Nebraska 360 Sprints, Elliott Plus More NASCAR News, Last Night, And Tonight

The Nebraska 360 Sprints schedule is out and shows 19 dates from early April through mid-October.  The wonderfully winged wanderers are racing at 4 Nebraska tracks plus Park Jefferson in South Dakota.  I have been told their home track is Butler County Speedway, but that track only hosts the series 4 times, while I-80 Speedway will be the site of 8 Ne360 races.  Park Jefferson will host the series 3 times, as will Junction Motor Speedway.  The tour will also visit Dawson County Speedway in Lexington 1 time. Check out the link below for details of the schedule:

http://www.nebraska360sprintseries.com/schedule/

While everyone assumed that young Chase Elliott would take over Jeff Gordon’s seat in a Hendrick Chevrolet, I wondered what his car number might be.  News on Wednesday has Elliott driving the #24 and Alan Gustafson remaining as crew chief for the car. While mostly I don’t care, the one thing I find somewhat irritating is that if Gordon races a few times next season-say the Daytona 500 and maybe at a few of his favorite tracks, he will be racing a new number.  NASCAR doesn’t retire numbers, but I wish Rick Hendrick would reconsider putting Elliott in the 24.  HMS could continue buying the number rights from NASCAR, but just not use 24 on any car, a fitting tribute to one of NASCAR’s all-time greats.

Yes, I do realize that Austin Dillon ran the #3 car last year, and that number is as iconic as the 24.  Maybe his Grandpa and car owner Richard Childress thinks young Dillon is the next Earnhardt, but I don’t think so. Elliott is far more likely to be the next Gordon than Dillon is to make us forget someone else once drove the #3. Anyway, 3 or 24 should not be run anymore, and add the 43 once driven by Richard Petty to that list.

If you think that finding NASCAR Sprint Cup Races on TV this year will be difficult with several obscure cable channels hosting many races, you will really need to be alert to decipher exactly when a race is going to start.  NASCAR announced the starting times of races in its primary series, and there are 12 different starting times. 8 races will start at Noon, and that is the highest number for one start time.

I know I mentioned the Florida races that XSANTV was showing last night, but I did not watch them.  I was invited by a friend to watch two 7^th grade girls’ basketball games and that was my entertainment for the night. 7^th grade girls’ basketball or Top Gun 360 sprints?  It was a tough choice but the junior high basketball won out.

If TRODT Speedway opens up tonight it will be late as I will be viewing more basketball-tonight it will be Fremont High vs. Omaha North.  Actually, the Speed Shift TV PPV of the Winter Challenge from USA Raceway in Tucson does not start until 8:00 p.m. CST, so that might work out.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

 

A Winter Challenge

OK, so Arizona had light jacket weather.  In Nebraska we had a few drops of rain over the weekend, but we had nothing to shovel like the two feet of snow predicted for the Northeast.  It is a winter challenge for me to feel bad that the N.E. gets snows and we didn’t.

Conclusions from watching several nights of the real Winter Challenge from Canyon Speedway Park in Arizona:

-only 14 wingless sprints were on hand, and that was a disappointment.

-Canyon Speedway Park has a big outside the track pit area.  This enable the sprint cars to be push started before reaching the track.  I liked that.

-there were more than 14 Mini Sprints on hand on Friday and Saturday, though it would have been OK if there had been less than 14.

-Mod Lites are simply Mini B-Mods. I lost count of the yellow flags for these cars.  I didn’t take my socks off, so with ten fingers there were at least 11 yellows in the 4 heats I watched. I was alternating between the Winter Challenge and the Fremont High School girl and boy basketball games on The Cube, and even the girl’s game seemed to have fewer stops in action.

-there was plenty of action in the IMCA modified division, and the car count was around 40.

-it appeared to me there was a station wagon racing in the Pure Street Stock division.  Perhaps it was a Dodge Magnum.  Very strange. Usually station wagons are a demo-derby type car.

-I thought Jesse Sobbing might be racing in Peoria last weekend, but he did not.  Now I am guessing he will be racing at Cocopah Speedway in February.

-Ricky Thornton Jr. finished 2^nd in the modified feature on Friday and won the Saturday and Sunday features.  Tim Ward won on Friday, finished 2^nd on Saturday and 3^rd on Sunday.

