Last Friday night brought a pretty exciting night for at least one young Late Model pilot at Lakeville when Matt Irey picked up his first career feature win. This kid has come a long way in just a few short years and he sure as hell had to earn this first victory. The field behind him was filled with folks with many feature wins and many more years of experience but the youngster seemed determined to prove that he was the best of the class on this night. Restarts that would have shaken many veterans didn't shake Irey from his goal of bringing home the trophy, and the stands went wild once the checkered flag flew. Congrats to the entire Irey team!

Saturday night started out pretty well with Mike Miller running away with the heat race win. It looked even better with an unusually good starting spot in the feature but we'd soon find out that the car just wasn't up to the task this time. In the opening laps Mike went to work on the outside and it looked like another win was on the way but that didn't last long. From there it was up to the veteran to hang on to take home the best finish the car would give us. 7th place isn't what we were expecting by any means but the car came home in one piece with an extra week to track down the problem and do some regular maintenance. With next week being double points we'll be trying to go over any little thing to ensure another strong run.

Miller got a bit of a surprise call last week with a last minute offer of a ride for the Main Event show at Barberton Speedway this weekend. Mike's not one to turn down a chance to wheel a decent car in a big event so of course he jumped at the chance. This would bring a new challenge though as he wouldn't even get a look at the car until race day and that's not usually a good idea. The car was pretty much out to lunch when they unloaded it but when the driver knows this track like the back of his hand he can let the crew know what he needs and with a good crew alot of problems can be overcome fairly quickly. The result was picking up roughly one and a half second from the first laps to the qualifying run. The car still looked pretty uncomfortable in qualifying but Miller hung it all out to qualify third fastest. These feature races are pretty uneventful (that's putting it nicely) but they can also be brutal with a car that you're not comfortable with and rides alot like a buckboard wagon. That wouldn't stop a seasoned old timer like Miller from running a very smooth and smart race to finish 4th for the best finish for that car this season. Not bad for a "fill-in driver" huh? ;-)

While the focus was meant to be on the Sprints on Friday night at Lakeville, one of the best races was once again the Pure Stock feature. This time the front row would have "Old Man Haven" in his Mopar beside his own son in his bowtie powered ride. I don't think I have to describe the grin on my face as that Dodge pulled away and never looked back. Sure the wiley veteran made it look interesting a couple of times but he was clearly in control of the outcome of this one. Behind the Havens there was a fierce battle between frequent top runners such as Baney, Mensching, Dickerson and even a late charge from Daugherty. This was good clean action packed racing at it's best! The Sprint feature was pretty interesting too but it didn't take long to see who would take home the $1200 prize. Tim Hunter handed out what could only be termed a good old fashioned ass whoopin once again. Sure he had to work his way to the front, and then work his way damn near through the entire field again, but he made that look fairly easy too. I'm wondering if maybe it's time to put a bounty on this guy to see just who can knock him off his throne. It's not like there haven't been some stout Sprints there this year so far but there just has to be somebody out there that's up to the challenge,, right? ;-)

Saturday night had it's own share of action at Midvale Speedway. Miller parked the car early in hot laps which can only mean he's pretty happy with his ride. Qualifying 4th would start him deep in the field for the feature but we're pretty used to that by now. With a good car and a decent start, anything is possible with this guy. Jumping up on the wheel at the drop of the green, Mike went to work weaving his way through the field using any opening he could find. Meanwhile up front it was starting to look like Bob Schneider would pick up his first feature win. Without a caution or two I'm pretty certain he could have pulled it off too but the cautions bunched up the field to his dismay. By that time Mike was close enough to smell the lead in 3rd. On a restart with 5 laps to go it looked like he'd own the lead soon but another caution ruined that great run. On the next try Mike would have to wait his turn to try to sneak by Schneider as Willison beat him to it this time. The laps would run out before he had a clean enough shot at sealing the deal on Schneider and he'd have to settle for 3rd. Not a bad run by any means but I'd love to have had another couple of laps. That's racin' though, and we'll take it. ;-)

Friday night brought plenty of excitement with the first leg of the Late Model Triple Crown Series at Lakeville. Mother Nature rolled into town just before the features were to get started but that just held up the action for a little while. The Pure Stocks ran their feature first and it was one hell of a race. Old man Haven all but promised me another feature win but he never got that caution he needed to complete his run from the 10th starting spot. It sure as hell wasn't like he left anything behind from not trying hard enough though. The front 2 cars would run the final laps with a flat front tire each and neither one was about to back down. The 151 car of Hinton snuck past Dickerson to pick up the win in the final turn. The Late Model feature was even more action packed with JR Gentry still looking for that feature win that got away from him on opening night, and a strong field of others trying to keep that from happening. Always sure to provide plenty of thrills of his own, the old timer Blaine Aber seemed to be the most determined one out there to keep Gentry from taking home the $1200 prize. Gentry and Aber were door to door for nearly every lap with Aber wheeling a wounded car by the half-way mark. Broken shock and all, the heavy footed veteran managed to pull ahead of Gentry off the corners until the final laps. One small slip is all that JR was waiting for and he pounced when that finally happened. Once out front he was able to stretch out his lead and headed straight to the Winners Circle. I swear I saw Gentry senior actually crack a smile as JR took the lead. ;-)

