Monster Bash this weekend at Lancaster Event Center

The track is looking great for this weekends go-kart races! It is going to
be a fun time! Remember, the pit stalls are first-come first-serve so make
sure you are there early. Registration is from 9-10. Hotlaps are at 11.
Racing starts at 12. We hope to see everyone there! For any questions feel
free to contact the track office.

track office: 342-3453
track cell phone: 659-3301
www.neracewaypark.com

Unique Format Revealed For Inaugural Belleville 100

BELLEVILLE, Kan. (Oct. 12) - A one-of-a-kind event at a one-of-a-kind venue
is what race fans and competitors alike can look forward to next year when
the nation's top dirt modified drivers converge on the famed Belleville High
Banks for the inaugural running of the Belleville 100.

A century in the making, the three-day celebration of speed and skill will
be held on Friday-Sunday, July 2-4, 2010, at the "World's Fastest Half-Mile
Dirt Track" located in Belleville, Kan.

The first documented auto race held in Belleville was July 4, 1910. While
other locations may have staged an auto race on a dirt oval prior to 1910,
Belleville is the only venue to have sustained 100 calendar years of auto
racing.

"This is a remarkable achievement which deserves to be celebrated by any one
who wishes to participate," said event promoter Wayne Dake, whose passion
for the history of racing in Belleville is shared by many others in the
racing community. "Passion and drama will be strikingly evident at the
Belleville 100."

On Friday, July 2, the Modifieds take on the Belleville High Banks with heat
races, "B" mains and a 40-lap "A" main carrying a $5,000 top prize and $500
to start. The top-10 finishers will be locked into Saturday night's
thrilling finale.

Saturday, July 3, will feature another round of qualifying events, followed
by a 15-lap non-qualifiers main with drivers racing for $2,000 to win and
$300 to start. The thrilling conclusion will be Saturday's 60-lap "A" main
with 30 cars starting three-wide on the big half-mile clay oval with $10,000
earmarked for the winner and a minimum of $1,000 for each of the starters.

But that's not all ... the pole sitter for Saturday's "A" main will have the
option of starting dead last in the field and a whopping $100,000 paycheck
if he/she can win from the 30th starting position.

Dozens of contingency prizes will also be awarded during the event, plus a
Halfway Leader Award, Hard Charger Award, Hard Luck Award and more.

Attendees can also look forward to a gigantic fireworks display to round out
the Independence Day celebration.

Sunday, July 4, will see the running of the Pig 100 (details forthcoming), a
dazzling auto thrill show and other entertainment suitable for a 100-year
celebration of auto racing. The Sunday date is also being held in reserve as
a rain date for Friday or Saturday.

Only reserved seat tickets will be offered for the Belleville 100. Tickets
are $33 per night in lots of three nights (single day tickets are not
available). Family/Group ticket packages will be available to the first 60
groups that order. Fans and/or businesses that purchase at least 10 tickets
will be named a Lap Sponsor for Saturday's "A" main, plus be listed in the
souvenir program and receive mentions by the p.a. announcer.

From the first 1,000 ticket buyers, one name will be drawn to win a new
high-definition big screen television.

Tickets for grandstand reserved seating go on sale Nov. 1. Officials are
expecting a sold-out grandstand by late January, so get your tickets ordered
early. Belleville 100 tickets make a nice Christmas gift or stocking stuffer
for that racing friend or family member.

The entry fee for competitors is $150 if received or postmarked by Nov. 30,
and includes car, driver and two crew members. After Nov. 30, the entry fee
will be 240. Pit Passes for each night are $40.

One driver's name among the first 100 pre-entered teams will be randomly
drawn to win a 2010 BMS Modified chassis. Furthermore, fuel vouchers will be
presented to team that arrive with an "open" trailer and a Belleville 100
decal on the rear body panel.

Three members of the first-, second- and third-place finishers will each
receive hand-crafted Belleville 100 awards.

Entry forms and grandstand tickets will be available Nov. 1 by calling
402-761-3676 or at www.belleville100.com online.

For more information about the Belleville 100, contact Wayne Dake via email
at wayne@belleville100.com or call 402-440-3977.

Guest Editorial: A Special Bootleggers Run

Gary Dominguez wrote this piece that's a great example of getting and
keeping the fans involved, and the lessons that could be learned on the
local level.

