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. 

Five Weekend Afterthoughts: 6/4/12

1.  Don O'Neal's win in Saturday night's Ralph Latham Memorial at Florence Speedway was convincing enough to make him a strong contender to repeat as winner of this week's Dream at Eldora.  Of course, there's that whole "history thing" where the Latham winner runs strong the following weekend at Big E.  That helps.

2.  Friday washed out everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, even remotely close to my place.  Every single track in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and West Virginia was rained out.  And Paducah was the lone track in the Bluegrass State to get their show in. That's one track in a five-state radius that got to run.

3.  It must be Dream week because several drivers took Saturday night off in preparation for the $100,000-to-win show, including Matt Miller, Jon Henry, and Andrew Reaume among others.

4.  It upsets me that - in this day and age, and with technology we have available - it's Monday morning and some tracks still do not have any results posted from the weekend.  Inexcusable. 

5.  I was checking out the results from Brewerton (NY) Speedway Saturday night and couldn't help but notice their feature winners came from 10th (Big Block Mods), 9th (IMCA Mods), 12th (Mod Lites), and 8th (4 Cyl).  This makes me even more excited for my first ever visit there on June 29th.

Five Weekend Afterthoughts: 5/14/12

1.  Saturday night's Late Model feature at Oakshade (OH) Raceway was an instant classic.  Brian Ruhlman (low), Jon Henry (middle), and Andrew Reaume (high) were three-wide at the white flag, and Henry & Reaume were side-by-side, door-to-door at the stripe with Henry getting the win by mere inches.  It was the kind of race you won't forget anytime soon and the type of show you drive all year just to see.   The win was Henry's fourth of the year and his third in a row (Fremont ALMS 5/4, Attica 5/11, Oakshade 5/12).

2.  Don O'Neal may be the hottest driver in the country right now, with three Lucas Oil wins in the his last four races thanks to his weekend sweep at Hartford (MI) Motor Speedway and LaSalle (IL) Speedway.  We're only halfway through the month of May and he's already got seven Lucas Oil wins, plus a few other big shows like Florence (KY) Speedway's Spring 50 back in March.  

3.  Has anybody else noticed the year Chris Garnes is having?  The 24-year-old from Cross Lanes, WV has been quite impressive to start off the 2012 season rattling off three wins...two at Skyline (OH) Speedway and one at Tyler County (WV) Speedway.

4.  UMP DirtCar's decision to terminate it's relationship with Farmer City (IL) Speedway comes as somewhat of a surprise...at least to those of us who aren't there every week or aren't close to the situation.  It'll be interesting to hear what develops the next few weeks regarding this whole ordeal. 

5.  Sometimes you question why things happen to the "good guys" in racing. Saturday night at The Shade, Josh Scott got upsidedown in his heat, ending his night and, according to him, putting him out of commission for quite a while.  Likewise for Curtis Deisenroth, who lost another motor in his heat, cutting his night short.  Josh and Curtis are two of the good guys in this sport...hate to see that kind of stuff happen to them.

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.

Spring 50 Random Thoughts

• I got to sit outside with a t-shirt on and watch a race in the middle of March.  Absolutely no complaints from this guy.
• Was it a rough and tumble race track?  Yes.  Is it usually a choppy track for this race?  Almost always.
• With 33 official entries for the race, I was a only tad off on my car count prediction of 35-40 cars.
• I was, however, correct on my predictions that Don O'Neal would be hard to beat and to "keep an eye on any driver with a 'Club 29' decal on their car". Lanigan was strong, as everyone expected.
• Hat tip to Bobby Pierce.  He certainly lived up to his nickname ("Smooth Operator") for the duration of the feature.  Nice job, young man.
• As for the big accident on the backstretch on lap 2, chalk that one up to a combination of two guys racing hard and the ruts coming off turn two as the video clearly shows O'Neal's car bounce a little sideways into the path of Rattliff.
• I hated to see Eric Wells lose a motor.  He was certainly the fastest car there...at least through the heats.
• That had to be the biggest crowd Florence has ever had for the Spring 50. I'll go as far as to say it looked more like a Ralph Latham Memorial crowd.  
• Was anyone else surprised to see Duane Chamberlain in the Engle #15?  Maybe I missed that announcement during the offseason.
• Hat tip to the King Family for running a tight program with potential inclement weather on the way.  I know they would have liked to spend some time on the track at intermission, but I also understand their hands were somewhat tied, as we all saw the lightning off to the southwest.
• Nice to see Wayne Chinn back in action.  
• I thought RJ Conley looked really strong early, but simply held his own for the second half of the race. Maybe he was just being conservative given the track conditions.
• I could have sworn I saw a Leprechan with a bull horn running around in a green suit.
• If you stuck around for the Modified feature, you had to be impressed with Jeff Babcock's 18th-to-2nd run.
• Equally impressive was Joey Kramer.  The guy's just a damn good wheelman.
• I had a great time.  You can't put a price tag on socializing with friends and getting to see a lot of people you haven't seen in over five months.  I also hate it that so many good cars got torn up.  Let's hope everyone is able to rebound in time for their next race.

Spring 50: What We Do/Don't Know

Florence Speedway's Spring 50 is upon us.  The temps look great (Intellicast is calling for a high of 77 and a low of just 59) and if Mother Nature let's the King Family get this one in, it should be a damn good show with a pretty talented field of drivers. Let's take a look at what we know and don't know heading into Saturday night's race.

Eddie Carrier Jr. turns away Don O'Neal in the 2011 Spring 50. (Jeremey Rhoades photo)

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW:  Will the track surface be the "black ice" that Florence has become known for, or will it be the tacky hammer down surface that always seems to show up this time of year?
WHAT WE DO KNOW:  This was one of the mildest winters on record...and it's been 70+ degrees every day this week (and somewhat windy at times).  Depending on the weather Friday and Saturday, we might see a more "tradition" look to Florence Speedway this weekend.


WHAT WE DON'T KNOW:  Where will the winner start?  
WHAT WE DO KNOW:  No matter what the track surface is like, you can typically race anywhere at Florence.  Remember, Jeep Van Wormer rallied from the 20th starting spot in 2009 to get get the $5000 paycheck.  And he did this after starting 14th and winning the second consolation race.


WHAT WE DON'T KNOW:  What will the car count be this year?  
WHAT WE DO KNOW:  The car count was surprisingly low last year with 28 entries. However, the previous two years' car counts were 42 (2010) and 57 (2009).  Look for the number of entries to rebound from last year's tally...I'm predicting between 35-40.


WHAT WE DON'T KNOW:  Who are the early favorites to win this race?  
WHAT WE DO KNOW:  Don O'Neal has won the Spring 50 four times in the last 13 years. Also, keep an eye on any driver with a "Club 29" decal on their car.

WHAT WE DO KNOW:  Defending race winner Eddie Carrier Jr. will not be there racing.

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW:  Will Little Eddie be there incognito?  Hmmm...


WHAT WE DON'T KNOW:  What's going to happen Saturday night?

WHAT WE DO KNOW:  Whenever you go to Florence Speedway, it's usually a good time...I hope to see a lot of folks there supporting this early-season show.

Last Turn, Last Lap...Nothing New For Francis

Rick Schwallie photo

Nice to see Steve Francis finally get a monkey off his back last night at East Bay. His last turn, last lap pass of Austin Hubbard was eerily similar to the same move he made on Don O'Neal at East Bay back in '06. Driving for Larry Moring, Francis went top side in three and four on O'Neal to grab the win. My internet broadcast partner Michael "Spanky" Despain told the fans listening at home, "Francis drove that car off into turn three like he didn't have no family!"