-Brady Bacon won Friday’s USAC feature, while Ryan Bernal won the features on Saturday and Sunday.

-Even without a great car count, drivers from at least 11 different states were on hand.

-Apparently something called the Super Bowl is getting in the way of Canyon Speedway Park hosting the second weekend of the Winter Challenge.  It will be moved to USA Raceway in Tucson.  The wingless sprints will still be the feature class-hopefully more than 14 will show this weekend-with IMCA modifieds, stock cars, dwarf cars, and x-mods also racing.  An X-mod is just a B-mod with a different letter trying to disguise it. As with last week you can catch the action on Speed Shift TV.

If you are in need of a racing fix this winter, you can catch 13 events on Speed Shift TV from now through February, with at least another 8 scheduled for March, or you can also tune into www.XSAN.TV XSAN has 7 racing event scheduled this week, and 27 in February.

Yes, that is a lot of races.  The only person I know who can afford to attend all of them is Ivan Tracy and he will be at the Arizona events.  IMCA modified fan Tony Anville will likely purchase many of the PPV’s as well.  Me? I’ll work in as many as possible in between basketball games.

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S. I almost forgot.  The 8^th rated Midland University men’s basketball team disposed of one Wesleyan school on Saturday, defeating 3^rd ranked Dakota Wesleyan 76-52.  Next up and going down is the Methodist school from Lincoln, Nebraska.

 

 

Go Tigers, Winter Heat, Wild West Shoot-out, Plus Life On Mars

I realize this isn’t racing, but I have to congratulate the Fremont High School girls basketball team on their invitation to play in the Nike Tournament of Champions beginning tomorrow in Phoenix.  84 girls and boys teams were invited, and the schools represent 15 states and Canada.

The Fremont Tigers feature Jessica Shepard, ranked 3^rd in the U.S. among girl high school players by ESPN, but also have two girls who have signed NCAA Division I commitment letters in other sports, another girl who has signed an NCAA Division II commitment for basketball, and their junior point guard is receiving interest from Division I and II teams.  Yes, they are good.  And no, I am not going to compare them with any racing teams.  I started to and then figured the replies I would get, so deleted the sentence.

I would much rather watch four days of wall to wall basketball then go to Washington to watch the swearing in ceremony of Congressman Brad Ashford, though I have been invited to that ceremony.  The best thing about Ashford being sworn in is that it is not Lee Terry being sworn in yet again.

I have been talking about Cocopah Speedway’s Winter Heat, but Arizona will play host to the start of the 2015 dirt late models season as well.  USA Raceway in Tucson will feature open late models on 1/10, 1/11, 1/14, 1/16, 1/17, and 1/18.  Three of the races will pay $3,000 to win, two will pay $5,000 to win, and the final race will pay the winner $10,000.

www.DirtonDirt.com will show all six of the races from Tucson, including the support class USRA modifieds each night.  A six day package for DOD subscribers is $75.99.  Non-subscribers pay $85.99 for the same package.  Single day coverage is available for $21.99.  If you have watched DOD presentations in the past, you know their PPV’s are top notch and well worth what you pay. I suspect I am going to be one of at least two Nebraskans who get the $75.99 package-yes Scott, you are the other one.

NASA’s Curiosity rover has sent signals suggesting the possibility of life on Mars.  No, it was not photos of a rusted out pick-up full of empty Bud Light cans sitting in front of a trailer with no door. That would be life in rural Georgia. Rather, it was a presence of methane gas. Isn’t methane what B-Mods use for fuel?

If you want to be a blogger try coming up with 500 words every day in the racing off season. As Three Dog Night sang “it ain’t easy.” This was only 444 words.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

Arizonans Love Daytime Dirt; I-80 Likes Friday Nights

From TMC who was actually at the Wild West Shoot-Out in Tucson last weekend:

“Hate to be harsh, but they get a D- for track prep on Sunday.  A shot of water and turning up about 2 inches of dirt won’t cut it and they should have known that.  The wind blew half the moisture out before the track got packed by the mods (after what seemed like 100 laps of “packing”, some guys even pitted to re-fuel before the A started), and everyone there knew that it wouldn’t accomplish anything. Then to do the same thing again before the LM feature was just plain silly.  Either blade off the week’s worth of rubber that was on the track, open the damn thing up and water it or just leave it alone because an hour and a half of jacking around with track prep accomplished absolutely nothing. There was no improvement whatsoever with either track prep attempt on Sunday.  The night shows weren’t bad at all, but Saturday and especially Sunday weren’t up to par and you can bet that it will cost them some cars and fans next year. 