Saturday night held its own thrills and once again Mike Miller was happy to provide his share of excitement. It's no secret that if this guy straps into a decent piece of equipment he's gonna be a threat to pick up the win. He's had his share of frustrations lately while wheeling a strong car only to be stuck in traffic for most of the night. This week would turn out so much different, and for once he wouldn't be held up deep in the field, thanks to the luck of the draw. Starting outside the front row he would only have to make an early move to clear the pole sitter which turned out to be a hair raising experience. It would also require a restart after a bit of paint swapping negated the first lap. At the drop of the green on the second try Miller once again went hard into turn one pulling past the leader coming off turn two and the rest was just plain purrrrty! Damn that car looks much better out front all by itself. It looks even better in the Winners Circle come to think of it. Hot diggety damn this winning stuff is fun! :-) We should have an easy week this week with only minor damage to repair and of course that search for even more speed will continue. It's not like we're just gonna sit back and savor the taste of victory all week. Well,,,,, maybe for a day or two wouldn't hurt I guess...........

I've said for many years that while it may be nice to see a traveling series such as the Outlaws or Lucas Oil guys come to town once in a while, I'd much rather see our local tracks put on big shows for our own local talent instead. It only makes sense to offer the bigger payouts to those in the area that support the local tracks every week, and there's sure as hell no shortage of talent in this area. Sure the increased payouts tend to bring some different teams in to try for the "easy money" but they usually find that it ain't easy taking one away from some of the best this area has to offer. It just makes the show that more exciting to watch them "earn" that money if they can. Big sanctioned shows tend to actually hurt the local tracks with the huge fees they demand, and hurt the local fans with the need to increase the cost of admission. Over the years Lakeville has resisted the urge to bring in those expensive sanctioned events and focus more on highlighting those in the area that support all of our local tracks all year long, and I applaud them for that. The Late Model Triple Crown Series is just one example of how they've always seemed to give a little back to those that deserve it while always putting on a great show. This Friday night will be the first event in the series and you don't want to miss it. In recent years some teams may have been a bit shy about making this show due to the reputation Lakeville had for some rough driving and questionable calls. From all I've witnessed this year, I can honestly say those days are over and I think the word is finally getting out there about the "new & improved Lakeville". As a way to even further their show of support for the local guys, the purse has just been increased throughout the entire field including an extra $200 going to the winner. Grandstand prices will also remain the same as a normal show at $12 ($10 for seniors, $5 for ages 13-16) and pit passes will only be increased for this show to $30. Nice move Lakeville!!!

While we're on the subject of Lakeville, they had a great show last Friday night with good clean side by side action all night long. The track was smooth and FAST, the best I've seen it in quite a while. The Late Model feature win was up for grabs almost every lap between the top 4 or 5 cars. Nobody had quite enough to take it away from young Ryan Eddleblute though as he EARNED his first feature win the hard way. With guys like Eicholtz, Gentry, and Duncan breathing down his neck on many restarts he kept his head straight and showed that he could handle the pressure just fine. This kid is gonna be tough from here on out now that he's tasted victory.

One of the best parts of the evening for me had to be seeing those Mopars of Donna Canode and Dave Haven Sr. in the Pure Stocks though. Donna has suffered from mechanical problems all season with her new Dodge but it looked like she was past all that in the heat race. She ran off with the heat race in a car that looked pretty damn happy to be there. That thing was just plain hooked up! Early in the feature she jumped out front and once again started to run away with it but those mechanical gremlins came back to bite her and her night was over. That's when the old timer stepped up to take over. Haven took his Mopar to the front and the rest of the strong field would have to settle for racing for second place from well behind the old fella. He was GONE! Congrats to ya Dave and thanks for putting a Dodge in the Winners Circle!

We were promised a new improved version of Lakeville Speedway this year and after talking to Randy Young during the off-season it was clear that he was serious about that promise. Of course promises only go so far until the season begins and it's time to make good on those promises. In a brilliant move Lakeville brought in Ed Fredricks and his crew of track officials to help make this plan work and the change was VERY clear to anybody there this Friday night. The first sign of change was when I saw the black flag fly in hot laps for rough driving in the Mini Stocks. What a way to introduce yourself Ed! ;-) The driver's meeting was probably the most important part of the night and a clear sign of changes made for this season. Chuck Griffith starting things off by explaining that many of the things that have tarnished Lakeville in the past will now result in those violators looking for a new place to race. The plan is to eliminate all the drama on the track and in the pits, as well as in the grandstands. Finally, Lakeville will once again be a great place to take the family for some good clean racing action. The list of things that will no longer be tolerated was made very clear and it seemed to really sink in for once.

