The Pace Lap – Monday Aug. 21

- Roger Hadan floated the idea of “racing ‘till the snow flies” Saturday night. – Yikes. While I love the thought of shooting races in October, there’s a point when everyone is at their limit. Over the past years, I’ve been a fan of REDUCING the number of shows to help cut costs. With seasons that have gone from four months to half a year and more, tons of faux touring series races and specials, how much is enough? How much can hobby racers bear financially, and how much time can they bear to devote? One good point made on the message boards is that tempers of drivers (and officials) is getting thin – anyone at Eagle Saturday night saw a prime example in the sprint heat.

- Something more positive: what a great sight to see all those bikes going away to lucky kids courtesy of Bryan Racing, Eagle Raceway and all the folks who helped out on kids night.

- The NST race at JMS seemed to go quite well, with a good crowd by all accounts. I think I was surprised at the level of attendance given the proximity to Knoxville Speedweek (as I choose to call it). Maybe the fan base out there is a little different and not all attached to sprint cars?

- The Wingless/ASCS show at I-80 was a heck of a show. That’s the best I’ve seen the track ever. Didn’t make for a ton of broadslides, but the race was intense with the winner only being in a wingless car for the fourth time. Unfortunately, it was an awful night for Mike Oliver. Anyone who hasn’t seen the damage caused by his encounter with turn four in the 305 feature should take a look. It’s a wonder he wasn’t injured.

- With the sad accident with Steve King at Knoxville, the question of steering gear has become an issue in sprint cars. Chad Fegley pointed out that he has the main shaft magnafluxed after each front end collision and has had 4 cracked shafts! Doug Lovegrove’s crash at I-80 was blamed on steering failure. This didn’t seem to be a problem a few years ago, is it time to look at the design again?

- Maybe this isn’t the way they want it, but the Eagle Raceway modified point battle between Chris Alcorn and Mike Meyer is being settled in the pits. After Alcorn failed to make it out from the pits during an A feature yellow on August 5, Meyer won the race and took back the point lead. However Saturday Meyer was unable to get his damage fixed in time after an opening lap tussle and sat out the remainder of the A feature, giving the lead back to Alcorn.

- Speaking of track champions, Kevin Larkins, the “other” 6-time Eagle Raceway Champion torched the field Saturday night at Eagle, setting the new track record in the A FEATURE – obliterating the old mark by half a second.

- There is but one race left in the 2006 season at Butler County Motorplex: the final point night with Modifieds, Late Models, IMCA Stocks, Hobbies and Hornets. With the Bivens family making it clear that BCM is for sale and all indications saying that unless a buyer is found, there will be no racing…could this be the last race for the high-banked 1/3 mile?

- There’s been some debate over whether Eagle’s Nebraska Cup should be a point show. Some feel that the fact other cars who don’t run Eagle each week would attend and mess with the norm and affect things. I can understand to a point, but in the past the Icebreaker Challenge has probably brought MORE cars, and it’s been a point show so I don’t know how this is different. I also don't know how a night when one or two new cars show up versus five or six, which is all I expect. One argument for the points show is that it would motivate cars running for points to show up. In the past few years, there’s been plenty of no-shows by guys just tired or broke, especially with the drop in purse. UPDATE, the NE Cup for Sprints has been changed to just "season finale."