2017 in Review and a Look Ahead

As 2017 winds down here in the frigid midwest, it is time to take a look back at my racing season. The year started out with a pair of March rainouts at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa, before things got rolling in April. In the end, I was able to make it to 48 nights at 16 tracks in three states. As usual, Quincy Raceways was the leader, with 18 total nights. Next was Lee County, with 12 nights. Then came two visits each to 34 Raceways in West Burlington, Iowa, West Liberty,Iowa Raceway, Scotland County Speedway in Memphis,Mo., and Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach,Il. Single visits came at Bloomfield, Knoxville, and Tipton, Iowa, Peoria, Spoon River Speedway in Banner, LaSalle, and Jacksonville, all in Illinois. Moberly, Missouri was my destination one time, and with an assist from Jeff Broeg, I capped off the season with first time visits to a pair of new venues, the Springfield,Mo. Raceway, and the Dome in St Louis,Mo. I might add here that I count any night that I make it to the track, even if a cancellation occurs after I arrive. Fortunately that happened only two times in 2017. If you are a regular reader, you probably know that although I enjoy all types of dirt track racing, late models are my class of choice, and I was entertained by 53 feature events covering a host of rules and sanctions, everything from steel blocks at Peoria to the high powered Lucas Oil late model series at Knoxville, and everything in between. Along the way, I enjoyed a variety of action, including sprint cars, midgets, modifieds, stock cars, hobby stocks, and yes, even mod lites, and 4 cylinder competition. Having retired in late summer, I hope to be able to change things up a bit in 2018 and hopefully take in a few more week night shows in addition to being able to travel more on Fridays and burn the candle a bit more on Sundays. With this in mind, I am anxiously awaiting the release of the schedule for the Deery Brothers IMCA late models. Like me,the legendary series will see big changes in the coming year. The tracks in Farley, West Liberty, and Dubuque, Iowa have been series strongholds for many years, indeed making up just over half the 2017 schedule. However the Farley Speedway Promotions group has decided to go a different direction with their late model rules, adopting a package that opens the class to a variety of engine packages. Apparently the Independence, Iowa Speedway, another long time series supporter,is also switching to these same rules. Also at this time, it is uncertain if any events will be held at West Liberty in the coming season. Although this was no doubt a setback for the Deery series, it looks as though officials have regrouped and are now in the process of putting together a more diversified schedule. Nine tracks hosting ten races have been identified in a preliminary press release, with more supposedly in the works and a full schedule is due out in January. One change of note thus far is the event originally announced at 34 Raceway has been moved to Tuesday, July 3. This should result in a solid car count and hopefully a packed grandstand for new owners Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt. Crate late models have replaced the IMCA cars on the March 31 date at 34 along with the Sprint Invaders. As noted earlier, this will be the first full season of operation at Quincy Raceways for Jason and Robert Goble, and I saw even more improvements to the facility in a visit earlier this month. UMP crate late models will share the spotlight with 305 sprints in 2018, so keep an eye on the schedule for the Sunday night races. Scotland County Speedway is adding events to the new season. While again hosting race nights in March and again in the fall, and also during the county fair, they will be adding some dates when the Lee County Speedway takes a few nights off. With Mike Van Genderen the man in charge at both tracks, this should be a seamless and successful endeavor. The Midwest Late Model Racing Association, MLRA, continues to make inroads in this part of the midwest. Along with returning to Lee County, the series has a pair of dates at the Davenport, Iowa Speedway, and several trips to LaSalle,Il on tap. As of now, they do not show return trips to Scotland County, or Moberly, but it is still early. And perhaps the biggest feather in their cap is the sanctioning for the first time of the Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway. It will I believe,be year number ten for the memorial event which pays $10,555 to the winner. Because of the change in sanction, the race has been pushed back one week to April 21. The change comes after the controversial happenings in 2017, when the MARS series pulled out of the event at the last minute, citing weather concerns, and leaving the Cornbelt Clash group as a lone sanction. With a rough first season for the fledgling owner of the MARS series, it has been announced that Chris Tilley has purchased the operation. He is working on putting together a schedule for this coming season, no small task considering the foothold the MLRA has gained to the north and the Comp Cams series to the southwest. Tilley has plenty of experience in operations, including working with Ray Cook and his Southern Nationals series, as well as owning a late model and modified series on his own, so perhaps he can have success rebuilding the MARS brand. With the late model drivers heading to Arizona next week for the Wild West Shootout ahead of Speedweeks in February in Georgia and Florida, there really is no such thing as an " off season " anymore. Driver - owner changes, new chassis, etc. are being done on the fly. Of course the move by Bobby Pierce away from his family operation will be one closely watched in these parts. Bobby was something of a semi regular for several seasons at Quincy Raceways along with Brandon Sheppard, and both of these young stars have huge followings in this area. Along with its many unique aspects, racing at the Dome served to shorten my off season. Still with a howling wind and temps in the single digits, it seems like a long way to March! Thanks for reading.

