[Jerry Shaw]

Having spent many Saturday nights of my childhood on that hillside, I was lucky enough to have seen some of the greatest drivers of all time do battle at this place. And because this facility literally hasn't changed over the last 50 years, it's easy to sit down in those bleachers and put yourself back in that frame of mind. In the mindset of a young race fan, showing up at this place knowing that as the sun sets you could very well be getting ready to see something really special happen. Tonight just had that feel to it. As they rolled out for hot laps, not only did you have two of the greatest sprint car drivers of all time there, in Dave Darland and Jon Stanbrough, but you also had two of the hottest drivers in the country, in Robert Ballou and Brady Short. Ballou, the USAC National points leader, fresh off sweeping the USAC Eastern Storm and Short, who has become so dominant here in the Hoosier state, that he is starting to draw boos from racing audiences. Both at the pinnacle of their careers.

The heat races were more of a harbinger of things to come. Ballou started in the 3rd row of his heat, quickly went to the front and demolished the field in that heat by more than a straightaway. Short was in the toughest heat, with Stanbrough, Darland and Gaines in it. Darland and Gaines surged early and Brady fell back. He gathered it back together and just fought his way back to the front, taking the top spot on the last lap. The handwriting was on the wall.

Brady drew as good as he could have and started on the front row and Robert as poorly as he could have and would have to start in the third row. Short took off like a rocket and established a commanding lead as Robert made quick work of the rest of the top 5. When he cleared them you just knew "it was on" even though Brady had a straightaway lead. The track was still in excellent condition and Brady was doing what Brady Short does and was flying around Paragon Speedway, driving that line that nobody else seems to be able to drive, right in the middle of the turns on each end. Robert was backing it in, making a perfect diamond in a low line and just rocketing out of the exit of turns 2 and 4. Especially turn 2. He was cutting into Brady's lead on each lap and as they approached lapped traffic, you just knew we were getting ready to see a great battle break out. The first time Robert got underneath Brady and took the lead, it was short lived. Coming out of turn 4 he took a higher line, Brady slipped under him and took the lead back as they raced into turn 1. The second time Robert grabbed the lead, it stuck, but he literally had had Brady on top of him for the next 15 laps or more. They weren't 10 feet apart, all the way around the track! Wheel to wheel, lap after lap, racing their asses off and they weren't touching each other. Even through heavy lapped traffic. It was just riveting. Then, as Robert finally made a few car lengths of space between he and Short in lapped traffic, he clipped a back marker and spun. The lapped car came to a stop and Robert did a 360, almost came to a complete stop, but kept on going. Short went by. The yellow came and Ballou got a reprieve. He would get the lead back. When the green came back out, Brady was all over him again, but the diamond that Robert was cutting coming out of 2 started to allow him to pull away some, again. They were of equal speed in every other part of the track and Brady may have even had a slight advantage getting in and out of 3 and 4, but what Robert was doing in 1 and 2 ultimately was the difference that made the difference and he would pull away some and win by a few car lengths. Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling Robert Ballou and Brady Short the equal of Bobby Kinser, Dick Gaines and Chuck Amati, but the two waged a war tonight that those guys would have applauded. They turned in a Race of the Year candidate, tonight. And Brady has nothing to hang his head about. He raced his ass off tonight and just got beat by The Madman. I don't think anybody else would have beaten him. They both gave each other props in the Victory Lane interviews. Those of us that were there to see it were very lucky. Thanks to Keith Ford and Paragon Speedway. They had their racing surface race ready, tonight.

I said it before on another thread and I'll say it again. Robert and Brady are the best rivalry were have going in Indiana, the state with the best non-wing racing scene, currently. Sometimes Robert beats Brady. Sometimes Brady beats Robert. But it's almost always a great battle to the finish.

Jerry