Race Report 19

Wyoming Trip September 23-25, 2011

Thursday after watching granddaughter Sidney’s second volleyball match of the week I was ready to turn my attention to some races. My first thought was to stay in the Midwest but the weather looked like showers and there was only one new track to visit so I thought about a longer trip. Texas could have given me three tracks but I was already behind schedule for that long of a trip. I found two tracks in Wyoming and a stop on the way so I planned an early morning start for Friday. Friday I drove to Nebraska and stopped at the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood for the first night of the three day Cornhusker Classic with late models co-sanctioned from MLRA and CBC (Corn Belt Clash). There were quite a few campers in the lot and some people in the stands already at 6PM and the pits were overflowing. The track is a high banked half-mile dirt oval and they use the infield for most of the pits. They put the big enclosed haulers in the center section so even if you were up only 8 rows in the grandstand you could see the entire track. The grandstand is raised so the first row is already 10 feet over the paved walkways and it has 32 rows of seating with fiberglass seats that have a small back. There are also bleachers on each side of the big grandstand. The track has a Jersey barrier outside concrete wall and the inside is mostly Armco. The lights were very good and the speakers were loud but kept cutting out. They also had a scoreboard outside the first turn. The overflow pits were outside the backstretch and were needed tonight with a field of 48 late models, 30 crate late models, 26 B-mods, 22 modifieds, 16 hornets, 17 pro-am stocks and 12 hobby stocks. The late models ran a complete show with 5 heats and 2 semis before the feature. The other classes ran heats and then the top 10 in points ran a 10-lap dash to set the starting lineup for the inside row of the feature on Sunday. The late model heats were good with Charlie McKenna and Kelly Boen winning from the third row of their heats. The fifth heat had to be stopped when Jason O’Brien hit the first turn wall nearly head on and flipped back down the track. He was uninjured but needed a double wrecker tow back to the pits. Kyle Berck beat John Saathoff in the modified dash and Brad Derry got a close win in the Pro-am dash before the late model feature. Boen was on the front row of the 25-lap late model feature but spun on the first lap. That moved McKenna up to a front row start with Al Humphrey based on points earned in the heats. There was only one more spin in the feature as the 26 cars were using the wide track with multiple grooves and slide jobs for the entire race. Kyle Berck started 5^th and took command on the outside with Denny Eckrich from 8^th following in the same groove. Berck won over Eckrich and John Anderson from 10^th.  The 4 other dashes followed the feature and then the Pro-am stocks had a king of the hill race where they raced one on one until a winner was determined. The show was done at 11:15PM and I headed west. Saturday I drove through the desolate Sand Hills of Nebraska and through the Black Hills of South Dakota before arriving in Newcastle Wyoming. The Black Hills Mini-Sprints were the headline class at the Newcastle Raceway which is located at the Weston County Fairgrounds in Newcastle. The fairgrounds has a big rodeo arena and a huge covered grandstand but just next to that is a nice 1/5 mile semi-banked dirt oval with a small 10-row bleacher and a set of shorter bleachers next to it. I arrived at 6PM and there were already pickup trucks backed into the trackside parking stalls and a few people in the stands for the 7PM races that drew 15 mini sprints, 2 slingshots, 3 mini-quads, 3 125cc motorcycles and 8 50cc mini cycles. The track was well watered and had an Armco fence along the front straightaway but the rest of the track had a run-off area before any fencing. The inside was marked with some tires and they had adequate lights. The speakers were good for the nice size crowd that filled the small stands and all the trackside parking. They warmed up at 7PM and then had an autograph session before the racing started at 8PM with heats for all classes. Larry Reub won the first mini sprint heat from the front and then Anthony Farnsworth and Robert Bandy took the next two heats from the back (5^th starting spot). The heats went fast and were followed quickly by the features as long as they already had intermission for the autograph session. Troy Colter beat dad Dale in a close slingshot feature. The mini sprints started with a big crash on the first lap with 5 cars leaving the track on the backstretch and Dallas McCormack and Farnsworth flipping. After a short delay to clear the runoff area the race went green for 10 laps until Troy Corneliuson hit the wall. John Garrigan started 7^th and was leading over pole sitter Jim Paisley when third running Reub went up in smoke on the 16^th lap causing another yellow. There was one more yellow with two laps to go when Logan Hershey who was now up to third from 13^th ran over the wheel of the second place car and went over the bank into the runoff area. Garrigan held on to win over Paisley and the races were done at 9:30PM giving me a chance to catch up on my much needed sleep. Sunday was another beautiful fall day in Wyoming with bright sun and temperatures in the 80’s as I drove to Cheyenne for another stop at Big Country Speedway. This time I stopped on a race day as it was the first annual Showdown in Cheyenne and Miss Frontier was even here handing out some door prizes. (She had a ride but it was a 1HP mount and better suited for a dirt track.) The track is a banked quarter mile asphalt oval with concrete outside walls and the inside marked with a yellow line and a concrete strip before a width of flat asphalt drops down to the sandy infield. There are some newer buildings for the concessions (where I had a very good race track spud and they offered a wide selection of toppings for the baked potato) and the cement block