Tim McCreadie sure knows how to mess up a well-laid plan. Darren Miller didn’t help much, either.
I had it narrowed down to a handful of drivers who would win this year’s World 100, then August hit and McCreadie and Miller had to go and win two of the year’s biggest late-model races, the Topless 100 and the North-South 100, respectively.
Now, I have to figure them in this deal.
Sometimes when a driver wins a major event, it’s seemingly not that hard to win another. Both of these guys are on top of their game at the right time of the season.
It’s hard or downright impossible to predict the outcome of any race and get it right. It’s even more difficult at the World 100. Although track management is expecting to take a hit on car count this year, there likely will be 180-plus drivers there looking for a globe trophy.
You can bet that Eldora will be Eldora. She’ll be moody and cantankerous. There will be slide jobs and the unforgiving concrete that doesn’t like to let go once it takes hold of a car. If the track is heavy, there probably will be a high cushion that drivers don’t want to tangle with, and it could be hell on engines. If the surface is slicked off, there will be more than enough racing grooves to find a quick way to the front.
And there are 100 laps. Those of you who follow late-model racing closely know there are 100 laps and there are 100 Eldora laps. They’re not the same thing.
Way too many variables to predict a winner, right? Well, maybe not.
Judging by McCreadie’s post-race comments after winning the Topless race, he’s ready to give this dirt-late model thing his full attention again. He’s one of the best pure drivers I’ve ever seen and had no problem transitioning from big-block modifieds to late models a few years back.
McCreadie has made several ventures over to pavement racing during the past year or so, but it hasn’t hurt his dirt-driving skills.
If the popular New York driver has a weakness, it’s driving too aggressively when unnecessary. Don’t tempt Eldora. She’ll get you if you push too hard.
Darren Miller has been known to skip the World 100 and race closer to home at special events in his region. He likes the big half-miles and often runs well at Eldora when he’s there, finishing second in the 2005 race.
If he enters this year, he will be riding momentum from his North-South victory and could be tough.
That brings us back to my original picks: Shannon Babb, Brian Birkhofer and Scott Bloomquist.
Babb has eight starts in the World 100 and has only finished outside the top 10 once, including a hard-fought second-place finish in 2006.
If there’s a driver who is overdue, it’s Babb. The Illinois driver has seen more consistent races as of late, and has handled the transition from the Rayburn chassis to Rocket quite easily, he said last month.
Birkhofer, another driver who likes the bigger tracks, knows how to get to Eldora’s victory stage. He won the 2002 World 100, then put together a string of several top-five finishes.
The cars that Birkhofer and Jimmy Mars are building are getting closer to perfect every week, Birkhofer says, and the Iowa driver has had numerous strong races this summer.
That leaves us with Bloomquist.
Since his upset win over Jeff Purvis in 1988, Bloomquist has made every World 100 with the exception of 1999 and 2005. He has three wins and 10 other top-five finishes. In 1990, he won with his arm in a cast. He’s barely ever finished outside the top 10.
The Tennessee driver can be just as moody and cantankerous as the old track herself. I figure that’s why they get along so well. Bloomquist won the Dream this year, his fifth victory in Eldora’s other major late-model event.
 Other drivers to watch are 1999 winner Steve Francis, 2003 Dream winner Darrell Lanigan, Michigan’s Jeep VanWormer, Josh Richards and Shane Clanton, who seemed to have a trick or two up his sleeve during this year’s Dream.
I figure one of these 10 drivers will win it. But as stated earlier, it’s the World 100 and it’s Eldora. Who knows what kind of mood the old girl will be in come race night.
It’s very likely she’ll be waiting quietly, just itching for a chance to mess up somebody’s well-laid plan.