April23rd2007

THE WEEKLY SMACK BY DJ RADANOVICH
APRIL 23RD, 2007

Beautiful skies, a great car count, and a large crowd joined together for one of the best
opening night's in recent memory at Midvale Speedway Saturday night. There was plenty
of action on hand as well and the program for the evening went very smooth. There has
been a few changes at the track during the off season and it helped the program
tremendously. First off, long time announcer Adam Mackey has stepped into the position
of Race Director and he did a fine job. If the rest of the season goes as good as opening
night did the fans will be in for a great year. Second, a new rule has been implemented for
race starts and restarts. The leaders must now maintain a pace down the backstretch and
cannot lay the hammer down until they reach the stripe in turn four and this rule definitely
made for some better racing. And maybe the best new rule is time limits on the features
which allowed the fans to make it home at a more reasonable time. I see good things in
store for Midvale this year and you folks gotta go check it out.

Fifteen Late Models took the green flag and Bob Schnieder Jr. jumped out to a quick lead
over Mark Willison. Schnieder lead for quite a while but back in the pack John Ambrose
was tearing through the field with Doug McMillen and Ryan Tedesco close behind. After a
few cautions for spins Ambrose wasted little time flying by Schnieder on the outside
cruising to the win. The race ended under the new time rule as last years division champ
Mike Miller spilled rear end grease all over the track. The track crew did a fine job getting
the mess cleaned up but there just wasn't enough time on the clock. Following Ambrose
home to victory was Mark Willison, Ryan Tedesco, Greg Buele, and John Sandquist. Six
through ten was AP Ren, Dusty Woodie, Bob Eichel, Ron Jaberg, Jr., and Jake Francis.

Next out was the Legends and Dennis Knox wasted little time taking control early in the
race and winning despite the track conditions from the Late Model feature. The Legend
drivers did a great job as only one caution flew on lap 18 with the greasy track. Following
Knox to the checkered was Larry Young, Jason Knox, Mike Luke, and Jake Francis.

In the Tusco Net Sport Stock division, Doug McMillen picked his way through the field on
his way to victory. Early race leader Wild Bill Aubihl was impressive in the early laps of
the feature but was sent to the tail for going under his qualifying time. Following McMillen
to the stripe was Kevin McClintock, Randy Smart, Bill Aubihl and Scott Archer.

In the Pure Stock division, Jimmy Orr started the season off strong as he passed several
cars on his way to the win. In the early stages of the race Curtis Collins looked strong as
he held off several challenges from last years division champ Rich Schweitzer. Great
battles took place behind them as Tory Gibbs, Mike Phillips, Jr., and Orr battled for
position. Once Orr broke loose and the #10 of Tory Gibbs and the #66 of Curtis Collins
went pit side Orr made quick work of Schweitzer and went on to a dominating win.
Following Orr to the stripe was Schweitzer, Todd Miller, Chester McMasters, and Mike
Phillips, Jr. Earlier in the evening Doug Decker set a new track record turning a lap of
16.70.

The three compact features pretty much went without incident as Tom Barrett, Russell
Grandison, and Joe Fitch won the events.

A special thanks to Adam Mackey for letting me try my hand at announcing, even though I
did not do very well. Announcing is not very easy, especially when you are unfamiliar
with the drivers.

More updates and pictures will be added soon.