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Sadly, I could not be at Lawrenceburg last night as I had a previous commitment at Eldora for the UMP Nationals. Sounds like a pretty good night of racing and a lot of action. 71 SPRINT cars and no dust. Amazing. Remember the Four-Crown. Remember Indiana Midget Week.
Two previous posts made me think. One about how everyone complaining about dust MIGHT have created the track surface after the criticism in August about the Indiana Midget Week track. And, it was just two weeks ago everyone had a gripe fest about Eldora.
Two, Tim Clauson's, about being amazed none of the drivers tried to work in the bottom groove so they could use it.
Ronnie Ambrose was one of the best ever in the UMRA TQ ranks and still holds the record for most career wins in the club -- somewhere more than 120. I was watching him one night at Rushville and noticed each caution period he would pull his car to the very inside edge of the track. No one else did so. He did this after his car was started for the trophy dash, the heat race, the feature and all caution periods but NEVER ran that line. That inside line was a gooey and rough when the night started.
Guess what. He was running third and the rest of the track had dried somewhat. On a restart, Ambrose pulled to the inside and shot around two cars and into victory lane.
After the race, I asked him about it. He had spent all evening running in that line in and when the rest of the track lost traction, he found a little extra grip on that portion in turn two to pull off the pass.
I think that's the same thing Tim's talking about.
For the record, Eldora was in pretty good shape both nights, track stayed tacky Friday night with 117 mods and 66 late models. Saturday night, track got a little rubber in the middle but very little dust. The racing was pretty good, cars running the top, the bottom and all spots in between.
What's the difference between this and two weeks ago -- RAIN. The drought in this area is not over but for once the rain was well timed to help those preparing the tracks this weekend.
Jim Morrison
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