This
Sunday I attended my last race of the season, the 2012 Nebraska Cup.
With the fate of the 360’s sealed as a weekly show (done), I felt that I
needed to make it out to the race. A nice afternoon with a cool evening
led to a fast track and racy track with good races as Jason Johnson three-peated and
walked out with not only the winner’s share of $5,000 but every cent of
the lap leader money as he mastered all 30 circuits starting from the
pole position. It was a good show all around. Some unfortunate accidents
as both Don Droud Jr. and Tige Jensen broke axles sending them on rough
tumbles. Jensen was dominating his heat race before his crash. Mike
Boston got on his head on the opening lap of the A in a nowhere-to-go
accident resulting from chaos down the front stretch.
But
Johnson put on the proverbial clinic, with Jack Dover taking another
Ford-powered sprinter to second, briefly challenging on a late-race
restart.
Some thoughts in and around the track:
-
Not sure if it’s the last Nebraska Cup featuring the 360 Sprints. I’ve
heard that there will be a few 360 sprint races at Eagle, but under the
ASCS Midwest banner. The annual Eagle Nationals is also expected to
return, probably as another ASCS National Tour event.
-
The “50th Anniversary” 305-cubic inch sprinter made several circuits of
the track during intermission. While certainly no slouch, and the car
will still be the fastest thing on Saturday nights, the difference was
evident. Some over the radio made derisive comments mocking the “not a
real sprint car” sentiment and stated “I beg anyone to tell the
difference!” I could, easily. It was not subtle. They were noticeably
quieter and slower. A sprint car, yes. But different. After several
months away during the offseason a casual fan may not be able to tell
next year, but that night it was very evident. The hype from the paid
employees was damped a little when they folks upstairs refused to put
the car’s lap times on the scoreboard. But I understand given the speeds
set during the heats, which included some of the fastest 360’s in the
country, combined with the 305 not in ‘race mode,’ maybe the
similarities were best left to speculation. No need to fan any flames.
-
That said, I wish the 305’s success next year. I also wish the 360
group success as well, with maybe a little more enthusiasm than II had
before. Not being privy to all the details, but meetings with
representatives from the ASCS Midwest are pointing to a partnership with
the sanctioning body as opposed to a separate touring series. There
will be some distinctions and group-only incentives. We’ll find out
more.
-
I tip my hat to the Hobby Stock and Sport Mod groups. Particularly the
Hobbies. They put on a very clean show. For all the bumpin’ and grindin’
they do on the track, they find a way to keep the cars straight come
feature time. With Eagle being more of a “rhythm” track, the Hobby
Stocks have a NASCAR on the super-speedway quality to them. And
generally, that race isn’t decided until the late laps. The Sport Mods
have gone past their infancy looking like dogs on linoleum to produce
some clean racing of their own. But the pegging rev limiters is
something I can’t get used to.
-
An observation made by push truck driver, friend and fellow
wise-cracker Mike Peterson was very astute: what may have relieved the
tensions between the Eagle teams and management was...a rainout. Or a
couple of them. Let the misery of the past week die off. But each (hot)
weekend, the tempers and bad blood continued to maintain their heat. It
was an interesting take because three people, from three different teams
said something similar - and unsolicited from me. The constant weekly
schedule took a toll on their wallets, their personal lives, their
desire to be there. Couple this with the back-gate promoter mentality of
needing to have the doors open every week to the pit-pass-paying masses
or to the premier class drawing the front gate and you have a grind that
takes out even the most serious racer. Another reason I dislike the
concept of the back gate nature of the sport. I’m looking at you RPM.
I’ve always thought a break would help. It’s getting a promoter willing
to turn off that money spigot that’s the problem. On the other hand,
burn ‘em out and that well runs dry.
-
More talk, but under-the-breath statements suggest there may be more
than a few of the local 360 guys willing to run with the 305’s at Eagle,
either with restrictors, or going to purchase a 305 motor entirely. In
some cases the thought of rebuilding a 360 vs. buying a new 305 is
leaning in the 305’s favor. I’m not expecting a mass defection, but
there may be more familiar faces at the track than we are led to believe
next season. The factor most often cited - and the trump card in Roger’s
hand is: they get to race close to home (and their sponsors). We’ll see
how it turns out.
Until the next time.
-Jason
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