Five Weekend Afterthoughts 7/30/12

Jon Henry has made the tough decision to cease his racing operation for the rest of 2012.

1.  With the loss of financial backing, standout Ohio driver Jon Henry has made the tough decision to park his #15 for the remainder of 2012.  The decision, as mentioned in his press release, was a tough one but also a decision "The Steel Driver" knew he had to make.  After completing the grueling UMP Summer Nationals "Hell Tour", Henry was left with two motors than needed tuning as well as upgrades to his 2012 Rocket Chassis.  With his impressive resume, the move will undoubtedly make Henry one of the most sought-after "free agents" in the sport.

2.  Ryan Gustin captured the $25,000 World Dirt Track Modified Championship Saturday night at Minnesota's Deer Park Speedway.  However, the bigger story of the weekend was the bombshell announcement - just 24 hours from the start of the main event - that a group of sponsors had stepped up and added $30,000 to the feature's purse!  The Mod industry is absolutely BUZZING about this, and rightfully so.  Will we ever see something like this in the Dirt Late Model ranks?  We can only hope.

3.  Eldora's "Summer Shootout" for the USAC Sprints went off without a hitch and the racing was pretty darn good too.  At one point, Robert Ballou had come from 23rd to 3rd until mechanical woes forced him pitside with just four laps left.  Chase Stockon completed a 20th to 4th run which kept the fans on their toes and, until the yellow on lap 46, Bryan Clauson was sizing up Dave Darland for a potential last lap pass.  All-in-all it was an excellent show which most folks should have been happy with.  

4.  Don O'Neal won his 10th Lucas Oil race over the weekend when the series made a visit to Hagerstown (MD) Speedway.  If it wasn't for Jimmy Owens banging out top five after top five, "The Real Deal" would most certainly be a solid title contender ... even more of a contender than he is now, being 350 points behind ever-consistent Owens.

5.  A lot of the buzz this weekend was about DirtonDirt.com's live broadcast of this weekend's 25th Annual USA Nationals at Cedar Lake (WI) Speedway.  I'm fortunate enough to be a part of the broadcast team again, along with Ben Shelton among others.  I'm not usually one who gets on here and "encourages" you where to spend your hard-earned money, but trust me when I say that this broadcast is well worth the investment. 

Southern Swing Day 3

With another full day of conferencing on the schedule, including lunch at the Mellow Mushroom, I was out the door shortly after 4:00pm and on my way to Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, TN for the second night of the Schaeffer Oil Southern Nationals, and my fifth straight day of racing.

This would mark my first ever trip to the 4/10-mile speedplant, making it track #162 on my list.  I arrived at Smoky Mountain in plenty of time despite a small traffic jam on I-40 on the drive over.

Smoky Mountain has long straightaways and two very different corners.  Turns one and two are slightly tighter than turns three and four and, in speaking with of the drivers, that adds a whole new element into the set-up of one's race car at the track. The pits are located back off turn one allowing cars to both enter and exit the speedway at the end of the frontstretch.  The track itself is completely surrounded by a concrete wall on the outside and the majority of the inside is lined with either concrete or a guardrail.  A scoreboard sits right outside turns one and two displaying laps, times, and the top car car numbers.  

A look at the 4/10-mile Smoky Mountain Speedway, located just south of Maryville, TN.

The general admission section at The Mountain has both wooden grandstands as well as terraced concrete seating, giving folks the option to bring a lawn chair or, as I did, just planting your fanny on some splinters.  The food is averaged priced, the lighting is decent, and the speaking system is fair.

It was dubbed "Late Model Mania" at Smoky Mountain with 27 drivers signed in for the Southern Nationals race as well as 15 Crates and 15 Limited Lates.  With "Racing" advertised to start at 8:00pm, things were a tad behind schedule but, once the program got started, it kept moving fairly quickly.  That's good considering it was a Tuesday night and nearly everyone had somewhere to be the next morning.

A car rolls through turns one and two at Smoky Mountain.

On a very heavy racing surface, Chris "Smoky" Madden (and two others) blistered the tacky surface to lower the track record during Time Trials which locked the top eight qualifiers into the A-Main and sent the rest of the field to one of the two Last Chance Qualifiers.

