With this, my first Web-only edition of Fearless Predictions in several months, I’m back to my roots. And happy to be so: the in-print version was limited to a set word count, which meant I usually wrote two versions, one for the paper and one for the Web. Without further ado (Ed: Who says that anyway?), here we go.
Of course the biggest event in our neck of the woods is the annual visit of the World of Outlaws, to Skagit Speedway on Friday and Saturday, and then Grays Harbor on Monday.
Skagit owner Steve Beitler once ran with the Outlaws, and he and his crew have been working hard to make sure the three-tenths mile high banked clay oval is in prime condition. The track’s 410 speed record was shattered four times just a couple weeks ago, so all signs point to some fast racing by the best in the business.
Here’s hoping the weather cooperates. There was some early morning rain in the area early Thursday, and the skies looked on-and-off like more throughout the day. The weather-guessers are saying Friday looks good but rain on Saturday, so this would be a good time for them to be wrong.
Closer to my home, Evergreen Speedway will be putting on NASCAR Night at the Fair, with the Super Late Models (weather permitting), Super Figure Eight, Street Stocks, Mini-Stocks and Stinger 8’s set to race. Rain is again in the forecast, but even if the late-models drop out the other divisions put on a good show in the wet.
A bit farther down the highway, the ASA Northwest Late Model Tour will be at Yakima Speedway for the second-to-late race of the season. All eyes are going to be on Gary Lewis and Brent Harris, No. 1 and 2 respectively in the standings, with Lewis holding a slim 12-point lead. And don’t discount local favorite Mike Longton, winner of the Race of Champions at the 2008 Fall Classic at Yakima. Saturday’s show has qualifying and heat races, with the 150-lap feature on Sunday.
As Seth Sands of Skagit Speedway wrote earlier this week — But wait, there’s more.
The ASCS Northwest Region sprint car series will be at Grays Harbor Raceway on Sunday, the same day the Winged Sprint Car Cast Iron Nationals are running at Ephrata Raceway Park. Grays Harbor and Ephrata are also running local divisions on Saturday, as is South Sound Speedway, which has a full schedule on for both Saturday and Sunday.
All of the above is just a lot of words (more than would make it in the paper, I can assure you) that add up to one thing: There’s a whole lot of racing going on in our region this three-day weekend.
How big a deal is the 55th annual U.S. Nationals this weekend at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Ind.? It’s like the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, the Indy 500 and the Seinfeld series finale — big.
ESPN2 is broadcasting 10 hours of coverage — that alone tells you how important the U.S. Nationals are — of the final event of the NHRA’s regular season. After ORP, the top 10 in points in each pro category will compete in the Countdown to 1 to see which will be crowned as champion. Check with the Deuce at 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday for qualifying, and at 10 a.m. on Monday for final eliminations. Unfortunately, I’m not sure my wife will buy the excuse that I need to sit on the couch all day Monday “for work.”
I’m of two minds when it comes to “must-win” situations. Everyone remembers a case where a team or person got that crucial win for the trophy, to advance, etc., mostly because it is so rare.
But on the other hand, there are close races to make the Countdown in every division, with No. 10 and No 11 in Top Fuel (Clay Millican and Joe Hartley, respective) and Pro Stock Motorcycle (Karen Stoffer and Steve Johnson) separated by less than five points, and the same positions in Pro Stock (Warren Johnson and Johnny Gray) less than 10 points apart. In Funny Car, No 10 Cruz Pedregon has a little more breathing room with a 31-point buffer over No. 11 Matt Hagan and 38 points over No. 12 Robert Hight/John Force.
Yup, NASCAR is going to burn Atlanta up this weekend, with the Sprint Cup Pep Boys 500 (Sunday, 4:30 on ESPN) and Nationwide Degree V12 300 (Saturday, 4 p.m. on ESPN2). The Camping World Truck Series is up near my old stomping ground for the Lucas Oil 200 at Iowa Speedway (Saturday, 6:45 p.m. on SPEED).
After Atlanta, the Cupsters have just one race left — Richmond, next weekend — to get into the top 12 in points and qualify for the Chase. The bubble is getting smaller and smaller, in other words, and two of the following won’t make it: Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 9), Mark Martin (10), Kasey Kahne (11), Matt Kenseth (12), Kyle Busch (13) or Brian Vickers (14).
The Insurance Frauds have 10 races to go, but the huge lead Kyle Busch had over Carl Edwards has been chipped away over the past few races. Edwards’ final-lap pass for the win last week left him 192 back of Busch. If that seems like a lot, three weeks ago Busch’s lead was 339, so Edwards is still in it.
The always fun-to-watch Trucks invade Iowa Speedway for the first time, with Mill Creek rookie Tayler Malsam slipping to No. 2 behind Johnny Sauter in the Rookie of the Year standings. Malsam was the victim of other drivers’ mistakes the past two races, but he’s also one of the few drivers in the series to have raced at Iowa before, with a top-10 ARCA race to his credit.
I’m glad the IndyCar and Formula One open-wheelers are not racing this weekend, as there is more than enough guessing for me to do as it is. I’m going to pass on the Outlaws — sorry, folks, but my sprint car knowledge is about as solid as most sub-prime mortgages right now.
To complete my Grand Slam of Prognostication, all I need is to correctly pick a winner for Evergreen Speedway’s Super Figure Eight division. After last weekend’s Figure 8 Nationals, there is no telling how many — or few — cars will show up this weekend. I’m going to say two-time and defending champion John “Cowboy” Carlson shows up and gets the win.
Down in Yakima, I’m going to say Mike Longton repeats his Fall Classic magic for the win in Sunday’s ASA Northwest Late Model Tour race.
For the NHRA U.S. Nationals, let’s say Tony Schumacher gets back to winning in Top Fuel, with Ron Capps in Funny Car, Jason Line in Pro Stock and Andrew Hines in Pro Stock Motorcycle also hoisting Wallys.
For NASCAR, I like Jimmie Johnson for the Cup race and Kevin Harvick in the Nationwide event at Atlanta. For the Trucks in Iowa, I’m going to go out on a limb and say Kyle Busch’s protégé Brian Ickler wins.
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