Last Thursday, I set out for my first trip to the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, for the World 100. Jason Goble, the Facilities Director at 34 Raceway in Burlington, and I piled into his Chevy Trail Blazer for the trip across the Midwest.
One hundred seventy-two Late Models signed in to attempt to qualify on the 1/2-mile oval on Friday night. Only the 120 best times would be able to stick around for qualifying heat races on Saturday. It was unclear if the Late Model track records in times would be in jeopardy, but by night's end those qualifying times remained untouched. The fastest Late Model qualifying time in history entering the weekend was set in 2004 during the Dream when Rick Eckert posted a 15.215-second time. The World 100 record was set by Earl Pearson Jr., at 15.350. The big 1/2-mile proved to be difficult to tame in this year's time trials as only a handful of drivers were able to break the 17-second mark by the time both rounds of qualifying were over.
Scott Bloomquist posted the fast early time of 17.007 as he drew a low number for the first round of qualifying. Dan Schlieper eventually bested that at 16.853 in the first round of qualifying. Earl Pearson Jr., one of the very last cars to attempt to time trial, posted the second overall time of 16.860.
Following time trials, the 52 drivers who didn't make the cut took part in one of three 15-lap non-qualifier features to get some seat time at the speedway. Farley, Iowa, native Jason Rauen failed to make it past the time trials, but put on a great show in the first non-qualifier feature. Starting 12th, Rauen was a rocket and blistered through the field to take home a second place finish behind front row starter Shawn Negangard.
On Saturday, the top 120 qualifiers were divided into six heats of 20 and fast-timer Schlieper pulled the "6" out of the hat, meaning the top six in each heat would be inverted based on qualifying times with the rest of the field lined straight up by best times.
In the first heat, pole-sitter Eric Wells led from start to finish to post the victory. Fast-timer Schlieper went up in a cloud of smoke as the engine let go in the #9, forcing his crew to change engines prior to the feature. He was guaranteed a starting spot in the 28-car field by virtue of his fast time in qualifying. Dale McDowell and Brad Neat ran second and third to earn qualifying spots.
In heat two, outside front row starter Brian Birkhofer wasted little time jumping into the lead. He extended that lead until he reached lapped traffic late in the event, allowing pole-sitter Tim Fuller to close. Birkhofer held on at the line by a nose to score the win, putting him in the fifth starting spot for the 100-lap event. Matt Miller ran third.
A huge pile-up at the start of the third heat slowed that event, but front row starters Bart Hartman and Jimmy Mars escaped unscathed as they left the field behind when racing resumed. The lead pair checked out on the field with Hartman scoring the victory, placing him fourth on the starting grid for the main event. Don O'Neal crossed the line in third.
A caution in the early going of heat four also slowed that event. Involved in the turn three incident was five-time World winner Billy Moyer who pasted the wall, ending his night on the wrecker, dashing his hopes of a sixth win. Dennis Erb checked out from his outside pole start to take the win ahead of Josh Richards and John Blankenship.
Jimmy Owens, the 2007 World winner, pulled away from the field to score the win in heat five, earning him the outside front row start for the main event. Darrell Lanigan and Austin Hubbard, the second youngest driver to earn a start in the World 100, rounded out the qualifiers.
Jared Landers stole the show in heat six, placing him on the pole. Brady Smith and Terry Casey completed the heat race qualifiers.
Two 20-lap B features completed qualifying as four drivers from each of those events would join the rear of the 28-car field. Scott Bloomquist schooled the field to score the win in the first last chance race. Tim McCreadie, who was involved in a first lap caution and was forced to the pits for repairs, rebounded from that mishap and made a hard charge to finish second ahead of Eddie Carrier Jr. and Steve Francis.
In the second B feature, Chub Frank scored the win ahead of Chris Madden, Ray Cook and Rick Eckert to complete qualifying. Schlieper and Pearson Jr. made it in on time trials, however Schlieper was forced to start at the tail of the field for not making it to staging in time, due to his engine change.
Landers, Casey, Hubbard, Blankenship, Wells and Fuller all made the starting grid for the first time while 11 previous winners qualified for the start. Track announcer Bret Emerick stated it was the "stoutest field" the event had seen in a number of years.
At the drop of the green, Jimmy Owens took command and extended that advantage to a straightaway margin prior to entering lapped traffic around eight laps into the event. Landers and Hartman closed in on Owens as the leader navigated the backmarkers. Birkhofer was also making a charge as he gained on the lead trio.
Hartman made his way into the lead just prior to the lap 20 mark, and Birkhofer followed into third and inched into second just prior to the race's first caution on lap 21.
