YIKES!!! Last Friday, April 17 did not go well at Tri-City Speedway's "Frostbuster 50" in Granite City, Illinois near St. Louis. Weather was great, 45 or 48 late models at the track, stands were full. Miss Sheppard, Dixie (my dog) and I were in the Feger-Shep souvenir trailer most of the night. Miss and I were taking turns watching the heats. When Steve and Brandon raced, she watched the heats. When Jason was out, I watched. Jason finished fifth in his heat, which meant he'd have to go through the semi. Darn it :(
Dixie was not happy at all, but for a complete different reason. My poor dog wanted nothing to do with the dirt that was slingin' up and hitting her as we sat on the bottom row of the stands.
Jason won the semi by a pretty good margin. He looked very good, like he'd be able to move forward in the feature. YEAH!!!!
Feature time, my plan was to cover up Dixie with a blanket on the bottom of the stands so if the dirt hit, she wouldn't mind as much. Typically she will sit still through a very long race. A shout of thanks is needed to the guy in the stands who helped me cover Dixie up before the feature.
Feger started 16th, with Birky and Vaught on the pole. Behind the front row were Don Oneal, Scott James and several other very good drivers. Jason started picking off drivers in the rear one by one. He looked good, potentially a top five car.
Lap 12 -- Jason was up to eigth, battling Brad Neat for seventh. WHAM, Dixie gets hit by a big dirt clod, so we had to move, she wasn't about to stay put for the entire feature. We move to the aisle between the stands all the while watching the feature. KABOOM, within two laps Jason SLAMS into the front stretch wall, nose first exactly where we were sitting. Fence poles tumble down, the garbage can went flying and Dixie and I went running to see if Jason was ok. Poor Night Train didn't so look good. Jason was trying to back up, he had NO idea that the right rear axle was broken. I was just glad he was ok.
The guy who helped me cover up Dixie was saying that dog acts like she know him. So, I'm like, heck yes she does! That's her car and her boy! Dixie pulls me over to the fence, smelling in the air. I don't know if she could hear Jason talking to the officials or what.
So, back to the race. Tri-City threw the red flag. Poor Night Train and Jason were hooked up by the wrecker and dragged off to the pits looking very pathetic. The back hoe came out, officials had to replace three fence posts with new ones. Nearly 30 minutes everything was ready to go racing and Dixie and I went back to the souvenir trailer.
Birky won, so congrats to the Birkhoffer-Mars teams.
Birky won, so congrats to the Birkhoffer-Mars teams.
Budha, Dixie and I left the track around midnight to make the trek home. The guys came home a couple of hours later, maybe around 4:30 - 5:00 in the morning. Saturday was supposed to be Kamp. Unfortunately, all the guys were in the shop working on the car all day and most of the evening.
Sunday was supposed to be Quad Cities for the UMP/WDRL challenge, but the weather won that race.
Next on the schedule: "The Opening Extravaganza" at Kankakee on Friday, Kamp Motor Speedway on Saturday and Lincoln Speedway on Sunday. A triple header, all events part of the Monster Midwest Series.
See ya there!
