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Quick Time: Memorable runners-up at Eldora
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com managing editor
Take a quick lap around the proverbial dirt track with managing editor Todd Turner for roundup of Dirt Late Model racing through the latest weekend of action. Quick Time, one of the newest features of our website, will appear every Wednesday at DirtonDirt.com:
Frontstretch: Drivers of the Week
National: Determined to get back in victory lane at Batesville (Ark.) Motor Speedway, Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., successfully made his tires endure on a hot afternoon for a $40,000 Comp Cams Topless 100 payday on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Honorable mention: Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., earned his third straight World of Outlaws victory at Winston Speedway in Rothbury, Mich., then nearly cut Rick Eckert's points lead in half the following night at Merritt, Mich.
Regional: Fresh off his first-ever Super Late Model victory, Jason Hiett of Lincoln, Ala., nabbed first- and second-place finishes during the PRO Dirt Car Series weekend in Alabama. Hiett won at Green Valley Speedway and finished second at Talladega, where he'd won in weekly competition a week earlier. Honorable mention: Eddie Carrier Jr. of Salt Rock, W.Va., clicked off another $5,000 victory at Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park's Fred Dillow Memorial one night after his runner-up finish at Moler Raceway Park's $5,000-to-win Ike Moler Memorial; Ricky Weiss of Winnipeg, Manitoba, completed the seven-race NLRA Western Tour with four victories and the series points lead.
Weekly: Steve Lance Jr. of Cuba, Ill., reeled off his seventh consecutive victory at Peoria (Ill.) Speedway on Saturday, this time topping Brandon Sheppard, Mike Provenzano and Bobby Pierce. Honorable mention: Michigan transplant Rusty Schlenk of Weston, Ohio, nabbed back-to-back weekend victories at Kankakee County Speedway in Kankakee, Ill., and Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio; Jeff Provinzino of Hibbing, Minn., swept a pair of fair races at Grand Rapids (Minn.) Speedway on Aug. 17-18; Russ Scheffler of Waukesha, Wis., won a pair of WDLMA-sanctioned victories over the weekend at Manitowoc County Expo Speedway and Plymouth Dirt Track.
Crate: Dan Angelicchio of Greensburg, Pa., was the top performer at Fastrak's Mountain Madness doubleheader at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Hanover, Pa., scored two top-five finishes and a victory (via Jordan Dill's disqualification) during the weekend that carried a $23,000 total purse.
Turn 1: Eldora's best first losers
During his Hall of Fame speech, former driver Kevin Gundaker lamented his runner-up finish to Charlie Swartz in the 1980 World 100, wishing he could've pulled off a victory. It reminded me of a few of the most memorable runner-up finishes I've witnessed at Eldora Speedway's biggest events:
• In 2001's Eldora Million, Donnie Moran got the record-setting seven-figure payday, but runner-up Steve Smith of Powell, Tenn., also set a record earning $50,000, the most in the sport's history for a non-winner. "It's kinda dawned on me," Smith said after receiving congratulations of his C.J. Rayburn-fielded car, "that's a lot of money." The unheralded Smith, who drove Rayburn's car after splitting with his car owners earlier in the season, started 12th and threatened to make a race of it late in the 100-lapper before settling for second behind Moran. The huge payday made Smith say something you rarely hear from a runner-up: "This is the best," Smith said with a toothy smile.
• In the 1999 Dream won by Rick Eckert, Texan Robbie Starnes posted a second-place finish in his only career start in one of Eldora's biggies. "I thought I didn't have a chance," said Starnes, who started in the 10th row. "It was funny. I was running in second, I said 'Now what about this. I haven't even made a show and now I'm up to second.' It seemed like it was 500 laps." Starnes used an ultra-low line had his car nearly scraping the inside wall during his rally from deep in the field.
• In the 1998 World 100, Kevin Weaver of Gibson City, Ill., rallied from his 16th starting spot to finish second, but he was more than a half-lap behind winner Billy Moyer. "I couldn't ever see him," Weaver said. "I was kinda hoping he fell out — but he didn't." Weaver's car smoked much of the race because a valve cover bolt broke, but it quit smoking in the final laps. "We just run the motor out of oil," Weaver said.
