Hoseheads Sprint Car Photos & News

9/5/23

70 years of history lay on a 3/8 th mile dirt oval just North East of Quincy Michigan at the Butler Motor Speedway. Since 1952, Butler has went through some owners, some very good times, some major struggles, and has always been talked about for years. In the 80s, they hosted some WOO Sprints shows, the All Stars have been there several times, plus USAC, SOD, FAST, GLTS, GLSS, NRA, ARCA midgets, and UMP Summer Nationals have all visited the Battlegrounds as it was once called. A very unique for most of its life, high banks, no walls in the turns or back stretch, step drop off, an oil based service at one time, the famous tree house, the tall grandstands, and out in the middle of nowhere. Butler has hosted weekly racing for 70 years through it all and is the only Michigan weekly 410 sprint car track.

I actually have a lot of family history at Butler. My grandpa Hancock owned modified coups that raced up there in the 50s and 60s, my great uncle raced up there, hell I ever started my crewing on race cars career up there for 4 years when I was 14 years old as my cousin tried to race a sprint car up there. It is actually the closest weekly 410 winged track to my house.

The track went from the track to be at in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, even part of the 90s, to the track many people was like well I guess if we have too we can go to Butler. It is one of those tracks that was struggling and needed mega love care and someone with a huge passion to bring is back to its glory years. Many thought they would try and many never got off the ground with its future looking like it maybe in jeopardy at times. Many late night starts, shows that ran to 2 or 3 AM, track conditions less than desirable, a falling apart grandstands, a front stretch wall caving in, poor lighting, just a place that didn't get much TLC for several years.

Enter 2022, the Wilbur family, racer themselves, many years at Butler, purchase the speedway as Tim Wilbur leads the charge to bring Butler Motor Speedway back to it's glory days. We all know this isn't / wasn't going to be an overnight job. I hadn't been to the track since 2020 when I finally said, I am not going back to butt hole, or that shit hole, or several other things many have called it for years and I had too but that night in 2020 when they had the Hell Tour and they messed around and messed around forever I'm like I am done. I would always go back after saying that but this time it seemed different. Now forward to Aug 2023, the All Star are returning to Butler for the 1st time since 2016. The All Stars 51 miles from home is hard to say no too. Plus, I have been hearing some very good things the last year and half that hey, Butler isn't the Butler of old, the Wilbur family is doing some great things with the place. I am like are you sure? I've heard this for many years when other local racers tried to run things there and it always fell back the shithole. Hey I want the place to get back on the map, I want our sport to be strong in any state it can be, and I would love to have a track an hour away, well less if I drive it like I stole it, back to being a showplace. So I made the trip up 15 to 99, to Jonesville Road to the Butler Motor Speedway the last Saturday of August for the All Stars visit. I must say you 100% can tell a difference right away. The place looks better, the track was in great shape, and the track crew and staff knocked it out of the park. An excellent ran show and they handled the capacity crowd very well. It was some really good racing as well. The worse problem, the capacity trying to get out of the parking lot, which is a great problem to have for the track. Now let's fast forward to the past holiday weekend. Many many places are racing and I had some plans to travel but life just didn't work out for that to happen last weekend so we decide to keep fairly local. Saturday rolls around, it's like well we can go here or here or here or here and the girlfriend says, well since I missed last weekend and have never been to Butler, let's go there. I was like ugh idk, 2 weeks in row, they did great last week which means probably be a off week this week, I am not sure. Needing to get some stuff around here as well and thinking, hell we don't have to leave until 5:30 or 6 if we don't want too, what the hell, we will go there so you can see it and I am kinda interested in what a regular is like up there and if it was just a last week thing on the place being pretty damn good. We get there, another good crowd, not near the All Star crowd but another good one. Decent field of cars, only 15 410s, which is nothing new for a weekly Saturday when a lot is happening but I love they keep at it and keep 410s alive in Michigan. We sit down and the track is great again. No fluke from the week before, they had it very racy and had it juiced up once again. Let's see if they start on time, no way they will. 7:30 on the nose, the 1st heat is coming on the track. 4 divisions, decent car counts in the support classes, even some B Mains, and the entire program is over just after 11. Oh by the way, I seen the best winged 410 heat race that I have seen all year during heat 2 of the night. Very good battles, and an old friend Van Gurley Jr looking very strong with his nephew right on his tail tank, Reece Saldana there, and the Butler regulars. A very good race, except a hiccup on a restart that ruined what could have been a great battle to the finish line but all in all a very good night of racing and taking home the 410 win was a friend of mine Tylar Rankin. Then got to see another friend Robby Henderson win the Mod A Main, a very good night. I am going to say it, the Butler Motor Speedway is back!! The Wilbur family has done an amazing job and I hope they keep it up. It is just their 2nd year at the place, they knew it was a work in progress but I am telling you, the track conditions were very good, didn't get dust on us at all and the racing was very good. I was telling some old racer in my area about the last 2 weeks up there today and they are like are you sure you was at the right track? I said 100%, quit calling it names and get your ass up there in a seat because Butler is back and from everything I see and hear, it is just the beginning of what is to come for the 3/8th mile oval. I am very happy to see after all the crap that has been talked about the place for years and a place that very well could have been just another weed patch a few years ago is being nurtured back to life and what seems to be off life support and heading back towards it's glory days of it's early years. I know its one step at a time but if things keep going as they are since 2022 up there, if things fall right they could be a serious contender on Saturday nights to draw a great field of cars and give some tracks working less harder a run for their money, no doubt in my mind.

Thanks for reading
Duane

7/11/23

1 Million dollars, that's right 1 Million dollars to a winner of a single sprint car race this week in Ohio. Since the 1920s sprint cars have been running in dirt circles. Now 103 years later, over 2 million dollars with be paid out to sprint car drivers over 5 nights in Ohio, a history making week that may never be repeated. I have been going to sprint car races for 50 years and to even remotely think I would see a million to win sprint car race was unthinkable. Enter Eldora Speedway and Tony Stewart and here we are at a historical week for the sport. The action kicks off Tuesday night with the 35th Brad Doty Classic at Attica Raceway Park for a $15,000 winner's check. Wednesday and Thursday, thank God it's not an WOO event, the Eldora Sprint Car Million takes places. 2 A Mains Wednesday paying $12,000 each and then the one million to win event Thursday. Wait, we back that up on Friday and Saturday with the WOO and the Knight Before the King's Royal $12,000 to win and the 40th King's Royal $175,,000 to win. What a week!!!

The Million format, to be is VERY awesome and gives the smaller teams a chance to make some $$ and be in the running for the Million dollar A Main event. Many inverts, a points system that won't allow sandbagging, and more inverts is going to make passing the way to advance. I hope mother nature plays nice and gives us and great racy track. A Main, 50 laps, it has to be for this type of $$. The Eldora staff knows how to keep the excitement alive at the house Earl built by adding things to the King's Royal week still after 40 years. I can't wait and hopefully we can get a underdog taking the huge payday Thursday! 83 cars pre entered, we know a few backed out already but I think a few more will enter, I think car count will be 76.

Why not do my list of who I think will be contenders at the Million. The 1st group, I think your winners is from these 10 drivers. Rico Abreu, Kyle Larson, David Gravel, Carson Macedo, Brad Sweet, Donny Schatz, Tyler Courtney, Brent Marks, Sheldon Haudenschild, and Logan Schuchart. The next bunch of 1 I think if the right things fall their way could find a way to surprise the crowd and be in contention. Justin Peck, Buddy Kofoid, Zeb Wise, Gio Scelzi, Shane Stewart, Brian Brown, Spencer Bayston, Danny Dietrich, Anthony Macri, and James McFadden. The next bunch, shot at the A, maybe a few with a chance to be there on stage but I am going to say wild cards. Cory Eliason, Brock Zearfoss, aaron Reutzel, Parker Price Miller, Daryn Pittman, Kerry Madsen, Hunter Schuerenberg, Tim Shaffer, Travis Philo, Brady Bacon. The next group lets call the well longer shots but still a chance I think if all goes well. Blake Hahn, Kasey Kahne, Jamie Veal, Cole Macedo, Lee Jacobs, Bill Balog, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Dylan Cisney, Skylar Gee, and Kyle Reinhardt. This is just for fun but I think the winner will be listed above, I hope someone else comes up and shocks us all. I would love to see a local or lower budget team take the $$$. All I know is I can't wait to see it this week. Let's go!!!

Thanks
Duane

3/30/23

Rain rain go away and come back when it's not race day. For the 2nd year in a row during the start of Spring, the weather in our region has been absolutely pure crap for racing. Yes, early March we all know its risky for races, especially night races but, there are usually some very decent days in March. These last 2 years have been down right nasty for trying to get races in the books. Atomic is trying a unique approach to try and get a race in on Saturday or Sunday if they get enough pre sale tickets sold. Instead of working with the track or seeing how the deal plays out, several fans are on social media acting like this is the dumbest thing on earth. This is when social media is a burden to race tracks. Are we that set in our old fashion racing ways, if someone tries something out of the box instead of supporting them, we bash them instead because we can't wrap our head around what they are trying? Hell in PA they pulled an added race off in a day and a half that drew over 4000 fans. Ohio always says they wanna be like PA, well we have a track trying something different and instead of supporting it or just seeing what happens, you got over half the post telling them why it won't work, or you should do this or that or this. Are Ohio fans that more spoiled now it can only be perfect in our book before we attempt to go? I guess it just amazes me how entitled people are getting anymore when many tracks are struggling to make regular shows happen now days. You see more and more tracks, Gas City, I-96, in our region and others in other regions of the country going to a special show type of schedule or reduced schedule but yet we blow up a track with negative comments for thinking outside of the box to try and get a show in without losing 10k on opening day. I am not sure people are aware of how hard the struggle is to produce an effective weekly show that don't lose the track a lot of money and pays the teams decent money because its tougher and tougher to field a weekly team. It is the toughest times its been in several years for weekly shows and weekly racers. Everyone needs to work together to keep weekly racing strong. The bigger shows are doing very well and the money some are paying out is amazing but, that's just a start. Who would of thought we seen the day a winged sprint car race would pay 1 million dollars to win. What Eldora Speedway has meant to the sport of dirt track racing is absolutely the trend setter in all these other tracks paying bigger money shows. It is an awesome time to be a dirt track fan but also a tricky one with the local weekly racing cost of so much on both ends of the spectrum.

Speaking of Eldora Speedway, the number one race I am looking forward to this season is the Eldora Million. A million to win, 6k to start, I am not sure what the B, C, and D mains pay but, its looking like several drivers that don't race Eldora regularly or that have never raced their have it on their schedule. This is absolutely awesome and how it should be when someone steps up to pay a million to win. It is looking like there could be a 100 cars plus which would be very awesome. Running the format like one of their big late model weekends I think benefits teams as well with 48 cars making the A Main on the prelim night. Those nights pay decent money as well and will help grow the car count when half the field gets A Main money on opening night.

The next race I am looking forward to this season is the BC 39. One of, if not, the best midget races of the year each year. I wasn't sure I was a fan of moving it to a 4 day deal at first, still looking for the format, but looks like the million a little, many cars and drivers that haven't raced in it yet seem to have it on their 2023 tour. Add a few Indy Car drivers that seem to be in the mix of entering it, this may grow bigger than it already has been the last few years.

Next races I am looking forward to this season is the High Limit Series races. I think it will be very interesting to see who follows the tour and how many locals can make some good money at these shows. I hope this can bring some good money to some teams that aren't on full time tours. A series like this needs to exist where it don't cater to just the big teams 24-7. This well help grow the sport and help more than the same 5 teams winning most of the money all season. Plus, its bringing some big shows to some great tracks that will put on very racy shows.

Another thing I am looking forward too is the return of the Eastern Midget week through PA. After its absence the last few years, the Xtreme Midget series brings it back to life in 2023. 5 different tracks in 5 days, all great midget tracks. I have never been to this swing but, I am seriously hoping to make it this season.

I know this is a sprint car site but, another race I am looking forward to is of the fender type. Eldora Speedway already has 2 big late model races but the addition of the Dirt Track World Championship in later October is something I am very interested in seeing. I think it is the prefect time of year for teams that have always dreamed of racing Eldora to make the trip since local points championships will for the most part be over by that time of the year.

Of course I will be a homer on this one but the final thing I am looking towards is the AFCS Sprint Series season. This will be our 5th season. With all the talk of money and how tough it is to keep a local sprint car team afloat nowadays, I am so blessed to have such great supporters for the AFCS Sprint Series. We have some VERY loyal marketing partners and each year we gain news ones. Between the 2 series, 410 and 305s, we are starting the season off with over $77,000 of cash and products for 2023 (60K in 410s, 17K 305s) over 18 races. 18 races for that much extra money! You see several local teams talking about $$ and most think tracks are short changing them on payout. I am here to tell you, local tracks don't make near as much as people think on weekly races, IF they even make $$ on that night. Can a lot of places do more to promote their places to draw more fans or sponsors, 100% but everyone needs to work together. That is why our AFCS deal is such a great deal. 18 races, so you can take nights off or race several other shows and race for great $$ for a local program. You see good weekly pay outs in PA and at Knoxville but, 18 races 77K extra to start, we always get more during the season, if you don't race it, then its not about $$. It amazing at times how I hear about local tracks that don't pay enough but then get a laundry list of excuses of why they can't. Don't like one of the tracks, don't wanna commit to 18 races, don't wanna race for points, so on and so on. When it comes to that, then its not about $$ plain and simple. If you have a chance to run 18 races for extra $$ like that and you elect not too for whatever reason, then you can't grandstand how local tracks aren't paying enough. All 410 shows are at least 4k to win, and 1 that is at least 5k to win. All 305 shows 1k to win, with at least 5 right now paying $1200 to win. Don't forget these tracks have some skin in this too. They have really stepped up to make the shows we don't have series sponsorship for pay the extra $$ this season. So its everyone working together trying to keep local sprint car racing strong in our reason.

Hopefully this weather gets straightened out so we can start racing. Thanks for reading and stay tuned as I am going to try and update this more often than last year. You can tune into On The Throttle every Monday just after the Noon news on The Q 96.5 WQCT Bryan Ohio or via the WQCT website or tune in app. Or download the Dirt Nerds podcast weekly to hear weekly racing updates.

Thanks

Duane

9/1/22

Money, we all know money has been a key to racing for several years. Each year it gets harder and harder for not only the car owners and drivers to keep a rolling but the tracks and the fans as well. We are seeing tracks close at a record pace and car owners really picking what races they race more and more especially on the local level.

Enter 2021, yes they have been some big paying shows here and there but in 2021 things stepped up in many places for extra paying shows. Usually a late model thing were they have by far more higher paying shows than sprint cars but, all the sudden sprint cars are making some traction in that direction now.

2022, sprint car racing, along with late models, have seen the biggest $$$ ever out there for many shows, new or older shows. This is a very good thing for the sport as it takes these teams so much money to keep rolling week in and week out. The down side, the tracks need an excellent gate and fans need to pay a touch more to make this happen. It has worked very good for the most part with a few that didn't work so good. If you would have told me 5 years ago you would be seeing as many big payouts like we have this season in sprint car racing, I would have said no way. We are finally getting where it needs to be. The major issue is how do we get this down to the local weekly level more or even the lower divisions like the 305s? There are some places doing very good at that and some that are not. Flo Racing and Dirt Vision, as much as tracks like to blame them for low attendance, do have a great benefit to the tracks as well. Does it take some fans away? Yes on certain nights. Does it bring more fans in, yes if you run a good show and people see that and make it a must get to track in person. Does the track get some $$ off the PPV, yes some but most locals nights, not nearly as much as you would think. The WOO owner's meeting at Knoxville during the Nationals I heard Dirt Vision stepped up and shared part of their profits with WOO sprint car and late model teams and well as put some into shows that boosted the payout. Now take the new Kyle Larson Brad Sweet High Limits Series. A copy off of the late model Castrol Night in American, 22k to win, 1k to start winged sprint car shows mid week in regions that don't see this type of $$ usually. All live on FLO, we know FLO has to be putting $$ in these shows, 2 are paying 50k next season as the rest move to 23k to win in 2023. I truly thing sprint car racing is finally getting the money its been lacking for year just in time to hopefully save the sport. At 70k for a thumper 410 engine and $300 plus right rears that don't last a race, we need this $$$. Now again, we need to farm some it to the local weekly programs because if you haven't noticed that is where the tracks are fall by the waste more and more and where car counts are struggling at times due to the high cost. Plus, the lack of supplies still has a factor. I truly think all in all, tracks that promote and treat their teams, drivers, and fans like they should will survive, Tracks that have an attitude of we you're just lucky we are open and if you don't like how we are go elsewhere, well maybe not so much. I for one am happy to see the direction sprint cars are going in obtaining all these bigger $$ shows.

A perfect example of a show that keeps growing through excellent promotion of it, the Smackdown at Kokomo Speedway. Last week I hit all 3 nights of the 11th annual Smackdown that paid 15k to win the final night and $1500 to start. Oh wait, plus $500 a lap in lap money!! When has a non wing race in Indiana paid this?!!? It blew my mind some of the local non wing teams that wasn't there for that type of $$$ but a great field of 44 cars hit the track through the weekend, Kyle Cummins finally gor the Smackdown monkey off his back and took home a 35k win!! Yes, Kyle lead all 40 laps, taking 20k in laps money and 15k in regular payout. The great news, next year's Smackdown pays 20k to win. It was nice catching up with the world famous Stubb at Kokomo, even though I almost walk past him even with him standing up. There Stubb, I finally wrote a column LOL.

Speaking of money on the local racing front, Ohio has some VERY nice shows this weekend for the local racers. With the All Stars in Sharon racing for 6k and 12k, Attica Raceway Park is still having the Attica Ambush this weekend as well Friday and Saturday. Now an AFCS Sprint Series race, which is the local series between Attica and Fremont, Friday will see the 410 winner take home 5k with $400 to start. The 305s will now see $1500 to win and $250 to start. Plus, late models for 5k to win and $300 to start. Saturday the purse gets bumped up to 7k to win and $500 to start for 410s, still $1500 for 305s and $300 to start, then joining the card Saturday will be the last ever race in NRA 360 sprint series history paying 3k to win. The GLSS 360 are joining the mix as well with the NRA 360s., Next season, the NRA 360s and GLSS 360s are combining forces and will run under the GLSS banner. The weekend is not over there on the local scene, Sunday Wayne County Speedway host a local 410 show paying 15k to win and $500 to start for the Pete Jacobs Memorial. I wish we could make shows like the payout at Attica and Wayne County happen more for our local teams so get out there and support these events so it can keep happening! Yes there isn't a high profile series with guaranteed drivers but there also isn't a huge sanction fee and that $$ can go into the local driver's pocket and trust me, these local shows, will have great drivers, with a few invaders trying to cash in, and will produce excellent racing. Many of our AFCS 410 and 305 shows have came down to the last lap or 2 for the win. Speaking of money, if you are a late model fan besides the good local payout at Attica Friday, Eldora kicks off World 100 week Wednesday with the finish of the Dream but also will have up to 3 unique A Mains paying $600 to start and $5000 to win for drivers who have never won an A Main at Eldora. Then Thursday they move into World 100 weekend with boosted purses once again this year for the World 100

Thanks for reading

Duane

5/27/22

As we approach the first major holiday weekend of the racing season, we are in some unknown terms we have not ever experienced with our sport. With there still being a tire shortage issue and the ridiculous fuel prices, you see tracks and series cancelling shows earlier than usual. Plus, you are now seeing series adjust their schedules and some limit tire usage per event. This is before we have even reached the hardcore part of the sprint car and late model racing season. It is a very concerning time for all parties involved without a doubt. It is not just the teams, the tracks as well. Expenses are up to operate a track, people are watching more shows online and cutting their amount attending events due to higher gas cost, higher living expense and such. This is a time as a whole we need to give and take with each other from the tracks to the teams to the fans for this sport to survive this crazy time period. If you can attend an event, do it, even if it is a local event. If you can buy some extra merch from a team or track, it would go a long ways in helping them with their increased expenses as well. If you have a friend that has never been to a race, it would be an excellent time to bring them to an event this season. If you know of a business that could benefit from some exposure, tell them to contact their local track or a race team as many teams and tracks are very open to even small sponsorships. This is all stuff that is great anytime for the sport but, this season it is the most important it has ever been to our sport. As we approach the holiday weekend, just about every track in the US has an event. Be sure to check social media regularly if you are planning to attend an event as several tracks and teams update social media very well not only when weather is an issue but with event information.

Some great things to look forward to in the Ohio region. Atomic Speedway has the World of Outlaws return this Saturday after 13 years....Car counts have been very good so far throughout the entire state when tracks has gotten shows in...Eldora Speedway is having a MILLION dollar to win super late model race on June 8th and 9th. I know I cover sprint cars mostly but, the Eldora Million is back and that is just amazing news for dirt track racing in general.Plus, there is some sprint car drivers that will be crossing over to chase the million...Ohio Sprint Speedweek starts June 10th and has a nice travel schedule to it this season. Hopefully, tires won't be an issue for these events. I know at All Star and World of Outlaws series events, tires have been there for teams, not many but there have been some for the teams.

I hope to see you all at the race track very soon.

Thanks for reading

Duane

7/27/21

Last week was the biggest week of the season for sprint car racing in Ohio. Tuesday it kicked off at Attica Raceway Park for the annual Brad Doty Classis and then moved to the Eldora Speedway Wednesday through Saturday, which ended up being through Sunday, for the 38th and 37th annual King's Royal events. I was lucky enough to hit all 5 races.

The 4th of July weekend is always a huge weekend of racing in our region. With warm but, clear weather, it was nice to get 4 races in even if one was a pavement modified race on the 4th.

I kicked off the weekend early in Indiana at the Plymouth Speedway for the USAC Sprint car and Micro Sprint Speed Week event. 27 USAC Sprints and 52 Micro sprints were pit side.

With new dirt this season on both the big track and the small track, I was very interested to see things would go as Plymouth has had its share of dirt issues in the past. Right from the start, I could tell a nice improvement in what I have seen in the past. The track was holding some moisture and widening out the best I have seen in a long time. Some pretty decent heat race action seen Chase Stockon, Mario Clouser, and Chris Windom take the wins. The micro sprint heats on the small track in the infield were excellent races. Very impressed with the show they was putting on.

Some heavy hitters were battling in the Sprint Car B Main with Thomas Meseraull. Max Guiliford taook a nasty tumble on the exit of turn 2 in the B. A handful of races with both C and B Mains for the micro sprints. Some great action for the micro sprints once again in all of the C and B Mains.

CJ Leary and Paul Nienhiser brought the 30 lap USAC Sprint Car A Main to the green. Leary leaped into the lead as cars battled 3 wide behind him. Leary has had a pretty tough season so far but was looking very good at the front of the pack in this one. Lap after lap, Leary lead the pack as there was a few guys trying to make some charges from deeper in field. With the laps quickly clicking off, Leary was still holding strong out front. Justin Grant was closing on Leary with just a few laps to go. Grant got close enough to excite the fans a little but, not close enough to make a valid attempt to take the lead. In a green to checkered race, Leary lead flag to flag to take a much needed win. Grant, Kevin Thomas Jr, Tanner Thorson, and Brady Bacon with a nice charge up from 13th. A truly thought it was one of the better races in a while I have seen at Plymouth. There was never really a great battle for the lead, Leary was never really challenged but, it was racer than what it has been in the past.

Friday it was off the Limaland for my 1st visit in 4 years. It is hard to believe it has been 4 years since I have been to one of my most favorite tracks in the US. With them only running around 13 races a year, half of them usually getting rained out, and running the AFCS series, its just hard to find a date to actually get to the 1/4 mile bullring. 18 NRA 360 Sprints were ready to rip. The track was in absolutely excellent shape.

3 heats with everyone going to the A Main. The heat races reminded me why I like Lima so much. Tight battles, action all over the places, and close racing. Jared Horstman, Rickey Peterson, and Corbin Gurley took the heat wins. Steve Niese took a wild tumble down the front stretch in heat 3. Steve was alright but the number 1 machine was done for the night.

Harli White and Shawn Dancer paced the field for the 25 lap A Main. Dance drove to the lead as the green lights flipped on. White was quick to follow as Connor Morrell tried to join the mix. Dancer was 2 stepping his way around the track as White and Morrell slipped back a little. Lap 10, Jake Hesson spins in turn 4 bringing out the caution. Green, Dancer still leads as Horstman starts to make some moves and Hannagan wakes up after just cruising around the back of the pack the first 10 laps. White does a 360 on lap 15 and keeps going but, the yellow waves for the 360 rule and White gets sent to the tail. I truly understand the 360 and yellow rule, especially on a fast action 1/4 mile like LMP but, I truly wish everyone used the blend rule. Just my opinion. If you do a quick 360 and get rolling before the yellow is even out but then it flies because of the rule, the driver should get to blend in where they regained control. Green, Horstman looks like he is going to give a serious challenge for the lead as Hannagan has hustled from 18th to 3rd, looking for more. Dan McCarron is trying to sneak up to the front as well. Lap 17, Zane DeVault coast to a stop for a yellow. Horstman and Hannagan make a move towards the lead as Dancer is running a smooth clean race upfront. Lap 21, Todd Heuerman spins in turn 4. Horstman gives it a shot on the restart but, Dancer stays strong and pulls away. Dancer takes the win over, Horstman, up from 7th, McCarron, Hannagan, from 18th, and Devon Dobie, from 9th, rounded out the top 5. A good show with a lot of action for sure. I truly wish Limaland would try more than 1 410 sprint car race that has gotten rained out the last 4 years. The All Stars need to be there a few times a year.

Saturday it was off to Waynesfield for the Jack Hewitt and Bob Hampshire Classic featuring the BOSS Sprints, the FAST Sprints, and the D2 Midgets. A very nice car count of 33 FAST, 31 BOSS, and 24 D2 midgets were unloaded in the pits and ready to honor 2 great legends of the sport.

4 heats and each sprint car division and 3 midget heats. The heat race action was pretty good. I actually think the winged FAST heats produced more passing and much tighter battles. All in all they was all pretty good heat races, even with a not much of a cushion to hit in turn 2 which caused some issues. The midget heats were pretty good as well. A very nasty crash took place in the sprint car heats when Rob Caho Jr slipped off the middle of the back stretch and never got it gathered back in before the still terrible turn 3 exit and slammed slideways the huge tires placed there to stop cars from hitting the guardrail. Caho has some injuries to his hand and some big bumps and bangs but thank God will be alright after hand surgery. That spot has always been a danger spot at WMP and still could use some work.

The BOSS B Main seen some great action with Drew Rader driving from the tail to a transfer spot and several other drivers making nice charges. The FAST B, was alright with the deck behind the transfer shuffled a handful of times. A wild moment when Briton Marvel and Mitch Harble were battling for the final transfer spot, neither giving, and both flipping in turn 4. Marvel got out to show some displeasure when someone played Jimmy Superfly Snuka from the pits and got to Marvel and all hell broke loose. What looked like a bench clearing rolling around on the ground fest, the action quickly ended and the race was back on.

All 3 A Mains were good races. Even with the track taking rubber like it does normally at Waynesfield anymore, it wasn't just a one groove rubbered down track. It was wide enough to get some runs and slippery enough to make some moves still. It was interesting because the rubber for sure effected the race but you could pass and had to drive very smart to make a move just at the right time.

Todd Kane and Caleb Griffith battled early for the lead in the fast A Main. It was a very good race with 2 of the top 5 finishers starting 10th or worse. It was just a matter of time Lachlan McHugh got a win in the states. With 20 wins in Australia last season, he has been looking better and better here in the states. He drove a great race and made a late race move after starting 6th to take the win. It was also the 1st ever win for the newer Black Peral 101 race team from Southern Ohio.

The BOSS A Main Korbyn Haslett looked like he may take the win just about the time Lee Underwood decided no I am sneaking into to victory lane again for the Hewitt. As they battled upfront with Underwood eventually opening up a huge lead, Issac Chapple worked to 2nd and then took off. Chapple worked traffic excellent and was running Underwood down after Lee had over a straight away lead. Chapple blew past Underwood with just a handful of laps left and took his 3rd straight BOSS win.

Gunner Lucius was in total control of the D2 Midget A Main, looking like no one was even going to get remotely close to him all race long. That all changed with just 7 laps to go when a lapped car spin in front of Lucius and Gunner made heavy contact with the spun machine in between turns 1 and 2. Ian Creager inherited the lead and survived a late race restart, a Jacob Denny jump, and held on to take the win. All in all a good night of racing and some of the best racing I've seen on a rubbered down track. It sucks it takes rubber and destroys several tires for the teams especially with the tire shortage right now but, you couldn't ask for anymore of a racy track for the conditions.

Next week the biggest week in Ohio sprint car history is about to happen. Some may think I am wrong and say the Mopar Million was the biggest history in the state, it paid $200,000 to win, but I don't think so. 5 World Of Outlaws races starting the the very famous Brad Doty Classic Tuesday, then 4 nights at Eldora with 2 King's Royals paying $175,000 to win EACH ONE Thursday and Saturday! Then a $10,000 to win show the day before each one as well. To me this is going to be the biggest week in Ohio sprint car history to date.

There has been 30 Brad Doty Classics with 24 different winners. The BDC is one of those races that mean something. Yes it just pays the standard WOO purse, unless you are an Attica local and there is some bonus $$ on the line, yes its a regular format race but it is a race that started out as a benefit that now honors a hall of fame member of the sport, Brad Doty. It has a special trophy, an awesome helmet as part of the trophy, an event shirt, and a packed stands knowing it is one of those races that you aren't sure exactly who will show up and where there is 35 to 40 drivers who could take home the win with the right breaks on the night. A local could win, an outsider, or maybe a WOO regular but the Doty is one race there is never a clear cut favorite. Last year some guy named Larson took his 1st BDC and the 1st WOO visit this year we put 11 locals in the A but 10th was the best any of them could do. I think our locals will be a little more ready, I think Larson will be tough, I think Bell could be a new winner, but wait Brad Sweet and Carson Macedo has never won it either, hmmm see, it is anyone race.

Then we move to Eldora, 2 King's Royals in 3 days with a day opening up the action on Wednesday night. Will this draw the car count to over 70? Will it bring in some more outsiders or any porch sitters from PA? Will the atmosphere and crowd on Thursday be like a regular King's Royal? Will someone sweep all 4 nights like Brandon Overton did in June for the double late model Dreams? Will the traditional Eldora King's Royal format be used on both of them? There has been 36 Royal, 18 different winners, and again it is one of those races there isn't a clear cut favorite. My answers: I don't think there will be over 70 cars but with the traditional King's Royal format, the track being more racy where you can win in the high, low, or middle groove and the $$ that is being paid out not only to win but on down the line, I don't see why there shouldn't be honestly. The format plays into the smaller teams hands they do a 36 invert, or even a 32. The track can see a winner that runs the bottom now but some teams, especially locals still don't seem to take the risk to try and make the show. I think it will draw a few more outsiders and a few PA cars. I think unlike from what I heard about the Thursday Dream atmosphere, I think the Big E will be rocking with the normal King's Royal spirit Thursday and we will show the late model fans we can amp up the place on a Thursday. Will someone sweep all 4 nights, I am going to say not a chance. It could only be a few guys, Schatz, Sweet, Larson, or Schuchart. Schatz has not ran consistent enough too, Sweet could but I don't think him or even Larson could go on a 4 day streak like that because the competition is just too tough. Schuchart another long shot that could but still same as Sweet and Larson answer. Clear cut favorite, I don't think so but Sweet would be a close one. Will there be a new King? I truly believe we could see not only one but 2 new King's. I would say obviously Sweet and Schatz have the best shot at repeat King's. This year and as of late, I think Madsen could be a surprise winner and repeat or maybe even Pittman in a fast Swindell Speed Lab entry. New winners, I think we have a great shot for at least 1 new King if not 2. Obviously, Larson is at the top of the list and I suspect he will race Thursday. I would say Schuchart, Carson Macedo, Gravel, Marks, Sheldon Haudenschild, Reutzel, and Brian Brown have the best shot of being a new King. A few that could be a surprise new King kind of the dark horse chance, Tyler Courtney, Gio Scelzi, Zeb Wise, Hunter Schuerenberg, James McFadden, or Justin Peck could be a dark horse if the right chips all into place. Whoever it is that takes the 38th and 37th crowns next week, I hope its a safe race, a great race, and mother nature loves us all week. However it goes down, I have never missed a King's Royal and don't plan too miss any next week. So good luck to all the teams and I can't wait to see all my friends from all over the world there.

