5 WEEKEND AFTER-THOUGHTS: I-96, STARS throwback, and more!

1.  Made it to I-96 Speedway Friday night to check out the newly configured 3/8-mile track.  There was no shortage of excitement with Rusty Schlenk going from 3rd to 1st in the final two laps to get the win in the Sunoco ALMS sanctioned event.

2.   Jeep Van Wormer made it look easy in in Saturday's ALMS race at Oakshade while Matt Miller held off Jeep's late rally Sunday at Eldora.  Are there any two drivers whose names are more synonyms with Eldora than those two drivers?

3.  Really, really happy to see Davey Johnson get the $20,000 win at Tyler County this weekend. It seemed like a mid-90's STARS race with Davey J. winning and Chub finishing 2nd.

4.  This weekend, I'll take advantage of a rare opportunity to watch Dad race at 250 Speedway on Friday. On Saturday, I'll hit one of my favorite tracks...Ohio Valley Speedway.

5.  Just a little over 3 weeks away from this summer's big racing trip.  More details in the coming weeks, but...it's gonna be epic.  Six races in nine days.

5 WEEKEND AFTER-THOUGHTS: Eldora Off-Road, Oakshade finish, & more

(Mike Campbell/Eldora Speedway photo)

1.  It's the same old tune today with Mother Nature once again washing out many of the weekend's races in this region.  Eldora, Limaland, Attica, and Moler all fell victim to rain Friday while Waynesfield, Montpelier, and Florence were among the Saturday rainouts.  

2.  Eldora's TRAXXAS TORC Off-Road Championship Series event on Saturday was able to beat the weather and it was a pretty darned interesting show with former motocross champion (and TORC Series founder) Ricky Johnson getting the win in the Pro 4x4 division by passing Johnny Greaves with less than four laps remaining.

3.  I hear it was another outstanding Late Model finish at Oakshade Saturday night with Dona Marcoullier narrowly edging out Rusty Schlenk for a wild side-by-side victory that saw both cars spinning after the checkered flag waved. 

4.  Nationally speaking, who are the most consistent drivers in the country right now?  Shane Clanton and John Blankenship.  Clanton rattled off his third WoO win Saturday night while Blankenship scored another top five with the Lucas Oil Series.  Those two are my early favorites to win The Dream at Eldora here in a few weeks, and it's no coincidence they finished first and second in that race last year.

5.  In case you missed it, USMTS Modified ace Ryan Gustin notched his first career Late Model win over the weekend in the MARS-scantion John Kuntz Memorial at Springfield Raceway.

5 WEEKEND AFTER-THOUGHTS: Weather, Schlenk, NDRL, & more

1.  Mother Nature was the big winner in this area, taking the checkered at Attica, Eldora, Moler, and other tracks. It's that time of year where the weather is warm and, for the most part, perfect during the week then cold and miserable on the weekends.  Check out the local forecast for the next five days and you'll see what I mean.

2.  Typically a UMP stalwart, Rusty Schlenk opted to race at an unsanctioned Late Model track Saturday night. The former UMP National Champion headed to Brownstown Saturday evening, despite Twin Cities racing UMP sanctioned Late Models less than 30 miles away from Schlenk's destination.   

3.  We've been hearing good things about Brad McCown's Jackson County Speedway.  The car counts have continued to rise from week one, and word is the racing has been pretty good too.

4.  Crooksville, Ohio's Midway Speedway swung open the gates Friday night under the direction of Jerry Perrine.  Although the car counts were low and the weather was cold, a hat tip is certainly in line for Perrine who's track was one of the select few that got to race this weekend.  

5.  It wasn't just the high car counts that made the NDRL debut spectacular, but the quality of cars at both Paducah and I-55 was off the charts.  If this is what we can expected from John Kennedy's upstart series, I think we're all in for a treat.

SCOUTING REPORT: Rusty Schlenk

OVERVIEW:  In the OH/IN/MI region, perhaps no local driver is talked about more than Rusty Schlenk.  A former UMP National Champion, Schlenk is also a multiple-time Oakshade Raceway track champion.  Last season, he notched his 100th career feature win.

WHAT WE KNOW:  Things look to be status quo for the Weston, Ohio driver.  He'll be back with the same cars (both his own and the Ron Zeller-owned entry), same motors, and same crew.  And he'll be gunning for as many UMP points as possible, in search for his second national title.

WHERE HE'S GOOD:  Schlenk is one of the smartest when it comes to UMP points chasing.  He maximizes his UMP points opportunities every chance he gets by dodging the inclement weather, and hitting tracks that allow him to look at the big picture of the UMP national title.  Depending on how the UMP points (and the team's finances) look, Schlenk may even venture to Eldora's Dream and World 100 in 2013.

WHERE TO IMPROVE:  Schlenk got off to a somewhat sluggish start in 2012...at least by his standards.  From an outsider's perspective, it seemed like he didn't really kick into high gear until nearly mid-season and was often plagued by bad luck.  If he wants to make another run at the overall UMP championship, he'll need to hit the ground running in 2013.  And he plans to do just that by starting his season off at the Tuckassee Toilet Bowl Classic in Clarksville, TN.

