Racin'
Stuff:
By
Tom Avenengo
First things, first:
Last week, I had this in my column:
“More racin’ stuff:
I had the opportunity
to speak with Brett on the phone about the event mentioned, above. Many years ago, I happened to approach Jay
Castimore, who was then involved with OCFS, about a special kind of race I
would have liked to be held during Eastern States Weekend. It would consist of the top 12 (I believe it
was 12) qualifiers running a 10 lap race, but having to make a pit stop to
change a left rear tire, sometime during those 10 laps. “Mother Nature” played havoc with the racing
that weekend, and the track was going to scrap that race. However, the drivers still wanted it – I
guess it was a “My crew is better and faster than your crew” kind of mentality
that the drivers and teams had, so the race was held. If my memory serves me right, it was held on
Sunday morning. Keep in mind – no speed
limit on pit road. Kenny Brightbill was
the first to pit, coming onto pit road on turn three. He blasted his way on pit road, inside of
turn 4, wide open, sideways, and throwing dirt.
The crowd went wild. Naturally,
he lost a lap when pitting, but that fate would befall all other drivers too,
or so it would seem. Every time a driver
would pit, the crowd really got into it.
To be honest, I was quite pleased with the way my idea was coming off. Then, Doug Hoffman threw a monkey wrench into
the whole deal by stopping in turn two to bring out a yellow. Brett Hearn was just completing his pit stop,
and he wasn’t allowed back on the track.
I can’t blame him for parking his car behind pit wall. Mass confusion took over, and I think it was
decided that Doug was the race winner.
Shortly after that race, I met up with Jay under the stands. As exciting as the race was, he told me we
can’t have a race like that one anymore.
I did inform him that there should have been scorers for each car, since
pit stops were involved.
OK, back to my
conversation with Brett - I brought up
the possibility of maybe having this type of race on the night of the “Big
Show”, and he came back with “they were discussing the very same thing”. Keep in mind – today they have
transponders. The biggest problem would
be if there were another yellow, of course.
Brett said that to have this event, he’d like to have some kind of
sponsorship, so they wouldn’t be racing for nothing. Maybe beside the dollars, they could start
the 100 lap race the way they finish this race – if it’s even held?
Question: Anyone interested in sponsoring this special
race? Hey, maybe they’d let you wave the
green flag! How much would it cost? Would you believe, I didn’t ask him during
our talk! If I find out after this column
is sent in, look for something from me on the DTD’s message board.”
The outcome:
Well, I have some bad
news for you if you were hoping to see this race come to be. Brett called me on the phone this past Monday
night. As much as he’d like to see this
race run, he says he’s a little concerned about the “time” element, and how
things will go on his first endeavor as a race promoter. In a way, I can see his point, dammit. Hey, maybe I can talk those that run OCFS
into adding that kind of race to ESW?
Going
back, in time:
On
June 11th in:
1939
Jackie
Stewart ... Born ... Former Scottish racing driver. He competed in Formula One
between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also
competed in Can-Am. He is well-known in the
1949
Tommy
Hinnershitz won the AAA Sprint Car race at the Heidelberg Speedway,
1950
Tony
Bettenhausen won the 100 Mile Rex Mays Classic AAA Indy Car race on the 1 mile
dirt oval at the Milwaukee Mile,
Pancho
Carter ... Born ... The son of Indycar racer Duane Carter. He was born while
his parents were on the way to a race at the Milwaukee Mile. His father's
nickname was "Pappy". Pappy referred to his wife's pregnancy as
"little paunch," so they nicknamed the child Pancho. Carter is the
half-brother of Johnny Parsons. He ran Midgets, Sprints and Indy Cars. He drove
his first
Mike
Nazaruk won the AAA Eastern Sprint Car race over Tommy Hinnershitz at the
Williams Grove Speedway,
1951
Art
Cross won the AAA Midget race at the Springfield Speedway,
1952
Mike
Nazaruk won the 100 lap AAA Midget race at the Dayton Speedway (1/4p) ,
1954
Mike
Nazaruk won the AAA Midget race at the Lafayette Stadium,
1961
Jim
Hurtubise won the USAC Sprint car race over Leon Clum and Parnelli Jones at the
Terre Haute Action Track ,
1965
Russ
Hoek won the opening Modified Stock Car race and Bob Smith won the Limited
Sportsman race at the East Windsor Speedway,
Dick
Tobias won the Modified Stock Car race at the Reading Fairgrounds,
George
Sweeten won the TQ Midget race at the Pine Brook Speedway,
Frankie
Schneider won the Modified Stock Car race at the Harmony Speedway, Harmony, NJ.
