Random Bits

- The worst words to start a dirtdrivers.com message board topic or include in the message are: "Need input from..."

- Congratulations to Mike Boston on his 2009 Eagle Sprint Championship. What? Do the math...Mike would have to get hit by a bus, kidnapped by pirates or vanish into a black hole - THIS WEEK, to not win. A green flag in the A feature anytime in the last three races guarantees it. Taking a green in a heat only would require a miracle to beat him. Second place Nick Clifford must win the last three A features, in a row (his first three to boot) to even have that minuscule chance if Boston takes a green and runs dead last in a 24 car 360 Sprint A (which hasn't taken place in recent memory) or fails to make the A. Don't talk about mathematical possibility, I'll take Boston over your mathematical possibilities and give you 10 to 1. I'll give you 1000 to 1... Stick a fork in it, it's done.

- With that in mind, will Boston forgo this week's racing for the possibility of a Knoxville 360 Nationals title? Probably not as he said during his post-race interview that their luck on big tracks left something to be desired. I don't know if he'll finish out the season at Eagle, but I've always had respect for drivers who still give it their all (or at least show up) even when they have the title locked up.

- I-80 Speedway, according to a quote in the Lincoln Journal Star is having its best year ever under the current ownership. I have no reason to think otherwise, with specials such as the free admission night, Nitro Circus and Midwest Tri-Fecta adding plenty to the track's coffers. Interesting how in these down times, the realization that there's some good entertainment out there for cheap is bringing the fans in. Who would think that (last paragraph)?

- Earlier this week I made the trip out to Junction Motor Speedway for the "alphabet soup-" sanctioned Cornhusker Midget Classic. Most of the big dogs were in attendance as Brady Bacon dueled with Brad Loyet throughout the latter half of the A feature with Bacon finally pulling away by just enough as the Loyet's high line faded away. It was an unseasonably cool night and any plans I had for Wednesday's finale were squashed by a splitting, cold-related headache that I still have remnants of even this week. Brad Kuhn of Avon, IL topped the field on Wednesday to take home the Crystal & Chrome trophy.

- The fact that so many sanctions teamed up together for the show is a great example of cooperation. It's also a great example of necessity. The Belleville Midget Nationals, once the premier Midget event saw car counts under 40 on the final night. The scary-fast 5/8 mile oval has been criticized for being just too much on motors. I agree. Midget purists and those who hold the speedway dear will violently disagree, but the race is an anachronism. The biggest midget race, in cars and crowd is the January Chili Bowl in Tulsa, OK, and has been for quite some time. Numbers don't lie.

The (outdoor) midget nationals need to be moved up north - any of the three tracks in SE Nebraska along or near I-80 will do, the track off Hwy 77 will do as well. You could include Butler County if they had a couple thousand more seats (to seat ticket buying people to pay for the show), bigger parking and pits, a paved road to HWY 81 and more hotel space in Columbus. These aren't digs on anyone, just facts. But the racing at BCM has been great.

- You never pick on Eagle! Oh bulls**t. But in case you don't want to click on the archives, here goes: I agree with the message board posters: please, please, please...the Bootlegger's Run has been rescheduled. The rescheduled date is on your own website. Please change the opening news item to something like...the Nebraska Cup?

- I hope the Nebraska Cup is a smashing success and becomes Eagle's showcase event. Why? The once semi-prestigious "Eagle Nationals featuring the World of Outlaws" ^{® TM, etc.} have become merely another race on the World of Outlaws infinite schedule and really means nothing. Crowds are "good" at best. If Roger dropped it, I wouldn't like it, I'd miss it, but I'd could give him the benefit of the doubt for letting it go. But, I would like to see a show that features a class, synonymous with many of Nebraska racing legends - that is - Sprint Cars. Yeah, I like sprint cars, so what? I spent my summers around them for 20 years! Anyone that would spend all their formative years around something either likes it a lot, or never wants to see it again. This site alone should tell you how I feel.

I would like to see a race that means something to a still vocal and loyal group of race fans around here. It may end up being a $5000 payday to some ASCS hotshot, but I think the locals have more than a fighting chance - unlike the June Eagle "Nationals." All told, I hope that the support is more than recent iterations of the Neb. Cup, or the short-lived Backrow Challenge. I think though that the late-season, BIG money nature of the show will be a bigger draw...it has done well in before, especially during less affluent times when bang for the buck counted. I-80 seems to have something with their Alphabet Soup - essentially a local show with outside flavor mixed in since most of the racers also make regular if not weekly appearances there. JMS is starting to build a foundation on its Cornhusker Classic Midget show (though it isn't local) and it's "Cool McCool 100" (local). Eagle needs a new signature event.

- Nicey nice time. What can be said about Rhonda Bryan's kid's night promotion that hasn't been said already? Look at the stands to see what can be accomplished by the racing participants, fans and tracks when they band together in a common effort. Yeah, maybe there were people there only hoping to get free bikes - but they paid their $10 bucks and maybe you had more than a few converted fans in the process.

Props to the crew spearheaded by Lori Dover to promote and raise some public interest in the upcoming ASCS 9/11 tribute race at Butler Co. and the NE Cup. It could be a great weekend for Sprint fans and ANOTHER good example of what the racing community can do to promote itself.

- I'm likely home-bound this weekend. With temps forecast to be in the upper 90's...can't say I mind, but I had given my wife the idea I was staying home last week and went out to test drive the new camera. Given the upcoming flurry of events in the next few weeks, I'm planning to bank some good karma at home.

- The future! I'm starting to get plans together to change this site up a bit if not move on to something different. In the past few weeks I've done some soul-searching, some discussion and some analysis and determined that trying to be all things to all people maybe isn't the best solution. As the saying goes, "if you try to please everyone, nobody will like it." Things will remain status quo for the time being - but I'm about 85% sure that my focus will change for 2010.