I'll have to admit that after the fiasco Friday night at Lakeville, I wasn't in the greatest mood for racing on Saturday. Our season is quickly winding down at Midvale so we really needed to make the best of the few nights we have left. After leading the points for most of the season, we found ourselves tied for first place with Bubba Smith coming into the night. With the pressure turned up a notch it was time to get back to basics and hopefully come up with some solid nights of racing before time runs out on the season. It's not like Miller really needs another championship after capturing 5 of them in his last 7 attempts at Midvale, but it would be tough to let one slip away when it's been yours almost since the start of the season. If Smith wants this one he'll have to earn it, and that team has certainly put together a season that proves that they're very capable of doing just that. Just one stubborn old veteran stands in his way at this point and Miller made it clear last night that he's not giving this one away easily. Hot laps showed that the car still wasn't perfect but much improved over last week. Starting on the front row of the fast heat, Mike made it look easy as he ran away with the win. Some ugly weather rolled in before the start of the feature so we didn't know what to expect from the track surface. Playing it safe may have cost Miller a bit on the initial start of the feature, but thankfully that one was called back by a caution. There was no delay on the next start and Miller found the lead coming out of turn 2 on the first lap. Those that have watched Mike over the years know that once he's running out front the other guys are in for a long night. This guy is just plain smooth! On the restarts throughout the entire feature he really got up on that wheel and punished those in line behind him. I've said it before but watching Mike in a good car is just plain purrrrty! Even though the car tightened up a bit he wheeled it to his third feature win of the season in fine fashion. That's just what we needed and it would sure be nice to pull it off again the next couple nights. ;-)
Now for the ugly night of racing. I'm not even sure where to begin describing the fiasco that happened Friday night. Tempers were flaring in all divisions and there will be a few less drivers at Lakeville this week due to just plain ignorance. This place has busted it's ass to clean up it's reputation from recent years and they're not about to allow a few assholes ruin things. Often the lower classes get the blame for tarnishing the place and even though they had their problems, they weren't the worst offenders of the night. One of the wildest incidents of the night (and in all my years of racing)involved a Sprint driver using his car as a weapon against another driver under caution. WTF? Needless to say that fella won't be back this year. The Late Models would have their share of drama too in a very ironic stunt. Just after a driver bashes the place for the type of ugliness it used to be known for, he straps in and does exactly what he was bitching about. Say goodbye to yet another drama queen. The Pure Stocks are usually one of the best shows on dirt anywhere, but this week they weren't left out of the fiasco. Two stubborn drivers locked horns early and ended up with an ugly mess in turn one. Once again, this resulted in one less driver being invited back to Lakeville, and one whining on an online forum that he had no fault at all in the incident. All of these incidents had one thing in common. They involved a driver getting out of his car under caution to retaliate on the track. The rule at Lakeville (and almost every track) is that if you get out of your car, you are done. Yes, there was a major screw-up earlier in the season over this very rule, but that was cleared up at the next drivers meeting and has been enforced every night since. There was one thing that I feel allowed 2 of these problems to get out of hand and I hope it's addressed very soon. After a driver gets out of his car, he's obviously done so there's absolutely no reason to allow him to strap back into the car. If the cars were hooked to a wrecker, the Sprint and the Late Model incidents couldn't have taken place on the track. Sure there would still be hot heads in the pits, but it wouldn't have held up the show or allowed the drama bullshit in front of the crowd. Not to mention it would have saved one team a Sprint car. Somebody could easily get hurt in one of these temper tantrums and I think if there's anything the track can do to avoid that, it's time to look into it. While I'm throwing out suggestions, here's a couple more for racers and fans. Please take the time to read and understand the rules/race procedures before throwing a hissy fit (including online forums) to keep from stirring shit needlessly. For example, if you're gonna post a video online stating your case for getting a bad call, make sure it doesn't show that you made contact therefore proving the correct call was made. Some tracks have a stop on the track rule, Lakeville uses the judgment call instead. Don't get me wrong by any means, calls are missed, but the one in question with the video was described exactly the same by 2 officials including myself, and another one just feet away from the action. My description to Ed wasn't on the radio so wouldn't it be odd that the other description (from the other official,over the radio) was exactly the same if we were making shit up? The other tip would be to those race fans that like to enjoy a few cold brews with their dust. Maybe it's time for some of them to evaluate which is their favorite sport. Drinking til they're stuttering drunk, or racing. A few cold ones dusted lightly with clay and race fumes are a great combination for sure, but if it turns you into a belligerent cussing, screaming fool, maybe you should enjoy just one "sport" at a time. The majority of the crowd (especially the kids) could do without the side-show thanks. I guess that's all the wisdom I have for ya folks. Let's get back to racing and keep it fun for all involved. Winter will be here before we know it and there will be plenty of spare time for bitching and complaining then. ;-)
