The Pace Lap May 13, 2011

Passing Points: I am STILL not sold on using passing points to line up features on a weekly show. See to the left. Another early heat race pileup. Six cars in this one. Eagle's sprinters have been holding up their end of the bargain of 25+ cars to maintain the increased payout. Tearing up equipment ain't gonna keep that count for long.

BTAR:* The lineup for I-80's Silver Dollar Nationals is pretty impressive. Steve Francis, Jimmy Mars and Dale McDowell are a pretty darn good place to start.

SCOOOREBOARD! SCOOOREBOARD!: A new Daktronics Galaxy color LED scoreboard has gone up atop the posts that housed the previous shopping mall sign scoreboard that sat at Eagle for nearly two decades. It replaces the Mitsubishi Diamondvision "Jumbotron" TV that was felled last year by a late-summer windstorm. The unit's controllers were already knocked out of commission by a lightning strike earlier. Mother nature just did the physical demolition work.

When it's cold outside, I got the month of May: The 100th running of the Indy 500 takes place this month, and I am not sure I care. That said, I've been reading Motorsport Magazine's and Sports Illustrated's tribute to The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, and it made me nostalgic for the Indy 500's I remembered: the pre-Kit Car days of today, back when CART was worth watching and the days when Unsers, Andrettis ruled the podium along the likes of Rick Mears, AJ Foyt, Emerson Fittipaldi (will never forgive him for 1989's crashing out of Al Unser, Jr.), and many others. I never thought that at the age of 40 I would be so nostalgic for racing past - but I can't identify with what goes on in that series today. Once Buddy Lazier (!) had his mug on the Borg-Warner Trophy...frankly, it diminished the race for me. That said, the Indy 500 is still on my bucket list and I may watch this year for the milestone occasion.

Washed out: Racing throughout Eastern Nebraska was rained / colded out for everyone this weekend. It's been a very up and down temperature season so far.

Photos: Just a note: the pictures you see on my site are my own, and I work on my own. The pics aren't sold at the track. If you want one, ya' gots to get it here - but it will be conveniently shipped to you! Also, if you're looking for downloads for hero/autograph cards, shoot me an email. I have them available. 

Not much to say this week. I want to thank everyone for the kind wishes, emails, posts and phone calls regarding my mother's passing. The racing community is a great bunch.

*BTAR=Big Time Automobile Racers