Rain, Rain Go Away, We Have To Race Today!

4/12/2015

After awakening this morning, the first thing I did was check the daily weather report. The forecast was for clear skies with slightly thickening cloud cover with a chance of rain later that night into the morning hours. Much to our surprise, the forecast changed causing the Rockford Speedway staff to go into hurry-up mode. The first feature race was the American Ethanol Super Truck Series #1. Fourteen trucks started the race, which was one by #93 Chester Ace. After a couple Big 8 Fast Dash races, the Mid-American Stock Car Feature hit the track for a 50 lap race. There were numerous cautions with the race eventually being won by #33 Tyler Bauknecht. The Big 8 Late model Series followed immediately. On lap two there was a big crash in turns 3 & 4. I counted 14 cars damaged in the crash of which, seven could not continue. After the restart, the action at the front of the pack was intense with #5 Casey Johnson holding the lead. Unfortunately, after 68 laps the race had to be red flagged for rain. There was a one hour rain delay. After the re-start, again, the racing continued to be intense. With Casey Johnson leading, Bobby Wilberg drove it hard into turn 3 and in between the turns, Bobby drove up under Casey Johnson, lifting the rear end off the ground and causing Casey to hit the wall ending his day. From that point on, Bobby Wilberg cruised home to the victory. In the final Super Truck feature, #9 Derek Kraus led almost from the start, holding off several hard challenges. In the end, Derek cruised home with the victory. Imagine my surprise when Derek popped out of the truck and I realized he was only 14 years old! Here are some images from todays event: