Originally Posted by Tim Clauson:
Last nights race was incredible to say the least something like 19 slide jobs for the lead in the first 30 laps. On the lap 30 caution Greg Wilke and I got up looked at each other and just said "wow" that was all we could come up with. For those who want to tell the world how horrible it is out there make sure to talk to those who attended this weekends events, sanctioning bodies working together, close to 50 midgets in the house. promoters who went way out of there way to make all feel welcome. And one hell of a race !
Usually on the front stretch you have one really happy driver and two really pissed off drivers. Last night was different as I think they all realized that they may have just participated in one of the greatest midget races ever.
I can not wait to read Jerry Shaw's take on the weekend events, my guess it it just might be as good as the race itself ....
Tim Clauson
It was literally one of the greatest races I've ever seen. I was hesitant to describe what I saw last night, because what I saw was simply indescribable. At least to try to do so in terms that someone who didn't live through this Category 5 hurricane of a race, could read and relate to. In a way that would really do this Instant Classic justice. You can go a lot of places, on a lot of nights, in this part of the country and see some pretty intense racing action. The best anywhere. But even that doesn't prepare you for a race of this magnitude and sustained intensity. Nothing does. Because you just don't have that many racing experiences to compare it to. Your typical great race will give you an adrenalin rush while it's happening and for a little while after it's over. This experience was more than that, it was an emotional roller coaster. One on the the biggest, baddest, fastest roller coasters around. Both during the race's only yellow and after the checker fell, there were two things that I noticed about my state. I had a grin that you couldn't sandblast off my face. And my eyes were welling up, in a tears of joy or an I just jumped out of an airplane kind of way. And every other person I saw looked just stunned. So I definitely wasn't alone in being profoundly effected by this epic race.
Some of the things that stood above all the other great things, in this race to me were:
-The way this thing just immediately turned into a free-for-all, from the drop of the green. Skirmishes were breaking out everywhere. A battle here. Another one right behind it. And then this battle catches the other one, leaving the race with an even bigger one. It was almost like one of those Chinese Kung Fu movies. Throw downs from opening credits to the closing ones.
-Just when you though it couldn't get any better, Steve, Brad, Bryan and Darren reached lapped traffic. Sometimes that interferes with the great racing that's happening. But not on this night. The way these four even stepped up their battles, zipping through the backmarkers like they weren't even there, without anybody hardly even touching anybody else, was unbelievable. I still don't believe it. It was probably the high point of this great, great race.
-Well before the half way point in the race, BC's brakes were glowing. It was obvious he was probably racing on borrowed time. Going down the backstretch, a big spark came out of his left rear. You knew they were gone at this point, for all intents and purposes. You expected him to start dropping back, before too long. But instead, he continued to fly down the straights, but started hunting for the softest places in the outside wall to hit and leave himself in a position to take off out of 2 and 4 and still be fast on the straights. And then once it seemed like he had worked himself out a system, he started going after positions again. Using the wall as his brakes. Still getting a Top 3, while doing this for more than half the race. Again, unbelievable.
-The heartbreak of seeing Steve Buckwalter slow on the backstretch, after it looked like he may have been on his way to being the last man standing, in this Battle Royale. The way he sliced and diced his way through traffic, not only holding off Kuhn, Clauson and Hagen, but opening up a lead on them, was riveting. This guy has proven that he has as much driving ability as any other top midget driver out there.
-Darren Hagen has always been fast. And he's always been aggressive. But he showed everybody in the sport that he has raised his game to a new level. This event was was a collection of almost every great midget driver out there. On the best midget track I went to this year or maybe ever. On three nights that offered different types of track conditions. And he was The Man on all three nights. And the patience he displayed Saturday night in picking them off one by one, methodically, while at the same time striking quickly when the time was right, should be a little unnerving to his competitors. If this version of The Hawk is the one you see showing up at these big races, everybody's going to have to step their game up a notch, as well.
The Gold Crown Nationals may be young, in terms of how many years they've had it at Tri-City Speedway. But it doesn't have that feel to it. It didn't seem like just a three-day race. It had a big time "Event" feel to it. The racing was great. It's an awesome facility, with a great racing surface, that's ran by people who try really hard to put on a great show. And the facility's laid out in a way that the fans really get to mingle and interact with one another. I got to spend time with many of my old IOW friends and meet new ones, like Jimmy, Darren and Gary. I had such a great time at this event and am definitely going back next year.
Jerry
A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.
Winston Churchill
He was fast Sunday at Big D also. I can't believe he doesn't offered a ride in the INDY area.