After ol' Mother Nature wiped out all racing action last weekend, we were finally treated to a holiday weekend packed full of GREAT racing this week. The weekend kicked off on Friday night at Lakeville of course, and we got see the new improved track layout for the first time. Randy had been badgered pretty hard in recent weeks to make some changes and he sure as hell didn't ignore the suggestions. He also didn't take a half-assed approach to the improvements and that was clear as soon as I saw the fresh WIDE racing surface. DAMN, what a difference! There's now plenty of room for door to door battles and that's exactly what the drivers in all divisions provided all night. Hat's off to Randy and the entire Lakeville gang for stepping up to make these improvements in a short time. Rumor has it there may even be some more improvements to widen the surface even more too. That could be bring even more excitement to Lakeville. The Late Model feature showcased the wider surface and kept the crowd on their feet for sure. The race long battle for the win between Gentry and Markham was one of the best battles I've seen there in a very long time. Congrats to JR for pulling of the win. If you weren't there this week you really need get your ass to Lakeville this week to witness a great night of side by side racing brought to you by Eddies Sunoco.
Saturday night is usually dedicated to asphalt racing for me but since the Main Event Series was in town I had the night off. Mike Miller didn't take the night off though and spent a long hot day wheeling the 6 car once again. Fighting an evil driving car all night, he managed to bring home a 3rd place finish from the large field in the 75 lap feature. I think he'll be more than happy to get back to his own ride next week though. ;-)
With so many options for my rare night off, I think I made the right choice when I pointed my car towards Hilltop once again. I had made that trip last week but only had the rains ruin my fun. Another packed house was treated to a pit stuffed full of some of the best racers this area has to offer. The night was kicked off with some Dash For Cash races where previous feature winners would do battle for a nice bonus before kicking off their regular full night of racing. Shane McLoughlin, Kevin Morehouse, Justin Patterson, Jordan James, and John Large each picked up a little extra cash by winning their Dash For Cash races. In another unique twist some lucky fans won the "Ultimate Pit Experience" provided by car owner John Wells and driver Bryan Casey. These lucky winners will get pit passes to spend a night with the team experiencing everything a Late Model team goes through in a night. What a great way to get some fans more involved in racing! The ontrack action was typical 3 and 4 wide racing that Hilltop has always kept me coming back for more. It's actually hard to watch some of the features there with all the brawling thoughout the entire fields. Sure, there was dust again this week but maybe I'm just used to that by now because I enjoyed every lap of the evening. Hell, I hear even the area "dust free" dirt track had some dust this weekend. Go figure. Jesse did tell me that he plans to try some different things for next week to control the dust. As long as it doesn't take away from the kickass action, I'm all for that and will be sure to make the return trip the next time I get the chance. See ya there!