- - - - -

A Special Bootleggers Run

By Gary Dominguez

First and Foremost, I would like to thank Roger and Michelle Hadan or Eagle
Raceway for putting on this event, and for giving me the opportunity to meet
NASCAR greats Casey Mears, Bobby LaBonte, Jimmie Spencer, Michael Waltrip,
and of course the King: Richard Petty.

While admittedly, I am not a huge NASCAR fan, and don't usually get "star
struck", the impression these five gentlemen left may convert me. When I met
their plane at the airport, I was greeted with a huge smile, handshake, and
a "Nice meeting you, A'hm Richard Petty". The others followed suit.

I also got the honor of being "chewed out" by Michael Waltrip when my friend
Amie asked him for a picture, and I balked because we were running a little
behind, and needed to go. Mr. Waltrip said "sure, come over here". Amie
turned to me and said "see Gary, I told you so". Waltrip looked at me and
said "Ya Gary, What's the matter with you!?" He followed that with a big
grin.

While we were greeting on the airport tarmac, Mr. Waltrip noticed about 4
airport employees standing at the edge trying to get a look at the
celebrities. He pointed, and yelled over to them "Hey! What do you think you
are doing over there? Come on over here and be sociable!" The employees
eagerly made haste. The smiles they left with were immeasurable.

Once we got to the track, I didn't see them again until after their last
race to give them a ride back to their bus. Waltrip and Spencer rode with
me, and were elated about how neat the track was, and the facility was one
of the best they had ever seen. They were just as enamored with the
experience of being there, as we were to have them.

This brings me to the whole point of this article. These 5 gentlemen are
true ambassadors to their sponsors and their sport. It was not so much
meeting them as it was the feeling you got when you left. They actually made
you feel like you mattered to them. I left with a huge "warm fuzzy" from the
pleasure of meeting them. My point? These guys fly private planes like you
and I drive to work every day, and they still have time for the fans that
make them who they are. I would love to see that happen on a local level.

Too many times I see cars loaded up and heading for the pit gate before the
features are over. Too many times have I seen drivers giving autographs like
they are doing the fans a big favor. Most memorably was July 4th when a
certain once mighty traveling sprint series that made a stop at Eagle
Raceway. They have no room to be prima donnas when they make people pay $35
to see 14 cars. We need to make time for our fans, and take examples from
these five legends who have more right to arrogance than we will ever have,
but choose not to.

Some shining stars that come to mind are the Bryan Race Team, Billy Alley,
Dylan Smith, and Rik Gropp. Whether you love them or not, an example should
be taken from them on how to treat or most important commodity, our fans. If
everyone followed their example, we could end up with a lot more local race
fans. I could spend a lot more time telling you how they do it, but that
would make a long article even longer.

If these 5 legends can make the fans feel good about seeing them, then why
can't we as a local racing family do the same? I welcome your comments on
how to make local racing grow. Please email me at
gary.dominguez@woodsbros.com.

About Gary: Gary Dominguez is a long time ambassador for racing in the SE
Nebraska area. Gary is the founder of Midwest Racers Autograph Day, the
largest annual pre-season gathering of racers and fans in Nebraska, and
presents annual seminars to racers on gathering and keeping sponsorships.
For 2009, Gary sponsored and drove the official Eagle Raceway pace car.

Post #1,501 - An unabashed, unashamed sprint car fan

Well, finally I've gotten around to writing another editorial, and it will be a personal "letting out;" a more frank, biased and perhaps pointed.

Let's get to the point: I like sprint car racing more than any other form of dirt track racing. And, I'm not ashamed to admit it.

It's the trendy thing to do to slam sprints and their fans. Some try to do it from the lofty perch of extended bleacher time while claiming “they like every class.” Some of it is deserved, some of it is just lame piling on or worse, some attempt to grandstand their way to status as the champion of “the common man.”

The fact is I've met VERY few people who say that don't have a bias toward or against one class, and of those...I can count on one hand the number of people that aren't full of it. We all have our biases, our likes and dislikes – it's what makes us human.

I started going to races as a kid in the late 70's being a fan of the late models – not the wedges on wheels of today, but real late model cars, vehicles that would be “pro-ams” or open street stocks today.

