Fan Notes from Ohio Speedweek Finale at Atomic

Atomic Speedway (Tom Myers) 6/23/17 – The intention was to make it to five Speed Week shows this year but we managed only three…. Attica, Wayne County and Atomic. Maybe next year I can get the week off from work and make more of these races. It’s just too hard when you have work the next day…and you get home after one o’clock in the morning! It was no problem for me twenty years ago but now, if I don’t get enough sleep I am useless the next day.

Saturday was a beautiful day and the forecast for the evening was good too so Pops and I made the three hour drive to Atomic. Dad operated the CD player so I was treated to the Mommas and the Pappas, ABBA, and also some Enya on the way…….. All the leaves were not brown and the skies were not grey on this day! Do you want to go to Atomic? I do I do I do I do I do!

When we got there, Rex LeJuene was behind me in line so I finally got to meet him. He’s always very busy during the racing program at Attica so it was neat to have a moment where he was not pre-occupied. Atomic now allows fans to bring in their coolers fourteen inches and under and that is a good thing. I have stickers all over my cooler and you would be amazed at the conversations you can have with the other fans in the stands…all started because someone saw Mercer Raceway Park or Haudenschild Racing on your cooler. I want to get one from Millstream, Mansfield, Sharon and PPMS….but they didn’t have any when I was in attendance the last time.

When we entered to facility, immediately I noticed the smoke from the grilling hamburgers, wafting up through the grandstands over by turn one. When we were putting our blanket down, a gentleman sitting nearby commented that he didn’t sit over there in turn one because of that hamburger smoke. This man also mentioned the rocks and dirt clods flying into the first turn stands as a good reason to avoid sitting in that area. I would venture to guess that many fans DO sit in the turn one area because of the rocks, dirt and hamburger smoke!

Brandon Wimmer I went back to the pits and there were a lot of cars on hand. It was 4:30 and haulers were still pulling in….and it was getting full back there. The Indy Parts 71 pulled in and Kevin Thomas Jr. was driving it tonight. Some of the FAST drivers on hand were Byron Reed, DJ Foos, Duane Zablocki and Craig Mintz. Mintz was driving the 11n that was recently vacated by Dale Blaney. Another familiar car, the blue Grove 70, pulled in with Tanner Thorson doing the driving duties. The 70 car was Danny Holtgraver’s ride last year and it’s good to see this car out of the barn.

Spencer Bayston was on hand ….no doubt wanting to get his second win on the week and match Kyle Larson and Tim Shaffer. Also in the pits were Hunter Schuerenburg and Brady Bacon and Carson Macedo and Brandon Wimmer. Brandon drives the white A67 car with a cool Bald Eagle painted on the wing. He’s fast here and seems really comfortable in this car. It appears that this car came to the track on an open hauler….just like the old days. It is an aluminum hauler with the tires and fuel cans and tool box sitting on it. Too cool!

The regular All Star guys were here minus Bradley Howard, who has been absent all week. I hope to see him continue on with the series after SpeedWeek. Tim Shaffer was gunning for the SpeedWeek title as was Chad Kemenah, who was last year’s SpeedWeek winner. Other tough competitors on hand were Cole Duncan, Lee Jacobs, Andrew Paulker, Cale Conley, Cale Thomas, and Danny Smith. Cale Conley has been very fast this week and in contention each night. Another guy who has impressed is Aussie Sean Zemunik, who has been very fast and looks so much better than last year. His car is faster and handles better than last year and the driver is now aggressive and under control. Good job Sean! And we cannot forget to mention the other Aussies, Mitch Wormall, Sammy Walsh and Chris Ferrell.

Spencer Bayston There were fifty-three All Star sprinters on hand at the final count, the second highest car count of the week after Wayne County. I think it’s very cool to have so many cars that you need to run a D main! That’s awesome! On the other hand, the high car count coupled with three support classes made for a very long evening. I love the large field of 410’s….but if I had my way, I would only like to see a max of two support classes for a special show. An earlier finish is always preferred by those who drive a long way to support the track and the series…..especially as the fan base gets older! If it’s easy to fall asleep while listening to your spouse talk, or fall asleep at your desk at work…..you can bet it’s also easier to fall asleep at the wheel on the ride home! Now, I can only speak for myself, so, myself says that paying a little more money to get in is an acceptable trade off to have less support classes.

I will mention that one of the guys driving a modified was an old timer named Bud Frazier. Come to find out that this Bud Frazier from Chillicothe, Ohio, was sitting on the pole for the Little 500 in 1975! Now that’s cool if you ask me.

The track was smooth but it dried out during hot laps. A rut developed at the entrance to turn one and turn three. This would cause some of the cars to hop and bounce through turn one or to get sideways in turn three. The cushion got very high and drivers were bouncing their right rear off the turn one wall as they searched for traction. Overall, the surface was fine and pretty darn good considering the huge amount of rain they had the previous day. Hats off to the Atomic track crew!

Cole Duncan I like coming to Atomic because the folks are very friendly. I always get to sit by someone there who likes to talk racing and that’s cool. But its’ got to be about dirt racing, right? Have you ever sat next to a person who won’t talk racing with you? You know, you start talking or saying something to the stranger next to you, hoping that they reciprocate….. and then they just half smile, or look at you and then look the other way? Or maybe worse, they say something like, “this is my first dirt track race, but I love drag racing,” and then they proceed to tell you all about the drag races and this driver and that driver and on and on…..and your heart just sinks?

Well on this evening, we found out that the folks around these parts LOVE dirt track racing and they LOVE Cole Duncan and Danny Smith and Nathan Skaggs. Good, now we’ve got something! And they loved it when Duncan grabbed the fast time and West Virginia’s Cale Conley timed second quick. At the same time, I found out everything there is to know about Nathan Skaggs, courtesy of the fellow next to me and the young man in front of me! Evidently, Nathan started out racing motocross and won everything. Then he started in sprint cars around these parts and has been winning in those. Most recently, he was the weener of the sprint feature at Heeltop…(Hilltop) Then they started talking about Tem Sheefur and Chaid Kiminaw and how Kasee Kan had a car for Cool Duncan at Charlitt and shoulda run him more in it. Nathan Skaggs was not racing his sprint car tonight but he was in one of the modifieds. As Nathan’s modified heat came to a close, this fellow next to me pointed Nathan out to me….elbowing me and saying, “that kur right ere is that feller I was telling you bout, Skaggs!”….and as he was saying this, the tone of his voice, the inflection of his words, and the volume of his words increased as he got to the end of his sentence! Ha Ha, I got to laughing and I was really having fun because everyone around me was having fun and that’s what it’s all about.

The sprint heats were good, wow, this place is fast. They fly around here and you cannot race this place unless you are all in, pedal to the metal. If you are not committed, you will get passed or run over. After the sprint heats, more modifieds came out. During a yellow for debris on the track, I made a joke….I said, “debris,…..I wonder which car they are talking about?” Now, I thought that was hilarious…but no one else reacted to it….probably because they had friends or family racing those cars. Oh well, I will try the humor again next time!

Bayston almost got his second win of the week, but Cole Duncan had other plans. Cole runs down race leader Bayston on lap 22 and passes him for the lead and win. Congrats to Cole Duncan on the win and also to Tim Shaffer, who ended up winning the SpeedWeek title. Tim and his team is pulling it together and have been bad fast recently. With the Month of Money coming up, now is the time to get fast!

Thank you All Star Sprints and thank you Atomic Speedway. See you again soon.