This was not an issue last year, and the weather wasn’t really a problem, so whatever they did differently this year didn’t work and I hope they’re smart enough to realize they have a problem and are willing to address it for next year.  I’d hate to see yet another great race go down the crapper because of bad management.  I get enough of that without having to leaveNebraska…”

Tom-you got to see what was going on while I was watching US Steel infomercials.  You were able to judge the effort, while I could only judge that one was made.  There is no question that you are one of the most knowledgeable fans around, so I have no problem changing my thoughts to what is a clearer picture.

I honestly do not understand the thinking behind scheduling a daytime dirt track race.  Drivers do not come from over 1,000 miles away to drive on a rubbered down one groove track.  I typed in race instead of drive, but realized that wasn’t so.  Sprint car fans call going fast and turning left racing, but late model fans want to see side by side action.  Day racing leaves both drivers and fans upset-except Arizonans, more later.

So again, why schedule day races, including the biggest race of the entire event?  I agree with TMC that if the track doesn’t address this problem before 2013, it is going to lose some drivers and fans.  Before Sunday’s race Matt and I were talking of 2013.  His in-laws own a condo in Mesa, and Matt could go racing in Tucson, while Steph and Henry visit her mom.  After Sunday though we both agreed that if the weekend races remain day races there is no way we want to go.

I really enjoyed the Wednesday and Friday events on www.dirtondirt.com PPV, but if the promoters don’t make all the races night events, I would not purchase the whole package like I did this year.  I would probably just choose a one night package on Friday. I realize it is winter, the WWS is late models and mods, but I don’t subscribe to the theory “whatever promoters give us is OK.”

I do hope the track will make some changes, and get the word out early.  This could be a great event and like TMC said, we don’t have to leave Nebraska to see bad track management.

However, this from one of the www.dirtondirt.com people on site this weekend:

“First, you have to understand (and you can look back through our archives for proof)…that they’ve raced in the day for the Wild West Shootout for a LONG, LONG time…and 990% of the time the racing is great. Even the Saturday-Sunday before our PPV started, there were several near photo-finishes with the heat races. Is day racing typically bad across the country? Yes…but out there, up until this past Saturday-Sunday, it has worked great…they just missed this year. So it’s not a “daytime racing is always terrible” thing…when daytime racing out there has always worked.

Secondly, racing in Arizona (fans wise) is COMPLETELY different than
anywhere in the Midwest…those people all prefer racing earlier, and
getting things done, they don’t like to attend races at night…that’s just the way it is out there…another unique dynamic.

Hope I answered your questions.”

So, from those answers I suspect that the program will not see major changes in 2013.  Will drivers and fans give them a second chance next year?  I wonder about name drivers.  The Moyer family?  Likely.  John Anderson-likely.  Jimmy Mars-probably.  Don O’Neal or Tim McCreadie, I wonder. Will fans give them a second chance?  Well, the locals will.  And maybe fans that have been to past WWS events will too.  I am not sure what to think.   

And an email racing flyer from Ivan Tracy provided more confusion.  Ivan has moved his RV to just north of Phoenix at Canyon Speedway Park.  Starting on Friday the track will host 6 races in 9 days, headlined by ASCS vs. USAC Sprint Cars with a support class of IMCA Modifieds.  Three of the shows are weekend events, and much to my surprise, the weekend shows are scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start.  I have wondered about Arizonans before and this adds to my wonderment.

Finally, Joe Kosiski sat with Matt and I and Mike Pierson for about half of a basketball game last night.  I learned more about the thinking of I-80 promoters moving to Friday night racing, and will be commenting when the track schedule is announced.

Thanks for stopping by.

Who Gave Morgan Bagley Permission To Play With The Big Boys? And, Is That A $10,000 Check He Is Holding?

So my friend from Auburn will not scream at me anymore, I admit I have not yet watched the archived Saturday afternoon races fromTucson.  Matt and I went to three different basketball games in two different cities on Saturday.  However, after watching yesterday’s Wild West Shoot-Out PPV from USA Raceway, I may not watch those races. Regarding yesterday, I would give the racing a C, the track a B for trying to make the racing better and a D for scheduling an afternoon race, and a C+ to the PPV production.

