Stayed home to begin to tackle the leaves and I didn't want to miss the Eagles with a 2 hour drive. Any spectator reports would be appreciated.  Could it be the last one?

one lane train,  I didn't go but thats the deal there especially extra distance races

I've been to over 30 ES 200s over the years and this one was far from a classic.

The dust was terrible; at times you could barely see the cars in front of you (I was sitting in the red section of the half covered stands (the section closest to the full covered stands). 

I lost count of the number of cautions, but it had to be over 20.  There were no huge pile-ups (amazing with the dust on restarts-kudos to the drivers for mostly using their heads),  nor any major car-destroying crashes.  A couple spins, and one semi-major tangle on a restart going into turn one, but nothing else-just a ridiculous number of stopped cars.  As soon as a car would slow down, the yellow came on, and more often than not the offending driver sped off into the pits to repair whatever was wrong with their car.  Even the most minor caution (which the overwhelming majority were) took at least 3 laps to go back green. No urgency at all.

The pit situation (mandatory stop past lap 30) found all but a small handful of cars coming in at the first caution after lap 30, and the ensuing mad rush found a long red flag to sort out the line-up. There were two other red flags, one for the restart pileup that could have been brutal and huge (but wasn't too bad), and another for another scoring snafu late.  They apparantly had some "lucky dog" type rule to allow cars a lap back on every caution, which until they figured out who it was, added to the time.  This led to many teams that pitted early running out of fuel after lap 184.  There were no less than 6 cautions after this point alone (rules dictated caution laps did not count after lap 180.) Every restart would go a lap or two and someone would stop.  It was almost comical but actually quite sad. 

Mat Williamson survived after Matt Sheppard was the first to run out of fuel, then Tyler Dippel inherited the lead but blew a motor, and Williamson led the last 10 or so laps.  The 200 started at about 4:30, and wasn't over until 7:15.  Nearly 3 hours for a 200 lapper on a 5/8 mile is just crazy. I can remember being home (2 hours away before 7 many years); they weren't that close to the race being done at that time this year.  Unless there is a weather issue, there is no way this race should end under the lights.  It wasn't that many years ago (2016) they ran the whold Saturday small block show and the Sunday portion all on Sunday (due to Saturday rain), and we were still out of there by around 8 that year.

They made no announcements about anything next year racing wise, but they did mention upcoming events like the burnout nationals and moto-cross events at the fairgrounds next year.  So it looks like the facility has at least one more year, but exactly what they will run or how often seems to be a bit of a mystery.

In summary:  Way too dusty, way too long, way too many cautions.  For an event of this stature the crowd wasn't good-maybe 70% full in the drive in and main stands, and the half covered stands were about the same in the red section next to the main stands.  The blue section towards turn four was maybe a quarter full.  The (deserved) reputation they have developed for excessive dust in recent years has no doubt chased many people off, after the track really seemed to really be headed in the right direction in the late 2010s.

I've been going to OCFS for over 40 years and hate to see it go, but it was hard to enjoy the 200 this year.  I'd say I "endured" it more than "enjoyed" it.  It's a traditon, and I love the event, but this one wasn't a good one.

I wanted to say thanks to those who offered some tip for attending.  My twin and I, along with our wives, took in the show on Sunday from the Drive-in.

It was cool to go back to Middletown, especially since it was an Eastern States race.  I have not been to the track since August 2008 and it was 1980 before that.   Still the same place -which I think is a good thing because I have always felt that as racing venues go the track and facility has a cool vibe and character.

The street stock race was a good one and the 200 had a lot of twists and turns.  

The dust problem was pretty terrible and made it impossible at times to see any detail about the action.  For much of the race you could see the outlines of cars but it was hard to discern who anyone was, especially as it got dark.  We had an iPad on the dash with Race Monitor and listened to the call on FM Radio - that helped us have some clue as to who was running where.

Still, with glimpses of the action here and there, we were able to follow much of it and as noted, there were a lot of storylines that made it interesting.  Stewart started in the back after missing qualifying the previous day (Homestead truck race).  He made his way through the field and then got a flat and had to go to the back.  Then he did it again after suffering a second setback.  His diligence paid off with a 2nd place in the end. 

The end of the race was fraught with peril for many of the front runners as they ran out of fuel.  It seemed for a bit that every lap someone ran out and that changed the dynamic of the race.

The stands were a little light in attendance but the drive-in was full and it looked like all the people around us had a good time. [especially the ones who put the fake snake on the walking path for giggles]  It sprinkled on us here and there and we had a stiff wind blowing the entire time.

A few things that resonated with us - the veterans: Richie Eurich in the 10, Brett in the 20, Horton in the 43, a representative from the Green family in the 69, a Higby racing in the 97 and so on.  It's always cool to see names we know.

All my photos.  Enjoy 

The track was smooth, but The HARD CLAY was pretty dusty.  Reminded us of some of 'those days' from Flemington's past

We kept track by listening to the car radio when we were inside and watching Race Monitor - Especially when the sun went down and it got chilly.

Gary Balough was on hand signing autographs and it was cool to see his cars on display as well as some others.  All of the cars, including the #3 and #73 are simply beautiful.

4-Wide Salute to the fans

Lap 1 of the 62nd Annual Eastern States Race.  I walked down to turn one to take this 'through the fence' shot.  I was somewhat inspired by the memories of the great Paul Irving shots and wanted to get them roaring through turns one and two.

All you have to do is look at Kevvan's last pic and you can figure out why there is such a problem with dust nowadays. I can't even imagine how bad Flemington would be today with the way the modifieds pin the right rear. 

Mark,  you are 100% correct on everything in the show except for the crowd. I was on the infield and when you look up it was about 30% full. When you look left or right at a crowd, it seems more, but not from the infield.  It's sad, and I bet the DTD TV was not a big sell because it was pretty expensive. The drive in was about 60% full. 

Pits were $50 Friday, $75 Saturday, and $75 Sunday.

The race played out with plenty of drama only due to the amount of cautions at the end. Why have a start zone? The leader, the last six restarts, started at least 50 to 100 feet before it and was warned over the two way everytime and even jumped the last one, with no penalty. It was pretty bad and I'm not saying that because I'm with Stew, but don't make a rule and not enforce it. 

All and all, as a long distance race, I give it a C-. They allow radios, but the lack of communication from the race director to the driver, really hurt this race with the line up issues. 

$75.00 for pits is insane. Most track have that for 2-3 day shows. 

With the changes made over past years. You would think they would drill for a few wells or have local fire company fill there water trucks. And stop use of the ditch water from the back stretch.Gooseneck pond.

Lenny Sammons article with Chris Larsen pretty much spells out the future of OCFS. If you're a fan of OCFS, I would suggest going to the STSS race November 10th. 

Is Eastern States still the Premier event it once was.This year you had Cornwall, Outlaw, Delaware International run shows.  There was a time when no other tracks would run against it.  They would help support it.  Have a pace car and some of their tracks stars there.  I know Wall is an asphalt track but they to ran, who knows some some of their drivers would have gone up to spectate.