4 Crown Post Race Interview

[RiffRaf67]

Robert Ballou made me a fan with his post race comments, but I am sure Eldora will squash it.
If anyone finds a video, please repost it so I can share it with a couple buddies that didn't go.

[CIRF]

Robert Ballou made me a fan with his post race comments, but I am sure Eldora will squash it.
If anyone finds a video, please repost it so I can share it with a couple buddies that didn't go.

RR, I've been looking for a video of Robert's podium interview, as well. I didn't catch all of it since there was a whole bunch of noise around us and we had a couple of people trying to carry on a conversation with us while it was happening.

We were already big fans of The Madman but his post race comments significantly solidified our support for him.

I'm no driver and don't know what I'm talking about from a driver perspective, but I think the ice skating rink they called a racetrack was partially responsible for some of the wrecks that took place. Rico's wreck during the midget A-main and Kody Swanson's crash in the Silver Crown A-main both looked like they were in part due to no cushion.

Despite the track conditions all the racing except the Silver Crown A-main was actually pretty good. The USAC sprint car A-main was a really good show. The Silver Crown A-main was a snoozer and those cars are my favorite which only added to the disappointment in the track conditions. But, I'll be back next year and hope for the best!!

RR, where did you end up setting? We were in Section G, Row 6, Seats 5, 6, 7 & 8.

[RiffRaf67]

You will be pleased to hear that I sat behind Mark Smith's group, who was above Jack Hewitt's group in turn 3.
Friends had camped Friday night and went over Saturday afternoon and analyzed wind conditions.
We were on the top row of bleachers in turn 3 in Secion NN, almost to the flagpoles, right below the RABBE Automotive sign.
Sun was glaring in our eyes for most of hot laps, but once it set it was a real enjoyable vantage point with no dust.
We left at the beginning of silver crown so I am not disappointed to hear it was a snoozer.

The just of the interview was Tony promised a cushion and there was none. He apologized to the fans twice to have to watch that sh!tty racing and mentioned that TS must have taken the cushion with him to Marco Andretti's wedding.

[CIRF]

You will be pleased to hear that I sat behind Mark Smith's group, who was above Jack Hewitt's group in turn 3.
Friends had camped Friday night and went over Saturday afternoon and analyzed wind conditions.
We were on the top row of bleachers in turn 3 in Secion NN, almost to the flagpoles, right below the RABBE Automotive sign.
Sun was glaring in our eyes for most of hot laps, but once it set it was a real enjoyable vantage point with no dust.
We left at the beginning of silver crown so I am not disappointed to hear it was a snoozer.

The just of the interview was Tony promised a cushion and there was none. He apologized to the fans twice to have to watch that sh!tty racing and mentioned that TS must have taken the cushion with him to Marco Andretti's wedding.

We had been in the pits from about 3 PM and headed to our grandstand seats right after All Star sprint car hotlaps. Jack had told us on Thursday that they'd be setting in turn #3 and we thought about setting over there with those guys. The wife doesn't like the heat and blazing sunshine and we were working on the assumption that hot laps would start much earlier than they did and she didn't want to set in the sun that long so we got tickets over in the covered grandstand. We stopped and talked to Jack for a while on our way from the pits over to our seats. You were probably there and we didn't even know it. Wish we'd have known that, we'd have introduced ourselves.

We had a great time again this year. By 10 or 11 PM it was perfect temperature for a small fire and a few beers at the camper. It isn't so overly crowded for the 4 Crown like it is for the World Hundred and we love the atmosphere.

Gotta' question. When the cars are running up by the wall how long do you lose sight of them? All the times we've been to Eldora we have never watched them race while setting in the corners.

[RiffRaf67]

I bet we passed each other going back and forth! I did just the opposite:
I went to the main stands section AA to watch Allstar winged Hot laps with another group of friends from northern ohio. I started walking back afterwards and we had to have passed each other. I am always in a bandanna and black oakleys, older pic (with more hair) is here on my profile. Had my BC shirt on initially, but switched to Christopher Bell's 2017 TSR shirt after watching him win the truck race.
Next year we will have to get together there, or maybe even in Knoxville.. nudge.. nudge... <grin>

Perfect weather, I too was under the assumption we would be starting earlier, and went to the stands early.
It was definitely a little warm sitting there in the sun, so a good call on your part in keeping the better half happy.
You can see them come down the back stretch and then you loose them up high in T3 because they are right below ya at that point. But you can see T2 and T4 very well and even up that high, the haulers block the lower lines down the main stretch into T1. I've sat every where there and you give and take in each spot, main grandstands is probably all around the best place with only the lower part of the backstretch blocked from your view.. And taking dust into considerations, you either want to be under the overhang on the front stretch or sitting with the wind to your back.

I love the place when its empty, i.e. not slammed pack. 4 Crown is about the perfect mix of having enough good "people watching" without it being wall to wall bodies.

