2011 UMP Summernationals in review/Thank you to everyone for their concern with Grandpa

This tour, when looked back upon, will be remembered for 3 things.  One is weather.  This had to be one of the rainiest Summernationals in recent memory.  Also, early on, the temps were cooler than usual.  This was a pleasant surprise.  The second thing that will be Shannon Babb's absolute dominance to close out.  I have, in all my years of seeing series racing, NEVER seen a driver close out with 6 in a row to win a points championship.    He had been consistent to that point and not had as much bad luck as his competition, and when he hit his stride, the tour became his personal playground.  The tour overall had a lot of average to poor racing, which was disappointing to see.  The field looked to be as competitive as ever, even with naysayers saying it was just a glorified local show.  The talent around here has shown it can compete past the local level.  The third thing will be the Belle-Clair tire cheating incident involving apparent race winner Michael Kloos.  He was eventually stripped of this and the win was awarded to 2nd place Ryan Unzicker.  The best race I seen that was a part of the tour I would say was at Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown, Illinois, a track I had never been to until this year.  This weekend there were 2 make up dates, and they were 2 great shows.  One was the 31st Herald and Review 100, where Babb proceeded to win his 7th in a row, but it didn't count towards the points since they ended at Oakshade.  The 2nd was the Lynn Chevy Summernationals event at Fairbury.  This was one of the best races I have EVER seen in my 17 years of attending races.  The finish was so close, but looking back, I'd say they actually got it wrong.  I did that night as well, and it has cost Feger $5,000 as a result.  Not knocking the track or Rodney Melvin.  I didn't have an interest in who won in terms of which driver.  I just wanted the person who actually crossed the finish line FIRST to be crowned the winner.  It looks, after reviewing ALL of the evidence currently available, that didn't happen.  I am still completely puzzled as to why the transponders that the series utilized during the entire tour, weren't used for the make up dates.  This was a time where they really could have been a useful tool.  I understand hindsight is 20/20, but this is a case that this SHOULD have been in use, PERIOD.  This also makes me think that tracks should have a super slo-mo camera or a start finish line camera in the case there is ever a question to a result.  In the end, it's awesome to have a problem like that after 50 laps of hard racing on a well prepared track that withstood the hot, muggy, brutal conditions mother nature threw at us.  It is a testament to those who prepared the track.  Also, a big shout out of thanks to the Fairbury group for moving the Late Model feature to 2nd in the running order.  Great decision, and I know I'm not alone in this sentiment.  It sucks that you know some of the people involved on a personal level, but sometimes it happens.  I try to never let emotion get in the way of calling something as I see it.  That night, I called Melvin the winner and didn't have much doubt.  Now, there is a lot more after seeing all of the proof.  Other than that, it was all ANY race fan could possibly ever ask for in a feature event.  They just don't get much better.  My overall grade for this Summernationals has to be a C.  The tour early seemed to have the potential to be a free for all that could produce multiple winners, which it did. It also had the potential to have a 6 car or more race for the points.  However, this just never happened.  Luck had a big role in this, but this sport is notorious for that sometimes.  I would say the Summernationals needs to seriously look at format and series changes to revamp things.  Travel is definitely one of those things.  I'd say a shake up could really strengthen the series.  I will leave this with a link of photos of the races I went to over the course of the Summernationals tour.  In total, I hit 8 shows including the 2 make up events.  Here is a link to the photos from those events, http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150252641534248.344519.503429247&l=095f2f77d6&type=1     A bit of the sights of the Summernationals you could say.    Before I end this, I also have to send out a huge thank you to fans, drivers, crew members, and others for their concern, thoughts, and prayers for my grandfather.  It really means a lot coming from you all.  You all have reminded me yet again why I love this sport so much.  In a way, we all become one big family at the track.  He ended up missing this weekend of racing, but with the heat, it may very well be for the best. He is feeling a lot better right now.  Again, to all of those in the racing community who have sent many kind well wishes, THANK YOU!!  Hope you all enjoyed this recap of the Hell Tour.

A New Deal at Dream XVII/Catchup

I know this is a LOT later than I would like, but here is a summary of my Dream XVII weekend, and a general catch-up post all in one. It all started when I rolled out Wednesday with my mom, who had never been to Eldora Speedway before, to go see the 7th Annual Prelude to the Dream. I ended up going to this event thanks to the fine folks at Eldora Speedway having a trivia contest about previous NASCAR champions who have competed in the event.  Without that, I most certainly would have just stayed home and purchased the Pay-Per-View broadcast.

The racing itself was not too bad, but I had still seen better racing at the track.  However, it was a fun time, even though, sadly, some fans had to be a bit ignorant.  You could really pick out the dirt track and overall race fans from the straight NASCAR fans who had no clue what a Late Model even was.  
The race would end up being dominated by Clint Bowyer

After this, it was back home thanks to the fact I had to interview for internships for school.  I had packed everything I possibly could have in the motorhome before then so come Friday I could just get changed and then Grandpa and I could hit the road and get to our campsite at the track.  We hit a few snags, including overheating over the Indiana border, and we arrived just as it began raining harder and round 2 qualifying ended up being restarted.  I had missed Jimmy Owens breaking the track record with the first ever 14 second lap for a dirt late model around the high banks.  Fortunately, I got to see Jared Landers go out and set the mark that is now the new track record at 14.922, which is an average speed of 120.630 MPH.  Landers was flat out around Eldora, which was incredible.  With only 91 cars there, that meant no non-qualifier races.  I had predicted 93 cars for the event, while some had thought that there could be 130 or 140, but most fans and insiders believed it would be down, and we all were right.
Saturday early in the morning there was more weather coming.  It hit hard, with heavy rain and strong winds.  I had seen lightning out of the window up top where I was sleeping, and we were able to shut the windows in time.  For some of my friends and fellow fans, it put a large damper on their weekend.  Saturday was the first time I go to grill out at the track.  The wind sucked horribly, but I was able to grill out some delicious brats, but they didn't quite cook fully.
The heats were event filled, but not terribly racy, and the feature was the same way.  Moyer lead most of it with Steve Francis in pursuit most of the way.  Don O'Neal, who to this point had NEVER won a "crown jewel" event.  However, late in the race, O'Neal, who made contact with Moyer, was able to get by Moyer for what was a popular win.  Overall, I'd say the race SUCKED.  The track was one groove around the top and fast.  O'Neal was able to move to the middle and make it work, but he was alone in that.  I had a good time as always, but the racing was by far the worst I had seen in all of my trips to Eldora so far, but considering that was the worst, I won't be too harsh.  Every track can have a show that sucks every once in a while. I will admit, I was happy to see O'Neal FINALLY get a long overdue big race win, as he has been so close before.  No longer will he be dogged by that.  Below are victory lane shots I got of the 2011 Dirt Late Model Dream champion, and the trophy that his name will go on now as well as the field from the race.  There are a lot of victory ceremony photos below.  Congratulations to "The Real Deal" on the big win.  It really was a "New Deal" for someone who has been bitten with bad luck late in big races.