Belleville 2007

The 30th edition of the Belleville Midget Nationals concluded last night with Jerry Coons Jr. dominating the event. Coons is a great driver with a strong car. That combination is usually tough to beat.

I think we were lucky to get the show in at all. The storm that threatened all night finally moved in during the closing laps of the feature. In fact I was surprised they allowed the remaining five or so laps to be run as the rainfall increased.

Nothing against Coons, but I have a hard time watching anything with a Mopar win and feeling good about it.

My Take...

-I think the officials and staff did a nice job moving the show along and getting it done before the rains came.

-Tires always seem to play a critical role at Belleville. Forty laps can be murderous on a right rear. The Kasey Kahne team had an awful night with that, losing both cars to flat right rears, on the same lap.

-There was one nasty looking incident between Cody Brewer and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. I hope both drivers are OK and are able to return to action soon. Both are very nice guys and great competitors.

-The USAC National Midget points chase is a close one. Darren Hagan regained the points lead after his fourth place finish in Saturday's feature, but Coons is only five points behind. Stenhouse is also not far back in third.

-Coons is only the seventh driver in Belleville Nationals history to repeat as a winner. His first victory came in 2005 driving for Venture Racing.-This was the third year in a row that a car using Spike Chassis was victorious.

-Don Droud Jr. driving for Terry Klatt held on to finish sixth despite a rapidly blistering right rear tire. On Friday night they had some more bad luck. Running in fourth the right rear tire gave out sending Droud to the back. He ended up 11th which wasn't bad considering what happened. Had Droud been able to finish in the top six he would have been automatically locked in for Saturday's feature. That place owes both Klatt and Droud some better luck.

-The Friday prelim show was extremely competitive. In fact I thought it was a better show than Saturday's championship. The track on Friday night was amazing, one of the best I've seen this season.

-Thanks to Speed TV's Windtunnel and host Dave Despain for having a segment with Jerry Coons Jr. and showing a few highlights on last night's episode.

-Hard to believe this will be the last midget race I'll see until the Chili Bowl in January. We definitely need more midget shows in the Midwest!

And Finally...

I'll always remember 2007 as the year we drove Bob East to the Belleville airport in the middle of a rain storm. That'll be a good story to tell for years to come.

It's almost time for the summer's big finale and the Iowa Speedweek. I'll be headed for Knoxville on Thursday for the start of the 360 Nationals. It's going to be a fun albeit busy week of racing and working for NOS. I'm just worried I might run out of clean clothes!