Racin' Stuff:

By Tom Avenengo

First things, first:

So far, things are looking good, weather wise, for the running of the Eastern States 200 at the Orange County Fair Speedway, in Middletown, NY this coming Saturday. Hard to believe it, I know – a Saturday with no rain in the forecast. This kind of makes this writer extremely happy since I had plans on attending the Lobitz affair on Sunday, with my daughter, Judy, and not have to decide on ESW on Sunday – if it rained on Saturday, or Lobitz. In a way, I think Lobitz was going to win out, believe it or not, since I do have some people to see there, and I’ll also be looking for information on Nick Fornoro, Sr. I’ll be sending in a nomination on him to the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame, and maybe I’ll be lucky two years in a row and get a nominated driver elected.

Some of my thoughts:

Was I disappointed in both the car counts and the fan turn out for ESW a couple of weeks ago – well, I sure was. The track has advertised that it still isn’t to late for the modified teams that were not there for the original date to enter, but they’d have to start at the rear in the consolation race. One of the biggest reasons for the low car counts it seems, was the mandatory use of the OCFS American Racer tires. I was concerned about this, and by reading what’s been said on the Internet, I guess I was correct in being concerned. As for the fan turn out – well, the weather was quite “iffy”, but still, if you’ve already bought your tickets, wouldn’t you attempt to go – in case they got the show in? We were sitting two rows from the top in the half covered stands, and it was basically empty where we were.

Another thing that, to me, that was a big disappointment was the low Kart/car counts for the Novemberfest racing event at OVRP’s Dirt Oval, last weekend. Granted, the whole show was rained out the previous week, and the forecast for last weekend was basically right on, with rain forecast for their biggest day of racing – Saturday. But from what I’ve been told, the Kart count was around 60.

Well, I was doing a little research for this week’s column, and from the 2004 Novemberfest racing weekend, I had this in the race report that I did:

“The pit area was kinda full for the weekend. For the weekend of racing, we had 229 entrants for 19 different classes. Two of those classes, the 4 Cycle Light and 4 Cycle Mediums had to be split into two classes each, due to there being over 30 entrants in each class.”

Now I don’t know if there were any sponsors for this year’s race, but in 2002, they had this – again another race report:

“But before I get into the race report itself, the promoters of the Dirt Oval at Oakland Valley Race Park in Cuddebackville, New York want to thank the many sponsors that donated merchandise and monies for the racing weekend. Those to be thanked are:

Ultimate Kart Shop and Ultimate Restorations in Danbury, Ct.

Fyne Line Building Contractors in Danbury, Ct.

M&M Stone Creations and M&M Lawn Service in New Milford, Ct.

Keith Roe Racing Engines in Dover, N.Y.

Seaman Mechanical in Southbury, Ct.

Scheilke Power in Southbury, Ct.

Vision Graphic in Danbury, Ct.

Hawkins Motorsports in Port Jervis, N.Y.

TEO Pro Car in Vernon, N.J.

Hampton Body Works and Hampton RV Trailer Sales in Newton, N.J.

Disciglio Motorsports in Newburgh, N.Y.”

And, in that report, there was this:

“2 Cycle Heavies:

First Feature:

1. # 21 Jeff Drugan 2. # 28 Scott Thomas 3. # 1 Jim Rumsey 4. # 57 Mike Pane 5. # 87 Ray Gillen 6. # 72 John Garde 7. # 1 Gerry O'Brien III 8. # 22 John Tresch 9. # 10 Rich Diem 10. # 38 Mark Palome 11. # 5 Dale Boward II 12. # 38B MC Bodick 13. # 20 Mike Casario 14. # 27 Floyd Morgiewicz 15. # 17 Scott Lesinski 16. # 73 Cheri Pieniazek 17. # 88 Jerre Rush 18. # 27 andy Schlagel 19. # 6 John Lodini

Second Feature:

1. Scott Thomas 2. Jim Rumsey 3. Mike Pane 4. Jeff Drugan 5. Mike Casario 6. Rich Diem 7. John Tresch 8. Andy Schlagel 9. MC Bodick 10. John Garde 11. Mark Palome 12. Jerre Rush 13. # X Benny Rizzo 14. Dale Boward II 15. Floyd Morgiewicz 16. Cheri Pieniazek 17. Gerry O'Brien III 18. # 22 Doc Young 19. Ray Gillen 20. Scott Lesinski 21. John Lodini.”