As we get ready for a huge 4th of July weekend of racing, I wanted to make this edition of my column a little different. I know I've been slacking a little, a trip out of the country and some rains outs has slowed the writing down a lot the last month. I will get back on track. Anyways, its Independence weekend and several tracks have special races. It also means we are at mid season already on the 2021 racing season, or less at some tracks. It hit me all the sudden talking to Brad Doty on my radio show this week, we, especially in Ohio, are in the last few months of seeing some sprint car greats hit the track. The Wild Child Jac Haudenschild and Dean Jacobs are both hanging up the helmet at the end of the 2021 season. Both Ohio guys from the same county, both been around for the majority of the time I have been going to sprint car racing, and both fan favorites. I think many times in this sport we take for granted how lucky we are most days to have as many sprint car races as we do in our region. Also, to see the talent that has been in our region for years as well. These 2 guys have won many races, traveled all over the world, but have called Ohio home and have raced back home hundreds of times with the last handful of years, most of their races right here on Ohio soil. How lucky are we to still see these guys race? Both don't race near as much as they once did. Before the season started, both released it's their final season. It is quickly setting in, we only have a few more months, just a handful of races, to catch these 2 behind the wheel. I don't care what track you are at, when the announcer says The Wild Child, the crowd roars louder than any other driver out there and that has happened for many years. Both from the same area, both racing 40 plus years, both still can wheel a car, both in throw back paint schemes, but both quickly nearing the end of their career. As someone who is lucky enough to be able to walk up to and talk to these drivers any time I see them or that has gotten lucky enough to drink a few beers after the races with these guys, it is going to be a sad night when both of these guys pull off the track on their final race nights and hang the helmet up. To me, it is hard not to be a fan of either one of these guys. I maybe biased because I have been a fan of both for several years before I gotten to know them personally but regardless, both guys are very likable and have been for years. We all know drivers will retire some day. In Ohio, there just happens to be 2 very good ones in the next few months. So my suggestion for the rest of 2021, if you are not from Ohio, get to Ohio and catch Dean Jacobs at Wayne County, and look at Jac's schedule, he has some dates out of state of Ohio yet, and catch a race or 2 or 3 while these guys still are at the wheel. When you see these guys hit the track, cheer your ass off for them, yell, scream, cheer them on, buy their shirts, go to the pits after and meet them, shake their hand, get a picture with them, get their autographs, tell them thank you for 40 plus years of entertaining us and kicking ass on the track but most of all, cherish the moment. You will be very lucky to say hey I seen Jac Haudenschild race or hey I remember we seen Dean Jacobs race. Trust me, as you get older, drivers like that are the ones you truly miss watching a few years down the road after they retire. OLne day you flash back to ohhh remember when The Wild Child did this or that or remember that move Dean made that one race, I haven't seen a move like that in years, stuff like that is what makes these guys still get the fans on their feet when they are racing through the pack. So do yourself a favor and make sure you see these 2 race yet in 2021, even if you already have hundreds of times in life like I have, old school drivers like this are hard to replace and just don't come along anymore, so take advantage of it while you can.

Thursday:
USAC Sprints Plymouth IN, Winged 410 Circle City IN

Friday:
Attica OH $10 night, NRA Lima OH, USAC Sprints Lincoln Park IN, Must See Lites Shady Bowl OH, GLSS I96 MI,

Saturday
FAST/BOSS Waynesfield OH, USAC Sprints Lincoln Park IN, Kokomo IN non wing 410s, GLSS Crystal MI,

Sunday
King Of The County at Wayne Co OH

Thanks for reading
Duane

5/14

After 588 days, Eldora Speedway opened it gates to fans as the Let Race Two weekend kicked off the 2021 season at the Big E. I never thought there would be a time in life where the place I started going to when I was 18 months old, the place my mom and dad have been going to since 1968, the place I've only missed less than sanctioned 10 sprint car races since I've been going to races, the place I've took my daughter to her 1st race at 2 years old, the place I've made life time friendships at that are like family, and the place that is my happy place would ever be closed to fans. It was big for Eldora but, it was also a big day for the fans.

Friday 37 WOO Sprints and 28 USAC Sprints were unloaded and ready to rip the Eldora surface. Mother nature had different plans as rain kept falling. The Eldora track crew and push truck drivers worked their ass off to get the surface ready. Finally, just after 11 the USAC cars were on track. After USAC hot laps and qualifying, it was the WOO's turn. Many WOO teams were still not unloaded and some teams never did unload. The track crew worked about 45 minutes to iron the bottom of the track in and it just would not come in. It was cold and with all the rain, the bottom was never going to come in. It was determined the WOO would hot lap and then qualify and the rest of the program would be delayed until Saturday afternoon.

Saturday, the Friday night program kicked off at 2:30. As I had to go back home to work after Friday's program, I was lucky enough to make it back just in time for the 1st heat to take the green flag. For an afternoon show, the racing was some of the best day time racing I've seen. Yes there was dust, yes it was dry slick, yes it took rubber, but it was day time racing! If you don't expect this at a day time show, you obviously don't understand sprint car racing during the day. You hope for the rubber not to take until half way or so in the A so you can see a some what decent show. Well all of the Eldora hard work paid off because it was a great day time show. The WOO Dash alone had more passing than over half the Dashes combined this year. Heat races, passing, 2 and 3 wide racing. The A Mains, yes the USAC one Sunshine ran away and hide but there was a great battle for 2nd on back. The WOO A Main had lead changes, passing, and different leaders and come back to the end of the race before the win was sealed.

The USAC afternoon A, Tyler Courtney and Jadon Rogers brought the field to the green. Sunshine during the day goes hand in hand. Courtney cruised to the lead and was looking to make it 5 in a row at Eldora in USAC Sprint car events. Lap after lap, Sunshine was in an entire other league. As it was Courtney's race to lose, a great battle for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th was going on. It was all Courtney upfront as he lapped up to the 6th place racing his way to the $10,000 win. Robert Ballou looked like the Mad Man of old and came home 2nd. Rogers, Justin Grant, and Chris Windom rounded out the top 5.

As the Woo Sprints lined up for their afternoon show, Sheldon Haudenschild and Sunshine paced the field to the green. Haudenschild slide to the lead as the field raced into turn 1 as Sunshine, Brent Marks, and David Gravel battle for 2nd. Lap 2, Brian Brown spun to a stop. Sheldon rides the cushion on the restart and leads again, lap 4 Spencer Bayston stalls. Green, Sheldon runs the cushion, inches off the wall, brushing the wall many times. Marks runs low and high, trying to run Haudenschild down. Aaron Reutzel is up to 3rd from 16th. As Sheldon enters traffic, Marks tries to close the gap. Lap after lap Marks closes. Lap 17, Reutzel tags the back of Logan Schuchart, forcing Logan in the wall. Schuchart suffers a flat right rear as the yellow waves. Restart, Brock Zearfoss tags the wall in between turns 1 and 2, flipping hard collecting Jac Haudenschild, Brad Sweet, and Justin Peck. Haudenschild flops on his side as well. Restart, Sheldon leads, as Marks makes a move. In 1 and 2, Sheldon lead but Marks gets a run down the back stretch. Marks runs low in 3 and 4, off 4 Marks takes the lead. Schatz starts to move towards the front as well. As Marks leads, Sheldon is trying a few different lines to reel him back in. 2 to go, Sheldon is there as the leader battle through traffic. Marks holds on and takes the win. Haudenschild, Reutzel, Schatz, Gravel, and Macedo follow Marks across the line. Haudenschild was dq'ed being lite at the scales.

After the afternoon show, the Eldora track crew went right to work on the track surface for the night time portion of the Lets Race Two. 37 Woo Sprints and 28 USAC Sprints returned for the night capper. What a night capper, excellent racing. I can't say enough about the amazing job the Eldora track crew did to produce a very racy track. It was some of the best racing at Eldora in years. It was a mix between old school Eldora, and the newer Eldora with cars racing 4 wide at times! Yes 4 wide! There was passing everywhere. Good heat races, good B Mains, and excellent A Mains. Zach Hampton flipped in the WOO heat races.

Ballou and Grant paced the field for the USAC Sprint A Main. Ballou blasted to the lead, right up on the fence like we all know is right in his wheel house. They are 3 and 4 wide behind him as Ballou bounces off the wall a handful of times staying out front. Chris Windom and Paul Nienhiser chase Ballou as they enter traffic. As Ballou looks like he did 3 years ago, Sunshine starts to charge from 7th to closing on Ballou's tail tank. The next several laps was pure Eldora and pure USAC all out racing. Sliding in and out of traffic, dip and dive, slider for slider, tagging the wall vintage Eldora. Earl and Berneice was smiling down from up above because their gem was shining once again. 3 to go, Courtney and Ballou make contact splitting a lapped car, both get in the wall, both survive and don't miss a beat in their battle for the win. White flag, both tag the walling coming off 4 to receive the white, Courtney gets a run in 1 and 2, follows Ballou into 3, off 4 he tries to diamond off the turn to pull along the side of Ballou. Ballou wins by a half a car length, ending Courtney's streak at 5 and taking home $10,000 as well. Courtney, Windom, Brady Bacon, and Nienhiser round out the top 5. An excellent race!

Ian Madsen and Gio Scelzi brought the field to the green for the World of Outlaws night cap. Madsen motors to the lead on the start. A wild 3 wide battle behind him as Scelzi makes a move for the lead. Lap 2, The Wild Child all but flips in turn 2 for a yellow. A free for all on the next start, Sheldon Haudenschild slides to the lead on lap 3. Just after they get the 1st half of the field get past the line on lap 3, Parker Price Miller spins. Green, the battle is on, 4 wide at times! Cars passing right and left as once of the best battles upfront in a while emerges. Lap 8, Donny Schatz finds something on the bottom and speed to the lead. Could it be win 300 that has slipped out of his hands ohhhh so many times. Even if you are not a huge Don Don fan but, I think truly everyone was hoping to see it happen. A great battle is still going on as Donny leads. Lap 16, Scelzi gets in the wall, it grabs him, flips him and Carson Macedo had nowhere to go and slams Gio hard. Macedo flips wildly off 4. Thank God both drivers walked away with no injuries. Donny leads but Sheldon is on a mission. Donny low, Sheldon high, right on the fence, brushing the wall many times. As they race, Schuchart is charging hard from the back. Sheldon is closing as the crowd rises to its feet. Lap 28, Sheldon sling shoots around the top side of 4 and takes the lead. Donny runs the bottom, Sheldon high and her comes Schuchart. Sheldon takes the win as the crowd roars in approval. It was Sheldon's 1st Eldora win. Schuchart, from 21st, Schatz, Madsen, and Jacob Allen rounded out the top 5. An excellent race.

Eldora Speedway may have taken 588 days to host fans once again but what a welcome back for the fans. The track crew worked their asses off all weekend and it paid off big time. Excellent racing and excitement everywhere. Their was that magically Eldora feeling when you walked in the gates on Friday and magical it was for sure. One could not ask for a better return for the fans. I can tell you, if Eldora produces battles like that all year long, its a good thing the state is fully opening June 3rd because there is no excuse not to get back to Eldora this year. I have never understood some of the bad PR it gets at times, its always been the King and it showed why this past weekend. There is a certain magic it can produce and it did that and more.

Thanks for reading
Duane

4/29

It is hard to believe last week was the 3rd week of April and it was our 6th weekend of racing in Ohio this season. Usually we get a handful of early season shows cancelled but we have been very blessed this season so far. I for one hope we keep getting blessed with good weather on race days. A lot has to do with a great move by Attica Raceway Park by moving early season shows to Saturday afternoons. I think this will be a thing that happens from now on in the early season.

Friday it was back to Attica Raceway Park for their 6th race of 2021. 25 410 Sprints and 32 305 Sprints were on hand on yet another night with a cool breeze. The ARP staff have been doing a good job to push the shows along with the cool temps.

With a fast track, the 3 410 heats produced some alright racing, not a ton passing but some alright battles. Zeb Wise, Stuart Brubaker, and Nate Dussel took the heat wins. The 4 305 heats had some close racing and tight battles for transfer spots. Heat 3 was hard on some equipment. Corey McKillips and Robert Robenalt collide after McKillips spins and they both flip over. Once action resumed, an excellent battle lap after lap between Seth Schneider and Jimmy McGrath Jr turned violent quickly. After swapping the position many times, McGrath had a run on the cushion in turn 2 but the door shut quickly and McGrath slid off the top of turn 2 and flipped violently several times. The 5 car is total junk and Jimmy is banged up a little but thankfully will return soon. Griffith, Weaver, Miller, and Stroup took heat wins.

1 410 B Main and 2 305 B Mains were up next. In the 410 B, McKenna Haase got a flat while in a transfer spot. Trey Jacobs recovered from his heat race and charged from 4th to take the win. In the 305 B Main 1, Brandon Moore took the win. B 2, Jamie Kindred flips off the top of turn 3. Larry Kingseed Jr took the win. The strong rookie class is getting better each week as Bryce Lucius and Jud Dickerson both raced their race into the A.

Brubaker and Caleb Griffith paced the field for the 30 lap 410 A Main. Brubaker blast to the lead on the start. Lap 2, Dussel and Gary Taylor collide after Dussel spins in 4. Taylor flips, ending his night. Restart, Brubaker leads but Wise gets a great run and whips to the lead on lap 3. Wise is in a different zip code and quickly opens up a huge gap. As Wise stretches his lead lap after lap, many eye are on Trey Jacobs as he charges through the pack. Wise was untouchable and takes the win over Jacobs, up from 16th, Griffith, Macedo, and Brubaker. Wise's win made him the 5th driver out of 6 races this season to get their 1st ever Attica Raceway Park A Main win. That is a pretty awesome stat and should you just actually how competitive ARP is week after week.

Luke Griffith and Jamie Miller brought the 25 lap 305 A Main to the green. Miller has been on a mission this season and once again marched to the lead on the start. Miller was doing Miller things out front, running away from the pack. Wait a minute, Stroup starts to lay down a run and is gaining on Miller. Lap 10, Stroup speed to the lead. The duo battle as Miller regains his mojo and takes the lead once again on lap 14. Lap 22, Zeth Sabo spins for the yellow. Stroup tries to make a move on the restart but can't make the move. Lap 23, Jeremy Duposki spins. Restart, Kasey Jedrzejek spins. Stroup tried to get a run on the restart but just didn't have the car he did a handful of laps ago. Miller took the win over Stroup, Griffith, Mike Keegan, and Matt Foos, up from 11th.

Saturday night was opening night at Fremont Speedway as the weather was iffy all day. With many tracks cancelling, the rain was staying away from Fremont Speedway, so what do you do? Run and it don't rain and you catch hell or open up and try and it rains and you catch hell. 21 410s and 22 305s were pit side.

With many clouds and a little misty skies off and on, the track was fast and tacky and very smooth. Once the cars got on the track, the mist would fall off and on a lot but not enough to effect the track too bad. After the heats and Truck B Main, a medical emergency delayed the action for about 20 minutes. During that time, the skies opened up the worse they have been all day. After waiting for almost an hour and sprinkles, mist, rain drops at times, still falling and the track totally gone now, the decision was made to cancel the rest of the show. It was a no win for the track for sure or the fans. Rain out policy is if the heats and B's get in, no rain checks are honored. Double A Mains for all 3 divisions spread out over the month of May.

This weekend the AFCS Sprint Series kicks off it's 3rd season. As series director, I think we are in for a great season. We have the biggest points fund and bonus money ever for the series. A very tough 410 group this season with many championships among the group. Foos, Mintz, Andrews, Dussel, Ivy, all have championships so have to be favorites but Philo and Macedo can win, and 410 rookie Capodice has been solid in the 305s so its going to be a great year. Who else could we add yet, Trey Jacobs, Byron Reed, Stuart Brubaker, Chad Wilson, or maybe a surprise entry, either way, it is shaping up to be a great season. On the 305 side, car counts are back to over 30 and the field runs deep once you get past the obvious guys to beat in Jamie Miller and Paul Weaver. The defending champ Weaver has yet to join and broke last weekend and was a no show at Fremont. Miller is on a roll so far this season. Add Matt Foos who was 3rd last season, Dustin Stroup who has never run the series, Zeth Sabo, Kyle Peters, Luke Griffith, Brandon Moore, who have been tough in the AFCS in the past, Jimmy McGrath who has been fast but took a wild tumble last week, Kasey Ziebold who is ready to win, Larry Kingseed Jr, Kody Brewer, or one of the strong rookie crop this season. We still have a few that could enter the series on Friday, making for a very strong 305 Series once again this season.

Upcoming:

Friday: AFCS Attica OH, USAC Midgets Kokomo IN, Non Wing I-96 MI

Saturday: AFCS Fremont OH, All Stars Sharon OH, USAC Midgets Kokomo IN, SOD Butler MI

Obviously I will be at Attica and Fremont this weekend and I plan to head to Franklin PA Sunday for my 1st time ever visiting the track.

Thanks for reading

Duane

4/14

Last weekend I got to travel to Indiana Friday night for my 1st trip in to the Hoosier state in 2021. Kokomo Speedway is known for great racing and when you add the World of Outlaws to the 1/4 mile bullring, it is a must see event. Now add the traditional sprint cars as a support class, if you don't get excited about that, you need a new sport. After last year's addition to Kokomo, the return of the WOO show packed the house Friday. I for one am clueless to why Kokomo isn't a permanent stop for the tour and only gets a show when the WOO are in need of a date and a track. If they listen to the fans, I think they spoke loudly last weekend as it was a record crowd. 36 WOO and 26 traditional sprint cars were ready to rip.

I'm always excited for the heats when they are on tracks like this and you know there is going to be some battles for positions and drivers starting deeper in the pack have an actual shot to race into the A. Heat 1 seen James McFadden hold off some Kokomo heroes as Parker Price Miller and Tyler Courtney chased him across the finish line. Heat 2 seen Sheldon Haudenschild spins himself out of a transfer position. Sheldon made a great charge back to battle for the 5th and final transfer spot but fell a little short. Jason Sides speed to the win over another Kokomo vet Hunter Schuerenberg. In heat 3, another decent heat as Ian Madsen held off Carson Macedo for the win. Ayrton Gennetten put on a show in this one after starting in the last row and racing to a transfer spot. No surprise in heat 4 as David Gravel grabbed the lead from the pole and drove to the win over Donny Schatz.

3 traditional sprint heats with the top 5 moving to the A. In heat 1, Jack James tagged an infield tire causing a yellow. Robert Ballou blasted to the win over Mario Clouser. Heat 2 was full of wild action and Cole Ketchum was the center around most of it. Battling with Scotty Weir into turn 3, Ketchum rans totally over Weir, breaking Stomp and Steer's front end as he slides to the infield. On the restart, Ketchum has a much bigger incident in turn 3 on the next lap as he climbs Brandon Long's right rear going for one of the worse flips I've seen in a while at Kokomo. Ketchum's 41 car was junk but thankfully Cole walked away unharmed. He did have a few parting words for Long but I truly think it was much more of a racing accident. Davey Ray roared to the win over Korbyn Hayslett. Heat 3, Brent Beauchamp was very impressive taking a dominating win over Dave Darland.

With the World Of Outlaws Dash next, the crowd went wild as Donny Schatz made a rare mistake and spun out. Gravel continued his good night and took the win.

The World Of Outlaws B Main produced some good action for the transfer spot as Sheldon Haudenschild was on a mission out front. Sheldon showed out for the win over Kraig Kinser, Rico Abreu, up from 8th, and Sam Hafertepe Jr, up from 6th.

In the non wing B, Weir's night still wasn't going well as he found the tires in the infield. Brian Van Meveren spins. A great battle for the lead and Parker Fredrickson and Dallas Hewitt fight for the top spot. Fredrickson takes the lead and barely holds off a charging Paul Dues who raced his way from the tail of the pack to a few feet short on the win.

Gravel and McFadden paced the 40 lap WOO A Main. Gravel grasp the lead as the green lights flashed on. Lap 2, Schatz slows to a stop with a huge puddle of oil under the car ending his night. Gravel leads as a hell of a battle rages behind him. In typical Kokomo fashion, there was mega passing and 2 and 3 wide battles all over the place. J Mac was closing on Gravel as they battle for the lead soon after. Lap 11, McFadden takes the lead. Lap 21, Logan Schuchart slows to a stop. Green, more battles but the yellow waves again on lap 26 as Tim Kaeding stops. Lap 30, Carson Short breaks going into turn 1 and flips hard. A Sides spin on lap 37 slows the action once again. Gravel tried to make a move on the restart and get too hot into 4 the next lap as he spins on lap 38. Green, Brad Sweet closes on his teammate McFadden after starting 10th. Lap after lap as they wind down, Sweet tries to get to J Mac and Justin Peck starts to make some noise. McFadden won't be denied and takes the win. Sweet, from 10th, Peck, from 11th, Madsen, from 8th, and Haudenschild, from 21st, round out the top 5. You can't ask for much more passing from seeing those results.

Ballou and Hayslett brought the field to the green in the 25 lap traditional sprint car A Main. Beauchamp spins on the start after looking so good in his heat. Ballou races to the lead on the start. As the track moves down to the bottom of the speedway, the guys were having a few issues. Lap 3, Ben Knight spins. Restart, Davey Ray spins. Lap 5, Hayslett spins. Finally, we get some laps in as Ballou leads the pack. As Ballou looks comfortable in the lead, Matt Westfall loves a bottom feeder track and is making some moves. Westfall whips from 13th to battle Ballou. After a few lap battle, Westfall squeezes past Ballou off turn 4 and takes the lead. Once Westfall got the lead, write the check, Matty was checking out on the field. Westfall takes the win over Ballou and Cole Bodine.

In breaking news yesterday, Eldora Speedway announced a 24 race schedule WITH fans in 2021. What a schedule too boot! Not only 2 King's Royals, both paying $175,000 2 days apart, 2 Dreams $127,000 and $126,000 to win 2 days apart, 2 World 100's $54,000 to win and $53,000 to win 2 days apart, 2 USAC Silvercrown shows, an SRX show, 2 full USAC Midget shows, Let's Race Two, and back to a normal Eldora schedule with some family fun nights and some $5000 to win late model shows as well. You can say what you want but, Eldora is still the big dog. Yes, there are many big shows now days and great races at other great tracks but no one has a payouts like Eldora this season. It is very awesome to see this kind of $$$ on the line for dirt short track racing.

Pub 400 in Fremont Ohio is having a Fremont Speedway kick off party this Sunday from 12 to 6. A very nice gathering of items for a silent auction for benefit the HoserVille Ohio injured drivers fund. Look for some special bartenders, some cars on display, and much more is on tap for Sunday.

UPCOMING special shows:

Friday GLSS I-96. USAC Sprints Bloomington IN

Saturday FAST Waynesfield, KOC Wayne Co, USAC Sprints Haubstadt IN

Sunday USAC Sprints Paragon IN

Thanks for reading Duane

3/25

Attica Raceway Park kicked off the 2021 sprint car season in the tri-state region last weekend. Originally slated for Friday night, the ARP staff tried something new when the weather was less than desirable on Friday. They used their Saturday rain date but moved it to a mid afternoon show, like our neighbors in PA do this time a year for their regular shows. An excellent idea with a very nice opening day crowd. 24 410 sprint cars and 32 305 sprint cars were ready to rip on opening day. Chris Andrews, who basically took a season off last year, came right out of the box and set quick time in the JKR 23 ride.

The action heated up right away as the 3 410 heats rolled out first. On a track that was very wide and racy for a mid day show, the action was intense. In heat 1, Ryan Ruhl held off a fast Chad Wilson and a closing Cody Bova for the win. Heat 2, all hell broke loose. A great battle for the lead turned into a red flag as leader Stuart Brubaker and Chris Andrews made contact entering turn 1. Brubaker flipped, Andrews somehow kept his car upright and a rolling, never coming to a stop. He was off the ground and got the top right half ripped off and the front wing broken but now was the leader. Brubaker was not happy at all and made the walk in the infield, all the way down the front stretch, to the Andrews machine parked in turn 4. After brushing off a few officials, Brubaker was finally held back from getting to Andrews. This to me has set the precedent for the rest of the season at Attica. NO WAY Brubaker wasn't seen leaving his car, brushing off 2 officials, or approaching Andrews, so to keep it constant, you can't DQ anyone the rest of the season for a similar action without a shit storm now ensuing if you would. Andrews tried to stay in the lead and did for a hot minute but, Gary Taylor got by in his new gig for 2021 in the Seeling 97. Taylor held off Andrews for the win. Hunter Schuerenberg held off Cole Macedo to take the w in heat 3.

An excellent field of 32 305 sprints were up next for their 4 heat races. 6 new 305 teams were on hand. I am not sure about all of them but, it sounds like at least 4 of them plan to run the entire season. This is great for the growth of sprint car racing. Heat 1, Kyle Peters held off a charging Luke Griffith, from 8th, to take the win. In heat 2, Jimmy McGrath Jr held off Matt Foos for the win in a close one. Steve Rando took the win in another good heat over Justin Lusk. In heat 4, Paul Weaver did Paul Weaver things and raced from 5th to 1st to take the win.

In an excellent move by track promotor John Bores, all 24 410s were put in the A Main. So, 2 305 B Mains were up next on the sprint car portion of the program. The top 2 of each 305 B Main transferred to the A. With the track still very racy, the 305 B's had some good racing. B1, Zeth Sabo lead from the pole but the story of the B was young Kasey Ziebold. As Sabo was taking the win, Ziebold made a late race move around the outside of Mike Keegan to take the final transfer spot, charging from 6th. B2, Seth Schneider had to defend off the Riehl brothers as they battled behind Seth. Seth took the win as Logan Riehl bested older brother Brandon for the final transfer spot.

Chad Wilson and Cole Macedo paced the 30 lap 410 A Main. Before a lap was complete, Zane DeVault, Clinton Boyles, and Dylan Kingan collected together in between turn 3 and 4 after DeVault spun. Next restart, things get bunched up at the back of the pack in turn 1 and Caleb Griffith gets spun around. Try 3, Gary Taylor goes around in the middle of turn 3 before we get a lap in the books. 4th time, green flag as Cole Macedo climbs to the lead as Trey Jacobs quickly moves into 2nd. Macedo in the 1st race ever for the brand new Ray Brooks Racing entry, is looking good on the top side. Macedo got too high on lap 2 in the middle of turn 3 and slipped over the backing, just stopping before the guardrail outside turn 4. Jacobs now was the leader. Trey is quickly enters lapped traffic on lap 7 as Schuerenberg applies pressure several times to the leader. Lap 8, Josh Turner brings the caution out with a spin in turn 3. Green, Jacobs lead but Hunter % is applying pressure almost immediately. By lap 10, the leaders enter traffic and Schuerenberg throws slider after slider on Jacobs. Just as Hunter passes Trey for the lead in the middle of 3 and 4, the yellow flies once again. Green, Jacobs leads once again. Another quick caution as another lap gets complete. Green, Jacobs leads and opens up a gap. Lap 13, the leaders get in traffic again and the battle rages once again as Ricky Peterson, Chris Andrews, and Zach Hampton enter the mix as well. Lap 15, Jacobs slips off the top side of turn 3 and spins to a stop. This hands Schuerenberg the lead as the green flag waves once again. Lap 16, Griffith spins for another yellow. This quickly turns to a red as the marathon first half of the A has surpassed the limit to finish on fuel. After the refuel, the green is out once again. Hunter % leads as things start to smooth out finally during the A. Even with the laps clicking off smoothly, the battles are intense all over the race track. Passing, slide jobs, 3 wide racing all over the place. Hampton closes in with 5 to go. As they battle in heavy traffic, Hampton is looking faster than Schuerenberg but can't make a move. Nose to tail, 2 to go, the leaders battle. White flag, entering 1, Hampton pulls side by side with Schuerenberg as Schuerenberg rips off turn 2 into the lead. Hunter Schuerenberg, up from 8th, speeds to victory lane for the 1st time in his career. Hampton, Peterson, Andrews, up from 10th, and Nate Dussel, up from 13th, rounded out the top 5. A great race with battles all over the joint. The track never became a rubbed up no passing freight train like most day light shows.

Kyle Peters and Steve Rando brought the field to the green in the 25 lap 305 A Main. Peters pounces to the lead but a yellow waves as the pack gets back to the flag stand for a false start. Restart, Peters and Rando race side by side almost the entire lap until Rando takes the advantage off turn 4 to complete lap 1. After a quick caution a lap later, Rando leads on the next restart as Paul Weaver attempts to take the lead away a few times. By lap 5, Rando opens up a 2 car length lead. Peters and Jamie Miller battle for 3rd. Lap after lap after lap, Rando holds off several charges from Weaver, up from 6th, for the lead and they battle in heavy traffic. With the track still being racy and the leader being able to move in and out of traffic, the lead duo never really get over 4 car lengths apart. A couple of 360 spins off turn 4 by two different drivers, never draws a yellow as they kept a rolling. 5 to go, Weaver is on Rando's tail tank. Rando high, Weaver low, Rando barely holds the lead in heavy heavy lapped traffic. 2 to go, Rando has to switch lines entering 3 to go low around lapped traffic. As Rando slides back to the high side at the flag stand, Weaver does a cross over move and has a run entering turn 1. Weaver throws the slider and completes the pass off 2 and takes the lead. Rando crosses him over and pulls side by side entering turn 3. Rando completes the slider in turn 4 and lead off 4 to the white flag. Side by side at the flag stand with the white flag in Andrew Morfier's hand, Weaver leads by a few feet. Weaver slams the door with a slider in turn 2, taking the lead. Rando pulls even going into turn 3, off 4 Rando is 5 feet ahead coming to the checkered. Weaver now on the top, gets the advantage off 4 and beats Rando to the line by less than a car length to take his 57th Attica 305 victory. Rando, Miller, up from 7th, Sabo, up from 17th, and Brandon Moore, up from 8th, rounded out the top 5. An excellent A Main all 25 laps. I will say it time and time again, the Attica Fremont 305s are the best support class in the country. Great car counts and majority of the time great racing.

A few things come to mind as we have officially kicked off the season in Ohio: 1) the Saturday afternoon time seemed to be a major hit like many have suggested for years for this time of the year. 2) I truly think the 305s need to qualify at Attica and Fremont just like the 410s. Group qualify/ hot laps at the same time, 3 cars at a time, especially with several news teams learning the sport. 3) I think the Attica Fremont 305s deserve a few dates at a few neighbor tracks this season when Fremont has them off a few open Saturday's this season. 4) something we can all help with, support the sponsors you see at the tracks and on the race cars this season if at all possible. In these trying times, its amazing all the support we still have in this sport. Do those who could easily keep their $$ back and show them some love. E-mail, shout out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or whatever social media platform you use, purchase from, or just a simple phone call, but thank these supporters somehow, someway even if it's just a shout out.

UPCOMING:

Friday: Attica OH 410/305s (rain date Saturday) Brownstown IN Night 1 of the No Way Out 40

Saturday: FAST and BOSS Waynesfield OH, No Way Out 40 Brownstown IN

Thanks for reading
Duane

2/26/21

After a crazy season last year, we are getting very close to kicking off the outdoor season here in the East. Of course after a mild early winter, mother nature slammed us with the biggest snow storm in years last week. Lincoln Speedway in PA had to delay the Ice Breaker to at least this weekend, or maybe next if the forecast plays out with rain this weekend in PA.

As we approach the 2021 season, many things are shaping up for a great season. Well if the gas and diesel prices don't get too much higher. If Lincoln opens this weekend in PA. Port Royal Speedway is PA opens March 7th with Williams Grove opening the following weekend. In Ohio and Indiana we have Attica Raceway Park opening March 19th with a regular show. Attica is in the process of adding 1100 new seats for 2021. Atomic opens the same night with the Lucas Oil Late Model Series. Brownstown kicks off the Indiana season the next night, March 20th with the Lucas Oil Late Models. Waynesfield Motorsports Park opens in Ohio March 27th with the FAST and BOSS season opener.

There is a few major stories I think headlining 2021 in our Tri-State region. First, a brand new race track on the South East side of Indianapolis. Circle City Raceway a 1/4 mile oval with a HUGE schedule for their inaugural season. May 20th the gates will kick open on the new raceway as the All Star sprints kick off a huge Indiana swing with a double header at Circle City. A USAC Midget week shows, a Thursday Night Thunder 410 winged sprint car mini series that closes the season with a $21,000 to win show, a Monday and Tuesday in June non wing show paying $5000 and $7000 to win, The ASCS National Sprint Car tour, and several more races kick off a big year for Circle City.

Number 2 on my list, 2 King's Royals paying $175,000 each 2 days apart, July 15th and July 17th. Plus, a WOO race on Wednesday and Friday at Eldora as well for an amazing 4 days at Eldora Speedway. A very huge week for sprint car racing in Ohio.

Number 3, the All Star Circuit of Champions for 2021. A very deeply talented full time cast of drivers are set to tackle the series in 21. With 25 visits between Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, we are in for a treat I believe when the All Stars unload in the pits in 2021. Cory Eliason, Zeb Wise, Skylar Gee, Justin Peck, Ian Madsen, Brent Marks, Hunter Schuerenberg, Tyler Courtney, Bill Balog, TJ Michael, Kyle Reinhardt, Lucas Wolfe, and Zach Hampton hit the All Star trail in 2021. Plus, the All Star have several races paying $6000 or more including the $26,000 to win Rayce Rudeen Foundation event moving to the Kokomo Speedway on May 23rd.

Number 4, I am pulling a homer on this one but, the AFCS Sprint Series. Yes, I am the series director but truly not trying to toot my own horn. The reason I am saying this one, I truly think our series is awesome for a local series but 2, things are shaping up to be the biggest season to date. We have some VERY awesome and loyal supporters for the series marketing partner wise, team wise, and driver wise. As I write this, 11 of our 17 410 races have at least $500 or more in bonus money already set, plus I am working on making that grow more yet before we kick our season April 30th. Add some $1000 to win for our AFCS 305 Series, plus a few I know with other bonuses already, this season is looking very good! This will be our 3rd season and the 3rd straight year with OVER a $30,000 points fund to pass out. The 2021 points fund will be back to pre covid style and maybe bigger depending on how the final few proposals come back. Plus, there is still time to be added to our series if you are interested. Contact me at 419-553-6746. Not to mention, if history repeats itself, we get many add-ons during the season. I have had a few commitments for that already as well. That is why I said the AFCS Series, not because I am in charge, it's because truly some great support is back for 2021. Plus, each of our points championships have came down to the final night of racing. Add Dirt Vision back at Attica for 2021, that puts over half of our AFCS shows live streaming.

There are many more great things happening at many tracks and series for 2021. We will get into some of those as the season gets closer. I haven't wrote anything for a while and wanted to get something out there as we get closer to race day. I hope everyone has been doing great and is ready to go racing this season. Every track should kick the gates open in 2021. To me if they don't, they need to just do it. If NFL can have 12 to 18 thousand in some stadiums, baseball can have almost 13,000 in Cincinnati and 11,000 in Cleveland, we sure the hell can have 2 to 5,000 at a race track!