When I moved to Lincoln in 1980, the following summer I was introduced to the class of cars that grew to be a big part of my life: sprint cars. Midwest Speedway birthed what was to become the dominant class of sprint racing: the 360 cubic-inch sprinter. The “modified sprints” as they were known were in ways, similar to the sport mods of today: limited motors, limited suspensions, often they were second and third-hand cars. Indeed, some cars had bolt on roll cages.

My dad hooked up with Dennis Diekmann's bunch and painted, worked on then later became part owner of the team. A few years later, he followed in the footsteps of his father, owning a race team for the next 16 seasons. During that time he also served as president of the Nebraska Sprint Car Association, briefly ran a sprint-oriented parts business, ran a true 410 “Outlaw” team and later joined Craig Cormack in the purchase/operation of Eagle Raceway. I was along for that time, and even later after he left Eagle in 1999.

So reason one: Sprint cars have been a major part of my life, and I'm not going to make any concessions or apologies for them. Fact is, sprints are the fastest thing on dirt, and that's been told time and again. But speed is not all of it. They are much more than that to me.

Reason two: sprint cars are and always were pure race cars. They NEVER started their lives as a grocery getter, the family hauler, and certainly not as an “econobox.” A street legal sprint car is a novelty – street legality is a stock car's heritage, hence the name! Yes, I realize that there is nothing stock about today's NASCAR racers, today's late models, and very little even for the modern day “spec” racer: the IMCA modified.

Reason three: I enjoy the simplicity of a sprint car. Suspensions are simpler, and at the upper echelon, the tricks are known to everyone. It's the driver, it's the crew chief, and it's that simple four wheels, frame and a motor. Yes, I'm oversimplifying, small deviations and errors show up big when everyone's matched up. But a lot of what you see is what you get. Tire choice and bar choice aside, there aren't many secrets. No need to cover up the back suspensions, hide the motor, it's all out there.

That brings me to reason four. You see the driver. Wingless fans will point to that as one of their favorite parts of that niche. I would agree that lack of the hunk of metal makes it much more a human vs. machine experience. That said, I don't see its presence that much of a deterrent. But either way, you SEE the person behind the wheel. I guess that's why I have a soft spot for topless mods, too. Go look at some of the old pictures, especially in the pre-cage days. Like a bucking cowboy, these guys are wrestling their own mechanical bulls, and for a lot longer than eight seconds.

Five: if tires lasted, the fastest way around a corner is by drifting it. Even asphalt cars drift slightly, the goal to be just enough not to oversteer. Long before The Fast and the Furious, dirt trackers, especially sprint cars and midgets were drifting without style points and judges. The only judge was the checkered flag. A sprint car in a slide is a hell of a sight, much more than the front wheels turned in, bank-off-the-other-guy understeer of a stock car or worse – the left rear end floating of a compact as the front end is digging into the ground. Sorry – it's not my thing. And by the way – I DO enjoy today's modified and late model as they do much the same thing. That, to me is what real race cars do. The car goes its fastest because it was made to, not in spite of what it was made to do.

Six: history. Hell, I could write pages about that. Bob Mays wrote entire books . They hit me emotionally, and that's all I need to say.

That's but a few of the reasons – not to mention the personal relationships and experiences I've had while being part of the sprint car community.

You could have your own opinions: you could point out how sprints have annoying tendencies to flip, spin out and take so long to push start. You could say sprint car guys bitch a lot (but I could argue the other side as well – need I do a dirtdrivers.com message board tally)?

You could probably write as much against sprints as I did for them. That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. If you drive one of the cars I spoke against, I don't dislike you – in fact I've made several friends outside the sprint ranks. I don't even hate your form of racing. In fact I'll tell you that IMCA “A” Modifieds are my second favorite cars on dirt tracks.

But I do have a favorite, a clear favorite and I refuse to make apologies.

Photos

Well, during a server change with my web host, a lot of my photo galleries
were affected by the rebuild. The links should be the same, some of the work
done on each album was lost - but what do you do?

Maybe it's the impetus to start the launch of the new site....

Interestingly, this is my 1,500th post to the site.

IMCA Modifieds headline October Fest at Beatrice

BEATRICE, Neb. (Oct. 5) – IMCA Modifieds headline the big late-season
show at Beatrice Speedway this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 9-10.