Now I don’t know as to whether they had any 2 Cycle Karts this past race or not – (found out there were about five), although looking at the photos that Ralph Corwin has, it sure looks like there were some there, just by looking at some of the bodies. And, from what I’ve read, and can only surmise, is that John Schoebel didn’t enter the racing last weekend, and with him not there, it sure looks like there will be no race report. Kinda sad, I’d say. Oh yes, those photos, from Ralph, can be seen if you go here: http://newenglandtractor.com/racereport/

Looking at the photos, the track looked to be in super condition.

In both instances – ESW and Novemberfest, I didn’t see much advertising, and that in itself is a big problem as far as I’m concerned. Hey, if you wanna make it, you gotta spend some to make it. The low counts at OVRP can’t be blamed on the cost, either, since it’s been the same for years. I did hear, however, about a “high” cost of getting into the pit area for ESW.

Going back, in time:

Going back to November 5^th in:

1952

Joe James ... Died ... AAA driver from the 1950's. Joe started racing in the AAA National Championship in 1950 when he made five starts with a best finish of seventh at Detroit. In 1951 had had a best finish of fourth on the dirt oval at Denver. At Indy he retired after just eight laps with a broken driveshaft. He made 12 starts during the year. He had a number of top ten finishes in 1952. At Indy, driving a Kurtis Kraft 4000 Offy he finished 13th. Then late in the year, on the 2nd November, in the San Jose 100-Mile Race at the 1.0-mile dirt oval San Jose Speedway at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, James had qualified his Bob Estes Lincoln-Mercury entered Watson roadster second. At the start he grabbed the lead and led the first five laps before he was passed by Bobby Ball in his Kurtis 4000. James retook the lead on lap 26 and was dicing with Mike Nazaruk for first place when he clipped one of Nazaruk's tires. James' car was flipped into a series of rolls down the main straight before hitting the wall in Turn 1. Seriousely injured he was taken to hospital in San Jose but passed away three days later.

1967 

Bobby Unser won the USAC Sprint Car race at the Altamont Raceway Park, Tracy, CA.

1977 

Bobby Olivero, in the Alex Morales # 86, won the USAC Sprint Car race over Chuck Gurney, Sheldon Kinser, Rick Goudy and Mike Shaw at the Ascot Park Speedway, Gardena,CA.

1978 

Donnie Allison won the NASCAR Winston Cup Dixie 500 over Richard Petty at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, GA.

Larry Clark won the Jimmy Caruthers Memorial Sprint Car race at the Manzanita Speedway , Phoenix,AZ.

Hank Butcher won the Jimmy Caruthers Memorial MMA Midget race at the Manzanita Speedway , Phoenix,AZ.

1982 

Sammy Swindell and Doug Wolfgang both won the Sprint Car feature races at the Devil's Bowl Speedway, Dallas,TX.

1983

Dean Thompson won the CRA Sprint Car race over Brad Noffsinger, Mike Sweeney, Rip Williams and Buster Venard at the Ascot Park Speedway, Gardena,CA.

Steve Kinser won the Gary Patterson Classic Super Sprint Car race at the Baylands Raceway Park , Fremont,CA. Rich Vogler was second followed by Doug Wolfgang and Jimmy Boyd.

1987 

Jack Hewitt won the Super Sprint Car race over Robbie Smith, Tom Seckman, Roland Johnson and Wayne Reutimann at the Florida State Fairgrounds, Tampa,FL.

1988 

Dave Blaney won the USA Super Sprint Car race over Andy Hillenburg, Doug Wolfgang, Kenny Jacobs and Steve Kinser at the Memphis Motorsports Park, Memphis,TN.

Sleepy Tripp won the USAC Midget race at the Tucson Raceway Park, Tucson,AZ. Dave Strickland Jr was second followed by Kevin Olson, P.J. Jones and Tommy Astone.

On November 4^th, in:

1951

Johnnie Parsons won the Phoenix 100 AAA Championship Race on the 1 Mile Dirt Oval Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona. Henry Banks finished second followed by Jimmy Davies, Neal Carter and Joe James.

1961 

Len Thrall won the ARDC Midget race at the Island Gardens (1/10c), West Hempstead, NY.

A.J. Foyt won the USAC Midget race at the Orange Show Speedway (1/4d), San Bernardino, CA.

