I'm not sure how to describe last night's racing at BFG. It was both great and lacking at the same time. Attendance was good. We were 21 cars deep in Late Model with multiple heats of trucks, Street Stocks and an overfull heat of Sprint cars. A quick look at the heat boards looks like there were just over 40 cars in the field which is friggin' awesome for Dirt Oval racing in West Michigan.
Before, the race, John had a drivers meeting to clear the air and clarify the discussion surrounding some proposed rule changes that have been circling around the Hobbytalk thread over the last week. It was decided that 13.5 will remain open as will the truck class. No tire rule will be implemented for the time being so we're on foams and rubbers, depending on driver preference. So far, rubber tire has been the preference for most drivers, but fast lap times have been run on foam tires equal to those of rubber for the most part.
Street Stocks are going to a breakout of five seconds right now to allow anyone to run whatever they have without having to buy a different motor. That wouldn't have been my choice, but I don't run the class and I do see the logic.
Personally, I would have liked to have seen us go to blinky for Late Model because I think that would have led to the best racing in the long run. The main reason to keep it open was the lack of desire to start worrying about tech for cars, which I completely understand. I wouldn't want that job. So for now, just about anything goes in 13.5 LM. DODC body, ROAR approved 13.5 and that's about it. I like less rules. It lets me focus on getting faster and not worry about what everyone else is doing to go fast.
The quality of the racing improved to some degree. There was less hacking and aggressive driving which was nice to see. It wasn't bad before, but there were definitely a few racers running a little aggressively. The drivers meeting beforehand reiterated the need for drivers to give courtesy wherever possible, whether it's moving over for someone in the heats or not running someone over in the mains. For the most part, it was heeded. I didn't see any instances of someone running someone else over and very few instances of racers holding others up in the heats.
My Sprint car wasn't feeling too bad. It just seemed that I couldn't catch a break in the heat races. The front bulkhead screws came out in the first heat. Sheared a screw off inside of the bell crank steering in another. The mains were a lot of fun. Somehow, I got out front with Jodi coming and just as he got to me with about 30 seconds remaining, he ended up with contact with lap traffic hitting him. I thought I was in the clear when I did the exact same thing 20 seconds later. Jodi ended up winning the race with Butch Beebe coming in second. Close racing to be sure. We probably could have split up the Sprints for the heats. Seven is an awful lot of vehicles. Then again, guys need to start racing the cars and not the track and get used to racing in big heats. The mains are always fun.
John decided to run the heat races full so that led to some unavoidable contact in some of the heats. I was on the losing end of some of that contact, which happens. My Late Model went from wrecking loose to tight to just about ok by the time we got to the third heat. I also smoked a speedo after the first heat, which made for an expensive night on the town. Oh well, it lived a good life. If anyone is unloading a Tekin speedo cheap, I'm interested. I had a good run going until the last 10 seconds of the third heat, when the screw holding my bellcrank steering screw sheared off. Yes, a second frigging bellcrank in a different car!!!! I overcame the first one by canibalizing an Outlaw 2.0 chasis I had with me as a project car. Unfortunately, I didn't have extras of that part since they're kind of pricey.
Jodi Flipse set the new track record in 13.5 Late Model at 61 laps on rubber tires. That doesn't mean I'm switching. I still think that foam can get it done. Maybe not with all of the rubber tires running on it, then again, maybe it can. I'm only a tenth off of the fastest times on rubber and my car is what I would describe as junk. With a good setup, I think I can hang.
I suppose the death of the Rocket steering is the kick in the ass I needed to assemble the SE3 and get that on the track. I've been working on it this morning. I need to get some electronics soldered and get a body painted. Then I should be good to go. I'm hoping to have it ready for our next night of racing.
I don't have much else to report from racing. I did want to throw out the idea of travelling to some big races this winter. On January 19th, the Big O at Monee is going to be a good show. I'm planning to hit that one. If anyone ever wants to see the world outside of the Shire and race another track, Monee is a good one. The first weekend in February, Teas is having the Outlaw Nationals. It's a long ways away, but I hear that it's a great place to race so I'm anxious to see it. Finally, the first weekend in March, is the big race at Trackside in Milwaukee. There will be some heavy hitters there to be sure. That track is very similar to BFG except that it has about another foot and a half of banking and is crazy fast.
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