STEVENS POINT, Wis. -- Ahhh, the sweet smell of methanol in the air! The deafening rumbling of 410 cubic inch engines idling as their "doctors" perform delicate surgery on them in a quest to make them better. This can mean only one thing. It is now official! The sprint racing season has officially begun in the upper mid-west. It's a Saturday night and we're at a racetrack and there's a threat of rain. Yep! Business as usual! The whole twist to all of this was that other than a small spritzing that did nothing more than force everyone to look to the skies briefly, it never did anything. In fact, the sun eventually came out and you couldn't have asked for better weather. Here's even more to swallow. The track held up nicely all night long. If not for the fact of forgetting just how hard certain muscles have to work and react so quickly, (something that you remember REAL quick but work at all season), the entire night would have been a solid 11 on a scale of 1 to 10! I would also like to take a second and extend a thank you to all of the teams on hand for their outstanding professionalism all night long. In fact, I don't think I even heard a complaint all night long (knock on wood), but then again, it was only opening night.

Seriously, every competitor in the pit area really demonstrated just how far this sport has come from the days of settling disputes with fist (helmets optional). Oh, and a bonus. Completely finished at just a tick after 10pm. At this point, it was simply a matter of figuring out what to do next. A quick conversation with Dean Osborn and I was soon another passenger aboard "Osborn One", northbound to home. By the way Dean, thanks! I was able to get home in plenty of time to take care of business and, god forbid, grab a quick nap. What is this world coming too? In all seriousness here folks, the overall weekend was welcomed by the fans, competitors and mother nature. Another group that I want to take a second to recognize and were more than ready were the photographers. HUH? No one ever says anything about the rail birds. Yeah, the crazy guys hanging over the inside guardrail in search of the perfect photograph. Perhaps even the front page of a paper or magazine. Although the rise in Internet news services such as hoseheads and tjslideways sometimes brings them out of the woodwork, you can always spot the veterans. The professionals. And it's not always by the size of their lenses or how far their flash reaches. Anyone can spend money and get the good equipment to look like they know what they are doing. We see it all the time in the pit area so why would this be different? Just watch for them. They are the ones not flinching while the stones are pelting them like bullets from a gateling gun They are also the ones that are totally aware or their surroundings. They are the ones pulling into the show with a car that looks like it was pieced together with wire and duct tape. They are the ones who's names you will see on those pages. They are also the ones that the "rookies" are trying to be one day because just like the drivers and teams, they get tired of following the circuits too. They have certainly made things easier for me and they are very of ten the ones that can make a series go from ok to great in a single flash. Thanks guys! You know who you are!

The lower than expected car count was directly related to the area weather. As I said, thee was a threat of rain. In honesty, more than a threat, Seemingly everything in the area was wet except the town of Oskaloosa. Undaunted though, Bill McCroskey and Lori McCarl went on about the business at hand undaunted.

There is also something special about racing at Osky. McTwo promotions have a very good report with regional and local businesses and the support for brining sprint car racing to the fairgrounds there is always well rewarded. Here's a suggestion to promoters out there trying to figure out just how to sell tickets and build a quality event: If you haven't figured it out on your own yet, give Bill or Terry a call and try to pick their brains some. Good ideas almost always start out as a crazy thought that works. Of course, if it doesn't work then you can always say you tried something different and call me a moron. If you honestly tried, I will at least give you credit for that.

Another thing that I remembered quickly was the travel time involved on these trips. Twenty-Four straight hours is more than enough for these old bones. I have no idea how some of these war-weary veterans do it anymore. My hat is certainly off to them. Anyway, I am going to try and keep the back yard notes to a

minimum this week, mostly because here it is getting late once again and the alarm clock is already set for 4am. Yep! There's another thing to look forward to.

NOTES AND NEWS FROM THE INFIELD

* Travis Whitney towed to Knoxville's open practice on Friday night and looked very good from sources. Not only the IRA officials that were there. Several of the Knoxville Reps I spoke to on Saturday echoed the same comments. When I talked to Travis about it, he had his usual "Don't know what your talking about but your right" smile, so I figured they were at least happy with their results. Saturday night, the team continued their testing up which cost them in the feature but, in the bigger scheme of things, they feel will help them. Discipline. There is a reason they are so successful on the limited budget they have. They know how to race smart and are disciplined enough to make a game plan and stick to it. Ten years in the Air Force has taught me to respect that, and you have to respect the results.

* Mike Kertscher's night ended prematurely when the bearing in their rearend failed early in the A-Main. Mike looked strong and smooth in his heat race, which was the ticket needed to succeed in the feature. At least nothing really got hurt when it went as Mike was able to catch it in time.

* Smooth! I could not believe the difference it made on Saturday night! Yeah, I do realize that is often the key, I've been around a little while. Usually though, there is a certain amount of getting up on the wheel involved though which entails throwing the car around at least a little bit. Not at Osky on Saturday. In fact, when I spoke to Wayne at the scales, he seemed more winded from the post race interview (which, anyone who has heard or talked with Wayne knows that he is a man of few words), than driving. A lot of it had to do with the fact that he and Don Droud didn't even begin to encounter lapped traffic until the final few laps of the race.

Yes, nearly the entire field was that fast. Once Wayne got by Don though, he looked as comfortable sitting in the seat as he drove by me as anyone I have seen in a very long time. I would say that they are ready for Knoxville's title chase.

* I saw something I have not seen much of lately on Saturday night after the races. A smile on Kim Mock's face. Experience has made Kim a realist over the past few years and when he got the word that quick timer Wayne Johnson had pulled the number 10 pill, putting him on the pole, he was well aware of the level of competition following him. He also knew what he would have to do. What no one else knew though was that the team was handicapped. A missing brake due to damage earlier would mean a different driving style and ultimately caused the hole on lap six that allowed Droud the hole he needed to get by. As the race wore on, the moving cushion kept Kim guessing until the waning laps when "I got things figured out" Kim stated. It still managed to bring a missing gleam back that was noticed by more than just me.

* Steve Meyer and Scott Neitzel used the night to concentrate on setups and motor shakedown, much the same as Whitney did. "We didn't do too well" commented the defending champ Scotty Neitzel afterward. "But tonight is not a points race for us. We are looking at it as more of a practice to really evaluate our program, and we did that and still had some fun." More importantly, both cars went back into the haulers after an intensive night of practice in one piece.

Teams that were not able to make the practice or opener at Oskaloosa will still be able to get some laps in before the first points show on April 30th, courtesy of the Dodge County Fairgrounds. They will be holding an open practice on Wed, April 27th. I do not have the start times so you will have to contact the office for that information, however, fans can watch for free as the only charge will be a $20 per car fee for the session. Then on Saturday, April 30th, the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series will officially kick off the 2005 season with it's first points race of the season at those same fairgrounds in Beaver Dam. In addition; the pit area will be open to fans prior to operations getting underway, allowing them to visit with teams and catch up with them about the off season. Fans will then be asked to leave the pit area at a later point so that teams can sign in for competition. We will pass on more information concerning this in the upcoming days. So, with all that said, feel free to send me any email at ira@arppix.com. I'll read it when I wake up and catch up on my work.