My Top 25, Some Cyberspace Races, And NASCAR Weirdness

Below is my www.DirtonDirt.com Top 25 ballot for the week. 23 of my top 25 are in the overall rankings.  The other two-well, I was the only one who voted for Chub Frank.  Actually, I was in a rush when I voted, and should have put Shannon Babb in instead. Steve Francis did have a few of the other 19 voters believing he was worthy of a top 25 spot.

DirtonDirt.com Top 25 Voting Ballot
Name:	Ron Meyer
Date:	10/26/2015
Position
1	Scott Bloomquist
2	Jonathan Davenport
3	Mike Marlar
4	Shane Clanton
5	Jared Landers
6	Chris Madden
7	Don O’Neal
8	Billy Moyer
9	Jimmy Owens
10	Josh Richards
11	Bobby Pierce
12	Jesse Stovall
13	Brandon Sheppard
14	Dennis Erb Jr.
15	Earl Pearson Jr.
16	Dale McDowell
17	Billy Moyer Jr.
18	Rick Eckert
19	Darrell Lanigan
20	Chris Ferguson
21	Randy Weaver
22	Jason Feger
23	Chub Frank
24	Steve Francis
25	Frank Heckenast Jr.

 

There are only two weekends of big time dirt late model racing remaining this season-and you can watch the action from both events on DOD. This weekend is the unsanctioned National 100 from East Alabama Speedway in Phenix City, and next weekend will be the WoO championships from the Dirt Track in Charlotte, and will also include 410 sprint car and big block modified action.

Although late model action will soon be ending, and Midwestern racing action is through for 2015, you can still get your internet racing fix after the late models chill until January. Speed Shift TV will show 10 races over 8 nights in November, while RACEFEEDX.com has 15 November races and 2 December races on their schedule, including the huge Duel in the Desert from Las Vegas. Check out all the websites for more information.

I feel like a scratched record-vinyl IS making a comeback, and if you don’t know what an LP is, I’ll show you my Davie Allan and the Arrows album. Anyway, I have said over and over that you can expect something bizarre to happen almost every week in NASCAR, and it is a better than even event something weird will happen when the Sprint Cup Series visits Alabama and the biggest track on the circuit.

Sunday was simply to strange for words. For a time it looked like Greg Biffle was going to steal a win on fuel mileage, and steal is the only way a Roush Fenway driver is going to win anything in 2015, but a late caution flag and lengthy clean-up under yellow took care of that problem.

Drivers lined up for a green-white-checkered finish at Talladega, and according to NASCAR there would only be one attempt at a green-white-checkered. Except there was two-well, apparently the first did not count as an attempt because the caution came out before leaders crossed the start line.

OK, NASCAR wanted to give fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. a chance at a win and in turn remain in the championship hunt. So, a second, ‘er first other restart. And true to form there was a big wreck almost immediately after the green flew this time, but the leaders had crossed the start line, so, it was yellow and checkered for the race.

Now, NASCAR had to want Earnhardt to remain in the Chase, for TV ratings alone. And if they had waited about two seconds longer to throw the caution, they would have got what they wanted. Instead, when they flew the yellow, Joey Logano was leading, giving him the win. Everyone likes Earnhardt, no one likes Logano-I mean he sells like two t-shirts a week at NASCAR races. Outside his family, Tony Anville might be his only real fan.

So, no Earnhardt running for a championship. BUT, should Kevin Harvick be blamed for the 88 missing a win? Harvick’s engine was about to expire at the end of the race. If the race had not ended in a caution, Harvick likely would have faded to a poor finish, and the past champion would have been out of the championship picture. So, conspiracy buffs suggest that Harvick intentionally wrecked Roush Fenway driver Trevor Bayne to cause a caution so he would finish higher.

Interesting theory, but I would say if Bayne gets wrecked trying to pass a car that couldn’t go over 30 miles per hour, it says more about the current status of RFR, than about Harvick.

So, Jeff Gordon is still in the championship hunt-along with Logano, Brad Keselowski, Harvick, Kurt and Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Martin Truex Jr. With any luck Logano will get his much deserved payback from Matt Kenseth this weekend at Martinsville. And with a lot of luck, the final four at Homestead will be Gordon, Harvick, Truex, and Kyle Busch.

