Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Well, I was certainly surprised to see the only two cars that didn't change tires finish first and third. Don't know what happened to Coons; faded to 15th after leading the first 51 laps. DD moved from 9th to 3rd before the break, restarted 5th, ran high as 4th but Hmiel passed him near the end, and he finished 5th. I still wonder what would have been the outcome if they hadn't had the break.
Appearance of the infield was the worst I have ever seen. It hadn't been mowed and it really presented a bad image of the fair.
Parking was raised to $7, so maybe they generated enough money to properly care for the grounds.
The horse stables appeared to be freshly painted, and that was a definite positive
Weather was great and we had a good time, but it seems DD just can't buy a win at DuQuoin.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

I agree Ron. The infield looked absolutely terrible, at was once one of, if not the most beautiful race track in the country.
By next year it might look like Pocono, with deer romping through the tall grass...

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

It seems like the Canadian Geese along turns 1 and 2 on the water always watch the race.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

I still like the mile tracks. I know the cars can go 100 laps so why the change with a stop at lap 51? It was like watching two 50 lap features. The first one didn't count so just pace your self make car changes and run hard the last 50.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Both of the cars that ran the full distance without a tire change were on American Racer tires.

---------- Post added at 08:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:54 AM ----------

How can you possibly criticize the wonderful new format?

It made for a much more exicting freight-train and sold an extra $400 in tires per team for Hoosier! :14:

If they want to add excitement, they should try TRACK PREP!! :7:

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

I totally agree with all of the above. I've never understood how they get those mile dirt tracks to become what is in effect an asphalt surface; there is virtually no dust and the surface is hard as concrete. I can remember when there used to be rooster tails thrown high into the air in the turns, at least in qualifying and the early laps of the race.
Oh, yes, qualifying! Does anyone like group qualifying and whose idea was it?

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Ron,

The State of Illinois it seems is hurting worse from the economic situation that Indiana is. Most of our travel down to DuQuoin is by interstate and the medians don't look like they have been mown this summer. I also noticed that there were fewer state troopers on the fairgrounds as in the past.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Mike,

I noticed there were fewer troopers, also. I believe as a matter of policy Illinois doesn't mow as often as Indiana, but this year they are doing even less.
Oh, and where were the Fiddlesticks vendors in the grandstands? Didn't see one at all while we were there.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

I got out some pictures today from past SC races to look at track conditions. I had to go back to 2005 to see a track that wasn't steamrolled into concrete. That year Brian Tyler transferred out of the semi to win at Springfield. My 1999 photos at Springfield and DuQuoin showed a good cushion during hotlaps and qualifying, and it doesn't look like it was packed in before the main. My pictures from the 80's showed a big curb-like cushion that the cars leaned on. I hate to always bring this up, but these cars are so great on the miles when they are allowed to race, not drag race. Let's let them race.

I hated group qualifying - horrible idea - ZERO drama, and no chance for casual fans to learn about the drivers

As to the race, yep.... This story is all about track prep. Todd Kane did a good job to hang on to third, but there is no way that he suddenly became so fast that Coons and Darland couldn't get by him. Group qualifying stunk and so did the track

I to love this series and particularly SC cars in the dirt miles, but USAC and Sargent need to respond on this one. Get rid of group qualifying and get Tommy Helfrich to do track prep!
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Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

The reasons for the poor track prep on the miles has been discussed on here ad nausea. Time to turn the page.

As for the infield grass, it's one thing to expect a promoter of a privately leased or owned track to mow the pits. It's quite another when it's public tax dollars paying for the mowing, especially when the state's finances are such a train wreck.

I'm thinking we should just be thankful the State even still puts on these Fairs, much less the races.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Maybe someone can speak up that really knows what the surface was like. To me it seemed like the surface was thrown off quickly and then they were down to a hard packed dry dirt base and then laid down rubber on that. That become the groove. If the track was uniform then you would have thought someone would have had enough engine to pass on the outside. I could be wrong, but I can't remember seeing an outside pass all night long.
The reason I was wondering about the surface mixture is I think they ran harness racing horses earlier in the week. I don't believe you can run horses on a harder surface like that.
So I was wondering if what was thrown off the groove was real lofty sand/dirt mixture and hard to get traction of any kind.
If the track was truly taking moisture as the night went on I would have throught there would be passing all over the place like we have seen before at night at Duquoin.