bathrooms were clean and modern. They have paved walkways and a big 14-row wooden grandstand (facing east) all along the straightaway. The grandstand is showing its age and it looked like minimal lighting (not used today) but there is a nice scoreboard on the backstretch. The speakers were weak and cut out some. I arrived at 1:45PM and a small crowd was waiting for a few final qualifiers to time in. Racing started a half hour late at 2:30PM for a slim field of 6 late models, 6 modifieds, 5 warriors, 5 mod four’s and 14 super stocks. They ran dashes, heats and then features for each class. The features got under way after 5PM with the modifieds running 19 of their 25 laps before a spin. Mark Sopr started 4^th and claimed the win. The junkyard warriors (mini stocks) ran a non-stop 25-lap feature with Tyler Drew taking a close win over Breann Adkison. Nick Tabor hit the wall on the start of the mod 4 feature then they ran all green with Dino Charron coming from 5^th to take the win. The late model 30-lap feature went all green with 6^th starter Gary Hobbs picking up the win over Lance Lewis. The big money race of the day was the $1000 to win super stocks that rounded out the racing day. The 40-lap feature was restarted when Mark Kelly spun in the first turn. There were two early spins then the race went to lap 18 when leader Kelly spun again after contact with Kent Stubbe. Kelly restarted first and Stubbe was sent to the rear. This scenario happened two more times with Kelly spinning on the 22^nd lap and the 34^th lap with contact from the second place car. Stubbe made it back to second place and tried an outside pass that fell half a car length short on the last lap and Kelly won the feature. It was 7PM and time for me to start the long trip home.    

Illinois Weekend September 30 – October 2, 2011

Friday I finished up my hospital visits with Aunt Mary and still had time to make it to a race. This weekend could help me get closer to the 100 mark for different tracks seen in Illinois and still give me an opportunity to see some good racing in between. I started the weekend with a visit to the familiar confines of the Rockford Speedway in Rockford Illinois where the 46^th Annual National Short Track Championships were being held. The cool night would have racing in six divisions on the high banked quarter-mile asphalt oval. I arrived just before the 7:07PM starting time and ran into Bob Schafer so we sat together for some good conversation between the races tonight. They had already qualified and would run some dashes and qualifying heats before the feature races. The only class that needed a semi was the Road Runners as they had 36 entries tonight. There were also 26 late models, 26 short trackers, 21 sportsmen, 12 figure eight cars and 22 entries in the bandit vs. hornet challenge. The track has good lights and excellent speakers for the light crowd spread out in the large aluminum grandstand along the straightaway and a few more spectators in the old bleachers along the backstretch. The high banks have a concrete wall around the outside and just a white line to mark the inside where the pavement flattens off before the grass infield. There was not a full moon tonight but it was one of those nights where everything crazy and wrong just happened.  There were also more than the usual numbers of yellows in the preliminary races tonight. The features started with the 40-lap All-American Sportsmen race that was stopped on the 4^th lap with a fire after Bob Wilberg had an oil leak in the old ‘Cuda. On the 29^th lap Josh Thiering blew and oiled the track and caught fire. There was a spin on the attempted restart then the second and third place cars of Matt Lundberg and Matt Berger got into the wall. Rich Hinerichsen started 4^th and won the race over Chris Gantz from 9^th. The short trackers were on their third restart when a car went off the end of the backstretch and down the pit entrance road at full speed. He apparently crashed into the pits and that brought out an immediate red flag as someone was injured and needed an ambulance transport. After this delay they announced that they would only race for 30 laps not the 40 scheduled. There were only two more yellows as George Sparkman came from 11^th to win the race over Scotty Hoeft from 4^th and Kyle Stark from 10^th. The late model feature was cut from 46 laps to 36 (a number made famous here by Joe Shear) but it took three tries to complete a lap without a spin. They raced for 4 laps and had another spin. Then the late models settled into a good race with no more cautions as Bobby Wilberg led from the front to take the win but had to hold off repeated attempts to pass by John Reynolds JR who started 8^th. Ryan Carlson was third from 10^th and Jerry Gille from 11^th was fourth at the finish. The Road Runners were next and on the 8^th lap of their 30-lap feature the red was displayed when Howie Ware got upside down. Ware and Alex Papini were moving toward the front when they ran out of patience and drove one another into the second turn wall. They continued pushing each other to the third turn where Ware rolled on his top. He exited the car and had to be restrained as he went to the Papini car for a talk and eventually the sheriff came out on the track to settle things down. After the restart they ran well with 7^th starter Bob Frisch the apparent winner over Dana Czach from 14^th. However both were disqualified and Kris Nilson from 10^th got the trophy. The bandit vs. hornet challenge had only one yellow as Bryce Bailey came from 11^th to claim the win over Tyler Whalen from 7^th. The figure eight race was last with most of the cars coming from the road runner class and after 1 yellow for a stall they raced to the checkers with Dennis Smith JR a close winner over Josh Thiering and Tom Schneider. There was a spin by Dan Carlson at the “X” as the checkers were waiving and Thiering racing for the win drove into the rear of the nearly stopped car as the race ended with a big crash. The races were done just before midnight and I headed south. Saturday afternoon