mike44
Member
HELL TOUR NOTES
We headed out last Thursday for what was planned to be 3 nights of UMP DIRTcar Summernationals. First we went up to St. Louis to visit some family and had a great time at my oldest sister and her husband’s place Thursday night. Talk about good BBQ! We hadn’t seen them since Christmas so it was really good to spend several hours laughing as we talked about the old days as well as current times.
Friday afternoon it was on to PIR just outside of Paducah, KY. for our first visit to the track that we’d always heard good things about. I’ll have to say that we really like high banked tracks since I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, MO. is only a few miles from home for us. It’s now gone back to an asphalt surface but the memories of the super fast, 3 wide racing will never leave. So we rolled into Paducah with visions of similar type action. A good clean facility, PIR sits in a great setting out in the woods, so to speak. Track employees, from the lady in the ticket booth to the girl we bought water from were very friendly. With 42 UMP Late Models checked in we knew we were in for a great night of racing. A conversation was struck up with an uncle who brought 2 grown nephews down from Danville, IL. as we sat watching the track prep work being done. It was funny because for whatever reasons the nephews were not Shannon Babb fans but the uncle was and their jovial back and forth was amusing. The stands were filling up fast and by showtime they were nearly full.
All of the Summernational point chasers were there as well as some really good locals. The Paducah area has several noteworthy Late Model drivers like Terry and Tanner English, Chad Sellars and more. The huge crowd would also treated to the presence of Mr. Smooth himself, Billy Moyer and Jimmy Mars. Hot laps proved to be fast and multi-grooved and added to the excited anticipation of the upcoming $10,000 to win feature. The track prep crew was on the job after each hot lap session to assure the good conditions of the fast surface. I personally like qualifying. I like to be able to see and especially hear what the driver is doing while unimpeded by other traffic. I know that some folks think it ruins the track but it sure didn’t this night. It would be all Billy Moyer in the feature. Not a shock there. It seems that as he gets older he continues to get better, if that’s even possible. What a year he’s having! And nobody makes it look as easy as he does....nobody.
All in all we were impressed with everything about PIR. A brief conversation with Kevin Weaver, who is back in action after having health issues, revealed that he’s feeling better than he has in a long time and that’s good to hear. The atmosphere was great, the racing was good anywhere on the track a guy wanted to go and a good time was had by all. I look forward to making the trip back down there in the future. Thank you PIR for a great night!
Saturday would see the series move to I-55 Raceway in Pevely, MO. It’s pretty much our favorite track to travel to and whether it’s a big show or a regular Saturday night you can count on a good show. This was the 18th straight night of action in the grueling series, which pushes the limits of both man and machine. There is nothing quite like this tour. It’s in our future plans to, at some point, follow the entire series. So far it’s been about 3400 miles of travel to put on shows to the delight of fans from all over. Billy Moyer and Jimmy Mars came up to I-55 and Brian Birkhofer showed up too. The St. Louis area is chock full of Late Model talent so it came as no surprise to those familiar with the area’s racing that a local, Craig Smith of Godfrey, IL. set fast time in his group. Overall fast qualifier was Billy Moyer, who holds the track record set in June of 2007. The heat races had people on their feet cheering as the action was heated up. Brian Birkhofer made several runs at Craig Smith before finally getting around him to win their heat. Billy Moyer Jr. was really up on the wheel as he passed Jimmy Mars and took his heat! Billy Jr. is becoming a chip off the old block as his experience grows. The other heats went to Billy Moyer Sr. and Will Vaught. Could it possibly be an all Moyer front row for the feature? After the redraw it was Mr. Smooth on the pole with Vaught to his outside while row two was Birky and Kid Smooth. Moyer set a blistering pace right from the green flag as Vaught was always 4 or 5 car lengths behind. Birky was about that same length behind him and Billy Jr. stayed that much behind Birky. The track was very good and racy it’s just that nobody could catch any of the top 4 and they couldn’t catch each other. There was a ton of good action and passing going on in the pack....so much that it made it hard to decide who to watch! As the lapping began Vaught would get to Moyer and make several runs to no avail. Moyer maneuvered through lap traffic with the style that earned him his nickname. Birhofer would get several chances to pass Vaught but just couldn’t quite get the job done. In the end it would be Moyer, Vaught, Birky, Moyer Jr. and Dennis Erb Jr., the 3 time defending and current points leader of the Hell Tour in 5th, up from his starting spot of 10th.
Some bad luck was to be had by 3 of the tour regulars as Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, AR. had mechanical problems after qualifying and used a Moyer backup car to start the race by virtue of a provisional. Shannon Babb accidentally got into Jason Feger, who got turned sideways and ended up with the #25 car of Feger on his hood, ending his night. Feger managed a 15th place finish after the wreck.
Again, like PIR, it was a great night of action and the large I-55 crowd witnessed the continuing mastery of one of the best ever, Billy Moyer. And like PIR, the travelers and the local boys put on an extremely entertaining show that everybody loved.
Sunday morning weather reports brought hints of possible rain at Lincoln, IL. later in the day or night. That, combined with a leg injury our English Bulldog suffered Tuesday night, had us reluctantly decide to head home instead of making the 130 mile trip to Lincoln. It turned out to be an okay choice for us as the rain would start as the feature rolled out on the track. Hopefully they can get that one rescheduled.
As mentioned earlier I wish I could see all of these races but these 2 provided all the entertainment that was expected and more. Be safe and enjoy the racing..
