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 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.