Last weekend, Brushcreek Motorsports Complex held their biggest race of the season, after giving it a few days to gather my thoughts, (and in some cases calm down) I decided it was time to add a Clint Eastwood style article to the site. So sit back and enjoy the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good:

♣ The racing surface is unbelievable. It was very smooth and moisture came up all night long, which helped keep the dust down, added traction, and provided multiple grooves. Brushcreek Motorsports might have the best racing surface in the state of Ohio right now, and there are several tracks in the area that could benefit from working the soil like Tom Partin does.

♣ MOST of the staff is friendly as can be and very helpful. With the exception of one person I dealt with this weekend, the staff all seemed to be very curious and thankful that we chose to visit their track. Tom Partin comes across as a friendly guy, and that goes along way. We’ve been to tracks this year where every employee acted as though they did not have time to answer a simple question. When you go to Brushcreek you get a sense that they are happy to have you there, and are generally great people. The only person at the track I did not get this vibe from was the woman at the front gate, more on her later.

♣ Food was excellent, and priced well. No complaints here.

♣ A big shout out must go to Brushcreek, for putting enough faith in the Modified division to give them a show of this caliber. Most tracks in the region, and the country for that matter, treat the support classes like they are second class citizens. That’s not the case at “The Crick.” Everyone seems to be treated equally, and that’s a rarity these days. Something I am disappointed about, though, when talking about how the mods are treated and payed at Brushcreek, is the lack of car count and excitement heading into this race. I’ve never understood why lots of modified drivers complain, bitch, and holler about not getting paid enough, and then someone like Tom Partin sticks his neck out, and few support it. There is no reason why this race shouldn’t get 100 cars, when the purse and prestige is that great! I hope all the modified guys out there crying about respect, do the sport a favor, and show up next year to show other tracks that this class can draw in huge numbers if the purse and presentation is right.

♣ The overall quality of cars that showed up was remarkable. While the feature was out there, I scanned the field and saw stars from three different regions, as a dirt racing junkie it was awesome. The best of the best from New York to Canada to Kentucky rolled in and did battle with each other, and many of those cars won’t be on the same track together again. It’s was almost like a dream race up front in the feature. Hess, Arpin and Kramer are all kings in their respective sanction, and area, and are almost unstoppable at the big shows in their area. Without a doubt, this was one of the strongest fields in recent history, and again it’s due to the respect shown by “The Creek” to the modified division.

♣ The announcer just plain rocked it out. He has great delivery, a good voice, and knows his stuff. As I listened to him, he did a great job reading off all the sponsors, and the people who supported the race. He didn’t flub up any of the drivers names, not even the “out of towners”. The call of the race wasn’t bad at all, my only complaint is you cannot hear the speakers everywhere, and this presents a problem when your in the pits, and when your in one of the turns.

The Bad:

♣ For the love of god, someone line the cars up! Next year for this race, put it on the advertisement RACECIEVERS MANDATORY. The red flag, with cars driving around the track aimlessly needs to stop. Overall Saturday night they could have saved an hour if there were one way radios in the cars, so the cars could be lined up quickly. Please remedy this situation.

♣ This race should be unsanctioned. I was not impressed with the AMRA people. They seemed to be behind, slow, and disorganized for the majority of the weekend. Give AMRA and UMP points for the race, and bring in an all-star group of officials for the race. Look at Carl Short and The DTWC, he brings in good reliable people and everything runs without a hitch. KC was off, bring in some of their people, Moler’s got a few good employee’s, hell train and build your own super staff and practice with them and work them up before next years race. When you have transponders, radios, computers, and everything else in the world at your hands there is no excuse for dead time. None.

♣ Speaking of dead time. Please eliminate it! Like I said, there should never be a point in the show where the fans are standing around looking at each other and wondering what the hell is going on. This has been a issue at the track since opening, and I have noticed improvement, but it still happens. Bam, bam, bam, bam, the show should go like that. The Saturday portion of the show should have been this. Late Models $1,500 to win, Mods for the Harley. That’s it, that’s all you need. Late Model heats, Modified heats, Late Model consi or feature, Modified consi’s, WATER TRUCK, Driver intros, Modified feature. During the water truck time you could have done the drawing for the fans and the Harley. The 50/50 and whatever other announcements you needed to make. Bring some of the Late Model guys over and interview them about the race they just had, maybe interview the fans who got picked to be in the Harley contest, there is so much you guys can do and it bothers me to see such a great track not live up to its potential!