In no set order, I am listing some of the top races I am looking forward too in 2021. I am VERY bummed I have to miss Indiana Midget Week this year and part of Ohio Speedweek due to work commitments.

1) King's Royal at Eldora Speedway (2 in 3 days) paying $175,000

2) 2 World of Outlaw shows at Attica Raceway Park

3) Rayce Rudeen Foundation race at Kokomo paying $26,000 to win

4) World Of Outlaws return to Kokomo Speedway

5) $21,000 to win show at Circle City Raceway and the Thursday Night Thunder series there

6) All Stars return to Gas City I-69 Speedway

7) Ohio Speedweek returns to Waynesfield Raceway Park

8) 410's returning to Millstream Speedway, yes there is 6 of them but excited for that.

9) USAC Midgets at Eldora for 2 days of the 4 Crown

10) World of Outlaws at Lawrenceburg Speedway

11) All Stars at Limaland if it actually don't get rained out. Truly wish they had a few 410 shows there

12) All Stars at Portsmouth for $17,000 to win and a huge purse

These are just a handful that jump out at me for 2021. I plan to hit 80 plus races again this season as long as work, mother nature, and God willing it all falls right to allow it to happen.

Be sure to tune into On The Throttle radio on The Q 96.5 WQCT Bryan Ohio Monday just after the Noon news. We live stream on the WQCT website or via the Tune In app as well.

If you haven't already, download the Dirt Nerds podcast and listen to our weekly updates on many styles of dirt track racing, locally and nationally. You can find Dirt Nerds on all of your favor podcast platforms or Facebook.

Thanks for reading
Duane

10/2

In a crazy year of racing, its hard to believe the last full week of September with some luck, you could pull off 5 races in the week.

Tuesday and Wednesday Eldora hosted a pay per view only event for the All Star Circuit Of Champion Sprints. With no fans at the Big E this season and 2 late model events via PPV already, it was time to showcase the sprint cars. 45 of the top sprint car teams in the US was invited to the special event, with the final 3 determined by a fan vote. Brady Bacon, Tyler Courtney, and Travis Philo earned the fan votes. With a super limited list of people allowed in for the event, I was VERY grateful to get invited to be part of the Chad Kemenah crew for the event.

All 48 cars were present Tuesday on what was a very odd surrounding at Eldora. No fans, padlocks on the gates to the grandstands, Covid screenings, mask, and very quiet with little background noise. With a track that was very wet and tacky, David Gravel broke the 18 year old track record with a time of 12.599. With a fast heavy track, passing was very tricky in the heats, with some guys making a few moves but it was pretty hammer down. As the night went on, the track got wider and wider. By A Main time, the track was pretty racy. A great battle upfront seen Brent Marks and James McFadden throwing slider for slider the 1st third of the race. Marks settled into the lead, up from 4th, on lap 10. As Marks was holding on to the lead, a handful of drivers were charging through the pack. Shark Racing was putting on a show themselves coming from the last 2 rows. Kerry Madsen and Gravel were closing on Mark, when contact between the duo put Gravel on his side. Sheldon Haudenschild found the wall on the restart. Marks held on for a huge win and $10,000 pay day. Madsen, Shane Stewart, from 12th, Logan Schuchart, up from 22nd, and Carson Macedo, up from 10th rounded out the top 5.

46 of the 48 cars returned for night 2 of the Governor's Reign and its $52,000 winner's check. Dave Blaney and Cole Duncan had major engine woes on Tuesday and didn't return for night 2. Gravel felt cheated the night before and was in full business mode Wednesday with quick time again. The heats featured a little more passing than Tuesday as the track was a bit wider. Sammy Swindell took a hard tumble in heat 5, ending his night. With Gravel winning the Dash and starting on the pole for the 35 lap event, he was in position to back up his talk of coming back Wednesday and taking home the $$. With Marks on the outside front row, could he sweep the event. Gravel grabbed the lead and let it rip right away, showing if you wanted the $$ you was going to take it from him. Looking excellent all race long, Gravel was in command. Kyle Larson caught Gravel late in the race as you knew it wasn't over just yet. Larson gave Gravel a huge challenge on the last lap but fell .09 of a second short as Gravel made good on his word and collected the large paycheck. An excited Gravel showed some excitement with some donuts after the race. Larson, Sheldon Haudenschild, Marks, and Macedo rounded out the top 5.

It was strange to be at Eldora with no fans, no steak on a stick, no toilet waters, no fireworks, and no loud roars from the crowd but it was a million percent awesome to be at Eldora. I don't care if it was September and my 58th and 59th races of the year, on Tuesday when the cars hit the track for the 1st hot lap session, the goose bumps still appeared just like they have the 1st Eldora race every year. I am very lucky and thankful I got to be there. I have been going to Eldora Speedway since I was 2 years old, I turn 50 in 9 days. To think I wasn't going to get there this season had me more down than I thought because both nights on the way home, that fire was in there, the one that flickered a few times off and on all season, was back and burning bright, all I needed was my place, my place since I've been 2, the Big E.

Thursday it was off to the Plymouth Speedway for the return of the World Of Outlaws after their rain out. A great field of cars were on hand. The track was a tricky surface with a cushion, some rough, some slick, but a few grooves. The track crew worked hard all night and got the track very wide before the night was over. The heats were about average WOO heats with some action here and there. The A Main was a pretty good race. Some good racing all through out the field. A great battle just behind the leader was seeing Tyler Courtney mature more and more as a winged sprint car driver. Sheldon Haudenschild was looking to run away after he took the lead and was on his way to it until he brushed the all once and had an incident when a lapped car checked up. Sheldon had to pull in as Donny Schatz took the lead. Schatz sealed the deal and took the win. Hard to believe it was just his 4th of the years and first since late July.

Friday it was back to Indiana for the opening night of the USAC Double Double weekend at Gas City I-69 Speedway. The USAC Midget and Sprints on the same card. An excellent field of cards and a fast heavy track with some excellent action. Great heat race action with side by side racing, wheel stands, bicycling, and just an excellent track for hardcore traditional sprint car and midget racing. In the midget A, Daison Pursley darted from the pole to the lead but was quickly under attack from Cannon McIntosh. McIntosh took the lead on lap 3 and fought off all challengers in and out of traffic. McIntosh took the win over Courtney, Cummins, up from 11th, Thorson, up from 17th, and Axsom. The sprint car A was another great race. The people's champ, Dave Darland took the early lead much to the packed house's delight. Some excellent racing upfront all race long as Justin Grant charged from 8th to the lead on lap 8. With racing all over the place, Grant was under attack but was leading the pack. A late race move by CJ Leary as he took the lead with 2 to go. Leary went on to take the win in a great race. Grant, Bacon, Stockon, and Windom, up from 22nd, rounded out the top 5.

Saturday, after a change of plans, it was off to the Fremont Speedway for the FAST, BOSS, 305 open wheel shootout. A great field of cars and the Fremont Speedway was in excellent shape once again. The FAST 410 A Main was a great race. As Zeb Wise was holding off charges from Travis Philo and Craig Mintz, a torrid battle from 3rd to 6th seen John Ivy, DJ Foos, Cole Macedo, and Stuart Brubaker ragged behind the leaders. Wise lead flag to flag to take the win in his rookie 410 season. The BOSS A Main was another great race. A great battle and many late race lead changes, seen Dustin Ingle get passed Isaac Chapple to take his 1st ever win. It was very awesome to see Ingle finally break into victory lane. Ingle has long paid his dues, even at one time maybe having a career ending crash at Waynesfield when he was life flighted out of the place. Very awesome win for Dustin. The 305 A Main it was the same ole story in 2020, Paul Weaver was in victory lane. It was Paul's 14th win of the year, 7 at Attica and 7 at Fremont but this time it wasn't easy. Weaver started 15th and after leader Jamie Miller brushed the wall, flatting his tire, Weaver took the lead and the win.

It has been a crazy year in racing as we all know but the racing has been very very good this year. Car counts have been good and most nights, the racing has been very close and very full of action. Some amazing points battles as well.

This weekend the USAC Sprints end their season for the 1st time in several years in Indiana. Lawrenceburg Speedway will host the $10,000 to win show Saturday as Brady Bacon leads by Chris Windom by 30, and Chase Stockon by 40....Fremont Speedway Saturday has season championship night as their 410 track championship is TIED going into the final night. Nate Dussel and DJ Foos are tied, with Dussel having 2 wins on the season, holding that as the tie breaker advantage right now...Gas City has a great weekend on tap with the Fall Festival of Speed Friday and Saturday. Friday is open wheel night, sprints, midgets, 305 winged sprints, 600 sprints, and vintage sprints. Saturday is stock car day with late models, street stocks, mods, super streets, and hornets....Toledo Speedway host the USAC Silvercrown cars Sunday...Anderson Speedway has the 5th annual Tony Elliott Classic Saturday...FAST is at Atomic, USAC Regional midgets Circus City Saturday.

Thanks for reading

Duane

9/4

Last week the 9th annual Smackdown took place at the Kokomo Speedway. The annual Wednesday GYATK BC Challenge night got nixed off the schedule due to covid but, the 3 day Smackdown was on, kicking off Thursday night. The Smackdown has been trying to be a marquee event on the USAC Sprint car calendar. An event that I think many was hoping that would turn into like a Knoxville Nationals type of event for traditional sprint cars. Each year there are many added extras, for many years most going unrealized, some have changed but some are still there like rookie of the Smackdown. A nice rookie class was on hand. The racing has always been great, the car count has jumped around year to year, this year being what I think everyone envisioned this event to be like from its start.

Thursday as the gate swung open at the Kokomo Speedway, a stellar field of 49 USAC Sprints were pit side from all over the US. A nice group of cars from the West coast made the trip East for this year's event. With the track in excellent condition, the Kokomo Speedway lived up to what we have heard about, seen and have witnessed at Kokomo time and time again, excellent racing.

With 49 cars and 4 heats, the heats were very loaded with the top 4 moving to the A. I love USAC's 6 car inversion, I hate 12 and 13 cars in a heat, no matter what series. A multi groove Kokomo track surface, a loaded field of cars, and nice $ on the line all week, equals good hard racing. 3 wide and at times, 4 wide racing in the heats. Some drivers were making some excellent moves to work their way to the front. Robert Bell took a nasty ride in heat 3 as he hit and infield tire marker that sent him a flipping. Charles Davis Jr, Robert Ballou, Thomas Meseraull, and Jake Swanson took the heat wins. I can't go without saying, Buddy Kofoid in his 1st ever non wing start made an amazing move to move into a transfer spot with a 2 for 1 pass in turn 1 about half way through the heat.

As always with excellent field of cars, the C and B Mains were loaded with talent. Max Adams took the C Main win while CJ Leary took the B Main win. David Hair who flipped during qualifying, made repairs in time for the C and completed the C. Good to see even the little teams busting butt to get back out after a mishap. Shows you how important the Smackdown is and the points system to try and earn a better spot for Saturday.

Teammates Logan Seavey and Kofoid brought the field to the green in the 30 lap A. Tyler Courtney climbed from 3rd to lead lap 1. Sunshine was shinny bright at the start. Kyle Cummins quickly was working up from 6th. With action all over the place with several 2 and 3 car battles, you didn't know where to watch. Lap 13, Cummins made a move and took the lead. Kyle has always been tough at Kokomo but has only been the bride's maid at the 1/4 mile oval. Cummins leads as Kofoid, Bacon, and Ballou all battle at the front of the pack. Bacon gets a good run at Cummins as the laps wind down. Last lap, Bacon is side by side on the low side, off 2, Bacon is there! Into 3, off 4, Bacon has a run. Cummins nips Bacon at the line for the win. Wait, 15 feet before the flag stand, USAC calls for a yellow as a car spun in turn 2. I get cars spinning and yellows but, when the leaders are 15 feet from the flag stand and the car is in turn 2, I'm not sure I would have called a yellow. So we get a green white checkered finish. Bacon gets another run but not as close of 1st finish, Cummins claims the win. Bacon, Ballou, Kofoid, and T Mez rounded out the top 5. An excellent night of racing.

Friday after it rained out most all other tracks in the region, the Kokomo staff said not here tonight, we are racing! With just a little later start time, 50 cars now are on hand for night 2. It wouldn't be the Smackdown at Kokomo is there wasn't rain, mud, and water all around the area. Another stacked field and hammer down track but some excellent battles once again in the heats. You truly have to go a long ways to beat how good heat races usually are at Kokomo. Chris Windom, Chase Stockon, Tyler Courtney, and the most popular heat win, Dave Darland took heat wins.

The C and B Main were once again stacked with talent. Eddie Tafoya Jr and CJ Leary took the C Main and B Main wins. Brian VanMeveren flipped in the B after trying to hit everything but the water truck off turn 4 mid race. He slammed Austin Williams into the wall, hit another car and then kept the throttle hammered and flipped as he was spinning from all of the mess. It was a weird ass deal but he was the cause of it all. Can't blame anyone else on that one. Williams got the very short end of that stick.

Carson Short and Kyle Cummins brought the field to the green for the 30 lap A. Cummins took right back off where he left off Thursday night and climbed to the lead. A very nasty incident on lap 7 off turn 4 brought the race to a grinding halt. Justin Grant got punched and slammed backwards into the wall just off 4 onto the front stretch. Robert Ballou had no where to go as he slammed Grant as he flipped, sending Ballou all but flipping. Both drivers were rattled but walked away alright thank God. With the track having several racing grooves once again, the action was all over the place on the restart. Several drivers making charges from the back towards the front. Meanwhile, not without pressure most of the race, Cummins was clicking off the laps out front. Just when it looked as Cummins had it sewed up. Windom gets a great run the last few laps. White flag, Cummins leads but Windom is moving. Into 3, Windom diamond off the corner, shoots low, Cummins says not today boys and makes it 2 for 2. Another great finish. Windom, up from 9th, Courtney, Kofoid, up from 11th, and Bacon, up from 13th, rounded out the top 5. Looking at the stats is shows Cummins leading all 30 laps but no let that fool you, it was another great night of racing with plenty of passing and great battles.

Saturday, the Smackdown changes a little. The top 8 in points from the priors nights are locked into the A with 9th on back being in 3 heat races. The BOSS Sprints also join the program for a complete. So a driver MUST announce at the pill draw if they are racing USAC that night and taking their points for a heat race starting spot or, if they are starting over and going for the $1500 to win, $250 to start BOSS purse. Oh the A for USAC that night, now pays $11,000 to win with $1000 to start. To my surprise, more drivers jumped to the BOSS program than I thought would. 11 cars jumped to the BOSS program. Another key, to run the BOSS program, you can not have made a Smackdown A Main before as well. All in all, there was 35 USAC cars and 39 BOSS cars for the Saturday night final.

With the track a little different than the prior night, not as near heavy, the drivers had more of a Kokomo regular tone to it. The 3 USAC heats now transferred 3 to the A but had less cars in them. Robert Ballou, Logan Seavey, and Dave Darland took heat wins.

The King of the Hill battle seeds the top 8 drivers against each other, 1 seed vs 8 seed, 2 seed vs 7 seed, and so on, in a 3 lap match race, winner moves on, loser gets that starting spot in the A. CJ Leary shocked the crowd as he took the number 1 seed Cummins out in the 1st match race. Leary races all the way to the final against 2 seed Bacon. Bacon took the win, earning the pole and just over $400 in cash. The match races were a lot better than I planned them to be and brought HUGE excitement to the crowd. The crowd had an energy to it for the match races that made them very well worth running.

Just a USAC B Main tonight with the top 5 moving to the A. Once again, the B would make a good A at most weekly tracks. A nasty crash in turn 4 seen Chase Jones take a wild ride. Chase was alright. Tyler Thomas held off Carson Short for the win.

The 40 lap Smackdown A was next. One awesome thing I truly like love about the Smackdown, driver intros with a song they pick to walk out to. As 2020 luck would have it, the driver intros went on but, the songs didn't get played due to a last minute technical issue.

Bacon and Leary paced the field for the A. Bacon sizzled to the lead on the start. Looking tough all week but just a bit off of Cummins domination, Bacon was holding tough out front. Lap 9, Carson
Short catches the infield tire off turn 4 and flips hard down the inside of the front stretch. Carson was okay but the 71p looked pretty damaged. BTW, I hate infield tractor tires for exactly this reason. That is at least the 6th or 7th car I've seen junked this season by a tractor tire. This sport is too damn expensive for a car to get totaled by clipping an infield marker. Bacon leads again as we come to another grinding halt on lap 14 when Clinton Boyles did a quick series of snap barrel rolls in turn 4. Clinton was alright. Bacon keeps leading as some good battles were taking place behind him. As we reach the 2/3rds mark, the sun was about to shine as Tyler Courtney was on Bacon's tail tank. Sunshine used the high line right on the fence to take the lead on lap 28. Looking to take his 3rd championship belt, Courtney was on a mission. With some great racing and good battle still, no one had anything for Sunshine as he took the win. Cummins, Leary, Bacon, and Kofoid rounded out the top 5. Another great night of racing.

Matt Westfall dominated the BOSS A Main.

Buddy Kofoid had an amazing USAC Sprint car debut with 3 top 5's and rookie of the Smackdown.

It looks like Michigan's Chad Blonde has retired from the drivers seat. The 5R ride had Ryan Ruhl on board at the Plymouth WOO event and is taking Ruhl to WI this weekend for 3 IRA races. I spoke with Blonde as he still has a vital role with the team. Blonde is testing to see if he can handle not being the driver but seems pretty focused on getting Ruhl comfortable and alright with being a retired driver.

A huge Labor Day of racing this weekend! Looks like amazing weather so get to a track!! Some on my radar, Attica Friday with the All Stars, Attica Saturday for $10,000 to win with the All Stars, and Sunday Wayne Co, non sanctioned $13,000 to win!! Yes $13,000! Looks like some All Stars might not be there but it will be a great field of cars. Other races include the Little 500 Saturday at Anderson, OVSCA at Route 35 Speedway Sunday, MSCS at Bloomington Friday, Lincoln Park Saturday, and Haubstadt Sunday. GLMTS Crystal Saturday, FAST Butler Saturday, plus many local shows.

Thanks for reading

Duane

8/6

It is hard to believe last weekend was the 1st of August. By now, I am usually at mid 50 to low 60s in race counts for the year and getting ready to head to Knoxville and then into the slow down of the season after Knoxville. This crazy year, it seems like the season hasn't even fully started, some places I know it hasn't at all, and yet its still Knoxville week next week. I just hit the mid 30s mark for the season and that was putting some big road miles in during May when Missouri was the only place racing.

Last weekend started out to be a 3 race weekend. Friday, it was off to Attica Raceway Park for my AFCS Sprint Series duties. 28 410s and 30 305s graced the pit area. A beautiful night were pit pass only sales were allowed thanks to the health department. I personally thank Attica for stepping up and still racing, still paying full points fund, and lower pit pass prices to try and save people $$ that wanna still come but have to get a pit pass.

DJ Foos started the night with quick time in the 410s. DJ hasn't had the year he was looking for so far but has had speed many nights. Some good heat race action seen Chad Kemenah, Cole Macedo, Shawn Dancer, and TJ Michael take heat wins. In a great battle for a redraw spot, Nate Dussel got crossed up in heat 4 and took a small tumble. After some terrible luck the week before, it was not at all what anyone wanted to see happen to Dussel.

Up next was the 305 heats. To me, the Attica/Fremont 305s are the most under rated support class and 305 group in the country. These guys and girl, put on some great racing week in and week out, with little carnage and usually very clean friendly racing. Yes you have your few power houses that are tough to beat but you can see these drivers getting closer and closer each week and on any given night, 85% of the field could win the A. Zeth Sabo, Jamie Miller, Kyle Capodice, and Luke Griffith took the heat wins. Tyler Shullick got upside down in heat 1.

3 series regulars were in the 410 B, looking to make the A. With the top 4 transferring to the A, the race was on. Stuart Brubaker rebounded from a bad heat and dominated the B. An excellent battle for the transfer spot, seen cars racing 3 wide and handful of times. As Brubaker blasted to the win, Mitch Harble. Chad Wilson, and by a few car lengths, Frankie Nervo punched their ticket to the A. Dussel fell a few feet short at the line after charging up from dead last and what was an already rough night. Landon LaLonde charged from the last row as well to 6th, making for some great B main action mid pack.

The 305 B had some great cars and the series point leader in it. Matt Foos was making sure he wasn't missing the A on a series points night and lead flag to flag in the B over Jimmy McGrath Jr, Brandon Moore, Jerry Dahms, Larry Kingseed Jr, and Tyler Shullick

Henry and Macedo brought the field to the green in the lap AFCS 410 A Main. Henry hopped to the lead on the start. Macedo was right there on his tail tank as they raced the opening laps. As Henry opened a slight advantage, Buddy Kofoid was quickly working from 13th to a top 6 and Parker Price Miller was up to 3rd after starting 6th. Macedo quickly closed on Henry, looking like he was faster than the leader. Coming to lap 11, Macedo throws a huge slider entering 3, and off 4 has the lead. Henry shoots to the inside as the race side by side across the line on lap 11. Macedo bobbles on the cushion in the middle of 1 and 2 and Henry takes the lead by a slight advantage. Macedo is now under attack from PPM as they both start to reel Henry back in. Lap 14, Dancer flips just past the flag stand. Restart, Henry gets the advantage but Macedo is quick and ready to pounce. Another slider in 3, off 4 Macedo has the lead for a hot second and Henry crossed over and leads at the line by 10 feet. Macedo gets into 1 and 2 super hot again, drops off the edge of 2, loses 2 spots but quickly regains control and throws a huge slider entering 3 to move up to 3rd. PPM is now in 2nd, looking for more. A great 3 wide battle with Michael, Travis Philo, and Macedo for 3rd. Just as they exit 4, Macedo's car shuts off as the engine breaks on the 23. With 12 to go, Henry gets a good start as PPM is now fighting Philo for 2nd. Philo looks like the fastest car on the track and takes over 2nd as now Kofoid battles PPM for 3rd. Kofoid falls back a little as Michael and Kemenah now battle him for 4th in an excellent 3 car battle. Philo is running Henry down as we are down to 5 laps to go. Everyone that has seen these guys battle, knows this could get ugly as they have a history. 3 laps to go, Philo cleanly tries all he can to pass Henry as Henry blocks him high and then low. Philo throws a slider in turn 4, takes the lead off 4 on lap 28 as Henry crosses over to the low side to race side by side into 1. Henry gets the advantage off 2, as Philo races to his outside, Henry moves up the track 2 lanes as Philo slips over the banking. Philo still on the gas get back on the high side of Henry entering turn 3 as this time the right rear of the 4 and the left front of the 5t make contact. Philo is completely sideways, some how saves it and doesn't stall the engine, as Henry races away and cars fly past Philo. Henry takes the white and seals the deal on the last lap and takes the win. Kofoid, up from 13th, Price Miller, Philo, and Michael round out the top 5. Henry said the incident was his fault in victory lane, stating the wing was so far back he couldn't steer the car off 2 or into 3. I could get very interesting again if you see the 4 and 5t side by side as things have been quit so far this year and looks to be heating up.

Brandon Riehl and Mike Moore paced the 25 lap 305 A Main. Riehl ripped to the lead on the start. Lap 2, Miller threw the right rear on the cushion and raced to the lead. Just after Miller took the lead, Shullick got upside down for his 2nd time of the night. As Miller rode off into the moon light, an awesome battle for 3rd between Logan Riehl, Seth Schneider, and Kyle Peters had the attention of everyone as they diced back and forth 3 wide. A Dahms spin slowed the action but it quickly picked back up when the green light flashed back on. Miller would open up a straight away lead over the next several laps as an excellent battle for 3rd was still raging on. Logan Riehl and Peters get caught up in an accident late in the race in turn 1. This gives Schneider a shot on the restart but its all Miller. Miller was untouched and raced to his 26th career Attica win. Schneider, Weaver, up from 11th, Sabo, and Capodice rounded out the top 5. Another great night of action.

After Fremont raining out Saturday, I decided to shift gears and hit Kokomo's World Of Outlaw Late Model race. With the forecast looking alright at Kokomo after they moved the start time, I thought we will sneak one in here. Well we got hot laps and the start of the 1st race and the rains came.

Sunday it was off to Plymouth on a beautiful afternoon with once again no rain, well 15% chance, in the forecast. 25 World Of Outlaw Sprint Cars were on hand. Well we got to the end of the 2nd heat before the rains came and ruined yet another night.

So after Attica, I got the traveling skills for 473 total miles and $70 in rain checks. This year is just crazy trying to see a damn race normally anymore I swear!!.

With the crazy time and different agendas from health departments and states all over the US, PLEASE be sure to keep yourself updated on social media and websites because things change day to day at many tracks this season. I hope everyone stays safe and thanks for reading. Be sure to catch Dirt Nerds podcast weekly and On The Throttle radio every Monday just after the Noon news EST time on The Q 96.5 WQCT Bryan Ohio or via our live stream on the WQCT website or Tune In app.

Thanks

Duane

7/13

This week is the start of the week a lot of us from Ohio get pumped up about for months. It's King's Royal week, well was for the last 36 years. In what has been a very messed up year for everyone, the racing industry is still hit and miss in many places. The 37th annual King's Royal has been postponed this year. This is a week I still got pumped up for still 37 years later, yes I've hit them all. Nights of little sleep, filled with good racing and memories made forever with old friends, new friends, and complete strangers. The Royal week is going to be different for sure this season. The Brad Doty Classic will still take place Tuesday at Attica Raceway Park for what could be the ONLY World Of Outlaws appearance in Ohio this season. I can not believe, with 20,000 people use to heading to Ohio this week, several still having vacation time they can't cancel, that no one picked up an WOO show or 2 in this region this week. To me personally, a lot of tracks missed out on a huge opportunity. Looks like the shows in PA the All Stars added last week will gain big time from a very smart move on their part.

I was lucky enough to hit the 1st 4 Ohio Sprint Speedweek shows this week. I planned a few more but sometimes having your own business, things chance your plans last minute as it did this week. I seen a lot of people bitching about dust. First off, Ohio tracks have been dusty for 30 years, if you don't know that by now you haven't paid too much attention. Second, it has been 90 plus degrees for over a week straight. Third, to me the best one, people that aren't there and think its super dusty because the camera angles and lighting make it look worse yet. Was there dust, yes, was it absolutely terrible, no I've seen a lot worse. I am surprised a little that it took til last night's show to get in the mid 40s in car count.

Friday, with my original plans getting ruined, all turned out well as it gave me a chance to get over to a place I love to get too when I have a Friday off, the Gas City I-69 Speedway in Gas City Indiana. I can actually get quicker than many Ohio tracks I go too. An added bonus to their weekly program was the USAC D2 Midgets. A nice field of 29 traditional sprint cars and 19 midgets were on hand.

The 4 heat races for the sprint cars seen some very good racing. Some very close side by side racing. A surprise visitor to Gas City in my eyes, Kyle Cummins took the win in heat 1. Thomas Meseraull in a very good battle took heat 2. JJ Hughes took the win in heat 3. In another real good heat race, Dallas Hewitt took the win in heat 4.

Scott Hampton got things a rolling in the B Main and took the win. Issac Chappel and Cole Ketchum both tried to charge from the back row of the B but, fell 2 and 3 spots short respectively in their efforts.

The 25 lap A Main was a good one. T Mez jumped to the early lead as Cummins was reeling him in very quickly. A great battle as Cummins fights for the lead. Side by side, these gassers race for the lead. LP 6, Cummins takes the lead. An excellent battle as Meseraull stays right there. T Mez switches up his line, diamonds off turn 4, and is side by side for the lead once again. Lap 11, Meseraull slips past for the lead. The next several laps, the duo races right there together. As the laps wind down, Meseraull starts to open up the gap, looking for the win. T Mez seals the deal, taking the win. Cummins, Scotty Weir, Shane Cockrum, and Max Adams round out the top 5. After good Gas City race.

The 25 lap USAC D2 Midget A main was a wild one. Some full contact racing at times. Gary Loney took the early lead. Corey Guinhrich took a very nasty looking tumble early in the event as he exited turn 2 and clipped an infield tire. Thank God Corey walked away without a scratch. Green, Loney is under attack from the Briggs team. Some contact here and there, with some good hard racing. Lap 10, Stratton Briggs blast to the lead. Briggs didn't lead long as Adam Taylor seen a small hole and forced a dump truck trough it, taking the lead on lap 13. Taylor was the class of the field, pulling to a huge lead. Taylor throttled down all the way to the checkered, taking the win. Loney, Jacob Denney, Briggs, and Alex Watson rounded out the top 5. A very good race, wild but good.

With all of the changes it seems weekly anymore, be sure to check track websites and social media pages often as they try to get races in the books this season. It has been on many tracks, teams, and fans but hopefully it will all be gone soon.

Montpelier Indiana Speedway is under new management as far as running races in 2020 and looks to open July 25th. No word yet on if the midgets will be back on the card in 2020 or any sprint car shows.

Rumblings are coming out of Millstream Speedway again in Findlay Ohio. Scott Warner has leased the track with talk of opening in August. Scott will be the 5th person to try this under the Roe ownership. Hopefully, Scott can make it happen but history repeats itself, look for another flash in the pan effort due to the current ownership handcuffs put on whoever leases it.

The SOD Sprint car series announced Friday, Denny Donaldson would take over the series in 2021. Denny a long time driver and well known figure in Michigan sprint car racing I am sure has a few things in the works. With the series all but dead and shut down in 2020 way before the virus, it will be interesting to see what happens next year in Michigan. Hopefully, they will work well with Barry Marlow and the GLSS group as Barry has kept Michigan alive for the sprint car scene the past few years.

Thanks for reading
Duane

6/12

To say the 2020 racing has been a crazy mess is an understatement. In our region, we are starting the middle of June and still have a large majority of tracks not racing or racing with no fans in the stands. With that said, a few do have fans at the track and it looks like very soon several more will allow fans. Indiana starts with 50% attendance THIS weekend so several tracks will open in Indiana within the next 10 days.

Last weekend, Attica Raceway Park kicked off their 2020 season with no fans but a huge field of cars. 54 410s and 28 305s were pit side. New to Attica this year, the track surface has new dirt and all the shows, except the All Star shows, are on Dirt Vision. Of course mother nature had to try and rain on the parade. A rain shower just before hot laps delayed the action by over 2 hours. The ARP crew worked hard to get the new dirt in racing shape. The team did a great job and the track was full of grip and fast all night long. It was a long night, final checkered at 2:40 AM, with the delay and a handful of accidents but a fun night with some good racing.

The 6 410 heat races were stacked with the top 3 moving to the A. Being the first night many of these drivers have turned laps since September of last season, the action got a little wild. No major incidents and some great battles for not only the win but transfer positions. Corbin Gurley, Jordan Ryan, Travis Philo, Stuart Brubaker, Cole Duncan, and Dustin Daggett took the heat race wins.

3 410 B Mains seen the top 2 from each moving to the A, making a 24 car starting field. With a fast track and drivers battling hard, the B Mains tore up some equipment. B1 Jamie Meyers and RJ Jacobs both flip at once in turn 2. B2, Dean Jacobs took a nasty tumble down the front stretch after making contact with Tyler Street battling for the final transfer spot. Very happy to see Dean walk away on his own after that one. B3, Brian Lay flopped his brand new red 45 on to its side. Cap Henry, Tim Shaffer, and Chris Andrews took the B Main wins.

Dylan Kingan and Stuart Brubaker brought the field to the green for the 30 lap A Main. Brubaker blasted to the lead. Just a few laps into the A, Caleb Griffith caught the leader and an excellent battle was on. Racing side by side, hammer down, the lead duo was putting on a show. Lap 9, Griffith lead, lap 10, Brubaker took back over. Lap 11, the yellow flag was displayed as Cale Conley spun. Restart, Paige Polyak coast to a stop. Green, Brubaker opens up the lead as Griffith follows. Trey Jacobs starts to battle Griffith for 2nd. A decent battle upfront for the top 3 spots with Brubaker staying out front. Lap 26, Zane DeVault spins. Brubaker gets a good restart and Stuart sails off and races to the win. Jacobs, Griffith, Buddy Kofoid, and Brandon Spithauler round out the top 5. A pretty decent race.

3 305 heats with the top 5 moving to the A. As always, the 305 sprints once again had some decent heat race action. The biggest incident was Justin Adams somehow not flipping after contract with rookie Garrett Craine. Adams was airborne but never did tumble. Paul Weaver, Mike Moore, and Luke Griffith took the heat wins.

The 305 B took the final 5 to the A. A little rough for a minute but it got to rolling good once everyone settled down. Brandon Moore flipped his new Mingus Motorsports 10z ride. Larry Kingseed Jr took the win over Shane Call who hasn't been on the track since 2018.

Seth Schneider and Jamie Miller paced the 25 lap A Main. Call flips on his side on the start. It was a weird looking flip for sure. Restart, Schneider slips to the lead. Schneider is looking good in his new Mach 1 chassis out front. Lap after lap, Schneider is looking good. Lap 13, a infield tire rolls on to the track. Justin Lusk stalls on the restart. Next restart, Seth Sabo flips as Brandon Riehl and Justin Adams all get collected in the incident. Lap 15, Miller flips as he was closing in on the leader. Green, Schneider leads as Jimmy McGrath Jr is running him down. McGrath gets a good run but can't catch Seth. Schneider holds on and take his 1st win over McGrath Jr, Steve Rando, Kyle Peters, and Luke Griffith. Another very good 305 A Main with a decent battle upfront most of the race.