1966
Jimmy
Davies... Died ... AAA / USAC driver from the 1940's - 1960's. He was the
second man to win three USAC National Midget Championships. When Davies won the
100 mile AAA Championship race at
Jud Larson... Died ... He was a hard-drinking,
hard-driving racer, a colorful character from the days when few drivers
survived to retire, and roll cages were for sissies. Larson drove in the USAC
Championship Car series, racing in the 1956-1959 and 1964-1965 seasons with 53
starts, including the 1958 and 1959
Red
Riegel... Died ... URC and USAC driver from Leesport PA. Died in a USAC Sprint
car race at the Reading Fairgrounds Speedway in the same crash which also
claimed the life of Jud Larson.
Bobby
Unser won the 30 lap USAC Sprint Car race at the Reading Fairgrounds Speedway,
1967
A.J.
Foyt and Dan Gurney drove their Ford Mk. 4 to victory in the Sports Car World
Championship for Makes "24 Hours of LeMans". Foyt and Gurney backed
off so much that they won the fuel conservation index and crossed the line easy
winners, Foyt becoming the first
1978
Benny
Parsons won the NASCAR Winston Cup NAPA 400 over Richard Petty at the Riverside
International Raceway,
1989
Ricky
Rudd won the NASCAR Winston Cup Banquet 300 over Rusty Wallace at the Infineon
Raceway,
Note: All the above info was found here: http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/history.html
Coming
up – race wise:
Last
week I was ahead of myself, by one week, when I posted this:
“Next Wednesday, June 17th, is “The Big Show” – a Super Dirt Series 100 lapper at OCFS, that’s being promoted by Brett Hearn. Info on that race can be found, here: http://www.thebigdirtshow.com/”
Yes, it is NEXT Wednesday, now!
Racing on TV:
I’m just going to supply a link to this website: : http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm If, at times there’s something noteworthy, or different from NASCAR shows, I’ll make mention.
This Saturday, on SPEED TV:
From 8:30 AM to noon, the start or the Le Mans 24 hour race
From 4:30 PM to 10:00 PM, more coverage.
And, on Sunday, on SPEED TV:
From midnight to 6:00 AM, more 24 hour coverage
Then from 6:00 AM to 9:30 AM, the finish.
The Carl Long saga:
Lots of stuff still being said about how NASCAR still came down hard on Carl Long and his race team. I’ve found very few people that are siding with NASCAR on this.
Some links:
http://beyondthetrack.blogspot.com/2009/06/nascars-refusal-to-cut-carl-long-break.html
http://www.racejournalonline.com/index.php?page=read&article=428
http://www.racejournalonline.com/index.php?page=read&article=428
http://valerie-femmefan.blogspot.com/2009/06/carl-longs-treatment-by-nascar-is.html
Note: The name Reutimann is quite popular in racing today, as it was back in “the day”. Are you aware that David Reutimann has donated $5,000.00 towards the fine that Carl Longs crew chief has thrust upon him?