I don't get the 51 lap intermission at all. These cars can go 100 laps, obviously. They should also run time trials just as others have said.

One thing I thought was sad. A lot of people didn't understand the 51st lap stop and the non-tire change cars started up-front on the restart.
A large part of the crowd near me didn't understand what took place.
They kept asking why and that it didn't seem fair to the guy that was so clearly out front.
I had to agree with them.

One other comment: The announcing for the Silver Crown race was superb. I could really stand to hear that type of professionalism at Sprint Car races I attend.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

For those who do not understand the "new twin 50's. If you change a tire under the red flag you go to the tail of the field. Swanson and Todd Kane ran american racer tires so they knew they could go the distance.The rest of the field tried running them down with new right rears and couldn't get the job done. So not only did they finish up front, but they also saved there car owner $450.00 . so good job guys!!!!!!!!

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

I dont think I could sit there for 4 hours to watch Tommy's tractors go around the DuQuoin mile. I say that because it takes an hour at Tri State and it a 1/4 mile just time it next time and see what I'm talking about. DuQuoin was a good race and I will be back!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Yes, but TSS is not hard as a rock like concrete, like was DuQuoin. If you don't want to see the best racing surface (for non-wing sprints) in the country then don't go to TSS. I have been at a few other sprint tracks that waste a lot of time at intermission and don't touch the track, (take more time than Tommy does to rework TSS) that is rough & needs be reworked.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

DuQuoin mile is a horse track and we get to use it for our racing and it works. This also goes for Springfield and the Indiana Fair grounds. Lets Race.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

I got to DuQuoin early Sunday morning and the track looked hard and packed, all they did was add some water throughout the day. In the past, I thought they plowed the track up more.

I agree 100% Tommy tears up his track so much the drivers don't even know what it's going to be like when they come back out. Another thing is many people talk about how it makes the track nicer. Out of all all the tracks I go to TSS only gets outdone by Eldora when it comes to dirt on the fans. I'm sad DuQuoin was rock hard and slicked over but again it is a horsetrack.
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Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

I can't remember...
What was the deal the year Tobias won at DuQuoin at night?

Did it rain all day or what? I just remember that there was a cushion and he rode it all the way to the wall and to the win.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Per the earlier reply you are correct the mile tracks where actually done a lot better in the 80's and the racing a lot better then.When things started going down hill was when the person that was in charge of the IL. tracks passed away in the early 90's some how sargent was let in here.First thing was to double your admission ticket with no increase in the payout for the car owner's and driver's since he has been in charge and declining crowd counts especially in springfield.The latest cluster ***** idea was the red flag at lap 51 was glad to hear that 1 and 3 was on american racers and they made it a full 100 laps unlike them piece of chit hoosier tires maybe the people who bought the two hoosier tires to make it to a 100 laps should send a bill to track enterprises has it was sargent's idea anyway.Has for the person on the track prep for Haubstadt tommy can completely redo the whole track in 20 minutes and they are a lot of promoters who should take note on how to run a place like this especially the one mentioned above here.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Heydenreich in the #90 passed 3 on one move on the outside on lap 98 or 99 and also did a pretty impressive "thread the needle" on the last lap. He moved up from 14th to 9th in 2 laps going by Levi Jones, AJ Fike and Bud Kaeding. Unfortunately we had a terrible qualifying time, and had to start 23rd.

Todd Kane was about 50 car lengths behind us at the conclusion of the first 50-lap race. He made a wise choice not to change tires. I don't like the change in format -- Silver Crown is the only racing series that has the fuel cells large enough to go the distance. Why mess with tradition? The first 50 laps is nothing but a qualifying race in my opinion. If this race had been run for the full 100 laps, the outcome would have been completely different.

