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My two cents:
- Congratulations to Darren Hagen and the entire Keith Kunz / Pete Willoughby Motosports team on their USAC-CRA victory over one of the most stellar list of entries I've ever witnessed. What an impressive display of patience!
- Congratulations also go out to Cruz Pedregon Motorsports and drivers Sammy Swindell and Darren Hagen for the 1-2 finish in the USAC Western States Midget main event. Too bad Jerry Coons Jr's car broke a rod earlier in the heat race...he'd have been up front too for sure!
- The Kaedings are always worth the price of admission. Both brothers always impress me. I was completely amazed and truly pleased to see Bud jump out of his heap of smoldering, bent tubing without a burn or broken bones. Thank God. As for Tim...wow...did anyone else see him come from the back to the front at least two times in the heat race (with a killer push)? That was some serious hammer-down action. Look out Oval Nationals competitors!
- I understand that cars are built lighter and with less cross-bracing for flex nowadays. And I do understand breakaway designs to dissipate energy in a crash, but c'mon...you can't tell me that Bud's Maxim was supposed to completely crumble in the cockpit like it did. Anyone who saw the chassis after the crash knows what I'm talking about. At least the seat held up...even though it was bent in two directions.
- It was good to see Mike Sala bring out a 410 sprint car again. Hope he can manage a way to get to Perris this week. He's not 100% sure right now because of commitments at work. I totally understand why those guys didn't run the tire-gulping semi...first time the car had seen dirt of any kind and with a driver foreign to the car...it just wouldn't make much sense.
-Robert Ballou set fast time in the sprint car, ran sixth in his heat, then loaded up...huh??? That's a lot of $$$ to spend on fuel getting to Las Vegas only to save a few bucks on a couple tires. I was really looking forward to seeing the kid in action...oh well...
- Group qualifying. I just don't get it. When you have four laps and someone spins on Lap 2, you suddenly lose all momentum. And who picked 8 cars? I could see 4...one in each corner...working much smoother. With eight out there, you're gonna have some passing...and passing slower cars does not help your lap times!
- Is anyone else as excited as I am to watch Sammy Swindell in Woodward's #2 this week after watching the "old man" school the midget field at LV?
- Tony Jones showed championship composure and did what he had to do Saturday without his car owner / crew chief to dial in the setup.
- Levi gave Glenn's #97 a good ride...wonder how Jon will do this week...can't wait to see...
- I hope Alan Ballard wasn't too sore Sunday. That looked like it hurt!
- I hadn't see a midget race all year. All you read about is low car counts. Well, Vegas changed that. What a killer field of cars. And how cool is it that Cruz Pedregon and Gary Scelzi had entries. I think they were just as excited as us fans watching the races in the pits. Both of those guys are first-class by the way...great for our sport!
- And last but not least...the track conditions. Who cares that it had zero clay. Who cares that the mains looked exactly like the drag races next door. The best drivers in the nation were there in the best cars. They all had the same track. They all had the same tire choices. They all came into the event knowing what to expect. These are professionals...they can deal with it. That's how I see it. Why complain about it? I, for one, like seeing different surfaces and watching the drivers adapt to them. One word: Challenge. Winners don't cry over the obstacles and challenges...they just figure out how to overcome them.
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