On a day where tempertures soared well above 100, the NASCAR GRAND NATIONAL WEST SERIES debuted at MMP. This race could have been so much more. A field of just 21 cars took the green about 30 past the scheduled start. By the end of lap 1, the leader had a 1/2 mile lead on the last car. This giant 3.2 mile road coarse dwarfed the too few cars. A reported 7,000 fans braved the oppressive heat to see this show. With laps running just over 2 minutes to complete, it was difficult to stay focused on the competition. By lap 10, the pace car had lead the most laps. Engine failures and a minor collision waaay over on the back side of the course, brought the field under caution 3 times. By the start of lap 11, the field was down to just 17 cars. That would be a poor show at ROCKY MOUNTAIN RACEWAY, where the GNW series ran on Labor Day each of the last several years. RMR is a fast 3/8 mile paved oval. Grumpy was lucky to meet NASCAR legend HERSHEL MCGRIFF at RMR just before he retired from driving. McGriff is listed as one of the top 50 drivers in NASCAR history. he competed in the first SOUTHERN 500 at DARLINGTON, S.C. (1950)
MMP is hopeful to use this event to entice NASCAR to schedule the NCTS or NBS at the new complex. Lessons learned from this event would say; don’t do it in July. This event was heavily promoted in the media. Racing in the Utah west desert in July makes no sense. The feature race did not start until late in the day, but the heat was still unbearable. The race had to end before sundown. Perhaps a late September date would work better. Last year, the AMERICAN LEMANS SERIES made its stop at MMP in July. The weather was the same. This year the ALMS scheduled in May.
While Grumpy is hopeful that MMP develops more events with NASCAR, you can bet he has made his last visit to MMP during July.
Grumpy
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