The last checked flag fell at 6:20 ... A.M. Despite Mother Nature's best effort to cancel, halt, or outlast the dedicated USAC race fans, and foil Tony Stewart's 2nd running of the USAC 4-Crown races, the races finished last night. I mean this morning.
The annual 4 Crown races are the pinnacle of the USAC series. There are bonus available to drivers who compete in all four divisions.- midget, sprint car, Silver Crown, and modified. Win more than one division, and the bonus is big ($25,000 each). Three divisions, bigger. Four divisions - massive. Have the right motor (Mopar) and you could add $200,000. Stewart himself captured two of the 4- Crown races one year. The only man to win all four divisions in one night, who naturally is revered by the USAC crowd, is Jack Hewitt. To all this, add in the races are held at the historic, fast, and dangerous Eldora Speedway, and you have a recipe for fan adoration.
The weather forecast was not good. Large hail. Winds. INCHES of rain. All scheduled to arrive at Eldora Speedway during the midget, sprint, Silver Crown and modified races. A similar forecast and actual rain stopped the show on Friday. USAC and Stewart prepared a contingency plan that was to run the whole two day show on one day. Or maybe over the next two days. Or maybe in late October (don't they know it can snow then?).
But Saturday started with the qualifications that had been run on Friday. Yes, they started over from scratch. It helped some drivers. It hurt others. A new track record was set in sprint cars by Jerry Coons, Jr. At the end of the "Friday" program, the plan was to clear the stands, and then admit the people who had Saturday tickets. That plan was scrapped and all ticketholders were allowed to remain. (Savvy business move if you ask me).
Rain stopped things several times on Saturday. JJ Yeley arrived with Stewart fresh from his Busch race. Yeley prompted won his midget heat, but didn't finish well in the A Main.
Fans took shelter from the intermittant rain under the grandstand roof. Some napped while waiting for the rain to clear, the track to be ran in, and the cars to be brought back out on the track. Rumor has it at one point a push truck slid into the wall, providing additional excitement for fans.
The final race finished at 6:20 a.m. Tracy Hines, a former Busch series regular, won the midget and sprint car races. Mat Neely won the Silver Crown series and Jerry Bowersocks won the modified division.
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