With the very few races I have seen this year, there is some young guns that jumped to 410s looking very good so far. 1st off, Corbin Gurley. The Indiana resident, the son of Chris, nephew of Van Jr, and grandson of Van Sr, the 3rd generation driver jumped right from mini sprints to 410s. Well kinda, he had a 360 that broke on its first night out so all that was left of the 410 in the shop. Corbin has Ohio's Dave Jessup turning the wrenches and so far has been pretty impressive. Look for the 12 car to be in the Ohio region a lot this season. 305 graduate Tyler Street is another one having a great debut in the 410s. So far in 2 410 shows, Street has raced his way into the A Main in both of the events. There is a few rookies in the 305 this season too. So it is looking good for the future of our sport.

With some tracks still not open, some open, some no fans and some with fans, the 2020 season has been a complete and utter mess. So many races have been switched and changes so PLEASE check the series websites and the track websites OFTEN for changing in the 2020 schedules. Indiana Midget was pushed back to this coming week, Ohio Sprint Week is right now slated to start July 3rd, subject to change, the BC 39 is cancelled, and much much more.

I highly recommend attending Indiana Midget Week starting Tuesday. There is a limit of 50%, 48 USAC Midget and 45 regular sprints. The majority of the shows, the midget fields are filled and the sprint car fields as well. Almost a 100 non wing cars for the price of 1!! If you can't make it to the track, tune into Flo Racing because with just 50% attendance, the tracks will need some revenue from PPV. Midget Week kicks off Tuesday at Paragon Speedway, Wednesday Gas City I-69 Speedway, Thursday and Friday BOTH NOW at Lincoln Park Speedway, Saturday over to The Burg at Lawrenceburg Speedway, and it all caps off at the Kokomo Speedway on Father's Day. I know my daughter and I are spending Father's Day at Kokomo, I highly advise you too as well.

UPCOMING:

Friday: Attica OH, pit pass sales only but no limit on sales. GLSS I-96 Speedway MI

Saturday: Wayne County Speedway $3000 to win for 410s WITH FANS in the stands!!

Sunday: USAC Sprints Haubstadt IN with 50% fans

Hopefully this silliness will be over soon so we can ALL be at the track soon!!

Thanks for reading,

Duane

5/14

It has been way too long since I have written a column. With the dirt track racing world in a dilemma that we have never experienced, it is hard to write on just speculations. There are still many many questions in our region. With that said, some racing has been taking place the last few weeks with a few states allowing fans. We are all in a wait and see pattern in our Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan region on exact opening dates as other states kick the gates open.

Last weekend, I traveled to one of those states that is opening up race tracks and allowing fans in the stands. It was off to St Francois County Speedway in Farmington MO for their opening night. Making the 1000 mile around trip for 1 night of racing was kinda nuts but, sitting at home and doing normal life crap just wasn't cutting it anymore. It was my 1st ever visit to the D-shaped bullring that is under new promotion as local modified racer Danny Resinger has taken over the speedway. This was Danny's first night as a promoter and what a night for his 1st ever show. A over flowing pit area of almost 250 cars for the 5 divisions and a stellar crowd in the stands.

47 winged sprint cars were on hand with some heavy hitters on the grounds. With very little racing, this was the only open 410 sprint car show in the US so if you wanted to race, SFCR was the place to be. The standard $1500 to win, $200 start show got some local sponsor help, boosting the winners share to $2500 as well as some extra pay in some other positions.

Knowing that a huge field of cars were on their way, Danny made a great move a few days before the show and moved the super streets and mini sprints to an afternoon time slot with the sprint cars and mods running the night time program. Travis Litttleton brought home the mini sprint A Main during the daytime show.

With the track dry, slick, dusty, and blackening up from the daytime show, Danny's crew went to work, reworking the surface. He said it would take a few hours, which the track workers needed to get the large filed of cars signed in and set for pill draw and transponder swaps. With a track make over, it was ready for action. As the sprint cars pushed off for engine heat, a heavy wet surface was now present. I have never seen someone be able to change a track from the normal daytime surface to a wet heavy tacky, so wet ruts developed like a major rain hit, surface in a few hours. I knew it was cut very deep and it looked like they was drowning it but man, I truly wasn't expecting it to last all night long. Yes, it was rough but for opening night and the guy's first night, I personally think he did a hell of a job. Seeing mud fly and wheelies down the front and back stretch instantly made life feel right again.

5 heats with the top 3 moving to the A. Carson Short is a beast when the track is elbows up and he made it clear right away he was going to be a driver to watch all night. Short used the high side to charge to the lead by mid race and sail off to the win over Brayton Lynch and Jeff Asher. A stacked heat 2 seen a great battle upfront as Tyler Courtney was shinning bright besting Zeb Wise and Rico Abreu for the win. In heat 3, a young lady I have never seen race but have been wanting did not disappoint the crowd as they cheered her on. Morgan Turpin worked her way past the field and throttled to the win over Hunter Scherenberg and Brian Bell. Heat 4, Shane Golobic has won at SFCR in the past and took right back off with his winning ways. Golobic took the win over dead last started Tommy Worley Jr, and Toledo Ohio's Chad Wilson. The first yellow flew in heat 5 as Thomas Meseraull clicked an infield tire and spun with a broken front end. Joe B Miller was looking good and took the win over a quickly approaching Kamerson Key, who started dead last and Adam Miller. There was some excellent battles, close calls with the ruts, and plenty of passing in the heats. Some great heat race action. I love a track with character, even if this one was boarding too much character, it was exciting racing for sure.

With the large field, 2 B Mains would take the top 3 from each B to the A. I know its not much but, that means 1 car was added to the A for a 21 car field instead of 20. B1, Jeffery Mason becomes the 1st car upside down of the night on the start in turn 1. Jeffery was okay. A great battle all over the track as cars battled 2 and 3 wide. The battle for the final transfer spot took a huge turn after the halfway mark as Clinton Boyles and Jimmy Bridgman collide entering turn 1, both flipping very hard. All drivers walked away but both were done for the night. Parker Price Miller marched to the win over a fast T Mez who charged from last to 2nd, and Jacob Patton. Meseraull made an excellent recovery from his heat race incident. B2, not near as exciting as B1 but still a decent race, actually the top 3 were glued together at the finish. Andy Bishop bounced to the win over Dustin Banks and Steve Short. The field was set for the A.

Carson Short and Tyler Courtney brought the field to the green in the 25 lap A Main. Short slid to the lead. Short was on a mission and was quickly in traffic. With the track being very tricky and traffic bouncing around as well, Short got caught up several times behind the lappers. A great battle upfront as the lead pack was nose to tail and side by side many times. Lap 17, Worley Jr flips hard off the exit of turn 4, destroying his brand new entry for the 2020 season. Green, Courtney makes a move and squeezes inside Short to take the lead. Lynch and Asher collide for a yellow soon after. Sunshine leads as Short and Golobic are on his rear bumper. Lap 21, Scherenberg spins for a yellow. It was not the homecoming Hunter% wanted. 4 to go, green and Short and Golobic throw all they have at Courtney. Sunshine is a smart racer. He raced hard but smooth through the ruts as the others had to try whatever they could to get around. Golobic grabbed 2nd with 2 to go, trying to pressure Courtney. Shane looks to have a run off 4 coming to the white but, hits a ruts just hard enough to bounce him off his mark. Sunshine turns up the brightness and races to the win. Golobic, Short, Wise, and Joe B Miller round out the top 5. It was some very exciting racing I thought. Some great battles, a lot of passing and some major character to work around especially with the lappers running 2 and 3 wide at times.

It was SUPER nice to get away from the Ohio doom and gloom and get to the track, see some racing friends, meet some new ones, and have life back to normal for once. Not this new normal bullshit either! I hate that saying!! It truly was a breath of fresh air. It is hard imagine the good ole days would be 2019 but it was a flashback to 2019 when we were free to do as we wished. We ate inside a restaurant, there wasn't covid 19 radio or tv ads every 3 minutes, there was people smiling, people shacking hands, and totally the entire state seemed like a different world that we all use to live in.

I am going to give a huge shout out to Danny Resinger and crew. Yes, it was very late, yes it was dusty in the day and rough at night but I personally think he did one hell of a job! He had the perfect storm against him, 1st night as a promoter, 1st night working as a team, the largest car count the track has seen, over flowing pits, over flowing parking lot, and 1st time preparing a track for 230 plus cars. It wasn't the ideal outcome but he managed to make it and do good some good things. I met Danny for a minute as well and seems to truly want great things for the track. I also met some new people that have instantly become friends. As far as the track and Danny, he did what he said, they didn't dilly around or just have dead air for no reason, he added 1 car to the A, he seen the hand writing on the wall and moved 2 classes to earlier in the day to try and get the show done early, he added grandstands in turn 4 Friday night, he treated everyone fair, and he knows it wasn't perfect and made it well known that they work to get it better next time. For a guy's very 1st night running the show with no prior experience besides driving a race car, I think there are some very good things to come if he keeps on the path he paved last Saturday. He knows how to treat the racers and that is a huge plus. I know I will return and hopefully many others will too. The almost closed race track seems to have an instant stout heartbeat once again.

4 Ohio drivers were present with Chad Wilson being the only Ohio driver to make the A. Josh Turner was the loan Michigan driver and had some good runs working toward transfer spots a few laps but just couldn't get to the A. 3 Indiana drivers was the class of the field from our region with 1 winning, another 4th, and the 3rd one passing the entire field expect 1 car in the B to earn an A main spot.

Thanks for reading. I will keep you updated as more regional news gets closer but for now, I am going to hit the road some more and will write again with some results from who knows what state yet but from one that is racing.

Duane

Last Thursday, the 2nd annual James Dean Classic featuring the USAC Sprint cars at the Gas City I69 Speedway. 28 sprints and 25 mini sprints were pit side. The track was wet and heavy, with some fast action.

4 sprint heats with the top 4 moving to the A. There was some hammer down, crank the wheel off, side by side mud slinging action. Kevin Thomas Jr took heat 1 over CJ Leary, Issac Chapple, and Cody White. In heat 2, Cole Ketcham held off a charging Thomas Meseraull for the win. Jason McDougal and Chris Windom punched their tickets to the A. Heat 3, Scotty Weir nipped Brady Bacon, Ty Mihocko, and Tyler Courtney. Justin Grant was in total control in heat 4, winning over Dustin Ingle, Chase Stockon, and Dave Darland.

Some good cars were ready to roll in the B which had some heavy hitters in the line up. The track was still super tacky and fast. Chad Boespflug blasted to the win over Max Adams, Harley Burns, Matt Westfall, Matt Goodnight, and Shane Cottle.

Windom and KTJ brought the 30 lap A Main to the green. With the mud flying high into the Gas City track lights still, you had to be hard on the loud pedal. Windom whips to the lead. Lap 7, Darland comes to a stop for a caution. Green, Windom is wheeling it up front, pulling to a slight lead. Some intense side by side action, wheel stands, and just typical heavy track racing. The laps click off fast in this one. An excellent 3 wide battle with 7 to go in heavy lapped traffic. Windom, Courtney, and Grant are inches apart 3 wide, settling up an amazing finish. Well we thought so. Lap 25, Weir spins in turn 4 for a yellow, ruining the intense battle and set up for an amazing finish. Windom gets a great restart and leads. Lap 27, the orange cone strikes and ends up on the track for a yellow. Green, Windom is hits his marks perfect and leads wire to wire for the win. Courtney, Grant, Thomas Jr, and Stockon round out the top 5.

Corbin Gurley took the win and an excellent mini sprint A Main.

Friday it was off to Eldora Speedway for their final weekend of the season, opening night of the 4 Crown Nationals. Hard to believe there won't be a race at all in October at Eldora. The World Of Outlaws sprint have an awesome field of 44 cars pit side, along with 27 USAC Silvercrown cars that are there to qualify. Just after the WOO are finishing hot laps, a storm hit the speedway, putting down some decent rain. An excellent decision and job by the Eldora staff as they worked to get the program in. After about a 3 hour delay, it was back to action. The track was super fast and heavy with a thick cushion.

4 heat races for the WOO with some fast action. The only incidents in the heats was Zach Hampton finding the wall in heat 3. Logan Schuchart, Kerry Madsen, Cory Eliason, and Carson Macedo took the heat wins. Not a ton of passing which is typical for WOO heats but some good action with cars side by side and flying.

With such stout field of cars, the C main had some hitters in it. With the top 2 moving to the B. Ian Madsen took the win as Trevor Baker nipped Dominic Scelzi for the final transfer spot.

The Dash was next as Schuchart kept a rolling taking the win over Macedo.

You thought the C was loaded, well the B could have been the A Main at most WOO races. Some good racing the B as a heck of battle was raging for the final transfer spot. Gio Scelzi took the win over Rico Abreu, Dave Blaney, and Donny Schatz. Schatz didn't secure the final spot until 2 to go.

Schuchart and Macedo brought the field to the green in the 30 lap A. Wayne Johnson tags the wall hard in turn 3 before lap 1 is complete and flips. Wayne was okay but the 2c needed to be rebuilt. Green, Schuchart shot to the lead. Lap 2, Brady Bacon flips. Green, Schuchart slams to the lead once again. Feeling the track may owe him one after the King's Royal, Schuchart was on a mission. Logan had the Shark Racing 1s on full attack, killing the field until about the half way mark. Reutzel has many wins on the season and is always fast as he runs Schuchart down. A great battle for a handful of laps as Reutzel applies heavy pressure to Schuchart in traffic. A-Ron draws side by side a handful of time but can't make a pass stick for the lead. Schuchart made some great moves in traffic, opening the lead back up as Sheldon Haudenschild closes in on Reutzel. Schuchart sails away to the win over Reutzel, Haudenschild, Kerry Madsen, and Macedo rounded out the top 5.

A decent a race and not nearly as boring as the box score might read when you see Schuchart lead all 30 laps.

Saturday, a bright sunny day for one of the best shows of the year, the USAC 4 Crown Nationals along with the All Star Sprints. An excellent field of 35 USAC Sprints, 20 USAC Midget, 42 All Star Sprints, and the 27 USAC Silvercrown cars were set for action.

They ran 2 cars at a time for time trials, trying to move the program along with the excellent field of cars. As the heats were ready to roll, the track was dry slick up to a thin cushion, right on the Eldora wall. I was kinda shocked they didn't throw some water down before the heats with such a large field of cars and many heat races set to roll. With that said, the Eldora track crew has been spot on all season, with some great conditions as I have seen many races with passing all over so I didn't question the move too much.

The 5 All Star heats were up first. Some good heat race action with the All Stars as they was many battles on the track and many passes. The action came the abrupt halt in heat 1 as Justin Peck took a nasty ride in turn 1. Peck got in the fence and went from about 120 to 0 in less than a second. Peck was alright but very sore. Skyar Gee flips in almost the same spot as Peck in heat 2. Greg Wilson, Cale Conley, James McFadden, Buddy Kofoid, and Brock Zeafoss take the heat wins,

4 USAC Sprint heats are next. Some excellent heat race action with tons of passing, 3 of the 4 winners started in row 3. Tyler Courtney, Kevin Thomas Jr, Justin Grant, and Jason McDougal took the heat wins.

3 USAC Midgets heats next with everyone moving the A. Again some excellent heat races with plenty of passing. 2 of the 3 winners started in row 3.Tyler Courtney, Rico Abreu, and Dave Darland take the heat wins,

Up next the All Star Dashes. It was the Cale and Cale show in the dashes as Cale Conley took dash 1 and Cale Thomas took dash 2.

Another stellar field of winged cars seen a pretty stacked B Main for the All Stars. Lee Jacobs leaped to the win over Skylar Gee.

USAC Sprint car B main was next up. Max Adams has looked good a lot this season when I've caught a race he was at and this was no different. The young California driver took the win over a fast Kory Crabtree.

The 25 lap USAC Midget A main was up first and what a race! If you didn't like this one then there is no hope for you and racing races. Jerry Coons Jr and Tanner Carrick brought the field to the green. Carrick climbs to the lead on the start. The battle was on right from the start, cars 3 wide sliding each other. Lap 5, McDougal flipped. Green, its a battle royal up front, Carrick, Logan Seavey, and Rico battling for the lead. Slide jobs, 3 wide action, from the top of the track to the bottom, it was awesome. These guys were sliding inches apart, tagging the wall at times and never letting off or missing a beat. Lap 16, Seavey takes the lead. Now Courtney is throwing massive sliders in the mix as well. A few times, 2 guys were throwing a slider at once on the same guy, splitting each other like dancers. Corner for corner, lap after lap, these guys were using all the track. Lap 19, Carrick crawls back to lead. Courtney is throwing huge sliders, diving all the way to the bottom and sliding back up the high banked Big E. Lap 24, Sunshine takes the lead. Carrick battles back. Courtney is too strong and steals the win. Carrick, Seavey, Rico, and Kevin Thomas Jr round out the top 5. Midget racing is awesome and they just killed it at Eldora. For all of the nay sayers about Eldora and no passing and blah blah, you need to see this video, it was excellent. I would love to see a big midget show at Eldora during the season not tied to the 4 Crown. I've said it for years, like a Spring or May USAC Midget and 100 lap Silvercrown race for some decent $$ would be awesome!

The USAC Sprints were next up for a 30 lap A. KTJ and CJ Leary paced the field. KTJ drove to the lead on the start. Another good battle as they race hard upfront. Courtney was again on the hammer. His sprint car slide jobs were text book. He would dive off the back stretch at the cross over gate, all but clip the inside wall, seriously a few inches off of it, and slide up to a few inches off the outside wall, making a move. Looking for 2 in a row, Sunshine took the lead on lap 19. Lap 21, Leary drives into Windom battling for 3rd, spinning himself out as Windom drives away. Green, Courtney lead as Justin Grant and Windom try to make a move. Its a bright night as Sunshine seals the deals goes 2 for 2 on the night, taking the win. This is also the 4 USAC Sprint car win in a row for Tyler at Eldora. Windom, Grant, KTJ, and Brady Bacon rounded out the top 5. Not as exciting as the midgets but, a pretty good race.

Next up, the 30 lap All Star Sprint season championship A Main. Aaron Reutzel claimed the title for the 2nd year in a row earlier in the night as he pushed off for hot laps. Conley and Thomas lead the field to the green. Baker spins on the start. Restart, Thomas puts the Gorby G1 car into the lead. Thomas is quickly under fire as a good race is happening upfront. Lap 7, Cory Eliason takes the lead. Eliason has had some great runs at Eldora and is looking good in the lead. Lap 9, Reutzel punts Thomas battling for position, as Thomas does a 360 and keeps going but the yellow waves and Thomas goes to the tail. Tough break for the awesome young driver. Green, Eliason leads as Reutzel starts to close in. Lap 14, Baker stops about 10 feet after the pit entrance, evidently not seeing how to pull off the track when he was all but stopped 10 feet ago. Green, Eliason leads but Reutzel is on him like cheese on a pretzel. Lap 16, A-Ron rips to the lead. Reutzel rides off into the moon light and races to his 16th win on the season. Eliason, Gio Scelzi, Kofoid, and Dale Blaney round of the top 5. A decent race with some great battles upfront and 3 different leaders. Not bad at all.

The night capper was the 50 lap USAC Silvercrown race. Kevin Thomas Jr and Jason McDougal paced the field. KTJ flies tg the lead, still a bit upset from brushing the wall while leading the sprint car A and handing the lead to Sunshine. KTJ has the Dyson 9 car hooked up. Lap 8, Steve Buckwalter and Johnny Heydenreich collide in turn 1. KTJ leads on the restart but a collision on lap 11 between McDougal and Courtney ends Sunshine's night and chance at going 3 for 3. McDougal looked as if he may have had some issues from his midget crash and probably should have been sidelines for the night but instead when out and crashed in the other 2 A Mains. Green, KTJ looks good out front leading lap after lap. As KTJ lead, Matt Westfall and Shane Cottle were putting on a show, charging from deep in the field. Westfall actually from dead last after breaking a power steering shaft off the pump and getting it stuck in the steering box the night before. Brady Bacon is making a late charge towards KTJ. Bacon shows his nose a few times as KTJ gets elbows up. In almost the same identical spot off turn 4, KTJ brushes the wall giving Bacon the shot he needed as Bacon blast past on lap 41 for the lead. KTJ gathers it back in and tries to make a run at Bacon, The Macho Man has other ideas and races to the $8000 win. KTJ, Justin Grant, Kody Swanson, who wrapped up another Silvercrown title on this night, and Cottle from 24th, rounded out the top 5. Westfall went from 27th to 7th. Another good race on the night. All 4 races were great and why the 4 Crown is a great weekend. A record crowd for the event witnessed some great racing.

October 12 Waynesfield host the BOSS and FAST championship nights with a huge show to salute Bob Hampshire. The FAST winged sprints will pay $5630 to win and $630 to start! The hard charger gets $63 for each position they advance, The winning crew chief gets $630 as well. The BOSS winning crew chief gets $630 as well. The BOSS traditional sprints is just their standard purse as always.

Thanks for reading
Duane

I have had a goal for years of hitting a 100 races in a year. This year I am very close and it could happen if the weather stays decent. Of course, work and stuff has to fall right too. With that said, sometimes we need a prospective in life, something I personally think most of us can probably say we have slipped on at times, me included, and I got reminded of that Friday. We had a very special family event that I stayed home for Friday and it was one of the best family nights in years. So how important is hitting my goal, I really don't know anymore, it may happen or it may not, but one thing I know is if more things come along like this, more races will get put on hold because I wouldn't change last Friday night for anything.

Saturday, it was off to Fremont Speedway for their biggest event of the season, the Jim and Joanne Ford Classic. This year, it closes the 2019 Fremont season. 35 FAST 410s and 23 305 sprints were pit side. With weather looming for a few hours, the track crew waiting to water for a while. When all looked like it was clear, the water was applied and out of nowhere came a rain shower, surprising everyone. So the program got delayed a few hours.

Some wild action in the 410 heats with some action that carried on into the pits. Cody Bova, Buddy Kofoid, Nate Dussel, and Cole Duncan took heat wins. In heat 1, Cale Conley had a solid transfer spot secured and had some heavy contact in turn 2 with Travis Philo, resulting in Conley in the wall fairly hard. After the heat, Conley was inviting Philo over to Thanksgiving and it ended up with the EMS at Philo's trailer and Conley loading up for the night. Another heat race seen Cap Henry punt DJ Foos over the cushion, DJ recovered but wasn't too happy either.

Some good heat race action in the 305, with everyone moving into the A. Seth Schneider won a tight one over Jamie Miller. Jimmy McGrath Jr and Tyler Street took heat wins as well.

2 B Mains were ran with such a nice field of cars. Lee Jacobs and Chad Kemenah took B Main wins.

The 305 A Main hit the track first for their 25 lap A Main. Brandon Moore and John Ivy brought the field to the green. Ivy inched into the lead on the start. Ivy started to pull away as a few laps clicked off. Traffic was interesting as Ivy entered with Jamie Miller closing in on Ivy. Ivy and Miller battle in and out of traffic for a few laps. Lap 10, Miller takes the lead. Lap 14, a yellow for debris. Green, its all Miller. Miller motored to the win over Ivy, Matt Foos, Steve Rando, and Paul Weaver.

Buddy Kofoid and Cody Bova paced the field in the 40 lap $10,000 to win 410 A Main. Paige Polyak and Duane Zablocki collided on the start. Green, Kofoid is on the hammer and takes the lead. The track conditions has slicked up a little but are still right in Buddy's wheel house. Buddy is looking good with a huge lead as he enters traffic. Traffic is plain crazy, in and out of traffic, as they are all racing hard. Lap 14, Parker Price Miller stops. Green, Kofoid leads but things slow again on lap 16, Brandon Long gets in the wall. Green, Christopher Bell has charged up from 13th and is fighting for the lead. With a bit of a crowd job in turn 2 on Kofoid, Bell takes the lead on lap 18. Bell was in a different zip code. Driving his own car in its first night out, Bell opened up a 7 second lead. Lapping up to 6th, Bell took home the 10 g's. Philo, Dussel, Kofoid, and Duncan rounded out the top 5. A good night of racing with plenty of action.

This weekend if one of my favorite weekend at Eldora Speedway, the 4 Crown Nationals. Friday, the World of Outlaws hit Eldora for the last time in 2019 along with USAC Silvercrown qualifying. Saturday, you get all 3 USAC national divisions Midgets, Sprints, and Silvercrown plus the All Star Sprints. You can't ask for any more of a mixed card of open wheel racing. A huge autograph session is part of the weekend as well.

Thanks for reading
Duane

Sunshine and 80 degree temps in mid September is a great sight for racing fans. With the season winding down each weekend as more and more tracks close its gates for the season, there is still plenty of races in this region. Last weekend, I made another journey to the Gas City I-69 Speedway Friday and down to Southern Ohio to the Atomic Speedway Saturday.

Last week was a huge week of racing starting on Tuesday and ending Sunday afternoon. The season is winding down so I have to take advantage of it went I can. Even if there was a few nights with little sleep.

Tuesday it was all set to kick off at the Fremont Speedway for the annual Sandusky Co Fair race. A special event for the track's 305 division. Just after all the teams got unloaded and I got half way there, mother nature struck the fair race once again. The rain was too much, cancelling the show for the 2nd year in a row.

Wednesday it was off to the Kokomo Speedway for the #GYATK BC Challenge, the unofficial kick off to the Smackdown. Always a great night, free admission, free pit pass for the drivers, and the USAC Sprints in the house. Plus, extra $$ put up for drivers making their 1st ever run in a non wing car at Kokomo. An excellent field of 50 cars were pit side. The track was heavy and fast and there was some great side by side, wheel to wheel, hammer down action. The heats provided some good racing, not a ton of passing but some decent 2 and 3 wide side by side racing upfront almost the entire distance of all 6 heats. 3 cars got upside down in the heats, all drivers were okay. Most of the newbies were in the C but some were up in the loaded B Main with several big USAC drivers in the B fighting for a A Main spot. Guys like Windom and Kevin Thomas Jr had to race through the B to the A. Then you had Anton Hernandez who won the $1539 extra dollars for his 1st non wing start at Kokomo. Anton missed the final A Main transfer spot by less than a half a car length, making for some great racing.

Thomas Meseraull and Brady Bacon paced the 27 lap A Main. Bacon took the early lead as things quickly came to a halt when Carson Short flipped on lap 2. Short made it back out in time to restart the A main though. Bacon and T Mez fight upfront on the restart. Meseraull takes the lead on lap 4. Just as lap 4 is complete, Max Adams flips. Great racing upfront as T Mez, Bacon, Justin Grant, and CJ Leary are battling hard. A few spins slowed the pace up to lap 12. After than it was all green flag action. Bacon regains the lead on lap 17. Grant takes over on lap 20. A great battle but once Grant takes the point, he don't give an inch. Grant takes the win over Bacon, TMez and Leary.

Thursday, a return trip to Kokomo for the opening night of the Smackdown. 36 USAC Sprints car ready for battle. The track is in great shape, still pretty moist but a bit less heavy, making for a lot of passing in the heats. The 4 heats featured some excellent action. 2 flips as both drivers were okay thankfully as Brad Greenup's flip was very hard. Another loaded B main with some good action.

Brady Bacon and Thomas Meseraull brought the field to the green in the 30 lap A Main. Bacon blasted to the lead. Brady was looking solid upfront. Lap 7, Josh Hodges flips. Restart, T Mez gives Bacon a run. Lap 9, Meseraull moves to the lead. CJ Leary slows the action as he stops. A great battle up front the next several laps. Lap 17, Logan Seavey stops. Tyler Courtney joints the battle upfront with Bacon and Grant. T Mez thrills the crowd as he seals the deal, taking the win over Courtney, Grant, Bacon, and Chase Stockon.

Friday, it was off to Attica Raceway Park for the Mark Keegan Classic and season championship night for the Attica 410 and 305 Sprints. 23 410s and 29 305s were pit side. The track was fast and narrow for the heats but there was some alright action and drivers battled side by side for the most part.

Going into the 410 A Main, Chris Andrews had a 10 point lead over DJ Foos and if he finished ahead of DJ he won the title outright. On a fast track, the heat race action was pretty much hammer down and hold your position, making for shootout in the A Main.

Philo and Foos brought the field to the green in the 30 lap A. Philo flew to the lead. A great battle for the top spot instantly as Foos was wanting to win for a shot at the title and Philo wanted to win to silence the haters. Lap 5, Cap Henry flips hard after battling hard with Trey Jacobs. Restart, RJ Jacobs spins. Green, a great battle as Andrews is moving towards the front as well. We now have Foos and Andrews neck and neck as Philo leads. Lap 12, Bradley Ashford stops. Restart, Buddy Kofoid stops. Green, Andrews makes a move and screams to the lead. the battle is on as Philo slides back to the point on lap 14. Lap 17, Jacobs stops again. Green, a great battle as Philo and Andrews battle and Foos is right there as well. As the laps wind down, Craig Mintz enters the picture. 5 to go, the title is coming down to the last few laps as Foos and Andrews run a spot a part. Lap 27, Andrews slows and coast to a stop!! A failed drive line. Foos now has the title in hand and has to complete the final 3 laps to win the title. Foos wanted more and battle Philo hard on the restart. Philo was not having any of that and held on for the win. Foos took home 2nd and the track championship, Mintz raced to 3rd.

In the 305 A Main, Jamie Miller continued to be the man to beat. Miller raced to his 5th Attica win in a row but, had to earn this one. Mike Keegan was all over his most of the A. Miller took the win and the track title.

Sunday it was time for a switch of pace and hit some pavement racing. The Must See Winged Sprint Car was set for a Sunday afternoon show at Sandusky Speedway. 24 cars were on hand. The heat race action was very good for them all moving into the A.

Anthony McCune and Ryan Litt brought the field to the green. Litt leaped to the lead. With a super fast pace set, and some crate sprints in the field, 4 laps and they were in traffic. Some crazy moves in traffic. A great battle up front though as the top 3 cars were all together dipping and diving their way through traffic. Sometimes 3 wide. Lap 20, a yellow as Komisarski has issues. Green, Jimmy McCune is coming for Litt after starting 6th. Lap 23, McCune speeds past Litt for the lead. McCune pulls away and takes the win. Litt and Brian Gerster finish on the podium.

Friday night Waynesfield Raceway Park opened up for its 3rd show of the season. A tribute one of the best sprint car drivers ever, The Rick Ferkel Classic was on tap for the FAST 410 sprint cars, 305 sprints, and mini sprints. The Helms family have done a lot of work and upgrades to the 1/4 mile oval. A good field of 32 410s, 22 305s, and 22 mini sprints were pit side.

On a fast track with a nice cushion, the 4 410 heats would transfer the top 4 to the A. Buddy Kofoid clips an infield tire in tiunr 4 during the 1st heat and flips hard. Buddy was okay but done for the night. Ricky Peterson raced to the win in a very close finish over Cap Henry. Lee Jacobs, and Kelsey Ivy. Heat 2, Cole Duncan cruised to the win over Justin Grant, Danny Mumaw, and Caleb Griffith. Heat 3, Mitch Harble caught the cushion and flipped hard off the top of turn 1. Mitch was okay. Another decide battle in this one seen Travis Philo hold off Nate Dussel for the win. DJ Foos and Brian Lay raced their way into the A. In heat 4, Cale Stinson climbed a right rear trying to ride the cushion in turn 1 and flipped hard off the track. Cale was a little banged up but walked away okay. TJ Michael raced to the win over Cale Conley, Tyler Gunn, and Cody Bova.

3 305 heats, all moving the the A. Mike Keegan gets into the cushion in turn 3 and digs in and flips. As Keegan was upside down on the track, Jacob Stickle slams into Keegan and flips. Both drivers thankfully was alright. Doing double duty, Ricky Peterson pulled off another win. This time over Mike Moore, Jamie Miller, and Larry Kingseed Jr. Heat 2, Shawn Valenti raced to the victory over Tyler Street, Chris Verda, and Seth Schneider. Heat 5, Jake Hesson flips. A good battle in this one was John Ivy raced to the win over Jimmy McGrath Jr, Dustin Rall, and Matt Lucius.

6 more 410s transfer to the A via the B Main. Stuart Brubaker held off a last race charge from Danny Smith to take the win. Adam Cruea, Kory Crabtree, up from 10th, Jordan Harble, and from the tail with a last lap turn 4 pass on Chad Wilson, Dan McCarron.

Dussel and Michael paced the field in the 30 lap $5000 to win Rick Ferkel Classic A Main. Dussel drives to the lead but Peterson spins for a yellow. Complete restart, Dussel drove to the lead once again but this time Jordan Harble flips in turn 1 as he made contact with McCarron. Restart 3, Dussel drives to the lead and finally no yellow or red. Dussel was looking good out front as things heated up quickly. Conley closed in as they started battling in traffic by lap 5. An excellent race upfront. Lap 11, Conley climbs to the lead. With the track just how you need it for a great race, a torrid battle upfront soon switched from a 2 csr battle to a 4 car battle as Michael and Duncan join Conley and Dussel upfront. 5 to go and its a barn burner. Dussel seems faster then Conley as he tries a slider the next 2 laps for the lead as Michael and Duncan are on his tail tank. With all 4 running the cushion, sliders were going to have to be the move to win.. Lap 27, Brubaker gets into the turn 3 cushion too hard and spins a few feet in front of the leaders. Conley, Dussel, and Duncan all get collected as somehow Michael squeezes between the fence and the pile to make it through the pile up. With 3 of the 4 cars that were in the lead pack battle, this puts Foos and a fast Henry on Michael's tail for the restart. TJ makes an excellent restart, going from the bottom to the top to block any slide job attempt on the start. Michael keeps the loud peddle pushed and races to the biggest win of his career. Foos, Henry, Jacobs, and Gunn.