The prelim racing at Smoky Mountain was so-so, with a few good races mixed in with a few not-as-good ones.  The first A-Main of the night was the Crate feature and, after lap two, there were no green flag passes for position within the top ten.  Adam Beeler would notch the win in that event which was followed by the 35-lap Southern Nationals A-Main.

Ty Dillon entered his second straight Southern Nationals race.

Madden and Mike Marlar led the field to the green and, much like the night before at Wythe, Madden rocketed out to the early race lead.  Somewhere around lap ten, I noticed Marlar had changed his line ever so slightly and was running about half a car length higher than Madden was.  The small change made a big difference as the Winfield, TN driver was able to chase down the race leader and work his way into the top spot right around the halfway point.  From there, Madden hung with Marlar for a few laps as they sliced through the back of the field, but the driver of the Bryson Motorsports #5B proved to be just too strong as Marlar held on for the $3500 payday.

I'm not sure what time the feature ended, but it had to be somewhere around 10:30pm or a little after.  Again, not terrible for a weeknight.  Once the victory lane ceremonies were finished, I was in my car and, with my a 5 Hour Energy in hand, was making my way back to Asheville, NC. 

Southern Swing Day 2

Monday, July 16th was the first day of my conference in Asheville, NC.  After an entire day's worth of sessions, lectures, and presentations, I was ready to throw on something casual and make my first ever trip to Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, VA.

Having read a lot about and having seen several pictures/videos of Wythe, I was more than ready to grab a race at the giant 1/2-mile track.  When I got there, my jaw dropped.  "Awesome" would an understatement in describing this place.  It's more like putting West Virginia Motor Speedway and Tazewell in a blender - turning the blender on - and this is what spits out.  

The 1/2-mile Wythe Raceway is nestled in the hills of western Virginia.

With its long straightaways and very high banked turns, Wythe is undoubtly one-of-a-kind and certainly a track everyone should put on their bucket list.  To give you an idea of the speeds they turn at this place, Chris Madden's quick time was under 16 seconds.  For lack of better words, this place is badass.

The track itself sits well below the fans viewing areas, as the climb to get from the infield pit area back up to the general admission section would wear out even the healthiest of hikers.  A steady flow of mountains serve as the backstretch backdrop while a small scoreboard - displaying lap times and the top five car numbers - is located about halfway down the backchute.

Defending race winner Austin Dillon was back to defend his title.

The Schaeffer Oil Southern Nationals Series was on hand for this early-week special with 25 drivers signed into the pits.  A handful of competitors in two different support classes completed the evening's lineup.  The Southern Nationals field was small but stout with Chris Madden, Austin & Ty Dillon, Mike Marlar, Vic Hill, and others ready to tackle this half-mile beast.

One thing I found out about the south during this trip - and I knew this before my Southern Swing, I guess I had just forgotten - is that when a southern track advertises "Racing" to start at a certain time, "Racing" typically means either Hot Laps or Time Trials.  Such was the case Monday at Wythe when SoNats qualifications rolled out shortly after 8:00pm.

The sun sets on the evening's action at Wythe.

Fortunately for me, who was hoping for a quick program, the SoNats format locks the top eight qualifiers into the A-Main.  The remaining drivers run Last Chance Qualifiers to determine the remainder of the starting line-up.

Wythe's LCQs were decent, and they were immediately followed by the Super Streets who put on an phenomenal race, highlighted by an aggressive nip-and-tuck battle among the top three cars.

The 35-lap Southern Nationals A-Main was next and Chris Madden immediately grabbed the early race lead and seemed to be a shoe-in for the win.  After wrestling with lapped traffic, Madden slowed his pace just a little while second-place Vic Hill found a groove to his liking which allowed him to reel in the race-long leader at the halfway point.  Hill motored by Madden in turns three and four and powered on to the win, his third career victory with the series.

Mike Marlar broadslides around the high-banked corners at Wythe.