I’ll be watching the Sprint Cup race this weekend, but how many of the Jr. Nation will be watching? Fingers crossed for a 24 win, and Logano meeting the Martinsville wall courtesy of Kenseth.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

It Says Here Bloomquist Is #1, But Davenport Is Driver Of The Year

Below is my www.DirtonDirt.com Top 25 for this week. While, I do have 23 of the overall Top 25 on my ballot, it is almost like the other 26 were on a different planet. Well, the idea behind the poll is to get people talking about dirt late model racing, and it does show there is much to talk about.

 

DirtonDirt.com Top 25 Voting Ballot
Name:	Ron Meyer
Date:	10/19/2015
Position
1	Scott Bloomquist
2	Jonathan Davenport
3	Shane Clanton
4	Mike Marlar
5	Jared Landers
6	Josh Richards
7	Shannon Babb
8	Chris Madden
9	Don O’Neal
10	Jesse Stovall
11	Jimmy Owens
12	Billy Moyer
13	Brandon Sheppard
14	Earl Pearson Jr.
15	Dennis Erb Jr.
16	Dale McDowell
17	Bobby Pierce
18	Billy Moyer Jr.
19	Chris Ferguson
20	Jason Feger
21	Frank Heckenast Jr.
22	Randy Weaver
23	Steve Francis
24	Darrell Lanigan
25	Devin Moran

 

Yes, I do have Bloomquist as #1 this week. No, I do not think he is the 2015 Driver of the Year. Poll guidelines emphasize what has been done lately, and that is why I voted the Tennessee driver on top. 14 voters had Bloomquist first, while 13 had him second. Bloomquist did receive all 1^st or 2^nd place votes, but Davenport did not. That is strange, but again, that gets people talking.

There is no question in my mind that no matter what happens in the last few races of the season, that Davenport is the Driver of the Year. Had Bloomquist not been 25 pounds light crossing the scales at Eldora in June, he would have one both of the biggest paydays in the sport, and that might have made the DOY a 1a and 1b, situation, but to me Davenport would still be on top.

Someone who is not on top for me is Clint Bowyer. Bowyer is replacing Steve Francis in the Georgia Boots car with Darrell Lanigan. I very much like Francis. I very much do not like Lanigan. Two thumbs down on this move, though bringing Lanigan to the Lucas Oil series adds to the argument that it is the better of the two national tours.

While Bowyer and Francis appear to have parted amicably, making a business decision, it still irritates me. Francis is lining up a deal to race for Tim Logan in 2016. I hope he stays with the Lucas Oil series, but it might be easier to make a living running the WoO tour.

Like I am trying to do right now working in Omaha. It has meant fewer posts, and me writing at very odd times-like 4:15 a.m. today-and it is likely to be this way for another month. After that I will try to devote more time to doing this blog right.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

I Am Full Of

Questions-though some of you may have another word in mind.

With just five races left in his career, will Jeff Gordon get a car that is equal to the cars of Joey Logano or Kevin Harvick?  Will Gordon’s crew chief Alan Gustafson finally make all the right pit stop decisions during a race?  Will Gordon’s crew ever manage to have a mistake free race?

I think the future NASCAR Hall of Famer deserves better than he is getting from his team, and if he is to have a shot at a fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, he will need to get it at Talladega, Martinsville, Dallas, Phoenix, and Homestead.

Do a quick switch.  Instead of Matt Kenseth crashing at Charlotte in race one of the Contender Round of The Chase, it was Joey Logano who wrecked and Kenseth who took the checkers.  That would mean Logano desperately needed a win at Kansas Speedway to keep his championship hopes alive.

Say Logano came to Kansas with a strong car-a dominant car and led most of the race. However, following a late pit stop, Kenseth’s car was at least equal to that of Logano. Lap after lap Kenseth tried to pass Logano-above all, NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers want to win races. But lap after lap Logano was able to block Kenseth.

Finally, with just over four laps remaining in the race, Kenseth had enough of Logano’s blocking, and heading into turn four spun out Logano. Logano’s chance at a win was gone, and his championship dreams likely went up in smoke, tire smoke as instead of the win he needed, Logano finished 15^th. If this had happened, would Logano have stated in a post-race interview that it was just good, hard racing?  I think not.

Matt Kenseth is 35 points out of 8^th place in the Sprint Cup standings. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 31 points out of the spot he needs to be in to move on to round three of The Chase. While mathematically it is possible that both could move on without a win, like 5 or 6 Chase drivers could wreck and finish 36^th or worse, that would be crazy even for Talladega. My thinking is that at least one of them will see his hopes for a championship end at Talladega.  So, which one will advance?

