Memorial Day Marathon of Racing 2011

It has come and gone again.  Memorial Day is in the books again. First and foremost, Memorial Day weekend is a time for us to pay homage and give thanks to those fighting men and women who protect our freedom and give us as citizens of the United States of America the chance to go and do what we want to do.  This Memorial Day Marathon of Racing 2011 wouldn't have ever been possible without what you all do.

Friday got the weekend started for me with the Northern Allstars Late Model Series at Lincoln Speedway.

The track was in great shape.  It was plenty wet and smooth considering the amount of rain the track had received all week long.  The track was fast all night long.  During the heats, the racing was fast and fierce.  In Late Model Heat race 3, Dillan White attempted to pull a slidejob on Eric Smith, and the results were catastrophic.  The images here show the damage suffered by White in the wreck.


Heats were won by Roger Brickler (who dive bombed Michael Kloos in Turn 1 on the last lap to win), Brandon Sheppard (in dominant fashion), Steve Sheppard Jr. (also in dominant fashion) and Ryan Unzicker.

The feature was paced by polesitter Steve Sheppard Jr. and Brandon Sheppard.  When the feature went green, son Brandon checked out on father Steve Jr, who was quickly passed by Ryan Unzicker.  While those 2 dueled and the field kept racing one another, Brandon paced the field and went on to score a convincing victory.  With his feature win, night 1 of 4 of my Memorial Day Marathon of Racing was in the books.


Saturday I ventured off to Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis for the Night Before the 500 featuring the USAC Midgets.

 I ended up going here thanks to a great offer made by Lucas Oil Raceway.  When we reordered our tickets for the Thursday night portion of Kroger Speedfest featuring the USAC Silver Crown and Midgets, and now this year the ARCA Re/Max Series, we recieved passes good for free admission to either the Night Before the 500 or one of their Thursday Night Thunder USAC Sprint Car Series. 

The weather at home was nasty, with lots of severe weather, and all of my local tracks were rained out, so it in the long run worked out.  It seemed like watching the weather we'd dodge the rains.  It was a wonderful day at the track with some cloud cover.  It started getting cloudy right after qualifying, and the map showed rain moving in.  We got qualifying in for the USAC Midgets, the Star Mazda Series, and the USF2000 series.  After that, the Midget heats rolled out, and were completed successfully with some fast and furious racing.  By the 3rd heat, rain could be felt hitting us, but it was nothing more than drops at that point.  The track continued keeping the show ahead of schedule as much as possible. The heats were completed successfully, and the Midget last chance race was rolled out almost immediately.  This would be the last race ran before the rains hit. At that point, the tracked had hustled and the show was an hour ahead of the schedule they handed out as we came in the gates.  The rain started falling, but that wasn't my biggest concern.  When I seen the first flash of lightning, I let people around me know it and I headed down under the stands, and many others heeded my warning.  When the next flash lit the sky up, and the large boom of thunder that followed, the stands proceeded to clear out rather quickly. 

The downpour lasted about 15 minutes, but it rained long and hard enough to require a 2.5 hour period to dry the track.  They even had their jet dryer out for about an hour to get it dry.  When it was all ready to go, the show was about 2 hours behind, but considering it was 9 PM eastern when we got things going, it wasn't too bad.  The first race was a 75 lap (with a 30 minute time limit) USF2000 event.  There was one wreck that took a good 5 minutes to clean up.  In the end, the race ran 69 laps and was won by Petri Suvanto of Nurvo, Finland won the race.  The next race was a 100 lap (with a 45 minute time limit) Star Mazda Series event.  This race went green almost throughout with one caution when the leader at the time hit a lapped car and wrecked in turn 3.  The Star Mazda race went 85 laps and was won by Connor De Phillippi of San Clemente, California.  After this was the 50 lap USAC Midget event.  Brian Clauson made an early move in turn 1 to lead the race early, but it was apparent that he would have company from Darren Hagen.  At 10 laps in, the race between the top 4 was so close you could literally throw a blanket over them.  They were slicing and dicing and moving all over the 6/10 mile pavement track.  On lap 15, Hagen tried to look inside of Clauson in turn 1 but then he got a great run into turn 3 on the low side and passed leader Clauson.  Hagen took the lead, but for a while he was far from comfortable as he couldn't build much of a lead as the top 4 remained all right together.  The first yellow of the feature would fly on lap 30 for a slowing Brian Clauson.  Hagen then proceeded to get a huge jump on the restart, but it was too large as the start was waved off.  "The Hawk" as Hagen is known, got another great start and then proceeded to pull out to a small lead.  Tanner Swanson and Tracy Hines were running together, and picking a lot of cars off. Swanson was in the top 10 from 22nd, Hines from 12th.  The second yellow flew when Mario Clauser stopped on the track on lap 35.  The next restart would be waved off for debris.  The final 15 laps went green, and Hagen would eventually cruise to The Night Before the 500 feature win. 

