2018 Season Wraps at the Dome

 Friday morning, we loaded up the car and headed for The Dome at Americas Center for the middle night of the Dirt in December Gateway Dirt Nationals. Although tonight, Saturday is the big dollar night for the super late models, modifieds, and for the first time in the three year history of the event, the midgets, Friday night offers up a ton of races, and the opportunity to see mostly everyone entered for the weekend before a few decide to throw in the towel. So the night number two show makes sense for someone like me, who enjoys watching drivers I rarely if ever get to see otherwise. I skipped this indoor event on the 1/5 mile the first year, partly because I was a bit skeptical, but mostly because a dreadful weather forecast that indeed delivered an ice storm made the drive north treacherous on Saturday night. But the lure of 94 late models and about an equal number of modifieds changed my mind in 2017, and even a seven hour show left a mostly good impression.
  So with a chance to ride shotgun this season and make a return visit to Sugarfire for some outstanding barbeque, I was all in.
  The addition of the all star field of midgets, 54 strong, meant the modifieds would be cut to 54 also, by invitation. The late model pre entry sheet came in at 110, with 93 actually making the trip. I am guessing that possibly three of the late models headed home after Thursday night qualifying, but we were still blessed(?) with something close to 200 race cars. With the format used, this meant a total of 32 races, starting after midget qualifying, which was scheduled at I believe 2:30.
   We should have realized the time it would take to complete a show of this magnitude, although I must say that an apparent lack of urgency added an hour or more to the program. But, hey, we were racing 2 plus hours from home in comfortable conditions at a time of the year when the alternative was being home on the sofa, so...
   As expected on the tight 1/5 mile track, it was the midgets that offered up the best racing, with Christopher Bell and Tyler Courtney taking home $3,000 each for their 20 lap efforts capping a complete program of heats and B mains ahead of the twin features. The six modified heats had run on Thursday, so a pair of B's set the remainder of the 20 car fields for their dual 20 lap $3,000 to win main events. Josh Harris and hometown hero Kenny Wallace scored the wins.
  A pair of 20 lap 20 car $5,000 to win features capped a late model night of a dozen heat races, followed by two C mains and two B mains. Polesitter Brandon Sheppard in his family owned #B5 held off early pressure from Jason Welshan, then Tim McCreadie to score the win in the first feature. Veteran Billy Moyer looked like he had something for Sheppard before a lap twelve caution got Sheppard out of traffic. Moyer then settled into fourth, holding off a persistant Jonathon Davenport. Ironically, it was Billy Moyer Jr. who brought out the caution when he slammed the turn three outside barrier.
  Chad Zobrist led the opening three laps of the finale before sixth starting Shannon Babb and fourth starting Bobby Pierce overtook him running high and low off turn two at the same time.  A bobble by Babb allowed Zobrist to briefly regain the lead, but Shannon continued to wow the post midnight large crowd by retaking the spot before he plowed the turn two barrier with 13 laps to go. It was now Pierce out front, and Don Oneal in son Hudsons' #71 jumped to the runner up spot after starting eighth. Zobrist and Oneal swapped the spot, and with two laps remaining, the last of many cautions waved for a multi car pileup in turns three and four following a restart. One last green flag saw Pierce hold on for the win. Oneal held off Zobrist for third, followed by Jeff Herzog and Cameron Marlar. Babb, who had restarted in 16th after his lap eight troubles, made it back to sixth at the checkers. The top four from each of these features will make up the first four rows on Saturday, with last chance races filling out the field.
  There was much to like about the night of racing, and honestly quite a bit on the other side, but by the time the 2019 version comes along, the good will likely outweigh the bad.
  On a non racing related note, while waiting in line at Sugarfire, Jeff Broeg struck up a conversation with up and coming country music star and dirt late model fan Dylan Scott. He was more than gracious with photo ops, and even took a selfie with this old man as we stood in line to enter the Dome, and he made some new fans along the way!
  With my 2018 season likely over, I will take a look back at my travels and offer up some 2019 thoughts soon. In the mean time, the news keeps coming. 34 Raceway owners Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt confirmed the rumor last night that the track would be going back to weekly late model racing in 2019, with IMCA sanctioning being a mild surprise. And today, the MLRA has released a more or less complete schedule for 2019, with several dates that look favorable for Racin' Down the Road! So now, we will set the clocks for March... Thanks for reading.