McGrath Jr and Moore brought the 25 lap 305 A to the green. McGrath makes a good move entering turn 1 and takes the lead. McGrath is looking good upfront as he pulls away from the pack. Lap 8, Kyle Kruger spins. Restart, McGrath stumbles a bit entering turn 1 as Moore gets a run and throws a slider. McGrath taps the brake peddle to let Moore in so they don't make contact and Moore takes the lead. Another excellent race. Moore was holding off Ivy as Ivy tried high, then low, then high as Moore would keep the lead shutting the door on Ivy. Peterson was closing in fast with a few to go. The top 3 are now inches apart with 2 to go. Moore leads, Ivy tries to make a move and Peterson is on a mission. White flag, Moore leads into 1, Peterson squeezes Ivy and sets up for Moore entering 3. Ivy recovers and is on his tail. Peterson rides the cushion, gets into the Moore entering 4, Moore fights back as they bump, Moore gets pushed into Ivy, all 3 bumping off 4, Peterson squeezes past Moore by a few feet at the line for the win. Ivy, McGrath, and Street round out the top 5.

A wild night but some very awesome racing. The track was perfect for some hardcore bullring action with a heavy cushion and slick in the middle to the cushion. WMP: lived up to the excitement Friday for the Ferkel Classic. The Bob Hampshire Classic is next up Sept 7th at The Field. Look for an added date in October too. I hope they bring back the Oct show the used to have non wings, 410s, and 360s but I am not sure whats on the agenda yet. Heck a 2 day show would be awesome too!! Hey I can dream, my birthday is in Oct so I gotta wish for something.

As Knoxville week approaches, I am making my 1st return since 2016. That was such an awesome Nationals and with what happen months later, I haven't really wanted to rush back but decided its time. Hopefully another great Nationals is in store and we can get another 1st time winner, or a 2nd time winner for my 23rd trip to K-Ville. As I see people do for the Nationals, try to predict contenders and field makers,for fun I came up with my own 24, even though its very hard to do as I think this year several drivers are super competitive and could be wide open. So here we go, I think 1 of these 5 for the win: Sweet, Schuchart, Larson, Brown, and Schatz. The next 5: Gravel, Pittman, Shane Stewart, Terry McCarl, Eliason. Field markers: K Madsen, Reutzel, Kaeding. McFadden, Schuerenberg, I Madsen, Marks, Macedo, Rico, Zearfoss, Austin McCarl, Sheldon, Gio, and Sammy. Wild Cards: Shaffer, PPM, DeWease, McMahan, Dietrich, Thorson, Juhl, Starks, Allen, and Kinser. Not sure but hell we gotta have a little fun. As I look at the list there is 66 drivers I will be cheering for, an other 30 some I would be alright with if they won and really 3 i would rather not see win. As long as it is a safe nationals and good weather and good racing, it really don't matter.

Last week, one of my most favorite weeks of the year, King's Royal week took place. The 36th annual event would be the biggest not only in its history but the history in winged sprint car racing with a whopping $175,000 pay day.

Tuesday, the action kicked off at Attica Raceway Park for the 31st annual Brad Doty Classic. 49 WOO sprints were pit side. As engine heat was going on, mother nature raised her ugly face and some huge rain storms hit the track. After waiting for a while, the event was cancelled. The WOO wouldn't agree to a rain date. If you bought the tickets from the track, you can send you tickets in to the track for a refund or use it for any event yet in 2019 and get a refund for the difference. If you bought from the WOO, you have to call the number on the back of your ticket. GOOD NEWS alert, the Brad Doty Classic still lives for 2019! It will now take place as an All Star Sprint car show August 31st for $10,000 to win.

Wednesday, Eldora Speedway kicked off King Royal 36 a night early with the make up date for the Lets Race Two event that got rained out in May. The USAC Sprints and WOO Sprints on the same card, now both paying 10 g's to win. 28 USAC and 42 WOO sprints were pit side. Nick Bilbee flipped in hot laps for the USAC Sprints. Justin Grant USAC and Shane Stewart WOO set fast time of the night and a smooth fast Eldora Speedway.

3 exciting USAC Sprint heats seen plenty of action. With passing all over the place, 2 of the 3 winners came from the 6th stsrting position in the heat. Brady Bacon, Scotty Weir, and Tyler Courtney took the heat race wins. Issac Chapple, Justin Grant, Kody Swanson, Kevin Thomas Jr, CJ Leary, Dustin Christie, Chase Stockon, Zane Hendricks, Dave Darland, Chris Windom, Tom Harris, and Brody Roa all transferred to the A via the heats.

4 WOO heats with the top 5 going to the A. Some typical WOO heat action with the biggest charger being Kyle Larson charging from 6th to 3rd. Donny Schatz, Brad Sweet, Shane Stewart, and Logan Schuchart all took heat wins. Brian Brown, Greg Wilson, Sheldon Haudenschild, Paul McMahan, Carson Macedo, Brent Marks, Kerry Madsen, Brock Zearfoss, David Gravel, Kraig Kinser, Rico Abreu, Daryn Pittman, Tim Kaeding, Larson, Jacob Allen, and Joey Saldana all raced their way into the A via the heats.

7 drivers would race their way into the A via the USAC B Main. Matt Westfall would race to the win over Carson Short, Dallas Hewitt, Jason McDougal, Matt Goodnight, Corey Smith, and Michael Fischesser took transfer spots.

A pretty stout WOO C Main would move 2 cars to the B. Lee Jacobs took the win over Aaron Reutzel.

The Woo B Main would set the final 4 spots in the opening night's A Main. Cory Eliason would race to the win over Ian Madsen, Gio Scelzi, and Cale Thomas raced into the A. Some excellent last couple lap moves for transfer spots in the B.

Kevin Thomas Jr and Chase Stockon brought the 30 lap USAC A main to the green. Courtney made an amazing move from 4th to the lead by the time he exited turn 2 on the opening lap. Courtney quickly opened up a huge lead. Just like in May, Courtney was in an entire different zip code! Sunshine has something special going on at Eldora because he don't even make it a contest. For the 2nd time this season, Tyler just all out kicked the field's ass. Leading flag to flag and winning by half a track, Courtney took the win. Leary, Bacon, Stockon, Windom rounded out the top 5. A solid battle for the top 5 spots was happening most of the A.

Macedo and Sweet paced the field in the 30 lap WOO A Main. Sweet swept to the lead as the field raced into turn 1. Sweet has been fast all year long and was looking to extend his series points lead. Schatz didn't waste anytime and moved past Sweet for the lead on lap 5. As usual this time of the season, Schatz heats up and he is looking good in this one. Lap 15, Kerry Madsen stops. Green, Schatz leads as another Madsen slows the field on lap 19 as Ian stops this time. Restart, Eliason and Sides collide for a yellow. Green, Schatz holds strong and holds the lead. The month of money start and Don Don don't look like he has missed a beat as he has this one handled. Schatz takes the win over Gravel, Schuchart, Sweet, and Wilson. All in all a decent opening night.

Thursday the Joker's Wild night at Eldora as the 36th annual King's Royal weekend officially kicks off. 54 WOO cars are ready for action. With high temps and heat index in the lows 100s, the Eldora track crew did an amazing job as it is racy and quick again. Shane Stewart sets quick time with a 13.02.

6 heats with the top 3 moving to the A. I won't preach about the regular WOO format because if you follow me, you know I hate it and this night shows why. The track is in excellent shape, track crew did a kick ass job, and the heats because of the format produce little passing. Of the 18 cars moving to the A, 3 from each heat, only 3 of the 18 drivers started outside of the top 3 of their heat but WOO thinks that is great and said it is only 2% difference when they invert. Stayed tuned later for the Saturday results and we will see.

Heat wins went to Shane Stewart, Brad Sweet, Joey Saldana, David Gravel, Donny Schatz, and Jac Haudenschild. Carson Macedo, Daryn Pittman, Sammy Swindell, Ian Madsen, Brock Zearfoss, Cory Eliason, Logan Schuchart, Brian Brown, Dale Blaney, Sheldon Haudenschild, Sye Lynch, and Brent Marks raced into the A via the heats.

The D Main would take 2 to the C. Tom Harris flipped in the D. Justin Peck went on to win over Cale Conley.

The names got bigger and bigger as it went on. The C would transfer 2 to the B. Chad Kemenah took the win over Kerry Madsen. Justin Peck was the show, charging from 13th to just falling short of the final transfer spot in 3rd. Madsen raced up from 8th place as well to a transfer spot. Told you it was racy and perfect for passing.

The Last Chance Showdown as we have to call it for the WOO, its not the B, lol, would take the top 6 to the A. RJ Jacobs found the all in the B. Tim Kaeding cruised to the win over Rico Abreu, James McFadden, Paul McMahan, Gio Scelzi, and Aaron Reutzel,

Sweet and Schatz paced the 30 lap A Main. A great battle instantly when the green flag dropped. Sweet speed to the lead. Lap 2, Schatz slide to the lead. Lap 3, Sweet speed back past for the lead as the duo battled hard the first part of the A, neither one giving an inch. Lap 11, Saldana slows. Green, Sweet gets a good restart and maintains the lead. Gravel and Schuchart start to make some noise as they close in on Schatz. Sweet has been stout all year and leads the WOO's in A Main wins. This night was all Sweet as Brad extended his win total and raced to the Big E victory lane. Schatz, Gravel, up from 10th, Schuchart, and Macedo round out the top 5. A good night of racing as the Eldora track surface has been spot on!

Friday we move to the $12,000 to win Knight Before The King's Royal. 60 cars are now pit side. Once again, the Eldora track crew has been on it as the track is just like the prior nights. David Gravel sets quick time at 13.005.

Same deal, 6 heats, top 3 to the A. The heat race action was pretty darn good with the most passing and jockeying for position so far on the weekend. David Gravel, Brian Brown, Donny Schatz, Logan Schuchart, Carson Macedo, and Cory Eliason took heat wins. The only incident was a Jim Perricone spin in heat 2. Dale Blaney, Gio Scelzi, Brad Sweet, Kraig Kinser, Brock Zearfoss, Sheldon Haudenschild, Daryn Pittman, Buddy Kofoid, Rico Abreu, Shane Stewart, Bill Balog, and Jacob Allen raced into the A via the heats.

Adam Cruea flips on the start of the D. Adam was up most of the night before finishing the car for the weekend as bad luck struck on his first night out for the King's Royal. Each night some bigger names or very good drivers are in these mains with such a loaded field and this night is no different. Hunter Schuerenberg took the win over Travis Philo.

The C Main once again took 2 to the B. James McFadden took the win over Brandon Wimmer. Wimmer held off a charging Sammy Swindell for the final transfer spot.

The final 6 drivers would race their way into the A Main via the Last Chance Showdown. It looked like a Madsen shootout for a while. Kerry Madsen went on to win over Parker Price Miller who was in a Madsen sandwich as Ian Madsen, Sye Lynch, Dave Blaney, and Tim Kaeding earned their way to the A.

Schatz and Pittman brought the field to the green in the 30 lap contest. Schatz to no surprise shot to the lead. Don Don was out front cruising, crushing all the fans hopes that his some what off year for wins was going to stay that way. As Donny lead lap after lap, the crowd ignited as Schuchart speed his way to the front after starting 10th. Logan looked to be very fast and was ready to battle Donny. Gravel was holding strong too as a great battle was emerging as the top 3 were almost 3 wide. Gravel and Schuchart was applying heavy pressure in lapped traffic. Just as is looked like Gravel was making a move for the lead, the yellow flies on lap 27 as Eliason spins, ruining a great battle for the lead. With Donny looking like he maybe a bit slower than the other 2, the restart was key. Schatz got a great run as the crowd dropped their heads, knowing it was over. Schatz took the win over Gravel, Schuchart, Rico, and Pittman.

Hear ye, hear ye it's Saturday already as the 36th annual King's Royal was about to make history with the largest paid to win winged 410 race in the sports history at $175,000. I've been blessed enough to witness all the King's Royal races in its history so I could fell the excitement level of the drivers and fans. Speaking of fans, a mega crowd as a record number of fans flocked the Big E even in 100 degree temps and heat index weather. It was hot! A great pre race meet and greet with several sprint car podcast and website groups was an excellent time.

62 cars were ready to become the richest King's Royal champion. The track, let me tell you, it was fantastic! Anyone that bitches about this weekend, go play golf because you sure the hell arent a race fan because they hit it out of the park. Another amazing job as Sye Lynch shocked the 35,000 plus fans setting quick time with a 13,019 So that;s 3 nights in a row quick time was in the 13,0 range with the first night 13,10, hmmm can you say consistent. The traditional King's Royal format was used with a slight twist this year. The standard King's Royal format, yes WOO tried to change it a few times in the event history but the Eldora staff quickly changed it back to how it has been for years. Which btw, I love! Make them pass and they will! The format is 6 heats, top 6 inverted. The winners of heat 1 starts 6th in the A, winner of heat 2 starts 5th in the A, and so on. So the winner of heat 6 starts on the pole of the A. Same way with 2nd and 3rd in the heat. Well of course everyone wants to be in heat 5 or 6 to try and get the front row of the A. So the twist was the Joust. The 6 fastest qualifiers were brought to the stage for a revenge draw, meaning you drew a pill for a starting spot in the Joust, aka Dash, but you had to give it to one of the other starters and can't keep it. So that set the line up and was very entertaining and fun. Now the Joust race. 8 laps, how you finish the Joust is how you now get to pick what heat you wanna race in. It is the same heat and line up, but the twist is heat 1 may now be heat 6, or heat 6 now be heat 1, or how ever it goes by who wins and then they get to pick their heat on the front stretch after the Joust. Pittman took the win and shocked the crowd when he picked heat 1, meaning he could only start no better than 6th in the A and picked the worse starting spots if you got 2nd or 3rd. Anyways, I like the draw but the race wasn't too good. I say do the draw with the heat winner after the heat and determine the top 6 starting spots that way in a revenge draw and forget the race. Of course a lot of hurt feelings and egos could happen doing it that way.

6 heats, top 3 make the A and then the 2 fastest cars that don't transfer via the heats start 19th and 20th in the A. With some surprises in the top few spots would those guys push it hard in the heats. Some excellent heat race action, fantastic battles and passing all over the place. Slide jobs, and side by side excellent racing. Brad Sweet, Cory Eliason, Aaron Reutzel, Kerry Madsen, Donny Schatz, and Sammy Swindell won heats. Sye Lynch and Tom Harris didn't push the issues, Lynch actually pulled in with 2 laps in his heat, and they took their automatic A Main spots. Harris had to wait for Schuchart to make it 1st which was no issue. So back to my invert rant, well 10 of the 18 transfers via the heats started 4th or farther back! Not counting if Lynch or Harris may have pushed it, it may have been more. The prior 2 nights, of the 36 transfer spots only 8 started 4th or farther back but oh there is only 2% difference according to WOO math. All I can say is excellent job to the Eldora track prep crew because it was perfect for racing all weekend long. Cale Thomas, Daryn Pittman, Tim Shaffer, Dale Blaney, Sheldon Haudenschild, Gio Scelzi, Jac Haudenschild, Brent Marks, David Gravel, Rico Abreu, Logan Schuchart, and Brock Zearfoss made the A via the heats.

6 from the C to the B. RJ Jacobs flips on the start collecting Travis Philo, Jim Perricone, and Andrew Scheuerle. Gary Taylor slows the action once it gets going. Tim Kaeding takes the win over Greg Wilson, Cale Conley, Carson Mecedo, Kraig Kinser, and Hunter Schuerenberg.

Only 4 go from the B to the A. Parker Price Miller has issues on the start and is falls off the pace in front of the pack off 2 and coast down the track. As the pack races into 3, the yellow just flips on as they reach PPM. Skylar Gee gets crossed up and flips hard. After Gee climbs from his car PPM and Gee has some words and soon a half ass wrestling match breaks out. Lee Jacobs got some damage as well. Ian Madsen raced to the win over Justin Peck, Brock Zearfoss and with a last lap move Shane Stewart. This put 6 drivers into the A that has never started a King's Royal main event.

Something I love driver introduction! Even though they will never ever be as good as Terry Baltes did them, this year there was some great ones topped off by Sammy Swindell showing his fun side. Sammy set a record for the older driver to have to pole for the King's Royal A at 63 and had one of the best heat race interviews in Royal history. Yes, folks, the same Sammy Swindell we all know. I knew he has humor and stuff like that for years that he never shown much but he did on this night and it was a huge hit.

Swindell and Schatz brought the 40 lap A to the green. Swindell slide to the lead as Schatz battled him hard. They ran side by side for a lap and a half before Swindell opened the gap. Lap 3, Harris spins. Restart, Pittman finds the wall. Green, Swindell gets a good start and opens the gaps instantly. Schuchart is on the move and clicking off spots right and left. Lap 11, Schuchart takes the lead after charging from 10th. The crowd is going nuts as Schuchart leads and Schatz starts to fall back as Gravel and Sweet race towards the front and the battle is on. Lap 25, Reutzel blows a tire and slows. During the yellow, the red comes out for a medical emergency in the pits. It becomes an open red as Richard Marshall from the Marshall Stenhouse Racing team fell off the trailer and needed to be transported. Richard will make a full recovery thanks to the quick action by the Eldora safety crew. Green, Schuchart stumbles, Sweet is on it and takes the lead. Schuchart gets to rolling again and the battle is on once again. As they keep people on the edge of their seat, Marks is drawing attention as he enters the top 3 after starting 19th. They all try but its all Sweet. Brad Sweet takes the win over Schuchart, up from 10th, Marks, up from 19th, Sheldon Haudenschild, up from 9th, and Gravel, up from 11th. Sweet started 6th. Not 1 driver in the top 5 started in the top 5 but hey who the hell likes inverts.

An excellent King's Royal! This ranks right up there for one of the best ones. An amazing job well done by all the Eldora crew. From the track prep, to the concession workers that were slammed in the heat, to the place looking super clean each day all in 100 plus temps and while many other tracks cancelled. I tell you, it dont get much better than it was last weekend and it truly lived up to all the hype. Next year July 16th, 17th, 18th is Royal Time. Will it be 175k again, who knows but we do know if its anything like this year, you wont wanna miss it.

The week of Ohio Sprint Speedweek is usually really hot, or its rainy, well this year it was just crazy! All the rain messed the week up but a new standard my have been set for upcoming years as well. With some shows switching venues day of or night before the races with only social media and word of mouth to spread the news. It seemed to work excellent and hopefully it carries over to next year and beyond. I truly wondered why this have never been attempted before now.

With Thursday, after rain outs in Ohio, it was time to head southwest to Anderson Indiana for their 1st Thursday night show of the year for the AVSS Sprints and USSA Midgets. 18 sprint cars and 7 midgets were on hand.

15 cars lined up for the 125 lap sprint car A Main. On these shows, all they do is time in and draw and invert and run a 125 lap main event. Travis Welpott and Justin Grant brought the field to the green. Welpott whipped to the lead. Welpott was fast enough to lead but seemed like the next handful of drivers behind him were faster as the lead pack consisted of 8 cars, nose to tail and side by side for the 1st several laps. Good clean tight racing as the laps clicked off and kept the fan excited as Grant was glued to Welpott's bumper. Lap 46, Welpott got into 2 a bit different and Grant tried to make a quick move, contact as Welpott's left rear goes over Grant's right front. Welpott goes for a ride and flips, slamming the wall hard. Travis was alright as Grant inherits the lead with a wounded front end. Grant leads as the pack is still nose to tail but, they 6 cars behind Grant seem to be getting a little antsy. Bobby Santos, Kody Swanson, and Aaron Pierce are trying to make some moves. Grant seems to be holding up the pack a bit but, has a great drive off the turns and maintains the lead. As the pack comes to complete lap 71, Grant pulls to the infield as Pierce pounces to the lead. Pierce opens the gap up a little as he is on a rail. Just when it looked like Pierce was running away, Santos started a huge charge towards the lead. Lap after lap, Santos was reeling Pierce in. 4 to go, Santos is there. 3 to go, Santos clips a lapped car going into 1, all but slams the wall but gathers it in. This gave Pierce all he needed to race to the win. Santos, Swanson, Nick Hamilton, and Kyle O'Gara rounded out the top 5.

Tommy Kouns took the lead about the quarter way point in the USSA Midget A Main and cruised to the win.

Friday, after Limaland was rained out the night before, the Ohio Sprint Speedweek show was moved to the Atomic Speedway, who lost their show Wednesday. A beautiful day with a large crowd and a great field of 46 cars on hand. This was the first race with the newly configured Atomic track, that has a wall up around the majority of the track now, plus the track is shorter. The turn 1 and 2 wall is in about 20 feet give or take from the old wall. The new track is fast and now has a cushion all the way around and I think its very racy and exciting track for sure now. John Garvin slammed the wall in hot laps. Steve Butler got put on the hook after a push truck ended his night.

5 heats with the top 4 going to the A. Heat 1, DJ Foos climbs the turn 1 wall and flips hard. Brock Zearfoss zipped to the win over Aaron Reutzel, Paul McMahan and Cale Conley. Heat 2, Ricky Peterson jumped in one of the ruts and flipped hard on top of the wall. Brandon Wimmer took the win over Gerard McIntrye, Cory Eliason, and Lee Jacobs. Heat 3, coming to the checkered flag, entering turn 3, leader Brinton Marvel got in 3 a little too hard, climbed the wall and hit the fence hard, going through the fence and bouncing off the turn 3 grandstands. Thank God, all that happened was 1 fan received a broken back. Tony Stewart determined it was time to pull the All Star out for the night, without warning to the track as the car sat on the track during the red. The stands was cleared and the track raced on or wanted too with the entire program. They did with the late models and mods. After a lot of confusion in the pits and stands since the track was surprised and no real talks took place, the sprint car teams were leaving. A handful wanted to race and handful not. Everyone was really left in the dark and no announcements were made besides the All Stars left. I see both sides for sure and not saying by any means a bad decision was made, I do think it was 100% handled wrong by both parties. 5 minutes of talking and planning a course of action would have went a long ways and probably would have made for some more understanding from fans, teams, drivers, and keep a lot of the social media bashing down but real life times and happenings who knows, I might have handled it the same way. All I do know is, thank God everyone in going to be alright and everyone can walk back into Atomic Speedway on another day and try again and that is for sure the best case scenario. Hopefully after claimer heads came about, everything will be fine and sprint cars will be back soon as I for one REALLY like the track now! I did before but man it is exciting now. I stayed and seen a good late model race and one hell of mod race.

Saturday, it was back up to the Wayne County Speedway for the $10,000 Ohio Speedweek Finale. An excellent field of 50 cars were pit side. DJ Foos was quick time of the night with a bent race car. 5 heats, top 4 to the A. Some wild heat race action!

Heat 1, Aaron Reutzel tries to squeeze Brandon Wimmer off 4, Wimmer don't back down and Reutzel spins into the wall. Cory Eliason spins. Jac Haudenschild brings a loud roar from the capacity crowd as he takes the win over DJ Foos, Parker Price Miller, and Wimmer. Reutzel shows some displeasure towards Wimmer after the race. Which I am not sure why. All Wimmer did was not bow down to the famous Reutzel squeeze play that you see him do a lot and it bite him this time. Wimmer did zero wrong. Heat 2, Gerard McIntyre raced to the win over Cale Conley, Greg Wilson, Jordan Harble. Heat 3, Buddy Kofoid held on for the win over Rico Abreu Trevor Baker, and Dean Jacobs. Heat 4, Trey Jacobs goes for the spins cycle twice before going pit side. The Low Rider is back as Dale Blaney blew to the win over Justin Peck, Gio Scelzi, and Chad Kemenah. Heat 5, Hunter Schuerenberg slows while running in a transfer spot. Skylar Gee and Cap Henry make contact and both spin battling for the final transfer spot. Broc Martin brought the cheers from the hometown crowd again as he raced to the win over Tim Shaffer, Ryan Broughton, and from the tail Paul McMahan.

As wild as the heats were, what would the B Main bring? On the start, Hunter Lynch and Cole Duncan crash on the start. Tony Stewart spins into the turn 1 wall. Smoke isn't happy with Mitch Harble and gets out of his car as the field idles around and shows Harble what he thinks. 2 bad starts later and we are green, Chad Riney spins. Reutzel stops while in a transfer spot. Butler and Riney crash. After a wild race, Harble takes the win even if he isnt into birds like Smoke tried to give him. Jess Stiger, Andrew Palker and after Brock Zearfoss and Cap Henry slammed each other the last 3 laps, Zearfoss and Henry punted themselves right out of a spot as TJ Michael snuck around the bottom and raced to the final transfer spot.

PPM and Martin brought the field to the green in the 35 lap A Main. Price Miller pounced to the lead on the start. PPM was looking good as the packed raced hard behind him. Lap 8, Mitch Harble goes off the top of 2 as the red comes out. Restart, its all PPM upfront lap after lap, looking like he is on cruise control the first 2/3rds of the race. Blaney and Kofoid start to close in. Kofoid starts to battle for the lead with 10 to go. 8 to go, Kofoid jumps the rail coming off 2 and drops back as Blaney blast past him. Blaney is now on PPM's tail. 2 laps later, Kofoid makes it a 3 car battle. PPM gets a break in traffic and Kofoid gets past Blaney with 3 to go. White flag, PPM leads into 1 as Kofoid gets a break bite and shoots off 2 with a cross over moves and zips past PPM at the end of the back stretch. Into 3, off 4, Kofoid brings the large crowd to their feet as he takes the win. It is not only 10 grand, its his first All Star win of his career. PPM, Blaney, Martin, and Abreu round out the top 5.

After lots a drinks the last few days and little sleep, the weekend wasn't over yet. Sunday, it was a date of the calendar I have been looking forward too all year. Non Wing sprint cars return to the super fast wicked Winchester high banks!! The trip down Indiana's Route 27 brought back several childhood memorials of Sunday afternoon family trips to Winchester. The sun was bright as so was the smiles on many fans as a great crowd was on hand. Only 16 cars but its Winchester so you know its going to be good. It totally sucks that Winchester Speedway staff worked their ass off to give pavement sprint car racing exactly what they have been wanting, another huge payday besides the Little 500 and only 16 cars supported it. 22 bonus awards, $2000 in lap $$ and an $8000 to win, $1100 to start purse. I know Jimmy and Kirk want to make this a yearly deal and grow it so hopefully the support comes too. With that said, it was a great show no matter what the car count was.

Caleb Armstrong took $250 for fast time of the day. 2 heats with all cars moving to the A. Some good heat action seen Kyle O'Gara and Aaron Pierce take wins.

O'Gara and Tyler Roahrig paced the 40 lap A Main. O'Gara grabs the lead on the start. The first half of the race was amazing as a 7 car battle, dip and dive, slip and slide, old school Winchester style upfront. Those guys were putting on a show as their brass balls seems to be shining because that is what it takes to race like that upfront at Winchester in a non wing sprints. Lap 11, Bobby Santos slides to the lead. Still a good battle as Armstrong is quickly making a move. Lap 19, Armstrong takes the lead. Caleb starts to pull away. Still a great battle within the top 5 but Armstrong is checked out. In a race that went green to checkered, it didn't take long til Armstrong seen the checkered flag wave, taking the huge win. Jacob Wilson, Santos, Pierce, and Shane Cottle rounded out the top 5. A huge shout out to the Winchester staff as well of switching the program up some to make sure the incoming rains didn't ruin the day. I will for sure be back and you should be too if sprint cars return again. I don't care if you like pavement or not, Winchester is well worth a visit and is very exciting.

Saturday: AFCS & NRA Fremont OH, GLSS & MTS Mt Pleasant MI, AVSS Non Wing Baer Field IN, MSCS Brownstown IN

It is starting to get old that I have to start each week by saying how much of a pain in the ass mother nature has been this season. With the 37th annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek kicking off Friday, everyone has been thinking will this rain stop. Well, so far no. So after Saturday's rain out, I jumped in the car and went to the only sprint car race that wasn't 7 plus hours away, it was just 4 hours away. I got my track total up to 156 now as I pulled into Silver Bullet Speedway for the MTS Sprints show just outside of Owendale Michigan.

Friday, the 37th annual All Star Sprints Ohio Sprint Speedweek kicked off at Attica Raceway Park. An awesome field of 53 cars were pit side. With drivers from all across the land as there usually is for Speedweek, Aaron Reutzel held up his All Star crown from last season still and set quick time of the night.

The heat races on opening night of Speedweek just once again proved to me why the All Stars have the best format there is for a series. 5 heats, top 4 to the A and some of the best heat action I've seen all year. Heat 1, Cale Thomas and Aaron Reutzel was having an excellent battle upfront til contact and Thomas went for a ride. Thomas, rightfully upset walked away to get ready to make repairs. Kyle Larson raced to the win over Reutzel, Dale Blaney, and Craig Mintz. Heat 2, Steve Butler flew off the top of turn 1 on the start. Green again, they made it to turn 3 this time when Lee Jacobs made a huge move for position but got in too hot and ran into Hunter Schuerenberg, causing Jacobs to flip high into the air, ending his night. Justin Peck held off a charging DJ Foos for the win. Bill Balog and in a late race battle, Greg Wilson raced into the A. In heat 3, Aussie invader Darren Mollenoyux spins. Broc Martin spun once things got back under way. During the caution, Jac Haudenschild, who was in a transfer spot, got dq'ed for not having a proper working Raceceiver. Buddy Kofoid cruised to the win over Tony Stewart, Gary Taylor, and Chris Andrews. At the start of heat 4, pole sitter Travis Philo got tagged entering turn 1 and spins. Philo would enter the spin cycle again during the heat and Josh Baughman would take his turn in it as well. Parker Price-Miller took the win over Spencer Bayston in a good battle. Trey Jacobs and Brock Zearfoss raced their way into the A. Heat 5, Travis Esh spins. Cory Eliason was next up to spin. One more, Ayrton Olsen spins next. TJ Michael pulled off the win over Tim Shaffer, Stuart Brubaker, and Byron Reed.

A stacked C Main, seen Philo, Haudenschild, and Rico Abreu scratch from the event. George Harbaugh and Olsen make contact for an incident. Another Aussie invader, Allen Woods spins. Paul McMahan took the win over Cale Conley.

Dash 1 seen a former NASCAR standout and a current NASCAR standout battle as Larson took the win over Stewart. Dash 2, Reutzel beat the youngster Kofoid.

As per usually at a lot of the Speedweek shows, the B Main looked as talented as most A Mains at any other show. Schuerenberg lead flag to flag for the win over Eliason, Caleb Helms, and with an awesome run Nate Dussel.

Larson and Reutzel paced the field for the 40 lap A Main. Reutzel ripped to the lead as the green light flashed on. A good battle already as 3 cars fight up front. Lap 4, Stewart slide off the top of turn 4. Green, Reutzel leads as Larson and Kofoid are right there just behind the 87 car. Lap 9, Andrews slows. Restart, Jacobs spins. Green, Reutzel leads as Larson starts to close. A great battle as they enter lapped traffic. Lap 15, Balog gets spun right in front of the leaders, Reutzel tags Balog and flips. Larson somehow all but spun and missed Balog and kept rolling as Kofoid who was right there slide past as well. Larson is your new leader. Green, Larson leads as Kofoid gives him a battle. Just past the half way point, Kofoid starts to fade as Larson keeps pulling away. Larson is up to a 7 second lead as Blaney and Kofoid battle. Larson whips the field and takes the win. Blaney, Kofoid, Foos, and Shaffer round out the top 5.

A great opening night of Speedweek. Larson stunk up the A main but a great battle in the early stages and a hell of a battle for 2nd to 4th made it a decent A Main. I think all sprint car A Mains on tracks smaller than a half mile should be 40 laps, just seems to make it very interesting, I also believe there should NEVER be only a 25 lap A Main or less! While we are on it, all major sprint car races that pay $50,000 or more should be 50 laps no matter how big the track.

Saturday, after all races within 3 hours rained out, I took the adventure to a track I have been wanting to get to the last few years, the Silver Bullet Speedway. The MTS Michigan Tradition Sprints were on hand with 19 cars in the pits. I must say, the track owners and pit gate people were very welcoming and made me think right away, the trip was already worth it. A nice 2o minute talk with them and just seeing how thankful they were for some outsiders to show up was very \warming and made me think these people get it. The track, a decent little track that they have been sinking many improvements into. If you get a chance, I would for sure recommend making a trip up there. Its too bad more people didn't as a terrible crowd of less than 300 people made him loss his ass on this night. He could of easy said, we are done when it sprinkled once like I have seen many other places do. Nope, he held true to their word, we are racing and we will run the program. Showed me right there once again, these guys get every night isnt a great one as a track owner but they are setting a standard of keeping his word which to me should go a long way with fans, teams, and drivers.

3 sprint car heats with all cars moving to the A. Heat 1, Chad Wilson whipped to the lead and never looked back. Wilson won by a straightaway over Jay Steinebach and Cody Howard. Heat 2, Joey Irwin sealed the deal and took the win over Travis LaCombe and Chris Wilson. Wilson is the crew chief for his brother Chad but was behind the wheel of a 2nd Wilson Racing entry. Heat 3, Max Frank took an impressive win over Mike Galadja and Mike Moore.

LaCombe and Irwin brought the 20 lap, yes 20 laps Emoji A Main to the green. MTS seems stuck on 20 lap A's. LaCombe leaps to the lead on the start. Steinebach was quick to make a move and slide to the lead on lap 2. Steinebach had the right idea and there wasn't too much passing happening after his move to the lead. As Steibebach pulled away, a tight battle raged for 2nd to 5th, sometimes almost too tight of a battle as they almost hit several times. It was all Steinebach in this one. The flag to flag 20 lapper seen Steinebach go unchallenged as he raced to the win. Galadja, Irwin, Wilson, and Gregg Dalman rounded out the top 5.

