5 WEEKEND AFTER-THOUGHTS: Limaland, Plymouth, and more

At 8:55pm, the first feature of the night was going green at Limaland.

1.  Chase and I went to Limaland Friday night and, as usual, saw an absolutely outstanding show.  The final checkered flag of the night waved at 9:48pm which, when you have to work the following day AND have a 4-year-old with you, is absolutely perfect.  The racing was superb with the UMP Modified feature coming right down to the closing laps with 7th-starting Randy Lines narrowly getting the win over 9th-starting Todd Sherman.

2.  Speaking of Randy Lines, his banner season continued as he doubled down by grabbing the victory at Montpelier Saturday night.  

3.  On Saturday, we made our first ever trip to the Plymouth Speedway in Plymouth, IN.  I'll have a full report on Plymouth later, but let me say this.  A good time was had by all.  They started on time, ran an efficient program, provided great racing, and had everyone on their way home by 10:45pm. As a bonus, we got to see racing on their inner oval with the Open 600cc class, which boosted my career track total up to 175.

4.  Nice to see Rick Eckert grab a couple wins on the Hell Tour. 

5.  Racing Vacation 2014 begins Friday.  Six races in five states.  If you haven't done so yet, check out my overview of the upcoming trip.  Early weather models are showing warm temps with virtually no chance of rain for the beginning of this adventure.  We'll see what happens!

5 WEEKEND AFTER-THOUGHTS: Dreamin'

Dale McDowell celebrates after his $100,000 payday.  (Eldora Speedway photo)

1.  Saturday night's 20th Annual Dirt Late Model Dream was one of the best races in the history of the event with Dale McDowell winning from 22nd, John Blankenship second (from 24th), and Jimmy Owens fourth (from 25th)...in a race that saw only two cautions.

2.  Friday night's preliminary features were as good as any 25-lappers I've seen this season.  The first one included a wild, lead-swapping photo finish between Rick Eckert and Brian Birkhofer with Birky edging out Scrub by inches.

3.  If nothing else, the Dream weekend proved (once again) that car counts are vastly overrated.   Most folks already know this but, with the weekend we just saw at the Big E, it certainly bears repeating.

4.  Locally lost in the Dream hype was Matt Westfall's double down Saturday night at Waynesfield, as he won both the UMP Modified and Non-Wing Sprint features.

5.  The SummerNationals are already upon us.  Good Lord, where has the season gone?!  Brownstown kicks off the 2014 version of the Hell Tour Wednesday night.