Rain is a horrible thing when it comes to racing, but for the perpetually slow, like me, it is a blessing in disguise, because it lets me get caught up. I have had an over-scheduled spring, but luckily there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am wrapping up my spring teaching at Indian Hills Community College, but I have tackled chasing a masters degree in military history, so after about 20 years, I am a student again myself. I have found a few brain cells that I thought were lost. I have also found a need to better schedule myself.
As Jeff Broeg was updating you on our racing trip last weekend, I was scrambling to complete assignments in three classes. Look up procrastination in the dictionary and you see my picture. I apologize for the late report this week, but like I said, May looks a lot better for getting on a roll.
I had a great time with last weekend’s triple header. It was good to see racing again at State far Speedway in Sedalia. The facility has always been one of my favorites to visit, and the track was rocket fast last week due to rain and generous watering. After seeing the start of my 2010 season on ¼ and 3/8-mile tracks, the speeds of the cars down the back stretch as they entered turn three was eye opening. When I haven’t been to a half-mile track for a while, it takes a bit to get used to the speeds. I’m sure when I am back at Knoxville this week I will still be getting adjusted.
Sedalia is firing up a weekly line-up of late models, 360 sprints and modifieds on Friday nights this season, and there was a decent crowd of enthusiastic fans there to welcome them last week. The car count was OK, but I’m hoping it picks up as the season continues; they’ll need a few more cars to make a show out of it. There were some stars there in the 360s and late models, but the modified field was incredible last week. The class was in support of the Mid America Modified Series, which runs alone, and in conjunction with several USMTS shows this season. Sedalia was a stand alone show, and Kenny Schrader was on hand to stand alone at the front of the field as he motored off with the win; but with names like Boney, Payne, Stovall, Dotson, Lyle, Allen, Phillips, Bolin and Fennewald among others, there was a lot to watch.
The way the drivers attack Sedalia, it leaves some hot spots to watch for the fans in the stands. A major one is coming out of turn four. Drivers were exiting the corner high, up along the wall. Then they would drift across the front stretch to the center or even low groove. The interesting part was that a lot of them were drifting across directly in front of other drivers. How we didn’t see any major collisions there, it was amazing – and it was fun to watch. It was good to be back at Sedalia.
The following night it was on to Lee County Speedway, another favorite, and they were kicking off the season with the $2,000+ to win IMCA Modified Smackdown. A good field of modifieds, from several corners of the Midwest showed up, but so did Mike Long. Long has had a way of running off with the big dollars at Donnellson lately, and he did it again on April 17. Rich Smith led early and looked strong, but Long slowly reeled him in to take the win. It will be interesting to see on July 1 when they host the Liberty Cup/Hawkeye Dirt Tour. Will Long win another big one, or will somebody else manage to snag the big dollars? I don’t want to hype anything too early, but that show is going on my calendar.
Sunday meant a trip to Dubuque for the Deery Brothers show there. After what rolled out on the track, I’m hoping the Deery schedule has two or three Dubuque dates in 2011. Forty-four cars showed up and battled non-stop on well prepared, well watered surface. The corners saw every inch used, from the hub rail to the concrete wall. And the feature saw some amazing racing. Ray Guss lead early, but Mark Burgtorf reeled him in. Joining Burgtorf in the run to the front were Dan Shelliam, Jason Rauen, Andy Eckrich, Mike Murphy and Jeremiah Hurst among others. As Burgtorf was closing in on Guss, these other drivers looked to be gaining on him. It was exciting to see so many cars in contention as the laps wound down. Burgtorf and Guss held on to first and second, but there were several possibilities that the end could have been different. It was a great show, and there were a lot of smiles on peoples’ faces at the post race on the front stretch. It was great way to cap off the weekend.
The Deery Brothers season has been very entertaining so far and I can’t wait until they pick it up again on May 18 at Marshalltown.
Speaking of entertaining, as I side note, as I was surfing the Web today, I went to the IRA sprints page and watched some exciting racing from their show at the Dodge County Fairgrounds Speedway in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Brooke Tatnell was the winner of this one, the Schmidt Memorial, on April 18. On the IRA home page you can click on a video of the feature. It is worth the watch as there was some good racing in this one. I’m looking forward to May 8 and the IRA’s visit to Knoxville.
And speaking of Knoxville, it is good to have a report from Stacy Ervin at Positively Racing as Knoxville prepares to open their season this weekend with practice night on Friday, April 30, and the opener the next night, May 1. Check with Stacy all season on what is happening at Knoxville.