Carl does have a website, and it can be found, here: http://www.carl-long.com/
Other
forums/message boards and websites:
From
the Track Forum - http://www.trackforum.com/forums/
An
interesting thread about certain drivers getting to much TV time while others
don’t get enough, can be found, here:
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124478
Lately
there’s been a lot of “talk” about Danica Patrick leaving Indycar for
NASCAR. In a way, I can see it
happening. However, would she be willing
to “learn” the ropes in the lower classes – Nationwide and Truck Series? Surely she can’t expect to go from OW right
into Cup, right? Personally I think
she’s to small, physically, to be successful.
Hey, I could be wrong, ya know!
Anyhow, there’s a thread about how someone thinks she’d bring in 50 mil
in sponsorship dollars if she did go NASCAR.
That thread can be seen, here: http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124632
I’ve
always had this thing in my head about no pit stops allowed when there is a
yellow flag, unless you’re the car/driver that caused the yellow. You’ve seen almost 43 cars in the pits at
once in a Cup race. The same goes for
the Nationwide Series, the Truck Series and even Indycar – all cars pitting
during a yellow. Any lead that the
leader has built up is lost (lost during the yellow anyway), but if pit stops
were only allowed under green flag conditions, then the leader and those that
have leads over cars behind them, more than likely would not lose that
advantage. Hey, after all, they busted
their butts getting that advantage, so maybe they should keep it? And with so many cars on pit road, it can be
rather dangerous, ya know?
There’s
a thread about this on the Track Forum.
Well, it starts out about pitting under the yellow, then gradually goes
in another direction – injuries – from the past and up to the future. So, if you have a little time, check out this
link:
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124651
From
Jayski - http://www.jayski.com/
Final
Dover/Season TV Ratings: A challenging season of NASCAR on Fox came to an end this weekend with
a 4.0/10 (6.1 million viewers) for racing from
• FOX's NASCAR season suffered from a trio of negative on-track trends: more
cautions, fewer lead changes, and lower average speeds. 649 laps were run under
caution on FOX this season, a +15% increase over last year. Put another way,
there was one caution flag for every 40 miles of racing this season. Last year
it was one every 45 miles, in FOX's first NASCAR season (2001) it was one every
63 miles. Ten years ago it was one every 72 miles. Lead changes were down this
year, with one coming every 20 miles compared to last year's once every 17
miles. That's at least one extra lap between lead changes, sometimes more.
Average speed, which is obviously tied to number of cautions, was also down
this year. This year's average speed during FOX races was 118mph. Last year it
was 124mph. In 2001 it was 128mph, and in 1999 it was 130mph.(Fox), see
race-by-race TV Ratings and chart on my 2009 TV Ratings page.(6-5-2009)
Note: I expect the same thing, ratings wise, for
the rest of the year. For unknown
reasons, more and more “race fans” are getting away from watching races today. Might it be that there are so many “race
fans” that are now involved with racing themselves, in lower classes?
NASCAR's
Most Valuable Teams: To date, all 13 races have been won by five of the sport's most
valuable teams; six have come from Hendrick Motorsports, which tops Forbe's
list this year. No. 2: Roush Fenway Racing. Richard Childress Racing is third.
Since Forbe's valuations last year, four of the top 15 most valuable teams have
disappeared, either through mergers or an exit from the sport, leaving a bigger
divide between the haves and have-nots. Forbe's estimate the average top 10
team fell in value by 6% to $148 million in 2009 from $158 million last year.
Partly to blame: Sponsors renewing deals with teams now have more leverage than
ever to negotiate a better deal. Hendrick Motorsports is ranked #1, worth $350
million followed by Roush Fenway Racing ($270m), Richard Childress Racing
($167m), Joe Gibbs Racing ($144) and Richard Petty Motorsports ($131). See full
story and top 10 list at Forbes.com.(6-5-2009)
Note: Maybe down the road, NASCAR will go to
franchises like a lot of people think, and Carl Long said in his comments about
the penalties his team has had?