All of the grades stem from dirt track afternoon racing.  99 times out of 100 it isn’t going to work well.  It didn’t yesterday.  A track prep session prior to the USRA modified feature did not keep drivers from burning up their right rear tires, and another track prep session prior to the late model session bought about 10 laps of racing before the track became a one groove follow the leader around the bottom track.

I say afternoon dirt track races should never be scheduled, rather be kept as a last resort rain date.  The results end up being fair to neither drivers nor fans, both who travel long distances to be a part of the event.

I would give heat races a B, features a D+.  The track did try to fix its problems, but racing in the afternoon just does not give much room for fixing.  The PPV production?  First, I learned far more about the process of manufacturing steel than I ever hoped for.  However, at about the 5^th time the US Steel infomercial aired, I was ready for something else.  Same with whatever racing product ad that used the Lucas Oil Dirt Series announcer screaming “Jimmy Owens wins.”  I am more than OK with never hearing that line again.

Scott McBride commented on an earlier post suggesting that ads from Tucson businesses could be part of the PPV airing.  I think the PPV people need to have a fall back position, i.e. have several videos available for play when there are lengthy delays in racing like yesterday.  More driver interviews would have been OK too.  But playing the commercials time after time after time during track prep became irritating.

Congratulations to Omaha’s John Anderson for being one of a handful of drivers to make all of the WWS late model features.  Anderson may have had the best car on the track at the end of yesterday’s feature, but simply could move no further than 3^rd because of track conditions.

Al Humphrey, the other Nebraskan racing in Tucson had plenty of bad luck during the two weekends of racing.  Yesterday ‘The Hombre’ finished last in his heat, and wrecked in his B feature, hitting the turn three wall hard on the driver’s side of the race car.  I could feel the crunch back in Fremont.  Al is no youngster, but he was able to climb out of his wrecked car and walk back to the pits.

Billy Moyer appeared to be cruising to another USA Raceway win when he had mechanical problems for the second day in a row.  Moyer’s trouble gave Morgan Bagley the lead.  Yeah, me too.  Who the heck is Morgan Bagley?  After doing some checking, I found Bagley was last year’s O’Reilley SUPRA champion, and the $10,000 check he took home to Texas made the Bill Cheesbourg Memorial 40 the biggest win of his career.  Amazing.

Despite not being into yesterday’s racing, it was still race cars going fast on a dirt track, turning left, throwing dirt and mud through each corner, live in the middle of January.  I got my money’s worth from the PPV.  Actually, if the races were all evening events in 2013, I think I would try to talk Matt into flying to Tucson for at least the last three days of the WWS.

I would like to hear from Ivan Tracy and Tom McLaughlin who were at USA Raceway this weekend-their take on yesterday’s happening, and why they think the track schedules a day time event.

Since my name isn’t Ivan Tracy, that will be the last racing for me until mid-February.  I am sure Ivan has all of his weekends for the next month scheduled with racing, but I am just tired, not retired like the Lincoln super fan.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Little I-80 Speedway, Plus 54 Year Old Arkansan Takes WWS Late Model Feature

I have said this before, but every time I mention the Silver Dollar Nationals or I-80 Speedway, my numbers jump.  I interpret this as fans still care very much about stock car racing in this area.  Promoters need to know that these same people who have been staying away from weekly racing would be willing to return under the right conditions.  I don’t think Friday night racing is the answer, nor do I believe people are unwilling to go out on Sunday nights-I believe a certain other track proved that for 40 years.  However, having super late models and A mods on the same program might be a start. 

Night four of the Wild West Shoot-Out is now in the books, or at least on the blogs.  51 USRA modifieds and 64 super late models raced last night and I would like to salute promoters for an excellent job running the races.  The first modified heat took to the track 3 minutes after the advertised starting time, which most tracks would classify as starting early.  The 12 heats, 5 B features, and 2 A features were run in 3 hours 10 minutes, something most dirt track promoters can’t seem to do despite having a much smaller car count.

I tuned into the PPV early, figuring on pre-race commentary and interviews, but instead got an hour of hot laps.  I am not sure how I feel about that.  I do enjoy the roar of high performance engines, but would not have minded hearing what the likes of Moyer, Mars, and McCreadie had to say about what would unfold that night.

