*Turn 2 Blog is a regular feature on InsideDirtRacing.com. Here, site operators Michael Moats and Richard Allen take turns offering their thoughts on the dirt racing topics of the day from east Tennessee and beyond.
The latest edition of the Turn 2 Blog is presented by the American Crate All-Star Series.
Richard: The first weekend back from government imposed restrictions levied against race tracks in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 bought about an interesting situation last Friday night at the Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. It was obvious from the time I pulled off of I-81 and turned toward the track for the American Crate All-Stars Series and Topless Outlaws Late Model Dirt Series event that this was going to be no ordinary trip to the race track.
Clearly, people had grown weary of sitting at home with no entertainment. Traffic was backed all the way out of the track’s entrance and onto Highway 11E. I had never seen that before in all the trips I have made to Bulls Gap, including for Lucas Oil and World of Outlaws shows.
Not only were fans backed up as they tried to get into the pit area but so were the competitors. There was a delay in the drivers meeting that had originally been scheduled for 6:30pm for the simple reason that everyone, racers included, could not get into the track. And in the meantime, a brief rain shower passed over the track which created the need for more work to be done on the racing surface.
Keep in mind that Fridays are different from Saturdays when it comes to delaying drivers meetings. Normally, I am not in favor of delaying the show because of traffic getting into the track on Saturdays because the vast majority of racers have known all day what time they are supposed to be there and if they don’t make, it’s no one’s fault but their own. On Fridays, however, many are subject to the restraints of work schedules and simply can’t leave any earlier.
With such a big and enthusiastic crowd on hand, the option of canceling or postponing the race because of the brief shower was not realistic considering that it would not have been raining by the time fans had returned to their cars which would have brought a firestorm of social media criticism.
Once the action finally got underway, another more significant rain shower moved in and again delayed the proceedings just as qualifying had gotten underway.
The track was then put in an awkward “darned if you do and darned if you don’t position”. Calling the race would have been devastating with so many tickets already sold. Continuing meant that the event would go well into the morning hours. Volunteer officials opted to go on with the show.
As we have talked about on here many times, timely and well-run shows are best for the sport. That said, however, with all the pieces that fell into place as described above, I believe the track made the right call to continue and see the event through to its conclusion, even if it did last all night.
Your thoughts?
Cory Hedgecock scored two wins over the Memorial Day weekend
Michael: Like you said, the track is almost in a no-win situation when it comes to those types of scenarios. Most track owners are of the opinion that once the gates are open, they will do everything they can to get the program in. Obviously, tracks with a curfew are different. And sometimes travel may be involved for race teams to get to the next race on the following night.
Issuing rain checks is a big hassle for a promoter. There is so much to keep up with over an extended period of time with regards as to who redeems those and when. I have seen situations where someone had a rain check from a March race and tried to redeem it in October.
For fans, they know if the track is going to try to get the show in, even if it’s the early morning hours, they either stay as long as they can hold out or leave without getting their moneys worth. It’s a tricky situation for everyone.
Kyle Courtney pulled into Volunteer Speedway victory lane in the early morning hours
Richard: As I said earlier, this was a unique situation with so many factors converging all at once- big crowd, Friday evening, return from quarantine restrictions, and rain. This is definitely not an endorsement for racing into the wee hours of the morning on a regular basis. As has been said so many times lately in regard to the shutdowns imposed all across the country, there aren’t really any right answers so you just have to hope you can find the least wrong answer. I believe that’s what Volunteer Speedway did on this occasion.
To slightly turn in another direction, it was obvious that racers were ready to race this past weekend. As much as some bemoan the fact that there really is no off-season in dirt racing anymore, the racers showed that being cooped up at home is not for them as car counts were quite good at most venues .
The Topless Outlaws Late Model Dirt Series had a combined total of more than 50 entrants at Volunteer Speedway and Smoky Mountain Speedway on Friday and Saturday while the American Crate All-Star Series had well over 100 competitors to sign in at those two tracks as well as Crossville Speedway on Sunday.
It’s basically as if we are coming out of hibernation in early spring as far as racing goes except that the weather is warmer. Everyone has their equipment freshened up and is ready to go.
This could actually even make for better competition, couldn’t it?
Michael: I have felt early on the amount of drivers willing to race and fans ready to get out to see some racing made it a prime time for racing in this area. This past weekend has shown that to be true. I think we will see that continue for some time as long as the racers don’t have to constantly repair equipment and the fans still have the resources to attend these events.
There are many big events coming up over the next several weeks. With tracks looking to get in as much racing as they can and some series looking for places to race, there could be other events added not already on the schedule. It’s going to be a jam-packed several months.
Trevor Sise won the American Crate feature at Volunteer
Richard: And finally, we saw another big crowd and great car count on Monday night at 411 Motor Speedway for the Scott Sexton Memorial. Just another example of how much everyone missed racing during this shutdown.
But there were also some noteworthy driving performances this past weekend.
As we have come to expect in these parts, Cory Hedgecock was outstanding as he won the $10,052 Scott Sexton Memorial at 411 Motor Speedway along with the Topless Outlaws Late Model Dirt Series feature at Smoky Mountain. He also added a runner-up result in the American Crate All-Star Series main event at Smoky Mountain.
The Sise brothers showed strength as Trevor won the American Crate All-Star Series feature at Volunteer while younger brother Zach took the Crate Late Model event at 411. And you have to mention veteran Randy Weaver who put on a clinic in winning American Crate features at Smoky Mountain and Crossville Speedway.
Any driving performances catch you eye this weekend?
Eli Beets had solid performances throughout the weekend
Michael: Two drivers stood out to me. The first is Kyle Courtney. He won the Topless Outlaw race at Volunteer, then followed that up with a third place finish at Smoky Mountain. He looks like he has a stout piece to drive.
The other is Eli Beets. He had a fourth place finish at Volunteer in the American Crate All-Stars race. He had a third place finish at Smoky Mountain, then sat on the front row at Crossville before running into some trouble in the feature. He’s still a relative unknown, but look for a story on him in the near future.
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