Ladies and gentleman, it's August. The big-money end-of-the-year shows kick off in just over a week, and championships are nearing their conclusion.
Seems like a perfect time to take a look back at a busy season of racing, and highlight some of the things that have happened thus far.
February: Month of emotions... Before the season could get started, February kicked off on a somber note as the modified racing world lost it's second driver over the winter months. Mike Ronca passed away suddenly in early February, just months after losing Wade Decker. Both drivers have not been forgotten, Mike's brother Don Ronca has changed his number to 7 for 2012 to pay tribute to Mike, while I-88 Speedway hosted the Wade Decker Memorial.
The season kicked off with 4 races down in sunny Florida as a healthy field of 40 big-blocks made the trek south for the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park.
Brothers Danny and Alan Johnson decided to break in victory lane for the rest of the competitors, as they claimed the first 2 races of the 2012 season, but it was Matt Sheppard (feature win & championship) and Rob Bellinger ($5,000 finale winner) who stole the headlines as the modifieds left the sunshine state.
March: We'll call it the month of destruction... Tyler Siri reportedly bought Black Rock Speedway, then didn't, then did, then didn't, in the end, Dean Hoag still runs Black Rock Speedway-destroying Tyler Siri's dreams of running a race track in 2012. Brewerton Speedway destroyed DIRT's hopes that they would be able to work out a deal for the Thursday of Super DIRT Week by upping their winner's purse for the Hurricaine 100 to $10,000 to win.
Duane Howard and Billy Pauch destroyed the field at Selinsgrove, Ryan Godown destroyed his tires first and the field second as a new era kicked off at Bridgeport, and big-blocks returned to Black Rock with Matt Sheppard... you guessed it, destroyed the field.
April: Month of returns... Gary Mann and Glenn Hyneman announced surprising returns for 2012, Mann announced he'd partner with Jerry Higbie for RoC Dirt Tour events, with Hyneman partnered with former driver Billy Pauch for specials.
Rain returned and officially cancelled their first race of 2012 (Volusia rain out was rescheduled and ran), that honor went to Sharon Speedway on April 14. Danny Johnson returned to victory lane as the Super DIRTcar Series officially kicked off at Canandaigua. The dirt returned to Albany-Saratoga Speedway and saw Stewart Friesen and Tim McCreadie take home victories on their opening weekend. Meme DeSantis notched a win at Big Diamond, and returned to victory later that night as he swept the twin-features.
Mike Mahaney kicked off what's been a break-out season with a surprising win at Fonda Speedway's Ice Jam.
May: Month of heat... A complaint from Ryan Godown saw Billy Pauch DQed for placement of a weight. Pauch fans got heated, but Godown got on the track at New Egypt. Stewart Friesen got hot at Fonda, Andy Bachetti got hot at Accord, Duane Howard got hot at Grandview, Brett Hearn got hot at Albany and Lebanon Valley, Bobby Varin got hot at Glen Ridge, and Billy Van Pelt got hot at Woodhull.
Bobby Varin took home the first big pay-day of 2012 with the $10,000 victory in the Victoria 100. Also, Eric Gabany took advantage of a rare race for small blocks at Lernerville, and Randy Chrysler showed the BRP Tour how to do the Tuscarora Twist in Pittsburgh. Kolby Schroder, Ryan Susice, Eric Kormann, Danny Bouc, Jason Potter, and Neal Williams all picked up career modified win #1.
June: The month of depressing car counts... Selinsgrove's highly anticipated summer RoC event saw 15 modifieds show up, after a successful event in 2011 the RoC Tour was only able to draw 18 cars for Lincoln's race. Glen Ridge changed their weekly racing to Sundays as car counts on Fridays dipped below 15.