The Late Model feature was over somewhere around 10:30pm or so, which wasn't too terribly bad for a weeknight.  With my 5 Hour Energy shot in hand, I was ready to make the trip back to Asheville and get ready for day two of the conference ... as well as race number two on the Southern Nationals tour, the Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, TN.  Be sure to check back in tomorrow for a recap of that event!

Southern Swing Day 1

After a brief hiatus for work and play, it's good to be back here writing for everyone.  

Last week, I was asked to attend a work conference in Asheville, NC.  After announcing both the Knight Before and the Kings Royal at Eldora on Friday and Saturday - and after a few hours of shut-eye - I was south bound and down Sunday morning.

As luck would have it, I found out through Twitter that Portsmouth Raceway Park had been rained out Saturday night and was planning on running their $5000-to-win Modified show on Sunday afternoon.  The only other class on the card were Late Models (paying $2000-to-win), so I figured it would be a quick show.  And, while Portsmouth wasn't exactly on my planned route to Asheville, I knew I could adjust those plans fairly easily.

Bart Hartman leads a group of Modifieds down the backstretch at Portsmouth.

A knock-out field of 44 Modifieds were joined by 30 Late Models and racing got started just a hair after the advertised starting time of 2:00pm with the track crew taking some extra time to work the daytime surface.

This is part where, normally, I'd jump in and talk about how bad daytime racing is. Slick, one-groove, locked-down, unable to pass... you fill in the blank.  I can't say that about this show.  Not even close.  The action was, honestly, as good as it gets with side-by-side racing, door-to-door battles, and drivers rallying from the rear of the field to the front.

After dropping back to sixth early on, Chris Stotts used the high groove to power around Devin Gilpin with about ten laps remaining to win the Modified feature which saw four different leaders over the course of the 30-lap main event.  Aside from Stotts and Gilpin, this stacked field of Mods also included the likes of Bart Hartman, Rick Aukland, Joey Kramer, Chad Kinder, Ricky Arms, Nick Hoffman, Bobby Kitchen, and Doug Adkins just to name a few.

After falling back to sixth early in the race, Chris Stotts rallied to win the $5000 Mod special.

By the time the victory lane ceremonies were finished, it was 8:00pm and I knew I had a five-plus hour drive down to Asheville so I got in my car to leave.  Only thing is, the Late Model feature was coming up next and, really, I knew I just had to stay.  So I did.

Long story made short, the Late Models picked up right where the Mods left off with a good racing and a great high speed game of cat-and-mouse with RJ Conley leading and Josh McGuire in hot pursuit.  In turns one and two on the final lap, Conley blew a left rear tire which allowed McGuire to drive by for a dramatic win.  And, just as I mentioned on Twitter, THAT is why you never leave a race track early.

Josh McGuire won the PRP Late Model feature on the final lap.

And with that, it was finally time to head south on US 23 en route to Asheville, NC.  I arrived somewhere around 1:30am and was ready for my conference bright and early Monday morning.  Monday evening would find me heading northeast to Wytheville, VA for the opening night of the Schaeffer Oil Southern Nationals.  Check back tomorrow for a report on my "Southern Swing Day 2".

Road Trip Days 6 & 7

Day 6 of the big road trip was mostly consumed with our self-guided tour of the White Mountains.  Overcast skies early in the day cleared up somewhat in the afternoon and I thought we had a chance to get the show in Wednesday night in Oxford, Maine.

We made it to Oxford Plains Speedway at 5:30pm, a full hour before the first race was scheduled to hit the track.  It was almost like the clouds followed us over.  A light sprinkle fell off and on and I was worried we may not get this show in.  Remember, the entire premise of this road trip was to seeing racing in five new states (VT/NH/ME/CT/MA).

At 6:25pm, with the sprinkle turning into a light rain, the National Anthem was played and, to be honest, I knew this one just wasn't meant to be.  6:30pm came and went without a car being lined up in the chute.  With a radar full of multi-colored "blobs", and the rain now becoming more heavy, track officials made the decision to postpone the program to the following evening.

I was disappointed, to say the least.  Not in the track.  They did what they had to do.  Rather, I was upset that there was now no way I'd get to see racing in all of the states I had planned.  Selfish?  Yes.  But justified, nonetheless.