When racing resumed, Hartman held the point with Birkhofer in tow. Hartman built up a straightaway lead over Birkhofer's machine until he entered lapped traffic midway through the event as the leaders broke away from the field.
Birkhofer pulled onto Hartman's rear bumper, however Hartman worked his way through traffic and cleared the backmarkers, gaining a straightaway advantage once again over the 15B. Hartman again entered lapped traffic 15 laps later and was working on putting Chub Frank a lap down, allowing Birkhofer to close. Birkhofer pulled to the low side of the leader, but couldn't take advantage on the low line, as he remained in second when the race's second and final caution was displayed on lap 83.
On the restart and with an open track in front of him, Hartman again pulled away from Birkhofer. Once again, Birkhofer closed in the waning moments as lapped traffic slowed Hartman's progress. Off turn four of the final lap, Birkhofer dropped low and tried to make a charge off the corner, but Hartman was too strong as he drove to the win ahead of Birkhofer and Dale McDowell, who made a strong run late to finish third. Jared Landers, Jimmy Owens, Josh Richards, Earl Pearson Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Matt Miller and Dennis Erb Jr. completed the top 10. Pearson and Bloomquist each made strong runs through the field, advancing 13 spots from their original starting positions.
Hartman was the first Ohio-native to keep the coveted globe trophy in the Buckeye state in 12 years. Prior to the Zanesville driver's win on Saturday night, Donnie Moran was the last Ohio driver to win the event, in 1997.
Hartman definitely had the fastest car on this night, however lapped traffic and Birkhofer's patience almost made the outcome quite a bit different. Birkhofer definitely didn't want the lap 83 caution, but it's hard to say if, had he gotten around Hartman at some point, he'd have been able to hold on for the win.
Notes from Eldora
Jason and I pulled onto the grounds at around 8 p.m. on Thursday night and had a chance to visit Larry and Kathleen Kemp, the Iowa natives who Tony Stewart hired to run the speedway when he bought the facility five years ago. Having not seen the Kemps in a number of years, it was great to visit with them for a couple of hours. With all the partying that goes on right there on the grounds, it's amazing they get any sleep during an event such as the World 100. Thanks to the Kemps for their hospitality.
As we toured the pit area, we had no doubt the amount of money invested in haulers would amaze us, but we could only find two cars brought in on open trailers.
Emerick spoke of the "Eldora Experience" many times over the PA throughout the weekend. It's hard to imagine what that would entail after driving through a number of small Ohio towns to get to the speedway. Kemp expected 14-16,000 people on-hand for Friday's qualifying and around 20,000 for the big event on Saturday night. I have no reason to doubt those numbers as it was an awesome experience to take in the atmosphere from high atop our seats in turn one.
It was also nice to see Earl and Berniece Baltes make a lap around the track with Larry Kemp prior to the start of the event. The crowd remained on its feet during their entire lap around the speedway and it was an impressive sight to see the drivers lined up to shake their hands and acknowledge them on the front straightaway before competing.
Most of the day Saturday was spent in the campground across the street from the track. Jeff and Amy Laue, owners of 34 Raceway, opened up their campsite for some games and beverages of choice. Thanks for a great time Saturday afternoon and evening, guys. And if I never see Jason drink again, the memories Eldora provided will surely last a lifetime!
On our way home (and our way there, actually), Jason and I decided to leave our fate in the hands of his Garmin navigational device. While I'm one who doesn't always like to take the four-lane to get from point A to point B and I love to hit the backroads on any trip, the directions it provided us didn't always make a whole lot of sense. A seven-and-a-half hour trip to Ohio was shortened by one hour (yes, that takes into account the one hour time change), even though we were sent through downtown Indianapolis on our way home.
We questioned the route presented to us, but we went with it anyway thinking the machine knew better. While we eventually came up with many different names to call the Garmin system (none of which are appropriate to list here), it took us directly in front of Indianapolis Motor Speedway on our way home. It was quite a surprise and didn't really cost us much time. Located right in the middle of a busy city like that, I'll take Eldora Speedway over Indy any day.
Next up for me will be the finale of the 2009 Deery Brothers Summer Series for I.M.C.A. Late Models next Friday and Saturday at 34 Raceway in Burlington for the Pepsi USA Late Model Nationals. I rarely see one 100-lap feature in a year let alone two, and in back-to-back weekends, to boot. Although Jeff Aikey already has the series title wrapped up, next weekend's show should be a great one with $10,000 awaiting the winner in victory lane. See you there!
No comments:
Post a Comment