If Kenseth is out of The Chase after Talladega, will he seek revenge and wreck Logano at Martinsville? Will Logano be in a must win situation at Dallas or Phoenix? I think he deserves to go for a spin at least once at Martinsville, but I am not a Logano fan.

Transfer all this thinking to the dirt late model arena. Say in 2016, Jonathan Davenport is once again winning almost every big dollar event, and a frustrated Scott Bloomquist is chasing the 6 car week after week. Late in the 2016 Silver Dollar Nationals, Bloomquist vents his frustration by spinning out Davenport as they battle for the lead. What will Lucas Oil officials do?

Will they send both drivers to the back of the field-Davenport for bringing out the yellow and Bloomquist for causing the spin? Will they penalize Davenport, but not Bloomquist? Will they penalize Bloomquist, but not Davenport? Or will they penalize neither driver, angering all the other racers and a lot of the fans? These two are the sport’s superstars, and put more butts in the stands at a Lucas Oil race than any of the other drivers-officials won’t want to upset either. So, what do they do?

Enough questions. Here is a fact-I didn’t do a blog on Sunday, but if I had I would have mentioned it was Matt and Steph’s 12^th anniversary. Congratulations to both.

And congratulations to me-you are still reading The Rest of the Dirt, even though right now is a difficult time for me to blog like I want to.  Thank you for stopping by.

 

A PERFECT Way To End Going To 2015 Races

I have been going to races for almost 60 years, but two of my most memorable events happened in the last month-no I am NOT too old to remember races from long ago, these two events were simply that special. The first was in September, the Thursday and Friday of the Knoxville Nationals.  The other happened yesterday, practice and qualifying day for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Kansas Speedway, and practice for the XFINITY Series.  I had never experienced a NASCAR Big 3 event in person, so seeing the top two NASCAR series in action was beyond cool.

I have so many thoughts of the day, I can’t organize them, so here they are at random:

-we stopped for gas in St. Joe on the way to Kansas Speedway so we wouldn’t have to stop on the way home. Two other people were filling their gas tanks-one had a Dale Earnhardt t-shirt, the other a Kevin Harvick t-shirt.  I wonder where they were going.

-I certainly do not disagree with golf cart rides for ADA-Americans with Disability Act-but how about giving a ride to old overweight men with arthritic left knees? By the time we got from our parking spot to the grandstands my knees was calling me all kinds of bad names.  The truck and tractor pull at Wisner, Nebraska gives rides from the parking area to the track, so why can’t a major NASCAR venue? Hell, I would have even paid.

-There were never more than 7-8 Sprint Cup cars on the track at any given time, and they were basically doing their own thing-no racing, no passing, just driving to find more speed in their car.  The XFINITY drivers were more aggressive in their two practice sessions.

-Three things I would do different: take along earplugs, take along sun block, and take along a cooler. Even with fewer cars on the track than a late model event, the noise was deafening.  The engines in these series have a distinctive sound, not unpleasant, but not good for your hearing.  My face was terribly sunburned despite wearing a hat. And, a bottle of Diet Coke cost $5.00.  I almost didn’t write that last line, not wanting to give local promoters any ideas.

-There were only 23 ARCA cars on hand for their Friday race. I wonder if ARCA is becoming the NCRA of asphalt racing. Not only did the series not have a full field, no more than a handful of drivers had a reasonable shot at winning the race. The difference between the pole winner’s speed and last place qualifier’s speed was 36 miles per hour.  No way does that even happen in NASCAR.

-Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, and Kevin Harvick all drove both Sprint Cup and XFINITY cars. Logano logged lap after lap in his XFINITY car.

-XFINITY driver Daniel Suarez impressed me with his speed.

-There was an 11 mile per hour difference in the fastest Sprint Cup speed versus the fastest XFINITY speed. However, if you are sitting about 100’ from the track, try following the XFNITY cars as they speed by and you will quickly get a sore neck. Like I keep telling fans of the cars with wings and no starters, speed is relative. 195 miles per hour Sprint Cup Car didn’t seem that much faster than 184 miles per hour XFINITY car.

-A Sprint Cup race is an event, a spectacle.  There was so much going on I didn’t even try to experience most of it. I just wanted to see the NASCAR stars do their thing. I did buy my grandson a Jeff Gordon die cast car, and a Gordon t-shirt.

