Final Thoughts From Bristol

  I am guessing that everyone who had an interest in the Bristol Dirt Nationals but did not purchase the pay per view has seen the results and the multiple pictures and videos posted on the internet. So I will just add a few reflections after surviving the twelve and a half hour trip home. 

   Night number two unfortunately did not go as smoothly as Friday. Perhaps the hornet qualifying races run in the morning put the track prep team behind the eight ball, as things kicked off on time on Friday, but due to what may have been excessive watering, the show on Saturday was over an hour late with the first green flag. With three more races than Friday on the card including five features, this left us dangerously close to the curfew, with the final checkers coming several minutes after 12:30.

   On the plus side, those five main events, even though all were shortened a bit, were highly entertaining. With Friday night winner Chris Ferguson grabbing the early lead from his pole position start, it looked like he may be able to sweep the weekend in the headlining super late model division. Friday runner up Kyle Larson had other ideas, however, as he shot to the front on lap eleven of the forty lapper. Following the first caution three laps later, Scott Bloomquist took advantage of the Delaware double file restart to power to second, applying pressure to Larson through two more yellow flag restarts. Meanwhile, Jonathon Davenport was climbing from his row five starting spot towards the front, and following a final caution one lap before the crossed flags signaled the halfway mark, he grabbed second from Bloomer. One more trip around and the lead was his, and he quickly moved to a different zip code, driving away to victory by a comfortable margin to collect the $50,000 top prize. Larson was bridesmaid for the second night in a row, and he kept that streak going with a runner up finish in the NASCAR Cup race today at Atlanta. With the program running a bit late, Kyle Busch was able to follow up his NASCAR truck series win at Atlanta by returning to Bristol in time to tag the tail of a late model B main and charged to second, putting him in row ten of the feature. He had no more magic, however, as he finished outside the top ten. Kyle Strickler was also a late arrival for the modified feature. He had apparently forfeited a front row start to compete at Brownstown, Indiana with the Lucas Oil late model series. But that event was stopped early due to poor track conditions, so Kyle hopped a plane back to Bristol in time to charge to victory lane with his #8 mod and claim the $10,000 check.

    Perhaps the most competitive as well as entertaining class in the country, in the mid west, for sure, is the stock cars, and the IMCA boys had their moment in the sun at Bristol, dominating the field. It was awesome enough to see the father and son team of Damon and Dallon Murty occupy the front row for the $5,000 to win finale, but when they crossed under the checkered flag one two, with sixteen year old Dallon the Bristol champ, it was time to stand up and cheer!

   Even though another Iowa hot shoe, Jake Benischeck, was starting deep in the thirty two car hornet field, I felt like he could make some noise. While Jake put on a show, coming through the pack to second, it was Hunter Anthony who climbed to the podium after cruising to an apparent $2,000 win. We watched curiously on the monitor as an official handed the driver a winners cap, then unceremoniously removed it from his head. The announcement soon came that Anthony had apparently driven without gloves, an oft stated rules infraction, and soon it was Jake on the stage, now the victor!

    Cinderella would have missed the final 604 late model feature, as twenty three cars took the green flag for the final twenty laps of the weekend. Missing from the lineup was Iowa hot shoe Johnny Spaw, who had qualified but had to return to the Hawkeye state early. It was another NASCAR competitor, Austin Dillon, sitting on the pole, and he was on a rail, leading the distance for the win. The grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress is no stranger to the dirt, and I remember watching him compete as a teenager at the now sadly defunct Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway, which we had to painfully drive by on the way to and from Bristol.