Tough
economic times force RHR to suspend operations of #1 team UPDATE More on
Benson: Red
Horse Racing regretfully announces the closure of the #1 Toyota Tundra driven
by Johnny Benson. The decision is effective immediately. Red Horse Racing
worked to secure sponsorship for the #1 team since last December but has been
unsuccessful in doing so. Sponsorship for Benson was thought to be secure
before the season began but the economic downturn kept that sponsor from being
able to participate with Red Horse Racing. Red Horse Racing will continue to
field the #11 Toyota Tundra, driven by TJ Bell, as that truck does have some
support.(Red Horse Racing PR)(6-8-2009)
UPDATE: Benson is the defending NASCAR Camping World Trucks champion,
but the plain white #1 Toyota truck he drove during the season's first eight
races has served as a reminder that finding sponsorship is difficult even for
drivers with the most impressive of resumes. Still, Benson said Monday he was a
little surprised when he learned his Red Horse Racing team was shutting down
due to lack of sponsorship. "Part of me was (surprised)," said
Benson, 45. "We have had discussions about this before, and we were told
that (lack of a sponsor) was not going to be a problem. Apparently, it is. But
we have had this before, and we are actively looking for something else. We
will mosey on and try to figure out what is next. This is a little
disheartening to see this happen because we wanted to help build a championship
team," said Benson, a 1981
Note: Wow! I
sure didn’t see this coming. Here is one
of the better drivers in the Truck Series and he can’t land a sponsor. Goes to show you that sponsorship in auto
racing is slowly drying up. Over time
that will surely hurt the sport, for sure.
RPM
lays off nine employees: Richard Petty Motorsports has laid off nine employees and reduced
salaries throughout the organization, a byproduct of Chrysler's bankruptcy
filing. A person familiar with the moves tells The Associated Press that RPM
officials are anticipating significant cutbacks from Dodge. Chrysler is Dodge's
parent company, and the automaker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
last month. Team co-owner Richard Petty has said the bankruptcy filing slowed
the money flow from Dodge over the past few weeks. RPM fields cars for #9-Kasey
Kahne, #19-Elliott Sadler, #43-Reed Sorenson and #44-AJ Allmendinger. The team
has funded Allmendinger's car largely out of pocket all season.(Associated
Press)(6-8-2009)
Note: I’ve said it previously, GM will be doing the
exact same thing. Watch and see. It will be very interesting to see how the
sale of Chrysler to Fiat will affect the racing teams that use Chrysler
products, and not only in NASCAR, I should add.
Changes
coming to improve the car-of-tomorrow? Drivers says NASCAR officials are telling them now
changes are coming with controversial car-of-tomorrow, but no one seems to know
what NASCAR might do, or when. "I think they're going to go look into the
engines -- to maybe reduce horsepower," Denny Hamlin says. "Maybe do
something to the cars…but it's tough to say whether they're going to add
downforce or take it all away. But I think they are going to make changes to
the car. And I think it's going to be after a lot of meetings with team
engineers and finding out what we need to do to make them better." Two of
the biggest problems with the new COT is --- that it doesn't want to turn in
the corners, so teams are doing really farout things with the chassis to help
it turn (once reason apparently for some of the Dover tire issues); and that it
has such a high center-of-gravity and so much right-side weight that it eats up
right-side tires. Kyle Busch says "I'd like to see NASCAR do something to
help these cars – either by taking 100 pounds out of these cars, or taking some
right-side weight out. We've all gotten smarter in building these cars, and now
we all have maybe 200 pounds of lead, or rather tungsten, in the car (as ballast)."(mikemulhern.net)(6-6-2009)
Note: Well, something has to be done. Of course, if any this is, it will probably
cost teams some nice bucks, and that would hurt the smaller teams, of course.