I've said before that it was going to be up to the racers and fans to help make this turn-around happen, just as much as it was up to the track. I'm happy to say that the drivers certainly did their part this week to clean things up. It looked to me as if many of drivers remembered where that brake pedal was at the same point where they would have probably just used the other cars for a guard rail in the past. Hats off to you drivers for stepping up and doing your part to improve the Lakeville experience. Even with the milder attitudes out there you put on a great show and probably some of the best racing I've seen there in years. It was great to see racing instead of beating, banging, and bitching going on out there on the track. Now, does this mean that everything including all the calls made were perfect? Hell no, but I've asked you before to let me know if you find a track anywhere that can pull that off so I can witness this miracle. Congrats to all of the staff at Lakeville and of course the racers for making such a huge difference in just one night. Let's hope this level of cooperation continues all season.

Now for some of the racing action. JR Gentry was clearly the standout in the Late Models as he turned the very first laps in his new GDI ride. What a way to break in a new car. Fighting a loose condition he still stole the heat race win in fine fashion. After making a small change for the feature he set out to put on a clinic on how to get around Lakeville. He checked out on the stout field behind him and had them covered by about half a lap when the first caution flew. Under caution it was clear that his car was in trouble from a broken j-bar mount but the young fella still took the green and went back to his ass whoopin' until the car finally turned right on him in turn 3 and his night was over. What a run though for this team. I can't wait to see what they have in store for next week. The wild action in that feature was far from over once Gentry was in the pits. Lonas and Duncan put on quite a show of their own. In a move that would have made even George Lee cringe, Duncan made a charge on the last lap that had him dusting off the back stretch wall and sneaking by Lonas right at the stripe. DAMN that was fun to watch!

It's starting to sink in now that the new season is about to get under way. Mother Nature has thrown us a few surprises and will certainly throw some more but it's that time of year again. Soon the air will be filled with those sweet sweet racing fumes and the rumble of horsepower being unleashed. Well it's about damn time!

Last weekend saw us testing at Midvale and for the most part things went pretty well. A few minor bugs came up but those things are usually expected and no big deal. Mike looked like he was right at home out there even though the car still isn't quite as good as we would like. Several changes later we were scratching our heads but determined to track down that last bug in the handling. The good news is that it's very competitive as it is. That tells me that if we ever get it perfect it will be a friggin rocket. You can bet we're working on that already. Midvale starts their season this weekend so we'll be throwing some new ideas at it before then.

By the way, you might have noticed a new sponsor on the front of the car, and we'd like to welcome aboard the gang from Classic Auto Glass. THANKS for your support!

Most of us are stranded here fighting the cold and snow while busting ass to get race cars ready for the track, while some lucky bastards get to leave this winter hell and get some real racing action in a little early. For those of us stuck in Ohio during yet another ugly winter, a little good news from Florida helps out quite a bit. When I heard that the Rob Petrus Motorsports (RPM) team was heading south to compete in the 2009 World Series of Asphalt event at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida I was pretty optimistic for them. This team has kicked some serious ass at Barberton Speedway and other local tracks over the years and they would also have a celebrity guest star seated in one of their two cars for this show. The "fill in driver" was none other than the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie Of The Year, Landon Cassil. Landon is the youngest driver to ever snag that award! Veteran driver and current Barberton Speedway track champion Dave Wagner would pilot the second car. This would be a great chance for Wagner to show his stuff against a young gun that's already stepped up to the higher levels of racing. In other words is was time to see how our local talent stacked up against one of the hottest young guns in the sport as well as the rest of the top notch drivers that show up for such a huge event.

This 9 night show would bring some big hitters hunting that points championship that would be handed out at the end. Both RPM cars would make Ohio proud all week with Wagner nipping at the heels of Cassil in the points while also threatening to pick up a win on any night. Picking up a win early in the week, Cassil wouldn't be an easy target, but one rough night for the 7 car would really shake things up. Wagner wouldn't finish outside the top 5 all week and that win for him would come on Thursday night. Now Wagner was leading the points with just one 50 lap feature left in the series. Another great showing had Cassil starting 19th and finishing 6th while Wagner fought his way from 13th to finish 2nd, therefore bringing home the points championship for team RPM. Landon Cassil would finish 4th in the overall points. HUGE Congrats go out to Dave Wagner and all of Rob Petrus Motorsports!!! It's awesome to see such a deserving team have such great success. Now, go kick some more ass around Ohio this season. ;-)