PLEASE keep an eye out on Twitter and Facebook if you are following Ohio Sprint Speedweek. There is some back up plans for a few shows if there is a rain out at 1 track, it may move to another track that night. Or there might be 2 shows Saturday, so PAY ATTENTION. I absolutely love they are trying this and trying what they can to get a race in! I hope if they change tracks on a night, the track don't lose their butts. Let's show them if this does happen, social media can be a great tool as well to get the word out and get fans to the proper track that night.

Saturday All Stars Wayne Co OH, SOD Butler MI, GLSS Crystal MI, USAC Sprints Putnamville IN

Well to say the least I've been super busy, even with all of the rain. With running the newly formed AFCS Series, On The Throttle Radio, Dirt Nerds, and HoserVille Ohio, and oh yeah doing my regular job of running a business, its slowed me a little on getting a new Tri-State Outlook out but here I am.

Last week, I started off Tuesday with the opener of USAC Indiana Midget Week. This is one of the best weeks of the year I believe. Sprints each night with midgets and most time other class added in. 38 midgets and 18 sprints made their way to the Montpelier Speedway. With all of the rain, this was actually their 1st race of the 2019 season! Kyle Simon found the wall in sprint car hot laps and Sterling Cling flips in midgets time trials.

The Montpelier track was a bit drier than usual but with all the rain in the region the night before and that morning, I had no issue with them playing it safe and not flooding the place. It still produced some good racing. In the midget heats, there was plenty of passing, some last lap passes for transfer spots, and some banging for final transfer spot. Idk what else you could ask for. Tanner Carrack, Logan Seavey, Zach Daum, and Cannon McIntosh took heat wins. The sprint car heats, only 6 scheduled for each heat. The one heat ended up with 5 cars but was the best 5 car heat race I have ever seen. Some more good racing. Lee Underwood, Kevin Thomas Jr, and Thomas Meseraull took the wins. Meseraull took the Midget B Main win as well.

Seavey and Zeb Wise lead the midget field to the green. Wise whipped to the lead. With a big lip up on the cushion, that was the fast way around and tricky to pass. It was slick on the bottom to the curb up top, making for some huge sliders. Just as Seavey gets past Wise, T Mez slows on lap 5. Green, Wise leads but Seavey is all over him. Lap 7, Seavey slips to the lead. Seavey pulls away as a torrid battle is raging for 2nd to 6th. Tanner Thorson makes a late race charge but can't get to Seavey. Seavey takes the win over Thorson and Wise.

Meseraull and Brady Bacon paced the 25 lap sprint car A Main. A great battle from the drop of the green as Clinton Boyles leads lap 1. An instant battle as T Mez takes over on lap 2. T Mez pulls away as Boyles slip back. Lap 6, Cling stopped off the back stretch. With the track taking rubber on the lip, its takes a huge sack and some give and take to make a pass. Lap 8, Boyles tried a huge slider on Issac Chapple and punts Chapple hard as Issac flips. Green, T Mez pulls away as everyone plays nice the next several laps. As the laps wind down, heavy traffic is blocking the lead pack. Lap 23, Boyles tangles with the lapped car of Brian Ruhlman as Ruhlman was playing a major road block for the leaders. Restart, KTJ gets a run, throws the slider, and takes the lead as the white flag is out. Thomas Jr pulls away as crowd is stunted. KTJ takes the win over T Mez, Underwood, and Bacon. All in all some pretty good racing and why I love midget week.

Wednesday, it was off to the Gas City I69 Speedway for night 2 of Indiana Midget week. 40 midgets, 25 sprints and 16 mini sprints are pit side. The track is smooth, fast, and extremely tacky. Everyone at Gas City did and excellent job of getting ready for the mid week show.

With a track that had heavy grip, it was hammer down in the midget heats. With cars 4 wide at times, the midget heats had some exciting moments. Tyler Courtney, Holley Holland, Logan Seavey, and Kevin Thomas Jr won the heats. The sprint car heats had cars pulling the wheels off the ground and bicycling and some action. Brady Bacon, Kevin Thomas Jr, and Tim Creech took the wins.

A loaded midget field seen Brady Bacon in the C and take the win. Tanner Thorson took the B. Young Korbyn Hayslett took the sprint car B Main win.

CJ Leary and Justin Grant brought the midget A Main to the green. Grant grabbed the lead as the field raced into turn 1. The track still had a lot of grip and was hammer down. Lap 2 Jesse Colwell slows. Grant pulls way on the restart. As Grant is in his own zip code, a good battle behind him is taking place. Lap 15, Shane Golobic spins. Lap 16, Colwell spins. Green, its still all Grant out front. No one can even remotely think about running Grant down, he is on a rail. Lap 28, Tucker Klaasmeyer spins. This bunches the pack as one of the front pack cars don't take off, the line at cone stacked up collecting Karsyn Elledge and Jerry Coons Jr. Green again, Grant once again pulls away. Grant takes the win over McIntosh, Kyle Larson, and Jason McDougal.

Bacon and KTJ paced the 25 lap sprint car A Main. Bacon blast to the lead on the start. Lap 2, Thomas Jr slides to the lead. A tight battle up front as KTJ can't break free from the pack. Lap 11, Hayslett spins. KTJ leads as Bacon tries to come at him for the lead as the race side by side. Lap 16, Brad Greenup spins. Green, KTJ and Bacon battle as we go yellow on lap 18. Kyle Robbins, battling for 4th, got over the cushion and Clinton Boyles can't get slowed down and slams into him. Boyles pushed back off. KTJ and Bacon battle again as lap 21, Boyles and Billy Cribbs tangle. Bacon gets one more shot at Thomas Jr. KTJ lays down some good laps and takes the win for 2 in a row. Bacon, Max Adams, and Corey Smith round out the top 4. Another good night of racing, Grant was untouchable in the midget A but the battle behind him was very good.

One of the busiest weeks of the year in Ohio, the 37th annual All Star Sprints Ohio Sprint Speedweek kicks off Friday. 9 races, 9 straight nights...Max Stambaugh and the JKR 23 have split ways...Caleb Helms and the Seeling 97 have split ways too.

Friday: All Stars Attica OH, GLSS I-96 MI, NRA Lima OH, SOD Gas City IN, AVSS Non Wing Kalamazoo MI

Saturday: All Stars Eldora OH, BOSS Fremont OH, SOD Butler MI, SOD Silver Bullet MI

It took 1505.4 miles of driving, with little sleep a few days but, I hit 6 races in 5 days last week. Weather played a little factor but was very blessed that it didn't spoil any of the weekend.

Thursday. I made the trip to the Indiana State Fairgrounds for the 64th Hoosier 100 and last car race at the Indy mile. I have been there for a few Hoosier 100 races and the WOO shows. It is a true shame a track with history of auto racing dating back to 1903 in shutting down due to gambling on horses. There is a nice horse track there already but I guess they want a mile track. I can safely say I will not be back to support the Indy Fairgrounds in any way or shape for taking away the race track. On a very beautiful picture perfect night, 39 USAC Silvercrown cars were ready to roll. Kevin Thomas Jr set quick time of the night.

With the top 24 cars in qualifying making the A, the rest of the 30 car field came from the last chance race. Jason McDougal made his 2nd ever Silvercrown start and found the cushion in the B and road it to the win.

KTJ and Chris Windom brought the big cars to the green for the final 100 laps at the mile. Windom whipped into the lead at the start. A great battle and KTJ pulled side by side with Windom, battling for the lead. Lap 6, the race came to a grinding halt as Windom shreds a right rear tire in the middle of the front stretch, shooting hard into the wall. A nasty series of flips with cars flying past at 140 mph. Windom's car was junk but Chris walked away thank god. Truly one of the worse crown wrecks I've seen. KTJ is the new leader as the field takes the green once again. Thomas Jr was on a rail, pulling to a huge lead. As he looked untouchable, many eyes shifted to McDougal as he was running the cushion and passing several cars. Just when it looked to be over, lap 92, Chris Dyson took a nasty flip in turn 2. Dyson was okay. This put Tyler Courtney on the tail tank of Windom. Green, Courtney gets a huge run and throws it up on the high line and takes the lead entering turn 1. Courtney is the new leader and pulling away. Sunshine pulled off a bright move on the restart and it paid off as he lead the final 7 laps to take the win. Windom, Kody Swanson, Justin Grant, up from 13th, and Brady Bacon rounded out the top 5. An awesome with a huge crowd and many many former drivers walking through out the fairgrounds.

Friday, after a day at work, it was off to Attica Raceway Park for the All Star Sprints. 40 All Stars and 25 305s were on hand. Aaron Reutzel was quick right out of the box setting fast time of the night with a 12.307 lap.

The 4 All Star heats produced some good racing and seen some great battles for the final transfer spots. Cap Henry, Broc Martin Max Stambaugh, and Buddy Kofoid took the heat wins. Kelsey Ivy got on her side in heat 4.

The 3 305 heats showcased the best support class I think Ohio has to offer. Some more good racing as Tyler Street, Jamie Miller, and Paul Weaver took heat wins. Chris Verda flips in heat 1. Kevin Mingus flips in heat 2, collecting Kasey Ziebold.

2 All Star Dash events are up next to set up the first 5 rows of the A. Brock Zearfoss took Dash 1. Buddy Kofoid raced from 3rd to take the Dash 2 win.

The All Star B will take 4 to the A. Some great close racing as they are racing hard to make the A. Too hard for the final transfer spot. Coming to the white, Gerard McIntyre flat ran over the left rear of 4th place Brandon Spithauler, taking them both out of contention for the final transfer spot. Andrew Palker took the win as Greg Wilson secured the final transfer spot.

Bobby Clark used a last lap pass on rookie Larry Kingseed Jr to win the 305 B. Verda made a great late race run to make the A after his heat race flip. It was Verda's 2nd ever A Main he made in just his 6th ever race.

Zearfoss and Kofoid paced the 40 lap All Star A Main. Zearfoss zipped to the lead. Lap 3, Wilson stops. Green, Zearfoss stay upfront as some good battles are going on behind him. Lap 11, Travis Philo stops and Cory Eliason spins. Lap 12, Broc Martin spins and as TJ Michael gets collected as well. Green, an excellent battle for the lead as 3 cars battle. Zearfoss is fighting off Reutzel on the high side and Kofoid on the bottom. Lap after lap the top 3 battle. Lap 21, Zearfoss gets crossed up in turn 1 and spins, almost collecting the top 3. This hands Reutzel the lead. Reutzel pulls way when the green light flashes on but Kofoid is keeping him honest. A wild battle between Jac Haudenschild and Cap Henry just behind the leaders. Reutzel was too strong and raced to his 1st ever Attica win. Kofoid, Henry, Shawn Dancer, and Haudenschild rounded out the top 5.

Luke Griffith and Jimmy McGrath, both looking for the first win, paced the 25 lap 305 A Main. Green, Kyle Capodice breaks on the start as he can't turn entering turn 1 and slips off the track. Restart, Griffith grabs the lead. Lap 3, McGrath takes over.
Jimmy has been upfront a lot lately, could this be the night? McGrath checks out a little and is looking very stout. Lap 10, Verda spins in 3 and 4. McGrath enters 3 and tries to slow and avoid Verda but clips the stop 3v machine, ending his night. Griffith takes the lead once again. Griffith has been looking great too and is on the verge of a win and looks like it could now be his night. Weaver starts to make a move and is now closing on Griffith. Lap 18, Weaver whips past, taking the lead. The only thing slowing Weaver is a lap 23 spins by Zeth Sabo. Weaver races to the win over Miller, Griffith, Shawn Valenti, and Jason Keckler.

Saturday, it was a trip to the longest sprint car race of the year, the Little 500 at Anderson Speedway. That is right, 500 laps! 33 cars, 3 wide, traditional sprint cars on a 1/4 mile pavement oval. Pit stops, push trucks, non stop action. The 71st annual event seen Kody Swanson win the pole for the $25,000 to win event.

The start along is awesome as 33 cars roar 3 wide into turn 1. Swanson speed to the lead and quickly pulled away. Some great battling upfront as the top 3 are racing through traffic together. Swanson looks stout but Bobby Santos and Chris Windom seem to have something for Swanson. Leading the 1st 186 laps, Swanson is pit side, handing his teammate Shane Hollingsworth the lead. Swanson was battling Santos now for 2nd as Hollingsworth clicks off the laps. Lap 326, Swanson slips to the lead. Working traffic like a master,. Swanson is magical to watch in this 500 lap race. Swanson still looked like he may have a battle on his hands. Well, until about 80 laps to go when he just totally took charge. He pulled to over a half a track lead and never looked back. As the crowd stood to its feet as the white flag waved, cheers roared as he took the win for the 2nd year in a row. Santos, Jacob Wilson, Hollingsworth, and Windom rounded out the top 5.

Day 4, it was off to the Indy 500. A great time for my 1st 500 in 10 years. A very good race with a late race shoot out.

As soon as the checkered flag fell, the only race still on close enough to get too was a jaunt to Southern Indiana to the Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt for the MSCS sprints. 28 cars were on hand. An amazing job by the track staff with all the rains to make this race happen.

A super tacky fast track, seen some side by side hammer down action. Some great racing with some good battles. Heat race wins went Kent Schmidt, Chase Stockon, and Kyle Cummins.

Stephen Schnapf took the 61 machine to the lead. Robert Ballou coasted to a stop before a lap was scored according to MSCS officials. Stockon was to the work area as well as Ballou. Another bad start and Ballou is back. Schnapf leads again and is having a great battle with Cummins. Lap after lap they battle. Lap 13, Cummins claimed the lead and started to put on an ass whipping. Cummins was in a different zip code, running away as a great battle on back, with several cars charging from deep in the pack. Cummins wins over CJ Leary and Kevin Thomas Jr.

Monday it was time to head East to the very opposite end of Indiana to the Lawrenceburg Speedway for the annual World Of Outlaws event. 31 WOO cars were ready to attack the 1/3 mile high banked oval. Shane Stewart blistered the track with a 12.163 lap for quick time.

The 3 heats were typical WOO heat races even at The Burg which has produced some great heats in the past years. Not this time, follow the leader WOO heats. Shane Stewart, Aaron Reutzel, and Kyle Larson took the heat race wins.

The top 6 from the B would move to the A. Shawn Dancer spins fighting for a transfer spot. Rico Abreu takes the win over Brandon Wimmer.

Bell and Larson bring the 35 lap A Main to the green. Bell blast to the lead. Just as the battle heats up in traffic, Spencer Bayston slows on lap 8. Green, its Bell in the lead as some awesome slider are being thrown all over the place with the huge cushion and slick to the cushion track, making for some great excitement. Once again the lead battle heats up and the yellow flag waves for Sheldon Haudenschild spins on lap 16. Haud kept going but the yellow was out. Green, its Bell as it looks like a great 4 car battle about to rage as yet another yellow on lap 22 as Reutzel stops. Restart, Larson makes some moves and tries to take the lead. A great battle as the classic Larson/Bell slug fest starts again. Lap 27, Larson gets a run off 4, takes the lead at the flag stand. As they race into 1, they are in traffic, Larson enters just off the cushion and starts to slide up to it as Bell tries to squeeze on the outside of him. Bell's right rear digs in and he starts to flip. Larson did move up but, Bell tries to squeeze in a spot too, just a racing deal. Green, Schatz tries to make a move on Larson but Yung Money is too stout and races to the win. Gio Scelzi, David Gravel, and Brad Sweet in a close battle with Buddy Kofoid round out the top 5. Another excellently ran program by The Burg staff as the A Main was over by 9:30

All in all a very blessed weekend with some great racing. The best part was hanging with many great friends at each visit along the way...Eldora Speedway announced a HUGE boost into the King's Royal as the winner will now pay $175,000 to win!!

The Sprint Car World Championship starts Thursday at Mansfield Speedway. $100,000 to win Saturday's A Main. Twin $5000 to win A Mains Thursday and Friday. Over 60 cars and if the Saturday A Main is anywhere near as good as last year's, it is going to be a barn burner.

Unless you have been living under a rock, we all know by now mother nature has been a royal pain in the butt to race tracks all over the country this racing season so far. Well, it took some changing of plans and 580 miles of driving over the weekend but, I made it a 3 race weekend. Friday, it was off to the Gas City I-69 Speedway for Gas City's opener. Saturday, it was time for a trip up North to the Butler Motor Speedway for their opening night. Sunday, it was back over to Indiana for the King Of Kokomo at the Kokomo Speedway.

Friday, with every track rained out in a 3 state region, Jerry Gappens and staff said, we are racing and mother nature won't ruin Gas City this weekend. A nice field of 34 traditional sprint cars were pit side on a dark misty afternoon. Even with a light mist, the show was still on. Shane O'Banion got upside down in group qualifying after he slide up on the edge of the track.

4 heats were up next on a track with much character. With rains for the last 10 days straight, the track surface was very rough and was rolled up, making for a pretty rough surface. It was no fault of the tracks, with all the rains, they worked it the best the was able to. They determined they was racing. So anyone who didn't expect a rough surface was fooling themselves because anyone that has been around knew there was no way it wasn't going to get rough. Fans, drivers, and teams have to take some accountability knowing what we was going to get into and still heading there. People that bitch and complain and act like they can't believe it wasn't smooth as glass drive me crazy. Issac Chapple, Justin Grant, Clinton Boyles, and Anthony Dalessio took the heat race wins with no major incidents and some decent racing.

With such a nice field of cars, 2 B Mains were up next for the sprint cars. Thomas Meseraull and Garrett Abrams took the wins in the B Mains.

Dave Darland and Issac Chapple brought the field to the green in the 25 lap A main. Darland darted to the lead as the field bounced into turn 1. With cars hopping, bouncing, and jumping all around, it was a very entertaining and crazy wild A Main. A great 3 car battle upfront as Chad Boespflug takes the lead on lap 2. Lap 3, Clinton Boyles bolts to the lead. Boyles was on a mission. Not letting off one bit, Boyles was hitting the ruts, bouncing around but never losing control. It was hard to believe that was much as the cars would just up or sideways or all over that no one got upside down. The entire did an amazing job! As Boyles checked out, an excellent 3 car battle for 2nd was were most of the fans was watching. The defending track champ made it look easy and cruised to the win. Grant, Kevin Thomas Jr, Brady Bacon, and Tyler Hewitt rounded out the top 5.

I have never been to a race that there was a misty drizzle all night long and they still raced. An excellent effort by the entire staff. The track was far from perfect but the effort and willingness to get a show in the books was spectacular. It made for a very different and entertaining night.

Saturday, a trip to Michigan's Butler Motor Speedway for their season opener. A lot of off season chatter about new dirt added to the 3/8 mile oval was 100% spot on as you could see when you walked in the place. Again, day after day after day of rains and new dirt, equals soft spongy track. It was super dry up top but from the middle down, it was very soft. The track got rough right away and the track crew went right to work. I personally thought they tried very hard and did all they could to make it the best it could be. The staff gathered the sprint car teams at the top of turn 1 as they worked on the track, keeping all the sprint car teams in the know as to what their plan was for the night. It was determined all the sprint car events would be ran first, then the support class program. Which made perfect sense with how the narrow tires on the stock classes cut the soft track up. The only issue is they didn't tell any of the support classes. With only 13 sprint cars, a quick 2 heat program with a 15 minute break and then the A Main.

Heat 1, Stuart Brubaker blasted from 6th to 1st to take the lead. Brubaker cruised to the win over Dan McCarron, Chad Wilson, and Tylar Rankin. Heat 2, Ricky Peterson made it an Ohio sweep as he raced to the win over Quinton Blonde, Boston Mead, and Porting.

Mead and Wilson paced the field for the 25 lap A Main. With the track rough and tricky, it was going to be another interesting A Main. Wilson whips to the lead as the field took the green. Before a lap was complete, Rankin went for a wild ride in turn 4 after he caught a rut. Mead was the master on the complete restart and motored to the lead. Mead has some laps at Butler and was hitting the track as smooth as he could. Brubaker was charging up to the front but got in the heavy fluff at the top of turn 3 and 4 and all but flipped. Stewie was up on the right front at one time but landed in safely and restarted at the rear of the lead lap. McCarron got an excellent restart and took the lead in turn 1. As McCarron lead, Mead and Wilson found for 2nd. Brubaker was back on the move and soon there was a great 3 car battle for 2nd. Lap 22, Blonde spins. McCarron has no worries and leads again as the green light flashes on. Brubaker takes 3rd from Wilson. As the white flag waves, Keith Sheffer flips hard. Green, its still all McCarron. Danny Mac races to the win over Mead, Brubaker, Wilson, and Peterson.

Finally, a gorgeous sunny day as Kokomo Speedway host the King Of Kokomo. 33 sprint cars was pit side and ready to attack the 1/4 mile oval.

4 heat races with the top 4 moving to the A. Heat 1, an amazing heat race as they are 3 wide for the win. There was such an intense battle off 4 for the win, no one noticed Michael Clark flipping in turn 3. Dave Darland took the win by inches over Clinton Boyles, Thomas Meseruall, and Zane Hendicks. TMez was unhappy at Boyles, flipping him off down the back stretch as the cars stopped for the red. I truly have no clue why TMez was so pissed besides Boyles didn't back down an inch just like him and they raced hard to the line. Nothing dirty, maybe slight contact but good hard racing with 2 drivers not giving an inch, that happens. Heat 2, Chris Windom whipped to the win over Jarrett Andretti, Scotty Weir, and Tyler Courtney. Heat 3, Nate McMillian makes hard contact with Brian Karracker, sending Karracker spinning. Chad Boespflug takes the win over Kevin Thomas Jr, Travis Hery, and McMillian. Heat 4, Justin Grant held off Shane Cottle for the win. Joe Stornetta Jr, and Koby Barksdale race into the A.

The 15 car B Main took the top 4 to the A. Ben Knight goes for a tumble in the B. Dustin Christie makes his first visit to Kokomo a memorial one as he takes home the win. Dustin Smith, Issac Chapple, and Karracker races into the A.

Grant and Boespflug brought the 30 lap A Main to the green. Grant grabs the lead. Stornetta spins collecting Henricks, Christie, and T Mez. Complete Restart, Grant grabs the lead again. Lap 3, Barksdale spins. Green, Grant leads once again. Lap 6, Hendicks spins. Green, Grant leads and starts to check out. As Grant pulls away, a great battle for 2nd to 5th. Just past the half way mark, Windom and Courtney start to run down Grant. 8 to go, there is going to be a battle. A 3 car battle for the lead. Lap 26, Windom takes the lead. Lap 27, Andretti loses a tire and spins. A 3 lap shootout, Windom takes the win. Grant, Courtney, Weir, and Darland round out the top 5. Another great Kokomo show. The track was in excellent shape for a typical Kokomo barn burner.

I will be heading to the best bargain of the year and one of my favorite weekends, #LetsRaceTwo at Eldora. Both WOO and USAC sprints on the same card for the price of one as well. The best of both worlds and love this race keeps happening.

Mother Nature is just not a friend of racing in our region in March or April anymore. With a total wash out last weekend, this weekend all sprint car races in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan were cancelled Friday and Saturday. After being pushed back a day, the Toledo Speedway hosted the USAC Silvercrown series along with the debut of the AVSS Non Wing series Sunday.

Finally, a bright sunny day welcomed race fans Sunday for the Rollie Beale Classic USAC Silvercrown race at the Toledo Speedway. The Auto Value Super Sprints series announced over the winter they was bringing a traveling traditional (non wing) sprint series back to pavement this season. Sunday was it's 1st race of the season with a $3000 to win payday. 24 Silvercrown and 15 traditional sprints hit the fast half mile oval.

Qualifying set the field for both series, no heats or qualifying races. Before qualifying, PA's Dave Berkheimer lost control and slammed the inside wall in his Silvercrown debut. Kody Swanson set quick time in the USAC Silvercrown time trials, earning the pole for the 100 lap main event. Aaron Pierce set quick time in the sprint cars. An invert of 8 was posted for the sprint cars.

Kody Swanson and Kyle Hamilton brought the 100 lap Silvercown Main to the green. Swanson swept to the lead as the pack roared into turns 1 and 2. A great battle upfront as Hamilton is glued to Swanson's tail tank. Lap 5, Matt Goodnight spins in turn 3. Green, Swanson leads the top 6 cars are glued together in the lead pack, just behind Swanson. Hamilton, Pierce, CJ Leary all battle for 3rd as Kevin Thomas Jr and Chris Windom are not far behind. Hamilton is all over Swanson upfront. Lap 20, Hamilton slows in the middle of 3 and 4 as the yellow flag waves once again. Hamilton took back off and blended in where he was when the yellow lights flipped on. Yes, yellow lights, that will be key later on, stay tuned. Green, Swanson leads but can't break away from the pack as an intense battle for 2nd through 5th is raging on. Lap 33, Leary gets loose in turn 2 and spins toward Kevin Thomas Jr, KTJ climbs Leary's tire and all but flips, collecting Hamilton in the mess as well. Hamilton restarts. What was suppose to be a Kody Swanson domination as been one hell of a race up to this point. Green, Swanson leads as Bobby Santos is starting to draw much attention from the crowd as he charges around many cars, mostly on the high side. Lap 58, Chris Dyson goes for a spin in turn 3. Green, Swanson turns the wick up and we start to see why Kody has the most series wins in the history of USAC Silvercrown cars. A great battle for 2nd to 5th. Pierce, Santos, Windom, and Justin Grant are all right there in the battle. Swanson is checked out as a great battle for 2nd see Pierce making his 26 car super wide, running Santos all over the track as Bobby is trying to make a move in a much faster car. Lap after lap, they battle as Swanson has ran away and has almost a half a track lead. Santos finally gets past Pierce as he quickly opens up a 10 car length advantage over Pierce. Santos is hustling but he runs out of time after being held up several valuable laps by Pierce. Swanson cruises to his 4th Rollie Beale Classic win. Santos, Pierce, with a last lap move at the line, Grant, and Windom round out the top 5. Some heated words after the race as Pierce approaches Santos car. Santos gave his best Jack Hewitt interview and gained some fans for sure after that one. A very good race and what can you say, Kody Swanson is a beast in the Slivercrown series and hopefully race sponsor Ron Hemelgarn sees Kody deserves a shot at and Indy 500 ride and opens some doors for a VERY well deserving Mr Swanson.

Russ Gamester and Tony Main brought the 50 lap sprint car main event to the green. With a traffic jam in the bottom low side lane on the start, Aaron Pierce flies around the outside charging from 8th to 1st, take the lead off turn 2. Lap 3, Dameron Taylor slams the wall off turn 4 and is sitting cross ways in the track, just before the flag stand. This happen as the leaders was in turn 1 and 2. The flagman quickly waved the yellow flag but by several accounts from the drivers, didn't flip the yellow lights, nor did any driver claim to hear a call over the race ceiver of an accident. The lead pack, now still full speed off turn 4 and all hell breaks loose. Taylor got slammed by Eric Gordon as Gordon flies in the air, Santos flips, Main all but flips, Taylor Ferns is collected as well as Joey Schmidt. A nasty accident that torn up many cars and thank God only minor injuries to Taylor. If Eric Gordon wasn't an excellent sprint car vet and serve at the last second, taking Taylor in the fuel cell instead of right in the cock pit, things could have been very worse. Yes, shit happens and no one is perfect and mistakes happens but I am getting on my soap box a second, this mistake could have been life altering for more than 1 person. When you have sprint cars on a wicked fast half mile turning 15 second laps, so that is less than 4 seconds per 4th of the track, you HAVE to make sure there is PLENTY of safety!! Either 2 flagman, someone paying attention and yelling over race ceiver, or an infield flagman or 2, or spotters like ALL the other pavement sprint car races!! Thank God no one lost their life today or received serious injury, just a minor injury and a lot of wasted $$ in repairs which is still shitty for those drivers under how it happened. Plus, I am not basing my words off rumor, many drivers, some that race 70 races a year and was on the track, are the ones reporting there was no yellow lights or calls over the radios, possibly due to them having the wrong frequency. I LOVE that the AVSS has established a traveling non wing pavement sprint car series and I plan to hit a handful of the shows, but hopefully today a quick instant valuable lesson was learned and it gets corrected ASAP. Not trying to be negative or run them down because shit happens and no one is perfect, I am just asking please have more than 1 way for drivers to know there is a crash before its too late like today. That said, I will return and I hope this series really takes off, especially if they have some Sunday afternoon shows like today. Pavement racing and Sunday afternoons is an excellent thing in my book. After a long delay for EMS transport and some clean up, 8 cars were left and the main was smartly cut to 25 laps. Pierce took off on the restart and it was over as many knew when a majority of the front runners were in the accident. Justin Grant and Joey Schmidt had an excellent battle for 2nd. With contact more than once, Schmidt and Grant tried to split 2 lapped cars with 1 to go. Schmidt got airborne but landed it and raced to the finish. Pierce took the win by almost a half track, Grant, Schmidt, Gamester, and Brian Vaughn rounded out the top 5. Ohhh thePierce/Santos battle, Pierce helped flipped Santos car back over under red and said he really wish they could have battled for the win in the sprints as they are good friends that had a disagreement in the prior race, All in all a great day of racing. It maybe because at a very young age I spent Sunday afternoons watching USAC Sprints at Winchester and other places but, Sunday afternoon non wing sprint car races are just something I would love to see more of and I hope the AVSS can make that happen.

Toledo Speedway did a great job today and the safety crew was right on top of those accidents, which is very good.

Saturday: AFCS $4000 to win Fremont OH with BOSS and NRA vs 305 Challenge, All Stars Sharon OH, WOO Haubstadt IN, OVSCA Atomic OH, Must See Anderson IN

After 3 months of myself making hundreds of phone calls, countless hours of work, and little sleep, it was time for the Attica Fremont Championship Series (AFCS) Sprints to host their first ever events last weekend. It was my first ever stint as a series director. In 3 short months, everything seemed to come together pretty decently so it was time to test that theory.

Early morning rains gave way to a clear sky as Attica Raceway Park said we are racing. ARP kicked the gates open as a nice field of 33 410s and 30 305s were pit side for the 1st ever AFCS event in sprint car history. With 17 paid 410 AFCS members and 23 paid 305 AFCS members, it looks like a great season.

4 410 sprint heats kicked off the night. Not too many drivers tried the top side and the ones that did not last long up there. Chris Andrews in a dominating fashion took heat 1. Shawn Dancer flipped on to his side in heat 2. Broc Martin held on for the win in a close one over Brian Lay. Ryan Ruhl took home a win for team Michigan in heat 3. Byron Reed didn't miss a beat in his first race of the season, cruising to the win.

4 305 heats were next to push out. John Ivy wins heat win that was stacked full of 305 veterans. Heat 2, Seth Schneider slipped past Justin Adams to take the win. Tyler street got past early leader Mike Burkin to take home the win in heat 3. Jimmy McGrath Jr has looked fast all year long as far and took home the heat 4 win.

With such a nice field of cars, 2 B Mains in both 410 and 305 divisions. 1st up was the 410 B Mains. After a few spins to start the thing and somehow Kelsey Ivy not flipped after being caught up in one of the incidents and being up on 2 wheels, things finally got to rolling. With the top 2 moving to the A, the action was heating up. Nate Dussel took the win in B 1 as Trey Jacobs held off a fast Cole Duncan to take the final transfer spot. B2, Stuart Brubaker got his night moving in the right direction, taking the B2 win. Ricky Peterson held off Lee Jacobs for the final transfer spot in a good battle for the last transfer to the A.

The 305 B Mains would transfer the top 3 to the A. In the 1st B, Kyle Capodice cruised to the win over Jason Keckler and Bobby Clark. B2 started off a bit rough. Tad Peck spun. Then a huge flip by Chuck May stopped the action. May was okay but the 61 car suffered heavy damage. Steve Rando rode to the win over Kevin Mingus and Mike Grigsby.

Byron Reed and Ryan Ruhl brought the field to the green in the 1st ever AFCS 410 30 lap A Main. A bad start as Reed got a little jump and received his 1 warning from the flag stand, Peterson spun as the field slowed down. Reed gets the advantage on the next start but, Trevor Baker gets caught up in the pack and spins to the infield with a broken front end. 3rd start is a charm as Reed rips to the lead once again. Lap 5, Martin spins while running in 4th. Restart, Philo slips off the top side while he is in 4th. Green, Ruhl don't fade far away from Reed as Reed leads the pack. Ruhl is hanging tough and actually closes in on the leader a handful of times. Lap 17, a huge mess as another incident battling for 4th. Cale Thomas. Buddy Kofoid , and DJ Foos are all involved with only Kofoid surviving the mess and keeps rolling. Ruhl tries to keep up with Reed on the restart as Kofoid now is in the mix. Buddy takes over 2nd and tried to run Reed down. In his 30th year of racing, Reed can not be denied and made history winning the 1st ever AFCS A Main. Kofoid, Ruhl, Parker Price Miller, up from 12th, and Lay round out the top 5.

Jerry Dahms and Luke Griffith paced the 1st ever AFCS 305 A Main. Larry Kingseed Jr spins as Kevin Mingus and Mike Grigsby is collected as well. Restart, Kingseed spins again. Green, Griffith grabs the lead. Lap 4, Zeth Sabo spins. After a great start, Ivy is battling for the lead after starting 8th. Lap 7, Ivy takes the lead. Lap 8 Capodice spins. Lap 10, Dahms spins. As Ivy is looking good out front to the win, Miller and Weaver are charging from mid pack. Lap after lap, its all Ivy. Making history as the 1st AFCS 305 A Main winner, Ivy takes his 16th Attica win. Weaver, up from 11th, Miller, up from 13th, Griffith, and Burkin round out the top 5.

Saturday, its off to Fremont Speedway for not only their season opener but, a new era for the track as in under entire new management for the 1st time in 11 years. Night number 2 for the AFCS season seen 26 410 and 25 305 sprints ready for action. Starting off on a dry slick surface, it turned pretty racy and looked like a turn back in time to old school Fremont.