   With an original entry list of more than 1300 participants, the official count was listed at 823. With the challenges presented by Mother Nature, it would have been nearly impossible to complete the show with that many cars, although I am sure the financial projections might have been a whole lot different with 500 less entries. Day after day of rain created unending problems for the promotion team, and as we drove east in persistent showers on Thursday, we too were questioning our decision. When we woke up Friday morning to drizzle two hours down the road in Knoxville, things looked bleak. But even though the clouds and cool temps hung around on Friday, the rain subsided, and we were able to see a complete show on a racy track. Saturday finally brought us sunshine  warmer temps, and an outstanding start to our 2021 race season. At this time, I would be remiss if I did not give a shout out to my long time racing companion Fred, who generously decided to foot the bill for the four of us to upgrade to the comfort of a suite high atop the historic half mile. Everything did not always go smoothly for the 800 plus competitors, the race officials, or we three old men and the boy over the weekend, but hey, " It's Bristol, Baby! "

 

Ferguson, Fowler, Heckman, Dejong Tops at Bristol

When it was announced back in January that Bristol Motor Speedway would be turned temporarily into a dirt racing palace, we made the decision to take the twelve hour journey in hopes of witnessing a true event. Spectators would only be allowed on the final two nights of the week long extravaganza which would showcase eight divisions of race cars. There were a host of reasons not to make the trip, not the least of which would be the potential for inclement March weather in the foothills of eastern Tennessee. But with Barry Braun, Mike Van Genderen and their team running the show, we felt like we had a good chance of witnessing top notch racing. It was a massive undertaking to cover the .533 mile high banked asphalt surface with enough red dirt, over 23,000 cubic yards– on top of a two inch sawdust base – to build a satisfactory surface and in addition the banking was cut down to accommodate the various classes of cars which would be competing in two rounds of qualifying heats and features, with a combined point system setting the stage for the big weekend paydays.

Before registration was closed for all but the super late models, more than 1300 drivers had entered to compete for a share of a purse that would top half a million dollars. But as the race days approached the weather forecast went from bad to worse, with rain forecast for nearly every day. As a result, many teams canceled their entry, with the car count closer to 800 by opening day. Still persistent showers forced the promotion team to make several adjustments to the schedule, and when heavy rain completely wiped out Thursday racing, many of the qualifying events had to be scrapped, with points earned in the first round of heats and features used to set lineups for the B and A features on Friday and Saturday. This of course left many competitors who had issues with their opening round unhappy, and it was even worse for the 4 cylinder hornets who would now not be on the track until Saturday morning. It was an unfortunate but unavoidable circumstance as promoters wanted to make sure the headline event – the super late model show – was able to run, and the track was also operating under a curfew.

Thankfully, after early drizzle on Friday, the weather cleared enough that racing would start on time in front of a well chilled, socially distanced crowd. Four divisions of cars took to the oval on this night, with the super late models running the first of two complete shows, featuring a $10,000 to win twenty five lap feature. With fifty one 602 late models still around, their final night would consist of a pair of B mains and a twenty lap feature paying $5,000 to win. Modifieds and sport mods would each compete in four B mains and features paying $7,500 for the mods and $5,000 for the sport mods to end their week.

The super late models boasted a strong field of drivers with NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott among the fifty five entries. In fact, Larson set quick overall time with a lap of 15.460 seconds, while also capturing the third heat. Other heat race winners included Chris Ferguson, Jonathon Davenport, and Brandon Overton. David Payne and Busch picked up the two B main checkers. It was Ferguson who sat on the polefor the feature, and he was the class of the field, outrunning Larson through the first set of turns then leading the distance for the win. Davenport was able to get by Larson on lap two, but could not run down the leader. Larson retook the spot from the Delaware restart just before halfway, the second and final caution of the race. Davenport came home third, followed by Scott Bloomquist and Chris Madden. Michael Rouse ran sixth in front of Boom Briggs, Adam Yarbrough, Jason Riggs, and Michael Chilton. Ricky Thornton Jr. was marching to the front after starting in row eight before a flat tire sent him pitside.

Sixteen year old Maguire Dejong from Montezuma, Iowa was a part of his high school state championship basketball team two weeks ago, then quickly left for Bristol to compete in his sport mod. After capturing a feature win in preliminary night racing, he backed it up with a $5,000 victory on Friday. Brady Bjella stalked the youngster throughout, settling for second. Jared Boumeester, Zack Tate, and western Iowa hot shoe Josh Most completed the top five. Carthage, Illinois newly wed Austen Becerra came home in sixth.

