Showing posts with label World of Outlaws Late Models. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World of Outlaws Late Models. Show all posts

Monday, August 27, 2012

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!





Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Five Weekend Afterthoughts: 5/29/12


Robby Hensley notched his first career win Saturday at Florence.  (Steve Alcorn photo)
1.  It was just two weeks ago that I mentioned Chris Garnes was having a pretty good season.  Well, he silenced any remaining critics Sunday night with a walk-away win at I-77 Raceway Park's World of Outlaws show.  Chris has more wins and second place finishes in two months of racing than most drivers get during an entire season.  Kudos to him.

2.  After seemingly a bazillion second place finishes at Florence Speedway, Robby Hensley finally got his first career Late Model win Saturday night.  Being there to announce it, hearing the crowd's ovation ... all of it was just awesome. A "big" congrats to "The Big Show".  I have a feeling he's not done winning this year.

3.  Sunday night, Matt Miller re-emphasized what everyone already knew:  He's damn good at Eldora no matter what car he's driving.  Although I'd hesitate to call him a "favorite" to win the Dream, the Johnny Appleseed Classic showed us Matt hasn't lost his touch at Eldora...

4.  ...and, for all that matters, neither has Jeep.

5.  By now, you've probably heard about (or seen the video of) Dave McWilliams' Modified wreck at Portsmouth on Sunday.  First off, we're sending some big prayers and get well wishes his way.  Second, a tip of the hat to Portsmouth Raceway Park for having a well-equipped safety team on hand and a plan of action in place.  Too many tracks takes a soft approach to driver safety, so its refreshing to see a track have its act together on such an important area of concern.

Monday, March 5, 2012

BREAKING NEWS: I-77 Lands WoO Late Model Show

Sources are telling me an official announcement will come later today that I-77 Raceway Park in Fairplain, WV has landed the May 27th World of Outlaws Late Model Series date that was previously reserved for West Virginia Motor Speedway.  This completes Memorial Day weekend for the Series with a stop at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, OH on Friday, May 25th, and the highly touted Jackpot 100 at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, WV on Saturday, May 26th.

Friday, February 24, 2012

P.F.R.

Rick Schwallie photo
In case you haven't seen it yet, better make your way over to DirtonDirt and check out last night's post-race interview from Volusia with Scott Bloomquist.  It's another classic and I have a feeling the acronym P.F.R. will now be used quite a bit.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

I-77 Raising Profile

Has any race track done more recently to raise its profile than I-77 Raceway Park in Fairplain, WV?  Aside from additional seats, more pit parking, a new PA system, and an in-tower HD video review system, they've added the $40,000-to-win Lucas Oil Hillbilly 100 to their schedule for 2012.  In addition to all of this, rumors keep surfacing that they're working with the World of Outlaws to score another big Late Model show.  Hats off to these guys for all their hard work.  Make sure you check out some of their updated pics on Facebook.