Sunday I headed to Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Illinois for the Budweiser 50 UMP Late Model Special.

With this event falling right after the Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, there was good reason to expect some good cars and a good car count, and it didn't disappoint.  46 UMP Late Models were in attendance as well as 57 UMP Modifieds.  This was the hottest race I have been to this year weather wise, with temperatures during the daytime being up as high as 94.  There was a stiff wind blowing towards the frontstretch, which I knew was a bad sign knowing how things are there usually.  The track started off brutally rough.  The crew at the track worked to cut it up and smooth it out, but didn't really water it down like I had hoped.  The track did smooth out, but the heats were far from exciting, which was very disappointing to see.  The program had originally called for a Late Model Dash, but the drivers approached promoters Kevin and Tammy Gundaker to fix the track and start straight up in lieu of running the dash.  This decision would be great when the features rolled around.  The Late Model Feature was supposed to be 2nd behind the Crate Late Model Feature, but the order of events was changed and the Budweiser 50 would be the first feature ran.  This was a decision that I was glad to see as the track was coming around.  The feature went green with Brian Shirley getting the early jump, leaning on 6 time World 100 winner Billy Moyer in the process.  The car that was on the move early, however, was the 25 car of Jason Feger.  Feger, who started 9th in the feature, and was up to 4th in 3 laps on the high side, living up to his nickname of "The Highside Hustler".  The first yellow fell on lap 4 for Chad Zobrist.  Feger was doing something that he has been criticized for not doing so far, running more than just the top side of the race track.  Scott James a few laps after the restart would make a move on the 3s of Squirrel, as Shirley is also known.  He took the lead and Feger was side by side with Moyer for 3rd at the same time.  One of the big moves was in turn 2, when Feger made a ballsy move through the middle between Shirley and Moyer to take the lead, which got the capacity crowd going.  The track was really racy and was making up for being so terrible earlier in the evening.  Feger proceeded to open a large lead, but as he got into traffic, "The Silver Shark" Scott James was reeling the tumbling dice 25 of Feger in as well.  Moyer also proceeded to reel in James, and took multiple looks at him, but he wasn't able to get around the 81 of James.  At halfway, Feger had his hands full with James, and James gave him multiple challenges.  Feger fended him off, then proceeded to open a bit of a lead on the field.  With 5 to go, James was all in, and was spinning the tires, even lighting them up off of the corners.  With 2 to go, James bounced off of the lapped car of Brian Divley.  At the white, the leader Feger and James were about nose to tail, and in turn 1 James went for a banzai move in turn 1, making contact with Feger, but both soldiered on, and Feger would end up winning the thrilling Late Model Feature.    It was a fun car ride home as I had gotten a ride from Jason's mom Tracy.  The UMP Pro Late Model (Crate) feature was won by Dustin Griffin.  The UMP Modified Feature was fun watching Ken Schrader battle some of the toughest modified competition in the country.  Michael Long slipped past Schrader but then stuck it in the wall, and Schrader went on uncontested for the win.  After it was over, I went out to the pits and celebrated a bit with Feger and Schrader proceeds to roll up.  In typical Schrader fashion, Schrader yells"Hey Feger!!  When I grow up I want to be just like you!!"  That was pretty funny yet an awesome compliment from a veteran racer.  Also in the pits was Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame driver Roger Long, who was smiling ear to ear with the success Feger was having.  Definitely a cool night, but it was definitely dirty.  Below are some victory lane photos and what I looked like when we stopped for something to drink (and I wiped my face off once during the night. 

 Here is the link to the Late Model Feature video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH1exb0h7kg

 I got home, showered, and to bed from Tri-City at 5:15 that morning, and was up at 10 to do it again.  Monday night I was off to Macon Speedway for NASCAR Night I featuring Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace, and Justin Allgaier.  Racing were the Northern Allstars Late Models, UMP Modifieds, and Street Stocks.

