5-29-04

The Track is Back!  That's the slogan that ODS management has been using this year as a way of promoting the re-birth of the speedway and it now seems like the right call. 

Another great race from the late models and a good field of mini modifieds highlighted a night that saw Willard Lawrence redeem himself and an ?out of towner' pick up a win.

The race for the championship is definitely back.  Danny Fair is in the ?zone' for sure.  His win on Saturday, while hard fought, felt almost like a preconceived notion.  He still has some ground to gain in the points but he is on the move.  Speaking of points, you win championships on your bad nights.  Championships are won on those nights that everything is going wrong and you still manage to have a decent finish.  Brandon Butler had just such a night.  He qualified 11^th but said the car felt like it would race well.  He worked through the field and finished 4^th and only lost 6 points to Fair.

Nathan Buttke is back.  Making his first appearance at ODS in about 8 years, the North Carolinian put Sam Beatty's car in victory lane after the "Manassas Dodge Dash" and backed that up with a solid third in the feature.

The Mini-Modified division seems to be back as well.  Fourteen cars took the green and Colt White put the #45 in victory lane.  Some of the best racing this season has occurred in the mini ranks.

Willard Lawrence is back.  After being disqualified last week in a post race inspection, Willard's crew worked all week to put the car back together and it paid off with a Grand Stock win, a convincing win at that. 

So yes it seems that the track is back, but a race track is only as good as the competitors that choose to race there; by that measuring stick some would say the track never really left.

See you Saturday.