Both October Fest features for the open wheeled division pay $1,500
to win and are qualifying events for the 2010 Fast Shafts All-Star
Invitational ballot.

Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods and IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks both
run for $400 to win each night. Friday’s Mach-1 Sport Compact feature
will pay $150 to win.

An open practice session for all classes will be held from 6-9 p.m.
on Thursday, Oct. 8.

Gates open at 4 p.m., hot laps are at 5 p.m. and racing starts at 6
p.m. on Friday. Gates open at 3 p.m. on Saturday, with hot laps at
5:30 p.m. and racing at 6:30 p.m.

Pit passes are $25 each day. Grandstand admission is $14 for adults
and $5 for kids $10 and under.

More information about October Fest is available by calling promoter
Toby Kruse at 515 231-5444, the track hotline at 402 228-2264 or the
track office at 402 223-3158.

Rain date is Oct. 11.

Dylan Smith wins IMCA Modified Nat'l. Title, Rech Takes Compact Crown

VINTON, Iowa (Oct. 2) - A division-best 28 feature wins and bonus
points from three local track titles paved the way for Dylan Smith's
first national IMCA Modified championship.

The Osceola, Neb., driver edged Garner's Jeremy Mills by five points
for the title. Mills won 25 features and was the only driver in the
division with four track crowns to his credit this season.

Smith's banner season also included the championship in the
ButlerBuilt Central Region and Boone County Raceway, I-80 Speedway
and US 30 Speedway crowns.

Also capturing national titles were Dustin Smith of Lake City in the
Sunoco Stock Cars, Neil Stevens of Bing ham Lake, Minn., in the KSE
Racing Products Sprint Cars, Jesse Sobbing of Glenwood in the Karl
Chevrolet Northern SportMods, Garrett Rech of Davey, Neb., in the
Mach-1 Sport Compacts and John McNeil of Denton, Texas, in the GM
Performance Crate Models.

Shannon Anderson of Atlantic and Keith White of Little River Academy,
Texas, defended their titles in the Sunoco Hobby Stock and Southwest
Racing Specialties Southern SportMod divisions, respectively.

The point season for all eight classes ended on Sept. 27. Standings
become official at noon on Monday, Oct. 26.

Dustin Smith became the third driver to win national IMCA crowns in
different divisions. The 2004 Hobby Stock king bested three-time
champion Mike Nichols of Harlan and defending champ Rod Snellenberger
of Pulaski, Wis., in the drive for this year's prize.

The track champion at Buena Vista Raceway, Marshalltown Speedway and
Shelby County Speedway, Smith won 23 features. Nichols was tops in
point standings at Dawson County Raceway and I-35 Speedway LLC and
had 26 wins; Snellenberger was track champion at Shawano Speedway and
won 25 times.

A dozen feature wins gave Stevens the inside track toward his second
career national title in the winged class. Also the 2005 champion,
Stevens was first in points at both Arlington Raceway and Redwood
Speedway.

Sobbing is the third straight driver to earn both the national title
and rookie of the year honors in the Northern SportMod division in
the same season. He won 20 features and raked in the maximum 60 bonus
points for track titles at I-80, Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway and
Shelby County.

Runner-up Tyler Frye of Belleville, Kan., had 27 wins and was first
in the standings at Beatrice Speedway and Minneapolis Raceway. Kevin
Sather of Ankeny was third after winning 26 times and leading point
races at Marshalltown and Stuart.

Anderson won an IMCA single division season record 43 features this
season, a title difference-making dozen more than runner-up B.J.
Dauer of Marquette, Kan. Both won four track crowns and earned the
maximum number of bonus points.

The son of five-time national Stock Car champion Jeff Anderson,
Shannon topped point standings at Buena Vista, the Iowa State
Fairgrounds, Shelby County and Stuart Speedway in repeating as Jet
Racing Northern Region king.

White's fourth career Southern SportMod prize came by virtue of his
20-9 advantage over Chris Meyers of Eunice, N.M., in feature wins.

While White was champion at Heart O' Texas, Meyers topped points at
both Cardinal Motor Speedway and Lady Luck Speedway. Jeff Turner was
third with 18 wins and the Boyd Raceway title to his credit.

