6/20/2022
Eric Blumer
When Your Biggest Highlight is...,"What a Save By Blumer!"
It was one of those weekends for EBR. The highly anticipated Legends double header with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars at Beaver Dam Raceway didn't yield the on-track results the team had hoped for. But our pits were full of friends and fans, which was nice.
FRIDAY
Night-one started well enough with Eric winning his heat after starting 6th. The feature saw him start 8th in the 24 car field. The highlight was a big save that occurred right in front of the crew. Running full-bore down the middle of the backstretch, Eric got tagged in the left rear. Daisy jerked to the left. Eric collected her enough to keep from going completely sideways to the oncoming field. But then he needed to wheel her straight, which he did.
Later, one of the track photographers took the time to stop by and tell us what a save it was. They were on the infield backstretch when it happened and said, "What a save, I thought he was coming right toward me, I was looking to take cover!"
The DIRTVision broadcast caught the moment expertly. "...What a save by Blumer!" exclaimed the announcer. Now, when you look at it in real time, you don't get the full effect. If you can call up the video and put it in slow motion, you'll see the 6E at about a 45 degree angle to the track for just a second.
"If I had lower tire pressure or I didn't have my bead-lock on the right rear, I'd have probably caught the track and gone over," noted the pilot of the 6E. He did keep going, never missing a beat, but only mustered an 8th place finish. The left rear wheel had a fresh bend but still held air.
SATURDAY
Night-two Eric started 8th and that's again where he finished. For about the first half of the race he was running high and low patiently picking off cars. A caution saw him start on the outside of the second row. That appeared to be a good thing until the green dropped. The top Eric had been using had gone away. Enough cars got under him, that there wasn't much point to fall in line, even if there was room, so he stuck with the high end, but lost a couple of more spots. He and Ryan Mech put on a good show slicing and dicing, though. Congrats to Jared Apel who took the feature on both nights.
KASEY KAHNE KNOWS EBR
One of the other highlights on the weekend was when the 6E was the lone car in pre-tech, about 3pm on Saturday. As Eric and Bill were in the garage at BDR, Kasey Kahne walked in looking for a tape measure. The pair were busy pretending not to notice that this was not just another driver. Before exiting, Khane stopped, looked over Daisy, glanced at Eric and said, "Nice looking car."
"Thanks, good luck tonight," Eric replied with a wide smile.
"You too," said Kahne as he walked away.
This was a tribute to Justin for the cleaning regiment he's instilled in us, and Greg with his lettering job.
UP NEXT
We'll regroup and be ready for Saturday's 5-Division Pabst Night at BDR!
THANKS!
Thanks to Bill and Bob Kastorff, two of Eric's biggest and longest-running fans for joining us! And a special thanks to our Northern Air Systems sponsor Bob Ropke and his son Chuck who brought us some awesome Chicago-style BBQ to share with our team and fans!
Thanks to Brandon Waelti, Mike Hughes and respective crews who joined us after the races! We had a lot of fans who walked away with a fresh Dog Guard koozies, thanks to Brian and Teri Benisch.
We were pleased that Mike Hess, a longtime Badger Midget driver, took the time out of his busy day to stop in our pits and chat with us. Mike's the Race Director for the WoO and we look forward to catching up with him every year at BDR.
A special thanks to Tim Franz, Hunter Cardinal, Kevin Schutz and Keith Meyer who all helped us out with pit passes. And to Justin and Greg who worked their tails off all weekend.
These are the businesses and folks who are helping to keep Eric on the track through their generous support in 2022! BRS Radiator, Machine & Fabrication; Northern Air Systems, Inc.; Dog Guard of Wisconsin; North Central Utility of Wisconsin LLC; East Central Coin Inc.; Stan at Club LaMark; Ground Up Lifts; Owen Leatherberry; Sieg Law Office; OWL Graphics and Lettering; Grandpa Blumer, Legends.Direct, Mary Lybeck in memory of Denny.
Here are the people who go hands on the 6E to get it in top shape every week: Justin Hoium, Greg Leatherbeary, Big Dumb Guy, Joe Wipperfurth, Brian Benisch, Faith Piepenburg, Logan Stevens and Stephanie Blumer.
We salute Owen Leatherberry (U.S. Navy) and Andrew Upperman (U.S. Marine Corps.)!
Thank you all for your part in Eric Blumer Racing!
(File photo, showing our trunk lid sponsors, who don't always appear in photos. Plus, the Milwaukee Mile in the background where Dad, Grandpa and Eric spent father's day watching "Big Daddy," Griffin McGrath, our Legends Direct sponsor, march from 21st to a 3rd place finish in the ARCA Midwest Tour race!)
Submitted By: William Blumer
