By ohnson 
You can imagine waking up on Christmas morning, and the first thing you unwrap are socks, then underwear, and then a weight loss powder canister. Does that feeling of joy and excitement rush over you? Not really.
But then, suddenly, you receive Knoxville Nationals tickets, airline tickets, and seats in a second-turn box seat in Iowa. Just like that, Christmas becomes, excuse the phrase, truly great again.
Well, that’s somewhat similar to how I felt during my first visit to Bubba Raceway Park for the first Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions show on Thursday night. The park is located just a little north of Ocala, Fla.
My friend Charlie Uphlinger and I journeyed along Route 40, which seems to neatly divide Florida both north and south. It’s a 60-mile drive directly into the setting sun.
Upon our arrival, we soon discovered that this would be a night filled with both good and bad moments, and of course, Schatz.
The good was not merely good; it was, as Tony the Tiger would say, “GREATTTTTT!”
The bad, which I’ll get to shortly, almost compelled us to leave without witnessing what turned out to be a Super Bowl-style finish among some of the best in Sprint Car racing.
Schatz is one of those guys you either love or hate. He’s simply the intimidator in Sprint Car racing. When he’s on the track, you absolutely must, and I mean without a doubt, keep your eyes on him.
The “good” was evident as soon as we drove into the grounds. A beautiful, state-of-the-art facility awaited us, with excellent concession stands and a perfect layout. You buy your ticket, head to the grandstand, make a quick right, walk just 10 yards, and you find yourself in the pits.
Solid concessions offered satellite funnel cakes, steak tenderloin sandwiches, boiled peanuts, and kettle corn outside. Meanwhile, a rather small two-window concession stand provided a variety of Bubba burgers, buffalo chicken tenders, pulled pork, and other treats.
Tiles in black and white covered not only the midway but also the walkway in front of the grandstands.
So far, so good.
Then, the “bad” struck. It was nearly 7 o’clock, and the track wasn’t even close to being ready. The announcers mentioned that the torrential rain the night before had caused issues in preparing the track. Some people who claimed to have been around the track all day indicated that no one started working on the track until after five.
Why is it that when you have a nearly two-hour drive, you immediately know that you won’t be leaving the track early? There were thirty-eight 410 sprints in February, like an early Christmas present, along with 17 Florida mini-sprints (or 600’s up in New York).
It was around 9 p.m. before the time trials began, and another “bad” was that they had no clue how to manage single-car time trials. A car would complete its entire run, exit the second turn in the infield, come through, and roar up the pit ramp into the first turn entrance before another car was pushed off.
All this time, a “bad” public address system was malfunctioning. The guy in front of me said, “Everything worked here last week. They must have taken everything apart”. Unfortunately, I had left my phone in the car, so Race Monitor wasn’t an option.
Bob Heffner, the father of Greg Hodnett’s car owner Mike Heffner, sat in front of us. He left for a while after the Sprint heats, which had caused the track to accumulate a lot of rubber. It was as slick as in New York.
He came back to tell me that the concern in the pits was that no one would have tires that could last the 30 laps on the track in its current condition.
I looked towards the first turn and saw probably half the pits standing on the track, riding their four-wheelers and closely observing the surface. As a seasoned observer, I know that groups of drivers standing on a clay surface is never a positive sign.
So, guess what happened. The grader emerged and got to work, pushing everything from top to bottom and then reversing the process from bottom to top. Another hour of my life vanished, never to return.
The feeling among most of us was that the efforts would suffice for the 17-car 12-lap B and the two dashes, but by the feature race, it would revert to its previous state. Well, it turned out to be a “good” thing after all as the track accumulated rubber in the main race, but not as severely as before.
As for the tires, they weren’t exploding. Well, except for leader Kerry Madsen with a lap and a quarter remaining. It was a classic, fun, non-stop 30-lap race where Hodnett led, followed by Tim Shaffer, Madsen, and eventually Donny Schatz. There were slide jobs aplenty, and heavy traffic loomed in front of the leaders from lap seven onwards.