Here are some of my thoughts regarding NASCAR nights.  Honestly, I'm not the world's biggest fan of them as they are now.  Jacking up ticket prices even more just to see people come in isn't my thing. As for them racing, that's fine, as it can be interesting.  A show that should have been $15 and usually would be was $20 because of the NASCAR people.  The crowd was thinner too, which showed that the novelty of the NASCAR nights have worn off. 

Moving on to the show itself, the track started out okay but started getting unusually terrible track conditions.  The track, usually wet most of the night then slicking off for the features, was hard by the time heats were to run.  Overall, the heat races were a huge disappointment.  For those who might have been there for the first time and are reading this, that isn't what Macon typically looks like. 

For the features, the Street Stocks and Modifieds were both stuck around the bottom, and I had a bad feeling that the late model feature would be as well.  Schrader won his 2nd Modified feature in as many nights.  I was wrong fortunately, and the track was racy for considering the shape the track was in.  It was EXTREMELY dryslick, especially for Macon standards.  Brandon Sheppard was the first to go up top, and it looked like it could cost him, but he was able to run it.  Sheppard was able to slice and dice through traffic and keep Mark Voigt at bay the entire feature.  However, coming off of 4 on the final lap, Voigt made a move, and almost stole one.  Sheppard won his 2nd Northern Allstars Late Model Feature in a row by a nose.  In the end, it wasn't a bad race.

 The final checkered flag of my Memorial Day Marathon of Racing fell at a little after 9:30.  There was some good racing and not so good racing.  However, I most enjoyed spending my weekend doing what I love to to with people who are great friends and family who I love.  Thanks Grandpa and Tracy for being a part of it!!  I was worn out after it all, but if I had the chance to do it over again, I wouldn't change a thing. 

Graduation...Checkered flag to an undergraduate career.

Well, it is finally in the books.  With the completion of my last final exam, it was the proverbial white flag.  Graduation this last Saturday from the University of Illinois Springfield was the checkered flag to my years of studying.  Racing, among other things, are partly responsible for my success.  I have met many wonderful people who I have formed great friendships with that I still have to this day.  I want to take this moment and thank everyone who has had a positive influence and helped guide me and help me become the person I am today.  I am eternally thankful.  I shared some parallels in my journey to a degree that racers do to win.  I faced adversity, overcame at times situations that were far from favorable, put in long hours and sleepless nights to get to where I wanted to be.  Now, the preparation for the next stage in my life and/or education begins.  What track my life ends up at next is one I don't know yet, but hopefully it's one that is racy and one I can thrive at.

Early Cancellations

As you all well know, the weather the last 2 weeks all across the Midwest, Ohio Valley, and all points in between, has flat out sucked unless you are a duck or fish.  Many places have seen well over 4 inches of rain in a single week, and it still falls.  Some promoters are coming under fire for their cancellation processes, and quite frankly it puzzles me.  A promoter, at the end of the day, has the job of trying to make money.  This means not only getting cars in the pits, but fans in the stands as well.  Every time they open the gates, a lot goes into even a weekly show.  They foot the power bill for EVERYTHING for the night, pay the concession and track workers, pay to have an ambulance on the grounds, and so on.  Needless to say, without a healthy car count or crowd count, a promoter is bound to take a bath.  The economy right now is tough for EVERYONE.  I for one appreciate a promoter cancelling early enough because it gives me the chance, as a fan, to find somewhere else to possibly go or to make alternate arrangements for the day/evening.  It saves a lot of money for fans and drivers alike who could drive a long ways to a track only to cancel right before starting.  Situations like that are a no win as fans and drivers alike end up pissed off and have a negative thought about the track in the back of their mind, something that could keep that driver down the road from coming back.  So promoters, please, keep up the good work.  If you know you can't get things ready or it looks highly unlikely, cancel early enough so drivers and fans can make alternate arrangements.  However, if you believe you can get the show in and think the people and drivers will be willing to make the gamble, I say look at whether you can afford to do so or not.  If you can, go for it.  I'm much more forgiving as a fan if the genuine effort is put in to get a show in even when it looks questionable at best.  Sometimes luck is on your side and the show gets ran to completion, while others it comes up short.  It's not an easy job being a promoter, and few will ever see what goes into getting things ready for a show.  It's almost a thankless job.  Keyword there is ALMOST. I say, to those who work hard to have a well prepped track, efficient show that is fair to fans and driver alike, THANK YOU!! 

