer starts on the inside of row four, so two of my top three picks are close to the front.  Unfortunately, my third pick, Billy Moyer did not qualify last night. Moyer finished 4^th in his heat and starts on the outside front row of the final consolation race, meaning the best he can start the feature is 21^st.

 

Only two drivers transfer from the consolation races to the feature.  Starting the first consolation race are Eddie Carrier Jr., Mike Marlar, Jimmy Mars, Brady Smith, and Earl Pearson Jr.-all in my Top 25 list.  Throw in Randy Weaver, Terry Phillips, Shannon Babb, and Will Vaught, and that would be a feature race most promoters would be thrilled with. Dennis Erb Jr. is running in the second consolation, but would have a provisional if he doesn’t finish in the top two of that race.  There is a non-qualifiers race before the feature, and that looks to be a good one too.

 

Dave Hess Jr.-a Pennsylvania driver I had never heard of-won the WoO race at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio.  He was followed across the finish line by Josh Richards, Darrell Lanigan, and Rick Eckert.  Once again the TRODT prognostication was a real winner-I said Tim McCreadie and Shane Clanton would win WoO races this weekend, and I still may be right with two races coming up at Tyler County Speedway in West Virginia, but last night McCreadie finished 19^th and Clanton 15^th in Ohio.

 

In USMTS action from Fairmont, Minnesota on Thursday, the Scott twins paced the field, with Johnny winning the A feature and Stormy coming in second.  Jason Hughes finished 3^rd and Iowan Zach VanderBeek was 4^th. Last night the USMTS mods visited Chateau Speedway in Lansing, Minnesota.  Taking home the big check was Mother Nature.  As happens so often over the Memorial Day, rain was the big winner at the USMTS show.  Heats were finished when it began to rain.  A make-up date will be set after this weekend. The best of the best mod drivers head to Deer Creek Speedway for a big show tonight.

 

An article in the Sporting News NASCAR Daily quotes Brad Keselowski as saying mental fitness if more important than physical fitness.  I have been saying that for years.  My left knee points out the error in my thinking quite often, but if the NASCAR champ says so, who am I to argue?

 

I was looking for Junction Motor Speedway results in the ASCS National site.  Nothing.  I looked in dirtdrivers.com.  Nothing.  Finally I looked on the JMS site and seeing the results thought “this looks more like an ASCS Midwest show.” It was.  Jack Dover took the win, followed by Brian Brown and Don Droud Jr.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

 

Wheatland, Ohio, West Virginia, Charlotte, AND Greenwood

I figured a few of the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Models would race in Thursday’s MLRA show in Wheatland, but at least 20 chose to race.  There were also a handful of USMTS drivers on hand-Ryan Gustin, Rodney Sanders, Jeremy Payne, and Chase Junghans. Yes, I do realize some of them have been racing late models elsewhere, but the hot mods are racing the next three nights too.  Anyway, 74 drivers signed in for the tonight’s event. One way to beef up MLRA car count is to drop the Show-Me 100 practice night and schedule a regional race instead. Running for $5,000 isn’t a bad deal though, plus everyone gets track time.

 

It looks like everyone is going to need track time as Jimmy Owens used a front row starting spot to gain the lead in last night’s MLRA race, and led every lap.  Owens winning in Wheatland is about as much of a surprise as Jimmie Johnson winning at Charlotte. This was the third victory in a row for the Newport Nightmare at the Forrest Lucas owned track, and his fifth win at Wheatland since 2010.

 

Congratulations to Travis Dickes on making the show last night.  That was no easy task-15 of my www.DirtonDirt.com Top 25 were on hand, and only 10 of them made the feature.  Dickes should be back in Nebraska on Sunday for the SLMR portion of the Charlie Clark Memorial. With $2,022 going to the winner of the 35 lap SLMR feature, I think John Anderson should show too, take the weight penalty for running his open car, and do battle with Dickes and Kyle Berck.  I don’t think he will, just saying he ought to.

 

If Brian Birkhofer is to win the Show-Me 100 as I am predicting, he will have to do a complete reversal from his MLRA finish as he ended up 28^th and last in the race.  Birkhofer is a big money racer though. Yes, total bias, but he has won the race before.  I see Birkhofer, Jimmy Owens, and Billy Moyer as the top three finishers.  I hope the TRODT jinx works in reverse.

