I know some may still make a few more races, but in all probability we’ve attended our last race of 2018. We saw 24 sprint car features this year, 14 non wing (12 USAC and 2 MSCS) and 10 winged (5 WoO, 1 MOWA and 4 Knoxville Nationals).

Of the races we attended, the best non wing feature was the USAC feature at Pevely, MO on Sept. 1. 3 wide racing, multiple lead changes, and a first time winner in Jason McDougal. The best winged feature was the Knoxville Nationals Saturday night A Main. Yes, Brad Sweet led most of the laps, but the racing by Kyle Larson and Donny Schatz battling for second was amazing!

The worst non wing feature for us was the Bloomington ISW race. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t much passing in that race. KTJ won the Hard Charger award for advancing from 6th to 2nd. On the winged side, the Sunday night WoO race at Volusia in February was probably the worst. Donny Schatz was dominant and although it got close at the end thanks to a late yellow, the outcome was never in doubt.

It was a great season, a relatively safe season at the races we attended (yes, I know we lost Jason Johnson and Greg Hodnett this year) we got to hang out with some great people and can’t wait for 2019!

So how many did you get to this year, and what was your best and worst race?

Probable went around 30 nights this year. Still have Saturday night of Western World, St Louis Dome and DuQuoin to go.

Best race was the Saturday A main at Knoxville as mentioned above. Electric atmosphere. Friday night of the Dirt Late Model dream was great. Long rain delay left a show that ended around 2:30 AM. Racing was great though. Also the Prairie Dirt Classic for woo late models at Fairbury was top notch as usual. It was highlighted by a furious 16th to 1st run by Bobby Pierce in the non qualifier feature. Crowd was insane. Also the bikes on Springfield Mile on Labor Day were wild. Margin of of victory was about 5 inches.

Worst race was probably LaSalle Waite Memorial. Track got a late start and left a late running Sunday night show. Sprint feature was decent but there was no time for track prep before late models. Brian Shirley is one of my favorites and he got the win but the race was a dud.

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Made 34 events at 18 different tracks this year. Probably done but if the heavens line up just right I'll make one of those indoor shows.

Going to go with the BC39 race for best. Good venue, atmosphere, well planned and put together and some really good racing. Runner ups Fairbury Powri /Mowa / Ira in July, Usac at Knoxville and Balog running down Smoke to make last corner passes for the win on two different nights in Plymouth Wi.


Gotta go with the late season LaSalle race also for not cutting it. I have seen some good stuff there and will go again but it just wasn't happening that night.

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I only got to 18 races this year and three of those got rained out before the program was completed. I lost count of how many shows I intended to go to but rain caused them to be canceled.

Best race was the Wingless Super Sportsman at TrailWays Speedway on June 1st. Worst was Lincoln Speedway on August 18th. Rain ended the night after just the 410 Sprint feature.

Have no idea how many races I attended this year, not enough. Best race was BC39 at IMS. Don’t have a worst race , guess if I did I might think about not attending another one.

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We will have attended approximately 30 races this year by the time we leave Du Quoin on December 15th.

The best? Hands down it was The Bettenhausen Memorial 100 at The Springfield Mile in August. The 2018 Bettenhausen was easily one of the best races we've ever seen and by far the best Silver Crown 100 miler we've ever seen. That's saying something since the 2017 Bettenhausen was nearly as good as 2018. Runner up for best goes to the USAC National Sprint Car show at Pevely, Missouri. 3rd best goes to the POWRi National Midget show at Mighty Macon Speedway on Saturday night following the Bettenhausen Memorial at the Fairgrounds. THAT was some day, and night, of racing!!

The worst? Would have to be the WoO Sprint Car event at Fairbury American Legion Speedway in Fairbury, Illinois. It was a rubbered up freight train from about lap 10 to the finish and FALS didn't have nearly enough push trucks and those that were there weren't all that proficient.

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I managed to spectate a whopping 2 nights in 2018. An Outlaw show at I-96 and a late model Hell Tour race at Thunderbird. Racing was great both nights although I can't even tell you who won the sprint race now. The best was the sprints, because it was the sprints and the worst was the late models by default.

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The worst was 2007 Bob Darland Memorial! Dave led 29 and 3/4 laps then got passed with 1/4 lap to go! :13:
The best was 2008 Bob Darland when he led the last 1/4 lap! And won!! :22::22::22
Sorry if you meant best and worst of 2018! If you did the answer is best: Haubstadt SprintWeek!!:8::8::22:

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ISF mentions the Bettenhausen. I forgot that one. I agree with his assessment. It was the best Silver Crown race I have seen at the Springfield Mile. Have seen around 20 of them since the early 90's. I was at the WoO at Fairbury also. It didn't run as late as LaSalle so it stayed ahead of it for "worst". It was decent track until the feature IMO.

