My thoughts on last evening.
At 2:30 I would have bet the rent money the race was already cancelled. Totally forgot Dave Rudisell had the whole winter to charge up the magic wand. All the hard work on track prep was greatly appreciated by the fans. Last night wasn't without the glitches. Once a race car spun off the track or pulled off low they were stuck and were waiting for the tow hook. As much water as the 'burg had with the 3-1/2 hours straight of 'scattered showers', the rain water had to accumulate somewhere. Still we got through it and left at a decent hour. I must consult with the local meteorologists as to the meaning of "Scattered showers".
Predictably the track was heavy and racy.
It was a terrific battle between Hines and Windom early on. Windom was particularly good coming off the second corner to pull up even with Hines but just didn't have quite enough to seal the deal. Cagey vet Hines would take away some of Windom's line at the second corner on a restart and wouldn't give it back making Windom work harder the rest of the way. The result, Hines gets a well deserved win.
Chuck Wilson, Jimmy Stinson and Jason Soudrette tangled about 7 laps into the feature with Wilson far and away coming out of it the worst of the three with flipping and landing hard. He was able to exit the car with assistance and walked to the ambulance albeit a little wobbly. He would make the trip to the hospital on the hill to get checked over.
In the first heat the front row consisted of an always quick Jonathon Hendrick and mini-sprint grad Seth Motsinger. I would have bet Hendrick would have left Motsinger in his wake. By now I am really glad I'm not a betting man. Motginger was the one getting the jump, led most of the heat until a surging Chris Windom was too much for him. Motsinger would run a very competitive feature keep in the top ten until dropping out late. He may be one to watch this year.
It was good to see Shawn Westerfeld and Brandon Whited after their woes late last year. Westerfeld promising 2010 season ended a few races early at the 'burg battling for a win then losing the car in a crash. Whited would bend up a brand new car last year at the 'burg in spectacular fashion flipping hard as a result of an accident not of his own doing. We weren't sure where these teams were fundwise to keep things going but were very glad to see them back. I just wish Shawn Westerfeld had better luck last night.
It was great to be at a race track again. The long winter is over.