I headed to the southern part of Illinois for a look at the Perry County Fairgrounds in Pinckneyville Illinois. I arrived about 4PM two hours before the start of the demo program for tonight. There were a few cars here already and several more arrived as they were packing and watering the small track for tonight. It appears the arena is set up for tractor pulls with a long narrow dirt area with tall concrete walls on both sides that is in front of a covered wood grandstand of 13 rows with several bleacher sections on the other side of the arena that the pit personnel could use. They have good lights and the speakers were adequate. After the 5:45PM drivers meeting they took concrete slabs and placed them between the concrete walls to form a small square in front of the grandstand that was well watered. Then they placed two of the concrete slabs toward each end of the area within the temporary walls as if they were preparing to run a figure eight but instead they started the program with an autocross. This was an oval race around the two concrete barriers. Four cars came out for the 25-lap race on a very wet surface and there was very little contact as they ran non-stop with Ben Eisenhower taking the checkers in front of Randy Lawhorn. It was only 6:40PM so I skipped the demo and headed out to catch the midgets at Belleville just about an hour away. Saturday night was a race at the Belle-Clair Speedway for the POWRi midgets (45 cars) and the micros (49 cars). I arrived at 7:30PM and they were already on the third heat race for the midgets in front of a big crowd. The program was set up with 6 heats for each class then two semis for each and the two feature races. The track is a high banked 1/5-mile dirt oval with concrete outside walls and concrete Jersey barriers on the inside. I started by sitting in the first turn and was pelted with soft dirt during the heats. I moved to the 4^th turn for the rest of the races while they did some “farming” of the track. They dug up the inside and then dug up the cushion and repacked it. This made for some dust but left a loose track and the cars ran three wide with dirt reaching the 10^th row of the old wooden 12-row grandstands during the midget semis and the feature. The track is well lit and the speakers are very good. After all the preliminaries the micro feature took to the track with 23 starters for 20 laps. Dereck King started from the front and looked like a winner until the third yellow of the race appeared with only two laps left. Joe B Miller took the high line on the restart and blasted around King for the win with Jacob Patton in third. The midgets started 23 cars in the 30-lap Charlene Meents Memorial feature and had trouble getting the race going with 4 yellows in the first 10 laps. After the 10^th lap restart the 3 leaders (pole sitter Brett Anderson, Mario Clouser from 6^th and Brad Kuhn from 11^th) started trading big slide jobs on the little track. On each turn they would slide and bang more often than not as the third place car tried for a shot at the lead. On the 12^th lap Kuhn tried to move way low and slide in the third turn but hit the Jersey inside barrier and did a big wheelie and spun. There were two more yellows on the 19^th lap and Anderson and Clouser were still fighting for the lead. Clouser was in the lead with two laps to go but Anderson made the slider work to grab the lead with Bubba Altig now up to third from 9^th and Donnie Lehman holding fourth using the very inside of the track. On the last turn of the race Anderson moved down to the middle to slow the slide job that was coming and Clouser lost momentum as the two touched. Altig got underneath both but climbed the wheels of Clouser as they came out of the fourth turn. Anderson won with Altig bouncing over Clouser for second at the line and no one flipped! It was only 10:20PM when the show was complete so I had time to drive a few miles north before getting some shut eye. Sunday morning I continued north to the Autobahn Country Club in Elwood Illinois arriving just before noon to see the North Suburban Sports Car Club races this afternoon. They drew good car counts with 110 cars among the six groups that were racing today. There were 24 big production cars, 22 improved touring cars, 12 big formula cars, 21 vintage cars, 8 small formula cars and 23 small production cars. Each group ran a half-hour race with the first race starting at 1:20PM. The facility is very new with 3 major race circuits for the sports cars and today they would race on the south course (2.061 miles in length) while club members were using the north course. They also have the ability to combine the north and south courses in to a big course. I saw racing on the south course last year but before the track chasing rule changes this year only one course was countable. The facility is immaculate and the viewing is better on the south course so I just settled down for a relaxing race day on a bright cool autumn day. The big production cars ran first with Ron Rashinski in a Porsche pulling away from the pole to a big lead and lapping up to 6^th place as he completed 19 laps in the half hour. There was a good battle for second with 3 cars swapping the spot during the race but Bryan Duncan taking second at the finish with Jeff Cheleis in third and John Jung fourth. Jack Murphy started on the pole and completed 18 laps as he won the improved touring group race over Michael Brinati as the first 7 finishers came across in the same order as they started. The big formula start produced a local yellow when the pole car did not come up to speed and stopped on the course on the first lap. The scramble at the start saw John Gyann come from the 9^th grid spot to the lead in one lap. John completed 20 laps and won over Greg Gyann and Frank Riemann. Pole sitter Geoff Pile won the vintage race by a big margin in his Ford Escort over the Datsun of Mark Atkinson. The small formula race was on the track when I decided to start home and listen to the end of the NASCAR race and then the Packer game as I fought the Chicago area traffic.