Source: drug named that
triggered positive test of Mayfield: Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for methamphetamine
during a random drug screening May 1 at Richmond International Raceway, ESPN
The Magazine has learned from two independent sources. In court documents filed
in the past two weeks (Mayfield sought a temporary restraining in order to
return to the track; NASCAR countersued), it was revealed that Mayfield had
admitted ingesting a double dosage of Claritin-D [note: which contains
pseudoephedrine which is used in the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine],
an allergy medication, and the prescription drug Adderall XR immediately prior
to the Richmond drug test conducted for NASCAR.(full story at ESPN the
Magazine)(6-9-2009)
Note: This writer still thinks NASCAR is still
playing games on this Mayfield deal.
“Banned” drugs , but no list?
Well, there wasn’t one to begin with.
The Carl Long saga –
continued:
In case you didn’t get to
see Wind Tunnel last Sunday night, or the repeat on Monday AM, here is what
Carl Long had to say.
Long speaks to Dave Despain
on Wind Tunnel: Part-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Long [Carl-long.com - donation info there]
joined Dave Despain in-studio Sunday night on Wind
Tunnel with Dave Despain to discuss his recent NASCAR penalty for an
oversized Cup engine during NASCAR Sprint All-Star weekend. Long’s appeal was
heard but the penalties, including his suspension and $200,000 fine, were
upheld.
Dave Despain: You’ve been vocal in criticizing the penalty here. What do
you think should have happened? Had you been NASCAR, what would you have done?
Carl Long: “Kept the engine. Some infraction but not near what we got
from this deal.”
Despain: Less penalty?
Long: “Yeah, I’ve been vocal. It was an All-Star Race and in no other
All-Star event in any sport does it affect the regular season, so I asked them
to change the rules. That didn’t work out too well, either.”
Despain (reading NASCAR statement): Nothing has changed. There have
always been severe penalties for attempting to manipulate engine, tires or
fuel. Do you have any reaction to that?
Long: “Somewhat. I think that when Richard Petty won the race, he won
the race when Bodine did what he did. They were in competition. This was in
practice and anyone in the garage area knows my circumstances and why I’m
there. The rules are written for what they are but the bottom line is it always
has ‘at NASCAR’s discretion.’ There’s a few things – ‘Hey, get this fixed
before you come back through tech. Fix this before next week.’ So, I was wrong
by expecting to get something out of it. A rule is a rule - that’s what they
said. That’s the way it’s got to be. There’s no other game in town, so what do
you do?”
Despain: Richard Petty, when he won his 198th race, I think it was, with
a huge motor at
Long: “I expected a reduction. I expected the suspension to be dropped
or at least the four weeks like Geoff Bodine and Junior Johnson had. I thought
about a lot of things but none of them seemed to happen except the infraction
got rolled over to a Sprint Cup Series rule and that was the first time I’d
seen that happen.”
Despain: They took your original NASCAR suspension, which was 12 weeks,
and applied it only to Sprint Cup, meaning you can still work in Truck and
Nationwide. How does that change in the suspension affect your life? Does it
help?
Long: “A little. It will allow me to go with our Nationwide team but at
the same time, if I’m spotting for our Nationwide team, are they going to kick
me out of the flagman’s stand if I’m spotting for the Cup team when they change
practice sessions? It’s been pretty tough because when I go to the race track,
if I was going cheated, I was going to go ‘big cheated’ and if I got kicked out
I had every opportunity to load up and go the house and we didn’t. So, here I
am and we can’t pay the fine, so we’re just out of NASCAR.”
Despain: Does Ernie Elliott have a role in this? Does the engine builder
have any responsibility in your mind?
Long: “I tried to see if NASCAR, when I lobbied the hearing, would make
engine builders responsible, and that’s not a part of it. Ernie basically cut
me a deal – he had a lot of extra Ganassi engines, he cut me a deal on one. Why
it’s big and how it got big I have no idea. His part was as much as it
overheated, it melted the head gasket into the cylinder head and he said that’s
why it got big.”
Despain: It was a crew chief’s fine … does it revert to you if he can’t
pay it?
