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.

Random Thoughts...

Every so often, as needed, I'll post my random thoughts.  These thoughts will be short ramblings covering a wide variety of topics in racing.  As always, the opportunity for discussion is available at the end of the post.   -DJ-

• While I'm a little surprised a decision was made this early in the season, Brandon Sheppard in the Rocket house car is a good, solid choice.  He's young, he's talented, and he's only going to get better.  As is always the case when a quality ride opens up, I think anyone could make an argument for several other drivers to get the seat.  However, the fact is, nobody can say that Sheppard hasn't proved himself or isn't deserving of the opportunity. 

• Why are there virtually no Friday night Late Model tracks in the south?  If you look at Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, etc. there's a plethora of Friday night options.  But if you live in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, or Tennessee, you're pretty much racing just one night a week.  That bugs me.  Can any of my friends in those areas help me out?

• Kudos are in order for McCown's Jackson County Speedway just outside of Jackson, Ohio.  They continue to raise their profile by adding more races and upping their purses.  I hope their efforts to increase car and fan counts don't go unnoticed by the fans and drivers.