3 410 heats with the top 5 to the A. Keeping his streak a rolling, Justin Peck took heat 1. Looking fast every time he has hit the track in the Mackey 25m so far, Chris Andrews races to the win in heat 2. Lee Jacobs rebounded from a bad night on Friday and took home the win in heat 3.

3 305 heats with the top 5 moving to the A. Jimmy McGrath Jr. makes it 2 for 2 on the weekend, taking the heat 1 win. Another driver looking very stout in 2019, Mike Burkin races to the win in heat 2. Heat 3 was a wild heat. Steve Rando spins. Next, Matt Lucius hits the an infield tire and breaks the steering off turn 4 and slides back across the track, collecting Kyle Capodice as Capodice flips. Seth Schneider slides to the win.

Top 5 in 410 B to the A. TJ Michael gets bounced around on the front stretch in a battle for position, clips the wall and shoots down into Adam Cruea, Cruea flips. Chad Wilson runs away with the win in his 1st season back in winged racing in 6 years.

Same as the 410, the top 5 in the 305 B move to the A. Shawn Valenti vaulted to the win in this one.

Justin Peck and Nate Dussel paced the field in the 30 lap 410 A Main. Peck pounced to the lead. Looking for 3 wins in 3 races, Peck quickly pulled away from the pack. Lap 8, DJ Foos spins. Peck stays upfront on the restart. Lap 11, Broc Martin spins. Green, Cap Henry is right there and battles Peck. Peck on the bottom, Cap tip toeing around the outside, lap 14 Henry takes the lead. Lap 15, Max Stambaugh slips off the top of turn 3 and stops. Henry keeps stout upfront. Lap 21, Brandon Wimmer spins. Green, Henry is not to be denied and takes the Lane Racing machine to victory lane. Jacobs, Peck, Parker Price Miller, and Dussel round out the top 5.

Tyler Street and Brandon Moore brought the 305 25 lap A main to the green. Moore takes the lead as the field races into turn 1. Clean and green, Moore keeps the lead as Street starts to make a run at the leader. Lap 9, Street slips to the lead. Lap 13, Larry Kingseed Jr spins for a caution. Green, Street keeps it in front of the pack. Tyler pulls away for a few laps. As the laps wind down, Jamie Miller makes a run towards the front. Street is too stout and takes home his 1st ever Fremont win. Miller, Moore, John Ivy, and Bobby Clark, up from 14th, round out the top 5.

The first weekend of AFCS Sprints went off very well and was very pleasing to not only myself but many others involved including the teams racing the series. A huge thanks to everyone that has helped make the series successful in its first outing. The AFCS Series events will be May 3rd and May 4th with $4000 to win events at both Attica and Fremont.

Other news, Paragon Speedway has some new management and moves to Friday nights for most of the season starting this weekend. The same promotion crew as Lincoln Park as the 2 tracks will be working together hand and hand.

If you are a race fan, I don't need to tell you how much the weather has been messing with tracks starting their season. Thankfully, Saturday in Southern Indiana, mother nature gave Brownstown Speedway a chance. A chance they took for the running of the 11th annual No Way Out 40. My 3rd trip to the No Way Out 40 resulted in 60 degree temps, sunshine, and a great lunch on the way with Joe and Melissa Cragun from World Wide Sprint Car Fans.

36 traditional sprint cars were on hand for the No Way Out 40 that paid an excellent purse of $7500 to win and $400 to start. A late model style format was ran all night, including Delaware Double File Restarts, Group qualifying with the line up straight up. The top 4 from the heats went to the A,

Heat 1, Michael Koontz and Brady Ottinger collide in turn 2. With the track in excellent shape, a bit rough up in turn 1, there was 3 grooves and mud flying in all of them. a decent race seen Carson Short take the win over Issac Chapple, Braxton Cummins, and Dustin Christie. Heat 2, Stephen Schnapf started on the pole and spanked the field. In a run away, Schnapf took the win over Matt Westfall, Dave Darland, and Brandon Mattox. Heat 3, Brady Short took a nasty tumble in turn 1, flipping in a barrel roll at least 8 or 9 times. Brady was checked out and I have no current update. In a loaded heat, a great close tight battle. Kyle Cummins took the win over Robert Ballou, Tyler Courtney, and Jason McDougal. Another good battle in heat 4 seen AJ Hopkins beat Chad Boespflug to the line for the win. Dakota Jackson and Logan Hupp punched their ticket to the A.

Moving the show right along, even with 3 support classes, the 2 Sprint Car B Mains were ready to roll just after 8 PM. The top 2 from each B moved to the A. B1, Jordan Kinser was comfortable out front but a hell of a battle for the final transfer spot was going on. Joe Stornetta Jr looked to have it in the bag until Collton Cottle slung it around the high side off 4 and nipped Stornetta at the line by inches for the transfer spot. B2, Shane Cottle started dead last but The Throttle did not stay there long. Charging to the lead, Cottle made it look easy in this one. Andrew Prather took the final transfer spot.

After driver introductions, which I like by the way for special events if done decent, the A Main was pushing off about 9:50. Carson Short and Schnapf paced the field for the A Main. Green, the battle was excellent right away. Short takes the lead. Lap 3, Hopkins leads, lap 4, Short leads again. Lap 9, Chapple bicycles as he was gaining on the lead pack, comes back down with a broken bar in the left front, ending his night. The late model style restarts made it different as the battle was hot and heavy upfront again. Lap 12, Hopkins gets sideways in turn 4, gathers it back in but Kyle Cummins gets run into the field and spins trying to avoid Hopkins. Cummins to the tail. Short and Hopkins are never a few car lengths apart when the green light is on. Lap 15, Braxton Cummins spins. Green, Short, Hopkins battle as Westfall, Ballou, and Courtney start to enter the battle. Just as they get to lapped traffic again, Braxton Cummins spins again. Every single time they get a few feet from traffic, the yellow light flashes on. Green, car 2, 3, and trying 4 wide battle for spots. Lap 24, that battle gets too tight in turn 1 as Boespflug gets pinched and flips ending his night. Green, the battle is on, contact upfront but both cars survive and don't look now, Kyle Cummins is on a mission, charging to towards the front in a hurry. Courtney and Ballou are right there now too. Lap 34, entering 3, Cummins slides it in hard, makes contact with Hopkins, Hopkins gets sideways, tries to save it for a 3rd time, hit the go peddle and spins into a flip, ending his night with heavy damage. Green, Short leads as Courtney is there but has a right rear going low. Ballou makes a move as Cummins is on the top letting it eat. Coming off turn 4, Cummins sling shots around Short and takes the lead on lap 37. Short tries to make a move but Cummins is not going to let anyone close enough to him to try and ruin his night like early. Thrilling the crowd with his charge, Cummins takes the win over Short, Ballou, Courtney, and McDougal. A very good night of racing. A great job by the track staff with excellent track conditions and the A was over at 10:23 on a chilly night. Plus, it was great for us that drove 240 miles 1 way to get there.

Besides waiting for racing season to arrive, I haven't disappeared on you guys, I've been super busy getting the (AFCS Series) Attica Fremont Championship Series a rolling as it is a complete start up series being its inaugural season. With some VERY amazing sponsors, 37 as we speak, we will take more if we can, we are VERY blessed to announce over $65,000 in cash and awards! Right now the 18 race 410 schedule will pay out a $29,000 points fund, $10,800 in cash bonus $$ during season, and over $7000 in gift awards. The 305 14 race schedule with payout $9500 in points fund, $2200 in cash bonus during the season, and almost $7000 in gift awards. Plus, still could be growing! The season kicks off April 12th at Attica Raceway Park.

Don't worry, not like you were, I am going to cover several other shows still even being the series director for the AFCS. The AFCS is 18 race series. Counting those 18, I have between 80 to 92 races on my calendar for 2019 God and mother nature willing. Plus, don't forget On The Throttle radio show every Monday just after the Noon news on Q 96.5 WQCT Bryan Ohio. We live stream the show via the WQCT website or the Tune In app. Then, there is the Dirt Nerds podcast you can download every Monday night after we record that on Monday nights. Be sure to go back and listen to our past episodes as we have some GREAT interviews from this winter. It is available on every podcast down load media you can dream of I think. Not to forget, we have new HoserVille Ohio t-shirt as well too as the non profit group for the injured drivers fund is alive and well too. Yeah, I may have a little on my racing plate now days. I would have NEVER ever thought 17 years ago now when I started writing for Allan Holland and when he said, hey you never know what doors it could open, that no way in hell I would be this deeply involved behind the scenes and on national media platforms weekly. Basically, in the past 17 years the only thing I haven't done with sprint car racing, is water a track or be a in the flag stand a night. Thanks for giving me a shot Allan and it all snowballed from there.

For the last 21 seasons, The Rumble in Fort has closed out the season in the Tri-State area. More than just a race, The Rumble is a true event with vendors set up, area race tracks set up, a room off to the side with drivers signing autographs at times, simulator races, a party at the bar after hours, and just good ole bench racing with friends in the off season. Oh yeah, there is midget, mini sprint, quarter midget, and kart races too, Under the direction of Larry Boos, The Rumble is a great way to spend a weekend in the winter. With the motorcycle races on the same track the weekend before, I think it made for one of the most competitive Rumble's in history.

Friday, a great field of cars with 2 and 3 wide racing through out the night, with many drivers working the outside line and making it work. The 50 lap midget A Main seen Geoff Kaiser and Travis Welpott pace the field. Kaiser kicked his way to the lead on the start. Lap 2, Tony Stewart spins collecting Russ Gamester, Billy Hulbert, and Kyle Hamilton. Kaiser leads on the restart. With a very tight battle upfront, the local Fort Wayne driver has always been a factor but, has never took home a win at The Rumble. Jim Anderson is right on Kaiser's rear bumper, as they are nose to tail. Lap 18, Cooper Clouse spins. Bumping and bangin on the restart, Kaiser uses his indoor experience to keep ahead of the pack. Lap 23, Bryan Nuckles and Billy Wease collided. Anderson is applying heavy pressure now as the laps wind down. Justin Peck is making the top groove work, making his way towards the leaders. Almost around Kaiser a few times, the former winning is looking to make a move. Lap 37, Anderson spins on his own, giving up 2nd. Restart, Anderson spins again. Peck makes a move on the restart and battles hard for the lead. Lap 38, Peck and Kaiser make heavy contact, Peck spins, flying through the air, right over Kaiser's car. Kaiser gets a good restart and the home town crowd starts to feel it and Geoff is unstoppable out front. As Kaiser cruises to his first Rumble win, all hell breaks loose in turn 3 as Joe Liguori makes a huge move for 2nd, that even Stevie Wonder could see was going to do nothing but junk some cars. Cars everywhere as Cap Henry drives through the carnage and races from 5th to take 2nd at the line over Wease who recovered from an earlier incident to a nice 3rd place run.

All you have to say about the Winged and Non Winged Mini Sprints, is John Ivy. John has the most wins in Rumble history and is an absolute beast in a mini sprint on the Fort Wayne concrete. The winged A Main was wild, with an amazing 3 wide battle for the lead. Ivy came home the winner in both the winged and non winged A Mains, sweeping the night. Ivy swept the last day of the 20th Rumble in 2017 so that makes 4 in a row.

Day 2 of the 21st Rumble was business as usual as the kart heats kicked off around 11 AM. I was still looking for my car from the night before yet so, I missed the start so I missed the start of the kart heats. No worries, I was there by 1 and the time the midgets hit the concrete. Another competitive day of heat races, with many good finishes.

Justin Peck and Derek Bischak brought the field to the green in the 50 lap midget A Main. Peck pounces to the lead as the green flag is in the air. Lap 4, Bryan Nuckles spins. Peck is out front and looking good. Most feel he gave one away the night before and is looking to make sure he don't on night 2. Lap 13, Bischak and Kyle Hamilton collide. Peck stays in the lead as he seems to be in total control. Lap 23, Nick Hamilton spins. Lap 28, Travis Welpott spins. Jim Anderson feels he may have gave one away too last night and is starting to make is way towards Peck. Both the former winners are setting up for what looks to be a shootout. Lap 38, Nuckles spins again. Restart, things stack up as Peck still leads. After super heavy contact, Cap Henry spins on lap 41. Lap 44, Kyle Hamilton spins again. Just when it looked like Peck has the win locked up, Bischak spins on lap 48. A 2 lap showdown, Peck is in total control and races to another Rumble win. Anderson takes 2nd and with no Days Of Thunder moves on the last lap on this night, Liguori comes home on the podium.

There is a saying, the more things change, the more they stay the same. John Ivy is in a super fast Winged and Non Winged mini sprint once again and is on a major roll. Winning the last 4 Rumble mini sprint event, Ivy is looking good on night 2. Starting a little deeper in the non wing A Main, can he do it again? Well, that's a silly ass question. Putting both cars where ever he wants on the track, Ivy sweeps the night once again! Yes, that is 2 more wins and 6 in a row now at the Rumble. If they ever make a Rumble Series hall of fame, John Ivy would be a shoe in on the first ballot.

The off season has been super busy with more ride changes and switching going on than I have seen in many years. Some drivers are still searching for rides as well. I think the opening of the 2019 season will be very interesting, Some other big off season news in this region, Sprint Cars return to Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon Ohio for the first time in over 15 years. The BOSS series have a June !st visit at Oakshade. Good thing its a non wing show as that is the same date of the $100,000 Sprint Car World Championship winged sprint car race at Mansfield. Most tracks are off that weekend in honor as Mansfield so it will be interesting to see who may show up at Oakshade and how the fan turn it is with a major sprint car race in the state that night.

With not much down time for my off season, next weekend I will head to Tulsa for the start if my 2019 season on Monday the 14th for the Chili Bowl. Be sure to like the new AFCS Sprints Facebook page and follow the Twitter page @AFCS_Sprints you can also follow me on Twitter @OHduanehancock I hope you all have an amazing New Year.

It's hard to believe there is just one week remaining in 2018. In a minute I will reflect on the 2018. First, I wanna preview an excellent way to finish the 2018 season, the annual Rumble In The Expo. The Fort Wayne Indiana Expo Center host 2 days of racing on Friday December 28th and Saturday the 29th. With Midgets, winged and non winged mini sprints, go-karts, and quarter midgets on the card. One thing about the Rumble, there is alot of other things happening along with the racing. Another great line up of drivers are pre entered like Rico Abreu, Tony Stewart, Dave Darland, Kody Swanson, Cap Henry, and many more. John Ivy leads the mini sprint entries with drivers like Tyler Gunn, Cap Henry, Larry Joe Scroufe and many more.

As the 2018 season comes to an end, it was another big season hitting races for me. I've seen 74 races so far, with another 17 I was planning to hit getting rained out. The rain was a pain in the ass alot this past season. There was a much bigger loss this season though. We lost 2 amazing people that was very popular sprint car drivers with the passing of Jason Johnson and Greg Hodnett from accidents.

Some of my top races I seen, or shows that stick out in my head in my opinion. Or had some great last race battles I seen were: The Sprint Car World Championship at Mansfield. The ending of the A main for 100 grand was great. The non wing show in early May at Limaland. The track was the best I've seen it in years at Lima. The A main was excellent with 4 cars fighting tooth and nail for the win. The open wheel shootout at Fremont in early May was an excellent show all night long. Good heats and 3 great A Mains. Cale Thomas winning the May All Star show at Attica. Brad Sweet's WOO win at Lawrenceburg. The Burg always produces one of the best WOO shows of the season. David Gravel's last race charge at I-96 for a WOO win. The Saturday night Dream at Eldora. Some of the best late model races I've seen and a great first half battle in the 100 lapper that seen Jonathon Davenport and Scott Bloomquist swap the lead several times. The Ohio Speedweek show at Attica was great. Kyle Larson and Kasey Kahne put on a show as Paul McMahan brought home a popular win. Cole Duncan's Ohio Speedway finale win at Atomic was very exciting. A pavement AVSS show at Owosso Michigan was one of the wildest pavement sprint shows I've seen in years. The King's Royal finish as Brad Sweet fell a few feet short. Lee Underwood taking the win during the Jack Hewitt Classic at Waynesfield was a good one. The midgets at Indy even with all the rain, muddy mess, delay, and crashing my car on the way home it was a great event. Cole Duncan and Lee Jacobs battle at a late season BOSS winged sprints show in Montpelier Indiana. Kody Swanson at Anderson in September was a show. Of course Kody at Anderson anytime is for sure worth the trip and price of admission. Tim McCreadie winning the World 100 was another good night. The Trophy Cup was a great event. I recommend it to everyone to at least go see at least once. To me, the racing wasn't lights out like everyone makes it out to be. Don't get me wrong it was good but I've seen just as good or better in some of the races I mentioned above but overall event wise, its at the top. That's some of the races from 2018 that stick out in my head as we close out another year.

As some of you may have seen last week, I am getting a little deeper in the sport once again in the 2019 season. With the formation of the Attica Fremont Championship Series (AFCS) I will be the series director. The AFCS will be ONLY an Attica and Fremont deal, like the old FAST was when it originally started off. FAST is now a full traveling series, leaving a void in that has been there for 10 years with extra bonus money for the local Attica and Fremont drivers. Especially the 305s as the FAST 305 series don't exist anymore. It will feature 18 410 points races and 14 305 points races in 2019. The situation is right and won't effect my other media stuff. I still plan to hit 50 to 70 other races besides the AFCS races.

For the last weekend in September, it was a huge racing weekend thanks to some rescheduled rained out shows. With excellent weather, I headed to Kokomo Speedway Thursday for the Smackdown final, Gas City Friday for the James Dean Classic for the USAC Sprints, and finished the weekend out at the Montpelier Speedway for a make up BOSS Winged Sprints show.

Thursday night USAC made up the $10,000 to win Kokomo Smackdown. The support class was the BOSS traditional sprints with their 1st ever visit to the 1/4 mile speed plant. 23 USAC Sprints and 31 BOSS Sprints were pit side. Haribson flips in hot laps.

The BOSS Sprints had 4 heats that were some good close races. Josh Cunningham, Mike Miller, Jake Scott, and Dallas Hewitt took the heat wins. Justin Peck found the wall in heat 2 and ended his night.

With the top 8 already locked into the USAC show from the previous nights of the Smackdown, there was just 2 heats. Some great heat races. Logan Seavey and CJ Leary take the wins. Carson Short spins at the end of heat 1.

The BOSS B main took 6 to the A. David Hair stopped once and then spun, ending his night. Jack James went for a wild tumble in turn 4. Cole Ketchum in a Cole Trickle throw back scheme took the win.

The 25 laps BOSS A Main was up first. Michael Fischesser and Mike Miller brought the field to the green. Dustin Smith shot from 3rd to 1st on the opening lap. Lap 2, Fischesser flew to the lead. Fish and Smith are glued together the next several laps, running just inches apart. Lap 15, Travis Hery spins. The battle heats up for the lead as Miller enters the mix. Just as it looks like Fischesser looks like he about to score his first BOSS win, JJ Hughes stops on lap 22. Tyler Gunn makes a charge towards the leaders on the restart. Lap 23, Paul Dues flips. Restart, Fish looks good and leads. Coming to the checkered into 4, Fish slides a bit high, leaving the bottom open. Miller slams it into the low groove off 4 and gets a great bite, beating Fischesser to the line to steal the win. Smith, Gunn, up from 12th, and Scott round out the top 5. A great race and job well done by the BOSS group.

The 40 lap USAC A Main was the night cap as Grant and Darland paced the field. Darland electrified the crowd leading lap 1. Grant quickly made his move and grabbed the lead on lap 2. Grant opened up the lead gap as a wild battle was going on behind him. Lap after lap, Grant was in control. Lap 29, Chris Windom slows with a flat tire. Grant keeps upfront on the restart. Tyler Courtney and CJ Leary make a charge at Grant. Grant has been super stout at Kokomo since the first time he ever hit the oval a few years back. Grant takes the win. Courtney, Leary Jason McDougal, and Brady Bacon round out the top 5. A great show to kick off the weekend.

Friday, it was back to Indiana as the Gas City I-69 Speedway hosted the USAC Sprints. Another nice night as 33 cars were ready for USAC's return to Gas City.

Per the norm at Gas City some good heat race action. Tyler Courtney, Isaac Chappel, Kyle Cummins, and Dustin Ingle took heat wins.

The loaded B Main took the top 6 to the A. Justin Grant took the B main win over Josh Hodges, Tyler Thomas, Matt Westfall, Thomas Meseraull, and Tyler Hewitt.

Jason McDougal and Chappel brought the field to the green in the 30 lap A. Chappel charged to the lead. Chappel has been getting closer and closer to a USAC win and is running an excellent race outfront. Kevin Thomas Jr is all over Chappel but Isaac isn't rattled and hits his marks lap after lap. Lap 18, Dallas Hewitt spins. Lap 20, Tony DiMattia spins. Chappel leads as KTJ is searching all over for a way around Chappel. Lap 26, KTJ takes the lead. Chappel stays tough and tries to get back past but KTJ is too tough. CJ Leary is making a late race charge and gets past Chappel. Leary tries to catch KTJ. KTJ beats him to the line and takes the win. After they cross the finish line all hell breaks loose. McDougal, DiMattia, and Chappel tangle in turn 4, Dallas Hewitt flips in turn 4. Since the leaders were crossed the finish line, the field was frozen and reverted back to the last lap. KTJ wins, Leary and Chappel bring home podium finishes.

Saturday, another trip to Indiana as the BOSS winged sprints made their first appearance at the Montpelier Speedway. The regular Montpelier midgets were on the card too. 29 sprints and a stellar field of 34 midgets were on hand. Lee Jacobs shattered the track record.

The 4 midget heats started the night off and things got wild from the start. Heat 1, B Watson flipped. Heat 2, Critter Malone flips. After a handful of other spins, things settle down. Chase Jones, Nick Speidel, Zeb Wise, and Stratton Briggs take the heat wins.

The 3 BOSS winged sprint heats were very good. Cale Thomas flips in heat 2. Lee Jacobs, Cody Gardner, and Ronnie Blair took the heat wins.

The midget B featured some crazy racing and some tight battles. Dunham and Kraigbauch flip hard together. Tom Hunt went on to the win.

In the sprint car B Main, a wild start as Travis Philo sent Parker Fredrickson spinning with a broken front end after contact. Next start, Philo gets into Adam Burkett. Once things final get settled down, Kody Swanson lays down a great run taking the win over Philo, Thomas who recovered from the heat race flip, Tyler Rankin, and Cale Stinton.

Davy Ray ripped to the lead of the 20 lap midget A. Lap 2, John Rawson spins. Restart, Ray coast to a stop handing Chase Jones the lead. Lap 4, Rawson spins again. Jones leads as Wise makes a charge into 2nd after starting 9th. Lap 6, Briggs stops. Restart, Jones and Wise battle. Lap 8, Wise whips to the lead. Wise quickly pulls to a large lead as the Clauson Marshall entry is on a rail. Wise takes the win over Jones, Chett Gehrke, Speidel, and Tyler Nelson.

Jacobs and Cole Duncan bring the field to green in the 25 lap BOSS A. Jacobs jumps to the lead. An instant battle as Duncan and Jacobs race wheel to wheel. Lap 4, Duncan takes the lead. Tights battles all through out the pack. Lap 7, Meseraull and Swanson spin after some tight racing. Duncan leads on the restart but Jacobs never really leaves his sights. A lot of drivers have runs at the 2 front runners. Tracy Hines has a good run towards the front in his last ever sprint car race. Robert Ballou, yes with a wing, Danny Smith, and a few others make moves. Thomas is charging from the tail as well. Lap 18, Rankin spins. More close racing as lap 23, Josh Davis gets his front end clipped and all but flips on just past the flag stand. A 2 lap shoot out. Duncan holds them off, taking the win. Jacobs, Kody Kinser, Thomas, from 19th, and Clinton Boyles up from 13th. Another good race.

As I stated in the write up, Tracy Hines ran his last ever sprint car race Saturday night. I think he will still race the Chili Bowl and IMS midget race but his career is winding down. I truly think he was getting better and better each time in a winged car and was on the verge of a win soon. The non wing standout is a USAC triple crown winner will be missed behind the wheel. I would have loved to see T Hines in victory lane Saturday night.

Saturday: All Stars and WAR Sprints Kokomo IN, NRA Sprints and Non Wing Sprints Waynesfield IN, Tony Elliott classic Anderson IN

With tropical storm Gordon messing with races all over the Eastern region, it was a struggle to get many races in last weekend. Thursday I headed to the dirt track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the BC39 USAC midget race. Saturday, I headed to the only sprint car race not cancelled in the Ohio, Indiana, Michigan region. It was off to Quincy Michigan to the Butler Motor Speedway.

Thursday just over 100 midgets was ready for the huge $15,000 to win BC39 at the newly constructed dirt track inside turn 3 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. What looked like a great day weather wise suddenly turned very wet. With heavy rains, water was laying all over IMS. They said the show will go on. I thought no damn way when I seen the track. Reese O'Connor and crew went to work and worked their ass off to get the track ready. Just after 8, cars hit the very muddy 1/4 oval. It took almost 2 hours to push the cars off and run the track into shape and run hotlaps. Amazingly, the track was race ready just after 10 for the 8 qualifier races. It was determined before the qualifiers the E and D mains were eliminated due to curfew restraints. Making it all the more important to pass cars. With it still being a very heavy wet track, the 8 qualifier races was excellent. Plenty of side by side racing and passing. The track I believe is configured absolutely perfect for midget racing. Some great hard fought elbows up racing. When the 7th qualifier was pushed off, it was announced the C and B mains were now eliminated as well. Yes, it was late but this screwed several teams that hauled in from 21 states. I get it but per Speedway Indiana noise ordinances its a $100 fine. Hopefully, something was done for the teams do they come back next year. Don't get me wrong, I got home 2 hours before I had to leave for work the way it was but in my eyes, dumping on several teams isn't good either. All in all, we were just damn lucky to see any races!! They worked super hard very quickly to pull the show off. It could have been super easy to say sorry its cancelled and 99% of the tracks in the world would have but not on this night.

Kevin Thomas Jr and Tyler Courtney paced the 39 lap A Main. KTJ slide to the lead. With the battle heating up right away, there was never a huge break away upfront. 3 and 4 wide racing, the fans were on the edge of their seats. Lap 13, all hell broke loose in turn 4. Tucker Klassmeyer flipped as Bradon Lynch, Tyler Thomas, Shane Cottle, Terry Babb, and Jake Neumann were all collected in the mess. Lap 14 Dillon Welsh stops. Lap 16, Brian Karreker stops. Green, its KTJ but soon the battle is 3 wide lap after lap after lap as Brady Bacon and Chad Boat challenge KTJ. In and out of traffic, the lead pack races tightly inches apart. Lap 30, Bacon sizzles to the lead. Boat is right there as KTJ stays close by as well. 3 wide again, Bacon is under attack. With a great move in traffic coming to the white flag, Bacon opened up a slight lead. Boat tried to make one last move but Bacon wasn't having it. Brady Bacon wins a thriller over Boat, and KTJ. Next year sounds like the race is back. If you like midget racing, you will wanna be there, trust me it was amazing racing.

Saturday, a trip 60 miles North for me to the Butler Motor Speedway. I have been to Butler all year and have heard they have been working on the track. 20 sprints were on hand. I was pleasantly surprised, as the track was in the best shape I've ever seen it. Smooth with little dust for Butler. 3 heats, all cars to the A. Heat 1, Zane DeVault spins. Jay Steinbeck breaks and flies off turn 3, all but flipping. Ryan Ruhl ripped the field, winning by a half a track over Tyler Rankin and Mike Baker. Heat 2, Josh Turner sung his way to the win over Quinton Blonde and Ricky Ferkel. Heat 3, Max Stambaugh mangled the field and cruised to the win over Boston Mead, and Adam Cruea.

A special $300 to win Dash was next. With $300 more split with 2nd and 3rd the Dash was a good race. Bringing the crowd to its feet, Tyler Rankin took the win.

The 20 lap A Main seen Rankin and Stambaugh bring the field to the green. Stambaugh slams to the lead but before a lap was in, Rankin spins. A 3 car spin on the restart slows the action again. Stambaugh steams to the lead once again. Lap 2, Mark Aldrich spins. Restart, Blonde spins. Lap 3, Dakota Busche, Daryl Shaffer, and Tyler Breaden spin together. Green, its all Stambaugh out front. Lap 11, Rocky LaPresto stops. Green, Ruhl tries to make a move on Stambaugh but can't make a pass. Ruhl stays within striking distance but can't make a move. Lap 17, Aldrich spins again. This gives Ruhl one more shot. Stambaugh gets a great start and races to the win. Ruhl, Blonde, Joe Swanson, and Steinbeck round out the top 5. All in all some good racing with the best the track has been.

With several inches of rain falling the few days prior, the Kokomo Speedway crew worked their butts off to be ready for the #GYTAK Challenge last Wednesday night. An excellent race that not only kicks off Smackdown weekend, its free admission for the fans. Then, All Star Performance steps up and pays for every drivers pit pass. If thats not enough, some of the Kokomo staff members raise $$ and prizes for the #GYATK Challenge, awarding the top 3 drivers of the night that have never wheeled a non wing sprint car at Kokomo. This year 14 drivers were in the mix for the bonus money. Plus, the race aired live for free on Speed Shift Tv for fans all over the world to see.

54 cars packed the pits at Kokomo. With such a large field, 6 heats with the top 3 moving to the A. Heat 1 Jamie Fredrickson spins. Brady Bacon sizzled to the win over Scotty Weir, and Issac Chappel in a great battle for 3rd. Heat 2, Justin Grant took the win over Tyler Thomas, and with a last lap pass Thomas Meseraull. Heat 3, Carson Short got into the wall in turn 1 but rolled back to the pits. Chris Windom held off a charging Robert Ballou for the win. Ballou started last after issues in hotlaps/qualifying. Tim Buckwalter raced into the A as well. Heat 4, Tyler Courtney took a close one over Dave Darland and Chase Stockon. Heat 5, Shane Cottle was on a mission and raced to the win over Jarrett Andretti and Clinton Boyles. Heat 6, Matt Westfall flips hard in turn 2, battling for the final transfer spot when a lapped car bunched things up. Kevin Thomas Jr beat CJ Leary and Chad Boespflug to the line in this one.

The top 4 from the C transfer to the B. After a few yellows for spins, Carson Short put on a show. Short raced from 15th to the win. Travis Hery, Cap Henry, with a good run from 9th, and Josh Cummins raced their way into the B.

The top 6 from the B moved to the A. An excellent race with 3 and 4 wide battles everywhere. Matt Cooley spins. Carmen Perigo was leading the #GYATK Challenge and was in a transfer until a late spin. When the mud stop flying, Steve Sussex III took the win holding off Carson Short. Yes, Short thrilled the large crowd again as he charged from 19th to 2nd, just short of the win. Dakota Jackson, Chet Williams, Tony DiMattia, and Jason McDougal move to the A. The #GYATK Challenge was a race in its own with a tight finish. All 3 cars were right there 3 and 4 wide the last few laps as they ended up 13th, 15th, and 16th. Braxton Cummins earned the top prize nipping Cap Henry and Webber. Henry was the driver on the move, moving up 7 spots compared the others 2 and 3 spots.

Windom and Courtney brought the 27 lap A Main to the green. Windom whipped to the lead. With most the lead pack running about a 1/4 of the way up the track, there was plenty of nose to tail and side by side action. Never opening up more than a 2 car length lead, Windom was hammering the load pedal but so was everyone else. It wasn't a slide job city barn burner but, it was tight close side by side action. Windom lead flag to flag in a non stop A. Courtney, Grant, Darland, and Bacon rounded out the top 5. All in all a good night of racing with plenty of action. The #GYATK Challenge did not disappoint.

A HUGE racing weekend Friday: All Stars Attica OH, GLSS Auburn MI, BOSS winged Gas City IN, SOD Hartford MI Saturday: All Stars Attica OH, GLSS and MTS Auburn MI, BOSS winged RT 44 IN, SOD Crystal MI Sunday: All Stars Wayne CO OH, OVSCA Rt 35 OH, non wing Kokomo IN

The 2nd annual Great Lake Nationals got moved to a 1 day show as weather once again effected a show at Mansfield Motor Speedway. The event has been scheduled against the Knoxville Nationals to give smaller teams a chance to race for some bigger money.

30 FAST 410, 31 BOSS traditional sprints, and 26 FAST 305 sprints were pit side. Scott Hardman took a wild flip in BOSS hotlaps/qualifying

4 FAST 410 heats, taking the top 4 to the huge $20,000 to win A. Heat 1, Trevor Baker held off Rob Chaney to take the win. Craig Mintz and Cole Duncan raced into the A. Heat 2, Byron Reed road to the win over Broc Martin, Ryan Broughton, and Travis Philo. Heat 3, Cap Henry held off Cale Conley, Caleb Helms, and Chris Andrews for the win. Heat 4 had the worse start I've seen in ages. A few drivers got screwed harder than Stormy Danials. Danny Dietrich spanked the field after getting be flew past the mess on the start. Kory Crabtree, Brandon Wimmer, and Tyler Gunn took transfer spots.

The BOSS sprints was up next with 4 heats, transferring the top 4 to their $3000 to win A Main. Which is double of what the regular BOSS win pays. Heat 1, Matt Cooley spins and slows the action. Dustin Ingle took the win over Matt Westfall, Dallas Hewitt, and Tyler Gunn. Gunn put it in the winged and non wing A mains via the heats. Heat 2, Bill Rose looked very tough and took the win over Michael Fischesser, Joe Liguori, and Aaron Middaugh. Heat 3, Carmen Perigo broke and slammed in inside wall, ending his night. Ty Tilton took the win over Cody Gardner, Kory Crabtree, and Lee Underwood. Crabtree repeated the same feat as Gunn. Heat 4, Luke Hall hustled to the win over Clinton Boyles, Steve Little, and Mike Burkin.