-The Sprint Cup knock out qualifying is great. In round one and two drivers would run a few laps to post a qualifying time and hope it would be fast enough to move on to the next round.  If it appeared it was not going to be, they would go out and try for a faster lap. This was very entertaining when drivers like Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to try a second time.

-The qualifying strategies of different drivers were interesting.  Matt Kenseth was the first driver out in all three sessions, seemingly wanting “clean-air” for his runs. In the second round Jeff Gordon ran an early lap that kept getting pushed further and further down the leader board.  With less than a minute to spare he went out for a final try to make it to the final round.  He was coming through turn four when the session ended, and he found enough speed to finish 10^th in that round, moving on to the final round.  He then waited until the final seconds again to make his qualifying run, finishing again as the session ended, and qualifying 6^th overall.

-While Brad Keselowski won the pole, because of too many previous written warnings to his team, he was able to pick his pit spot ahead of only Tony Stewart who was also penalized for too many previous written warnings. Too bad.

-We sat almost behind the flag stand in the upper rows of the lower section of grandstands, but could still see the entire track. We could not see the garage areas because they were blocked by haulers.  I was able to put my binoculars on the NASCAR tech area, though I did not have a clue what they were doing. It was fun watching crews push the cars to the tech area, then have to push them back to the garage to fix something that kept them from passing inspection.  I know Gordon’s crew had to do this, and others seemed to be in the tech area several times.

-The walk back to Matt’s car seemed longer than the walk to the grandstands.  I can’t believe the names my left knee was calling me. No, I do not want knee replacement surgery. Not yet anyway.

-It was just practice and qualifying, but we only had to deal with about 2,000 rednecks, not the 50,000 or so who will be there on Sunday.  That is a good thing.  A very good thing.

-The 250 mile trip to Kansas City was full of good conversation, first with my grandson going to preschool in Omaha who explained to me that coral is not rock, but a living animal, then with Matt on everything from NASCAR to dirt track racing to NU baseball, football, and volleyball, to Fremont High School basketball, to Henry’s t-ball, to my job, to my feelings of the last two months, passing semi’s on I-29.  The return trip was also full of good conversation, and that was no b.s.

-I repeatedly told Matt how much I appreciated this trip, and will say so again. It was fantastic, so thank you for a perfect day Matt.  I guess my son must have liked it a little bit too, because he is already thinking of doing this when NASCAR returns to Kansas in May, 2016.  I am ready to go.

So, thanks again Matt, and thank you for stopping by.

Yes, It Is 5:00 A.M.-Well, Almost

It’s another late night/early morning blogging journey for me. I would feel more guilt about lack of posts, but that fact is down the line on my guilt train. My excuse-aw, same as in past weeks.

Below is my www.DirtonDirt.com Top 25 for the week. Once again I disagree with the other 20 voters on a few drivers I think belong, but we do agree that Mohawk haired Mississippi drivers are not in the Top 25 this week. 22 of my Top 25 made the cut, and the other three were 26^th, 27^th, and 29^th.

DirtonDirt.com Top 25 Voting Ballot
Name:	Ron Meyer
Date:	10/12/2015
Position
1	Jonathan Davenport
2	Scott Bloomquist
3	Shane Clanton
4	Mike Marlar
5	Jimmy Owens
6	Billy Moyer
7	Josh Richards
8	Shannon Babb
9	Jared Landers
10	Don O’Neal
11	Brandon Sheppard
12	Chris Madden
13	Jesse Stovall
14	Bobby Pierce
15	Earl Pearson Jr.
16	Dennis Erb Jr.
17	Dale McDowell
18	Billy Moyer Jr.
19	Chris Ferguson
20	Jason Feger
21	Randy Weaver
22	Chad Simpson
23	Steve Francis
24	Darrell Lanigan
25	Devin Moran

Even though the racing season is winding down, there are plenty of specials this weekend, with the Lucas Oil sanctioned $100,000 to win Dirt Track World Championship at Portsmouth Raceway Park in Ohio the featured event.

Let’s see, Lucas Oil sanctioned, one of the two richest dirt late model races, who might be favored to win? I don’t want to curse anyone with TROTD’s jinx, but I will be very surprised if it isn’t one of the driver’s in my Top 25-like say one of the top two. Andy Savary of DOD agrees, and shows them both at 2-1 odds to leave Ohio burdened with a six figure check.