Re: How many, best and worst race
 

So I only made it to 10 races in 2018 and I can honestly say I never saw a bad one. The best being the BC39 at IMS it was simply fantastic! If there was a worst it would have to be the Smackdown Final since it was ran on a Thursday and I was unable to attend so my tickets were wasted. I had used my extra time on the BC39 so you win some you lose some. But I can tell you this if you are at any track watching racing it's a win win! Have a great Off season everyone! For those of you lucky enough that your season isn't over. Have fun and enjoy yourselves and safe travels! :):6::32:

____________________________________
Scott McCloskey ( BunkHouse Gang Member)

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Re: How many, best and worst race
 

The only other Silver Crown races at Springfield that would be in the same category as the 2018 Bettenhausen Memorial would be the 2017 race, the 1995 race when Kenny Irwin Jr. started 28th and took the lead with 3 miles to go and won, and the 1988 race when Kenny Jacobs led the first 73 miles, Jack Hewitt took the lead but got passed by Andy Hillenburg with 10 to go but Andy eventually ran out of fuel and Steve Chassey took the lead with 5 to go and won. As good as those races were the 2018 race was still the best.

Chatham, we normally go to the Waite Memorial at La Salle but due to work obligations we weren't able to attend this year. Otherwise the Waite Memorial might have also beat out the Fairbury WoO choo choo for our worst. Some buddies went and left early, which they never do, since it was a Sunday night show.

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Im going to say I attended about 25 with maybe a couple to go.
Worst, None
Best. I loved the Rt 44 waynesfield double but the best race clearly was the sprint and champ races at the four crown. Never seen three cars battle for the lead in champ cars racing side by side. Never and the last half was Thomas and Leary in a shear battle of willpower.

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ISF...I was at the 1995 silver crown when Irwin won from the back. He won the midget feature that day also. Only problem was it was about 110 degrees that day IIRC. Hot old day in the grandstands.

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I can"t say I saw a bad race this year, BUT every race I went to this year was great if not for the racing but for seeing and hangin out with people I have met from this wonderful web site. I'm not sure about next year cuz my illness has come back, but I'm going to do my damest to beat it again. I love ya guys and Thanks for taking care of me and putting up with my bit*hing. :8:

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Forty four races so far this year. Liked them all, but the best was the Silver Crown race at the Four Crown Nationals. What a surprise that was!

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We saw a lot of good racing this year and to narrow it down is difficult. We sit at 98 shows with several still to come including St. Louis, Trenton, NJ indoor 600 micro show & our first ever trip to New Zealand where we have 11 shows booked starting on December 26th and going into New Year.

Would give the nod to Pevely USAC show as best race of the year with Jason McDougal beating his house mate, Kevin Thomas Jr. for his first win. Terre Haute on August 12th with MSCS sprints was a great race on a finely prepared surface with Robert Ballou besting Chris Windom and Chase Stockon. Modified feature was very good also with Kenny Wallace edging Tyler Nicely with Brian Shaw coming from 20th to 6th. The Macon POWRi midget show after DuQuoin was excellent especially the last five laps when KTJ and Tanner Carrick swapped amazing moves in traffic. Got to mention both of the Silver Crown shows in Illinois at Springfield and DuQuoin which produced excellent racing and great racing surfaces and are mentioned by many. The best winged show we saw this year was at Fremont when they also had BOSS in town. Real good racing in all divisions.

On the bottom side the worst of the year was a February show at Bubba Raceway Park where winged sprint feature took an hour and twenty minutes to run. Champaign County with WAR was bad also with bad local organization with push trucks and such and WAR feature was painful as on this night the guys looked like they had never ran sprints before. Also a late season race at Lincoln Park on a cloudy, cool evening and the surface came up awful. LPS surface this year was below par and unlike golf that is not a good thing.

Bruce and Pat Eckel

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I don't count races anymore but I figured with all of the rainouts I still hit 35-40 events, all in PA. I might have one more left if I go to the indoor micro event in Trenton NJ.
Fav races were USAC sprints at Port Royal, USAC midgets at Lanco, a Woo race at Lincoln Speedway (I'm a bit of a Rahmer fan), and the Jim Nace Memorial at Selinsgrove speedway.
Unfortunately I didn't make it to any new tracks this year. The less enjoyable races were mostly at Williams grove due to the follow the leader slot car racing the track offers, Susquehanna speedway was a bummer most of the year with their major dust problem but I was at their last 410 and 358 sprint race and the track was fantastic.
All in all it was an OK year, hoping for less rain and more speedways for 2019.