So now a decision had to be made.  For Thursday night's racing, did we go to Thompson International Speedway (Thompson, CT) as we had originally planned?  Or did we head back to Oxford Plains Speedway (Oxford, ME) for the rained out show?

It was a tough call, but we opted to head back to Maine.  I figured, on down the road someday, it would probably be easier to see a race in Connecticut than in Maine.  Yes, this is how my mind works.

Thursday came and went, and we were Maine bound once again with much better weather.  On tap at Oxford Plains, a 3/8-mile semi-banked asphalt track, was a regular racing program with 26 Late Models, 19 Strictly Stocks, 15 Mini Stocks, and 17 Runnin' Rebels.

Oxford Plains is a neat place.  It's very clean and very well manicured all around.  The grandstand seating is enormous, about 24 rows high, and runs longer than the distance of the frontstretch.  The backstretch seating is similar, giving this track more than enough room to accommodate well over 10,000 fans.  The midway behind the grandstands is all asphalt with a few different vending areas and souvenir booths.  The food at Oxford Plains, like every other track in the northeast, is quite a bit more than anything we have in the midwest.

The pits are located off the backstretch with cars exiting the speedway off turn two and entering the track at the end of the backstretch. There are two scoreboards at Oxford Plains - one located off turn two and the other sitting off turn three - both of which display the top five cars as well as laps completed.

The first race of the night hit the track right at the advertised starting time of 6:30pm and the prelims went without a hitch as just one yellow flew in all of the eight heat race.  After a quick 15 minute intermission, the first feature of the night was on the track and, much like the heats, cautions were minimal.  In addition, three of the four A-Mains weren't decided until the final lap.  The final checkered flag of the night waved at 8:56pm making this the quickest racing program I have ever attended in my 32 years.

All in all, this was quite the enjoyable night of racing.  Although I'll always be a dirt track fan, this asphalt show had some good side-by-side racing and the efficiency of the program was second to none.  Oxford Plains gets "two thumbs up" from this camp and is certainly recommended if you're looking for a track to hit in the Pine Tree State.

Oxford Plains becomes track #159 and Maine becomes state #31 on my track-chasing list.

Road Trip Day 5

Woke up in Bar Harbor, ME this morning after a solid night's sleep in a mountain view cottage.  If you ever get the chance to visit Bar Harbor, do it.  The place is absolutely gorgeous and should be on everyone's bucket list if you're to travel or just sight-see.

By 11:30am, we were heading back west to New Hampshire for tonight's destination, Canaan Fair Speedway.  The trip took longer than expected thanks (yet again) to traffic, but also thanks to my GPS try to take us on some goat path that hasn't been operable by anything other than an ATV since 1842.

With Hot Laps slated to start at 6:00pm, we rolled into Canaan one minute late.  Luckily, they were still packing the track and Hot Laps didn't officially get started until 6:25pm.

Standing at the top of turn one, looking down the frontstretch. 

At one time, Canaan was an old fairgrounds track.  Actually, it was a 1/2-mile "back in the day", probably because it was an old horse track.  As racing became more prominent, they built the current relatively flat, 1/4-mile which is what they still race on today.  Practically no sign of old, old 1/2-mile still exists.  

Just off the backstretch sits the "other" Canaan Fair Speedway, an asphalt track the races every Saturday night.  The dirt track runs each Friday as well as a few special occasions throughout the year, such as this one.

Canaan Fair's asphalt track sits just off the backstretch from the dirt track.

It's still quite obvious the track sits on an old fairgrounds.  With the buildings surrounding the speedway, the covered grandstands...anyone can figure out the fair was held here at one time.  The pits are off turns three and four with cars entering the track at the beginning of the front straight and exiting the track at the end of the back straight.

Concessions at Canaan, like every place else in New England, are overpriced at $2.50 for a hot dog, $8.000 for a chicken tenders platter, and $7.00 for a steak and cheese.  The wait to get the food is even more ridiculous.  When the lady behind me in line got her chicken tenders (no platter) before I got mine (with fries...which were already sitting there waiting to be picked up), I raised holy hell.  

One of the coolest pics I have ever taken... a look at Canaan Fair Speedway.