1972

Bobby Unser won the Bobby Ball Memorial 150 USAC Championship Race on the 1 Mile Paved Oval Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona. Mike Mosley finished second followed by Mario Andretti, Al Unser and Johnny Rutherford.

Ollie Silva won the Supermodified race over Fred Ede, Gary Patterson, Leroy VanConett and DeWayne Woodward at the All American Speedway, Roseville,CA.

Bobby Allen won the Super Sprint Car race at the Bridgeport Speedway, Bridgeport, NJ.

Leigh Earnshaw won the ARDC Midget race over Jim Hettinger, Hank Rogers, Jr and Buck Buckley at the Bridgeport Speedway, Bridgeport, NJ.

On November 6^th, in:

1949

Rex Mays... Died ... AAA driver from the 1930's and 40's. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1995 and was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in the first class in 1990. He ran in 12 Indy 500's with a best finish of 2nd in both 1940 & 1941. He was killed in a crash during the only Champ Car race held at Del Mar Speedway in Del Mar, California in 1949.

Jimmy Davies won the AAA sanctioned Del Mar 100 on the 1 Mile Dirt Oval Del Mar Speedway in Del Mar, California. Lee Wallard finished second followed by Myron Fohr, Mack Hellings and Paul Russo.

1955

Jack McGrath... Died ... AAA driver from the 1940's & 50's, ran 8 Indy 500's. He was killed in the final race of the 1955 season in Phoenix, Arizona.

Jimmy Bryan won the Bobby Ball Memorial AAA Championship Race on the 1 Mile Dirt Oval Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona. Johnny Thomson finished second followed by George Amick, Andy Linden and Pat O'Connor.

On November 7^th, in:

1980

Steve McQueen , actor, enduro rider, sometimes sports car racer, and star of the movie "Le Mans", died of cancer.

Coming up:

This Sunday is the day for the Stan Lobitz Movie Party/EMMR Auction down in Hazleton, Pa. This event is held on the second Sunday in November, every year. If you’re into the history of auto racing, or just like to rub elbows with some of the greats from yesteryear, this is one event you should attempt to go to.

There are quite a few vendors are in attendance, as well as photographers with tons of photos from “Back in the day”, so to say. Race drivers and racecar owners from yesteryear and even present day, are always in attendance. Plus, on top of that, it seems the ARDC always has a meeting scheduled for the same day at the Catering hall.

There’s a free lunch, and later on, somewhere around 5:00, there is a sit down dinner, too – also on Stan. Stan has done this for over 20 years now.

You can call Lynn Paxton for information on this at: 717-432-8188. The number I’ve found for the Lobitz Catering Hall is: 570-455-2037. If you plan on attending, get there early – at least before noon. And, if you have something you’d like to contribute for the auction, all the better!

Indoor Go-Kart racing returns to Syracuse on December 12^th. We always had a blast when we went up there to race. From what I remember, the place is heated and ventilated. A healthy amount of “Coke” syrup is put down on the track to help with traction, and man, does it help! Up until two years ago, they had races in December and again in March, or thereabouts, but last year it was just the December date. Looking at the new info, it looks like they’ll have that March date back again. Info on the Syracuse indoor racing can be seen if you go here: http://www.cnyroadrace.com/indoor/

Racing on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm

Actual live racing on TV:

Friday, November 6^th:

9:00 PM to 11:30 PM on SPEED – Truck Series race from Texas

Saturday, November 7^th:

12:45 PM to 3:30 PM on ESPN2 – Nationwide races from Texas

8:00 PM to 11:00 PM on SPEED – WoO Sprint Cars and Late Models from Lowe’s dirt track

Sunday, November 8^th:

3:15 PM to 7:30 PM on ABC – Cup race from Texas

Other forums/message boards and websites:

From the Track Forum - http://www.trackforum.com/forums/

Did you watch the Cup race from Talladega? I wasn’t all that impressed with it – especially during the stages up to about 20 laps from the end. I was switching back and forth between the race, the Giants and Jets football games. What is disturbing was that almost every time I changed channels, when I got to the new channel, there was a commercial!

