Sitting in the sparkling pressbox at the one-of-a-kind Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., on Saturday, I was certainly enjoying myself. Desk space? Check. Internet? Check? Power outlets? Check. Perfect area to shoot video? Check. Fridge stocked full of food and drink? Check. (OK, OK, that's overkill, but Wheatland goes above and beyond.)

Everything I could have possibly needed to get my job done was in place. This is the part where you're probably thinking, "Man, is this guy ever spoiled." But MORE

If you're a hard-core schedule-watcher and a who's-going-to-be-where guy like me, you can't help but be intrigued by the field that is shaping up for this year's $50,000-to-win USA Nationals at Cedar Lake. Typically, you can expect to see some of the best drivers in the country at the racy 3/8-mile oval, although the mix of drivers has been different from year to year with sanctioning from UMP (way back when), the Hav-a-Tampa Dirt Racing Series, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and lately MORE

What is it about rain that can make people at a Dirt Late Model race completely crazy?

At Friday's UMP DIRTcar Summernationals race at Quincy Raceway, there was no doubt that the threat of rain was in the area. The radar, which we check on a regular basis with our travel schedule, showed a green blob heading directly towards Quincy on the map. As luck would have it, it did nothing more than mist all night, and the show got in with a wet-and-hooked up surface.

End of story, right? That's only the MORE