Home again.

I'm getting used to this life on the road. However I'll be in town this weekend for the Back Row Challenge and World of Outlaws at Eagle. I'll get to that in a bit, but first, some reactions from the historic Milwaukee Mile.

My Take...

-It wasn't the best IndyCar race that I've seen, but I was glad that they were even able to run. We missed the rain by just a few miles. It would have been a bummer had we been rained on for the second week in a row.

-Tony Kanaan might be the toughest IndyCar driver running these days. The guy just doesn't quit, and was in a position to take advantage of leader Helio Castroneves' bad luck. TK knows how to run the Mile, winning the last two IRL races there.

-It was a freak occurrence that Helio's wing just gave out like that, causing him to lose all his down force and smack the wall. Funny thing is it looked like the same thing happened to teammate Sam Hornish Jr. in the last few laps. You can bet Team Penske will not let that happen again.

-Danica! She starts 17th, runs as high as 4th, only to come into contact with Dan Wheldon. After a brilliant save, Danica was forced to pit to repair damage to her suspension, which knocked her out of contention for the win. It's too bad; I think she had a top three car.

The real story was after the race when Danica talked to Wheldon and gave him a slight "push". She was pretty upset with him, and said so during interviews. Wheldon is a smartass in his own right and came right back with some subtle, but pointed jabs of his own during his interviews. I usually don't like this NASCAResque drama, but perhaps a little would do the IRL some good. Everyone loves a good rivalry.

I obviously don't know Danica. She might be a little bit of a priss (or put in whatever word you might think of to describe her). However she can drive, and I firmly believe it's only a matter of time before she gets her first victory.

-I've made it to the last three IRL races in a row. The streak will be broken this weekend when they run in Texas under the lights. That's one race I will get to someday however. I've been damn lucky to be in a position to get to the races I have been to, and it's been a lot of fun following them. I'll see them again in Iowa near the end of June.

-Following the Milwaukee race, we were going to head to nearby Sun Prairie and catch the Badger Midgets at Angell Park. Unfortunately the rains that missed the Mile didn't at Angell Park. Next year...

Locally Speaking...

Eagle Raceway was able to beat the weather this go around, and ran their first non-wing show of the season.

-I'm not sure if 16 sprints on hand is a success or failure. Maybe the threat of rain kept some of the teams from coming out.

-There are quite a few names on the list that I'm not too familiar with. Perhaps I'll have to see them run in July to get to know a few of them.

-Not a big surprise that Don Droud Jr. was the feature winner. Jr. has had a lot of wingless experience in his background. Recently he's run a lot of USAC sprints and midgets. Maybe if he's going to run without the wing at Eagle they should make him remove a spark plug wire.

-It should be noted that Eagle regulars John Klabunde, Jay Jordan, and Ryan Kitchen all ran without the wings. Jeff Lowery was there as well.

-Who would have thought that there would be no flips in the sprint feature? Especially the first time out with no wings. Nice work fellas!

-Show over by ten pm. Amazing what can be done if there's a threat of weather.

-If they can get another ten or so to show up for the next event, I think Roger is on to something. Let's just hope that event doesn't rain out.

And Finally...

I was told Jack Dover took a pretty wild ride at Knoxville. Hope he's OK!

So it's that time of year again. The World of Outlaws. Kind of strange it's a one night only show. They've been putting on great events this season and hopefully that will continue come Saturday.

I will say I'm extremely disappointed to see that the hobbies are running along with the mods and WoO on Saturday. It's bad enough that the Back Row Challenge has become a support show to late models.

Come on, one support class is enough. They don't need those pizza-cutter tires out there rutting up the track surface. I think the added class will lessen the quality of the sprint show. People don't pay $30 a ticket to see hobbies. Call me elitist, but when the Outlaws are in town, we could do without the hobbies for one weekend.

How'd they do?

Oval Operators

Eagle Raceway
1. Don Droud Jr.
4. John Klabunde

Knoxville Raceway
410's
A Main
24. Jack Dover

360's
B Main
13. Mark Pace
21. Tige Jensen

Next Up...
Back Row Challenge, Eagle Raceway, June 8
World of Outlaws, Eagle Raceway, June 9