A sore back from too much yard work earlier on Saturday morning had me change up my race plans of a roadtrip, in favor of going somewhere closer to home as sitting in a car for any length of time was super uncomfortable (unfortunatley, still is 2 days later, but definitely getting better.) New Egypt - Attended as a fan in the stands - $20 admission (Arrived at 6pm - Show complete around 10pm.) Modifieds, Crates, Wingless Sprints, Street Stocks, and Match Races/Call Outs for the top Modified Drivers Likes: New surface (black gumbo? lol) provided multi-groove, side by side racing. Drivers who were asked had positive comments about the surface. Rick Laubach used a front row spot to capture the win in the non stop modified feature, and Danny Bouc put on a show coming from way back in the back to finish 2nd 3rd. Brendan Hires caught everybody's attention using the upper groove to make his way to the front in the Wingless Sprint feature, and then took a more conservative line to hold on for the win. Spider Ensinger Jr drove a perfect race to take the win over Bill Liedka in the a very exciting Street Stock feature, that came down to the last corner of the last lap. Very good atmosphere. Announcers were more upbeat than my last few visits in early 2021 which to me, made for an enjoyable fan experience as I always feel that the announcer(s) where ever I go, are my host for the evening, and have a lot to do with setting the overall tone. Liked the drama of the Modified Match/Call Out races. Announcer Nick Leach does a great job building up the drama when he sticks the wireless mic in the car and asks the driver who they want to call out next. It worked well when Buffy Swanson ran them back in the 2000's, and it was good to see them as part of the show once again. Show moved along well. Started on time. No down time between events... Heats rolled out one after the other. There were very few times that the field had to take an extra lap for the tower to get the line up straight - Drivers did a good job on their own of knowing what position they belonged in prior to the next green, which kept the momentum of the show at a good level. Intermission was maybe 35 minutes or so, but a well organized redraw at the base of the homestretch stands (featuring give aways for the drivers), and a Back to School backpack giveaway, keep all engaged while some pre-feature track prep took place. The feature was ready to go just as the intermission giveaway events were wrapping up, so there was no dead time in between. Dislikes: Didn't like where track personnel were standing on the inside of the frontstretch at the starting line, during the match races. Granted, it's only two cars racing at once, but for anyone that's been going to the races for any amount of time, it doesn't matter if it's one car, or 30 out there... No reason for anyone to be that close to the racing surface while cars are at speed. Going back within a month: Probably. Good atmosphere, good racing... Glad I made the trip! |