30 Modifieds and 23 SCoNE (Sprint Cars of New England) Sprints had signed into the pits as well as a few others in two more support classes.  With a post time of 7:00pm, the first race of the night actually hit the track at 7:15pm.

The heats at Canaan were, for the most part, lackluster with little passing on a one-groove race track.  The format for the Mods was puzzling at best.  Scheduled to start 24 cars in the Twin 20's, they had four heats.  The stupid part is, they only took the top three from each heat.  Why?

Sitting under the covered grandstanding looking into turn one.

Then, they ran two B-Mains and took the top five from each of those consies.  I figured they would add two track provisionals to get their starting field of 24.  Instead, they rolled out a Last Chance Qualifier which they took the top two from.  I mean, what the hell??  Why not just take an extra car from each B-Main?  Or, better yet, take the top five from each heat, then run ONE consy and take the top four.  Their format had way too many unnecessary races and way too many extra laps on the track.

Nevertheless, the field of 30 was finally trimmed down to 24 for the first 20-lap feature and, thanks to some track prep, it was pretty darn good (despite several mid-race cautions) with the top three finishers all crossing the line in a bunch.  The 25-lap SCoNE Sprint A-Main was up next and it didn't disappoint either.  As a matter of fact, had it not been for a caution with two to go, I have a feeling we would have had a side-by-side finish.  After the Sprint feature, the national anthem was finally played (??) and the final 20-lap Modified race came out with the top 15 finishers from the previous feature inverted.  Although it did have some movers and shakers, it wasn't quite as eventful as the first race.

A look at Canaan Fair Speedway from above turns three and four.

In all, this was an average night at the track.  There was a lot of things to be disappointed with from high concession prices to a bizarre race format to lackluster heats, but the features provided some solid racing and we were on our way out at 11:15pm.  Canaan Fair Speedway (dirt track) becomes track 158th different track I've seen racing at and New Hampshire becomes the 30th different state I've seen a race in.

The weather for tonight's asphalt race at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine doesn't look promising, but we'll keep our fingers crossed.  Enjoy your day!

Road Trip Days 3 & 4

The first part of Sunday was spent doing the whole "tourist" thing in Vermont.  A tour of Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory was, dare I say, delicious.  After that, a short swing through the green mountains with a few stops along the way pretty much wiped out the better part of our day.  At 3:00pm, we started making our way to the 1/4-mile dirt oval Legion Speedway in Rumney, NH.

Legion has gone through a few ownership changes over the last several years.  Once known as Rattlesnake Motordrome (yikes!), it was later purchased and renamed Big Daddy's Speedbowl.  Last year, Si Allen bought the place and named it Legion Speedway, to be run in conjunction with the American Legion that sits at the entrance to the speedway.  The track ran a couple of "test" shows last year before opening full time this season.

Standing above turn one, looking at Legion Speedway.

Legion had only run two races before the July 1st show.  The season opener drew 19 Modifieds, a pretty decent number for that area.  The following week, the car count slid back to 13.  The afternoon we were there, they had just 9 Mods in the pits.

Hot Laps rolled onto the track at 4:20pm, about 20 minutes past the advertised starting time of 4:00pm.  However, with racing scheduled to start at 5:00pm, the first heat was actually on the track ten minutes early, most likely due to the sprinkles that had started falling.

Legion Speedway, as seen from the top of the turns three and four bleachers.

Looking down the frontstretch at Legion Speedway.

Literally a lap or two away from the first Mini Stock heat taking the green flag, the skies opened up.  For nearly 45 minutes a hard, steady rain fell on us.  I thought for sure the show was going to be rained out...especially since the track had a 9:30pm curfew.  But they decided to try their best to get it in and I was stuck with a decision to make.

I hit Legion with the intent of being out of there by 7:30pm or so.  With a three-plus hour drive to our hotel in Augusta, ME - and knowing we were wanting to spend as much as time as possible in Bar Harbor, ME the following day - I had to decide whether to stick this one out, or throw in the towel and hope the show in Canaan, NH didn't get rained out Tuesday.

The Legion Speedway pit area.