The infield looked really ratty and unkempt:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_6qZgRGTGp68/TI...905_173310.JPG

But it looks beautiful as soon as the lights go on and the stars come out:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_6qZgRGTGp68/TI...905_203916.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_6qZgRGTGp68/TI...905_211248.JPG

Sharon
USAC Silver Crown #90

---------- Post added at 02:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:17 AM ----------

When I was over in the stands spotting I was able to take some videos from hot laps. It's not the best footage because I was stuck on the outside when the cars were running and couldn't make it back in time to get some footage from a better vantage point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNafaqcqVRg

Sharon
USAC Silver Crown #90
http://www.CoolFitWear.com

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

I would imagine that the folks in the stands who didn't understand what was going on are more of what one might call "casual fans", so your explanation on here might not reach its intended audience. The people on here understand the rule, it's just that most of them dislike it.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

The #90 silver crown car is the best looking in my book, its classic. Is the number painted on or is that decals? If it's paint its great.

I think the #90 caught them sleeping on those final laps and I thought he went low (lower even) and surprised them.



also:

You know bringing the John Deere tractors to Duquoin would allow tons and tons of Fiddlesticks to be sold and most likely resolve the economy issues.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

The year 2003, Rain delayed the race by one week and ran on Sept 6. This was the first year under the lights Bob Sargent had made excellent track preperation and Tobias made his run from the 25th starting spot.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

One of the best races I ever saw. It was in '03. Tobias in a home built car starts 25th and wins. Awesome.

Here's the race report.

http://motorsport.com/news/article.a...195&FS=USAC-SC

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Just got back from Du Quoin yesterday afternoon (Tuesday). I thought the Silver Crown race was pretty good, one of the best I've seen at DQ, but then I chose to go to the World 100 instead of returning to DQ the year Tobias won the rain date race by running up next to the wall. This years race for 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th was great and at times the battle for the lead was some good stuff as well.

As for track prep, as long as Sarge is in charge it's gonna' be the way it is. Whoever said the mile tracks were different in the 80's is right, Ol' Jack set the records for 100 miles on a cushion half way up the track. Why no one tried it up next to the wall this year is a question I'd like to pose to some of the drivers and crew chiefs, surely there is a good reason. A couple of years following the change to night racing they ran the high line but not in several years now. They really have a knack for getting the miles to lock down very early on.

I'm happy to say that the SC race was much better than the ARCA show this year, even with the twin 50 format. That hasn't been the case at Springfield or DQ in recent years.

As for the infield, I can see how the state could prioritize the money they have to spend in such a way. That having been said, I'll bet Rednour and his bunch could find an outfit that would get it looking real nice and put up a big sign in plain view of the crowd touting the business that did the work and supplied the equipment. It really did look bad.


Just a personal note regarding DQ. For the first time we had some things stolen from our campsite out in the non-hookup area North of the racetrack in an area that was sparcely populated with campers. Nothing expensive mind you as I do lock down the costly stuff. Unfortunately I'll never look at DQ quite the same again. I always thought DQ was far enough from Chitcago or St. Louis that this kind of crap didn't happen but I was sadly mistaken. Naivete on my part I reckon, but this is something I would expect to happen at the World 100 at Eldora or a NASCAR race. Oh well, by next year we'll be just as excited as ever about making the trip to Southern Illinois but we'll be a lot more wary in regards to thieves.

DuQuoin through the day
 

Before race: Moist
http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL72.../391644276.jpg

Practice: Dry, loose
http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL72.../391644278.jpg

Group qualifying: Dry, LOOSE
http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL72.../391644282.jpg

Race: Moist, tighter
http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL72.../391644283.jpg

Someone told me that that they keep the track heavy and soft for the horse races. It seemed like some moisture came back up sfter the sun went down and the breeze stopped.

Thank you Jimmy Dearing, StlRacing.com for the last three photos. http://www.stlracingphotos.com/DuQuoin-Mile

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Sarge may not run everything perfectly (I’m not a fan of the red at 50), but without him there might not be any more mile dirt races. Think about it.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Agreed.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

I was at the race and have been the last 4 times it has been held. I want to get a SC car some day to specifically run dirt. I want to run on the Du Quoin Mile sooo bad. But what I don't understand is why the track is soooo one lane. I mean we have the technical explanations of course BUT why does it have to be this way?????

