Welcome to yet another segment of This Week In DIRT! You know, where we help catch you up on what you missed because you were...well let's just say indisposed. You could have been on a bender, a binge with a hooker, working on the house by order of a less than understanding wife, at the casino losing your children's college fund..etc. There could be a number of reasons that kept you away from the news at your favorite racing facilities or from being there in person altogether.
This time, it's different...I'm one of you. Not for any of the unsavory reasons listed above, though I understand those who've fallen off wagons, no, I was at the beach. Getting away for a week. It just so turned out, that this was one hell of a week to be away from the track! At least in my neck of the woods. So here you have it. The stuff I missed because I just had to be away at the beach, and it looks like I missed some damn fine stuff.
I Missed Two Great Nights At Eldora:
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| Daylon Barr Photo |
Yep, sure did. For the first time in years, the forces of the dirt racing universe came together to allow for a truly great series to run at the legendary Eldora Speedway. They were there, all the tour regulars and a stout field invaders from as far away as New Jersey, Eastern, PA, the Niagara Frontier and of course the Western PA/Eastern OH conference.
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| Daylon Barr Photo |
And it was a great show to be sure! Tim Fuller took the win, and I couldn't have been happier about it! Talk about one of racing's good guys, Fuller has had a rough few years, and he's rebounding nicely this year. I'd love to see him back in the late model, but to see that he earned an impact win in front of all in attendance at Eldora was great to hear about. Almost as heartwarming, was the performance of the venerable Gary Tomkins who came home fourth. He's a class act, and drives clean and is very accommodating to fans and loves what he does. Our own Daylon Barr was in the house though and took some great pictures...
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| Daylon Barr Photo |
Then, I next missed the annual NASCAR Trucks at Eldora and also a 25 lap modified exhibition race. Not going to lie, I was probably missing this night a little bit less than the previous one, but still, it would have been great just to be in the house. It was great to see Kyle Larson get a win after coming so close in years past, and great to see an all dirt podium with Bell and Abreu rounding it out. And also, I missed seeing Stewart Friesen making people in the stands and on tv stand up and take notice of what a truly great talent he actually is. He could wheel anything! I hope the event continues.
Not that the racing is always great, it isn't, but as the years go along, things get better, more refined and smoother. In a perfect world, I'd love to see it as a show up points only affair for the Nascar guys giving the opportunity for more dirt guys to outrace them and get in. And maybe they could lose the windshields, and the mirrors, and if the Nascar guys don't get in through the bmain...they go home, make it a dirt race, and honest to god one. Baby steps folks.. And also....get some of dirt racing's finest broadcasters in the booth! I want to hear the likes of Gibson, Andrews, Essex and maybe a Chet Christner as part of the team!
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| Patrick Miller Photo |
I Also Missed The Don Martin Silver Cup
Yes, once again, I missed this race, and it's at my home track!! You see my week at the beach happens the same week every year (cheaper that way), and almost every year, it falls during the running of the World of Outlaws taking the stage at Lernerville.
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| Pat Miller Photo |
David Gravel took home the win, and that was a great thing! He's been getting better every year, and has really become comfortable in the CJB ride. He was my first ever feature story at TDN actually. This event always brings out the talent, a little bit from Ohio, a little from Central, PA, the outlaws, and the locals too. I could kick myself (and have) for missing this one year after year. Our own Patrick MIller was there though and took some awesome pictures which you can find right here!
Don Martin Silver Cup Gallery From Patrick Miller
I Also Missed Super DIRTCar Series at Sharon
Yep, I missed this one too! Got some good waves that day, and the ice cream was out of this world later on that night, but I'd probably trade them both if I could have been at this one. You see the SDS doesn't come around to our neck of the woods very often (10 years) so it would have been a fantastic night to go, (like there's ever a bad night to go racing), but I digress. 51 plus cars showed up. That's more than these guys get in Central, NY for an SDS show!! And in a mild upset, Jimmy Phelps scored the win, kind of keeping with the good guy theme with the series for the week!
Something not so chill happened when Lernerville Champion Mat Williamson fell victim to a scoring mistake! He was paid for 8th, but given 22nd place points. And so that combined with some transponder shenanigans at Grandview might just cause him to not make the tour his prime focus. And that's a shame. But still, it was a good to see the locals mixing it up with the tour regs and other invaders. Please for the love of god...can we do this swing next year for SDS? I'll hustle harder to get the beach week dates changed...I swear!!
And now...here's an assorted list of things I also missed.
- Slidejobs, clean ones!
- Seeing all the folks at Lernerville for the Silver Cup! Since it was a WoO Show, we could have had a beer together!
- Feeling the thunder of 30 big block modifieds all hitting turn one at the same time! Such a resonance there!
- Seeing some of the locals scratch, claw and do whatever it takes to make any of the three shows!
- Dirt in my beer
- Amy Lynne's Cupcakes at Lernerville!
- What it feels like to walk around Eldora and just take in the atmosphere
- Making side TDN Bets with fellow contributors at the track for beer!
- Pit Lizards! I don't care for them, but I love to laugh at them!
And most of all, I missed seeing you all there! We are a DIRT Nation, and we're in this together...and just being together in one place no matter what's on the track, makes it always a good time!
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