With a small field of cars in the pits, we made the tough decision to pull out of Legion having not seen a race.  I hated doing it, but Jayme let me make the call knowing I'd be the one living with the decision.  

Monday was the only "off" day I scheduled for this road trip.  And when I say "off" day, I'm talking about the racing, of course.  Jayme and I spent the entire day taking the sights and sounds of the gorgeous Bar Harbor, ME.  Climbing to the top of Cadillac Mountain, taste-testing the local seafood joints, walking through the downtown tourist shops...we did it all.  

Sitting at the top of Cadillac Mountain in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Today, we'll spend a few morning hours in Bar Harbor before packing up and heading five-and-a-half hours back west into New Hampshire for tonight's special show at the Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, NH.  

Road Trip Day 2

Who says you get to relax and sleep in on vacation?  We were up by 6:30am and out the door by 7:45am to make the hour drive to Cooperstown, NY to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.  This was my second visit to the Hall, but Jayme's first.  Seeing how much she enjoyed it made it all worthwhile.  After spending about four hours in Cooperstown, it was time to head to Bradford, VT.

The four hour drive to Bradford was plagued with slow drivers and traffic...enough to make even me say a few choice words along the way.  Nevertheless, we pulled into Bear Ridge Speedway right at 5:00pm, with 30 minutes to spare before Hot Laps.  Upon our arrival, promoter April Preston kindly greeted us with open arms and gave us a quick tour of the place and showed us around the facility.

A look at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT.

Bear Ridge is a 1/4-mile D-shaped oval with only a small amount of banking.  The track is nestled in the hills of eastern Vermont and sits high atop a ridge (hence the name), making for a picturesque setting to say the least.  The pits are located off turns three and four, as cars exit the track at the end of the backstretch and enter the track at the beginning of the frontstretch.  The infield is mostly grass and kept clear of safety vehicles and track equipment.  Concrete basically lines the entire speedway with the exception of turns one and two where just a few "yuke" tires mark the outer edge of the narrow track.

The grandstands are built into a small hillside and are a mix of both wood and aluminum.  Behind the flagstand, the top seven rows of seats all have backs on them.  And behind the seating area, the midway is all gravel and contains a nice mix of track food ranging from cheeseburgers ($5.00) to onion rings ($5.00) to gravy fries.  Yes, gravy fries.  

The grandstands, press box, and VIP suites at Bear Ridge.

On tap tonight would be Sportsman Mods (21 cars), Coupes (18), Midgets (15), Limited Lates (7), Hornets (19), and Mini-Stocks (11).  A cool program was in store with "Mod Madness", in which the Mods run no heats.  Instead, they run three 40-lap features with lap money being awarded to the top five drivers each lap of each feature.  It was an added bonus for me, as this is one of my favorite classes to watch.

Hot Laps rolled out at 5:30pm and the first heat of the night hit the track at 6:15pm.  It wasn't too long before the first 40-lap Mod race hit the track and it was a dandy.  Nip-and-tuck racing at the front of the field combined with heavy lapped traffic made this race a good one (albeit a tad dusty).  After that race, I'd already felt like I got my money's worth.

The first of three 40-lap Mod features gets rolling. 

The rest of the evening went well.  The second Mod feature saw a full field inversion and the winner came from 14th.  Throughout the course of the night, there may have been a few instances in which "too much downtime" came into play, but that was mostly due to the track crew working hard to keep the dust down and keep moisture in the race track.  

With just a couple races left, and a fireworks display still to come, we headed out around 10:00pm and made our way to the hotel.  All-in-all, it was an enjoyable evening.  Bear Ridge, the only dirt track in Vermont, gets the "Puttin' On A Show" seal of approval.  

Cars roll down the Bear Ridge backstretch.

I'm happy to say that Bear Ridge Speedway becomes track #157 and Vermont becomes state #29 on my lifetime track-chasing journey.  If all goes as planned, Legion Speedway in Rumney, NH will be track #158 and state #30 Sunday night.

In the meantime, enjoy your weekend and stay cool.  Congrats to all of this weekend's winners.

Bear Ridge Speedway - "Home of the Coupes!"