[JarrettFarms73]

I try to be level headed and open minded as best as possible but will once again admit a potential bias toward my home track of 48 years (Kokomo), favorite type of racing (USAC dirt), and longtime family friends (in this case, Brayden Clark)

The Darland race was only the 2nd race i’ve missed since Smackdown 1. The prior was my daughters senior night 4 years ago. Since i didn’t go Wednesday my only opinion is i’m so mad at myself for NOT going. Best wishes MadMan and looking forward to DD strapping in again. GodSpeed with the recovery to both.

Thursday: Rainouts suck. On the positive, i’ve been through more rain during Smackdown!! Shudder the thought. uuugh.

Friday: Excessive heat sucks. On the positive, it helps dry out wet camping areas and i’ve sat through hotter during Smackdown!! Racing was intense from the first lap of the first heat race. Per usual, position battles were everywhere. I love the 3 day top 8 points because it meant 3rd and 4th were locked in a battle all the way to the checker instead of just riding it out and transferring to the A. That last slider by Grant seemed to not only break Cummins momentum in the A but also the whole weekend. Cummins is great, he just never (IMHO) seemed to be in position to pounce like usual over the rest of the weekend. Another year of getting laps at Kokomo and all that could easily change. Also, it’s rare to see the lip in 4 get pushed up that high.

Flying Toasters: Always fantastic. The variety, talent and non stop party vibe was once again top notch. There are no weak spots in that band. By nights end, every penny of my $135 (camping and reserved ticket) was already well spent.

SaturDAY: Considering the challenge of a day race held ~15 hours after a full program concluded, the track stayed smooth yet still racey despite the dust/dryness . Personally i liked the challenge of a different type of surface than the night before and watched in awe as they executed a feathers touch off 4 or pounded the top w/ reckless abandonment. 1st to 41st, sprint car drivers are my heroes.

Quick side note: if you go to the gas station between sessions to fill the tow vehicle and the gas can for the generator, be sure to LOAD the gas can before leaving… DOOH!!!!

Finale- Enjoyed the divisional midgets very much although the BOSS double header version has been my favorite thus far. For all of the intense energy leading up to this point, it boiled over as the green flags dropped. In person, every lap felt like something big could happen. Something akin to Seavey’s powermove around 4 or Grant/ Cummins trading bomb after bomb. It’s just electric to be there- the smell, the sound, the occasional dodging of dirt clogs. the murmur of the crowd during downtime.

I personally love King if the Hill. I’ve watched it from both the front and back stretch bleachers and the awes and gasps have been audible no matter where we sat.

Sure there’s a bit of novelty to it but that’s partly why i like it, it’s like nothing else. Plus when you have drama like we did Friday night then the first pairing out of the gate is the two cars involved- immediate palpable energy can be felt. Then we got the shock of seeing KTJ being able to pull the over under from the topside of one to get the lead after watching that line fail in the two attempts prior by other drivers.

The kokomo crew did a fantastic job between sessions. I thought the track stayed pretty good all night. Of course, they did rework it more than usual along the way but i thinks that a testament to how closely Reese watches conditions. As we know from 10 years through rain, heat and tornadoes, throwing in the towel is is a last last last option.

Hated to see Bodine get squeezed like that. He was having a pretty good week to that point. Hope he’s ok. Also hated to see Hodges/ Cottle grenade an engine. Hope that won’t slow them down in the coming weeks. Also hated to see Jake Swanson’s Smackdown end line that. He seemed to be getting faster with each race.

So in summary, Congrats to Grant, KTJ and Ballou for their respective wins this week. Thank you Kokomo Speedway, USAC and every driver, owner, sponsor and crew member for providing an A++ level of racing excitement. Again, worth every penny!! It’s weird because right now i don’t have many specific memories but overall i think it may just be the best racing from Day 1 to Day 3 they’ve had. The top side was the fast line around this year but hopefully TV was able to capture just how hard they had to rip the top with minimal mistakes to make it the fast way around. Insane!!!!

Everyone stay healthy and hope to see you at Smackdown 11!