By Jacob Hord, @HordRaceWatcher
No cheesy intro this week. We’re diving straight into the meat and potatoes.
Rock and a Hard Place: Unless you live under a rock, you know that Atomic Speedway took rubber Monday night during the World of Outlaws feature. The feature was even shortened to 25 laps due to rubber concerns. I don’t envy the folks at Atomic at all, because they were in a no-win situation. There are many places across Ohio that would have benefitted from building an ark this spring, and Atomic is included. It puts the track prep crew in a tough spot. They basically have two options, both risky. They can pack the track surface in super hard, aka sealing it, so that the inevitable rain doesn’t soak into the track surface as much. This keeps the track smoother, drier, but you run the risk of rubber. The alternative is to till the track open, allowing the rain to soak in and soften the dirt. The softer dirt then runs the risk of rutting up and creating a rough track, which could lead to more crashes on a very fast track. As an attendee of the 2016 or 2017 All Star finale where there were 12-15 red flags, Atomic doesn’t need to be rough given how naturally fast it is. Ask Brinton Marvel how a rough Atomic Speedway is. If you have a rough track, and cars get torn up, people complain. If they make it so the track is smooth, but potentially takes rubber, people complain. I truly believe Atomic made the right choice in sealing the track. Teams don’t need to be building a new car before their 17 hour haul to North Dakota. It just didn’t work out Monday night, and the surface sucked. Take Attica for example on Saturday night though. The track was sealed, but not as hard as the week before for the local show. The cars eventually broke through the seal and got into the softer dirt, giving the track “character.” It’s upsetting to see so many people write off a track for one bad night with less than ideal circumstances. Charlie, Dave, and Co. have done wonders at Atomic Speedway the last few years, and their efforts shouldn’t be downplayed because the surface took rubber. Every. Track. Will. Take. Rubber. Even your favorite track that can do no wrong will take rubber eventually. Heck, for a rubber down feature, it was a good race if you could take off your rose colored sunglasses. A good game of cat-and-mouse between Carson Macedo and Cole Duncan. But we won’t talk about that. Just rubber. Rubber rubber rubber.
Heartbreak for Cole Duncan: In my 410 season preview article, I stated that this would be the year that Cole Duncan would take down the World of Outlaws at Atomic, and he almost made me look really smart, selfishly. Going into the evening, I just had that feeling that it was going to happen. Then, Duncan had a bad pill draw and would go out late in qualifying. Duncan was able to lay down a lap good enough for twelfth. Duncan would finish second in his heat race, good enough to make the dash, and drew the pole for the dash. That feeling began to creep back into me. I don’t get nervous before races, but I started to feel nervous, because I knew that we could experience a once-in-a-lifetime moment at the end of 25 laps. Alas, it wasn’t in the cards for Duncan, as he couldn’t get around Carson Macedo in the rubber. Not for a lack of trying though. Duncan sent it in the final set of corners, trying to make something work, but it didn’t. He tagged the wall and slipped to third as the checkers flew. As a dejected Duncan stated on the front stretch, “Second or third, it really doesn’t matter.” He wanted the win badly, and you have to feel for him. He’s going to pick one of these off some day, and it’ll be the celebration of a lifetime. But, this one is going to sting for a while. These opportunities don’t present themselves every day.
I Love Aaron Reutzel the Villain: After a controversial night at BAPS a weekend ago which featured contact with PA Posse local Kody Hartlaub, Aaron Reutzel found himself getting the last laugh at the $100k to win Bob Weikert Memorial at Port Royal. Reutzel scored the win over Anthony Macri, embraced the “boos,” then held his hands to his ears and exclaimed, “I can’t hear you, I have too much money in my ear!” Iconic. There is no fan base as rabid as the PA Posse, and if they feel like you’ve done one of their own wrong, they’ll let you hear about it forever. It was nice to see Reutzel embrace all the jeers and give a Denny Hamlin-esque quote in victory lane, just to rile up the fans that much more. I remember his first weekend in the Ridge and Sons car after the Roth 83 debacle, he got booed all weekend in Ohio, but ended up winning the Pete Jacobs Memorial at Wayne County and embraced all the boos there as well. You gotta respect the guy willing to put his money where his mouth is and be able to take all the heat that comes with wearing the villain hat. Aaron Reutzel is that guy, love it or hate it.
Waynesfield Impresses: Admittedly, I am very cautious of Sunday night racing. I’ve had too many experiences of shows not starting on time, being drug out, and ending super late when I have to be at work early the next morning. With Farmer’s taking over Waynesfield in the offseason, I knew Ohio’s lost gem deserved another chance– and they delivered in a huge way.
The GLSS 360s were the main attraction for me, but modifieds and the Dirt Track Truck Series were also on the card. Heat races were advertised for 7pm, and that’s when they started. Before 8pm, the GLSS Feature was being pushed onto the track. Granted, it helps that there were no BMain’s, but eight heat races in 45-50 minutes is pretty impressive. The track received a resurfacing, and for the first time in a long time, I could see what was happening over in turns one and two from turns three and four, and it was a racy track. A little heavy in my opinion, but again, it’s rained and rained and rained. Drivers and fans alike were equally as impressed with Waynesfield’s season opener. I don’t want to jump the gun, but Waynesfield might be back.
Schuchart Finally Tames Attica: In what can be considered as a brawl for the win, Logan Schuchart was able to get away from local-favorite Sheldon Haudenschild for his first win at ARP on Saturday night with the World of Outlaws. Haud jumped out to the early lead, but a slew of yellows would keep Schuchart close, and eventually Schuchart made the move for the lead and pull away. But more yellow flags would allow Haudenschild to do the same. That’s when the heavyweight bout really ramped up. Unfortunately, it seemed like every time they’d reach lapped traffic, the yellow flag would come out. An Open Red flag situation was needed, and teams made some adjustments. Whatever the Shark Racing 1S team did, it worked, and they were able to pull away from Haudenschild in the late stages to claim the Kistler Engines Classic. Haudenschild and Skylar Gee rounded out the podium, this was Gee’s first career Outlaw podium.
Mumaw Back on Top of The County: I’m not sure how this race played out, but it looks like Chris Myers was leading early and had something go wrong, giving the lead to former track champion Danny Mumaw, who then dominated the rest of the race to win by nearly four seconds over Ricky Peterson and Tyler Street. I know Mumaw has made some scattered starts the last couple of years, but maybe he’s back for good in 2025?
QuickHits:
-Skylar Gee had a great weekend with the Outlaws, posting a P3 at Attica and a P5 at Atomic. The Outlaw rookies seemingly take turns getting their best career runs, as Chris Windom’s P2 at Atomic was his best run to date, and this is the weekend after Conner Morrell nearly won up at Oshweken. Hunter Schurenberg also nabbed his first top five at Atomic, and Zach Hampton and Cole Macedo have had their flashes up front as well. It’s been a very strong Outlaw rookie class so far.
-Nik Larson took the Washington Midget Racing Association win at South Sound Speedway in the Bob McLees Memorial Saturday night. Maybe Kyle should’ve asked him for some tips for Sunday. (I’m joking).
-Kasey Jedrzejek and Devon Dobie took the GLSS 360 wins at Limaland and Waynesfield respectively on Friday and Sunday. Saturday’s event at Millstream was rained out.
-What universe are we living in where most of Ohio rains out on Friday, except Limaland?
-I believe Millstream’s rainout on Saturday makes them 0/3 or 0/4 to start the season, which is a shame because most of those race days, the weather has been nice, it’s just the grass pits and parking lots are too flooded to be usable come raceday.
-A question posed to me by the great Dan McFarland Monday at Atomic: What’s the benefit of running a steel block late model vs. a Crate Late Model?
-The Outlaws really took it to the Ohio locals Saturday at Attica. They took 13 of the first 14 spots, and none of the Outlaws were in the LCS or CMain.
-Why can’t the Outlaws call it a BMain? There was a CMain, but no BMain. Make it make sense.
-Kudos to the Outlaws and Attica for the audible and switching Friday’s show to Saturday after Sharon had to cancel due to wet grounds. You hate to see it for Sharon, but it worked out well for the Outlaws and Attica.