Rech won nine Sport Compact features this season and was the only
national champion not to have won a local track title as well this
season. He was runner-up at Eagle Raceway and at Butler County
Motorplex.

McNeil topped a pair of Crate Model main events and also won the
track championship at Kennedale Speed way Park.

All five Modified drivers winning ButlerBuilt regional titles did so
for the first time.

Mills scooped up the North Central Region prize. The 1998 national
Hobby Stock champ, Mills earned track titles at Algona Raceway, Buena
Vista Raceway, Hancock County Speedway and I-35 Speedway.

White did double-division duty, capturing the South Central Region
trophy. He was track champion at Heart O' Texas Speedway and
Kennedale Speedway Park.

Eastern Region king Kevan Cook of Constantia, N.Y., ruled at
Brewerton Speedway and Skyline Raceway.

Justen Yeager of Green River, Wyo., reigned in the Western Region.
He'd also won the EQ Cylinder Heads Wild West Northern Tour.

White collected 25 Modified checkers for a total of 45 multi-division
sanctioned wins in 2009.

Cook was a 17-time winner this season. Yeager won 14 features.

Bloomfield, N.M.'s Rex Higgins is champion of the Stephenville
Starter Southern Region for Stock Cars. He won 11 features and was
first in the point race at Fairgrounds Speedway.

Charles Cosper of Belton, Texas, repeated as champion of the
Stephenville Starter Southern Region for Hobby Stocks. The 281
Speedway and Heart O' Texas king won 14 features.

Dauer paced the points at Minneapolis Raceway, RPM Speedway, Thomas
County Speedway and WaKeeney Speedway.

Joining Sobbing as national rookies of the year are Gabe Tucker of
Carbon, Texas, Modified; Phil Holtz of Manchester, Stock Car; Dylan
Book of Adel, Hobby Stock; Dustin Sargent of Cleveland, Minn., Sprint
Car; Steven Abbey of Comanche, Texas, Southern SportMod; and Jeff
Davis of Lincoln, Neb., Sport Compact.

Top ButlerBuilt Modified regional rookies are Tucker in the South
Central; Tim Ward of Mesa, Ariz., in the West; Shane Hiatt of Rising
City, Neb., in the Central; Chris Stein of Davenport in the North
Central; and How ard Jones of Freeville, N.Y., in the East.

Steffan Carey of Bloomfield, N.M., is Stock Car ROY and Joe Williams
of Waco, Texas, is the Hobby Stock ROY in the Southern Region.

David Murray Jr. of Oberlin, Kan., had set the previous single-season
record with 41 Modified wins in 2004. The single-season multi-
division feature win mark is 47, established by Dave Trauernicht of
Beatrice, Neb., in 2001.

Kevin Blum of Colona, Ill., was national champion and Ryan Giles of
West Des Moines the top rookie in the IMCA Late Model division. Final
point races for that class were Aug. 30.

All IMCA champions and rookies of the year will be honored during the
national awards banquet on Saturday, Nov. 28 in Lincoln, Neb.

UNOFFICIAL Top 10 Standings

Modifieds - 1. Dylan Smith, Osceola, Neb., 1,248; 2. Jeremy Mills,
Garner, Iowa, 1,243; 3. Keith White, Little River Academy, Texas,
1,235; 4. Kevan Cook, Constantia, N.Y., 1,221; 5. Jordan Grabouski,
Beatrice, Neb., 1,206; 6. David Murray Jr., Oberlin, Kan., 1,192; 7.
Justen Yeager, Green River, Wyo., 1,189; 8. Max Cor poron, Marion,
Iowa, 1,185; 9. Corey Lagroon, Salina, Kan., 1,185; 10. Scott Hogan,
Vinton, Iowa, 1,185.

Sprint Cars - 1. Neil Stevens, Bingham Lake, Minn., 790; 2. Keith
Beckler, Litchfield, Minn., 720; 3. Dwain Wilmes, Kasota, Minn., 710;
4. Bruce Allen, Mankato, Minn., 709; 5. Chris Graf, Glencoe, Minn.,
686; 6. A.J. Stevens, Bingham Lake, Minn., 679; 7. Brandon Allen, St.
Peter, Minn., 668; 8. Brad Lund, Fairfax, Minn., 653; 9. Curt Lund,
Redwood Falls, Minn., 615; 10. Richard Smith, Mankato, Minn., 608.

