Top 10 Craziest Things... #6

#6  -  Scott County Fairgrounds 4/18/04

What Happened:  It’s difficult to see a good day race.  Likewise, it’s not often that a track who only runs once a year can provide racing that is even par with that of a track that runs weekly.  The combination of a day race on an old fairgrounds track that races once a year proved to a lethal combination that were the perfect ingredients for a one-lane train race in this NALMS-sanctioned event.

2004 was somewhat of a banner year for me.  I was single, living on my own, and wasn't working for any one race track or racing series.  Therefore, I had the opportunity to travel around and see a LOT of races that year...nearly 70 to be exact (and at 40 different tracks).  

Living in southwest Ohio at the time, and still being relatively new to the area, I was still fairly unfamiliar with tracks outside of the hour radius that I was living in at the time.  Thus, when the opportunity came up to hit a new track, I usually took advantage of it.

Such was the case with the Northern All-Stars Late Model show in Scottsburg, Indiana on April 18, 2004.  The track itself was an old, narrow, 3/8-mile that was only raced on once or twice a year.  Combine this with the fact that it was a daytime race - and with the fact that they qualified - and I think you can figure out where this one is heading.

Oh, and if that's not enough, perhaps I should mention that the most popular item on the Scottsburg menu was the (now infamous) pickle-on-a-stick.

Folks, I can't make this stuff up.

With 34 cars on hand, more passes were made by the 50/50 girls than anything we saw on the track. This bore-fest took a bizarre and semi-exciting turn in the B-Main when 7th-running Eric Smith tapped Jeff Wilson and sent him spinning, collecting 8th place Wes Steidinger in the process.  In a rage of fury, Wilson bolted out of his car and over to Steidinger’s where he proceeded to punch Steidinger in the head repeatedly until track personnel pulled him away.  

With this being the most action the crowd had seen all day, the fans, looking for anything and something to cheer about, took it upon themselves to start a “wrong guy, wrong guy” chant.  Ill feelings from the chant and angry Wilson/Steidinger fans saw several near brawls break out, including one gentleman who began throwing his nachos at people.

With order restored both on and off the track, the 30-lap feature finally hit the speedway with Mike Jewell winning from the pole.  Only one car that started in the top 10 did not finish in the top 10, in a one-lane parade that was the last Super Late Model race run at the fairgrounds facility.

Here's a look at the top 10 finishers and where they started...

(finish, start, car #, driver)

1. (1) 9 Mike Jewell

2. (3) 71 Don O'Neal

3. (2) 28 Dennis Erb Jr.

4. (5) 3s Brian Shirley

5. (7) B12 Kevin Weaver

6. (4) 30 Mark Voigt

7. (8) 89 Steve Barnett

8. (9) 81 Mark Barber

9. (10) 50 Ed Dixon

10. (11) 18 Tim Tungate

Looking Back:  This debacle has been one of those outings I get asked about most often.  The pickle-on-a-stick is now a pop culture icon.  And, I’ve come to realize that Jeff Wilson isn’t really that bad of a guy.  However, to call this race a fiasco would probably be an understate.  It was a cluster of epic proportions.