Some thoughts on what others felt about the Cup race can be seen, here: http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129959

And of course all of out here on the Internet do have solutions to how to fix the racing at Talladega, and some of those thoughts can be seen, here: http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58194

The Milwaukee Mile – sad news. I found this while on the TF, too:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/business/68997232.html

From Jayski - http://www.jayski.com/

Dodge on the way out?: UPDATE: Four months after exiting a U.S.-funded bankruptcy reorganization, Chrysler Group is about to unveil a product roadmap that relies heavily on vehicles from Italian partner Fiat while abandoning many of the U.S. carmaker's own models. The plan, due to be unveiled Nov. 4, involves the reintroduction of Fiat's premium, sporty Alfa Romeo brand to the U.S. starting in 2012, The Wall Street Journal reported. Chrysler also will introduce the 500, Fiat's tiny car that is popular in Europe, to Americans. It won't, however, attach the Fiat name to it. Chrysler meantime is preparing to phase out many of its current models, particularly Dodge cars, the Journal said.(MSN Money), doesn't mentioned which Dodge models will be part of the phase out or how this move will affect the teams in NASCAR that run the Dodge Charger.(10-29-2009)
UPDATE: According to the Wall Street Journal, which claims access to people who have seen Fiat's plan for Chrysler, many of the recent rumors regarding current models are incorrect, and Chrysler will incorporate more Fiat Group products than expected. Vehicles planned for the US, according to the Journal article, include a replacement for the Chrysler Sebring, based on a Fiat design. The PT Cruiser, Sebring, Avenger, Compass, Caliber, and Patriot will all have their final year in 2012, with even the popular Dodge Caravan ducking out; the Chrysler Town & Country will be Chrysler's sole minivan, according to the article, though historically the Caravan has sold better. The Nitro will also be dropped. To be kept are the Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger.(allpar.com)(10-29-2009)

Note: I was watching the news on Tuesday evening, and the report for Chrysler was not very good, at all. I’d be quite surprised if they’re around for the 2010 racing season.

Overnight Talladega TV ratings down: ABC's broadcast of Sunday's Amp Energy 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway earned a 3.8 overnight rating from Nielsen Media Research, Street and Smith's SportsBusiness Daily reports. The rating is 5 percent lower than the 4.0 ABC earned overnight for its broadcast of the fall Talladega race in 2008, when the event was run on the first weekend of October. The 3.8 is 11.8 percent higher than the 3.4 ABC earned overnight for its broadcast of the Texas Cup race on the first Sunday in November of 2008.(SceneDaily)(11-2-2009)

Note: I wonder how many that started out watching it, then heard about the new “rule” of no bump-drafting in the corners, and then saw how that was affecting the race, switched to something else – like football?

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2009 AMP Energy 500: For those of you NASCAR fans that like stats and love to hate commercials, or wonder how often your driver was focused on, here is the breakdown for Sunday's race. ABC was the broadcast team for this event.
Total number of commercials: 113
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 54
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 26
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 1:01 pm
End time to record race/commercial periods: 4:48 pm
Total minutes: 227
Minutes of race broadcast: 175
Minutes of commercials: 52
Number of missed restarts: 0 one time the restart was occurring right as the broadcast came back from commercialtoo close to call
Number of 'mystery cautions' (debris not shown): 1
Number of debris cautions (debris shown): 1
Number of times No-Doz was suggested for the fans in an overheard radio conversation: 1 Tony Stewart
Total race brdcst time 175 Total comm. brdcst time 52
See more drivers info and links on my 2009 Commercials page.(11-2-2009)

Note: Yep, as I said above, whenever I switched channels, I hit a commercial. You know, I could swear that many, many years ago, when “Cable” first came out, we were not going to have commercials, since we had to pay to get what we wanted to watch. What happened? Oh, right – same thing happened to the New York State Thruway – we were told that once it was paid off, we wouldn’t have to pay any more tolls. Yeah, right!

Johnson needs 402 points: So, if #5-Martin wins the final three Sprint Cup races [Texas, Phoenix & Homestead] and leads the most laps, he would score 585 points [195x3] for a total of 6649 points. #48-Johnson has 6248, so Johnson needs to score 402 points in the final three race, IF Martin were to win all three. Which is an average of 134 points a race for the three remaining races. Finishing 10th is 134 points. So Johnson needs to finish 10th or better in the three remaining races [or total 402 points], and nothing Martin or any other driver can do to overtake Johnson.(11-1-2009)

Note: Yep, I think it’s all over now, except for the shouting. Personally, I think the chase should be done away with.

