Originally Posted by
Zonks32x
I made the 2.25 hour trek up to Luxemburg tonight from SE Wisconsin. Here's a few observations from tonight's event.1) As many of you know, the Midwest has been hammered with rain over the last couple days and weeks. That said, I wasn't the least bit surprised to see the grader and pack trucks still on the track at 7:05p.m. when I arrived. What was surprising was how much clay/top surface they took off in order to get this race in tonight. There were piles of wet clay pushed to the infield around the entire track, except the front stretch. In some spots, the clay was 3 foot high. (More on that later). 2) Hot laps started at 7:30pm instead of 6:30. No biggie, gave us time to walk the souvenir alley. I applaud the tracks efforts to do what needed to be done to give the racers a smooth race surface and not a rutted mess. It was tacky early on.3) Hats off to Luxemburg because they kept the show moving. They ran LM time trials 28 cars (2 at a time), 3 LM heats, 3 mod heats, 2 B-mod heats, Lucas B-main, 2 IMCA stock car heats, and the 50 lap LM feature in 2.5 hours. LM feature finished right around 10p.m. Waited for Babb's interview and then we decided to leave. In the truck by 10:15. (Skipped the mod features and stock car feature...kid has to work at 7am)4) Speaking of Time TrialsThe Dirt Track Dominator got dominated on his second qualifying lap. He dipped the nose too low and hooked it on the pile of clay in the middle of 3 and 4. Can't say I didn't expect someone to do it, just not Bloomer.5) Bloomer brain fart part TWOEarly in the feature, (Bloomer started 6th), he just flat out got out of the groove again in 3 and 4. Parked it on the top of the track as the field passed him and waited for the caution. It was driver error plain and simple. Even the best have an off night and tonight was his. Cost him a trip to the caboose of the train. Finished last car on the lead lap. Two to three more laps and Babb would have put him a lap down.6) Babb was fast all nightHe was fast in hot laps, he set fast time, won his heat, and took advantage of starting on the pole on a track that locked down. I blame Mother Nature. In order to race, they had to take a lot of material off the top and because the ground is so saturated. They couldn't water because if they did, it would have taken hours for the show to resume. Regardless...it was the same for all 28 drivers and Babb was the best tonight. Congratulations.7) It was 41 degrees!!Another reason the track didn't dry out today after Thursday's heavy rains. It was cloudy and cold all day across the entire state. I dislike a train race as much as the next person, but I don't see what the track could have done any different. After a long cold winter w/out racing, I'm not going to complain. I got to see some of the best in the biz, all be it on a track that locked down. The track crew got the place ready to race and they kept the show moving on a night that resembled late October bow hunting weather instead of what we usually have in late May. It was 85 degrees on Tuesday!?!?!8) Tip of the cap to the ModifiedsThey ran 3 heats, first two caution free, and 3rd one was heading that way until lap 7 when a car spun out...again in 3 and 4. B-mods too, raced clean and hard and no caution fest. Thumbs up boys!!9) Better than LM Heat 3...Poor Brett Swedeberg. He looped it on the first lap, then on two successive re-starts he had to lock it up and spin to avoid hitting Marlar and Owens who spun in front of him. Then the guy gets taken out later in the race. Lanigan was on a rail and made one of the few passes of the night getting around Bloomer late in that heat.10) Boom Briggs??He looks as out to lunch on the LOLMS as he did on the WoO tour. I don't know what's wrong there, but something is definitely amiss. When a full-time touring driver could easily be mistaken for one of the locals because he's back marking with them...just sayin'. To his credit, he was one of the few who passed cars in the feature, 20th to 12th. Francis too....not the same driver as a few years ago.11) Home Town HeroHats off to Jared Siefert who raced his way into the A-main thru the B, and made his first career Lucas Oil A-main start tonight. 12) Frankie Heckenast..only WoO guy tonight?Thought we might see Shirley too but no such luck. No Feger either? Thought Jason might show up after winning the July 4th CBC race at Luxemburg few years back (year of the Illini deal).13) The Lucas Oil PA announcer, Just the facts...He said the LOLMS had never been to Luxemburg prior to tonight. TRUEHe also said Bloomer had never raced at Luxemburg. WRONG!!! He then strolled down memory lane about the Hav-A-Tampa race in Shawano (from like 20 years ago??) It was only a couple years ago Bloomer dropped off the Lucas tour mid-year. One of the first tracks he raced at after dropping off was Luxemburg at the CBC race I just alluded too. Bloomer came up to WI to do some fishing on Lake Michigan and GOT PAID $10K just for pullin' through the pit gate for the CBC race. That 10K certainly took the sting out of Feger beating him and everyone else like a rented mule.C'mon buddy...you're getting paid to know this crap, I'm not!! And my final thought...14) Wrong Number Operator??You know the difference between the #71 team from IN and the #32 team from IL? One Dad of a second generation driver is SMART enough to know that printing/selling shirts with his son's name on it that say "First name F#cking Last name...Don't Like it Eat S#it and Die" would be a BAD idea, BAD for business, BAD for his son's future and BAD for sponsorship $$. Apparently nobody associated with the other team gets that, understands that, or cares why their latest t-shirt is a colossal mistake!! While I was wandering souvenir alley, I noticed more than one Mom and Dad with small children who stopped by the #32 souvenir trailer to take a gander only to walk away in disgust.A) You sell racecars....I can safely assume that if I call West by God Virginia, to buy a racecar, they won't answer the phone with, "F#ckin' Rocket, Buy One You POS" I'm pretty confident the same is true of Capital, Club 29, etc. Are you in business to sell racecars and make thousands of $ every time you sell one, or are you in business to sell t-shirts to the lowest common denominator, even by dirt track standards, and make $5?B) Parents like to buy their kids stuff, especially their young kids...but any self-respecting parent with 1/2 a brain is going to think twice about buying your kid-safe merch when they see the message you are projecting front and center in your souvenir trailer and who your apparent target audience is. C) Did anyone stop to think how current sponsors would react? Future sponsors? Anyone consider what a certain brand of spark plug whose name is on the car might think??? Why don't you send all of their execs one of the new t-shirts so they can wear them proudly knowing their f3cking name is on the side of your f3cking racecar and that they help pay your f3cking bills, so you can race said f3cking car.That pretty much sums it up. Congrats again to Babb.