Recap: 2021 SCRAM Ice Brew 600

It was an exciting start to the new SCRAM racin' season last night, with our annual season kickoff race, the Ice Brew 600 from the Northern Lights Motordome.

The Motordome is my favorite SCRAM venue! It's a huge, domed track, INDOOR racing, in central Minnesota. As the checkered flag dropped last night, the temperature OUTSIDE was five degrees below zero! Inside, though, the action was hot and heavy...

It's fun how the SCRAM universe has taken on this aura of pseudo-reality. We've been releasing SCRAM sets for ten years now, and some of these guys and gals feel bigger than life. Of course, the Race Week feature helps a LOT in that respect. And our first Race Week of 2021 set us up with some remarkable story lines...

Team Exham's Aaron Hartley won the pole (much to the delight of SCRAM fan Steve Tower!). The Pettis brothers Kevin and Jordy both earned top ten starting positions, while their dad Dave Pettis, patriarch of the Pettis racing family, watched on from the stands. Dave gets a card in thE '21 SCRAM set, with a special boutique rating that will have him show up a couple times during the season driving a special #100 commemorative Cadillac!

The TV list included SCRAM rookie Wyatt Zander, a star in the SCRAM truck series who's made the move to the Big Boys for '21. "Positive fan interaction, and good times" was Zander's Race Week mantra, and he qualified well, starting 6th place.

And, there was Wayne Montana sitting in 12th place at the start, driving something OTHER than a Dodge this year, kinda weird to see him in a Toyota and minus the Mardi-gras color scheme of the past ten seasons. (Alas his long time sponsor has moved on...)

We also saw Mooch Thomas have a fast week of qualifying, red triangle and all! He actually had a better starting position than SCRAM stars Matt Bush, Pete MacAtee and many others--Mooch started the race in 21st place, his highest starting position in six seasons! The TV cameras spent a lot of time on him, with a "hope springs eternal" motif. (Spoiler alert: Mooch finished 33rd--but, at least he finished, a rare occurrence for him in recent seasons!)

Speaking of Matt Bush, he clawed his way out of the bottom group and was poised for a big "double control" move, when suddenly--triples! Oh no! But his "A" pit crew saved the day and that problem never happened. He then made the second challenge count, ended up...(whoops, there I go again, I'll let YOU watch the race to see how it turns out!)! Matt's color scheme is reminiscent of Denny Hamlin's, so every time I see it, I think of Denny’s Dominos commercial, which has been all over TV lately.

There was a cool moment late in the race when Joe Bob Walker got shut down by his uncle Ray Bob Walker while trying to challenge into the top group. Joe Bob won the challenge--but Ray Bob had the chip! DENIED! It felt like a Brady-Mahomes sort of thing.

I do feel bad for Monica Merrick. At one time, the up-and-coming star, she's gotten displaced in popularity (and results) by Julee Justus. There they were last night, though, at the front of the starting pack, Monica starting in 3rd, Julee in 5th. Monica's 22 had had a great week, and started the race with a performance chip. I mentioned on the webcast that this feels like a "make or break" year for Monica, and with the great positioning AND the bonus chip, I was thinking to myself as the race began, "maybe this is the start of something good for her!" She eventually got a second chip, and even took the lead briefly, before dropping back and eventually wrecking out, collected along with a half dozen others in a last-gasp, last-lap scramble for position.

Anyway, thanks to all who watched the race live, it was super fun sharing the moment with you. Thanks also to Jerry Minks and Harris Jessop for jumping in when I inadvertently forgot the “other group” chip ordering after the pit turns! (I don’t get to play games as often as I used to, and I sometimes overlook some of the finer points in the rules booklet!)

And—If you're interested in a little SCRAM history, you can watch last year's Ice Brew 600 and/or the 2019 edition as well!