Eric blew up in hot laps Friday at I-96, so that meant no racing Saturday.

This year, in my opinion, the SOD car count has been the best since I started in 2012 (without looking at actual numbers). The quality of cars has improved throughout the field this year it seems as well.

Bottom line for Montpelier is it is so dang far for a one night show, and it's a co-sanction show. Those two things turn off lots of guys. Eric included. There's no chance of that trip making any economic sense.

As for the SOD director this year, Adrianna Irwin (SOD owner John Naida's daughter) is the director of SOD and also the sister-in-law to Joey Irwin, who runs MTS. So there is some connection, but of little if any relevance. The leadership group has been doing a fantastic job this year, with everything from responsiveness, information dissemination, social media, receiver communication and everything else. By far the best since I started. Again, in my opinion.