In less depressing news, Danny Johnson made Penn Can history with the $10,000 Clash at the Can victory and then won at Battle at the Border at Ransomville, Tim Sears Jr lived up to the hype at Fulton, David Hebert swept features at RPM, Danny Creeden ended Andy Bachetti's Accord streak, Jerry Higbie was crowned the King of Orange County, while Todd Stone and Patrice McGrail made history as the DIRTcar/Asphalt Series returned, Darren McCaughey and Keith Hoffman ended win droughts, and Jamie Mills and HJ Bunting went blow-for-blow at Delaware.
July: The month of suspensions. Not just suspensions, championship-contenders being suspended. Let's see if we can keep count, we saw Danny Johnson suspended for 1 race from Super DIRTcar Series competition for an altercation (he was leading series points at the time), Kevin Bolland suspended for the year for all DIRTcar-sanctioned events for an altercation and running a 2-way radio (was leading points at the time), Mat Williamson was suspended for the year from Ransomville Speedway (was running top-5 in points at the time), and Bobby Varin was suspended for a week for driving erratically in the pit area (was second in points at the time). The suspensions have done their damage, as Varin has decided to run elsewhere on Saturday nights the rest of the season, and Danny Johnson will skip at least one more Series event as he has announced he'll run the Freedom 76er in September instead of the Series race at Mohawk.
On the track, Randy Sherlock and Carl Nagel returned for a night, Jeff Heotzler finally kicked off his season, Keith Brightbill was replaced by Caroll Hine at Banos Racing, Grasso parked Mike Ricci's ride; resulting in Ricci teaming up with Kawalchuk, and the Gagliardo Motorsports team hired Danny Erb, fired Glenn Strunk, and hired Kenny Gilmore, Billy Pauch announced his return to Super DIRT Week, and Bobby Varin and Mike Mahaney landed rides for the Freedom 76er, get all that?
Georgetown Speedway announced they'll re-open later this season as well.
Chris Raabe started the month out with a bang as he shocked the Super DIRTcar Series drivers (and continued his dominance at Can Am). Rained postponed Friends of Mike at New Egypt twice, Kayle Robidoux hit his stride at Drummond and Granby, Stewart Friesen caused controversy with a win at Five Mile Point, I-88 saw heavy rain postpone the Wade Decker Memorial, Rick Laubach kept drawing kings in Bridgeport's Poker Series, and Sammy Piazza made history at New Egypt.
Bobby Varin won the Big Show, Kevin Bolland paid tribue to Lou Blaney, and Jamie Mills benefitted the Delaware State Police. RoC debuted at Black Rock with Matt Sheppard in victory lane, Danny Johnson won everything in sight, Mark Flach became the King of Lebanon Valley while Kim LaVoy became the first female modified winner since Jessica Zemken in 2008, and Ryan Godown was crowned RoC Southern Tour champion.
There it is, an incredibly quick recap that just scratched the surface of a great season we've been enjoying so far.
Here's a look at the points leaders everywhere as we near look towards the end of the season...
