Darn, There Is A Lot Of Good Stuff In This Post

Ivan Tracy must have spiked my Kool-Aid as I am starting off another blog with sprint cars. The World of Outlaws 410 prima donnas are racing at two of the most famous dirt tracks in the U.S. this weekend-Eldora on Friday and Lernerville on Saturday.  I do admit that watching the Outlaws run against the Pennsylvania Posse at Lernerville is somewhere on my proverbial bucket list.

 

Yesterday I commented I would rather travel to Australia than I-80 Speedway to watch sprint cars race.  Today, well, I would rather travel to Pennsylvania too.

 

Young Lincoln driver Jase Kaser repeated as track champion at both I-80 Speedway and Junction Motor Speedway and was the Nebraska champion in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series.  Jason O’Brien of Atlantic, Iowa was the Adams County Speedway and Iowa champion.

 

The National Champion of NASCAR weekly racing was Lee Pulliam of Semora, North Carolina.  It was the third straight national title for Pulliam.  Pulliam had 47 starts at four different tracks and ended the season with 27 wins, 40 top-fives, and 44 top ten finishes.

 

Kaser was 35^th in the national standings, O’Brien was 39^th, and Cory Dumpert of York was 65^th. If you subscribe to Dirt Late Model magazine, be looking for an article on Kaser later this year.

 

ACS is the only NASCAR sanctioned speedway in Iowa.  I can remember when West Liberty, Farley, Dubuque, and Davenport all ran under the NASCAR banner.

 

Jesse Sobbing finds himself in a familiar position in IMCA point standings-first, though this season he is leading the Modified points instead of the Northern Sports Mod points.  Kyle Prauner of Norfolk is currently leading IMCA’s NSM division.

 

After 2014 there will be no NASCAR Nationwide Series.  The cars and drivers will still be racing, but Nationwide Insurance will no longer be the title sponsor.  NASCAR is searching for a new sponsor of #2 of its “big three” series.

 

Here is my Top 25 ballot for the week, just a little late.

 

 

2013 WEEKLY DRIVER POLL BALLOT
Name	Ron Meyer
	Please Enter Date   Below
Position	09/16/13
1	Josh   Richards
2	Darrell   Lanigan
3	Jimmy   Owens
4	John   Blankenship
5	Tim   McCreadie
6	Shane   Clanton
7	Steve   Francis
8	Billy   Moyer
9	Brandon   Sheppard
10	Shannon   Babb
11	Bobby   Pierce
12	Scott   Bloomquist
13	Terry   Phillips
14	Don O’Neal
15	Rick   Eckert
16	Chris   Madden
17	Brian   Birkhofer
18	Dale   McDowell
19	Jason   Feger
20	Dennis Erb   Jr.
21	Jonathan   Davenport
22	Earl   Pearson Jr.
23	Mike   Marlar
24	Chris   Simpson
25	Tony   Jackson Jr.

 

In addition to Lucas Oil series regulars Jimmy Owens, John Blankenship, Steve Francis, Don O’Neal, Dennis Erb Jr., Eddie Carrier Jr., Earl Pearson Jr., and Billy Moyer Jr.-wow, that is a helluva lot of juniors, look for Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer, Brian Birkhofer, Jimmy Mars, Shannon Babb, Dale McDowell, Terry Phillips, Mike Marlar, the Simpson brothers, and Josh Richards all to race at Knoxville next weekend.  I thought perhaps Tim McCreadie, Bobby Pierce, and Jason Feger would be there too, but as of now it is not on the schedule on their websites. Even without them it will be a great weekend of racing.

 

If you can’t make it to Knoxville, the first two nights will be shown on www.DirtonDirt.com. It is worth the price of admission, either at the track or in front of your computer.

 

Finally, I have informed the Iowa Highway Patrol that a car with the Nebraska license plates “1NASCAR” is NOT Brian France, but a Brian France wannabe, and it is OK to stop this gentleman when he is speeding along I-80 on Thursday. It would not be the first time he has received a ticket in Iowa.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

 

I-80 Speedway Posts Full 2013 Schedule

I-80 Speedway posted its 2013 schedule, and there are some interesting changes from previous years.  First, the Alphabet Soup Race has been moved from Memorial Day weekend to Friday 6/26.  The MLRA is part of the Show Me 100 during that weekend, and a rain-out date for the event is now Sunday-the day the Alphabet Soup Race was normally scheduled.  Without the MLRA, it isn’t much of an alphabet, so the Soup race was moved.

 

The track will rum the Charlie Clark Memorial race Memorial Day Sunday, with SLMR late models, A and B mods, and hobby stocks running.  Sprint car fans get more than their fair share of shows as I-80 will host 8 sprint car shows in 2013.  The newly formed Nebraska 360’s will race on Thursday July 18^th as part of Silver Dollar Nationals III, and again on 9/1 as part of All Star Sunday-sorry Randy Palmer, we will miss out on your 9/1 show, it is Henry’s birthday.

 

The ASCS Midwest division will visit I-80 four times, starting with the Spring Melt on 4/5-4/6 and again with the Mid-Fall Brawl on 9/20 and 9/21.  The elite of the elite sprint car tour-the World of Outlaws will make a rare appearance at the track on Sunday June 9^th.

 

As I mentioned yesterday, the USMTS modifieds will make two must see visits to I-80 in 2013.  The series will be part of the Silver Dollar Nationals on July 19^th and 20^th and will return again on Sunday August 11^th with a Hunt for the Championship race.

 

As always, late models rule the roost at I-80 Speedway.  The SLMR tour will make 6 stops at the track.  MLRA and CBC late models are part of the Spring Melt, the Alphabet Soup Race, and SDN III.  And of course, big names of the business will be on hand when the Lucas Oil series co-sanctions SDN III.

 

Although not posted on the internet, a schedule copy I have shows the track will be holding several “road” races using foot power instead of horsepower.  Races involving mud and other obstacles seem to be very popular, and the track shows a 2K and 4K race on Saturday 5/18 and a 4 mile race on Saturday 9/7. Hey, anything that might generate some income on off dates is worth a try. No, I will NOT be entering these races.

 

In addition to the specials, the track will be racing weekly on Fridays-check the schedule, not all Fridays-under the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series banner.  Late Models, A mods, B mods, Grand Nationals, Pro Am/Stock Cars, and Hornets are the weekly racing classes.

 

The Charlie Clark Memorial, Alphabet Soup Race, SDN III, and the August USMTS race are already on my schedule.  Depending on the weather a day or two of the Spring Melt and Cornhusker Classic might be added too. With a USMTS race at Lakeside Speedway, SLMR races at Butler Co, US 30, Beatrice, and Harlan, plus 2-3 days of the Knoxville Nationals on that schedule I don’t see adding a lot more from I-80, but things change as the season progresses, so maybe we’ll head south a few more times too.

 

Thanks for stopping by.