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Topic: Elko Ramblings from Saturday Night Email this topic to a friend | Subscribe to this TopicReport this Topic to Moderator
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[email protected]
July 26, 2009 at 01:20:32 AM
Joined: 05/25/2005
Posts: 22
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I thought the track was very much improved from the night before.

Travis Whitney set the new track record of 12.410 seconds lowering the previous mark set the night before by Terry McCarl by more than a second.

11 drivers broke into the 12 second range during time trials

John Sernett had engine problems, did not take a lap during time trials, did not race a heat, but benefitted from a few cars crashing their way through heats opening a spot for him at the back of the A feature. He came from 23rd to finish 10th.

Jake Peters got caught up in the Lambertz/Wilson accident in his heat, nearly making his top wing worthless. He restarted at the back with the mangled wing, raced his way back to third, then held on to finish fifth as the side panel nearly ripped off, hanging on by a thread. Jake had to slow down just to keep the side panel from blowing off the car which would have put him to the rear again.

Best quote: Scott Winters in his interview with Justin Zoch after the race was over: "I think they should leave the dirt on this place and let us come back here to race every weekend" which got a huge positive response from the crowd.

The Elko regulars I talked to could not believe the speed of the sprints and said they much preferred the racing on dirt than on the blacktop. Many I talked to had never seen a dirt track race before.

I don't know how they line up the Legends cars for their feature, but the winner from the previous night got to start on the pole again tonight even though he pulled out of his heat while running 12th and never finished it. He won the feature for the second night in a row.

Some comparisons of the leaders during the heat races. The Legends cars were running in the 18.9 second range during the heats, the Mods were running in the 17.3 second range (the first heat winner was running in the 16.9 range, however), and the sprint car heat winners were running in the 13.5 second range.

It seemed to me that their was a huge crowd on hand. This was my first time at Elko, so I don't know how this compares, but I think the dirt experiment at Elko went well.

 




willie
July 26, 2009 at 01:55:37 AM
Joined: 01/04/2005
Posts: 23
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: [email protected] on July 26 2009 at 01:20:32 AM

I thought the track was very much improved from the night before.

Travis Whitney set the new track record of 12.410 seconds lowering the previous mark set the night before by Terry McCarl by more than a second.

11 drivers broke into the 12 second range during time trials

John Sernett had engine problems, did not take a lap during time trials, did not race a heat, but benefitted from a few cars crashing their way through heats opening a spot for him at the back of the A feature. He came from 23rd to finish 10th.

Jake Peters got caught up in the Lambertz/Wilson accident in his heat, nearly making his top wing worthless. He restarted at the back with the mangled wing, raced his way back to third, then held on to finish fifth as the side panel nearly ripped off, hanging on by a thread. Jake had to slow down just to keep the side panel from blowing off the car which would have put him to the rear again.

Best quote: Scott Winters in his interview with Justin Zoch after the race was over: "I think they should leave the dirt on this place and let us come back here to race every weekend" which got a huge positive response from the crowd.

The Elko regulars I talked to could not believe the speed of the sprints and said they much preferred the racing on dirt than on the blacktop. Many I talked to had never seen a dirt track race before.

I don't know how they line up the Legends cars for their feature, but the winner from the previous night got to start on the pole again tonight even though he pulled out of his heat while running 12th and never finished it. He won the feature for the second night in a row.

Some comparisons of the leaders during the heat races. The Legends cars were running in the 18.9 second range during the heats, the Mods were running in the 17.3 second range (the first heat winner was running in the 16.9 range, however), and the sprint car heat winners were running in the 13.5 second range.

It seemed to me that their was a huge crowd on hand. This was my first time at Elko, so I don't know how this compares, but I think the dirt experiment at Elko went well.

 



I agree that the dirt experiment went well and applaud Tom Ryan for his efforts. I hope he considers it succesfull and makes it a annual event.
It was nice to see the Sprint Cars & Mods at Elko, Great racing, and large spectator turnout on Fri. & Sat. I attend dirt and pavement races around the Midwest each summer and enjoy watching races on both surfaces. That being said, there is a disproportionate number of dirt to paved tracks in this neck of the woods, so as much as it was fun to watch them on the dirt at Elko, I will welcome the pavement back.
Hard to figure out that Legends lineup, but wait..............the Series Director starts up front after falling out of the heat?? Something's fishy here.



StanM
MyResults MyPressRelease
July 26, 2009 at 02:09:03 AM
Joined: 11/07/2006
Posts: 5548
Reply

86318.1

Elko finishing order Saturday night Bill Balog, Travis Whitney and Scott Winters. Travis broke Terry McCarl's Friday track record by over a second to become the fastest driver ever at the Elko Speedway. The Sprint Car A Main was outstanding.

Zach Vanderbeek won the USMTS Feature with Tim Donlinger following closely in second place. The Mod race was good but the Sprint Cars were the main attraction tonight.

Elko gets a big thumbs up for improving each night of the Dirt Nationals and finishing out the week with a big bang. The place was packed to the rafters tonight and when the pit gates opened after the races the pit area was swarmed with fans wanting to get a look at the Sprint Cars and meet the drivers. It was a great night for us true die hard Sprint Car fans.


Stan Meissner


grp
July 26, 2009 at 12:53:39 PM
Joined: 12/06/2004
Posts: 713
Reply

Glad to hear that the Saturday night show was also a success Stan. I attended the first three nights and returned to CLS on Saturday night. I thought the Friday night IRA feature was a very good race. The USMTS mod feature was run on a locked down, used up race track on Friday. Not very fun to watch that one. The Wednesday show was okay, but the track was too dry and only one lane. The Thursday night show was a bit better, but still not much room to pass. The Friday show was better yet with a very entertaining IRA feature race. Sounds like Saturday stepped it up a notch again and provided a very good IRA feature race.

Having been attending racing in the Twin City metro area dating back to 1971, I can honestly say that this past Wednesday night was my first trip ever to Elko. What an impressive racing facility!!! I haven't been to any better racing facility around our area for sure. I enjoyed my three nights at Elko this past week. I'm looking forward to this becoming an annual event. Based on the apparent success this year, I think that would be a pretty good bet to see the 2nd Annual Elko Dirt Nationals return next July. Hopefully they can keep improving the surface each year.



StanM
MyResults MyPressRelease
July 26, 2009 at 02:37:24 PM
Joined: 11/07/2006
Posts: 5548
Reply

The place was packed last night GRP. It took Les and I a half hour to get out of the parking lot after spending a half hour in the pits. You'll want to listen to the RACEMN.COM interviews I did out there GRP. McCarl talks about picking up Schmidt cans under the North Starr grandstand, taking them home and selling them to his friends who used to collect beer cans. Jenny Eriksen talked about her interview on the KQ Morning show and we talked to a whole bunch of others as well. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the entire weekend.

Next up CLS and the USA Nationals, two awesome weeks of racing action in a row. Barry has some broadcasts lined up for Cedar Lake and I've got some things up my sleeve as well. Of course we'll also be doing our regular routine for MRC and the photos so it's going to be another fun weekend.


Stan Meissner

Michael_N
July 27, 2009 at 10:20:33 AM
Joined: 11/30/2004
Posts: 720
Reply

I only made it for Saturday but was impressed by the facility and the racing was OK. Nice to see some of the "big shot" mod drivers that I only read about but never get to watch. Got to see the legend Mr. Mark Noble as well! The idea of taking that serated blade to the middle groove fo the track before the sprint feature was a good one but one more pass around the whole thing would have done wonders.





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