I go to Bloomington Speedway almost every friday and have done so for years. I've been to almost every Sheldon Kinser Memorial and have seen every Sprint Week and USAC race that they've had there since I got out of the service in 1986. That may have been the best race I've ever seen @ Bloomington!! It started with an epic battle between Bryan Clauson and Shane Cottle (a consistent theme in 2008 ISW seems to be Shane's battle with someone as one of the races highlights). They raced each other clean, yet went at it, tooth-and-nail. Then once Bryan seized the lead he preceded to thrill the crowd with a Clayton-esque high wire act, seriously playing with fire, otherwise known as the cushion on the Bloomington high banks. He appeared to have the field covered, until a yellow reset things. Then Shane grabbed the lead, only to have it ripped away by a bold, turn four move by the same driver that had just schooled the field, last night @ Kamp Motor Speedway. And as it looked like a certain win for Jerry, the reigning USAC National Champion went for broke and made a last lap dive for the plate. Until Brad and Pat told me who had won, I seriously had no idea who had. And while all of this was going on, somewhat below the radar, Dave Darland was laying waste to the rest of the field. He raced from his 22nd starting spot to a podium finish!! And Robert Ballou, to a lesser degree, had done the same thing.

The thing that was amazing and just made this race one for the ages, was that you had a group of drivers (Darland, Jones, Cottle and Coons) who were all close in 2008 ISW points, that all seemed to say "Points? We don't need no stinking points!" and just raced like the ONLY thing they cared about was just winning the damn race. And Dave Darland came from qualifying his way in to a non-qualifiers race and being in a position to lose his points lead (and then some) to nearly running the table and ending the night still in the lead. Now, you have five of the best in the country, all really close in points, going to one of the most exciting, best prepared tracks anywhere, to settle it all!! It doesn't get any better!!

And judging by the giddy looks on nearly every face that I saw leaving Bloomington Speedway, tonight, I'm guessing I'm not the only person thinking that way.

Jerry