In your quote you say as long as Sarge is in charge its gonna be the way it is....WHY???? Why does Sargeant not want to see good races????? Why would he not want the races to be 2 and 3 wide all the way around?????? Why should he not be held accountable for the way the track is prepped????? Has he not been made aware????And if he has what did he say?????

All I am getting at is there would be nothing better than watching crown cars riding the cushion on the mile....why wouldn't sargeant want this to happen? What is his motivation?:11:

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

While he didn't move forward a whole lot, Brad Kuhn/Ricky Nix 43 sure ran his own lane above the groove in 1 & 2 most of the night.
Entertained me.....:2::6:

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

The initial race day was rained out and the decision was made to run it at night the following Saturday since the track had just had lights put up. We hadn't been to DuQuoin for 6 years and I said we need to go check this out. It was pretty cool temperature wise, I needed to wear a jacket at the end of the night. I don't know if the track retained it's moisture from the rainout or if they just watered it a lot but it was just beautiful all night long. Roger Rager was the first to crack the 29 second barrier then Teddy Beach wound up setting quick time. Some say it was the greatest race on a mile ever as Tobias came from like 33rd to win it.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Personally, i think Duquoin and all the miles need a better surface to pass on, but Indy's race this year had quite a bit of passing which i was very surprised to see considering of all three tracks Duquoin is more banked, and more of a racetrack than either of the other two. I for one do like the 51 lap pit stop because it changes things up, but it would make it much more of a race if there was still surface to get grip on. Group qualifying sucks and USAC needs to stop running the cars like this. To me the race is much like the Nascar All-star race with it having segments and all. I'm 21 and have been watching the silver crown cars since I was a kid and there needs to be change and maybe they could stop this great series from ending.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

What makes this series great is that (untill recent times) the format hasn't changed a lot.

I think people like seeing 100 laps. It gives plenty of time for things to happen. Part of the excitement is who's tires are going to go bad, who is going to run out of fuel, the strategy involved with racing harder or when to make a move. Who can get something going in another groove. Roll cages, drivers nets, arm and head restraints and better seats were great changes for safetys sake. The cars are perfect for the type of racing they were designed for.

I think to a degree since the DuQuoin track is raced on rarely through the year you probably have to deal with what you are given. I don't know about weather in DuQuoin but we have had about 2 straight months of 90+ degree weather. That may have an impact the track also compared to conditions some other years.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Question. Aren't Hoosier tires required per USAC in SC or does that not apply to this division? Just wondering how someone running American Racer got in?

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

In looking at the USAC rule book, Appendix C pages 5-6 talks about tires. No specific tire is listed.

http://www.usacracing.com/assets/fil...ule_book_3.pdf

To answer an earlier question concerning push starting. Page 12, 1206 C states that "any car requiring a push start at the start of an event will be placed at the rear of the starting field".

On the entry form for the DuQuoin race it states that either the American Racer or Hoosier is acceptable.

http://www.usacracing.com/assets/fil...oin_9-5-10.pdf

I hope this helps.

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

Thanks for the kind words about the car. The Gold Leaf is paint, I believe. They just had it redone a few weeks ago.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_6qZgRGTGp68/TI...905_173334.JPG

Johnny caught 3 on the high side and then a few going low. His outside move was classic. Greg Staab was crewing for us, and he was amazed at the move. We were hoping someone caught it on video.

I am also thankful that Bob Sergeant is able to continue the shows on the 1-mile dirt. I don't like the split 50-lap format, but it is better than no show at all. I hope they go back to the traditional 100 laps for next year. Most of the people in the stands that I talked to were completely unaware of what was going on.

Trust me that DuQuoin made a lot of money on beer sales on a warm night under the beautiful blue skies. From my vantage point high up in the stands with the spotters, the beer was flowing among the fans. Everyone was well mannered, and they were enjoying the brews.

Sharon
USAC Silver Crown #90
http://www.coolfitwear.com

Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

It definately looks great, thanks for the up close look at the number paint.

That is definately what a race car is supposed to look like!

Unique car color and the number really compliments it.

anybody have pics of the car tobias won in?
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Re: Interesting night at DuQuoin
 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...26tbs%3Disch:1

There's a small pic of it about half way down the page.