The hot weather sure came early this year, and the racing action was plenty hot this weekend too. The Pure Stock Showdown was as action packed as they get with those "bad boys from the south" coming up to get some of that prize money, and to prove that those folks with engine claim rules can play with the best of our unlimited guys. Hats off to those guys for making the trip and putting on a kickass show! The battles were to be found all through the field and the fight for first was just plain awesome. Mayer and Shaffer used all of the track and even swapped some paint for many laps while the crowd went wild. Mayer came out on top in the end but he sure as hell worked for that win. Of course our weekly regulars like Gardner, Snyder, Shear, and the rest were in the mix and did their share in making this one great Pure Stock race. The rest of the classes put on great shows of their own with Hornikle picking up the Late Model win while being chased down by Chet Alexander. Nice run Chet! Jess Hartman had his hands full picking up another Modified feature win to make it 2 in a row. Of course 2 in a row is nothing compared to the streak Brandon Craver is on. He's now won EVERY feature so far this year at Hiltop, and 3 at Lakeville. Can this "kid" be stopped? Give 'em hell Mini Grizz!!!!!
Oh yea,,almost forgot,,dust??? What dust??? There was virtually no dust to be found all night for those certain people to cry about this week. I find it interesting that some people seem to go out of their way lately to complain about a track (even if they weren't there), while failing to mention that other tracks in the area suffered from the same or worse dust last week for example. Mother Nature makes the rules at any dirt track, and it's been that way for as long as I can remember. One option is to keep the water truck on the track all night, but then the complaint is the delay. Another option is to try to find a decent compromise between track time for the cars and the water truck, which is exactly what most dirt tracks do. There's only one sure way to eliminate the dust completely, and that option involves asphalt. I don't think any of us would enjoy that. It sure was a simpler time when racers raced instead of going online trying to stir shit up. Ohhh,, those were the days. ;-)
Speaking of asphalt, Saturday night was another hot night with plenty of hot action at Midvale. I'm happy to say that all the tinkering on Miller's car is finally starting to pay off. While his ride hasn't exactly been total junk so far this season, it's been pretty damn close a few times and only his driving skills and that constant search for improvements have pulled him into the points lead at this point. We've thrown alot at the car to make it the rocket he's used to piloting, and this week it was pretty damn close. Mike started the night with some consistently quick laps in hot laps, and went on to set fast time in qualifying. Damn, it felt good to do that again! The downside of qualifying fastest is that damn inversion system they use down there. Inversions are bad enough normally, but to put the fastest cars behind guys that play demo derby with each other (as proven in the heats) is just plain dangerous and not to bright. An unlucky roll of the dice put Mike in 12th to start the feature, and I don't think any of us were terribly excited about the possibilities of getting caught up in the madness up ahead. The ugliness started with the drop of the green, and it would take 3 cautions to get the first lap in. Whew, that was ugly! Once they got a lap in, Mike started his march to the front, and in a pretty big hurry too. In just a few laps he was up to 7th and back to working the outside line for more. Nothing seemed to slow him down until he started the fight for 2nd, and that got pretty ugly at times. The battle went on for several laps with Mike forced towards the wall and body slammed a few times before finally clearing the rolling road block and pulling away in search of that leader that had gotten away. With the white flag in the air it didn't seem that there was any hope for the win, but that's when Mike got back to doing what he's been best at for many years. He flat out drove the wheels off that thing and damn near got to the leader at the checkers. Oh, what another lap could have meant! After the frustration of chasing handling problems, power problems, and the unbelievable wreckage out there lately, I'm more than happy with the 2nd place finish this week. The good news is Mike once again has a car that's more than capable of winning on any night now. The better news is that the car still isn't perfect, which means this thing could get faster very soon. ;-)