Welcome back friend: Farmer City Raceway is alive and well to start 2011

As most of the Midwest and some fans, drivers, and others in the dirt track racing community knew, Farmer City Raceway was in serious jeopardy of closing the doors, possibly for good.  In under a month, JK Promotions, made up of Central Illinois Late Model Driver Kyle Logue, as well as local businessman Jeff Hammer, along with many volunteers and others, whipped the quarter mile oval quickly into shape.  As a fan, I was eagerly excited to see the changes in person, even though thanks to social media, I had seen some pictures and videos of the track and the facilities. 

Opening night was slated for Friday, April 8, 2011, and the forecast coming in was supposed to be fantastic.  The entire week leading up to the event, I went about promoting the event on various pages on Facebook, including those of local television stations, radio stations, and newspapers.  Thursday night I seen rain was coming through, and I was quite nervous, although nowhere as nervous as those involved with the track were.  When Friday rolled around, it was nice out, but not as nice as it was supposed to be.  I, along with my grandpa, left for Farmer City around 12.  After having a good meal at Imo's Cafe, we headed to the track to see how things looked.  Needless to say, it was an absolutely amazing sight.  There were many new boards on seats, the wall was painted and looked quite good, the ratty billboards were down, the concession stands had been revamped, the restrooms were as clean as I could EVER remember them being, and lots of things were painted.  The improvements were much needed, and it was definitely something that put a smile to my face.  Seeing the pits, it was a bit concerning.  It was evident they had a hefty overnight rainfall.  I knew they would bust their asses to get the pits worked in so there could be racing.  They had the track looking good already.  The banking in 1 and 2 had been built up some, but there's still more to go to get it to where it was pre Don Hammer.  

After toiling endlessly, they got the pits worked down, and cars started arriving around 3.  When it was all said and done, the 2 big classes, UMP Late Models and UMP Modifieds, had 33 and 25 cars respectively.  The other classes, all but one of which will be running weekly, had turnouts of less than 15 each, which was disappointing to see.  When late model hot laps rolled out, I had a chill run up my spine.  It was a feeling of joy and relief.  Racing was back at Farmer City Raceway.  The track was very smooth, tacky, and fast.  Early, it was nerve racking looking around and not seeing many people in the stands.  The weather there at the track was cloudy and cooler than forecasted, and outside of there, it was sunny and warmer.  I knew fans like myself and other "diehards" would be there, even if it were in the 30's.  I was hoping others who aren't as crazy as us diehards would come out.  As the night went along, the crowd kept growing.  Eventually, the stands all around had few seats open, which was absolutely awesome.  The show was ran in a timely manner, even with timing light issues.  They kept the show rolling along and were well organized, which was quite impressive.

The racing itself, was old school Farmer City.  The cars were fast in their heats, and the track widened out as the night went along.  One race that was absolutely amazing, and in my eyes the race of the night, was the 2nd Late Model semi.  Jason Feger and Brandon Thirlby ran well over half the race side by side with almost no room whatsoever between them and never touched.  The crowd was cheering loudly, some for or against the drivers.  I was just cheering because the track was delivering the kind of racing that has made it a popular track among fans, and why it's one of the best in Illinois.  The Street Stocks set the bar early with a great feature featuring side by side racing between Lance Johnson and Brian Cassell, with Johnson prevailing.  The UMP Modifieds were next, and they were married to the top side.  There was some passing deeper in the field, but overall not as much as I would have hoped for.  Justin McCoy took a horrible ride as he hit a disabled McKay Wenger who wasn't able to get off the track.  Thankfully, both drivers were okay.  In the end, Jay Ledford scored the UMP Modified feature win.

The Late Model feature was a good one, and it was somewhat a blast from the past.  The names and faces may have changed some, but the racing was similar.  Every groove was being utilized on the track, and drivers in the field kept moving around to see what worked for them.  After a near disaster, Brian Shirley held on over a fast charging Frank Heckenast Jr. to win the $1,500 feature.

The Sportsman were next, and it was a 3 car race between Dave Crawley Jr., Nick Macklin, and Allen Crowder.  After 15 laps of intense racing, Crawley Jr. prevailed.  The minisprint feature was a runaway, with Ryan Guyett scoring the dominating win.  The final feature, the Hornet feature, featured the finish of the night.  Fast Joe Reed led all of the feature, but the K-2 of Casey Gernantz reeled Joe in and passed him off of Turn 4 on the final lap, and won by little over a nose.  It was a thrilling finish to a great evening of racing.  After going around and talking with many friends (drivers, fans, etc.), it was time to head home. It was a much more successful opening night than I could have ever envisioned for the track.  It is great to say that Farmer City Raceway is BACK in 2011!! 