Matt talked me into going to I-80 Speedway for the season finale last Sunday. I went mostly for one last pork tenderloin sandwich, and I am not sure if it was delivery problems, or if the sandwich wasn’t on the menu on Sunday, but I didn’t get one and that started a bad mood.

Add non-qualifier races to the evening, and I was getting a headache. Maybe everyone else in the grandstands wanted to watch Sport Compacts or B-Mods who did not qualify for features race one last time in 2015, but I sure didn’t. A 4 lap, 5 car-or maybe it was 6 car-Sport Compact non-qualifier race was a pain in the butt, and did nothing but make the evening a little longer. Same with the other non-qualifier races. If they raced for a few bucks more, just give them the money and forget the race.

By feature time I was in a bad mood, but the Hobby Stock feature was good, the Stock Car feature was good as always, and the A-Mod feature was great. So, I’ll give the evening a thumb up instead of a middle finger. And, as Matt said on the way home “we went to the first night of racing at I-80 this year, and we went to the last night too.”

And, surprise, we are going racing again this weekend. No, we are not heading to Junction Motor Speedway, we’re going to Kansas City, Kansas City here we come. They got some crazy NASCAR drivers there and we’re gonna watch us some. That was my best Wilburt Harrison imitation, and everyone but Stan Cisar can Google him.

Anyway, tomorrow we are going to Kansas City to take in Sprint Cup and ARCA practice and qualifying. Thanks to Matt for suggesting the trip-it may be as close to a Sprint Cup race as I get.  I have my fingers crossed that Mother Nature will co-operate. I am looking forward to watching Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in action. Heck, I am even looking forward to watching J.J. Yeley in action-which got me thinking that a certain Yeley fan owes me a blog post or two.

I’ll talk about the trip this weekend.  Now, it is back to bed, and hopefully a couple hours of sleep before heading to Omaha to work for 10 hours. Thanks for stopping by.

“Chasing” Sleep

Another late night blog post.  I gotta figure out this sleep thing.  I can’t seem to stay awake earlier in the evening, but I am wide awake when I should be sound asleep. Crazy.

Not as crazy as Jimmie Johnson out of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase after just three races.  I doubt many brackets-except for those of Johnson haters-had that called correctly. Some thoughts on The Chase:

-Kevin Harvick showed that if you are going to have a bad race, make it the first race in a round.  That way you have two chances to win and advance.

-Johnson showed that if you are going to have a bad race, it better not be the final race in a round. However, the 48 team has been a master of Chase events, and I can see them being very disruptive of the proceedings, winning a race or two. This week is Charlotte, and Johnson owns the place.

-The way I read NASCAR points, the best Johnson can finish in 2015 is 13^th. So, is he racing for wins or testing for 2016 in the final races of the season? I say wins.

-Dale Earnhardt Jr. showed how important every point in every race is. His late lap pass of Jamie McMurray at Dover left the two tied for points, with Earnhardt having the tiebreaker and advancing to the second round of The Chase. Without the pass, Earnhardt would have finished one point behind McMurray and out of the championship hunt.

-Joe Gibbs racing has sizzled, but will they continue to bring home the bacon? I would love to see them fizzle, but don’t be surprised if all four Gibbs cars advance to the third round of The Chase. My bias is showing, but I would not mind seeing three of the drivers falter in the Contender Round.

-Of course I also would not mind seeing both Penske cars racing for nothing but pride after Talladega. OK, so I want Hamlin, Kenseth, Edwards, Logano, and Keselowski out.  Add Kurt Busch to the list. Since at least two of the four will advance to the Eliminator Round, I think I will apply TROTD’s jinx to Hamlin, Edwards, Logano, and Keselowski.

-Do you think any of the other Chase drivers was pleased to see Harvick win at Dover and advance to round two of the championship?  I think not.  With the 12 drivers all at 3,000 points to begin this round, I think it is advantage Harvick. He obviously knows how to win the Sprint Cup crown, and week after week he has been the fastest car on the track.

-Despite pit crew-make that crew chief foibles-Jeff Gordon managed to advance to round two of The Chase. Matt says the 24 will win at Kansas and advance to round three, and then win at Martinsville to be a part of the final four. I hope Matt is right.

From Sprint Cup to sprint cars.  I am sure my sprint car fan friends would love to be back home in Indiana this weekend. Lawrenceburg Speedway will host the WoO winged wonders tonight, and USAC 410’s tomorrow night. Actually that sounds like a fun weekend.

