SpeedBlitz Revamped

Florida adventure

By Jake Croxton – jake@speedblitz.net

Bushnell, IL (March 2010) – When you’re on the road by yourself for 17.5 hours, you’re bound to learn a few things about yourself. That, for the record, is exactly the amount of time it takes to get from Bushnell, IL to Days Inn Tampa North in Tampa, FL. That’s one stop in Paducah, one stop in Kimball, TN, and a half an hour stop at the IHOP in Valdosta, GA. The rest is all XM Radio, cussing the blue-hair blasting by you on the right when you’ve got the cruise control set on 78, and contemplating one’s initial visit to the Sunshine State.

I really love the people that I work with at the bank. I am grateful that they asked me to join their team in a time when many are hoping that jerk in Kentucky steps back and lets the money printer continue to allow funds to flow to their unemployment card (and he should, but he still has a valid point in asking from where the money is coming…nobody really knows). However, after 13 months and the only days off were the week after Christmas to announce the Macomb-Western Holiday Basketball Tournament (hardly a vacation), it was time to get away. What better way to get away to plan a radical trip to Florida Speedweeks.

It took a little convincing, but after missing the Chili Bowl for the second year in a row, it was time to go racing somewhere. And with Krieger continually ripping me for driving 7.5 hours to watch the USMTS at McCool Junction, NE several years ago, I wasn’t going to endure that again…which brings me to my first revelation:

I’m really not a race fan. I am a fan of competition. Racing just satisfies that drive more than any of the other sports.

I think this is why I am in the minority when it comes to what series I support. I don’t have a preference when it comes to Late Models or Sprint Cars. Hell, I caught myself really getting into the AMA Supercross deal on Speed the other night.

So many race fans out there prefer one kind of racing. And I’m here to tell you that you’re missing out. I started out as a Late Model guy following Gary Webb and the Busch All-Star Tour / Deery Bros. Series events around home base. One trip to Indiana to Non-Wing / USAC country brought back those ESPN Thunder memories and I was quickly converted. I will swear to everybody that Non-Winged 410 Sprint Car racing is the best racing in the country (or so I thought until I left). But that doesn’t mean that I won’t drive 7.5 hours to watch Schryock, Tesch, Myer, and Vanderbeek go at it. Expand your horizon.

Is it good racing? And is it a good show? If the answer is yes, I’ll be there. I’m penciling out my current 2010 schedule and I have on it a 305 Sprint Car show, 410 Winged Sprints on dirt and asphalt, Asphalt Late Models, the Outlaws, USAC, POWRi, Lucas Oil Late Models, ARCA on dirt and asphalt, and a couple Pseudo Modified shows (I’ll explain that term later). Every different race will have a different atmosphere and a different fan base. If the conditions are right, every show will have its own niche and, as long as there’s a good battle somewhere, I’m sure it will be worth it.

Since I don’t get much time away from the bank and the radius that ties me down to, I decided to pick the week where I could see something I couldn’t see back home. The obvious choice took me to East Bay Raceway on Monday through Wednesday for the Amsoil USAC Sprint Car Bubba Army Nationals and to Volusia Speedway for the rest of the week, not so much for the World of Outlaw Late Models, but the Dirtcar Big Block Modifieds from the northeast.

I had read the various opinions of each track on the message boards over the years and I expected East Bay to be hammer down and Volusia to be a little drier with the potential to rubber up.

Monday at East Bay was definitely hammer down as Brady Short set quick time at a tick over 15 seconds. He was the last car to qualify and the general consensus was that only then was the track actually “ready” to lay down a good lap. Damion Gardner didn’t care. The California transplant absolutely destroyed the USAC brass. At one time there would have been 11 lapped cars between he and Bryan Clauson on a late restart. I say “would have been” because USAC is taking the lappers out this year up to the last five laps. Some people don’t like it, but I am in favor of such a rule. Yeah, I hear both sides of the argument. And they’re old. I’ll save that for another column.

Tuesday was a total washout – but a productive day. I decided to order a ticket to the Gatorade Duels on Thursday. I originally cussed the thought of the idea, but I thought “Why not, I’m here.”

Wednesday at East Bay produced some of the best shooting I’ve been a part of maybe since Manzanita’s Copper on Dirt the last year the track was open.

The pundits on the infield scowled at how hard they had the track rolled in prior to wheel packing. In fact, there wasn’t much wheel packing to do at all. The cries of dusty in hot laps and “oh my poor camera” echoed throughout the infield. However, with two inches of rain the day before, it produced a nice heavy tacky smooth surface that never took an ounce of rubber all night long. If you could catch them entering the corner and on the gas, you could snap the steam rolling off the big right rear as they applied the horsepower.

Damion Gardner won for the second night in a row. I know that Bubba the Lovesponge is, in most realms, a pervert with a radio show. Well, he’s a rich pervert with a radio show and he is a great asset to have in USAC’s corner. Here’s to hoping the Bubba’s Army Sprint Nationals edition II happens in 2011.

