No, Rory hasn't been taking any time off or anything, but he's sure had his share of struggles lately. While he may have been down on his luck, and probably down on himself lately, I don't thing anybody had given up on this guy. Anybody that has known him for a while knows that he's never happy with anything less than a win, even though that bar has been set pretty high in the Modified class. He's struggled with setup and mechanical problems alot this season but that desire of his has kept him aiming for the front each week. I saw a fire in him this week that I hadn't seen in a while too, and it paid off. Starting out the night with a bent drive shaft didn't stop him. The brake problems in the heat race only seemed to fire him up more. Barely making the call for the B-Main because they were still bleeding the brakes must have done the trick. He started at the back of the pack and seemed to be struggling with more brake problems the first couple of laps but then he got to work. He sliced his way through the field like the "Old Rory" we remember, and was quickly in second place looking for the leader. He had alot of ground to cover to get to him, but I don't think anything was gonna keep him from the lead once he could see it. Rory will tell you that it was just a B-Main win, but I'd say it was a well deserved one. He was just getting started too. From his tail starting spot in the feature, he slid into 6th place by the time the halfway flags flew. This was a man on a mission folks. Let's hope the mission continues next week!!!

The rest of the Modified class seemed to be trying to make up for the show last week by presenting us with an air show of sorts. We had one flipping several times own the back stretch and one outside the park on a hunting expedition. Thankfully everybody walked away with only broken hearts and car parts. Their feature was nothing like the mess from last week and reminded me of why I've been watching that class more this season. What a battle all the way. Nice job guys!

The Late Models took advantage of the awesome track conditions and 2 of them broke the track record! It was great to see Dave Wirt make his first trip to Hilltop, even though he didn't have the kinda night he was hoping for. Hopefully we'll see him down there more often. Rick Aukland seems to be taking lessons from Corey Conley and decided to take the win in the Late Model and Modified features. Damn show-offs! ;-) It seemed strange seeing Thomas Baker there without a ride but he should be back on the track soon. I don't think his wife can take another week of sitting down through the Late Model races!

Jeff Facemire turned in another exciting night of racing while holding off some strong competition from behind to finish 3rd in the heat race. He looked like he wanted 2nd or better but was wise enough to keep the car under him and settle for 3rd. What should have been a 5th place finish in the feature turned into 7th place after a questionable penalty for jumping a restart. Come on Eddie, I've seen others get away with much worse starts. Oh well, at least Jeff got another good night of racing in, and proved to himself that he really can run with anybody out there as long as he doesn't get too worked up. It's a thrill to watch him and Denny Shear going at in and I suspect we'll see plenty of that in the future. By the way, where the hell was Chad Craver????!!!