Rumble @ The Coliseum open 07 season for #122
#122 Ohio Expo Center (Coliseum), Columbus, OH (1/10-mile indoor concrete), 1/20/07...
I began the 2007 racing last Saturday with a trip to the Buckeye State at the Ohio Expo Center and the Ohio State Fairgrounds located right off Interstate 71. It was another "Rumble Series" event promoted by Tony Barhorst. I've seen his events at Toledo, Fort Wayne, and outdoors at Columbus Motor Speedway.
This was the first ever show inside the Coliseum building. Last year I took in racing a few buildings down at the O'Neill Building. This event included the highly-touted USAC Midgets along with the 600cc wingless Micro Sprints, and various classes of go-karts.
The Midgets had 26 cars on hand and less talented field than the one's held at Fort Wayne, IN. It was Ken Schrader Day as he was signing autographs and then competed in Midget competition. Schrader transferred to the feature by winning one of the two B mains, but was the second drop-out of the feature.
The Midgets were the only class to time trial, which started a few minutes before 5 p.m. and was followed up by various last chance races and features for the karts. Before the scheduled 7 p.m. start time for the midget heats, ABC commentator, Jack Arute, interviewed Sarah Fisher. Arute was competing himself in the Micro class.
The heats and last chance races for the Midgets were better than the 50-lap feature. Twelve cars were scheduled to start the Midget feature, but pole-sitter Matt Westfall was unable to fire, which slid third-place starter Blake Fitzpatrick to the pole. Fitzpatrick, a 15-year-old, led all 50 laps of the non-stop event which really stirred up the fumes in the non-stop action. The Midget feature was last and wrapped up well before 10 PM.
The various go-kart races and especially the Micro Sprint feature was better. Joey Payne, who won the week prior at Atlantic City, NJ, made it back-to-back wins taking the Micro Sprint main. Indoor standout and Ohio 410 Sprint Car racer John Ivy spun twice in the main, but charged back from 18th to finish 3rd and most likely was the fastest car on the track.
It was a good show. Admission is always high for these indoor events, which aren't cheap to put on. Adult grandstand admission was $21 with pit passes $30. Parking set you back another $5. The show was very organized and professionally run with little delays. The Coliseum provided an excellent view of the racing action as there wasn't a bad seat in the house. It was stated the Coliseum held 5,000 and the announced attendance was 4,000, but that seemed way overstated. Even with all of the people from the pits it may have approached half-full. It was nice to hear Paul Szmal (sp?) behind the mic. Paul is veteran of the Northeast racing scene especially the Modifieds. doing various media gigs and promotions.
It was sunny skies on Saturday with temps in the 30s in Columbus; however, the weather turned nasty the following day as snowstorm came through thankfully a day late.
The Coliseum made for my 26th track in the Buckeye State and #122 overall.
#122 Ohio Expo Center (Coliseum), OH 1/20/07
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I began the 2007 racing last Saturday with a trip to the Buckeye State at the Ohio Expo Center and the Ohio State Fairgrounds located right off Interstate 71. It was another "Rumble Series" event promoted by Tony Barhorst. I've seen his events at Toledo, Fort Wayne, and outdoors at Columbus Motor Speedway.
This was the first ever show inside the Coliseum building. Last year I took in racing a few buildings down at the O'Neill Building. This event included the highly-touted USAC Midgets along with the 600cc wingless Micro Sprints, and various classes of go-karts.
The Midgets had 26 cars on hand and less talented field than the one's held at Fort Wayne, IN. It was Ken Schrader Day as he was signing autographs and then competed in Midget competition. Schrader transferred to the feature by winning one of the two B mains, but was the second drop-out of the feature.
The Midgets were the only class to time trial, which started a few minutes before 5 p.m. and was followed up by various last chance races and features for the karts. Before the scheduled 7 p.m. start time for the midget heats, ABC commentator, Jack Arute, interviewed Sarah Fisher. Arute was competing himself in the Micro class.
The heats and last chance races for the Midgets were better than the 50-lap feature. Twelve cars were scheduled to start the Midget feature, but pole-sitter Matt Westfall was unable to fire, which slid third-place starter Blake Fitzpatrick to the pole. Fitzpatrick, a 15-year-old, led all 50 laps of the non-stop event which really stirred up the fumes in the non-stop action. The Midget feature was last and wrapped up well before 10 PM.
The various go-kart races and especially the Micro Sprint feature was better. Joey Payne, who won the week prior at Atlantic City, NJ, made it back-to-back wins taking the Micro Sprint main. Indoor standout and Ohio 410 Sprint Car racer John Ivy spun twice in the main, but charged back from 18th to finish 3rd and most likely was the fastest car on the track.
It was a good show. Admission is always high for these indoor events, which aren't cheap to put on. Adult grandstand admission was $21 with pit passes $30. Parking set you back another $5. The show was very organized and professionally run with little delays. The Coliseum provided an excellent view of the racing action as there wasn't a bad seat in the house. It was stated the Coliseum held 5,000 and the announced attendance was 4,000, but that seemed way overstated. Even with all of the people from the pits it may have approached half-full. It was nice to hear Paul Szmal (sp?) behind the mic. Paul is veteran of the Northeast racing scene especially the Modifieds. doing various media gigs and promotions.
It was sunny skies on Saturday with temps in the 30s in Columbus; however, the weather turned nasty the following day as snowstorm came through thankfully a day late.
The Coliseum made for my 26th track in the Buckeye State and #122 overall.
#122 Ohio Expo Center (Coliseum), OH 1/20/07
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posted by Mike Leone at 2:15 PM
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