Better Late Than Never

I know, the updates have been a little late this week. Busy at work...Catching up from missed weekend sleep...Yeah those are pretty much the best excuses I could come up with. Better late than never.

After a trip out to Colorado on Thursday and Friday for some family business, I made it back in time to work another NOS promotion night at Knoxville. We're all done for July, but we're now in the process of making preparations for the 360 Nationals, one night at Osky, and of course the 410 Nationals. As usual August is going to be an extremely race filled month.

My Take...

-It pays to have legal cylinder heads. After winning his first ever 360 feature at Knoxville, Josh Schneiderman was relegated to a last place finish in the feature after the failed post-race tech inspection. Schneiderman wasn't running legal cylinder heads according to Knoxville rules. The DQ gave Brian Dobesh his second career victory.

-Clint Garner won his second ever 410 feature at Knoxville, holding off runner-up Brian Brown. Dusty Zomer finished third.

-It was the first time that I've been to Marion County Fairgrounds during the fair. It felt a lot like the fair I went to in my hometown, only instead of demo derbies and figure 8's, they have real racing for their Saturday night entertainment.

-Team Dover has really embraced the NOS look. After wearing the blue and orange apparel last week, they upped their game with bright orange shorts. I gotta say it was sure noticeable from pretty much anywhere. I can only imagine what they have in store for the Nationals. Jack finished 12th in Saturday's feature.

-The 410 car count on Saturday was a little light. Only 24 cars took qualification laps. I would imagine the car count to rise in both as the 360/410 Nationals approach.

-For the second week in a row Rager Phillips had a hard crash on the front stretch. As they took the green for the heat race Phillips and Brian Brown had contact coming out of four. Phillips was unharmed in the wreck and hopefully the damage to the car was less severe than it was a week and a half ago.

-Other Nebraskans running included Ryan Roberts who finished eighth in the 360 A, Rick Ideus was 17th. Billy Alley was 11th in the 410 A, and Seth Brahmer 15th.

-The staff at the Knoxville Raceway is some of the nicest people I've ever met in racing. Everyone is very courteous and helpful. They've all made my job a lot easier and it's been a pleasure to work with everyone.

In other news...

-Congrats to Tadd Holliman on his feature win at Eagle Raceway on Saturday night. A nice run as well for Rodney Droud in second place.

-ASCS Midwest vs. Northern Plains at Crawford County Speedway in Dennison, IA Friday. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make that show, but it should be a good one. Hopefully running on a Friday night they'll have more than 2 heat races worth of cars.

-It's official: There will be no US Grand Prix next season at IMS. Meh...Oh well. I once had someone ask me why I didn't cover F1 since technically it is open wheel. I had to remind them of my site's name. While they are open wheel, they fall short in the Oval aspect of this site's coverage. I don't think I'll be following that series much until Bernie schedules some ovals.

-The IRL managed to hold a race and nobody pushed anyone else after it was over. Ok, there have been altercations after two races. Not exactly commonplace yet. Getting back on topic...Scott Dixon looked strong in his Nashville win. He narrowed the gap between himself and points leader Dario Franchitti. Now it's off to the Mid-Ohio road course on Sunday.

-I'm still not a huge fan or road courses. Besides I couldn't come up with anything that flowed for road courses like I could for ovals.

-Watching a Target car win isn't a shock, but I must admit I'm surprised at how good Andretti Green is this year. They've certainly gotten their program running at a high level.

-I think it's only a matter of time now before Sam Hornish Jr. heads to NASCAR. Great, another open wheel star in the fender ranks. I know all the reasons why but it still bums me out. I think this NASCAR talk is taking a toll on his performances. He just isn't quite like the same driver that won the 500 and points title last season.

-No Michigan on the IRL schedule next year. I guess since there are no Detroit automakers involved in the series, it's fitting the IRL has no date at that track. Sad, MIS has been hosting open wheel racing for years.

And Finally...

It's hard to imagine the last time I was at Eagle was for the Outlaw show in early June. I'll be taking advantage of my off weekend and catching the ASCS race there on Saturday night. I plan on sitting in the grandstands, having a few cold drinks, and not do much of anything. I have a lot of practice at that, so remembering how to do it should be easy.

I'd also like to hit up the ASCS show in Denison, IA on Friday, but again, that pesky job might keep me home.

Next week Junction Motor Speedway will run their two day midget show on July 24 and 25. The East/Klatt team will use Moses Motor Company on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon to work on their cars. If you're in the area Wednesday afternoon stop by and take a look, we'll try to have one of the backup cars on display.

Next Up...

7/21/07 ASCS @ Eagle Raceway