♣ I kinda addressed above, but the top and bottom of the track should at the least get a misting before the features. The guys run four and five wide and getting into the lose stuff is inevitable. If your worried about them bottom hugging, bring those tires up a few inches. And while I am thinking about it, burn those barrels in a bonfire at next years race, they are useless.

The Ugly:

♣ Qualifying sucks. Most fans really hate sitting through qualifying and feel that it is boring. One of the best shows you will see all season is The Big Dawg 100 at Union County. The race averages around one hundred modifieds each year and has never used a qualifying format once. They run pill draw heats, and then the top two redraw for their feature position. They run a A,B,C,D progressive format, and have never had problems drawing cars. The show moves along quickly due to the two hours we saved by not qualifying, and the fans go home early and happy. This race has been a guaranteed success for the last eight years, and the format is apart of the equation.

♣ The woman on the front gate needs to go. I don’t know who she is, and I don’t really care. She is rude and slow, and comes across as being completely incompetent. I watched her get rude with R.A. Smith, a well known photographer in the area, whose covered The Creek more than just about anyone. When I was walking in, she stopped me and said she had not seen a pit pass like mine, and I needed to give her my name? Give her my name? She jotted it down on a piece of paper, but come on, if I was sneaking in do you think I would give my real name? Furthermore, what the hell was she going to do? Was she going to ask around and find out what the pit pass for the weekend looked like, and if it wasn’t what she seen me wearing call me over the PA to come to the gate and pay? I was completely confused about it, and she should have just gotten on the radio and asked instead of standing there looking flustered.

♣ The same lady was in charge of the Ms. Hardbody deal that was to take place later in the evening. One of my friends came through the gate, and she stopped her, and told my friend she needed to enter the Ms. Hardbody contest. After some questions, the lady at the gate assured this friend of mine, that the competition was on the up and up and no nudity was required. Later on that night as some of the strippers… I mean contestants showed up, my friend again asked if this was legit and not just going to be some trashy tit show. The woman stated it was just a bikini deal, and there would be a little dancing contest, but nothing trashy. Well. She lied. From the start tops were coming off, and it was not presented in the manner it was advertised. When my friend asked to have her entry form and information back, the lady from the front gate refused, said anyone entering knew what they were getting into, and eventually threatened to “beat someone’s face in.” This is not the type of person any track needs working for them.

♣ Speaking of the Ms. Hardbody, why the hell did it take place while the races were going on? Why did they charge you $7 to bring your own beer into the parking lot? Why was food advertised, and then none provided? Why were little kids permitted to watch this deal? Why wasn’t it advertised as what it was (a titty contest)? Why was the tent so small? And finally why did the girls have to be so ugly?

To summarize:

♣ I think this race track has as much, or more potential as any track in the country. I really mean that. The surface is awesome, the people (with the exception of one) are great and friendly, and the facilities are top notch. Everything is there and in place, but for some reason it’s still not clicking. I want Brushcreek to grow and become huge, and it sucks just watching the flashes of greatness, mixed in with blunders. Seriously, I see no reason why this can’t be one of the top tracks in the entire country, and hope one day that it is. This is not intended to be a bash and smash article about the place, just an honest assessment about a track I really enjoy going to. I feel so strongly about this race, and want to see it grow and get the recognition is deserves, it really deserves to be the World 100 of Modifieds with a packed house in the stands, and one hundred and fifty cars in the pits. For 2009, my hopes are that the ship is tightened, and the show is ran much quicker and a word of mouth campaign starts leading to a recording breaking 2010. Also, I hope more fans voice their opinion on this site, and to Tom Partin about what they would like to see. There is a comment section below, and his number is on the Brushcreek website. Be pro-active and lets make this thing huge, it’s easier to sit back and bash someone on 4m or another board, but if you want to change things, do something, stand up and have your voice heard. With that said, I don’t know what it is I can do, but I offer my services to Brushcreek for the 2009 101, and offer up the site to advertise this event and give us updates regarding the race. I also will offer Tom Partin a spot on the site to address the fans concerns and comments, I hope he accepts. Together, I think we can help this great track live up to it’s full potential.