Chevy dropping SS version of Impala: Chevy is transitioning to Impala in both NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series beginning in 2010 as a result of the SS version being phased out of production in mid-2009.(Chevy PR)(11-1-2009)

Note: I wonder why? Have you seen the new CoT Nationwide cars? And I thought we’d be seeing real “Pony” cars like Camaro’s and Mustangs.

As for the new cars, check them out, here: http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/pgStory?contentId=10301258#sport=NASCAR&photo=10301178

NASCAR.com: http://www.nascar.com/

The “Chase” – should Talladega be a part of it? Here is what two different people have to say:

http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/features/11/03/head2head.talladega.in.chase/index.html

Dirt Track Digest’s forum: http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/forum/index.php

The Big Block Modified race from Super Dirt Week, up in Syracuse, was shown on SPEED last week, on a tape delay. Some comments about the race, and the track conditions, can be seen if you go here:

http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=32593

http://newenglandtractor.com/racereport/

On this website you’ll find some race reports for OVRP’s Dirt Oval, photos from Ralph Corwin, and this column, too. Volume two of old time photos was put up last week, in case you’re interested.

Note: Would you believe that someone in Australia visited that website and saw a photo of Tony Bonadies, and sent an e-mail which said:

“Tony Bonadies drove for John Fray in TQ from the start of that type of racing until he was killed at Williams Grove in 1964

I am presently restoring the TQ driven by Tony and would be very interested to know if you have any photos or information on the car its driver or owner

Thank you

John Loxton

(Australia)”

I had no info for him, but did give him a couple of places and people to check with.

Tracks:

OCFS - http://www.orangecountyfairspeedway.net/

From their website:

Saturday, November 7^th:

GRANDSTAND & DRIVE-IN GATES WILL OPEN AT 7AM

48th ANNUAL EASTERN STATES WEEKEND

- Pit Gates / Grandstands Open 7:00 AM
- Hot Laps 9:00 AM
- Pro Stock Heats
- Modified Consi 1 & 2
- Pro Stock Consi
- Modified Consi 3 & 4
- Vintage Modified Feature – 20 Laps
- Eastern States Pro Stock Championship - 30 Laps
- Driver Introductions for Eastern States Modified Championship
- 48th Annual EASTERN STATES CHAMPIONSHIP - 200 LAPS

Note # 1: As of Monday, the weather forecast for the Middletown area is SUNNY with a high of 48. Ditto for Tuesday. And, as of 1:00 PM on Wednesday, 11/4, it is saying this: “Saturday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 50s and lows in the upper 30s.”

Note # 2: As you can see, above, they are showing a “possible” 4 consolation races for the modifieds. I was a little concerned about that since the car count wasn’t all that good to begin with. On Tuesday I received a PR from the track and in that PR it makes mention of only ONE consolation race. Well, there might be two IF enough new entrants show up, which this writer doubts will happen. The latest rumor going is that Jimmy Horton won’t return, and would be running in Delaware on Saturday. I’ve also read that pole sitter, Tim Fuller, is due to race at Lowe’s in a Late Model – and there was a lot of talk about him not making ESW. The latest I’ve read, on the Internet, is that Tim will be at ESW and has a plane on standby to fly him down there. No more info on Billy Decker though, who, from what I could find, was also scheduled to go to Lowe’s. I guess time will tell!

Note # 3: Just prior to sending this column in, I checked out what might be new on one of the forums I frequent. It seems that there is a “Gun Show” being held at OCFS in the arena, either during the weekend, or on Saturday. Ah! The question is – what about parking for Saturday? If someone is coming and does not have a parking sticker on their windshield, will they be charged to park – even if they’re NOT going to the races, but to the gun show, or will it be free parking for everyone? Well, if you don’t go to that forum, then you would not know that this was said: “ As far as parking call the speedway office 845-342-2573.”

Accord - http://www.accordspeedway.com/

From their website:

2009 Awards Banquet
November 7, 2009
Hudson Valley Resort
6-12PM
Reservation form in the "forms" section

OVRP’s Dirt Oval - http://www.ovrpdirtoval.com/

Last Points Race - November 7^th

OVRP’s road course: http://www.ovrp.com/ovrp/pages/home.asp

Looking at the website, it sure looks like they’re done for this season.

Former OVRP Dirt Oval runners:

Not much to report on this week. Down at Wall Stadium, in the Modified Micro Stocks, it was a battle between Tom Ervin and Nick Cottone, with them splitting the two features. You have to hand to Nick – he’s all of 72 years young!