One More Night at the Track

After an abbreviated first ever visit to the Springfield,Missouri Raceway for the rescheduled Turkey Bowl, I was working on putting a wrap on my 2017 season. But an offer from "the Boss" to ride along to night number two of the Gateway Dirt Nationals at the Dome in St. Louis was too good to pass up. For a host of reasons, including inclement weather, I had passed on the inaguaral event in 2016. But the chance to attend my first ever indoor race and my first ever race in December while someone else did the driving sounded like a deal. After a trip to "the Hill" and some outstanding barbeque, we made our way to the in door arena along with north of 10,000 like minded fans for a full late afternoon and night of open late model and modified racing action on the 1/5 mile oval constructed over a two week period under the direction of Kevin Gundaker at the behest of promoter Cody Sommer. 107 UMP style modifieds signed in for Thursday night qualifying, and while I did not keep a count on Friday, I would guess all returned for Friday. 93 late models took time trials on Thursday and all returned, plus Billy Stiles, who broke down on the way to Missouri from Pennsylvania, but was allowed to tag the tail of a heat race on Friday, swelling the count to 94 super late models. As always, Jeff Broeg has a spot on recap of the nights action on the Backstretch elsewhere on this blog page, so I will just add some observations in this report. As a stand alone event at a regular racing venue, the Dirt Nationals would be open to more than a little criticism. But when you take into account the uniqueness of this event, much of the criticism melts away. To come into an enclosed facility with obvious space constraints, bringing everything from the dirt itself to the walls and everything else needed for a race program of such a large magnitude, is an amazing undertaking. I think it is important to understand the this be viewed an an "event" more than a racing program. As I said, it may not compare favorably to say the Dream, the World 100 or the Knoxville Late Model Nationals, but it is racing in the midwest in December! I do not do the extensive traveling that many of my friends in the racing world are able to do, but I was able for the first time to see dozens of drivers in both divisions that I have never had the opportunity to see in person, while at the same time watching them compete against drivers I watch on a regular basis. And if you are going to have the extended amount of down time required to filter the air - and do track maintainence - what better place than indoors where you can visit with friends you have not seen for a couple of months. Unfortunately for them and me, the modified drivers I am able to watch every week at Quincy Raceways, Michael Long and Dave Weitholder did not have good results, and while local late model standouts Jason Perry and Dustin Griffin were preentered, neither made the trip, at least not with their cars. I was able to give Dustin a scolding for showing up as a bench racer, like myself! The new owner/promoters from Quincy Raceways and 34 Raceways, as well as veteran race director Mike VanGenderen were among the attendees, all taking notes,and receiving advice, I am sure. After hearing some horror stories from the 2016 event, we did pack overnight bags "just in case," but the action began on time at 3:00, and the final checker waved at 9:55. Second generation driver Hudson Oneal was a popular winner in one of the two 20 lap $5,000 to win late model features, and there is no doubt he has a bright future ahead. The same can be said for the winner of the second main event, Gordy Gundaker, a St Charles,Missouri native, who calls Quincy his " second home" after graduating from Quincy University as an outstanding catcher on the baseball team. Gordy was a two time feature winner at Quincy Raceways in 2017, and I just realized he is living my childhood dream, a baseball player and stock car racer! It was my first time to see modified driver Tanner Mullins, and he was impressive capturing the $5,000 modified top prize. A couple of other drivers who have spent more than one night in victory lane at Quincy, Bobby Pierce in his #32 late model and Ray Bollinger wheeling his #77 modified collected the big checks on Saturday while I was up the street at the Scottrade Center benefitting from some free tickets while watching the St Louis Blues defeat the Winnepeg Jets in NHL action! After two successful runs on the third weekend in December - following the PRI race show in Indianapolis, I see the 2018 Dirt Nationals date has been set for November 29,30 December 1. What this means for the competitors and the fans remains to be seen, as there were mumblings about a possible open wheel type show as well. But what I can say is I came away happy to have been in attendance and looking forward to a possible return trip next year. Now that my 2017 season is truly over, I will be back soon with a recap of my year. Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas to all!