163 Modifieds in Eldora, Hoffman finishes 6th!

Racerrod

Racerrod

racerrod
I wanted to congratulate one of our local stars, Dean Hoffman for his great weekend in Eldora! Another local Ray Walsh, just barely missed making the feature.

Here are the Modified results showing some other locals who did well! It was my first trip to Eldora and it was quite an experience. Yes this track is addictive and I will return in 2005 for sure.

(163 cars!) Modified A Main: Chad Kinder, Brian Shaw, Brian Ruhlman, Brady Short, Denny Schwartz, Dean Hoffman,
Earl Plessinger, Jim Shereck, Billy Vaugh, Jerry Bowersock, Jeff Leka, Matt Mevert, Brent Mullins,
Rusty Griffaw, Randall Sweeney, Stanley Donahoo, Jimmy Westerfield, Jeff Harris, Chad Ruhlman,
Bobby Bittle, Ron Perrine Jr., Mike Harrison, Tim O’Donnell, Jesse Cramer
 
A whole bunch of local guys in the feature! We sure do have some of the best in the country right here in our back yard. Thanks to all the drivers for the great season of racing!
 
Well you guys do have the best UMP modifieds in the country, but I don't think that any of the top 20 modifieds in the country went out there (maybe you can count Leka and Swartz in the category although I'm not sure if Leka is there this year). The best car in the country finished third at Lakeside both Friday and Saturday night (Kelly Shryock). There were 80 cars at Lakeside, but I don't know where the rest were. Must have been some big race in Oklahoma or Texas. The best modifieds in the country fall in a band, between Minnesota and Texas. Late Models skim off too much of the talent in Illinois for them to be at the top level. You are seeing this in Tennessee now with both Owens and Marlar (the top two UMP modifieds over the past several years) who were legit threats to win any slick track modified race going to Late Models with few exceptions.
 
Maybe I'm misunderstanding you on this one but I think you're wrong on the top 20 not being there. Below is a list of drivers that participated in the race that are top 20 in UMP points and a couple that aren't. Most of these drivers are from IL with a couple from MO, KY, and IN. So I'm not sure what you're talking about when you say that you don't think that any of the top 20 modifieds in the country went out there? I didn't see the driver you mentioned anywhere in the top 120 drivers in UMP points. Seeing how this was a UMP Championship Event I don't see where your comments fit into this thread. But I'd be more than willing to put my money where my mouth is when it comes to UMP modified drivers against any others in the country. I'm sure there are plenty of great drivers outside of UMP, but that doesn't take anything away from our guys.

1st - Mike Harrison - IL
2nd - Jeff Leka - IL
3rd - Rusty Griffaw - MO
4th - Matt Mavert - IL
6th - Chad Kinder - IL
7th - Bobby Bittle - IL
8th - Brian Shaw - IL
10th - Jimmy Westerfield - KY
11th - Dean Hoffman - IL
12th - Randle Sweeney - KY
13th - Brady Short - IN
15th - Stanley Donahoo - TN
18th - Brent Mullins - IL
20th - Denny Schwartz - IL
22nd - Jesse Cramer - IN
34th - Jim Shereck - MO
 
qwaynick said:
Maybe I'm misunderstanding you on this one but I think you're wrong on the top 20 not being there. Below is a list of drivers that participated in the race that are top 20 in UMP points and a couple that aren't. Most of these drivers are from IL with a couple from MO, KY, and IN. So I'm not sure what you're talking about when you say that you don't think that any of the top 20 modifieds in the country went out there? I didn't see the driver you mentioned anywhere in the top 120 drivers in UMP points. Seeing how this was a UMP Championship Event I don't see where your comments fit into this thread. But I'd be more than willing to put my money where my mouth is when it comes to UMP modified drivers against any others in the country. I'm sure there are plenty of great drivers outside of UMP, but that doesn't take anything away from our guys.

1st - Mike Harrison - IL
2nd - Jeff Leka - IL
3rd - Rusty Griffaw - MO
4th - Matt Mavert - IL
6th - Chad Kinder - IL
7th - Bobby Bittle - IL
8th - Brian Shaw - IL
10th - Jimmy Westerfield - KY
11th - Dean Hoffman - IL
12th - Randle Sweeney - KY
13th - Brady Short - IN
15th - Stanley Donahoo - TN
18th - Brent Mullins - IL
20th - Denny Schwartz - IL
22nd - Jesse Cramer - IN
34th - Jim Shereck - MO
Click to expand...


He's trying to say the best drivers in the country aren't UMP Modified drivers. I'm not going to agree or disagree with the statement. But I will say he is correct in saying two top tier modified drivers weren't out there in Kelly Shryock and Mark Noble. But I'm leaving it at that.
 
I don't doubt that there are other drivers out there that are fantastic and probably better than many of the UMP guys. But I believe that the UMP modified drivers are well capable of handing out a butt kickin' to just about any other driver in the country. It just so happens that there are different sanctioning bodies and we happened to be talking about UMP in this case.
 
But they are the same class of cars. There is nothing wrong with St. Louis racing. Its just that their top two classes have their talent dilluted by splitting them into two classes. I'm saying that besides possibly Schwartz there weren't any cars there that really qualify as top 50 cars in the nation let alone 20. Sherrick, Harrison, Griffaw, Bittle, Mevert, and a bunch of others are really good, but to be in the top 20 of about 10000 cars is quite an accomplishment and nobody in the St. Louis qualifies. To be fair I'm not sure that on a weekly basis there are any cars in Kansas City that qualify anymore. Maybe Justin Boney is a top 30 car. At one point Tom Charles (1991-93 and Bobby Layne (1984-1992 arguably #1 in the country) were in the top 5, but a lack of funding for Charles and racing in the late 90s for Bobby eventually drove them out of the top 30 cars. I would say that as late as 1999 they were in the top 20 overall. I'm just being objective about the way things are. I'm not trying to insult anyone. If you say that someone is in the top 20 in the country in a modified that means alot more than a UMP National Championship, because the UMP title is more of a regional title. I mean it is no small thing, but it means you won the region containing a tiny sliver of Missouri, all of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennesee. That is way less than a fifth of the cars in the country (and I'm being generous on that figure).
 
Personally, it matters not one bit to me whether the guys I am watching qualify as being the best of the best or not, as long as the actual racing taking place in front of me on the track is exciting, entertaining, and close. I often watch the dogfight between 3 drivers for 12th place rather than watch the leader do demonstration laps.

Seeing as how there is no Nationwide modified touring championship, it is hard to say who is the absolute #1 guy out there. I think the best of our local talent show themselves very well.
 
Congrats Dean!! Very impressed at you run at the big 'E'.
I think Zach killed our generator in the Kreke camper playing DTR2. I would have to say that the 'Silver Shark' is his new favorite latemodel driver!!
 
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