5 WEEKEND AFTER-THOUGHTS: Dreamin'

Dale McDowell celebrates after his $100,000 payday.  (Eldora Speedway photo)

1.  Saturday night's 20th Annual Dirt Late Model Dream was one of the best races in the history of the event with Dale McDowell winning from 22nd, John Blankenship second (from 24th), and Jimmy Owens fourth (from 25th)...in a race that saw only two cautions.

2.  Friday night's preliminary features were as good as any 25-lappers I've seen this season.  The first one included a wild, lead-swapping photo finish between Rick Eckert and Brian Birkhofer with Birky edging out Scrub by inches.

3.  If nothing else, the Dream weekend proved (once again) that car counts are vastly overrated.   Most folks already know this but, with the weekend we just saw at the Big E, it certainly bears repeating.

4.  Locally lost in the Dream hype was Matt Westfall's double down Saturday night at Waynesfield, as he won both the UMP Modified and Non-Wing Sprint features.

5.  The SummerNationals are already upon us.  Good Lord, where has the season gone?!  Brownstown kicks off the 2014 version of the Hell Tour Wednesday night. 

Five Weekend Afterthoughts: 9/13/12

Better late than never, here's my Five Weekend Afterthoughts...World 100 edition.     -DJ-


(Stacy Holland photo)

1.  Plain and simle, the best car won the race.  Much like Shane Clanton at the Dream, Brian Birkhofer was simply on a rail and wasn't going to be beat Saturday night.  Congrats to him.

2.  After a small hiccup Friday night, the live internet PPV seemed to go off pretty well Saturday.  As a roaming reporter, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and, honestly, was surprised (and much appreciative) of all the positive feedback.  From the top of the suites in turns three and four to the back of the pace truck before the start of the race, I was everywhere and it was a lot of fun.

3.  Brad Neat's run - his entire day - was pretty darn spectacular.  After slapping the wall during his one and only qualifying lap and having to run one of the Qualifying Features, I doubt anybody gave him a chance to leave the Big E with a top three finish.  Kudos to him and his team on a job well done.

4.  I honestly felt like the right man won the DirtonDirt.com Best Appearing Car Award.  Justin Chance's "Godfather of Dirt" car was pretty amazing, and was a well-kept secret.  Practically nobody knew about the car until he unloaded on Tech Day.  Even Yours Truly, trying to obtain a pic earlier in the week, was unsuccessful in getting the likeable Mansfield, Ohio driver to get a pic texted my way.

5.  Other things I was impressed with:  the run by Michael Chilton is a REVELution Race Car; Wayne Chinn's debut in a new MasterSbilt; first timers Simpson, Reaume, & Hotovy; the line at the bar (ALL the time); the $5000 added to the winner's share by Mark Larson of Rock River Arms in Colona, IL; Brandon Sheppard; Jason Feger; the number of regional drivers that were present; the friendliness of all the fans, drivers, and fellow staff members.