DRIVER'S THOUGHTS:  "Same cars, same motors, same crew, same kick-ass attitude...but it's a new year so we are hoping for some new luck!"

Five Weekend Afterthoughts 8/27/12

1.  Skyline Speedway in Stewart, OH is in some hot water with both fans and drivers for advertising their admission (or should I say "addmition") prices as $15 GA/$30 Pits for Friday's "Sarah Bond Tribute" race, only to raise those prices to $20 GA/$40 Pits when folks arrived at the gate.  Rumors of an organized boycott are running rampant, I just hope it doesn't happen at this weekend's Greg Schilling Memorial, a Modified race that pays tribute to one of the late "good guys" in the sport.  The "thanks" for this laughable photo goes out to sprint car driver Mitch Harble, who saw this sign (that, obviously, a four-year-old wrote) and opted not to give the promoter his money after the false advertisement.  For that, Mr. Harble is certainly commended.

2.  Congrats are in order for Rusty Schlenk who nabbed his 100th career victory over the weekend.  The win came, notably, at his home track, Oakshade Raceway, where Schlenk has all but wrapped up his fifth career track championship.  This weekend, Oakshade hosts double features for the Sunoco ALMS Late Models.

3.  The decision to cancel Friday's WoO Late Model show in Winchester, VA due to rain (or lack thereof) certainly hit a sour note for a few of their drivers.  Shortly after the announcement was made Kent Robinson tweeted "...'Rained out' tonight in VA. It never rained and probably won't. They just didn't want to race" and, later in the evening, Clint Smith tweeted "Still waiting on some rain in Winchester VA to justify u being called off none yet though".  Clint continued his humor Sunday morning by tweeting "We are sorry to announce but due to all the rain we have had this morning in Winchester VA the 2013 race has been canceled".  Funny stuff from the world Twitter.

4.  Ryan Missler won an eventful A-Main Saturday night at Attica to help him wrap up his fourth straight Attica Raceway Park Late Model championship.  The race wasn't without its drama as fellow title contender Mike Bores led early on before breaking under a lap 11 caution.  In addition, Missler withstood several challenges from both Ky Harper and 11th-starting Garrett Krummert (both of whom would spin while challenging for the lead) en route to the race win.  Rumor has it Attica - who led all Friday night tracks in Ohio with an average of 29.7 Late Models per race going into Friday's show - will up their purse for the UMP-sanctioned division in 2013.

5.  The announcement was made last week that West Virginia Motor Speedway is set to reopen next month.  Unfortunately, it won't be the "completely redesigned" WVMS that was originally worked on and in the blueprints.  Instead, the track simply built a new turns three and four, thus condensing the huge track down to a big 4/10 mile.  Of course, I'll reserve my final judgement until racing actually happens, I can't help but wonder what kind of racing we'll see with, essentially, shorter straights but the same long, sweeping corners.  As always, I hope for nothing but the best for all involved with this project.

BONUS #6 - Limaland's entire racing program was finished shortly after 9:30pm Friday night.  I've always said the 1/4-mile track located just west of Lima, OH is one of the most well-run shows in the country, and that show further proved my point!

Five Weekend Afterthoughts: 5/21/12

(Mark Albright photo)

1.  In case you haven't noticed, Jimmy Owens is good.  After another win this weekend, he continues to be the most consistent driver in the country having not finished outside the top ten in a Lucas Oil race this season.  Not only that, but Owens has just one finish outside the top ten (Volusia 2/21) in ANY race this year.  Quite impressive.

2.  Speaking of impressive, Rusty Schlenk rattled off two more wins over the weekend at Attica and Oakshade.  Say what you want about Rusty, but he's a great driver. And who can blame him for not wanting to travel on Saturday nights when it pays $8,000 to win the Oakshade Late Model points.  If I was as good as he is at a track that's about 40 miles from home, I'd be there every Saturday night too.

3.  I have a little Twitter lesson for everyone.  If your race track is qualifying, please do not tweet every single individual qualifying lap.  That type of info may be great for a press release, but for Twitter...?  Not so much.  

4.  Hate to hear this, but it sounds like there's been some questionable decisions made at Brushcreek in their first two events.  What happened Saturday night?  First, the Late Model feature was only 15 laps due to the car count.  That, in some instances, could be justified, I guess.  However, despite only having one Bomber in attendance, that one Bomber ran a feature...against himself.  Wow.  Just...wow.  If I'm a fan in the stands, what am I thinking when my Late Model feature gets cut short, but the one Bomber gets to run a race by himself??  I guess common sense goes out the window sometimes.  

5.  Is there a race track in the country that provides better racing each and every week than Fairbury American Legion Speedway?  I'd say not.  From the looks of the video on DirtonDirt, Saturday night's Sunoco ALMS race was another FALS classic. Whether it's a big race or just a regular show, FALS rarely disappoints.