[dirtnonwingfan]

I'm not a big Silver Crown fan, like some of the IOW members. I certainly respect their love of it, and understand it, but I prefer sprints and midgets on short dirt tracks. I am not a great fan of paved tracks, not much of a fan of long tracks, which I think tend to lead to strung-out follow-the-leader races. I also like to see more, rather than fewer, cars. Since most of the races I planned to attend have been rained out, I decided to go to Gateway anyway, partially because even if it got rained out, I would still go to 17th Street Bar and Grill and get some of the best barbequed chicken and pulled pork in the country.

A funny thing happened. I loved the race!!! Bobby East broke the track record in time trials, followed two cars later by that pavement track specialist, Chris Windom!? Way to go Chris. Fifteen cars started, including two who didn't do time trials; Tracy Hines and David Byrne in what looked like a brand new silver #40. Byrne started 15th and was 10th by the end of the first lap. Brian Tyler moved from 10th to 2nd by lap 4. If that wasn't enough, Windom and East and then East and Tyler gave us excellent battles for the lead. By lap 30 Byrne had moved into 5th. Then Bobby Santos III started moving up. By mid-race it was East, Tyler, Santos, Windom, Kody Swanson and Byrne. Then East and Santos had an excellent battle for the lead, passing and re-passing each other. Lap 50 East/Santos, Lap 50 Santos/East. Right before Lap 70 of the 80 lap race, East got under Santos in Turn 1 and set sail. He quickly pulled out a lead of 1/2 straightaway or so. The race was over. Until lap 70 something when East coasted to a halt at the end of the front straight. He was pushed around to the pits, where he was refuled and came back out. That had to be heartbreaking for Bobby. During that yellow Jerry Coons Jr., Jacob Wilson and perhaps others also pitted. Then, suddenly, leader Bobby Santos pulled into the pits, putting Swanson in first and Windom in 2nd. However, it must have been a safety check, because Santos got his place back. The restart was a green-white-checker. Santos led into Turn 1, with Windom getting past Swanson and Tyler in 4th. They stayed that way until Turn 3 of the last lap when Swanson got around Windom for 2nd. Suddenly, coming out of Turn 4 either, Santos slowed a little or Swanson and Windom got a good run on him. It looked like a last lap, last corner pass for the victory. However, at the checker it was Santos by what looked to be less than a car length over Swanson, with Windom a close 3rd and Tyler 4th. People who left early really missed an exciting finish.

This was an excellent race, IMHO. I certainly hope that the Silver Crown goes back there next year. Thanks to everyone associated with this event for working so hard to make sure it happened.