Thursday was a long day for a lot of reasons. The Duels took the green flag at 2pm. I made the mistake of listening to the traffic suggestion on I-95 and was actually using the DIRECTV Blimp as a reference point to make sure I wasn’t getting too far away from the World Center of Racing. I refuse to get a Garmin for the principle of being able to find my own directions on my online map. Had I followed my directions, I’d have been okay.

I thought the Duels were pretty competitive. Different people? Yes. Different atmosphere? Yes, but in a good way. They really know how to create an EVENT as opposed to JUST ANOTHER RACE. That’s the other thing I learned:

When you’ve exposed yourself to so many different kinds of racing and so many “great shows,” you want to bring elements of what you’ve seen and bring it back to the places that you work with on a weekly basis.

It isn’t easy. And there are a lot of fakers out there who take little bits of the things they’ve seen and only apply part of the idea and completely screw it up. The normal people in the stands kinda like it because they don’t know any better. They just know it’s different and it appears to have been executed well. I call it the theory of “great idea, terrible execution.” It happens a lot in this area. It isn’t that I’m not happy with the shows around here, but I’ve seen the little things that they’re missing. With a little effort, these extra intangibles are doable and that’s better for everyone. You have a better change of retaining and gaining repeat customers. The promoters make a little more money and they have the ability to keep going and/or take an extra risk and bring in something special.

After leaving the Duels, I got routed too far to the north of where I wanted to be. Without a Garmin, I didn’t know that until I entered Flagler County. I was pretty sure that Volusia County Speedway was NOT in Flagler County. I stopped at a gas station so a nice lady could sell me a $27 map of two counties. I didn’t like it but I was able to figure out where I was and get where I needed to be.

Think about this…Daytona Gatorade Duels, the World of Outlaw Late Model Series, and a full Big Block Modified show all in one day. That’s what I call heaven. I mentioned “Pseudo Modified” earlier. That’s what we have around here. UMP and IMCA have what are “kinda” Modifieds. What I saw at Volusia are the real thing.

Jeff Leka, Johnny Saathoff, I don’t care. You don’t drive real Modifieds. Yeah. You’re competitive. Don’t care. Not real Modifieds.

If it’s the last thing you do, folks, you must see these cars race. It was a 42 car field and with the WoOLM qualifying and running 6 heats and 3 Bs, they were on a draw and go format with two Bs. They have two-by-two RESTARTS. No whiners here (ok, so Dave Rauschert got out of his car and yelled at Chief Starter Dave Farney on the front stretch…that’s close…Farney wasn’t driving his car, or the other guy’s car that ran over Rauschert).

I had the pleasure of watching the legendary Brett Hearn start at the tail of a heat race, restart on the pole of a green-white-checkered finish, get absolutely snookered and fall to third, and drive through the middle of a side-by-side battle for the race win and steal it from both of them at the line. When a Big Block driver puts the pedal down, the power to maneuver a car is most definitely there. Hearn proved it.

Super Matt Shepherd won both nights I got to see as rain again interrupted Friday. He hunted down Jamie Mills from just over a straightaway behind in the last 12 laps. I didn’t think he had a chance and I was ready to head out. But Shepherd kept driving in a little deeper and digging into the margin. The racing throughout the field was immaculate.

And oh by the way…Josh Richards won the WoOLM feature from 17th starting spot.

Upon further review of the reputations of each track…East Bay had the surface I expected and the best amenities. The bar at the facility is second to none. The surface at Volusia was outstanding and provided for some great racing. Saturday was a little off as the only moist spot was around the bottom, but it was still great racing.

Both races had a carnival atmosphere and great food. You had the best in the business taking a little Florida vacation doing what they do best.

I’ll definitely make it a point to return. The only bad part of the trip was the snow from Paducah to Nashville, IL on the way home that added an extra night’s hotel to the overall bill. That was probably the best choice I made all trip. When you see emergency crews every six or eight miles, it’s time to find somewhere to park it for the night.

In closing, I say to Carl Edwards…”If you’re gonna wreck somebody and admit to doing it intentionally, you can’t also say that I didn’t mean for him to fly through the air.” In that split second – or maybe it was the two hours spent in the garage – you used to decide to run over Mr. Keselowski at 195mph, at no point in that split second did you have any regard for the outcome of the situation. What was going to happen was going to happen. And, as it turned out, you’re lucky that Mr. Keselowski was able to walk away.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Carl Edwards – he was outstanding to work with the night I was able to work with him in Donnellson. I like what NASCAR’s done to open up the personalities and step back. But one standard will do just fine. In that instant, when you decide to turn someone at 195 mph, the only thing on your mind is revenge. All you had to say was, “I turned him. We’re even. I’m glad he’s okay.” Leave out the part where you didn’t mean to make him fly. Because you had control of the situation before Brad flew through the air by not turning him.

I’m fairly certain that at most every short track I attend, a two week cooling off period would accompany the act.

We’ll see you at the races…

Florida adventure

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