This is the time of year that we all work for all season, as the points racing comes to an end, and the big shows are all that's left. Midvale closed out their points season this week and have only one more event on the schedule for us this year. Lakeville will wind up their points chase this Friday night and it should be an action packed night for sure based on recent weeks of good tight racing. It seems pretty clear that once some trouble makers were out of the way, an example was set on what is expected from the racers and what would not be accepted. The result has been a much quicker and cleaner show for all involved. The end of the Sprint feature was a perfect example of this when the top 2 roughed each other up a bit on the final lap and they ended up shaking hands in the infield when it was over. Now, that's good hard racing with CLASS! My fingers are crossed that this improved attitude lasts throughout the Dirt Blowout. Sure it won't be all sugar and spice but the fans deserve a thrill filled weekend without the ugliness and drama. The Blowout has always been one of my favorite season enders and hopefully it will return to what Schippers called it years ago, "a party with racing mixed in". We may not have had the best results at the blowouts back then, but it was by far the most fun we had all season! I'm looking forward to this one even without having a car there. You don't want to miss this show either.
Our points season ended at Midvale on Saturday and we were left with that "what if" feeling" when it was over. After holding the points lead since the 3rd night of the season, that lead went away last Saturday night and we trailed by 11 points. (I won't even go into how that happened but it wasn't pretty.) That brings me to the "what if" situation. On Mid Season night some mystery points were awarded by way of some seriously shady scoring issues that would make all the difference on the final night of the season. In the closing weeks, it seemed clear that this thing would only be decided in the feature on the final night of the year. We could only hope those 12 bogus points wouldn't be the deciding factor. Sadly they were the deciding factor when we left Saturday night just 7 points from the championship. I certainly can't take anything away from the new champion as he's put together one hell of a season and has always been one of those that Mike actually enjoys running door to door with. Congrats go out to Bubba and the entire Smith Racing team for keeping us on our toes all season long, and finally capturing that first championship. Nice job guys! There wiill certainly be more in the future for this young gun.
As for Adam Mackey and his "Coffman style" of race procedures and scoring, I can think of a dirt track where you'd feel right at home if you ever need a job. You two were made for each other. ;-)