Accord Speedway
1st 34 Andy Bachetti
2nd 97 Jerry Higbie
3rd RC1 Danny Creeden
4th 20 Mike Ricci
5th 97T Danny Tyler
Airborne Park Speedway
1st 1x Todd Stone
2nd 10 Patrice McGrail
3rd 34 George Foley
4th 24 Patrick Dupree
5th B3 Aaron Bartemy
Albany-Saratoga Speedway
1st 20 Brett Hearn
2nd 115 Kenny Tremont
3rd 3D Matt DeLorenzo
4th 2 Ronnie Johnson
5th 21J Jeff Trombley
Autodrome Drummond
1st 54 Steve Bernard
2nd 44 Sebastien Gougeon
3rd 1H David Hébert
4th 22J Gino Clair
5th 63 Dominic Dufault
Autodrome Granby
1st 49 Francois Bernier
2nd 22c Mario Clair
3rd 46 Kayle Robidoux
4th 73 Alain Boisvert
5th 3 Claude Brouillard
Big Diamond Speedway
1st 1c Craig Von Dohren
2nd 4 Duane Howard
3rd 7 Rick Laubach
4th 88D Meme DeSantis
5th 3a Kevin Albert
Brewerton Speedway
1st 99J Jimmy Phelps
2nd 91 Billy Decker
3rd 9s Matt Sheppard
4th 99 Ryan Phelps
5th 42p Pat Ward
Bridgeport Speedway
1st 7 Rick Laubach
2nd 5 Jimmy Horton
3rd 0 Richie Pratt
4th 16s Eric Kormann
5th 14w Ryan Watt
Brockville Ontario Speedway
1st 77x Dale Planck
2nd 66 Kyle Dingwall
3rd 7 Lee Gill
4th 88 Tim O'Brien
5th 6 Pat O'Brien
Can Am Motorsports Park (Big Blocks)
1st 5 Jason Potter
2nd 16 Lance Willix
3rd 109 Terry Knoblock
4th 74K Adam Ellis
5th 63 Adam Roberts
Can Am Motorsports Park (Small Blocks)
1st 01 Chris Raabe
2nd 7G Kevin Gamble
3rd 24 Brandon Sweet
4th 21 Andy Howard
5th zero3 Zach Aubertine
Canandaigua Motorsports Park
1st 9s Matt Sheppard
2nd 27J Danny Johnson
3rd 3 Justin Haers
4th 99J Jimmy Phelps
5th 10J Alan Johnson
Cornwall Motor Speedway
1st 01 Chris Raabe
2nd 40 Joel Doiron
3rd 23 Laurent Ladouceur
4th 77x Dale Planck
5th 66 Kyle Dingwall
Delaware International Speedway
1st 85 H.J. Bunting
2nd 1w Jamie Mills
3rd 33 Brad Trice
4th 62 Matt Jester
5th 90w Beau Wilkins
Five Mile Point Speedway
1st 21 Shaun Walker
2nd 280 Justin Holland
3rd RC1 Danny Creeden
4th 1a Brian Weaver
5th 15 Brett Tonkin
Fonda Speedway
1st 1 Stewart Friesen
2nd 00 Bobby Varin
3rd 2 Ronnie Johnson
4th 6H Josh Hohenfrost
5th 73 Jimmy Davis
Fulton Speedway
1st 91 Billy Decker
2nd 99L Larry Wight
3rd 99 Ryan Phelps
4th 33 Mike Mahaney
5th 42p Pat Ward
Glen Ridge Motorsports Park
1st 97 Bobby Varin
2nd 22J Jeremy Wilder
3rd 20c Craig Hanson
4th 53 Bobby Vedder
5th 711 JaMike Sowle
Grandview Speedway
1st 4 Duane Howard
2nd 46 Doug Manmiller
3rd 357 Jeff Strunk
4th 1c Craig Von Dohren
5th 3G Mike Gular
I-88 Speedway
1st 2G Mitch Gibbs
2nd 21 Shaun Walker
3rd 1J Jim Gabriel
4th 71 Russ Zimmerman
5th 22B Arnie Slade
Lebanon Valley Speedway (Big Blocks)
1st 20 Brett Hearn
2nd 57 Donnie Corellis
3rd 98 Eddie Marshall
4th 74 J.R. Heffner
5th 60 Brian Berger
Lebanon Valley Speedway (Small Blocks)
1st 20 Brett Hearn
2nd 34 Steve Hough
3rd 20 Matt Quinn
4th 34 Andy Bachetti