3 305 heats took the top 5 to the A. Heat 1, Duffy Rubel spins for a yellow. Luke Griffith grabbed the win over Jimmy McGrath, Kyle Capodice, Jamie Miller, and Matt Lucius. Heat 2, Luke Daughtery and Jeremy Duposki collide in turn 2 and the cars are mended together. After about 15 minutes of messing around, the cars get drugged to the infield, still hooked on to each other. Tyler Street sped to the win over Dustin Stroup, Kyle Peters, Paul Weaver, and Joe Armbruster. Heat 3, Jordan Ryan took the win over Seth Schneider, Bobby Clark, Brandon Moore, and Kevin Mingus. Matt Russell flips hard at the checkered. I think

410 B would take the top 5 from the B and then the fastest qualifier that didn't transfer to the A. Tyler Dunn and Dylan Kingan spin. Next go around, Chase Baker and Kingan spin. In a decent race, andDJ Netto takes the win over Stuart Brubaker, Jordan Ryan, DJ Foos, and Mitch Harble. Harble had engine woes in qualifying. The team loaded up, went back to the Prosser Racing shop which is less than 2 way. They got the car back in time to tag the B main and start last and race into the A. Chase Baker was the fastest qualifier that didn't transfer to the A that got the final spot for the A.

The BOSS B took the top 6 to the A. Matt Cooley and Buddy Lowther collide, slowing the action. Mike Miller held off Chad Wilson, Eric Jennings, up from 14th, Bob McMillan, Paul Dues, and Bobby Distel.

Reed and Trevor Baker brought the $20,000 to win 40 lap A Main to the green. Reed rips to the lead. Lap 7, Martin comes to a stop. Green, Baker pressures Reed. Lap 10, Baker blast to the lead. Chaney slows to a stop. Baker is looking the best Ive seen him, running away from Reed. Henry starts to get hooked up and moving to the front. Lap 20, Henry takes the lead. Henry is looking for 3 wins in a row as he pulls to a few second lead. Gunn is the fastest car on the track and is quickly moving to the front after starting 16th. Lap 30, Gunn was up to 3rd as he cuts a tire, hitting the wall. A fuel stop is now under way. Green, Henry leads as Conley tries to make a move. Henry and the Lane 4 team has found something and pulls away taking not only their 3rd win in a row but the $20,000 paycheck. Conley, Dietsch, Duncan, up from 13th, and Netto, up from 17th rounded out the top 5.

Westfall and Hall paced the 25 lap BOSS A Main. Westfall whipped to the lead on the start. Hall battles Westfall the first 6 laps but Matt starts to pull away. In a pretty uneventful race, Westfall is all alone upfront. Lap 21, Dues tags the wall. Tilton tries to make a late race charge but can't make a move on Westfall. Westfall takes the win over Tilton, Rose, Hewitt, and Fischesser.

Griffith and Street brought the 25 lap 305 A Main to the green. Street slides to the lead. Lap 1, Thomas Ridivoy stops. Green, Street leads and the battle heats up. Griffith spins and Ryan has no where to go and slams into him. Green for another lap when Griffith slows. Street is looking great out front. Ivy is making a huge charge from the rear. Lap 16, Ken Rossey spins. Green, Street stays in the lead. Looking for his first win, Street is in total control. Street takes the win over Capodice, Weaver, up from 11th, Ivy, up from 18th, and Stroup.

I love the idea of this race and that Cody and crew at Mansfield isn't afraid to take a risk on huge money shows. Mansfield can not catch a break ever with the weather. I think it was good racing and the track was racing and pretty decent for all the that fell Friday.

Be sure to hit me up on Twitter and check out On The Throttle on Monday's around 12:07 live streaming on WQCT Bryan OH. Plus, don't forget Dirt Nerds podcast weekly.

Jack Hewitt has been a household name in racing for years. Each year, the first Saturday in August, Waynefield Motorsports Park host the annual Jack Hewitt Classic. A race that means more than just a win to the drivers, its a win on honor of one of the greats in racing. 33 BOSS Sprints were pit side.

In bigger events, BOSS does group qualifying in hotlaps with your heat race group. 4 heats took the top 4 to the A. Heat 1, Scotty Weir took the Miller 6 car to the win over Dallas Hewitt, Zane Hendricks, and Kyle Simon. Heat 2, Drew Radar raced to the win over Kody Swanson, Matt Goodnight, and Matt Westfall. Heat 3, Lee Underwood rode to the win over Luke Hall, Steve Little, and Mike Miller. As the 4th heat hit the track, the sky opened up and put too much water on the track to continue. After a brief rain, the track crew went right to work. With just a short delay, heat 4 was pushed backed off. With the track already in great shape before the rains, it was super fast now. The loaded heat 4 seen Dave Darland drive to the win over Bill Rose, Cole Ketchum, and Cody Gardner who held off Thomas Meseraull.

Instead of a 17 car B Main, the field was spilt into 2 B Mains taking the top 3 out of each. B1, Buddy Lowther slows the pace with a spin. Dustin Ingle inched to the win over Joltin Joe Liguori, and Ty Tilton. B 2, Stratton Briggs slowed the pace with a spin. Toby Alfrey slows the action as he flys off the top off turn 1 and keeps rolling through the field and back on to the track. T Mez recovers from a bad heat race run and takes the win over Carmen Pergio after a great battle for the lead. Travis Welpott took the final transfer spot.

Darland and Swanson brought the 25 lap A Main to the green. Gradner has mag box issues on the push off and pulls in. TMez pulls to the work area with pre race problems. Darland drove to the lead on the start. Darland runs up front as Hall closes in. Hall and Darland have a great battle, just inches a part. Hall wasn't more than 3 inches off Darland's rear bumper a handful of laps. Lap 11, Ingle, Tilton, and Hrndricks collide. Restart, Darland leads as Rose enters the mix. Out of nowhere, Underwood finds something in the middle and is hooked up, coming quickly to the front. Lap 16, Underwood zips past Darland for the lead. Hewitt battles Darland for 2nd as Underwood shocks the field and pulls off into the moonlight. Underwood brings home his 1st ever career win which happen to honor the most popular driver from his home town of Troy. A huge win for Underwood. Hewitt, Darland, Weir, and Rose round out the top 5.

A great field off 33 D2 midgets / non wing mini sprints seen Chet Gerke take the win. A great night of racing once again for the Hewitt Classic.

Saturday: BOSS and FAST Mansfield OH, MUST SEE Anderson IN, Usac Silvercrown Salem IN, MSCS Haubstadt IN

After being out of the country and missing a weekend of racing, I got back to the tracks last weekend. Friday, it was off to Attica Raceway Park for the FAST 410 sprints and regular 305s. Saturday, I kept it local again heading to Fremont Speedway for the 410 sprints and the FAST 305 sprints.

Friday, 30 FAST 410s and 26 305 sprints were on hand at Attica Raceway Park. The track was wet and heavy as the heats were ready to roll.

4 FAST 410 heats with the top 4 moving to the A. Heat 1, a great battle with some young guns. Local Jess Stiger held on for the win over Ayrton Olsen, Tyler Gunn and Jordan Harble. Heat 2, Travis Philo took the win in another close one over Craig Mintz, Nate Dussel, and with a last lap last turn pass, Stuart Brubaker. Lee Jacobs slid off the top of turn 2 in heat 3. Chris Andrews was hooked up and dominated heat 3 taking the win over Mitch Harble, Broc Martin, and DJ Foos. Heat 4 came to a grinding halt when Chase Baker took a wild ride off the top of turn 3 and then flipped hard into the fence and guardrail. Chase was okay. Once things got cleaned up, Jordan Ryan took a popular win over Trey Jacobs, Byron Reed, and Boston Mead. The Michigan driver Mead is getting better and better each outing.

3 305 heats with the top 5 moving to the A. Heat 1, Jimmy McGrath Jr takes a hard flip off the exit of turn 4. Tyler Street held off a charging Jamie Miller for the win. John Ivy, Brandon Moore, and Shane Call. Heat 2, Kyle Capodice takes the win over Frank Neill, Steve Rando, Seth Schneider, and James Taddeo. Heat 3, seen veteran Paul Weaver hold off another seasoned vet, Bobby Clark for the win. Dustin Stroup, Jason Keckler, and Dustin Rail.

The 410 B is up next, taking the final 4 drivers to the A. Dan McCarron takes the win in a close one over Ricky Peterson, TJ Michael, and Lee Jacobs.

The top 5 from the 305 B moved to the A. Kyle Peters pulled to the win over Kevin Mingus, Luke Griffith, Matt Lucius, and George Englert.

Philo and Stiger brought the 30 lap 410 A Main to the green. As the pack raced into turn 1, Peterson did a 360 and a few other cars got sideways. Foos spun to a stop to avoid the cluster as they are drove away. Restart, Philo flew to the lead. Lap 2, Peterson spins again but this time he stops as the yellow lights flash on. Philo looks good upfront as Andrews and Mintz try to run him down. Lap 18, Michael spins. Philo leads on the restart as Andrews tried to make a move. Andrews catches Philo in the closing laps as they battle hard. Gunn is super fast the last 7 laps and tries to run down the lead pack. No contact, just hard racing. Philo is too tough and nips Andrews for the win. Mintz, Gunn and Reed round out the top 5.

The $1000 Griffith Engines 305 A Main seen Weaver and Keckler pace the field. Weaver whips to the lead. Lap 1, Rail flips as the deep pack tried to enter turn 3 full throttle 3 wide. Weaver leads and the action slows on lap 5 for a Call spin. Weaver is a smooth sailing out front as several battle behind him. Lap 13, Stroup slows with a flat left rear. Miller starts to close in on Weaver as the laps wind down. Lap 19, Griffith slips off the top of 2. Restart, Miller tries to make a move. Weaver runs the right rear right on the cushion and drives away. Miller plays follow the leader hoping Weaver bobbles. Weaver leads flag to flag, taking the win over Miller, Schneider, Ivy, and Capodice.

Another beautiful day for racing as I head East once again to the Fremont Speedway. 21 410 and 18 FAST 305s are in the house.

3 410 heats, all cars to the A but have to be in the top 3 to make the invert. Heat 1, Nate Dussel slows running in 2nd. Stuart Brubaker blast to the win over Rob Chaney and Byron Reed. Heat 2, Tyler Gunn bicycles going for the lead and flips hard in turn 3. Ayrton Olsen lays down a great run and holds off Broc Martin and Craig Mintz for the win. Heat 3, Dan McCarron slows the action as he slips off turn 4. DJ Foos flies to the win over Cap Henry and TJ Michael.

2 305 heats with all cars moving to the A. Jamie Miller and Kyle Peters took the wins.

Michael and Chaney pace the 30 lap 410 A Main. Chaney charges to the lead. Chaney quickly opens the gap and pulls away from the pack. With the track staying pretty fast all night, Chaney is clicking the laps off quickly. Rob has almost a 4 second lead. Lap 16, Andrews flips in turn 3. Henry has moved up to 2nd but can't make a move for the lead on the restart as Chaney drives away. Chaney once again pulls away. After a few laps, Henry gets to rolling and starts to gain on Chaney after moving up from 7th. Fighting in and out of traffic the final 5 laps, Henry is shrinking the gap each lap. Henry catches and makes a power move on the outside and takes the lead with 2 to go. Henry leaves Chaney in his dust and cruises to his 2nd win of the season and first at Fremont on the season. Chaney, Reed up from 8th, Mintz up from 9th, and Michael round out the top 5. A good race with 3 of the top 4 starting in row 4 or 5. Wait, thought wing racing don't have passing :)

Street and Ivy bring the 305 A to the green. Ivy inches to the lead. Johnny I is looking good out front. Lap 5, Lucius spins. Restart, a rare mistake from Ivy as he spins off turn 1 in front of the entire pack. Everyone does a great job of misisng the 77i machine. This hands the lead to Street. Street is having a great night and stays out front on the restart. Lap 7, Justin Adams slows to a stop. Green, Street slams to go peddle and is looking very tough. Lap after lap, Street stays on the point. Miller closes in as the laps wind down and they start to battle. Lap 18, Miller moves to the lead. Once Miller hit the lead, write the check, as he pulls away. Miller raced away from the pack and cruised to another win. Street, Peters, Alvin Roepke, and Stroup rounded out the top 5.

Saturday BOSS Waynefield OH, SOD Butler MI, GLSS Plymouth IN, MTS Thunderbird MI

The month of money kicks off as the World Of Outlaws invade Ohio for some of the most popular races of the season. The 30th annual Brad Doty Classic kicked the week off at Attica Raceway Park. The action then moved to Eldora Speedway for 3 days of the 35th annual King's Royal weekend.

Tuesday, 50 WOO Sprints towed to Attica where they were shooting for a very special win, the Brad Doty Classic. To date, its the largest one day show car count of the season.

Cale Conley took a wild flip in time trials on a fast track. With such a large field, 6 heats were ready to roll.

With the track fairly wet, the heat races where hammer down. Cory Ellison took heat 1 over Joey Saldana and Logan Schuchart. Heat 2, pole sitter Kyle Larson got called for a jump start and send back a row. To me, unless is super out of hand, I have never figured out the car that sets the pace can jump a start. Rico Abreu took the win over Jacob Allen and Larson missed the Dash transfer spot. Daryn Pittman took heat 3 over Carson Macedo and Cap Henry who energized the local crowd with a great drive up in the fluff. Shane Stewart wins heat 4 over Tim Shaffer and David Gravel. Heat 5, Sheldon gets a great run off 2 but gets into the back of Brad Sweet and spins. Aaron Reutzel is fast as always and takes the win over Sweet and Chad Kemenah. Heat 6, Dale Blaney slips off the top of turn 1. As he slips down the hill, Paige Polyak spins off in almost the same spot. Donny Schatz takes the win over Brent Marks and with a bit of luck, Greg Wilson. 3rd place Andrew Paulker spun in the middle of turn 4 coming to the checkered flag.

The D Main was up next. Iowa invader Josh Schneiderman took the win over Ryan Ruhl.

2 more move on out of the C. A great race seen Kraig Kinser take the win over a fast Chris Andrews that started in the back

Dash 1 seen Macedo take the win over Saldana. Dash 2 crowd cheers from the huge crowd as Marks held off Schatz for the win.

6 come out of the loaded B Main. Lee Jacobs jolted to the win over Blaney, Sheldon Haudenschild, Gio Scelzi, Ian Madsen, and TJ Michael race into the A. Andrews charged from the back as the local crowd cheered him on but he fell 1 spot short. However, Andrews did earn a $500 bonus from Hoseheads.com for the 1st non transfer.

40 laps as the BDC A Main rolls off. Macedo and Marks pace the pack. Marks marches to the lead. Lap 2, Wilson stops. Rsstart, Blaney spins. Green, Marks leads as lap 6 things slow again as Lee Jacobs stops. Marks keeps things a rolling in the front of the pack as another yellow on lap 13 for Reutzel. Green, Marks is having the crowd cheer him on as he looks like he is holding his own upfront. Lap 21, Sweet spins. Under the yellow, Marks has a right rear tire go flat. Saldana inherits the lead after running a stout 2nd. Lap 22, Schatz slips past for the lead. Schatz is looking for his 4th BDC win. As Schatz leads, the crowd grows anxious as Larson is closing the gap. With a handful of laps left, Larson catches Schatz. Larson changes his line and draws to the inside of Schatz now. Larson keeps low as Schatz runs high. Schatz is too stout and takes the win over Larson Saldana, Abreu, and Macedo.

Thursday the action shifts to Eldora Speedway for the Joker's Wild. 46 cars are ready for action.

4 heats and the regular WOO format for this night. Tim Shaffer, Sheldon Haudenschild, Brad Sweet, and Aaron Reutzel took the heat wins.

A loaded C Main seen Josh Schneiderman break. Caleb Helms slows in this one too. Cole Duncan takes the win over Cory Ellison.

If you thought the C was loaded, the B was stacked. Rico Abreu took the win over Ian Madsen, Sammy Swindell, and Parker Price Miller.

Gravel and Stewart brought the field to green in the 30 lap A. Gravel gets the lead on the start. The action quickly heats up as Jacob Allen is on Gravel's tail tank. Lap 9, Allen takes the lead. A super tight battle gets a little too tight on lap 10 as Stewart makes contact with Gravel. David brushes the wall and spins. Lap 11Stewart slides to the lead. Always good at Eldora, Shane opens the gap. Shaffer tries to run him down at the end but the 2 car is just too stout. Shane Stewart takes the win over Shaffer, Schatz, and Kerry Madsen who charged up from 16th.

Friday 53 WOO cars pull pit side for the Knight Before the King's Royal. With such a great car count a 6 heat race format was used. Chad Kemenah took heat 1 over Sheldon Haudenschild and Jacob Allen. Heat 2 got a bit choppy. Trey Starks found the turn 4 wall as Joey Saldana and him made contact. Then after things got rolling again, Saldana got squeezed into the back stretch wall battling with Brad Sweet. Donny Schatz took the win over Sweet and Gio Scelzi. Blackjack Brian Brown has made the annual trip to the Big E the last few years. Brown took the win over Daryn Pittman and Shane Stewart. Tim Shaffer took heat 4 over Carson Macedo and Greg Wilson. Heat 5, Hunter Schuerenberg had the best start I've seen in years at the big E. Hunter shot right up the gut of the pack and went from row 4 to the lead in the middle of turn 1. Schuerenberg took the win over Aaron Reutzel. Rico Abreu took a popular win in heat 6 over Paul McMahan and David Gravel.

After having major issues earlier in the night, Ryan Smith got the 94 machine a moving and took the D Main win over Dominic Scezli.

Large car counts equal some great drivers in the D and C. Brent Marks took the C Main win over Cory Ellison.

Dash 2, Schuerenberg showed his heat race wasn't a fluke and took the win over Shaffer

The final 4 spots were determined in the B Main. Starks rebounded from his heat race incident and took the win. Cole Duncan, Logan Schuchart, and Dave Blaney with a late race pass.

Brown and Schuerenberg paced the 30 lap A. Could we see a first time Eldora WOO winner? Brown blasted to the lead as the field raced into turn 1. Brown was looking good as Schuerenberg dropped back. Schatz got things a rolling after a few laps clicked off. Lap 10, Don Don took the lead. Wilson was making the Ohio fans wave their arms, pump their fist, and cheer as he was coming on the low side from deep in the pack. Donny stretched to a big lead but Wilson was moving to the front. 5 to go, Wilson now has Schatz in his sights. Schatz had too big of a lead as he took yet another win. Wilson and Sheldon Haudenschild took podium spots.

Saturday, 51 cars shoot for the 35th annual King's Royal crown. The standard King's Royal format is used. Which I truly like btw.

6 heats that mean everything to pass cars if you can. Heat 1, Jess Stiger slows as his 8 car burst into flames for a moment with a blown engine. Jess was okay and the Eldora Speedway safety crew was instantly on the scene. Cory Ellison had been in the C the night before, takes heat 1 over Christopher Bell and Kraig Kinser. An excellent side by side, nose to tail battle in heat 2. Brad Sweet finally cleared Ryan Smith to take the win. David Gravel took the final transfer spot. Donny Schatz showed he was still the man to beat, taking heat 3 over Shane Stewart and Kerry Madsen. Heat 4 seen a few driver punch their card to their first KR a main start. Parker Price Miller took the win over Bill Balog and Lee Jacobs. A man having a good year and its great to see back upfront again, Paul McMahan took heat 5. Tim Shaffer and Daryn Pittman earned a main spots. Trey Starks took heat 6 over Jacob Allen and and Brock Zearfoss

The C Main took 6 to the B. Ryan Ruhl slows for a yellow. Not being where he wants but, trying to make a charge, Brian Brown took the C Main win over Brandon Wimmer, Randy Hannagan, Josh Schneiderman, Ruhl with a great charge, and Dan McCarran.

The final 4 spots for the $50,000 a main were determined via the B Main. Aaron Reutzel has been fast all season and was looking for an A main start, leading the B. 2 to go, Reutzel breaks. Greg Wilson took the win over Hunter Schuerenberg, Ian Madsen, and with a last lap turn 4 pass, Rico Abreu ignited the crowd to make the A.

Starks and McMahan bring the 40 lap event to the green. Schuerenberg spins in 3 and collects Sheldon Haudenschild and Zearfoss. Complete restart, Starks storms to the lead. Starks is looking to pull the major upset as he is hooked up and is still out front as the first quarter of the race is in the books. Schatz is starting to work his way in on Starks. Lap 15, Schatz slides to the lead. Schatz quickly pulls to a 3 second lead by the half way point. Schatz stays up front with 10 to go but Sweet is on the move. 7 and 8 laps to go and Sweet is exchanging sliders with Pittman who is a lapped car. Sweet finally clears Pittman and is quickly closing as the record crowd is frantically cheering Sweet on. White flag, its going to be close as Sweet is near. Coming to the line, Sweet falls less than a car length from the win. Schatz takes 3 Royals in a row. If Sweet would have cleared Pittman a lap, sooner, he by far would have blown right past Schatz. Ellison took 3rd, Jacobs jolted home 4th, up from 16th, and Kinser rounded out the top 5. All in all a great KR weekend.

Upcoming
Friday USAC Plymouth IN FAST Attica OH

Saturday FAST Fremont OH MTS/GLSS I96 MI USAC Kokomo IN

Sunday USAC Lawrenceburg IN GLSS I96 MI

Friday night I kicked the weekend off by heading to Attica Raceway Park for their Fan Night. $10 admission, $1 hot dogs, 50 cent popcorn, and the pits open after hot laps. A excellent bargain especially since several of the teams have handouts for the fans when the pit gates open.

32 410 and 23 305 sprint cars were pit side and ready to rock on this very hot night.

4 410 heats with top 4 to A. Dylan Kingan flipped in heat 1. Tim Shaffer sailed to the win over Ricky Peterson, Jess Stiger, and Shawn Valenti. The action heated up early in heat 2 as Travis Philo and Chris Andrews about touch. Andrews spins with some broken parts. Craig Mintz motored to the win over DJ Foos, Broc Martin, and Boston Mead. Stuart Brubaker held off Byron Reed, Adam Kekich, and Paige Polyak for the win in heat 3. Duane Zablocki flips at the beginning of heat 4. Cap Henry had a break battle with TJ Michael, holding TJ off for the win. Jordan Ryan and Caleb Helms raced into the A.

3 305 heats with all drivers moving to the A. Rookie Shane Call ran an awesome race in heat 1, taking the win after just racing in his 3 or 4 show. John Ivy, Brandon Moore, and Bobby Clark followed Call. Kyle Peters looked impressive taking the win in heat 2 over Jamie Miller, Dustin Stroup, and Jason Keckler. A great race in heat 3 seen Tyler Street take the win with a last lap off turn 4 pass on Kyle Capodice.

Top 4 from the 410 B Main. Thomas Shinderle and Kelsey Ivy are battling for 5th, when Shinderle spins totally sideways, all but running over Ivy, as Ivy spins to avoid and big crash. Travis Philo got things a rolling and took the win over a closing Tyler Gunn, Dan McCarron, and Chris Andrews with a huge charge up from 14th.

The 25 lap 305 A Main was out first. Miller and Ivy brought the field to the green. Justin Adams stops on the start. Restart, Jerry Dahms flips. Restart, Matt Russell spins. Finally, green as Ivy inched to the lead. Lap 6, Steve Rando flies off the top of turn 2. Green, Ivy and Miller battle for the lead. Ivy leads as Miller follows. Ivy slips off the exit of turn 2, as Miller and other pass him. Miller leads now on lap 9. Miller stretches the lead the next 10 laps. Peters is making a late race charge, closing in on Miller. Miller is just too stout and cruises to the win. Peters, Paul Weaver, up from 10th, Capodice, and Stroup round out the top 5.

Kekich and Michael pace the 30 410 A Main. Kekich charges to the lead. Lap 2, Valenti flips as McCarron and Stiger get collected as well. Green, Kekich leads as we quickly are under yellow as Polyak spins on lap 3. Green, Kekich takes off and is looking good. The Western PA driver leads lap after lap. At the half way point, Martin is making a move towards the lead. Lap 18, Martin takes the lead. Martin leads as Michael is looking for to battle Martin for the lead. Martin is flawless and takes the win. Michael, Mintz, Shaffer, and Henry round out the top 5.

Good racing all night long. Mintz was treated and released after the race for dehydration.

Saturday, it was time to change thing up a little bit and head up north to a track I have visited yet. I headed straight North of my house to the Owosso Speedway in Owosso Michigan. The Must See Sprints were invading the 3/8th mile paved banked oval. I got invited by my friend Randy Cronk to ride along in his outlaw Bug push buggy. The VW Bug converted push buggy was a lot of fun to ride in. Much respect to the push truck drivers at ALL race tracks as its a thankless job that is not as simple and as easy as people think. Good times as always with Randy and I got to meet some new people.

A great field of 23 cars were ready to rip up the tar on another hot muggy day. Aaron Pierce set fast time of the night.

3 heats, all cars to the A. Teddy Alberts blows a tire in heat 1 and somehow keeps it out of the fence going into turn 1 while running in 2nd. Adam Biltz blasted to the win over Tom Geren and Joe Speakman. The spin cycle hits again in heat 2 as Tom Jewell spins in turn 2 but keeps a rolling, doing a 360 and putting on a great smoke show. Ike Beasley wins in a close one over Mississippi's Joey Schmidt, and Chargin Charlie Schultz. 3 for 3 for spins in heat as this time its Ryan Gillenwater's turn to spin. In a stacked heat, Jason Blonde held on by less than a car length to take the win over Aaron Pierce and Brian Gerster.

An invert of 10 seen Schultz and Anthony McCune bring the 3rd annual 50 lap Firecracker 50 to the green. Anthony McCune races to the lead. A super fast pace, as they click off 4 laps in a minute. Lap 8, Jerry Caryer spins after some tight racing in the middle of the backstretch. This is when all hell breaks loose it seems. Restart, Schmidt spins, Alberts clips him. Alberts gets some air but lands it but not without damaged to end his night. Green, quickly a yellow on lap 9 as Schultz spins. Restart, Tommy Nichols spins. Green, quick yellow again on lap 10 as Schmidt and Geren collide in turn 3. Since its pavement and its seems it takes them 5 to 8 laps each yellow to get in their head where they belong, a red is thrown for a fuel stop on this caution. Pierce has a flat and several others go to the work area as well. After all said and done, Pierce is back to his starting spot of 10th with 40 laps to go. Green, another quick yellow on lap 12 as Schmidt spins again. This time he is sent pit side. Green, you guessed it, another yellow as Geren stops on lap 13. Green, holy crap, its still green!! McCune leads as his uncle Jimmy McCune starts to reel him in. The McCune teammates have an awesome battle near the half way mark. Uncle Jimmy throws a slider off 4 to take the lead at the half way mark. Yes, it was truly a pavement slider. McCune quickly pulls away. An amazing battle for 3rd to 5th. Pierce works past them and is now in 2nd with about 11 to go. Lap after lap, you could see Pierce closing in. McCune looked as if his tires were really giving up with about 7 to go as Pierce closed up a straightway gap in 6 laps. 4 to go, Pierce and McCune battle nose to tail in traffic, almost touching a few times. Pierce gets a shot, squeezes in the hole and takes the lead at the flag stand on lap 48. McCune tries to make a move but just can't make one. Pierce pulls to the win over McCune and Blonde.

One of the craziest pavement races I have seen but actually some very excellent close racing. Even after a marathon of a race, it was worth the trip, getting my track mark up to 149 now.

Please keep mini sprint driver Tyler Herschberger in your thoughts. The Wauseon Ohio racer is still in the Fort Wayne Indiana Burn Unit and has a LONG road to recovery! Doctors are talking at least December until Tyler can even think about starting rehab. So several months of no work, surgeries, and high medical bills. PLEASE help Tyler in his recovery, even if its just a card or a letter of cheer or encouragement, he needs all the help us racing family can lift him up with. If anyone would like to send Tyler donations or cards or what not, even a gas card for the family to get back and forth to Fort Wayne, anything please send to:

Friday: BOSS Route 44 IN, SOD Hartford MI, USAC Sprints Lincoln Park IN, OVSCA Jackson OH

Saturday: FAST Fremont OH, BOSS Waynesfield OH, All Stars Sharon OH, MSCS Lincoln Park IN, AVSS New Paris IN

After getting rained out 2 and a half days, Ohio Sprint Speedweek finished at Atomic Speedway Saturday. With the Wednesday A Main getting rained out, the make up A Main was ran on Saturday as well. 47 All Star Sprints were on for the Inaugural Rick Ferkel Classic. Hot laps and qualifying for the final night was ran first. Parker Price Miller flipped qualifying.

The Wednesday night 30 lap A Main kicked things off as Justin Peck and Chad Kemenah brought the field to the green. Kemenah kicked to the lead on the start. Lap 4, Cale Conley spins. Kemenah looks good out front on the restart. Lap 9, Tyler Esh slows for as yellow as Cole Duncan spins coming to the yellow. A great battle behind Kemenah for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Hunter Schuerenberg is making a huge charger from 23rd into the top 10. Lap 13, the battle between Aaron Reutzel and Carson Macedo got a little too close and Ruetzel clips Macedo, sending him spinning. Lap 15, Macedo spins off turn 2. Green, Kemenah leads as the action comes to a grinding hault on lap 17 when Price Miller slams the turn 3 end wall. PPM had the wind knocked out of him but thankfully was alright otherwise. A decent battle up front on the restart as Ryan Smith and Paul McMahan battle Kemenah. Lap 21, Mitch Harble flips in turn 4. Green, Smith tries to make a move as Schuerenberg and Cap Henry charger from deeper in the pack, battling for a top 5 spot. Kemenah holds on to take his first win since February. Smith, McMahan, Jac Haudenschild, and Henry rounded out the top 5.

Some really good heat race action in the 5 All Star heats for the Speedweek final. Dave Blaney, teammates Reutzel and Josh Baughman, Trevor Baker, and Cole Duncan took the heat wins.

A strange beginning to the C Main and Chase Baker and Nate Reeser crash lining up. Baker spun gassing it up to line up and Reeser had no place to go except into Baker, knocking the front end out of the 83x machine. After a Steve Butler spin, Brandon Spithauler took the win over DJ Foos.

Foos breaks just a few laps into the B causing a yellow. Price Miller rebounds from a very rough start of the night taking the win. Danny Smith, Gerald McIntyre, and Ryan Smith take transfer spots.

Duncan and Blaney pace the 35 lap $10,000 to win Rick Ferkel Classic. Duncan drove to the lead as the green flag waved. Duncan was on a rail leading lap after lap. Blaney had a few shots to make a move but just couldn't get close enough. With rubber down in spots, it was tricky to keep your line. Lap 29, Henry blows a right rear. Blaney has one last shot but Duncan drives away. Taking a very popular win, Cole Duncan leads flag to flag. Blaney, Macedo, Tim Shaffer, and Ruetzel around out the top 5.

Paul McMahan was crowded Speedweek champ. Next year's event will pay $11,000 to win with the goal of adding 1g each year for the rick RickFerkel Classic. It was the largest crowd of the new era at Atomic.

Sunday, it was off to Kokomo Speedway for the Bob Darland Memorial. 30 traditional sprint cars were pit side.

As usual at Kokomo, some tight close heat race action. Dave Darland, Shane Cottle, and Kevin Thomas Jr took heat wins.

Moving the program quickly along, the B main was on the track before 8 PM. Some excellent battles in the B especially for the final transfer spot as 3 cars was fighting for it. Josh Hodges took the win over Critter Malone, Ted Hines, Tyler Hewitt, and Tony DiMattia.

Cottle and KTJ brought the 30 lap A Main to the green. A tight battle up front from the drop of the green. Cottle climbed to the lead. KTJ has been on a terror and quickly took the top spot on lap 4. KTJ never broke free from the pack as Chris Windom and Robert Ballou are on the heels of KTJ. Lap 16, Windom whips to the lead. The top 3 cars never got over 3 car lengths apart the entire A Main really. With 3 cars nose to tail the final 14 laps Windom raced to the win. KTJ, Ballou, and Darland rounded out the top 4. The A Main was over by 8:45. A good and quick show. I experienced the back stretch grandstands for the first
time and must say its an awesome view. I am not a big back stretch grandstand sitter, don't really care for it but I must say, at Kokomo its too awesome to not sit there.

It was a terrible weekends for accidents! We lost not only an awesome racer but a great man as Jason Johnson passed away from a crash Saturday night. Jason was a friend of mine as well. Its hard to think right when I walk into a WOO from now on I can't go look for him right away like I use to do alot to at least stop by and say hi.

Tyler Herschberger is a local Ohio mini sprint driver that suffered major burns on 30% of his body in a accident Sunday in Indiana. The Wauseon Ohio driver has a long recovery ahead of him and huge expenses as well. Anyone wanting to send Tyler get wells or make a donation can via HoserVille Ohio, Steve King Foundation, or a Go Fund me account that's set up.

Tyler was very lucky to have great fire safety gear. PLEASE racers don't skimp on safety!! Tyler is living proof why!!

Don't forget to tune into On The Throttle on The Q96.5 WQCT Bryan Ohio Monday's around 12:10 or live stream the show. Also download the weekly Dirt Nerds podcast that in an unedited version of racing recaps from all over the USA and the local scene. Follow me on twitter as well at OHduanehancock

Saturday: FAST&NRA Fremont OH, $10,000 to win open show Atomic OH, Must See Owosso MI, GLSS Merritt MI

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