We made the trip to Brownstown last night to run with the Midwest Mini Sprint Association. It was our first trip to the track and our first time running without a wing in several years. I loved the track and facilities. It is a very wide large 1/4 mile slightly banked oval. The facilities are some of the neatest I have seen with quaint wooden covered grandstands and plenty of green. It is another one of those cool little Indiana fairground tracks that is located just on the edge of the city of Brownstown. It was a pretty easy 2 hour trip from our shop just North of Cincinnati.
There were a total of 19 cars in attendance. The night got off to a wild start as Seth Wilkerson climbed the tire of another competitor and flipped out the end of corners 3 & 4. Wilkerson flipped high in the air ripping the fuel cell out of his car leaving fuel on the track which resulted in a lengthy red flag for cleanups. We won wing. The next heat race also witnessed a pretty good flip as Alex Shipman and Rod Henning got together. The Ambrose brothers past experience in TQ midgets was evident as they ran 1 & 2 for the first half of the second heat. Colin Ambrose was pulling away until engine problems sidelined him, giving Lynn the win. The final heat would find Seth Mottsinger out in front. Seth told me that he has been doing double duty running a midget with the POWRI Midget series. He says that they routinely get 30 midgets. He has also been running sprints occassionally and has recently purchased his own sprint car. Nick Hale was second in the heat putting on an impressive showing chasing Mottsinger down. Not to disappoint, the third heat also produced a pretty spectacular flip. I will apologize for not knowing the driver's name, but he was pushing it pretty hard and went into the turn and caught a rut and got the car upset. He tumbled a few times before coming to rest on all four wheels, but his night was finished.
The feature is the reason I titled this blog "A Serving of Humble Pie". I was lucky enough to draw the pole for the feature. We made several changes to the car for the feature, and would have liked to make just a few more...but we weren't prepared with some of the things required, namely easy up shocks for the front, a left front brake and a tire that would give us a few inches less stagger. With that said, the car was much better and I was starting to get a little more comfortable in my driving. While I grabbed the lead on the start, Lynn Ambrose went around me on the outside coming off of turn 2. I then slid a little wide and Seth Motsinger went by me. I was able to get a good drive down low coming off of 2 and get back by Motsinger. I then drove the car into turn 1 too hard and washed up giving Drew Dorsett room to get underneath me. After a few laps I started to settle into a little more of a rythm and felt like we might be able to get back up and challenge Dorsett. I had found a wee bit of bite coming off two very low...maybe too low. With about seven laps to go I clipped one of the earth mover tires coming off of two and broke the left side radius rod ending our night and leaving me feeling pretty disgusted with myself and most of all feeling pretty humbled. Lynn Ambrose went on to win the race with Dorsett running second and Colin Ambrose finishing third in a car he borrowed from Mike Mensendick.
Despite our poor finish I really had a blast with the wing off and most of all enjoyed finally getting to run at Brownstown Speedway. It will definately be added to my list of favorite tracks. Although we haven't had the chance to attend many of the MMSA races this season, it was great to see some faces we haven't seen in a while and encouraging to see several new ones. Bill May stopped by the trailer to let me know that things look positive for next season. He said that Brownstown has indicated that they will add additional races for the mini sprints next year.
As for non wing racing, I think everyone had a great time. Although many will disagree with me, I am not sure that a steady diet of non-wing racing will be good for the class. There is no doubt that there is a great deal to be learned without the wing on and that it is quite an equalizer when it comes to engines. While I am hopeful there will be at least a handful of these events next year, I think this event served as a reminder that the crashes are a little more violent and harder on equipment--especially on the larger tracks. As a class that is touted as an economical alternative the costs of last evenings mishaps could be a turn off to some. Finally, although I'm probably being a bit of a sissy, the pillow that we run on top of our cars might make it a bit easier for older guys like me to get up on Monday mornings and make it in to work. Bill May indicated that he is considering running a series within a series that would have the cars running without wings once a month. I think this would provide a nice blend. I've even wondered what would happen if 35 Raceway tried a non-winged 1000cc class?
Congratulations go out to Drew Pollock on his win Friday evening at Waynesfield Raceway Park. It sounds as if other drivers with strong runs included Ryan Broughton and Garry Loney. I was disappointed to hear that Dean Miracle has called it quits at Waynesfield. It seemed that he was starting to build momentum with several classes including the mini sprints. From what I have heard it was the struggle filling the stands that was at issue. It reminds me that we need to thank all of the promoters that give us a chance to do what we love. It is a thankless job that often doesn't produce much in the way of a financial reward. I have heard a few pretty positive rumors that are already floating around regarding the future of the track. I guess we'll just have to stay tuned.
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