When Madsen had the right rear tire go flat, everyone’s attention was on him. Suddenly, people shifted their focus to the backstretch with half a lap to go, and there was Schatz in the 15 car passing Shaffer on the outside for the win.
For the marathon night, it was an amazing finish. And as we hit the road at two minutes after 12, we had no complaints as we discussed the feature during the nearly two-hour ride back to Daytona.
Since this is my first winter in the south and after visiting three asphalt tracks, seeing a classic Sprint main in my first dirt show of the year has me wondering what the next few weeks will hold?
Pit Stops: Tony Stewart was present, starting on the pole in the second heat but failing to secure a qualifying spot. He participated in the B race and finished second to ASCOC champ Chad Kemenah, who spun out of a qualifying position in his heat. Tony ended up 17th overall in the main…
The track shape is unique. It was described as egg-shaped, similar to the Lady in Black Darlington Speedway…
When the red lights flash on and off or the starter waves the red flag at the fans, it’s time for two-for-one adult beverages in the rather decent bar set up behind the grandstand…
I didn’t appreciate the announcers constantly talking about the live stream and acknowledging viewers at home. They did this frequently, and it held no interest for the people in the stands…
The irritating announcer phrase of the night was “Momentarily we will have the B main”. It was nearly 45 minutes later. “Momentarily” was used frequently, and I guess the meaning of the word is completely different in Florida…
If I hear “testing one two” one more time, I think I might resume drinking. The sound system was a nightmare. Fortunately, it worked for the most part during the heats and was okay in the feature…
Rookie Max Stambaugh qualified in the B. His truck broke down about 187 miles north of Ocala the day before, and I was told that Schatz and others helped him reach Bubba. He finished 20th…
Tyler Clem, a 13-year-old middle school student, is driving a 410 sprint. He’s Bubba’s son. The car looked similar to the one Stewart had in CNY a couple of years ago….
There are some new looks this year as ASCOC has nearly 17 committed travelers, while the outlaws have some new rides and graphic schemes. You’ll really like Joe Saldana’s Elk Grove 17 as well as the new Schatz Arctic Cat scheme…
T.J. Michaels from Texas couldn’t get his car to start all night long….
Fast timer Danny Dietrich didn’t perform well in his heat and ended up eighth in the main…
Rico Abreu will also race at Volusia and the 360’s at East Bay and started 15th to finish 11th…
Kemenah started 21st and was the hard charger, picking up 11 positions to finish tenth…
Hodnett is also competing at Volusia and East Bay and settled for seventh in the main…
Regular ASCOC drivers occupied positions second through sixth, namely Shaffer, Kraig Kinser, Ian Madsen, Caleb Armstrong, and Cole Duncan…..
True Outlaws finished ninth (David Gravel), Saldana 19th, Paul McMahan 21st…
Ryan Smith was on the bubble and made it in, but as he was approaching to join the field at the start, a body panel flew off, and there was quite a bit of movement under the front wing. He had to retire early….
Aaron Reutzel, a top ASCS driver, qualified but headed to the pits during the staging segment for the main and was unable to return…
The scoreboard works differently here as they start with the highest number and count down…
There were no serious accidents as the dashes, B race, and A race all went from green flag to checkered flag without incident…
Todd Fayard from Saucier, Mississippi made his debut. He usually races at 360… Bubba is worth a visit as on the 19th there’s a Lucas Oil Late Model show and on Thursday the 23rd, along with the next two nights, are the USAC AMSOIL Sprint National Championship events…
If you travel across 40 past Volusia, be aware that there are more deer on this road than in the Pocono’s. And that means there could be many moving targets….
For me, this was track 83 and well worth the trip. There was the good and the bad, but if you’ve been involved in this sport for a long time, you understand…
Makin’ Tracks to New Smyrna on Saturday. I hope….
I’m all set for the Dirt Winter Nationals at Volusia.
As always, I can be reached at foley395@hotmail.com.