More and more, the idea of going to I-80 Speedway for the Cornhusker Classic is becoming less and less appealing. With 23 B-mods and 23 Sport Compacts already entered, I can see 8 heats, 4 B-features, and 2 A-features between the two divisions, and that is 14 races I can really do without. It is too many B-mods, too many Sport Compacts, too many divisions racing vs. A-mods, late models, and Mona Kosiski’s pork tenderloin sandwich. While I would like to see late models race one more time this season, the negatives of the event outweigh the positives.  Plus I have to work late tonight and go in early tomorrow.

So, I will watch Speed Shift TV and RaceFeedx.com races from Kansas, Oklahoma, and California on my computer. There won’t be any pork tenderloin sandwich at the TROTD Speedway concession stand, and the popcorn isn’t quite as good as the I-80 Speedway popcorn, but I won’t need a blanket and when I am tired, my bed is close at hand.

And maybe I’ll get this sleep thing figured out.  Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

Wow, I Still Can Write A Little-I Can’t Drive For S–T, But Writing Is OK

No, I haven’t forgotten how to write. Yes, I do realize in my case I wouldn’t have to forget a lot. Yes, it is 4:00 a.m. as I am writing this.  No, I do not want to be writing this at 4:00 a.m. Actually, I wanted to write this last night when I got home from work. Unfortunately I worked until after 7:00 p.m. and on the way home pulled a B-mod, B feature move.  I would say out of my hat, but I wasn’t wearing a hat. Those of you a little profane know can guess where the move came from.

I ended up having a tire blow out on I-680 about 7:15 p.m. last night. It was beyond stupid, I can’t even begin to relate how incredibly stupid it was. I am just thankful that I didn’t cause a major accident or hurt anyone.  And I am thankful for AAA too. And driving home on a “donut” spare at 50 miles per hour takes a lot longer than the 65 miles per hour plus I usually go. I was passed by so many cars I felt like a Roush Fenway Racing driver on any Sunday afternoon.

Blogging has always been a stress reliever for me. Maybe admitting my B-mod move will release a little. I seem to be caught up in a cycle of anger, frustration, and worry. Throw in tired and any interstate highway is the wrong place for me.

If you were hoping to see my www.DirtonDirt.com Top 25 this week, well, just go back to last week’s Top 25. No, I wasn’t too angry, frustrated, worried or tired to vote. Mother Nature raised such havoc with late model racing over the weekend that DOD decided a vote wasn’t needed. Jonathan Davenport would still have been #1 on my ballot though.

Mother Nature couldn’t stop a Mohawk wearing driver this weekend, but Timothy Culp did.  Mississippi was one of the few spots not to wet to race, and Greenville Speedway hosted the Harlow’s Casino Gumbo Nationals. Culp captured the $10,000 winner’s share of the purse, while Mohawk Bub McCool finished third behind Josh Putnam.

Wisconsin, South Dakota, Illinois, and Ohio all were dry enough for a little racing, and Jimmy Mars, Kyle Berck, Dennis Erb Jr., and Bobby Pierce were winners in those races. Both national series are off this weekend, but I expect many top drivers to head to Kentucky or Mississippi this weekend-Ponderosa Speedway in Kentucky hosts a $25,000 to win Southern Nationals show, while Magnolia Motor Speedway has a two day $20,000 to win unsanctioned race on the schedule.

Matt and I have been giving some thought to heading to I-80 Speedway for the track’s annual Cornhusker Classic, but 7-8 classes each night have put a damper on those thoughts. Speed Shift TV will be showing “Thunder on the Hill” from Thunder Hill Speedway in Mayetta, Kansas on Friday and Saturday, and Racefeedx.com has two nights of racing from both Longdale Speedway in Oklahoma and Bakersfield Speedway in California.  Yes, all of these events likely have as many classes as the Cornhusker Classic.  However, when I decide enough is enough, I only have a few steps to walk to my bedroom from TROTD Speedway, while it is 50 miles from I-80 Speedway.

I wasn’t really looking, but a few days ago I found a video of the 24^th Annual World 100 from 1994. Guess who won?  Yeah, he also won the World 100 five other times-Hall of Famer Billy Moyer.  Maybe I’ll take the video somewhere and have it made into a DVD.

