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Wow!....That was great!
That's all I could say after Tony Stewart's All Star Circuit of Champions took on the tricky surface at Orrville, Ohio's Wayne County Speedway last night.
It was a beautiful day and my first chance to see a race this year so I was pretty pumped. When you approach the track coming from the north, the road winds around the pit area before you get to the parking lot entrance and there is a great view into the pits. In addition to seeing most of the regular All Star guys, I saw Parker Price-Miller's rig, and that got me excited. Parker won his first 410 feature at Fremont last week with Rick Ferkel wrenching for him...so I was eager to see this kid race!
I arrived right after hot laps were over. (14" or smaller coolers were allowed. Thank you WCS. I had water and the blanket I sit on and two pair of goggles in there. Atomic Speedway, take notice) The track looked smooth and fast. Dale Blaney had his new paint scheme and it looks exactly like Danny Lasoski's, with the Muddy sponsorship, except Dale is flying the number 1 instead of Lasoski's 2. Cody Darrah set quick time and I believe Price-Miller was second quick...I couldn't hear the announcer because the volume was so low and the timing clock was not working. Dale Blaney blew a motor in turn 3 on his first timing lap....before he got a time in, so that relegated him to the tail of his heat. The track was developing a cushion about 3/4 the way up the turns...some stayed below it, some road over top of it with the right rear....some slid up into it to bump it and that gave momentum.
The crowd was getting into the heat race action because these guys were flying here tonight. The motors were really screaming down the front stretch and I noticed much more energy from the drivers and the crowd than I have experienced at an All Star race in a long time. The crowd let out a collective OH NO! as Travis Philo flipped at the start of his heat going into turn 1. He tumbled over two to three times up by the fence and it was unclear whether he hooked the cushion or rubbed tires with another car. He was unhurt but was finished for the night. Randy Hannigan had his heat won after fighting off Parker Price-Miller but Randy slowed on the last lap with a mechanical issue and was passed up to seventh place...sending Randy to the b-main and Price-Miller to the dash draw. Dale Blaney raced with his new motor installed from last to 6th in his heat making the feature transfer spot. Tim Shaffer won his heat and I held out hope that Tim could return to his winning ways tonight.
The dash ended up with Price-Miller winning and really impressing. Wow, can this kid win tonight? His car was handling well and he was racing the place like it was his home track.
The feature roared to life with Paulker getting ahead in the first turn up high and Price-Miller down low....but before the lap was complete, Price-Miller left his foot in it at the end of the back stretch and dove low into turn three like I have never seen at this place...what, with the sandy slick and tight turns you can't do that here!....I mean, he didn't lift and he put a slide job on Paulker.......sliding up the turn YOU KNEW he just had to jump the cushion or hit the 4th turn fence because of momentum.....but the car stuck somehow and he negotiated the cushion and shot out of turn 4 with the lead! And I could hear everyone gasp in amazement, I mean, Wow!!! Evereyone was yelling, "did you see that!" The next time around, the caution would come out for a spin in turn 3 and then a few laps later Page Polyak rolled to a stop in turn two....After that, green flag until the end and what a show. Paulker would stay close to Price-Miller throughout but Rob Chaney kept pressuring Paulker and with about 10 to go, got by him. Chaney then put the pressure on Price-Miller in heavy traffic, even getting by him briefly using some amazing, breathtaking moves of his own...But Rob just couldn't make his pass stick! The kid Price-Miller had it working up by the fence, rim riding to his second 410 win in a week's time! I was glad to see Rob Chaney do well. He is a great driver and underated. Paulker also did well and he is coming on now it looks like.
That was an entertaining blast! Parker did Park-'er in victory lane and the kid was very impressive. My socks were knocked off when Kyle Larson blasted around this place two years ago during speedweek.....but Parker knocked 'em off again! Wow!
I am excited for this series. The feel is different. It means something again I think. The racers are happy. The program was run very smoothly and quickly. No one was just going through the motions. The guys were bringing it.
After the race Rob Chaney thanked Tony Stewart for stepping in and taking this on and voiced his optimism for bigger and better things for the All Stars. Sounds good to me.
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