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Tri-State Outlook
by Duane Hancock
The weather was getting better in Ohio. OK not
really but, at least one show got in the books last
weekend. Friday, 41 World Of Outlaws were pit side at
the Eldora Speedway.
Many changes were present as you past through the
gates of Eldora. The empty spot between the turn 3
grandstand and the love tunnel now features level
ground and a nice pit grandstand. More huge billboards
grace the backstretch. New lights brighten turn 1
through turn 4. Even the pits benefit from some of the
new lights. Then there is the new clay on the track.
This of course has been the hot topic of the week.
Eldora's owner, Tony Stewart, has already made a
public statement answering everyone's talks of the
week. What has happened, the crew had added a bunch of
new clay and in sense, has not cut the banking down
but, has raised the bottom of the track. With all of
the excellent Ohio weather of late, the project wasn't
100% complete. Friday was actually the 1st day in 2
weeks the track crew really got a good chance to work
on the track. So, was the track 100% in tip top shape.
No. Come on, is wasn't that bad though when you take
everything into account. If you seen any sprint car
message board in the world after Friday night, you
would think the end of the world came to Eldora last
week. Was the cars racing inches off the wall? No.
Have you ever seen a race before where cars didn't get
all the way to the wall at Eldora? Yes. Will you
again? Probably sometime. Was is dusty? Yes, what dirt
track isn't anymore. It is dirt track racing. Was is
absolutely terrible racing? No. There was 4 cars the
last 3 laps that could of won the A Main. The guy
leading on lap 28, finished 4th. Yeah, is was not
balls to the wall, slide job city, but, it wasn't the
end of all time like so many message boards and such
made it out to be. As Simon would say " it was OK." I
personally think, just my cents for now, the new clay
will make for much better side by side racing at
Eldora. Not to worry, you will see some rim riding
inches from the wall again at Eldora. I think with the
new clay, you will see a middle and bottom groove
develop too, making a 3 groove track at times. When
that happens, you will totally forget the 1st night on
the new clay, no one was riding high at Eldora. Not
everything will perfect every since night of racing,
no matter how good things are or how much you try.
Some people just need to deal with that and not doom
everything before a real chance was giving. OK enough
of my useless wisdom.
Jason Meyers set quick time with a 12.972. Yes, the
track was fast even though dust was flying. The WOO
bunch has another new format for the 07 season. Some
of it I like, some I don't. We will get to that in a
minute. Anyways, phase 1 of the new format, the top 2
finishers in the heat, make the Dash, and draw for
starting spots in the Dash. Then, spots 9 and 10, in
the Dash, are filled by the 2 fastest qualifiers that
transferred to the A but, didn't finish in the top 2
spots of their heat. Yeah I know, you need a
translator to keep up but, I actually think if you
have a Dash that determines the top 5 rows of the A
Main, this is a good format. Only inverting 4 in the
heat, I am not so keen on. Meyers, Daryn Pittman,
Jason Sides, and Danny Lasoski took the heat wins.
Zach Chappell took a nasty tumble on the start of heat
1 in turn 2. Meyers and Sides both started 4th in
there heats. The C Main featured 5 WOO regulars. The
cold weather play tricks on many top teams and their
engines. Guys like McCarl, Tim Kaeding, Randy
Hannagan, Sammy Swindell, and Jason Martin scheduled
for the C. Jason Martin took the C. The C and B Mains
is where the new format is not good, in my opinion.
The B is the top 12 fastest that did not transfer to
the A through. The rest are in the C. So like last
Friday, if you qualify bad, you night is pretty much
over. Not many guys are going from the C, to the B, to
the A this year. Only 2 transfer from the C to the B.
Only a 14 car B Main, unless someone scratches from
the B, then is it only 13 or 12 or how many cars make
the call. Why not add cars from the C to the B when
there is a scratch in the B? I didn't think the B paid
that much money or points that a person could not be
added when a scratch occurs. To me, this shows a sign
that they don't want over 32 cars. If you have
problems and qualify 33rd or worse, they don't think
you are worthy of a chance of making the A. I could be
seeing things the wrong way here but, only 1 car that
qualified out of the top 24 made the A. That was the
25th quickest car. If Zach Chappell would not of
scratched for the night, the 25th guy probably would
have been sitting out of the A too. Sorry to ramble
but, this format just don't seem too oriented for
anyone qualifying 25th fastest and beyond. Anyways,
Daryn Pittman took the Dash, holding off a fast Donny
Schatz. Rob Chaney took the B Main, which featured 9
WOO regulars. The 30 lap A Main was next. Pittman and
Schatz pace the field. Pittman gets the lead on the
start. The inside groove was the preferred line of the
night. Lap 2, Justin Henderson stops. Pittman
maintains the lead on the restart but, Jac
Haudenschild is making an early bid for the lead and
they battle closely. Lap 5, Haud takes the lead. Lap
7, Brian Paulus slows for a caution. Haud pulls away
from the field on the restart, as the battle starts to
heat up behind him. The laps wind down and the top 5
cars are bunching together in traffic. Meyers is
close, so is Schatz, and Sides. 5 to go, 4 cars have a
real shot at the win. They battle past traffic. Lap
29, Meyers takes the lead off 2. Haud fades as Schatz
and Sides give Meyers a shot. Meyers wins, Schatz,
Sides, Haudenschild, and Pittman round out the top 5.
Haud looked to have it in the bag but faded quick at
the end. Sides may have been the fastest car the last
2 laps but fell short. Schatz works the outside of the
pack but, couldn't make a pass on the leader.
UPCOMING:
FRIDAY: WOO Attica
SATURDAY:WOO Haubstadt IN, USAC Lawrenceburg IN
SUNDAY: USAC Winchester IN
See you at Attica and working pit road for the BAS
broadcast at Winchester. As always, feel free to
contact me with any comments, complaints, or other.
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