The Pace Lap May 11, 2010

The Pace Lap May 11, 2010

I had promised something about purses and "market value." I'll do that later.

Another trip to Eagle this weekend with unseasonably cool temperatures for this time of year. Fortunately the wind died down, and the track stayed very tacky and fast throughout the night. A few ruts in turn one weren't disruptive and fans were treated to some pretty good races.

- One exception: the Sport Mod A feature was lousy with Roger Hadan pulling the plug with about five laps remaining after the seventh (or eighth?) yellow flag. For a 15 lap race, that's just too much. The fact was, most of the yellows were intentionally brought out by spun out drivers. I have no patience for that as a race fan. What do you do? Well, in the heats and B's there's a "Lone Ranger" rule stating that if you spin, without contact and bring out the yellow, you're out. Any bump, scrape, whatever will except you from this and you can continue. Otherwise, loop it all alone and bring out the yellow...done.

I think until a class gets their act together this may be a good answer. But, with so many cars in the A feature it would be 1. tough to see all the incidents and 2. hard to NOT have contact making the Lone Ranger rule pointless.

Maybe if the LR rule was for the last half of the race?

But the waiting for the yellow isn't acceptable. Not when the show's having a tough time breaking the 4 hour barrier as it is (with short intermissions, to boot).

Given the issues with the Lone Ranger rule I'm in favor of cutting laps. There are those who say that time limits are unfair to those guys racing. That's a valid point. But, Eagle's taken a fan-first approach, and while muted...the applause when the yellow and checkered flew seemed to tell me that the decision was the right one for many of the people in the stands and with the exception of 2nd place on back at least an agreeable one.

I may be unfairly harsh on these guys as I have friends in the class, it's new to the track, fairly low-budget and has a lot of first timers and guys moving up...which I've always admired. But, sub-20 car counts and intentional yellow flags aren't the way to win over a crowd used to a fast-moving show. It's time to put the interests of the class and the fans first.

- The sprint field was top-heavy with Billy Alley and Jack Dover staying close to home to give Mike Boston a run. But the star of the night almost was Trevor Grossenbacher, who was lightning fast on the bottom. He could very well have had the race in hand, but got hung up behind the #91 of Rocky Klabunde, allowing Dover to sneak past and control the fast line for the rest of the race, picking up his second win of the weekend. Trevor came home second.

- Several of the sprint drivers who have branched out away from Eagle made their way back, for various reasons. But I wonder if as the season rolls on, the expense of travel may keep some teams closer to their homes? It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks and what happens with car counts at the ASCS shows at I-80 and JMS at the end of the month.

- The question came up in an email: Photographer and Nebraska Auto Racing Hall of Fame member Joe Orth is not my dad or uncle. Despite the unique last name and we're both into photography, we are at most, distantly related and not in business together at Eagle. I consider Joe a friend and a mentor.

- For the second week, the issue of low compact count came up on the Junction Motor Speedway message board. For whatever reason, they just don't seem to find their way out there. Credit Delmar Friesen for sticking it out. At times the complaint was that the interior oval was too small, while the other half argued that the main oval was too big...which says to me that's not the issue. One thing I noticed: car counts seem to go up in proportion to how close they are to population centers.

Well, duh. But what it says to me is that unlike the initial frenzy when the class first hit Nebraska speedways in the mid 2000s, the count seems to have hit a plateau, which in my opinion is exactly what an entry level class should do. Again, I also think the growth of the sport mod has given another low budget entry point, and in a purpose built race car, arguably one better suited as a starting point if the goal is moving up in class.

Some argue bringing back the two-man cruisers, but as pointed out later in the thread, that novelty act class is dying out.

- Memorial Weekend is perhaps the biggest weekend for auto racing in America, and if you're a sprint fan in Nebraska, you have a great opportunity as well. The ASCS hits I-80 on Thursday May 27, Junction on May 28. Eagle runs their weekly show that Saturday. Or, if you're up for the drive, the annual Steve King Memorial takes place in Jetmore, KS (a few miles north of Dodge City - about 6 hours away from Lincoln, NE) on the 29th and 30th, featuring the Lucas Oil ASCS National tour.

- Or if you're so inclined, and wish to change gears and stay closer to home, possibly the best Late Model race in this area takes place on May 30th as the annual Alphabet Soup hits I-80 Speedway featuring the MLRA & NCRA. Read more here.

- Eagle Raceway is in the early stages of a Eagle Raceway/Midwest Speedway reunion on June 26th. Find details here. If you're new to the sprint life around here, check out Ryan Tunks' Midwest Speedway tribute site and learn more about where the 360 Sprint class got its start. And yes, I believe that the modern 360 Sprint was essentially born here.

- With that in mind, let me leave you with this: Sprint car racing seems to have a history of peaks and valleys, often dictated by major changes, whether it be technological: such as the end of the Offy's dominance, or the shift to the winged sprint car. Around here, the economy essentially killed sprints in the late 70's until a few guys got together and found a way to take what they already had and make it work economically as they did with the 360s. I'm asking this: are we due for a major shift again in sprint car racing? With the economy in the tank, and motor prices skyrocketing, is it time not just for small increases in purse, but a whole new way of thinking? Crate motors? Spec tires? Wing rules?

Just something to think about. I'd like your opinion.