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Racing season has "officially" begun

Posted by Kirk Elliott at 06:19:42 PM

Finally, some great weather to enjoy a full weekend of racing.  It felt great to get out to the track.  Man, what a long, cold Winter.

Friday night at Lakeside Speedway, a huge crowd witnessed a classic down-to-the-wire battle in the Modified class between eventual race winner Danny Charles and Johnny Allen.  For a time, it looked as though Allen would find a way to get it done.

It just demonstrates how far Danny has come.  After winning on numerous occasions last season, he's firmly entrenched himself as one of Lakeside Speedway's top stars.   Too bad the thrilling finish wasn't rewarded in victory circle.    Charles chose to bypass the post-race celebration after security personel refused to allow his kids through the gate to join in one of last season's victories.

Seems silly a driver's family members would not be allowed to greet their loved one in victory circle.   A full walk-through gate with a set of steps needs to be added close to the flagstand.  The small opening through the fence with the severe drop to the track surface is a safety issue I'm sure is on the mind of track officials.

I would hope the claim of some family members allowed on the track while others were barred are not true.    I believe accomodation needs to be allowed for  family members to be included in victory lane photos.  Common sense should prevail for the good of everyone.

Wonderful to see the track condition as good as it was on Friday at Lakeside.  Often times it's difficult to get a decent race surface in April.  It takes a great deal of time and hard work to prepare a dirt track each week and Mike Knight deserves a  ton of credit.

Winston Speedway also provided a smooth and racey surface for the O'Reilly MLRA late models on Saturday night.   I expected to see more than 24 cars, but was a strong field none-the-less. 

It looked as though Alan Vaughn was the man to beat early in the 40-lap feature, however John Anderson had other ideas.  The Omaha driver used a power move to the outside with about 15 laps left, then had to hold off Terry Phillips at the finish.  

Anderson has been on a roll this Spring, winning at Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track prior to his victory on Friday night at I-80 Speedway.

Will be interesting to see how many chase the entire 2007 schedule for MLRA.    A few new names on the driver roster like we saw on Saturday should bode well for the future.  The more Phillips, Jack Sullivan, and Jeremy Payne race with the MLRA, the better.

With fewer tracks running full-blown late models on a weekly basis, this should make MLRA stronger.  Promotors can justify late models once or twice a year, and MLRA can provide a solid field of cars for a relatively inexpensive special event.

Reader Comments

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Apr 24, 2007 08:35:02 PM by JDG48

Kirk, you are correct there is a happy medium, family members after the last feature. If I continue to get to blog pending Scott's reaction, one of the subjects will be cheating, not always the obvious but those who cheat a promoter, or cheat the system that leads to debates about family members in pictures, also a short blurb about different responses by those who get caught,

 

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