Wednesday night I gave the racing a B and the PPV production an A-.  Last night I would give the racing a B+ and the production another A-. 27 states and 3 Canadian provinces were represented on the track last night, and my thought would be that if you came a long distance to race you have a good race car and plenty of experience, both of which make for good racing.

What would a late model event be without some controversy?  Don O’Neal provided it last night.  O’Neal won his heat race and was interviewed on the front stretch after the race.  Instead of driving his car over the track scale though, he drove directly to his pit stall.  Of course that is a big no-no, and he was disqualified.  He chose not to run a B feature to try to make the A main, but I suspect there were plenty of words surrounding that decision.

Billy Moyer and Tim McCreadie started in the first row and raced side by side or nose to tail for the first 20 laps of the 30 lap feature.  Splitting a lapped car it looked like McCreadie was about to capture the lead, but the 54 year old Moyer had other plans, and drove away from the field in the final 10 laps of the race.

The finishing order was Moyer-McCreadie-Vaught-Looney-Babb-Mars-Korte-Stovall in the first seven spots.  What promoter wouldn’t love having any of those drivers at a late model race?

One thing I am wondering about is fans in the stands.  Several shots showed a nearly empty portion of the grandstands, though it was grandstands at the end of the front straightaway.  Ivan Tracy and Tom McLaughlin are in Tucson-how full were the stands guys?

The races today will be under the Arizona winter sun.  Everyone says that dirt track races during the day leave much to be desired, but USA Raceway appears to be the exception to that rule.  The track has produced some good afternoon events, and if this was is not one of them, I am sure I will be hearing from my friend Tony Anville who opened his wallet for the first time in 2012 to purchase the last three days of the www.dirtondirt.com PPV. 

Thanks for stopping by.

A Raving Lunatic Speaks Out On I-80 Speedway, Arizona Dirt, and Dirt Covered Asphalt

Please take a look at The Raving Lunatic’s comments on my last post regarding I-80 Speedway.  I started out writing down all the points he made that I agree with (including sharing our dislike of 66JJ), but I was agreeing with almost everything he said and figured it was easier just to ask you to read them-and I would love to hear your comments on Raving’s Reproach.

I received my son’s proposed 2012 racing schedule.  The list is all specials, and mostly OK.  We disagreed on a few venues, and I am hoping for one more road trip in addition to the USMTS show at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City.  We both really liked Deer Creek Speedway last year, so maybe a trip to Minnesota for the Gopher 50 or a USMTS show can be worked out.

Tonight is Round Two of the Wild West Shoot-Out on PPV via www.DirtonDirt.com.  If you haven’t already done so, I would encourage you to go to the website and order at least one night of the event’s final three shows.  I enjoyed the racing and the quality of the production, and definitely got my money’s worth.  I would like to hear from anyone who does watch the PPV.  And I would like to hear from you too, Ivan Tracy.  How is the weather in Tucson?

Berlin Raceway, a 7/16^th mile asphalt oval is returning to its roots for the track’s 2012 season finale.  The track’s surface will be covered with dirt, and WoO late models will be the premier class for the 9/21 and 9/22 show.  The 9/22 feature will be a 100 lap, $20,000 to win race. 

I wish that Bristol International Raceway would reconsider and run a dirt show at least every few years.  There would be thousands of people in the grandstands, and with the PPV technology that is now available, I am sure thousands more would purchase such a package to watch at home.  Make it worth the track’s efforts by running two nights of sprint cars and two nights of late models.  I am not a fan of the WoO, but it would seem a logical sanction for such an event.

Yes, there are logistical problems for the track, but if a track like Berlin Raceway can do it-and with far less resources than Bristol, BIR should do it too.  It adds dates to the facility, and even though Bruton Smith has too much money, you would think he would want to make even more.

Yes, I know, it is a crazy idea.  I bet it won’t be the last crazy idea you read on this blog.  Thanks for stopping by.

Arizona-Alabama-Iowa Dirt, USMTS In August, Longer Wait For SDN II

I received a USA Raceway email flyer courtesy of Ivan Tracy.  The Tucson, Arizona track was announcing its 6 night Wild West Shoot-Out, featuring super late models. USRA modifieds will be a support class each night of the Shoot-Out and at various times, Super Stocks, Western State Stock Cars, Factory Stocks, and X-mods will be part of the action.  Check out www.usaraceway.net for more details.

