Been a long weekend , made Bloomington, Springfield and Lincoln Park. Springfield was what I waited for.

Track was fun to watch in the morning, overcast and wet. Sun came out and it became a typical mile.Brian Tyler was hooked up. When he ook the lead so early, I knew it was over. The Toyota engine and American Racers are a potent combo.6R was ready.

Also hats off to Shelby Miles on winning the Mod feature. He worked to win this one.

Also , when driven right,dirt champ cars are poetry in motion. Here are a few sots.

29 Bud Kaeding in hot laps
A group going into 1
14 Donnie Beechler in quals

I believe Tyler was on Hoosiers.

Interesting about Hoosier. Isn't Brian's wife's family own/run American Racer?

I think Team 6R was all on American Racers

I can assure you that Brian was on American Racers !!!!

Tyler was on American Racers. The track was extremely fast in hot laps and time trials. Some were barely lifting going into one. Tracy Hines' quick time was incredible. I thought for sure he was goin to the wall in turn one but somehow it stuck. 29.2 in hot laps was the fastest I've ever seen it. I also noticed how they didn't pack the cushion, only watered it, in an attempt to actually try to have one for the race. Unfortunately the sun came out during driver intros and ruined it. There was good racing in the race but hot laps and time trials were worth the price of admission. I'm still thinking about it today! Thanks to Jason McCord for an obvious change in philosophy on track conditions. When there is a high groove early it makes for a wider rubber groove later and they could run anywhere on the straights. They just need to not pack it so tight and they'll have it. Donnie Beechler rearranged his roll cage in a hard end over end flip coming off four late in the race. Thank God he was ok. Over all this was my best post race buzz from there in many years.

http://www.usacracing.com/silvercrow...s_sc/4876.html

Tim Wolffrum aka Cowboy

Hate to be such a killjoy, but I'm not real optimistic about the long-term future of Silver Crown racing at Springfield. Only 27 cars on hand--and a few of those were woefully uncompetitive. They drew a decent grandstand crowd, but looking around, it looked like the median age of the fans was about 70. Where are those folks going to be in ten years? Likely among the ranks of the "dead, fed, or fled." Plus I'm sure State officials have to be a bit concerned about the safety of fairgoers in light of the Beechler deal yesterday. What if they have a similar deal down on the turn 1 end, by the canival rides?

I know folks on here probably want to figuratively burn me at the stake for suggesting such heresy, but maybe it's time to turn the page on the Silver Crown cars at the Mile. Brian Tyler won 10k yesterday. How many modifieds could they draw for $10,000 to win?

Look, I'm just as much of a purist as anyone else on here. I hope the champ cars never leave the Illinois State Fair. But I think the State has to look at the whole picture, and it's just not too rosy of a picture right now.

I too,,thought the days racing was pretty good overall.

My concern is,,,if you went over to the east and got an overall look at the grandstands and people in them,,as I did,,, the crowd count had to be very very low. The weather did look somewhat questionable very early in the morning/day for people possibly traveling quite a ways,,,which could be somewhat a factor.
I can not imagine anyone from a promoter point of view made any money on this particular race,,,other than everyone will chime in,, "The back gate/pit passes pays for the purse".
Not sure what the asnswer is to getting the crowds of yesteryear in the stands other than blue collar jobs back in the good ol,,,U S of A,,,and I sure dont see that happening in the very near future,,as sad as it is,,,to say.
If you cant get the die hard sprint car,, Champ car fan to show up at a race with this history I dont think the 'vibe' is there for filling the stands anywhere.

Just my 2 cents.

BC

To, Illinoise.Couldn't disagree with you more pal. Theyv'e been racing there for a 100 years and it will continue. Beechler never came close to the fence if you even saw it. I have it on tape. The fairgoers have been safe for a 100 yrs. of racing there. It's more dangerous to go to the concert in bad weather. You maybe didn't see how awesome it was in hot laps and time trials. I thought they made a big step in the right direction this year. The modifieds suck compared to the champ cars. They can't even run the high groove when it's there. They already used to have a big modified/latemodel race and it didn't draw so they quit trying it. What makes you think that would work again? I'll bet you're a wing fan too. The crowd was better than I expected considering the weather forecast and radar looked horrible. I know several people who didn't go because of that. The crowd has always been older yet there are always enough to keep it going. 27 cars was fine. Get off here and go piss on someonelse's parade! I know you wanted it to suck so you could tell everyone why but too bad for you, it didn't. I think its time to turn the page of history on you. They don't need your $25 next year.