We headed out last Thursday for what was planned to be 3 nights of UMP DIRTcar Summernationals. First we went up to St. Louis to visit some family and had a great time at my oldest sister and her husband’s place Thursday night. Talk about good BBQ! We hadn’t seen them since Christmas so it was really good to spend several hours laughing as we talked about the old days as well as current times.
Friday afternoon it was on to PIR just outside of Paducah, KY. for our first visit to the track that we’d always heard good things about. I’ll have to say that we really like high banked tracks since I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, MO. is only a few miles from home for us. It’s now gone back to an asphalt surface but the memories of the super fast, 3 wide racing will never leave. So we rolled into Paducah with visions of similar type action. A good clean facility, PIR sits in a great setting out in the woods, so to speak. Track employees, from the lady in the ticket booth to the girl we bought water from were very friendly. With 42 UMP Late Models checked in we knew we were in for a great night of racing. A conversation was struck up with an uncle who brought 2 grown nephews down from Danville, IL. as we sat watching the track prep work being done. It was funny because for whatever reasons the nephews were not Shannon Babb fans but the uncle was and their jovial back and forth was amusing. The stands were filling up fast and by showtime they were nearly full.
All of the Summernational point chasers were there as well as some really good locals. The Paducah area has several noteworthy Late Model drivers like Terry and Tanner English, Chad Sellars and more. The huge crowd would also treated to the presence of Mr. Smooth himself, Billy Moyer and Jimmy Mars. Hot laps proved to be fast and multi-grooved and added to the excited anticipation of the upcoming $10,000 to win feature. The track prep crew was on the job after each hot lap session to assure the good conditions of the fast surface. I personally like qualifying. I like to be able to see and especially hear what the driver is doing while unimpeded by other traffic. I know that some folks think it ruins the track but it sure didn’t this night. It would be all Billy Moyer in the feature. Not a shock there. It seems that as he gets older he continues to get better, if that’s even possible. What a year he’s having! And nobody makes it look as easy as he does....nobody.
All in all we were impressed with everything about PIR. A brief conversation with Kevin Weaver, who is back in action after having health issues, revealed that he’s feeling better than he has in a long time and that’s good to hear. The atmosphere was great, the racing was good anywhere on the track a guy wanted to go and a good time was had by all. I look forward to making the trip back down there in the future. Thank you PIR for a great night!
Saturday would see the series move to I-55 Raceway in Pevely, MO. It’s pretty much our favorite track to travel to and whether it’s a big show or a regular Saturday night you can count on a good show. This was the 18th straight night of action in the grueling series, which pushes the limits of both man and machine. There is nothing quite like this tour. It’s in our future plans to, at some point, follow the entire series. So far it’s been about 3400 miles of travel to put on shows to the delight of fans from all over. Billy Moyer and Jimmy Mars came up to I-55 and Brian Birkhofer showed up too. The St. Louis area is chock full of Late Model talent so it came as no surprise to those familiar with the area’s racing that a local, Craig Smith of Godfrey, IL. set fast time in his group. Overall fast qualifier was Billy Moyer, who holds the track record set in June of 2007. The heat races had people on their feet cheering as the action was heated up. Brian Birkhofer made several runs at Craig Smith before finally getting around him to win their heat. Billy Moyer Jr. was really up on the wheel as he passed Jimmy Mars and took his heat! Billy Jr. is becoming a chip off the old block as his experience grows. The other heats went to Billy Moyer Sr. and Will Vaught. Could it possibly be an all Moyer front row for the feature? After the redraw it was Mr. Smooth on the pole with Vaught to his outside while row two was Birky and Kid Smooth. Moyer set a blistering pace right from the green flag as Vaught was always 4 or 5 car lengths behind. Birky was about that same length behind him and Billy Jr. stayed that much behind Birky. The track was very good and racy it’s just that nobody could catch any of the top 4 and they couldn’t catch each other. There was a ton of good action and passing going on in the pack....so much that it made it hard to decide who to watch! As the lapping began Vaught would get to Moyer and make several runs to no avail. Moyer maneuvered through lap traffic with the style that earned him his nickname. Birhofer would get several chances to pass Vaught but just couldn’t quite get the job done. In the end it would be Moyer, Vaught, Birky, Moyer Jr. and Dennis Erb Jr., the 3 time defending and current points leader of the Hell Tour in 5th, up from his starting spot of 10th.
Some bad luck was to be had by 3 of the tour regulars as Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, AR. had mechanical problems after qualifying and used a Moyer backup car to start the race by virtue of a provisional. Shannon Babb accidentally got into Jason Feger, who got turned sideways and ended up with the #25 car of Feger on his hood, ending his night. Feger managed a 15th place finish after the wreck.
Again, like PIR, it was a great night of action and the large I-55 crowd witnessed the continuing mastery of one of the best ever, Billy Moyer. And like PIR, the travelers and the local boys put on an extremely entertaining show that everybody loved.
Sunday morning weather reports brought hints of possible rain at Lincoln, IL. later in the day or night. That, combined with a leg injury our English Bulldog suffered Tuesday night, had us reluctantly decide to head home instead of making the 130 mile trip to Lincoln. It turned out to be an okay choice for us as the rain would start as the feature rolled out on the track. Hopefully they can get that one rescheduled.
As mentioned earlier I wish I could see all of these races but these 2 provided all the entertainment that was expected and more. Be safe and enjoy the racing..