 

One driver that some Top 25 drivers have given more attention to than me is Ohioan Doug Drown.  Drown has seven wins this season, including the $12,000 to win Southern 100 at Southern Ohio Speedway.  Tonight he’ll be racing against WoO drivers at Wayne County Speedway for the Buckeye 50.  A good finish here and I might need to give Drown more consideration on my ballot.

 

The WoO late models head to Tyler County Speedway in West Virginia for complete shows on Saturday and Sunday.  Josh Richards and Darrell Lanigan might be favored at WayneCounty and TylerCounty, but I am thinking they will get just one win between them over the Memorial Day holiday.  Give a win each to Tim McCreadie and Shane Clanton.

 

As I mentioned yesterday, Fireball Roberts was selected for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  Joining Roberts will be Maurice Petty, Dale Jarrett, Tim Flock, and Jack Ingram.  Petty joins father Lee, brother Richard, and cousin Dale Inman in the Hall.  Jarrett’s dad Ned is also in the Hall of Fame.  Perhaps someday Flock’s brothers Bob and Fonty will join him as inductees.

 

Charlotte track owner Bruton Smith is in a spitting contest with CabarrusCounty officials over tax values and incentives. Smith is threatening to move the fall Charlotte race to Las Vegas if he doesn’t get his way.  I have a difficult time feeling sorry for billionaires who don’t want to pay taxes. And I think there are plenty of potential Hall of Fame inductees who should enter before Smith. Plus my son Matt is always saying “shut up Bruton.”

 

Sunday’s race remains in Charlotte though, and my pick to win the Coca-Cola 600 is Danica Patrick.  Carl Edwards? Just kidding.  Why bother picking anyone other than Jimmie Johnson? With 600 miles of racing, a track changing as the sun goes down, and pit stops galore, it seems likely the race will be one in the pits.  Johnson maybe good, but his pit crew is even better. Here I would like the TRODT jinx to kick in. Maybe someone should sell “Anyone But Jimmie” t-shirts.

 

Some NASCAR writers are insisting Johnson has reached the status of Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon and is closing in on Richard Petty.  Sorry, no way, no how, not even with 10 championships.

 

Darn, I missed the B mods and Hornets at I-80 Speedway last night.  Well, there will be plenty of other classes to watch Sunday night at the Charlie Clark Memorial.  Hey Tony-Twin 22’s for the A mods, 35 laps for the late models.  Do you really want to stay at home and watch 600 miles of 585 miles of ho-hum, followed by 10 laps of Jimmie Johnson running away from the field?

 

Danny Lasoski won the ASCS National event at I-80 Speedway last night.  Yes, the 360 sprints were the feature class, not the Hornets. Lasoski was followed by Brian Brown and Brad Loyet.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asphalt Sprints. Pie In The Sky Or In My Face? SILVER DOLLAR NATIONALS. Fireball Roberts

Last night TRODT Speedway opened after the conclusion of the NU baseball game on the Big Ten Network. When I logged into XSANTV I got the final sprint car heat (5 cars only), the midget feature, and the sprint car feature from Anderson Speedway in Indiana.  Anderson Speedway is a fast quarter-miler and is almost surrounded by bleachers.  While it looked like there weren’t a lot of fans in the grandstands that might have been deceiving just because there are so many grandstands.  The weather was ‘iffy’ and there was actually an hour rain delay in running the program, so that might have kept fans at home.  I don’t know about the car count though-just 11 midgets and 15 sprint cars ran their respective features.

 

There was not a great deal of action in the features, though in the midget race the car in second place drove the leader into the wall-I don’t mean bumping, I mean the nose of the second place car was solidly into the left side of the leader’s car and shoved him hard into the wall.  In the sprint car race the second and third place cars tried to split a lapped car.  They managed to do that, but the car on the bottom moved up the track after the pass and spun out the other car that made the pass.  Sprint cars, Sprint Cup, you have to love them.

 

No, I do not know the names of any of the winners or crashers.  I don’t even know the names of open wheel winners and crashers in this area, so my watching last night came under the heading of any night watching racing is better than a night watching network TV.

