My two cents:

- Congratulations to Darren Hagen and the entire Keith Kunz / Pete Willoughby Motosports team on their USAC-CRA victory over one of the most stellar list of entries I've ever witnessed. What an impressive display of patience!

- Congratulations also go out to Cruz Pedregon Motorsports and drivers Sammy Swindell and Darren Hagen for the 1-2 finish in the USAC Western States Midget main event. Too bad Jerry Coons Jr's car broke a rod earlier in the heat race...he'd have been up front too for sure!

- The Kaedings are always worth the price of admission. Both brothers always impress me. I was completely amazed and truly pleased to see Bud jump out of his heap of smoldering, bent tubing without a burn or broken bones. Thank God. As for Tim...wow...did anyone else see him come from the back to the front at least two times in the heat race (with a killer push)? That was some serious hammer-down action. Look out Oval Nationals competitors!

- I understand that cars are built lighter and with less cross-bracing for flex nowadays. And I do understand breakaway designs to dissipate energy in a crash, but c'mon...you can't tell me that Bud's Maxim was supposed to completely crumble in the cockpit like it did. Anyone who saw the chassis after the crash knows what I'm talking about. At least the seat held up...even though it was bent in two directions.

- It was good to see Mike Sala bring out a 410 sprint car again. Hope he can manage a way to get to Perris this week. He's not 100% sure right now because of commitments at work. I totally understand why those guys didn't run the tire-gulping semi...first time the car had seen dirt of any kind and with a driver foreign to the car...it just wouldn't make much sense.

-Robert Ballou set fast time in the sprint car, ran sixth in his heat, then loaded up...huh??? That's a lot of $$$ to spend on fuel getting to Las Vegas only to save a few bucks on a couple tires. I was really looking forward to seeing the kid in action...oh well...

- Group qualifying. I just don't get it. When you have four laps and someone spins on Lap 2, you suddenly lose all momentum. And who picked 8 cars? I could see 4...one in each corner...working much smoother. With eight out there, you're gonna have some passing...and passing slower cars does not help your lap times!

- Is anyone else as excited as I am to watch Sammy Swindell in Woodward's #2 this week after watching the "old man" school the midget field at LV?

- Tony Jones showed championship composure and did what he had to do Saturday without his car owner / crew chief to dial in the setup.

- Levi gave Glenn's #97 a good ride...wonder how Jon will do this week...can't wait to see...

- I hope Alan Ballard wasn't too sore Sunday. That looked like it hurt!

- I hadn't see a midget race all year. All you read about is low car counts. Well, Vegas changed that. What a killer field of cars. And how cool is it that Cruz Pedregon and Gary Scelzi had entries. I think they were just as excited as us fans watching the races in the pits. Both of those guys are first-class by the way...great for our sport!

- And last but not least...the track conditions. Who cares that it had zero clay. Who cares that the mains looked exactly like the drag races next door. The best drivers in the nation were there in the best cars. They all had the same track. They all had the same tire choices. They all came into the event knowing what to expect. These are professionals...they can deal with it. That's how I see it. Why complain about it? I, for one, like seeing different surfaces and watching the drivers adapt to them. One word: Challenge. Winners don't cry over the obstacles and challenges...they just figure out how to overcome them.

If you were so entertained this past weekend at Vegas, you're probably gonna poop your pants at Perris....:rolling:

Nice post Doug.Good work.Thanks DK

Great post. You might want to visit my post on the USAC spec tire before you say all the competitors had the same tire though.

Rob Hoffman

Rob...I wrote that all the racers had the same tire choices...not the same tires. I did just hear, though, that the tire supplier ran out of DT3's and some drivers (including Ballou) didn't have enough to compete.

They really did not have the same tire choices as the F-55 was allowed but only a handfull of those tires existed at the track. The Hoosier truck had none. Daren Hagen's team did have an F-55 and used it during the feature.

I have run almost exclusively with USAC for the past 18 years and I am very familiar with their rulebook. I have never seen a bulletin, an entry blank or a rule which said the DT-3 would be the spec tire unless USAC changes their mind and allows a harder compound for track conditions. Yet the email I received in response to my inquiry as to this matter stated that it has always been that way in USAC's mind.

My point is that if they are going to allow a harder compound to be raced, everyone should know about it so that they can carry that compound in their trailer. The Hoosier distributor did not know that the F-55 would be allowed as he didn't carry any on his truck.

Rob Hoffman

Well, that does change things. Thanks, Rob, for enlightening me. As a fan with an outside-looking-in perspective, I had no idea that the F-55's were not available either. I just assumed that it was simply a matter of choice and that some teams called it right and others gambled with softer compounds and came up short.

Seems like this sort of thing happens quite frequently when new tire rules surface. Hard to understand how USAC, knowing that this was a rubber-down track historically, could let this sort of situation occur. I agree with you 100%. They should have addressed this topic early and informed each team owner and the tire supplier of the tire options that would be allowed prior to the race and insured that tires would be available.

Although each team had the same choices (options) for tire selection, if the tire they chose was not available then it does appear to cripple the teams that don't carry spares of every variety or have them at their disposal when necessary.

Regardless, certain drivers (like Hagen and Sammy) were very conscience of the conditions and used patience and a smooth approach to the corners as an advantage and made it work for them...I cannot take anything away from them at all. You could tell by listening to the throttle on exit of turns 2 and 4 which drivers were going to last 20 laps!

Rob just makes too much sense to post here

When is USAC gonna run events AS ADVERTISED? Im not bashing them, Just stating a normal show is often run better.

Before you say that Swindell was able to outsmart the field in the midgets let me tell you the same problem was had in the midgets. Swindell and Hagen (1st and 2nd) were the only ones that had the SP4 tire. When our car went to the tire trailer to ask for a SP4 we were told that they were illegal and couldn't be used. Well I guess that was a lie as they used them and won the race

I can't believe they used the support classs (stock cars) to push the Sprint cars and midgets because there was not enough push trucks.