5 WEEKEND AFTER-THOUGHTS: Eldora Banquet

(Stacy Holland photo)

1)  The Sunoco ALMS schedule was released and it was announced that the organization will now feature an East and a West series.  In speaking with various drivers, the reviews are mixed with the biggest complaint being that the East series races include too many Illinois races overlapping into the eastern schedule.  The West schedule, on the other hand, is a nice addition and seems to somewhat take the place of the now defunct NALMS Series.  (NOTE - the Aug. 3rd ALMS East race is at Oakshade, not Eldora as the previously released schedule suggests)

2)  Bill Lewis announced that he will not be back behind the wheel of the Rob Rouch owned #26.  Wapakoneta, Ohio driver Scott Bowersock will take over that ride in 2013.

3)  John Brooks, who's back-to-back rollovers kicked off the 2012 season at Eldora, won the track's UMP Modified Hard Luck award.  In taking the microphone after accepting his award, Brooks had the capacity crowd in stitches with an inebriated speech that included the gut-busting phrase, "If you're gonna drink all day, you gotta start in the morning."

4)  Rick Delong announced that he will once again field a car for Matt Miller this season with, basically, the same schedule as last year.  The team plans to run all Eldora races as well as select events at Attica and Oakshade.

5)  One minor tweak to the previously released Eldora schedule is the addition of the BOSS non-wing sprints to the season-ending UNOH Sprintacular, which also features the All-Star Sprints and the NRA Sprint Invaders.