Out at Five Mile Point, in the RoC Modified feature, Tim Hindley was 25^th, while Clinton Mills was a DNQ.

Brad Szulewski had two second place finishes in the 600 Modifieds, with them being at Black Rock on October 24^th and 5 Mile Point on October 31^st. A race that was scheduled for Penn Can on October 23^rd was rained out and re-scheduled for November 14^th. November 14^th? Brrrrrrrr.

NASCAR Cup Points, as they would have been, and as they are – from Jayski’s website:

UNOFFICIAL Sprint Cup CLASSIC - the OLD way - Driver Points Standings
[after Talladega, race 33 of 36]:
pos, car#, driver, points, behind
1) #48-Jimmie Johnson, 4752
2) #14-Tony Stewart, 4745, -7
3) #24-Jeff Gordon, 4673, -72
4) #5-Mark Martin, 4315, -430
5) #11-Denny Hamlin, 4271, -474
6) #42-Juan Montoya, 4260, -485
7) #2-Kurt Busch, 4248, -497
8) #16-Greg Biffle, 4157, -588
9) #39-Ryan Newman, 4118, -627
10) #9-Kasey Kahne, 4094, 651
11) #99-Carl Edwards, 4091 -654
12) #18-Kyle Busch, 4043, -702
13) #17-Matt Kenseth, 3986, -759
14) #33-Clint Bowyer, 3932, -813
15) #83-Brian Vickers, 3890, -855
16) #00-David Reutimann, 3854, -891
(11-1-2009)

UNOFFICIAL Sprint Cup CHASE Standings
[after Talladega, Chase race 7 of 10; Season race 33 of 36]:
pos, car#, driver, points, behind, [wins], race finish
1) #48-Jimmie Johnson [6 wins], 6248, finished 8th
2) #5-Mark Martin [5 wins], 6064, -184
3) #24-Jeff Gordon [1 win], 6056, -192
4) #42-Juan Montoya, 6009, -239
5) #14-Tony Stewart [4 wins], 5969, -279
6) #2-Kurt Busch [1 win], 5936, -312
7) #16-Greg Biffle, 5908, -340
8) #39-Ryan Newman, 5846, -402
9) #9-Kasey Kahne [2 wins], 5834, -414
10) #99-Carl Edwards, 5811, -437
11) #11-Denny Hamlin [3 wins], 5800, -448
12) #83-Brian Vickers [1 win], 5692, -556
For the drivers points standings, see my Drivers Points Standings.(11-1-2009)

Other racin’ stuff:

While on the Track Forum, I came across something about Danica Patrick going over to Junior Motorsports – yes, that’s Dale Earnhardt, Jr, folks - to do some Nationwide racing in 2010 – and that it’s just about a done deal. Check it out, here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/news/story?id=4622687

And, while on the TF, there was mention made about Izod being the Series sponsor for Indycar, starting in 2010. The link supplied is this: http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpert/2009/11/nov_2_on_izod_and_talladega.html

Note: Some not so nice things being said if you’re an Indycar/oval track race fan, too, if you read the complete thing, including the Q’s & A’s.

The History of the Sport:

June 25, 1950 – the AAA 100 mile race at the Langhorne Speedway:

Reading in the book by L. Spencer Riggs that covers the racing at Langhorne, and by checking out the Motorsports Stats website, I found this:

It was extremely hot that day with the temperature hitting almost 100 degrees, and it was humid. The big circle was bad enough to race on when the weather was good, and on that day, there were quite a few drivers that needed relief, and in some cases, some cars had three different drivers in the seat.

Jack McGrath was the race winner, and he was followed by Henry Banks, Chuck Stevenson, Duke Dinsmore, Duke Nalon, Fred Agabashian, Mack Hellings, Jerry Hoyt, Cecil Green, Troy Ruttman, Jimmy Davies, Paul Russo, Dick Rathmann, Tony Bettenhausen, Neal Carter, Bill Schindler, Eddie Johnson and Andy Linden.

Relief drivers were:

Ralph Pratt, Lee Wallard, Harry Turner, Cliff Griffith, Walt Brown, Joe James and Johnnie Parsons, with Ralph Pratt being shown twice, and Andy Linden also shown as a relief driver.

Things were quite a bit different back then, as far as how many entrants there were. As usual, they started 18 cars in the 100 mile race, but on this day there were almost as many non-qualifiers as there were those that qualified.