Macon Speedway Opening Night #66

Well, the first Saturday has come and gone.  The first Saturday means one thing to me, Macon Speedway opening night.  However, 2 of the last 3 years it has been the same night as opening night of the Illini 100 at Farmer City.  When LaSalle ended up getting called off, many fans were still stir crazy and looking for a place to take in some racing action.  It hit me right away that Macon's opening night was the same weekend.  I knew of a group of at least 8 who were looking for a place to go.  They call themselves the United Midwest Drinkers, or UMD for short.  I also ran into some others who came long in far that I knew all to see some racing action at the 1/5 mile high banks of Macon, 1 of which brought his simulator (as he was heading to LaSalle for the Illini as well).  It also was his first trip, and I had a nice long discussion with him about the track and his dad and racing in general. 

 I realized how powerful a tool Facebook was, and created an event and spread the word around to ALL of my fellow racing friends and other places where fans could find out.  I knew that there weren't many tracks racing that weekend, so I would give people the information about one of the venues that would be running.

For the large group of a dozen or so UMD members, many were there for the very first time, which was exciting to me as Macon was the place where it all got started for me.  I knew if the racing was like I know it could be, they would instantly fall in love with the track. 

There was a good field of cars, including 20 Late Models, and a total of 140 cars. The track was a bit slimy to start, but was wet and heavy, and gave us some great heats in all classes.  I made it over to see what they thought of the place after the heats.  They were absolutely hooked, and were in love with the place.  You couldn't have given a much better first impression about a track than that.

The feature of the night for me was the Late Model feature, not taking away from the others.  They just were able to get into lapped traffic longer and slice and dice.  Ryan Unzicker put on a show working through lapped traffic, keeping Cory Daugherty at bay to win his 2nd straight feature at Macon, winning the Lite Beer Twin 50 makeup feature at the end of last year to close out the season.  Other winners were Jeremy Nichols in the Modifieds, holding off stiff competition from Dave Crawley Jr. and former NASCAR Winston Racing Series and UMP Modified National Champion Jeff Leka.  Nick Macklin won in the Sportsman class, while Larry Russell Jr. took home the Street Stock feature, Adam Webb the Pro Hornet feature, and Kyle Maxwell won the Amateur Hornet feature.

After the show I seen a couple of them walking back out to their campers.  I asked them if they enjoyed it and if they would be back.  They said they loved it and would definitely be back this year, which was great to hear.   It wasn't how we all planned to start our season, but we all had a great time watching some great racing, and in the end that's all that matters.

Losing a friend: RIP National Speed Sport News

It came to me with great sadness to find out yesterday that today's issue of National Speed Sport News will be the final one ever printed.  The "racing bible" as it has been called, has always been chocked full of racing information.  The internet is the key reason for it's demise.  We are so spoiled now with being able to put out news as soon as it happens and being able to see it as quickly.  

National Speed Sport News has been a staple in our family for over 40 years.  I can remember as a kid always wanting to check the mail to see if there was a new Speed Sport, as I called it then.  I would get it and just lay down on the floor, open it up, and read what all that issue had to offer.  It has been, you could say, a good friend that you get to see every week and spend quality time with.  Now, however, this friend is coming to visit, but they will not be coming back again.  This has put a tear or 2 in my eyes while I have written this, thinking back about all of the good times.  So long good friend!!  Thank you for the memories!! 

35th Spring 50, a great start to my 2011 racing season

After much consideration, my season got started Saturday, March 19th, 2011 at Florence Speedway.  The event was the season opening Spring 50, which pays $5,000 to win for Super Late Models and $1,000 to win for Modifieds.  The area, close to Cincinnati, Ohio, had seen a lot of rain leading up to the race, leaving some, myself included, as to whether it would even happen.  In the time leading up, I did research on possible drivers who would go to try and know what to expect car count wise.  As I found out, sketchy conditions can throw a curveball at things.  I had a list of about 25, with the expectation of 30-35 late models showing, and about 40 modifieds.  They ended up with 25 late models, with a LOT of the people I had listed not showing up for whatever reasons.  While disappointed in the number of cars there, I did see a lot of quality cars which helped make up for that fact.  How much it would, I wouldn't realize until the feature.