Long: “Yes, at the end of the year, section 12 of the rulebook basically
states any fines not settled goes back to the owner, which my wife was listed
as the owner. So, typically, you could say I’m off the hook. But how do I go
back to the race track without my wife when it’s my team?”
Despain: Have they run you off?
Long: “I hope not. David Reutimann has started cheerleading and trying
to pool up some money and make things happen for us. This penalty is probably
at least 300-percent more than what we make. I don’t know how I go forward with
it. You want to race. You want to be a part of it. Yes, I can be in the
Nationwide Series garage and so forth but at the end of the year, my license is
not in good standing. I’ve never seen anything to compare it to in the past.”(SPEEDtv),
past news about Long and the penalty on my #46 Team News and Links page.(6-8-2009)
Note: I am really surprised that the public
“outcry” on this, failed to sway “whomever” is/was responsible for the
penalties to be kept the same. Hey
NASCAR – I wonder how many low buck teams that might think of coming aboard,
you’ve chased away with this “Bullying” of Carl Long?
Didja know that besides
Jayski’s front page news, there is a ton of things about racing if you go here,
on Jayski’s website?
http://www.jayski.com/pages/stories.htm
Dirt
Track Digest’s forum: http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/forum/index.php?
Check
out the forum! Lotsa stuff on it!
SJDR’s
Message board:
I have no idea as to why they would not post a thread by
me about the ticket info for the “Big Show” SDS race at OCFS next week. Maybe they don’t like the races
promoter??? He is from “
OCFS - http://www.orangecountyfairspeedway.net/
AARRGGHH! Still ahead of myself last week with this:
“Note: I was somewhat surprised that there was no
mention of “The Big Show” that’s coming up next Wednesday at OC, in this
latest press release. Wonder why?”
I did make a
slight remark about that in a response I sent back to OCFS, thanking them for
sending me the PR. Nothing back on that,
as yet.
This week,
weather permitting, along with a regular show (minus the 358 small block mods),
the CRSA 305 sprinters will be making an appearance. Funny, but last year, they had weather
problems and that event was never re-scheduled.
This week, if we attend, I know my son and grandson will NOT be in the
pits. They got burned last year, with no
refund on their pit passes.
Oh, as for the
weather for the
Friday: Scattered
thunderstorms. High 79F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Saturday: Scattered
thunderstorms possible. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the low 60s.
Gotta love
it! Seems we’re in the same kind of
weather cycle we had a few years ago, doesn’t it?
Accord
- http://www.accordspeedway.com/
Here is a message from the speedway concerning the attempt to close down Accord Speedway:
“Attention Fans & Competitors
Accord Speedway has been in the news recently because
of false allegations made by Pace Environmental
Litigation Clinic, Inc, Pace University School of Law
and an environmental protection group called Riverkeeper concerning the stream
that runs behind the speedway.
There has been absolutely NO dumping of any kind into
the stream or on the property. Management has been working with the DEC
and engineers since April 2008
and ALL potential points of entry into the stream that
may cause pollution have been corrected to their satisfaction.
Riverkeeper Inc and Pace Environmental
Litigation Clinic have been informed of this but have
chosen to remain silent on this fact and to move ahead
with their negative publicity campaign. All issues have
been addressed and complied with to the satisfaction
of the DEC and the State of
Accord Speedway has been found to be in the
clear of any wrong doing. We thank you for your
concern and your support and be assured
"the action track" will continue to bring you the best
short track racing in the area.”
Note: This coming Friday, the CRSA 305 sprinters
are scheduled for an appearance at the “Big A” – weather permitting, of course.
As
of 5:00 PM on Tuesday, the forecast for Accord is:
Thursday: Showers early
then scattered thunderstorms developing later in the day. High 66F. Winds SE at
5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Friday: A few
thunderstorms possible. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the upper 50s.