If I am lucky I can still get a few hours of sleep before getting up to go to work. Amanda was kind enough to allow me to use her car today-with the condition I don’t wreck it, so Jane can get me a new tire. Cross your fingers, and wish some good luck my way.  I damn sure need it.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Stewart, Harvick, No Las Vegas, And Even Superman Can’t Stop The Rain

A NASCAR Sprint Cup race without Jeff Gordon, without Tony Stewart. That is like a Rolling Stones concert without Mick Jagger or Keith Richards. Or NU football without Tom Osborne coaching. It just isn’t the same. Not many fans would show up for a concert sans Jagger and Richards. However, Nebraskans still flock to Memorial Stadium on fall Saturdays and race fans will still show up every Sunday-or Saturday night-for Sprint Cup races. Will there be as many without the two legends on the starting grid?

Gordon and Stewart can’t be replaced, but off course neither could Dale Earnhardt or Richard Petty or Rusty Wallace or Darrell Waltrip. And NASCAR is still around. Many fans will switch allegiance, some will not. I have been a Gordon fan for years and while I will miss him on the track, I will certainly enjoy listening to him on FOX race telecasts.

But, which driver will I root for?  Not Gordon’s replacement Chase Elliott. None of the Joe Gibbs drivers.  No, not Ricky Stenhouse Jr. or any Roush Fenway back marker. It would be a very cold day in a very hot place before I cheer on Brad Keselowski or Joey Logano. I don’t mind Jimmie Johnson, but his crew chief Chad Knaus grinds on me. So who?

I suspect it will be Kevin Harvick. Harvick is obviously a talented driver, and seems to have changed since his son was born a few years ago. I was also very impressed with the California driver when he spoke at the SBJ Motorsports Marketing Forum in Las Vegas last year. Perhaps not this year, but I see more championships in Harvick’s future. He isn’t a Gordon yet, but is certainly worth watching.

Speaking of the Motorsports Marketing Forum, I just received an email talking about early registration. It is going to be in two parts this year-in Las Vegas in early December with the NASCAR Championship Week and then at Daytona as the Daytona Rising project is unveiled. I enjoy Las Vegas, and would love to visit Daytona during Speed Weeks. Or even just Daytona. Unfortunately, it appears that I will not be going. I even thought of setting up a GoFundMe account, but $23.47 sent in won’t even pay for airport parking. Depressing.

Mother Nature is once again wiping out races around the country. Qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover was cancelled, and the starting grid will be by points.  And, the Lucas Oil late models races in Georgia were both cancelled, meaning that Superman will not have to leap over any tall buildings to win the series point title.  All Jonathan Davenport will have to do to be crowned Lucas Oil champion is start the feature of the Dirt Track World Championship at Portsmouth Raceway Park in Ohio in two weeks. And since he is leading the points, he will have a provisional if he would qualify poorly. A last place finish for Davenport and a win for second place in points Scott Bloomquist would mean the driver of the Zero car would gain 135 points in the final race of the season, but he trails J.D. by 140 points. First place means another $75,000 in 2015 earnings for Davenport.

One of the newsletters I subscribe to has a job for a bookkeeper. It pays 50,000 pounds per year, and damned if I know where the pound sterling symbol is on the keyboard.  Anyway, that is roughly $240,000 for a job in the aviation industry, and that is an industry I have followed forever.  Of course I would have to move to London, and that is just a few miles too far from Henry Ross Meyer for my liking.

I am on many-far too many-job finding sites, and some come up with rather strange matches for “accountant.” Like owner/operator over the road truck driver. Or nurse. Or robotic engineer. Or executive chef. Well, I can grill hamburgers and use a microwave.

Actually, I am enjoying my new and temporary job. I found a much better route for my commute, I enjoy not having too many responsibilities, the work is interesting, and I get along quite well with the people I am working with-so those of you who think I am a grouch, hey, look in a mirror-it might not be me at all. The company treats all of its employees well, not just those with lips firmly planted on an owner’s posterior. And I don’t feel I am girding for battle as I drive to work. Most definitely a welcome change.

Enough for now. Thanks for stopping by.

P.S. I did watch some of the sprint car races from I-80 Speedway on Speed Shift TV last night. Good job announcing by Stan Cisar. I may even watch again tonight. With NU playing late this afternoon there won’t be any trip to Park Jefferson for the SLMR race, nor to US 30 Speedway for the Vintage Nationals.