I have been to Florence twice before, both in August for the North/South 100.  I have seen the track in it's well known "black ice" form, but this would be the first time I have ever seen the track hooked up, tacky, and wicked fast.  I was absolutely ecstatic for hot laps to start, not only because it was the first time I seen Florence real tacky and fast, but because it would be the first time I have seen race cars on the track at speed since last October.  To say it was a long winter was an understatement.  The racing bug had bit me hard, and I was ready to get my fix of racing, from the sweet smell of fuel and dirt in the air, to the sounds of race motors at full song, to the various sights that racing has to offer.

My first impression of it was "HOLY SHIT THEY ARE FAST!!" It was absolutely awesome to see cars going that fast and still be in control at those speeds.  When the cars were turning laps in the high 15 second range around the high banked half mile, it's eye opening.  There were some signs as well that it was early. The hole that was digging out in turn 4 was one of great concern to myself, as I was worried it would just keep digging out and really put a damper on the racing action.


The modified heats started the racing action off.  The first heat race featured some torn up sheet metal, and even a car flipping over in turn 4.  This craziness had me thinking it could be a long night.  There would be more insanity to be had.  Multiple restarts in the following heats would be called back, but with no apparent reasoning to those of us in the stands.  The late model heats would be where this really reared it's ugly head.  Heat 1 went without incident in this area, but had a couple of mishaps.  Heat 2 was where the shit hit the fan, so to speak.  Jeep Van Wormer and Don O'Neal had the front row. Jeep fired in 4 and the first start he was leaning on O'Neal.  It got called back, which wasn't too bad.  The next start, there was a spin, so no shock.  The third start was good, and got waved off for no apparent reason.  Then Jeep, the polesitter, got put back a row, which made no sense to us.  The decision was greeted with a chorus of boos from the crowd, myself included.  Jeep's night got even worse as he would then blow a motor, and he decided his night was over.

The first feature would be the 35th Spring 50 for the Late Models.  Up until that point, there had been some fantastic racing action, including a furious battle in the first Late Model heat between Scott James and Eddie Carrier Jr (who was fast qualifier but came up just short to Scott James in heat 1).  The groundwork was put in place for a great race.   The first start, also good looking to the eyes, was also called back, which again wasn't popular.  On the next start, James got a jump, but it stuck and the race was on.  It was evident that this one was going to be highly contested.  Carrier Jr. showed early that he was going to be tough, as he rapidly went from 4th to 2nd, and was challenging for the lead when the first caution came out on lap 5.  There was plenty of close slide jobs and some dooring from some drivers, but all in all early it was a relatively clean race.  On the next start, it looked like Eric Wells jumped but Rod Conley hit the cone and was sent to the back.  Some drivers had sneaked up through the field.  There wasn't bad attrition based on track conditions really.  Carrier Jr. before had company in the yellow 71 of Don O'Neal.  He got out in front before halfway and started checking out from the rest of the field.  It really looked like it might be his race to lose.  The big mover was Scott James, who spun early by himself while running 4th with 36 to go.  He would then proceed to rally through the field to the delight of the crowd.  It was awesome watching him carefully yet swiftly move through traffic and march forward.  O'Neal made what would be a fatal blunder on a lap 27 (after a couple of attempts, one ending with Eric Wells trying to go under O'Neal and O'Neal shutting the door and Wells hitting the turn 4 berm.).  O'Neal was penalized a spot, giving the lead back to Carrier Jr.  O'Neal drove like a madman to try and get back by, but Carrier Jr. withstood his barrage.  The excitement with less than 10 to go was for 2nd as Scott James, quite possibly the fastest car on the track, had rallied to 2nd, and the crowd was going nuts.  Carrier Jr. won, James rallied for 2nd, O'Neal was 3rd, with Rod Conley and Wisconsin driver Chad Simpson rounding out the top 5.  The win was Carrier Jr's. first win at the Kentucky oval, much to his delight.  Daryl Herbert would go on and win an absolutely thrilling Modified feature filled with 3 wide racing and a wild finish.  It was a great show.  The restart rule, I learned later, was that there are cones in turns 3 and 4.  When the drivers reach the 1st cone, they can start.  Jeep started before the first cone each time, hence his penalty.  It is something the fans should be a little more well informed on.  Overall, it was a great show and I was definitely glad I went.  I would like to thank the King family for racing on a night where others would have called off.  It was worth the drive.  I will leave you with pictures from victory lane.  Hallelujah, racing season is back again!!