Turn 2: Weekly racing tidbits
• Overtaking Scott Rhodes in the closing laps, Mason Zeigler of Chalk Hill, Pa., nabbed his first victory of the season Saturday at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex in Markleysburg, Pa. It came on Zeigler's 19th birthday.
• Breaking Michael Page's three-race win streak, Ricky Williams of Fayetteville, Ga., captured Saturday's victory at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Ga.
• Ricky Elliott of Seaford, Del., won Saturday at Delaware International Speedway for his third straight victory.
• Greg Estes of Jonesville, Va., won Saturday at Tazewell Speedway for his first Super Late Model victory.
• With Sunday's victory at Dubuque (Iowa) Speedway, Dan Shelliam of Hazel Green, Wis., snapped Terry Neal's four-race win streak.
• Terry English's victory Friday at Paducah (Ky.) International Speedway was the Benton, Ky., driver's fifth straight in the track's weekly UMP DIRTcar competition.
• The season-long victories leader in NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly action, Jim McDuffie of Meridian, Miss., won Friday at Hattiesburg (Miss.) Motor Speedway for his 10th victory of the season in Crate Late Model action.
Backstretch: Facebook interaction of the week
A Facebook posting and reply on the Thunder Mountain Speedway's page before the Fastrak Racing Series doubleheader:
Norma Christian: I don't think that the price should raise from $12 to $18 this weekend. It is not fair that the fans have to pay for the winner's pay. I'm sure a lot of fans are gonna agree with me.
Adam Blankenship: So who you think should pay for it? We spend $25,000 for a car and you don't wanna pay $18 to watch?
Turn 3: Hurry-up mode
Late nights are the bane of dirt track racing, and it can be even worse when rain or other unforeseen events push back the start of the action even later. But Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., salvaged a potentially disastrous night on Friday, and still managed to send fans home before midnight.
It appeared there might be no racing at all when the track lost power just as hot laps concluded. Clay Electric was dispatched to help with repairs to a transformer, but it wouldn't be a quick fix. After a delay of two and a half hours, track operator Ken Sands consulted with drivers and decided to forge ahead with the night.
The first heat race didn't take a green flag until 10:15 p.m., but the staff and drivers went into hurry-up mode, completing the four-division program by 11:50 p.m., according to the track report.
David Clegg won the night's Late Model feature.
Turn 4: Turning back the clock
Five items from this week in Dirt Late Model history:
Aug. 31, 1985: Don Hobbs of Whiteland, Ind., won at Barren County Speedway in Glasgow, Ky., for his first and only victory on the USAC Late Model circuit.
Aug. 28, 1993: Gary Mabe of Danbury, N.C., won at 311 Motor Speedway in Madison, N.C., for his only career victory on the Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series.
Aug. 29, 1999: Jason Friesen of Sutton, Neb., won the finale on the Friesen Challenge Series at Thayer County Speedway in Deshler, Neb., to wrap up the first of three consecutive series championships in the tour's first-ever season.
Aug. 30, 2002: Jackie Boggs of Grayson, Ky., overtook Johnny Wheeler on the sixth lap and won at Thunder Ridge Racing Complex in Prestonsburg, Ky., in the first-ever Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series visit to the track.
Aug. 31, 2006: Darrell Nelson of Hermantown, Minn., scored an unprecedented sweep of the Late Model and modified features at Proctor (Minn.) Speedway's 34th annual Silver 1000.
Checkered flag: Five fearless September predictions
• No driver will win more than one main event during the four-feature Black Diamond 125 on Labor Day weekend at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va.
• Whoever is leading the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points following Sept. 24's Jackson 100 at Brownstown Speedway will hold on the rest of the way.
• One driver will sweep the World of Outlaws Late Model Series weekend near St. Louis on Sept. 16-17 at Tri-City Speedway and I-55 Raceway.
• The IMCA-sanctioned Deery Brothers Summer Series will get a first-time champion.
• Columbus (Miss.) Speedway's Magnolia State 100 will get a first-time winner on Sept. 23-24.
