National notebook
Notes: IMCA title chase comes down to the wire
Terry Neal (28c) is gunning for the IMCA title. (mikerueferphotos.photoreflect.com )
The IMCA weekly points season wraps up Sunday, Aug. 30, with the J&J Steel-sponsored championship still up in the air. In the latest points tally, four drivers are within 20 points of leader Kevin Blum of Colona, Ill.
Blum, who plans to race this weekend at Davenport (Iowa) Speedway and and Quad City Raceway in East Moline, Ill., knows there are variables in a complex points system, but he plans to do the best he can to grab his first title.
"I've gotta win," the 35-year-old Blum flatly said in a Wednesday phone interview. "I'm just going to race my race, if I get it, I get it, if I don't, I don't."
Although IMCA points haven't been updated through Aug. 23 events (they're scheduled to be released Friday), Blum figures he's tied for the lead with Terry Neal of Ely, Iowa. Both drivers have 14 victories in a points system based on a driver's best 20 finishes. Other drivers in the mix are Ray Guss Jr. of Milan, Ill., two-time IMCA champion Todd Cooney of Des Moines, Iowa, and 1998 IMCA champ Mark Burgtorf of Quincy, Ill.
While victories are key in the points chase, Guss isn't eliminated despite just six victories. IMCA is in the third season of using a points system that includes bonus points for track championships based on average weekly car counts, and that should benefit Guss, the champion at Davenport Speedway.
The 40-year-old Neal, the champion at Jackson County Speedway, knows he needs a Saturday victory at the Maquoketa, Iowa, track to solidify his chances. And his Mark Coin-owned team is considering racing Friday at Davenport, although he'll start deep in the field because the top drivers in points (including Guss and Blum) will start up front.
"I think we're going to give it a shot, I guess," Neal said. "We've got nothing to lose."
Besides 14 victories apiece, Blum and Neal have another thing in common. Neither driver planned on gunning for the $5,000 championship when the season started.
"Like I told everybody, running for nationals points wasn't even a goal of ours this year. I've had a real good year," Blum said. "If (Neal) wins it, I'm happy for him. I've raced Terry a lot of years and he's always been a clean racer, fun to race with."
Neal has some near-misses in the IMCA weekly title chase, but ironically the year he set out to win the points he performed poorly. This season appears to be his best chance, planned or not.
"We don't usually go for it because you usually gotta race two or three nights a week, and we try not to because we run that Deery (Brothers Summer) Series and those (Dart Corn Belt Clash) races, and that's just too much racing," Neal said. But after seeing the IMCA weekly points late in the season, "here at the end, you might as well go for it.
"All you can do is race your deal and how it ends up, it ends up." — Todd Turner
GATES OPENING AT 8 A.M. FOR ELDORA'S PRELUDE: Gates will open five hours earlier than originally planned for the rain-postponed Gillette Young Guns Prelude to the Dream on Sept. 9 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Among drivers expected for the all-star Dirt Late Model event are Eldora owner Tony Stewart and fellow NASCAR standouts Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. Others drivers expected to join the fray are Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Robby Gordon, Bill Elliott, Ken Schrader and NHRA funny car champion Cruz Pedregon. The event is also available commercial-free on HBO Pay-Per-View; ordering information is available at www.hbo.com. — Larry Boos
MAGNOLIA HOSTING SOUTHERN ALL STARS ON SUNDAY: In a recently scheduled event that has seen its date shuffled twice, the O'Reilly Southern All Stars invade Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss., on Sunday, Aug. 30. The $5,000-to-win event will be just the second-ever visit to the 3/8-mile oval. Jamie Elam of Senatobia, Miss., won the first visit on May 12, 2007. Among other divisions in action are the NeSmith Chevrolet-sanctioned Crate Late Models. — Ben Shelton
MACON PAYS TRIBUTE TO LATE DRIVER: Macon (Ill.) Speedway at its Aug. 22 event paid tribute to former track regular Shawn Bohm of Decatur, Ill., who died four days earlier in an accident at his home. The track released red and white balloons in honor of Bohm's racing colors, and his friend and fellow racer Josh Robb piloted Bohm's No. 00 Late Model during the national anthem. Bohm died after being pinned underneath his pickup truck from compression-related injuries. The Macon County coroner said Bohm was working on the truck on a slight incline without a jack or jackstands when the vehicle shifted, coming to rest atop him. Bohm was 35. — From track and Herald & Review reports
SOUTH BUXTON'S SHOOTOUT IN JEOPARDY: A combination a struggling economy affecting sponsorship and passport restrictions on U.S. drivers returning from Canada has put South Buxton (Ontario) Speedway's fifth annual Castrol Canadian Shootout in jeopardy, track officials said. South Buxton is looking for commitments from Late Models and modified drivers for the Sept. 26 "so we can continue in our efforts to host the event," track officials said on the track website. Drivers are asked to fill out and return the Shootout driver information form by Aug. 31. Late Model racer Chris Ross became the first Canadian driver to win the event last year, pocketing a career-high $6,000 for his victory. — From staff reports
ODDS AND ENDS: The UMP DIRTcar points chase is still tight with Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., eight points ahead of two-time and defending champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., in the last reported points on Aug. 17. ... NDRA Crate competitors can double the winner's share at Carolina (N.C.) Speedway the final six weeks of the season. The winner of the first heat each night can opt to start on the rear of the field. If the driver can win the feature, the winner's purse will be doubled. There must be at least 12 cars in the division. ... National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Tom Nesbitt of Thunder Bay, Ontario, will be inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in September. ... The World Dirt Racing League has shuffled its late-season scheduled. The final two events are Sept. 5 at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., and on Oct. 10 at Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa.