5th 5 J.R. Heffner
Lernerville Speedway
1st 61 Dave Murdick
2nd 83 Brian Swartzlander
3rd 37 Jeremiah Shingledecker
4th 777 Kevin Bolland
5th 45 Steve Feder
Mahoning Valley Speedway
1st 01 Kris Graver
2nd 24 Randy Thomas
3rd 38 Mike Stofflet
4th 99 Dave Thomas
5th 819 Mark Levy
Mercer Raceway Park
1st 88R Rob Curtis
2nd 28H Jimmy Holden
3rd 66F Kyle Fink
4th 66 J.R. McGinley
5th 58 Lonny Riggs
Merrittville Speedway
1st 42 Pete Bicknell
2nd 6m Mat Williamson
3rd 15J Tim Jones
4th 22 Larry Lampman
5th 19J Tommy Flannigan
Mohawk International Raceway
1st 01 Chris Raabe
2nd 23B Billy Dunn
3rd 74 Matt Billings
4th 17D Danny O'Brien
5th 77x Dale Planck
New Egypt Speedway
1st 747 Ryan Godown
2nd 14 Willie Osmun
3rd 3 Sam Martz
4th RJ7 Ron John Koczon
5th 59 Tad Cox
Orange County Fair Speedway
1st 97 Jerry Higbie
2nd 33 1/3 Tommy Meier
3rd 24 Chris Shultz
4th 6x Jackie Brown
5th 1H Tim Hindley
Penn Can Speedway
1st 176 Brett Tonkin
2nd 5J Joey Grammes
3rd 16 Michael Schane
4th 42B Kevin Bates
5th 51 Mike Colsten
Ransomville Speedway
1st 3 Chad Brachmann
2nd 42 Pete Bicknell
3rd 27J Danny Johnson
4th 38 Ryan Susice
5th 7 Scott Kerwin
RPM Speedway
1st 1H David Hébert
2nd 22c Mario Clair
3rd 39 Clement Therrien
4th 3 Claude Brouillard
5th 63 Dominic Dufault
Sharon Speedway
1st 65 Rex King
2nd 61 Dave Murdick
3rd 777 Kevin Bolland
4th 165 Rex King Jr
5th 31 Jim Weller
Sportsmans Speedway
1st 67 Randy Brown
2nd 15H Tom Holden
3rd 19 Rick Lias
4th 66F Kyle Fink
5th 21 Jim Thompson
Utica Rome Speedway
1st 1wgc Stewart Friesen
2nd 42p Pat Ward
3rd 33 Mike Mahaney
4th 10J Alan Johnson
5th 99 Ryan Phelps
Volusia Speedway Park (FINAL)
1st 9s Matt Sheppard
2nd 74 Tim Fuller
3rd 27J Danny Johnson
4th 10J Alan Johnson
5th 22c Mario Clair
Woodhull Raceway
1st 2 Billy Van Pelt
2nd 11 Donnie Lawson
3rd 21m Mike Bills
4th 9x Dale Welty
5th 31 Frank Dunning
Super DIRTcar Series
1st 9s Matt Sheppard
2nd 20 Brett Hearn
3rd 98H Jimmy Phelps
4th 49 Billy Dunn
5th 27J Danny Johnson
RoC Dirt Tour
1st 27J Danny Johnson
2nd 1 Stewart Friesen
3rd 42p Pat Ward
4th 98H Jimmy Phelps
5th 747 Ryan Godown
358 DIRTcar Series
1st 27J Danny Johnson
2nd 77x Dale Planck
3rd 6m Mat Williamson
4th 66x Carey Terrance
5th 20 Brett Hearn
RoC Northern Tour
1st 85 Stewart Friesen
2nd 98H Jimmy Phelps
3rd 91 Billy Decker
4th 42p Pat Ward
5th 27J Danny Johnson
RoC Southern Tour (FINAL)
1st 747 Ryan Godown
2nd 4 Duane Howard
3rd 27J Danny Johnson
4th 1 Stewart Friesen
5th 7 Rick Laubach
DIRT/Asphalt Tour
1st 10 Patrice McGrail
2nd 43 Keith Flach
3rd 3D Matt DeLorenzo
4th 1x Todd Stone
5th 4 Leon Gonyo
BRP Modified Tour
1st 1a Brian Weaver
2nd 61 Dave Murdick
3rd 65 Rex King
4th 37MD Jeremiah Shingledecker
5th 165 Rex King Jr
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