I’m sure many of you reading this are already aware of the win streak that Kyle Larson has been on and what he has accomplished.
I‘m sure many of you reading this are already aware of the win streak that Kyle Larson has been on and what he has accomplished during his full-time return to dirt racing.
With that said, I won‘t go into details about his stats, but I will say — as I and others have said before — he is an incredibly talented race driver who does things in a race car that are simply mind-boggling!
There are times that he looks to be out of contention for the win then seems to find another gear, and the next thing you know his lap times are getting faster and he is able to gain on those he is chasing.
When he is leading and fighting his way through traffic, he has made moves to get by slower cars that you would think would slow his momentum because he has to drive through the slickest and slowest part of the race track.
But most often, somehow, he is able to keep his speed up and put a gap between himself and those chasing him.
A good example was during the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series-sanctioned Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic presented by Racing Optics at Attica Raceway Park.
Larson and Donny Schatz, the only four-time BDC winner, started on the front row together and Larson got the jump on the start. He had a sizeable lead at times, but at one point Larson got slowed by lapped cars and Schatz was actually able to get alongside Larson and almost make a pass for the lead.
But when Larson saw him, he got his elbows up, made some moves through traffic and was able to get away from Schatz.
Perhaps the biggest advantage Larson has is that he is able to keep his entry speed up even when the track is extremely slick. He also has a unique slide job technique where, instead of dive-bombing the car he is passing and doing a four-wheel slide up the track and back to the cushion, he tends to drive the car straighter to the apex as he is making the pass and then turns the car late when picking the cushion back up.
He certainly made all the right moves to win the 40-lap BDC for his first-ever win in the event. Attica Raceway Park promoter John Bores and track general manager Rex LeJeune, along with all the staff at ARP, have been great to work with over the years.
On a normal year, our biggest concern is what the weather is going to be like on race day, and almost equally important is the forecast leading up to the race.
If the forecast calls for even a 20 to 30 percent chance of rain, it can deter many people from making the effort and spending the money to come to the event, especially if they are driving a long distance that requires taking off work, spending money for gas and probably a motel.
Over the last several years, we‘ve had at least some chance for rain on race day, and in some cases we‘ve had large thunderstorms all around us that, until last year, we were lucky enough to not have hit the track or at least not enough to cancel the race.
For years we had Wednesday as a rain date and did have to use it a few times but, since we no longer have a rain date, we only have the one shot to get it in.
I‘ve had die-hard fans show up at our race and tell me they‘d driven through downed tree limbs and rain so heavy they were barely able to see the road. But they are the exception; casual fans aren‘t going to do that to attend a racing event.
After the scheduled WoO race rained out last year, we moved the BDC to the big two-day Labor Day weekend at ARP, which has been an Ollie‘s Bargain Outlets All Stars-sanctioned race for quite a while now.
All of our sponsors and all the All Stars sponsors (some who were actually competitors) worked together to make sure everyone got value for their money, and we were able to get both days in and have a completed 2019 BDC won by Brock Zearfoss.
Unless you‘ve been lucky enough to be living on a deserted island somewhere, you know 2020 has been anything but normal because of COVID-19.
Because of COVID, the local health department limited ARP to 2,000 spectator tickets this year and, wouldn‘t you know, we had the best weather forecast in years for the 32nd BDC.
It was a Chamber of Commerce picture perfect day with lots of sunshine, that in a normal year would have had fans, as they say, hanging from the rafters!
Under the circumstances, we had a great crowd for the BDC and hit our spectator seating limit, but people were able to purchase pit passes and, with us running only sprint cars and no other division, were able to walk around the large ARP pit area and social distance at their own comfort level.
I feel there were two big reasons the crowd was as good as it was. First, the weather, and second, going into our event, ARP was the only place fans were going to be able to see the Outlaws in Ohio.
We didn‘t know until just a few weeks before the BDC if we were even going to be able to have the race or not with the regulations that were in place, along with the ever-changing rules.
Usually we spend a lot of time and money advertising the event but, with such a short notice confirming that we could still run the event, we had to rely mostly on social media and word of mouth.
But we also knew that, being limited on fans, we would likely get the allotted spectator seats sold without a huge advertising blitz.
Hopefully in 2021, all we will have to worry about is the weather forecast!