 

For those of you who can take a break, XSANTV will be webcasting the Little 500 Pole Day from Anderson Speedway, starting at 12:30 p.m. Central Time today-free of charge.

 

You are going to start hearing more and more of the Silver Dollar Nationals Fans Fund on my blog.  If I looked at my calendar correctly it is just eight weeks until Nebraska’s race of the year. Other pundits have started to mention this race with late model crown jewel events, and as a hard core fan it pleases me to hear that.  As fans have done for years with the USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway in Wisconsin, we can help to make the SDN a better event.

 

A number of different fundraisers are being discussed, and I am sure several will be implemented.  A dunk stand is a possibility and a pie in the face raffle has been discussed.  Would any of you like to put a pie in the face of promoter Joe Kosiski?  I doubt it, but would anyone like to put a pie in my face?  SLMR drivers will benefit most from this year’s Fans Fund.  Is there an SLMR driver who other SLMR drivers would like to put a pie in the face of?

 

Even with fundraisers, fan donations are going to be needed.  TRODT has pledged $100 and an anonymous donor has already given $50 to start the fund.  The goal is $2700, and as I have said other times, if people who wear foam cheese on their head can race $15,000 for an event, we should easily reach our goal. The call for donations will come in early June, so give early, give often, and give until you feel good about it.

 

Thank you selectors for finally naming Fireball Roberts to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  Roberts was my first NASCAR hero and definitely belongs in the Hall. More on selections tomorrow.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts And Prayers In Moore

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Moore, Oklahoma today.  The total devastation is heart rending.  I try to imagine starting over again at my age, and it seems impossible.  I try to imagine starting over again after losing a loved one, and this I can’t comprehend.  I try to imagine starting again after losing a grandchild and I have to think of something else.

 

I have been through a tornado once.  It happened so fast the sirens did not blare until after the tornado was over.  There was no time to be afraid.  And there is no question it was a tornado-I have never heard anything quite like it.  For Fremont it was damaged trees and roofs, and power lines down.  I remember complaining about spending $1,000 for clean-up and repairs, and going without power for two days.  Instead I should have thanked the good lord the damage wasn’t worse and none of my family was hurt.

 

Americans always come through in times like this.  Donations of supplies, equipment, and cash are pouring in.  Yes, that does make me proud to say I am an American.  I only wish it did not take a tragedy for Americans to be what Americans are capable of being.  I won’t get on my soap box here.  I try to keep politics out of my blog-let someone else with the “dirt” of politics, plus I have enough pent up anger at the far right, the far left, the executive and legislative branches of both the federal and Nebraska government, and don’t forget the Supremes (the ones that meet starting the first Monday in October, not the old Motown group), that I could fill blog posts for weeks. 

 

America doesn’t need more words, it damn sure doesn’t need more politicians, it needs leaders not afraid to stand up for what is right.  I am starting to sound like John Lennon-imagine someone in Washington ignoring all the special interests and actually serving “the people.”  Nice thought, chances are the big money boys would never allow him to be elected.  And by the way, the real IRS scandal is that ANY political action group is tax exempt.  Ultra-conservatives, ultra-radicals, Republicans, Democrats, middle of the roaders, I do not care, let them pay taxes.

 

Yeah, I am in a pissy mood.  The hard drive on the main computer at work failed, it is on an IBM AS-400, and that is a lot worse the problems I had with my PC.  Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. And yes, I do understand that I am fortunate in only having to whine about computer troubles-in Oklahoma I might not even have a computer, or an office to put the computer in.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Top 25/Figure 8’s/Big Late Model Weekend/ Jumpin Jack Flash-The Price Of Gas-Gas-Gas

Here is my www.DirtonDirt.com Top 25 ballot for May 20^th.  As always I encourage you to check out the site to see how my choices compare to the other 20 voters.  I find the position of Jimmy Owens in the overall top 25 to be very interesting.  If you do check it out, subtract the number of points he gets on first place votes and also subtract the points he gets from my second place vote.  Divide that total by the number of remaining votes.  The point values are 25-1^st, 24-2^nd, 23-3^rd, etc.