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I hit 44 with DuQuoin still to go. Can't name a sure best, but can name a few really good ones. The midget and sprint features were great at the Kokomo Grand Prix. Midgetweek at Montpelier was really good. Plymouth Sprintweek show was good, and even with a late start, due to rain, was ran well to beat rain.Midgets at IMS were great, another great effort in bad weather. The rained out Smackdown was a barnburner. The James Dean Classic at Gas City the next night was real good. The Sept USAC sprint race at Haubstadt was good. The first night of Let's race 2 at Eldora was good, as was the 4 crown, especially the Silver Crown race. First night of the Kokomo Klash.
Most shows that I attended were well run and over at a decent hour. The 3 shows that were over the latest were Plymouth SprintWeek, and the second night of IMS midgets. Both battled rain delays and beat rain that would have washed them out. The other was at Putnamville on July 6th, when too many classes made for a very long evening, on what may have been the nicest night of the summer.

I have a couple of wishes for 2019, I hope that tracks at Midgetweek only run sprints and midgets, as the crowds are good at all stops, and the extra classes take away from a big event feel. I also hope that Sprintweek shows are limited to one support class. Ready for next year.

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Forgot to add Little 500 and Kody Swanson's spin N win, I don't care how many cars are out there, but it's clearer as cars drop out. You can hear him alone on the track and how consistent he is.

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I actually keep a notebook of this or I would never remember! Only 16 for me... 9 winged & 9 "traditional" or midgets (Eastern Storm at Susky & Port Royal had both wings & USAC)
Best was either the entire Chili Bowl extravanganza (my first), or Midget Week at Montpelier (Mr. Funk insisted on sitting right on Turn 4, but he sat on the bottom & I sat up top... dodging baseball size dirt clods & howling with laughter under the full moon, Larson won)
Worst? Probably Pa. Speedweek at Williams Grove, Trey Starks won a snoozefest.... only race where I actually wrote "boring" in my notes
I avoided boring upstate NY modified tracks this year, even tho they're the closest
Giving serious thought to another Chili Bowl in 2019...:23:

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revjimk, I don't know if you've had the chance to take in a wingless Super Sportsman race yet, but I'm betting you'd enjoy it.

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Assuming no rainouts for the remaining CA and AZ races that I plan on hitting, I will have seen 24 races this year. ISW is always the highlight of the year for me, and was thrilled that all 7 of those races got in this year, in spite of some weather challenges.

I can't say I've seen a "bad" race this year, but have seen a few "badly run" ones. The Western World at Arizona Speedway this past weekend was all great racing, but the program ran well past 11:00 P.M. both nights, in spite of having just 2 classes of cars, and very few actual race-related delays. I saw many attendees leaving the parking lot before the 410 sprints ran their features, which may be people who will never be back.

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I ended the year with 43 races. The best is hard to nail down because of different types of racing. Best non-wing stuff was the 4-Crown with Silver Crown being best in show. Event that just pops out that was a lot of fun for me and had great racing was Ohio Sprint Speedweek at Eldora that Larson won, beating Dave Blaney in a duel late. Then I went to 3 incredible NASCAR Cup races (Both Bristol's and Fall Martinsville.) And the Roval race at Charlotte had an epic finish. Both Xfinity races at Bristol were very exciting. The Eldora truck race was a good one all the way through with an incredible finish. The North South 100 was wacky during parts as most of the big hitters found themselves at the back at one point. Just too many options to pick through, but those are probably the high lights of each car class.
And I honestly can't say that I went to a race this year that just plan sucked. But the leaders in the not good category have to be Kentucky Cup race and the WRP Ohio Sprint Speedweek race.

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39 races. best races june 15th williams grove usac ... the wing show was great that night, lucas late models at portsmouth june 30, and after the smackdown rain out we stopped at wayne county on our way home and seen a damn good 410 wing race
the worst had to be either mansfield on july 1 for lucas lates... dodging rocks the size d cell batteries at the top of the grandstads was not fun or woo late models at georgetown,de dont think i seen a single pass all night
i was also impressed by the usac east coast races i seen.. cant wait to see what 2019 brings for that series

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Yep. I've seen them at Path Valley. Pretty good, but not as good as USAC 410s!
First time I saw them, I was shocked.... didn't realize there was a local wingless series in Pa. I thought "Super Sportsmen" might be some kind of fendered class