Stock Cars - 1. Dustin Smith, Lake City, Iowa, 1,247; 2. Mike
Nichols, Harlan, Iowa, 1,228; 3. Rod Snellen berger, Pulaski, Wis.,
1,218; 4. Kevin Opheim, Mason City, Iowa, 1,206; 5. Cory Struckhoff,
Kensington, Kan., 1,202; 6. Abe Huls, Carthage, Ill., 1,193; 7. Trent
Murphy, Jefferson, Iowa, 1,183; 8. Mike Jergens, Plover, Iowa, 1,180;
9. Damon Murty, Chelsea, Iowa, 1,170; 10. Kelly Henderson, Minot,
N.D., 1,164.

Hobby Stocks - 1. Shannon Anderson, Atlantic, Iowa, 1,260; 2. B.J.
Dauer, Marquette, Kan., 1,260; 3. Charles Cosper, Belton, Texas,
1,206; 4. Allen Montgomery, Fort Worth, Texas, 1,198; 5. Devin Smith,
Lake City, Iowa, 1,197; 6. Austin Davis, Benkelman, Neb., 1,189; 7.
Eric Stanton, Hartford, Iowa, 1,180; 8. Michael Mur phy, Jefferson,
Iowa, 1,162; 9. Frank Paul, Kewaunee, Wis., 1,133; 10. Matthew
Crowell, Clearwater, Kan., 1,133.

Northern SportMods - 1. Jesse Sobbing, Glenwood, Iowa, 1,243; 2.
Tyler Frye, Belleville, Kan., 1,238; 3. Kevin Sather, Ankeny, Iowa,
1,237; 4. Austin Kaplan, Ankeny, Iowa, 1,202; 5. Scott Davis, Madrid,
Iowa, 1,197; 6. Tim Jorgenson, Seymour, Wis., 1,183; 7. Travis Van
Straten, Hortonville, Wis., 1,182; 8. Eric Arne son, Oconto Falls,
Wis., 1,160; 9. Luke Wanninger, Jefferson, Iowa, 1,134; 10. Jim
Hendricks, Council Bluffs, Iowa, 1,126.

Southern SportMods - 1. Keith White, Little River Academy, Texas,
1,205; 2. Chris Meyers, Eunice, N.M., 1,205; 3. Jeff Turner, Kaufman,
Texas, 1,199; 4. Ronnie Welborn, Princeton, Texas, 1,179; 5. Zach
Hamilton, Farmington, N.M., 1,164; 6. Steven Abbey, Comanche, Texas,
1,158; 7. Gabe Tucker, Carbon, Texas, 1,157; 8. Robert Black, Waco,
Texas, 1,118; 9. Matt Winnett, Colbert, Okla., 1,104; 10. T.J. Green,
Robinson, Texas, 1,088.

Sport Compacts - 1. Garrett Rech, Davey, Neb., 1,156; 2. Gary
Peiffer, Troy Mills, Iowa, 1,140; 3. John Sed lachek, Eagle, Neb.,
1,130; 4. Allen Rice, Minneapolis, Kan., 1,100; 5. Justin Wacha,
Vinton, Iowa, 1,086; 6. Jeremy Noonan, Lincoln, Neb., 1,072; 7. Jeff
Davis, Lincoln, Neb., 998; 8. Mike Simpson, Ashland, Neb., 978; 9.
Nicholas Hintz, Lincoln, Neb., 915; 10. John Irvine, Omaha, Neb., 831.

Crate Models - 1. John McNeil, Denton, Texas, 818; 2. Jay Bransom
Jr., Burleson, Texas, 787; 3. Damon Hammond, Burleson, Texas, 759; 4.
Charlie Wilson, Sanger, Texas, 737; 5. Ronnie Davis, Hurst, Texas,
556; 6. Darryl Campbell, Everman, Texas, 488; 7. Eric Winnett, Fort
Worth, Texas, 467; 8. Ronnie Pennington, Saginaw, Texas, 401; 9.
Steven Saunders, Bellevue, Neb., 319; 10. Robert Ferron, Venus,
Texas, 315.