 

Yes, I did drop Brian Birkhofer a few spots because of his DNQ at the Lucas Oil show in Batesville, Arkansas.  Hopefully he will turn things around this weekend at the Show-Me 100 in Wheatland, Missouri.

 

Either I am more in tune with other voters, or they are finally wising up, seeing things as I do as most of my drivers are in the overall top 25, and the lowest any driver I voted for ended up was 28^th.

 

2013 WEEKLY DRIVER POLL BALLOT
Name	Ron Meyer
	Please Enter Date Below
Position	05/20/13
1	Josh Richards
2	Jimmy Owens
3	Don O’Neal
4	Shane Clanton
5	Darrell Lanigan
6	Billy Moyer
7	Tim McCreadie
8	Dennis Erb Jr.
9	Steve Francis
10	Scott Bloomquist
11	Brian Birkhofer
12	Jonathan Davenport
13	John Blankenship
14	Steve Casebolt
15	Rick Eckert
16	Jimmy Mars
17	Eddie Carrier Jr.
18	Dale McDowell
19	Mike Marlar
20	Brady Smith
21	Bobby Pierce
22	Earl Pearson Jr.
23	Scott James
24	Eric Wells
25	Jason Feger

 

Below is a link to the website of the International Outlaw Figure 8 Racing Series.  Check out the photo and video sections on the site.  Yesterday I was wondering about what the cars looked like since the series was part of an XSANTV event from Anderson, Indiana.  Well, they look like dirt late models, with some added equipment from the 80’s. 

 

www.iofsracing.com

 

 

Memorial Day weekend is always a big one for auto racing fans.  Every weekly track is racing, and many will be hosting holiday specials.  The two national late model shows are hoping that bad weather is behind them, and the season can really heat up. WoO late models are at Wayne County Speedway in Ohio on Friday for a $10,000 to win show.  On Saturday and Sunday they head to Tyler County Speedway in West Virginia for $6,000 and $10,000 to win events.

 

The Lucas Oil late models have a crown jewel weekend with $30,000 to win Show-Me 100 on tap for Friday and Saturday.  I suspect a lot of drivers will head to Wheatland a day early to run in the $5,000 to win MLRA preliminary to the Show-Me on Thursday.

 

It appears I won’t be heading to eastern Iowa after all this weekend.  Jane could not get someone to work for her on Friday. That won’t change my racing plans any though.  It will still be XSANTV for some internet racing, the Indy 500-probably, and I-80 Speedway on Sunday for the Clark Memorial. 

 

Some people are wondering what happened to the Alphabet Soup Race, traditionally held at I-80 Speedway over the Memorial Day Weekend.  The MLRA is co-sanctioning the Show-Me 100, and the rain day for the Show-Me is Memorial Day Sunday, the day the ABC Race has traditionally been held.  To go along with the MLRA (and the person who owns MLRA AND the star of Silver Dollar Nationals, Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series), I-80 moved the Alphabet Soup Race to late June, dropping the Trifecta.  The MLRA will co-sanction the Alphabet Soup Race with the Corn Belt Clash and MARS late models.  These groups will race at I-80 Speedway on Friday June 28th, then head to Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa to race the next night.  Hopefully the late model car count will be in the 40-50 range.  And, as far as good racing, I seem to remember an ABC race postponed to later in the summer was the best of this Midwest classic.

 

Will the price of gas become a bigger problem than a race date change?  I paid $3.99 a gallon yesterday, and with all the b.s. double talk regarding oil refineries, I wonder if it will be months before we get price relief.  To me, oil companies decide to spike prices every few years until the price reaches a point where consumers start using less gas.  Magically prices then drop.

 

From my perspective, things won’t change much.  Matt and I are mainly going to specials, and we will still go to those specials even if gas goes above $4.00 per gallon.  Fuel prices hurt drivers more than fans-diesel prices are higher than gas, and tow vehicles don’t get good mileage. I don’t think people changed their race going habits much during the last fuel price “crisis,” so tracks probably won’t be hurt much either.  Fortunately for me, a trip to TRODT Speedway is fueled by pizza, popcorn, hamburgers, and Diet Coke, not gasoline.

 

Thanks for stopping by.