You just can't say enough about a track operator, like Joe Spiker, who makes a capital investment in his track. Especially when it's right in the middle of the season. And during a sluggish economy, with gas sitting at $4 a gallon. He took quite a chance and if tonight is any indication, his gamble is going to pay off, big time! That racing surface just rocked from the get go and actually got better as the night progressed. About the time a really exciting B-Main finished, I think everybody knew the stage was set for something really special to happen.

As the race got going, Jon Sciscoe built a real nice lead and started to check out a bit as the drivers fighting for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th were just going at it tooth and nail. And the whole track was open for racing. Top, middle and bottom. It didn't matter. But, all the while, Blake Fitzpatrick was picking them off one by one. Once he took second, you just knew it was now officially on, between these two. Because he was diving into turns one and three, getting tremendous bite exiting two and four. Proving, like he did last year, how much more versitale he is than the cushion dwelling speed demon that he started out as. And he was taking big chunks out of Jon's lead every lap. It almost looked like it was inevitable that this was his race. But, then out of nowhere, when Sciscoe realized he was being caught, he reached down and found a different level. Especially when they got to lapped traffic. The way he knifed through the backmarkers was a real sight to see. He was pickin' em up and settin' em down. Every time Blake would reel him back in, Jon would put a perfect slider on a lapper and get his advantage back. But then, with the laps winding down, he strayed a little high and got sucked into the cushion. It was the break Fitz needed and he took advantage, seizing the lead. And with the time it took for Sciscoe to dig himself out of the berm and set sail again, Blake was gone. It looked to be over and looked to be a heartbreaking defeat for Jon. But, in a stroke of luck, the yellow came out for a multi-car incident in turn three. We were looking at a restart. A do over for Jon Sciscoe. A shootout between the night's two fastest cars, with only a few laps left. And for several laps, Blake was absolutely glued to Jon. The lead was swapped multiple times, lap after lap. Every time Blake would nose ahead, Jon would find a way to lean on the cushion and take the lead back. On the last two laps, the 7 car gained a little bit of an advantage and it was a bit anti-climactic, as compared to the 15 or so laps that preceded them. But, at that point, I think we all needed a chance to catch our breaths. But, wow, what a race. LPS is back! Thanks to Jon and Blake. And thanks to Joe Spiker and his guys.

Jerry