And as of 7:10 PM on
Wednesday, it is: Friday: Mixed
clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. High 74F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10
mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Will have to see
what it looks like on Friday afternoon, I suppose.
OVRP’s
Dirt Oval - http://www.ovrpdirtoval.com/
Looking at John Schoebels race report, I see that they have finally had a “Clone” class at OVRP’s Dirt Oval. Speed wise, they sure look compatible to the times the Briggs flat heads turn in, as you can see:
Junior
Rookie:
1. (#88) Tyler
Treacy (15.832 – fastest lap of
the race with an average speed of 45.478mph)
2.
(#65) Chad Cooper (16.569)
3.
(#48) Ryan Doty (17.121)
4.
(#5) Cameron Hadden (22.577)
Junior Clone:
1. (#9) Tyler
Belanger (15.702 – fastest lap of
the race with an average speed of 45.854mph)
2.
(#2) Jessica Mattera (16.269)
3.
(#4B) Samantha Mattera (16.670)
John
was questioning the non use of the Clone engines in his report, with this:
“Clones:
This weekend was the first weekend
with an actual Junior Clone class. The class had 3 Junior Rookies which have
been racing all season in the rookie class. Back in the beginning of the season
everyone was told there are somewhere around 24-30 clone motors ready to be
rented weekly for $25. So far there has been no Senior Clone class run after 8
races, while other tracks are having great success with them. Somewhere there
is an issue that would cause this class not to take off. I’m trying to find a
reason for it and would like your opinion on why you aren’t racing a clone?
Email your opinions to Teamcal_js@yahoo.com!”
His race reports can be found, here: http://newenglandtractor.com/racereport/ovrp060609.htm
Former
OVRP Dirt Oval runners:
Boy, did I mess up
last week, or what? I completely forgot
to put in how the former Dirt Oval runners did at OCFS!
Ok,
here ya go: In the modified feature,
Danny Creeden was 7th and Clinton Mills 19th. In the Sportsman feature, Mike Ruggiero was 1st,
Joe Conklin 2nd, Matt Hitchcock 4th, Anthony Perrego 5th,
Bobby Hassenmayer 7th, Doc Young 19th and Matt Janiak 20th.
OK,
now for this past weekend:
At
Penn Can, in the modified feature, Danny Creeden finished 10th.
At
OCFS: In the small block feature, Danny
was 6th. The big blocks had
the week off. In the Sportsman feature,
Rich Coons was 2nd, Anthony Perrego 5th, Mike Ruggiero 8th,
Matt Hitchcock 10th, Joe Conklin 11th, Matt Janiak 12th,
Bobby Hassenmayer 23rd and Doc Young 24th.
At
Hamlin, Rick Casario was 12th and Luke Schostkewitz was a DNF in the
270 Micro Sprint feature. In the 600
wingless Micro feature, Brittney Tresch was 11th. In Slingshots, Bobby Hackel was 10th,
Joseph Kata, II was 15th, Billy V 16th, Emily VanInwegen
22nd and Molly Chambers 26th. In the make up 600 Micro feature, Brittney
was 13th and Molly a DNF.
Up
at Whip City, RJ Tufano was 9th in the 1200 Mini Sprint feature.
At
Wyalusing, Jacob Hendershot was 5th in the 270 Micro feature.
At
Lebanon Valley, Michael Storms was 10thin the Super Dirt Series 100 lap big
block feature. In the sportsman feature,
Kolby Schroeder was 6th and Kyle Armstrong 9th.
There
was an SDS race scheduled for the Airborne Speedway, up in Plattsburgh, NY for
Sunday, on that paved track. “Mother
Nature” did her thing, but before they rained out, Michael did have the 10th
fastest time during practice.
