As most of you know, my dad has been in bad shape and that kept me from posting an update last week. Thanks for your understanding and well wishes. This week I was able to keep my head more into the racing action, and there was plenty of it.
With Friday being rained out at Hilltop, that meant a Sunday race. We've all come to expect dry slick and dusty tracks for any Sunday race, but that didn't mean that the action wouldn't be great. They used evey bit of the track in all divisions, and a few even tried to use more than Hilltop has to offer. By the time the features rolled around, the track was in a bit better shape and we were treated to some serious racing. The Late Models had plenty of action throughout the field and JR Gentry was putting on a hell of a show up front. He would finally slide into the lead at one point, only to have it taken back by a caution flag. When it was over, he had to settle for 3rd place but it sure wasn't due to lack of trying. That young fella drove the freakin' wheels off the 14 car! Nice run JR, and you can't be denied a win much longer.
The Modified action was nearly just as wild, but not without some serious controversy. I don't need to go into the details of that situation as I already spoke my mind last night at the track, but it shows that ugly decisions can be made at any track. Nobody likes to see them, but you're living in a fantasty world if you think they will never happen at any given track. The highlight for me in the Modified class was seeing Rory Reed making the dash for the third week in a row in a new ride. He's struggled with mechanical problems in the features, but if he can avoid them for a whole night, he should put on one hell of a show. The start of the feature had him looking very strong, but without brakes and only 3 shocks on the car, he could only try to hang onto the car while fading into the pack before it was over. You can't say this guy ever gives up easy!
The Pure Stocks put on one hell of a show of their own last night. What a battle from 1st to about 8th for the entire race. I'm told that the winner had some problems in inspection though, and that sucks for him. However, it's great to see that class being looked at a bit more than ever before at the other tracks. It was nice to finally see Brian Dawson get that new ride of his to the track. He's still got plenty of fine tuning to do, but he looked pretty good for his first night in a new ride.
Just when I was starting to think that Brandon Craver was losing his edge, he found himself back in the winner's circle last night. Nice run Brandon! By the way, where did you get all that lettering for that truck of yours anyway? ;-)
On a final note on Hilltop, I was asked to send out a huge THANKS to them for the great experience Bill Franks had on Saturday when he rented the track for some seat time. Not only did they follow through with the scheduled practice, but they made sure he had an awesome surface the whole time he was there. That says alot when they work that hard no matter who you are. Way to go Gilligan!! ;-)
Midvale had their own share of controversy on Saturday night, but that seems to be a weekly thing lately. I talked to the official last night that made the correct call but he was ignored, and a driver that spun by himself was put back up front to win the feature. That may have been the least exciting part of the even for Mike though, as he tried his best impression of a dirt track racer in the heat race. While it would have looked great if he was on dirt, it didn't work out so well on the pavement. ;-) He's been fighting a condition that makes his car fade late into the night the past few weeks and we were determined to get that cleared up this week. Maybe a few too many changes, or just one wrong change had him sliding for his life in the heat. A few more changes for the feature seemed to make up for it though. Once again he found himself dragged to the tail by a clusterfuck in front of him, but this time he was able to dig his way back to the front like he's used to doing. By the end of the race he was fighting for the lead but had to settle for 3rd. Not bad for a car that was just plain ugly earlier in the night. It seems that we're heading the right direction, and maybe with a little more tweaking, Mike will be smiling for that winner's picture again soon. He'll be in action this Wednesday for another Main Event series show so I may just have to force myself to make it to 2 asphalt races this week. Ahhhh quit laughing at me dammit!!!!! ;-)
