by Don Martin
Promoter Cody Sommer took a chance and did something that nobody ever thought he could pull off and guess what he delivered again. The first year of the VP Racing Fuels Gateway Dirt Nationals the weather was down right cold and also the city was hit by freezing rain. The fans still showed up the first year, and this year the crowd was bigger. The Saturday crowd was huge, the entire lower bowl of the dome was stuffed for the 2nd Annual VP Racing Fuels Gateway Dirt Nationals.
Cody like every promoter learn from the past of how to make improvement and have event run smoother. His right hand man Kevin Gundaker handles all the track prep and does an exceptional job. Kevin and his staff are working with a dirt they are not familiar with trying to put on a show. I think what he has done is incredible and his passion is off the charts. I talked to several teams mentioned how the pitting was better and more efficient this year. Cody put a ton of money in the purses for both the modifieds and the late models. The track was even bigger this year, you would not notice it by the naked eye but once you watch and take notes it was definitely a little bigger. Don’t get me wrong it is still a 1/5 mile, but this place has some character.
The event drew over 200 cars between the two classes, nearly 100 late models and over 100 modifieds jammed the pits. Jason Welsham was the overall quick qualifier. The Eastern Tennessee driver stopped the clock with a 11.477 lap. Jason also won a heat race and finished 4th in the feature but it will be his driver introduction which will never be forgotten. With the pyro and lazer show going on during driver introductions it was his sign that said “Scott Who ??” that got the most applause and attention. By no way was Jason poking fun at Scott, he was just having some fun with the legend. I know he made a name for himself this year at the Dome. Illinois driver Mike McKinney was quick qualifier in the mods with a 12.207 lap time on Thursday afternoon.
Besides qualifying and mod heat races, Cody added a Super Late Model Race of Champions race to Thursday activities. The race paid $5,000 to win and when the checkers dropped it was Shannon Babb taking home the win after holding off a determined Don O’Neal to take home the check.
Friday’s heat races we had a couple of hard grinding flips of Derek Fetter and Austin Hubbard. When all was said and done we had two of our youngest talented and upcoming drivers on the podium taking home their biggest wins. Hudson O’Neal and Gordy Gundaker each won Super Late Model features on Friday night. It is no secret Hudson O’Neal is going to be a superstar in this sport very soon. He just captured the Lucas Oil Rookie of the Year Championship and just seems to get better and better. I couldn’t help but watching Gordy’s mom Tammy during the feature while Gordy was leading. Tammy was pacing the entire infield during the race, I am sure she will tell you it was a real nail-biter. Both of these young men have taken enough beatings it was their time to shine. I am so happy for both Hudson and Gordy. Tanner Mullins another youngster won the mod portion of the show Friday night.
Saturday when the smoke cleared it was Bobby Pierce taking home the $30,000. It had to be a tough one for Bobby, as it was his last ride in the family owned operation as he will now focus on his new opportunity at Dunn-Benson Motorsports. Bobby led every lap but one, which an aggressive Tanner English led. English and Pierce had a torrid battle before English spun. West Virginia’s Tyler Carpenter took home second. He lived up to the hype as he was already won over 40 features this year on the bullrings back at home. Darrell Lanigan finished third with Jason Welsham and last year’s winner Scott Bloomquist rounding out the top five. It should be noted that Shannon Babb was pounding the cushion heading to the front before a flat tire took him out of contention.
Ray Bollinger took home the feature in the modifieds. Ray earned $10,000 for his efforts. He held off a very impressive top five which included runner-up Brent Mullins, Mike Harrison, Tanner Mullens, and Bobby Pierce.
In closing, we all need to rally around Cody Sommer and appreciate what he is doing in St. Louis. Dirt in December how cool is that !! Next year the event will be moved up to the last weekend of November with the Saturday finale December 1. Cody mentioned to me he has locked up the dome for the next two years and if you don’t know already he had a sprint car and midget on the track last week as well. Who knows what his plans are but that could be interesting. Again great job by Cody and the Gundakers and everyone involved for bringing the dome back to life with some bad ass race cars. How big can this event be well I talked to Jason Feger and he told me he sold more merchandise at the Dome than any other event all year and he didn’t even make the show now that is something to talk about. Lets get rid of the haters and start talking about the supporters.