Some of us are neither retired nor independently wealthy like Ivan, so we will be stuck in the cold weather states instead of sunning in southern Arizona.  However, thanks to www.DirtonDirt.com we can still see the likes of Billy Moyer, Jimmy Mars, Don O’Neal, and Tim McCreadie take the green flag on the 2012 season.  The late model website will be providing PPV’s for the final four race dates-1/18, 1/20, 1/21, and 1/22.  DirtonDirt.com subscribers can get the four race package for $28, and non-subscribers can get four races for $38.  Single race packages are also available at $15 per night.

The DOD productions are professionally done, and at $7.00 a night a great deal-if you don’t subscribe to DirtonDirt, you should-annual subscriptions cost $65, or just $1.25 a week. Race coverage will begin at 6:00 p.m. MST on 1/18 and 1/20, and noon MST on 1/21 and 1/22.  For my readers in the Central Standard time zone, that would be 5:00 p.m. and 11:00 a.m. For those of us who go to bed earlier than the races finish, the event will be available on the site for approximately 24 hours, so you can watch it at your convenience.

Let’s have a little debate-right now the Super Fan rules count only races that you physically attend.  This gives an advantage to retirees like Ivan Tracy or super rich fans like Tony Anville.  Should PPV events also count?  There will be dozens of PPV events over the year-many World of Outlaw sprint car and late models shows are webcast for example.  The Prelude to the Dream will be an HBO PPV event.  I realize it is not the quite the same as being physically at an event, but a certain grumpy fan-not me-suggested that the criteria to count a race in the Super Fan contest should be that you pay to watch it, and you pay for PPV.  I would love to hear from everyone on this, including you Tony.

Actually, the late model racing season begins this weekend with the 21^st Annual Ice Bowl at Talladega Short Track.  The weather can be iffy at best for this event, but early forecasts call for temperatures in the 50’s.

My son Matt advised me we were putting another date on our 2012 race schedule.  The USMTS will be running at Buena Vista Raceway in Alta, Iowa on Wednesday, August 1^st.  This will be a $4,000 to win show on the fast black dirt of BVR, and being on a Wednesday, I am assuming the night will also include all of the weekly classes the track runs.  Yes, I still do love fairgrounds tracks.

Finally, checking out my calendar I discovered that we will have to wait one day longer than I had anticipated for Silver Dollar Nationals II.  2012 is a Leap Year, so with a February 29^th, there are 198 days remaining to the biggest stock car event in Nebraska racing history.

Thanks for stopping by.

By The Time I Get To Tucson It Will Be Winter-At Least I Can Dream

Thanks to Randy Palmer for his hilarious comments about yesterday’s blog.  If you didn’t read them and need a laugh today, read them.  After reading Randy’s monologue I started thinking about all of my friends who are smart a$$es.  I had not thought of this before, but many, if not most of my friends are smart a$$es.  I don’t understand why, but it is still a fact.  Another fact is that Randy would have to be at least a Brigadier General in this army of smart a$$es.

The person who I go to races with but who does not want his name mentioned in my blog has in-laws who recently purchased a condo in the Phoenix area.  This person’s father in-law is still teaching, but his mother in-law is a retired teacher who plans on spending part of the winter in Arizona.  This person’s wife wants to visit her mother in January and wants this person to go along.  This person doesn’t particularly want to visit his mother in-law (I can say this because his wife doesn’t read my blog), but hello person with a name I do not mention in my blog.  The Wild West Late Model Shootout is going on for two weekends in January at USA Raceway in Tucson, about a two hour drive from Phoenix.

My advice to this person would be to visit his mother in-law for a few days, then leave his wife in Phoenix and go to the races for a weekend.  From what friend TMC says, this is a good show, it is late model racing in January, and the temperature is anywhere from 20 to 50 degrees warmer than Nebraska. Your wife gets mostly what she wants and you get to go racing.  What is there to think about? Billy Moyer will probably be there-Tucson is where he started his fantastic season in 2010.  Brian Birkhofer and Jimmy Mars are talking about going.  Again, what is there to think about?

