Five Weekend Afterthoughts 4/24/12

Attica was rained out after the Sprint Car heats Friday night.

1.  Mother Nature continued her early season dominance, besting a few tracks Friday night shows and several races Saturday night.  As for me, I hit Attica Friday after work, only to be rained out after the Sprint Car heats.  Does everybody remember when we went racing in mid-March during the 80 degree weather?

2.  Wayne County swung open the gates Friday night and, from everyone I have talked to, the place was packed in the pits and grandstands both.  This is good for the fans in the area and great for Jason Flory and company, who have been working nonstop to get the place reopened.  Russ King ran off and hid from the 28-car Late Model field.

3.  If you read last week's edition of Fast Talk on DirtonDirt, you'll notice that i mentioned Scott Bloomquist has a very good chance to rattle off "four or five wins in a row" now that he's finally pick up that elusive first win.  Well, Friday night, he proved me right and won at Roaring Knob.   

4.  After Eldora's season-opening Sunoco ALMS Late Model shoe was washed out, we finally got our first race in the books at the Big E.  Tracy Hines won the USAC Sprint A-Main with a last lap pass on Dave Darland.  Meanwhile, Joey Kramer bested a strong field of 44 Modifieds for his first Eldora win in over 10 years.

5.  Kudos to my dad, Larry Jarrett, on a nice run Friday night at 250 Speedway in Cadiz, Ohio.  After being charged with an early race caution in the Street Stock feature, Dad rallied from the tail of the field to post a solid third place finish.

Five Weekend Afterthoughts - 4/16/12

Periodically throughout the racing season, I'll post my "Five Weekend Afterthoughts" on Monday mornings. It's simply a collection of my thoughts on various racing topics of interest from the past weekend.  While most of the "afterthoughts" will pertain to regional racing action, a few mentions will cover national topics.   Enjoy!     -DJ-

Jon Henry (15) holds off Matt Miller (3) at Attica.  (Action Photos)

1.  Jon Henry debuted his brand new orange front-end Rocket Friday night at Attica and put the car in victory lane, holding off a furious late race charge from Matt Miller (driving Rick Delong's #3).  It was Henry's first win of the season and the first for his new wrench (and for Matt Miller crew chief) Scott "Schoolboy" Smith.  After four races this season, Attica is averaging 30.5 cars a night, slightly up from their 29.1 car-per-night average at the end of 2011.

2.  Scott Bloomquist's $25,000 win on a difficult-to-pass, tire-wearing Virginia Motor Speedway surface Saturday was probably a much-needed victory for that camp.  I don't know if anyone actually bought into the whole "he's leaving the Lucas Oil tour" shenanigans, but if they did, they're certainly not buying into it now.

3.  Rain was the big winner everywhere Saturday night as practically every track within a three-hour radius of my home was washed out.  The lone exceptions were Crystal, Michigan's season opener (26 cars; Scott Baker was the winner) and practice at Cadiz, Ohio's 250 Speedway, which was cut short by Mother Nature. Unfortunately, the Sunoco ALMS race at Eldora was rained out and will not be made up.

4.  Just like fine wine, Billy Moyer just continues to get better with age.  The 54-year-old notched his (I believe) eighth and ninth wins of 2012 over the weekend and something crazy like his fifth win in his last six starts, if my calculations are correct. Am I the only one who thinks Moyer will still be winning races when he's like 90?! Seriously, I don't see him slowing down anytime soon.

5.  I'll be a guest on DirtonDirt's FastTalk today.  Keep checking their website throughout the day as Todd Turner, Michael Rigsby, and myself discuss a wide array of racing topics from this past weekend.  

Indiana Icebreaker Preview

Occasionally it's the heat, occasionally it's the rain, but more times than not, weather is usually a factor when it comes to Brownstown's two major races, the Indiana Icebreaker and the Jackson 100.  Such is the case again this weekend with a 50% of the wet stuff for the Lucas Oil sanctioned 15th Annual Indiana Icebreaker at the 1/4-mile fairgrounds oval.  Remember, inclement weather forced this race to be postponed last year.


The weather forecast, combined with the announcement to start Hot Laps at 4:45pm, makes for an interesting Saturday in Brownstown, IN.  On one hand, you have an opportunity to wait out the rain with such an early start time.  With a high temp of 68 and a low of 48 predicted for Saturday, it won't necessarily be cold, but a rain shower would certainly make it feel much cooler than 68.


But let's hope for the best.  Say it doesn't rain and the show runs off without a hitch with Hot Laps starting right at the scheduled time of 4:45pm.  That's an awful lot of racing taking place in the daylight.  And this is an event draws a lot of cars.  As a matter of fact, the Indiana Icebreaker has had over 60 entries five of the last six years.  60 cars hot lapping, qualifying, and running heats on a daylight surface? Yikes.

Brad Neat won the season opener at Brownstown.  (Steve Alcorn photo)

History shows us, however, there's little need to worry about a lock-down Brownstown surface this early in the season.  The chance for a track to rubber up is always there - at any track on any night, Brownstown included - but for that to happen this early in the season would be a little out-of-the-ordinary.


The other thing to keep in mind is the fact that Brownstown is one of those race tracks whose size and shape allows for side-by-side racing whether it's black-slick or hammer-down.  Admittedly, I like it a little better when guys have to flat foot it and go balls-to-the-wall.  But, to be honest with you, I'm a RACE fan, and if a black-slick track provides good, side-by-side racing, then I'm fine with that too.


Who are the contenders heading into Saturday's race?  Well, let's start with the obvious.  Don O'Neal, fresh off his Spring 50 win at Florence one week ago, is a good bet for ANY race at Brownstown...any race that isn't a foot race, of course.  The Team Zero cars of Scott Bloomquist and Jimmy Owens are usually front runners at Brownstown, so expect them to be in the mix, especially if the track slicks off.

Scott Bloomquist is the defending winner of the Indiana Icebreaker.  (Jeremey Rhoades photo)

One other driver to keep an eye on is Brad Neat. The Dunnville, KY pilot, now racing on his own again, won the season opener at Brownstown on March 10th and has a history of running well there, dating back to the his days with the Battle of the Bluegrass Series.


If you're looking for the odds-on favorite, go with O'Neal.  If you're looking for a darkhorse, go with Neat.  If you're looking for the answer no one wants to hear, go with Mother Nature.


I'll be keeping my fingers crossed they get this one in.  Brownstown's got themselves a good, hard-working, passionate staff there.  I know they'll do everything they can to get this show in.

P.F.R.

Rick Schwallie photo

In case you haven't seen it yet, better make your way over to DirtonDirt and check out last night's post-race interview from Volusia with Scott Bloomquist.  It's another classic and I have a feeling the acronym P.F.R. will now be used quite a bit.