By: Ron Burt
I have big things going on at Ohio Sports Blitz on Facebook, which is a part of the Left Turn. All fall I have been going Facebook Live every Friday night announcing football scores. I’m currently announcing all the state football playoff scores live at 9:35 and 11:15PM on Fridays until the 7 State Champions are crowned. Right after Thanksgiving I will start giving women and then men’s high school basketball scores every night there are games, like last year. Some weeks I have 6 nights of scoreboards. The basketball scoreboard will run all winter until the state finals are over in the spring. I give scores from over 20 high school conferences. Along with high school football and basketball, I cover the scores from NBA, NBA G League, NHL, ECHL, AHL, and NCAA Top 25 Men. Log onto www.facebook.com/ohiosportsblitz/.
The Rumble in Fort Wayne is getting closer. December 27th and 28th, some of the best open wheel drivers in the country will be at the Expo Center at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The Left Turn will cover these exciting two nights. Racing on concrete levels the playing field since most drivers are used to dirt or asphalt. Only in the winter indoor venues open for special racing events. Many of the drivers are getting in valuable track time and laps before many of them head to Tulsa for the prestigious Chili Bowl, January 13th-18th. USAC, WoO, High Limit, and even NASCAR drivers battle each other in several classes of cars with the highlight being the Midget Nationals.
The Gateway Dirt Nationals are less than a month away, December 5th-7th, with the prelims being Thursday and Friday. This is an indoor race for Dirt Late Models and UMP type Dirt Modifieds at the former home of the St Louis Rams, The Dome at Americas Center in St Louis. They build a dirt race track one week each year where NFL football was once played. Over 150 cars are expected. The local father and son duo of Rusty and Carter Schlenk are both scheduled to qualify during the Friday night prelims. Rusty has won many track championships in the tri-state along with several points championships. His son, Carter 14, is in his first full year racing a Late Model. Carter is a fan-favorite at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon.
Rusty Schlenk has experience at Gateway which will be a big help for the veteran driver and car builder from McClure Ohio. He definitely will be coaching and giving young Carter pointers as they prepare for this challenge. The night of their prelim, World of Outlaw Late Model greats Ricky Thorton Jr. and Bobby Pierce will also try and qualify. It won’t be easy for our two local drivers. Until next week, keep your wheels down. Ron Out!