Heck, if I could figure a way to talk my wife into letting me spend a weekend watching races in Tucson in January I sure would.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how I might convince my wife that me going to Tucson is a good idea?  I have already used the “I have an assignment” line several years ago to go to East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, so that is out.  Plus, she knows that the Tampa trip cost me a lot more than the assignment paid, so she won’t be buying that story again.  Offering her the opportunity to go to a race would not budge her from a no.  She does not like racing. 

I would love to hear from anyone with a plan. Thanks for stopping by.

Guest Post-He Went To The Wild West Shoot-Out AND Tombstone

As I mentioned last week, friend Tom McLaughlin flew to Tucson last week to take in the Wild West Shoot-Out at USA Raceway.  Below is an email he sent me describing his trip and the racing.

Got back yesterday afternoon, and all I can say is WOW!  Start saving money now so you can go there next year.  The racing wasn’t bad, they had great crowds Saturday and Sunday and it’s a really nice facility.

You can check out all the stuff on DirtonDirt.com and most of it is right on the mark so I won’t regurgitate results but will share a few tidbits.  The car counts – especially the late models – were just a tad lighter than I thought they would be, but the level of competition is definitely stepped up.  Take away Mars and Moyer cherry-picking, and the competition was absolutely more even than in years past.  The western guys have really turned it up a notch.  One of the California guys led half the feature on Friday, and may well have won if it weren’t for a stupid caution.

The racing was very clean for the most part.  Boen is still a freaking idiot; he took out one of the locals Friday night totaling both cars, then tore up his back-up car.  He was either fast or smooth, but not both.  I’m guessing he didn’t sell many t-shirts.  Phillips took himself out Sunday in his heat race after failing one of his chop blocks, so I was kind of happy to see him on the trailer.  Anderson looked good, but not great – he passed a few cars in Sunday’s finale and that was probably his best showing. 

The mods put on just as good – sometimes even better – of a show as the late models.  They were generally about a second slower than the lates.  Unlike the typical Eagle crash-fest, there was very little contact or rough driving.  Fast and smooth was the rule.  They run UMP mods weekly there so the mods are basically late models with open wheels and dinky tires. 

The races started ON TIME every day – Friday night they started 5 minutes early.  Wednesday’s show was over at 9:50, Friday’s ran a tad late (11:15) due to all the crashing, but Saturday and Sunday were both at or just under 4 hours.  They keep the show moving nicely, although they are a bit slow at lining up restarts.  The track is a nice smooth clay track that starts out wet and dries out by feature time.  They did farm the track when needed.  It didn’t really become a train race because Billy Moyer Jr. started way back and finished 3rd so you can’t say it was follow-the-leader. 

The track itself is kind of like Harlan, but smaller – big, sweeping turns and short straights.  Kind of a yellowish clay surface and the pits are outside the track.  There is plenty of 2-wide racing, but typically not a lot of 3-wide racing.  Kind of like Sunset, you sometimes had to work a guy for a lap or two to get around him.  The track has ample grandstands, and every seat is a good one. There are restrooms at each end of the stands, and very good food albeit just slightly pricier than what we’re used to, and very friendly people in the stands.  I met and talked with several different folks, some were locals/transplants and others from places like New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri and California. 

My plane landed at 10:05 Wednesday morning, and by the time I walked to the luggage carousel, got my bag, picked up my rental car, got out of the parking garage and drove to the track, 30 minutes had elapsed.  You can’t get out of Eppley that fast!  The track is literally about a mile and a half from the airport parking garage.  Very easy to fly in and out of Tucson, very easy town to get around in, motels are pretty reasonably priced and there’s a ton of stuff to see and do around there, especially if you like mountain scenery or western history.  I spent a day down in Tombstone, spent Saturday afternoon at the drag strip, checked out the asphalt track and talked to the track manager.  They have driving schools there for all the rich kids whose daddies want them to be the next NASCAR stud, and you can get 10 laps in a crate late for $60 so we might do that next time.  As you can guess, I am most definitely going back!  I’d love to go back for the $15K to win modified show over Thanksgiving. 

Thanks Tom.  This was just the kind of stuff I would call “the rest of the dirt.”  A trip like that sounds like the kind of gift a man’s grown up children ought to give him for Christmas. Ivan Tracy-you were there too, what do you have to say about the track and the racing?

Thanks for stopping by.