[CIRF]

I bet we passed each other going back and forth! I did just the opposite:
I went to the main stands section AA to watch Allstar winged Hot laps with another group of friends from northern ohio. I started walking back afterwards and we had to have passed each other. I am always in a bandanna and black oakleys, older pic (with more hair) is here on my profile. Had my BC shirt on initially, but switched to Christopher Bell's 2017 TSR shirt after watching him win the truck race.
Next year we will have to get together there, or maybe even in Knoxville.. nudge.. nudge... <grin>

Perfect weather, I too was under the assumption we would be starting earlier, and went to the stands early.
It was definitely a little warm sitting there in the sun, so a good call on your part in keeping the better half happy.
You can see them come down the back stretch and then you loose them up high in T3 because they are right below ya at that point. But you can see T2 and T4 very well and even up that high, the haulers block the lower lines down the main stretch into T1. I've sat every where there and you give and take in each spot, main grandstands is probably all around the best place with only the lower part of the backstretch blocked from your view.. And taking dust into considerations, you either want to be under the overhang on the front stretch or sitting with the wind to your back.

I love the place when its empty, i.e. not slammed pack. 4 Crown is about the perfect mix of having enough good "people watching" without it being wall to wall bodies.

Yep, I'll bet your spot on about passing each other!

I never heard why the delay happened but it was definitely planned. A good friend writes a weekly column for an online racing publication and he takes intricate notes and has all the inside USAC printouts available to the media, etc. He had the official USAC sprint car qualifying order print out and it clearly said on that sheet that hot laps would begin at 6 PM. All the information I saw said 4 PM. Levi, Spridge and their support staff have brought USAC out of the cold dark night it was floundering in for a long time. It all started with Andy Hillenburg coming to the Silver Crown division and Levi and Spridge have kept the momentum going in all divisions. This year was the best crowd we've seen since we started attending the 3 Crown. I just hope the confusion regarding hot lap times is a rare glitch as opposed to the norm as it was before Andy, Levi and Spridge came on the scene.

[CIRF]

Next year we will have to get together there, or maybe even in Knoxville.. nudge.. nudge... <grin>

It won't take much convincing to get me to Knoxville for the sprint Nationals. If I could get good tickets I'd probably head out there. Actually Knoxville, Iowa is closer to us than Eldora and a whole lot easier drive. To get to Eldora we have to take 2 lane state highways all the way there. Knoxville we just jump on Interstate 80 West and go to Newton, Iowa exit 164 and go south on Rt. 14 to Knoxville.

[Highwayman]

RR, I've been looking for a video of Robert's podium interview, as well. I didn't catch all of it since there was a whole bunch of noise around us and we had a couple of people trying to carry on a conversation with us while it was happening.

We were already big fans of The Madman but his post race comments significantly solidified our support for him.

I'm no driver and don't know what I'm talking about from a driver perspective, but I think the ice skating rink they called a racetrack was partially responsible for some of the wrecks that took place. Rico's wreck during the midget A-main and Kody Swanson's crash in the Silver Crown A-main both looked like they were in part due to no cushion.

Despite the track conditions all the racing except the Silver Crown A-main was actually pretty good. The USAC sprint car A-main was a really good show. The Silver Crown A-main was a snoozer and those cars are my favorite which only added to the disappointment in the track conditions. But, I'll be back next year and hope for the best!!

RR, where did you end up setting? We were in Section G, Row 6, Seats 5, 6, 7 & 8.

Yeah, slick can be great, but it needs a cushion to race it, otherwise....

[CIRF]

Yeah, slick can be great, but it needs a cushion to race it, otherwise....

Hwm, if they just slightly misjudged how hard to execute the slider there was virtually no curb that they could use to catch themselves and power off of. They'd just slide up the track and hit the wall. Like I said earlier, given the fact that I've never even sat in the seat of one of those cars I'm the last person to be railing about how the track conditions hampered the show but T-Mez and Madman basically said the same thing.

[RiffRaf67]

It won't take much convincing to get me to Knoxville for the sprint Nationals. If I could get good tickets I'd probably head out there. Actually Knoxville, Iowa is closer to us than Eldora and a whole lot easier drive. To get to Eldora we have to take 2 lane state highways all the way there. Knoxville we just jump on Interstate 80 West and go to Newton, Iowa exit 164 and go south on Rt. 14 to Knoxville.

Good news, I don't think there is a bad seat in the house.
Bad news, they announced a seat widening effort that will make good seats harder to come by.
I believe they are going to go up from 16" to 20" and that will eliminate some of those good seats.
IF I wasn't sitting with friends on the front stretch, I'd be sitting on the back stretch. You are a lot closer to the track and usually those tickets can be easily obtained.

[CIRF]

Good news, I don't think there is a bad seat in the house.
Bad news, they announced a seat widening effort that will make good seats harder to come by.
I believe they are going to go up from 16" to 20" and that will eliminate some of those good seats.
IF I wasn't sitting with friends on the front stretch, I'd be sitting on the back stretch. You are a lot closer to the track and usually those tickets can be easily obtained.

It used to be that the sprint nationals was the same weekend as the Illinois State Fair Silver Crown and ARCA races at The Springfield Mile. That was always my reason for not going given that I haven't missed a State Fair race weekend in over 40 years!! However, now the Nationals are the weekend before the State Fair races on the mile so I have no excuse. It's time I did the nationals.

I may need to pick your brain a bit for pointers on details concerning the sprint nationals.