Their names:

Lee Wallard, Neal Carter, Ralph Pratt, George Connor, Walt Ader, Johnnie Parsons, Harry Turner, Ed Terry, Walt Brown, Mike Nazaruk, Spider Webb, Ottis Stine, Buster Warke and Walt Faulkner.

Lap leaders in the race were Eddie Johnson – laps 1-4, Troy Ruttman - 5-46, Bill Schindler - 47-50, Fred Agabashian - 51 & 52, Walt Brown - 53, Jack McGrath – 54-75 & 96-100 and Duke Nalon – 76-95.

McGrath covered the 100 miles in 1:07:47.1 for an average speed of 88.517 MPH. It’s being shown that he won a whopping $1,858.00 for the win. Troy Ruttman won the pole position with an average speed of 101.764 MPH

It’s said that there were 10,000 fans in the stands on that day.

Video time:

Are they crazy? They surely must have quite a big “pair”, for sure, to drive the way they do! For a while they were quite visible on SPEED TV, but now it seems there is more NASCAR junk and other junk-like shows on SPEED. This type of racing was covered – year round, with the winter events being the best, as far as I’m concerned. Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quDX36WJM7k&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_stronger_r2-HM

Other (non racing) news:

Some interesting stuff that’s being said about the Health Care deal:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091101/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_public_plan

And we were supposed to respect this man?

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091102/NEWS90/911029996/-1/NEWS

The interest rate to remain low:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091104/ap_on_bi_ge/us_fed_interest_rates

And, this will get to be expensive. Figures!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091104/sc_nm/us_space_debris

Closing with these:

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE PHILOSOPHY OF AMBIGUITY, AS WELL AS THE IDIOSYNCRASIES OF ENGLISH:

DON'T SWEAT THE PETTY THINGS AND DON'T PET THE SWEATY THINGS.

ONE TEQUILA, TWO TEQUILA, THREE TEQUILA, FLOOR.

ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.

IF MAN EVOLVED FROM MONKEYS AND APES, WHY DO WE STILL HAVE MONKEYS AND APES?

THE MAIN REASON THAT SANTA IS SO JOLLY IS BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHERE ALL THE BAD GIRLS LIVE.

I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, "WHERE'S THE SELF-HELP SECTION?" SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.

WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?

IF A DEAF CHILD SIGNS SWEAR WORDS, DOES HIS MOTHER WASH HIS HANDS WITH SOAP?

IF SOMEONE WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES THREATENS TO KILL HIMSELF, IS IT CONSIDERED A HOSTAGE SITUATION?

IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?

WHERE DO FOREST RANGERS GO TO "GET AWAY FROM IT ALL?"

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU SEE AN ENDANGERED ANIMAL EATING AN ENDANGERED PLANT?

IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?

WOULD A FLY WITHOUT WINGS BE CALLED A WALK?

IF A TURTLE DOESN'T HAVE A SHELL, IS HE HOMELESS OR NAKED?

CAN VEGETARIANS EAT ANIMAL CRACKERS?

IF THE POLICE ARREST A MIME, DO THEY TELL HIM HE HAS THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT?

WHY DO THEY PUT BRAILLE ON THE DRIVE-THROUGH BANK MACHINES?

HOW DO THEY GET DEER TO CROSS THE ROAD ONLY AT THOSE YELLOW ROAD SIGNS?

WHAT WAS THE BEST THING BEFORE SLICED BREAD?

ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.

DOES THE LITTLE MERMAID WEAR AN ALGEBRA?


HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST DROWN TOO?

IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE HUNGRY?

IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?

WHOSE CRUEL IDEA WAS IT FOR THE WORD 'LISP' TO HAVE 'S' IN IT?

WHY ARE HEMORRHOIDS CALLED "HEMORRHOIDS" INSTEAD OF "ASSTEROIDS"?

WHY IS IT CALLED TOURIST SEASON IF WE CAN'T SHOOT AT THEM?

WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?

IF YOU SPIN AN ORIENTAL PERSON IN A CIRCLE THREE TIMES, DO THEY
BECOME DISORIENTED?

CAN AN ATHEIST GET INSURANCE AGAINST ACTS OF GOD

May “Guardian Angels” sit on the shoulders of all of our race drivers and guide them safely around the tracks!

Drive safe!

As usual, you can reach me at: ygordad@yahoo.com