Kyle Heckman made the long haul from Bakersfield, California pay off with the IMCA type modified win. After his victory lane interview it was announced that he had failed post race tech, but someone spoke too soon, because a second trip through tech confirmed that he was indeed a legal winner. Cory Davis was runner up, trailed by double duty Ricky Thornton Jr., J D Auringer in the Timmy Current #12T, and one of my favorite racing names, Clay Money.

The 602 late models wrapped up the night, and while we witnessed several spectacular crashes throughout the night, the carnage in this class was massive. An eleven car pile up just past the halfway mark of the twenty lapper sent many of the super chilled spectators scurrying for the warmth of their cars or campers, and left about three undamaged race cars on the track. As the amazingly efficient wrecker crew, and I mean that sincerely, cleaned up the mess, a few of those involved limped back to the track to gain a few spots in the running order. Eventually nine of the twenty four starters took the checkers. Cass Fowler from Ackworth, Georgia was dominate in taking the win ahead of Dustin Diem, Kevin Powell, Hayden Swaney, and James Maurice.

With the sun finally shining, we will be back at it tonight, with super late models vying for a $50,000 top prize in what will now be a forty lap feature. Open modifieds will be running for a cool $10,000, while 604 late models, stock cars , and hornets will round out the show.

Turning The Calender

   As we flip the calendar from a trying February, thoughts begin to turn to what we anticipate will be a full and exciting 2021 racing season here in the mid west. At the urging of grandson Keagan, we are planning for our season opener in just over two weeks at a new venue, Bristol Motor Speedway. While the Bristol Dirt Nationals is scheduled to be a monumental event contested over six nights  - March 15-20, our arrangements are to attend the final two nights when the grandstands will be open to spectators. The last update included 1363 cars signed in to the eight divisions that will be in action! The super late model count continues to grow, with 112 participants at this time, with open registration continuing while the other classes are now set with a low of 146 602 crate late models and a high of 204 hornets. The supers will run full shows on Friday ($10,000 to win) and Saturday ($50,000 to win), while the other classes will feature last chance and main events split between the two nights. At last check, tickets still remained, although attendance will be capped at a fraction of capacity due to Covid restrictions. Well known mid west promoter  Mike Van Genderen has been instrumental in covering the half mile asphalt facility with the trademark red dirt surface for what will be a month of racing, including the spring visit by the NASCAR Cup Series and the World of Outlaw sprints and late models. 

  Closer to home, we hope to follow up with the lid lifter at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri on March 26 and 27. The Friday night show will feature five classes of cars, joined on Saturday by the opening race for the Hoker Trucking SLMR east division late models. 

   To cap off the month, it will be the opener at Kevin and Tammy Gundakers' Tri City Speedway near Granite City, Il., as they play host to the second installment in the newly created Flo Racing late model series. This will be a ten race " made for T.V. " series, all on week nights at different tracks around the mid west. The Wednesday, March 31 show will feature super late models racing for a $10,000 top prize joined by open modifieds.

  April will then kick things off in full swing here in the Tri State area. Friday, April 2 is set as the first night in the promoting career of long time Quincy Raceways employees Jim and Tammy Lieurance who will take over the reigns at the Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Mo. with a five division weekly program. April 2 and 3rd will also see 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Ia. roar back to life with a two night USMTS VS. UMP modified extravaganza. Owner/promoters Brad Stevens and Jessi Mynatt are still in the process of multiple upgrades at the 3/8 high banked facility, with new dirt added as well. And the revised schedule for Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Ia. show Brian and Marcie Gaylord kicking things off with a Friday, April 9 program featuring the SLMR late models, 410 sprint cars and midgets. For up to date schedules, including all the openers, check out the calendar tab here at Positively Racing.com.

  Things are considerably murkier regarding Quincy Raceways. The track is back under the control of owner Paul Holtschlag, who has been working to sell the facility. As of February 1, he had more than one interested party, but indicated in the local newspaper that if there had been no progress by the end of the month he would be putting the speed plant up for auction. Although his preference is for the property to remain a race track, there would likely be no guarantee of that happening. So we shall see.

  Here's hoping for a full and prosperous 2021 for racers, fans, and promoters alike, and let's plan to meet up soon at the track!