Down
at Big Diamond on June 4th, in the Tobias SpeedSTR’s feature, Nick
Pecko was 2nd, Billy V 13th and Jeff Gallup 15th. I’m not even sure if Jeff was there, unless
he was a DNS for the feature, since another car barrel rolled at the start and
he was placed ahead of Jeff in the final finishing order. As for Billy V – well, lets say he had a
slight malfunction while attempting to get up into 2nd place. I figure that when his car stopped, he was at
least 100’ away from the track. Here’s a
link to some videos:
http://gspvideo.com/2009/06/big-diamond-raceway-june-4-2009/
Just
click on Speedstr’s on the left side.
The roll cage and HANS device did their jobs, that’s for sure.
While
on the subject of the Tobias SpeedSTR’s, I have to wonder how the problems
Chrysler has had might/could possibly affect that series – I believe they use
Dodge Neon engines?
The
other day I received an e-mail from John Spino.
His son, Robbie, is now racing down in the Carolinas. This is what I was sent:
“Rob is now the
points leader at Hammerdownspeedway in NC, We went to Dublin Motor speedway
this week out or 12 cars, we finished 5th, that is really good cause rob was
running 4th when he got a flat and had to come out in last. Heading out to Dublin this week again.Might change tracks and give up
the points lead. Dubin pays better.Allmost all
top 5s this year. only a 12th place at dubin due to a crash 2 weeks ago.”
Also I received an e-mail from Jon Seaman this past Tuesday. I believe his son is still involved with the
Richard Childress team down in NASCAR land and is returning to the Rochester
Institute of Technology in pursuit of an automotive engineering degree. Here is the link to the Seaman race teams
website: http://www.tsr-motorsports.info/
Family
members in racing:
It was nice having
both grandsons tagging along to the SDS race at Lebanon Valley last
Saturday. John will be heading back to
Florida, although I don’t believe he’ll be there in time to race this coming
Saturday night.
Meanwhile,
my son finally got our 600 Micro Sprints engine back together, and everything
was right on. We fired it up on Monday
evening and it sounded real good. No
leaks of any kind. Now the problem we’re
having is trying to talk Brett into NOT racing this weekend. He has his prom to attend to on Friday night,
followed by a “breakfast” at 3:00 AM.
Who know what all after that.
Already we’re talking some nice bucks, plus “Stick Boy” might be pretty
beat. On top of that, he is scheduled to
work all day Sunday at the road course at OVRP with a corporate event. Hopefully he’ll not race, but would be able
to attend a “Sweet Sixteen” birthday party for one of his cousins on Saturday
afternoon, then hit OCFS for the CRSA 305 sprint cars and stock car races.
Update: As of now, we will not be racing our 600
Micro this weekend, but will try Hamlin next Saturday – minus the wing.
Other racin’ stuff:
There’s an interesting thread on the Micro
Racing message board about pulling “pills” for starting lineups. Interested?
Check it out, here: http://www.microracing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9319
More racin’ stuff:
Hard to believe that
there are only 44 entrants for the Cup race in Michigan this coming – at least
as of Monday. Hmm, no Carl Long and no
Jeremy Mayfield. Thank you, NASCAR!
http://www.jayski.com/stats/2009/entries/15mis2009-entry.htm
The
History of the Sport:
How
about these NASCAR names - all Champions:
Red
Byron, Bill Rexford, Herb Thomas, Tim Flock, Lee Petty, Buck Baker, Rex White,
Ned Jarrett, Joe Weatherly, Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Isaac, Benny
Parsons, Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison, Terry
Labonte, Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, Alan Kulwicki, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett,
Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson
Weird
stuff:
I have Yahoo! Instant messenger. With that, if someone else is a “friend”, you can usually see when they’re on line. I was rather surprised some months ago when a message appeared on IM from my lat sister-in-law. Now I know her daughter would be on the internet, at times, so I asked who was on. No response. Then I got an IM from Danny Burton – who was the assistant editor for OWR. What was weird was that it was the same message that was supposedly sent on the IM from my sister-in-law’s computer. I asked Danny if he had sent it, and he said he didn’t. It was about some kind of diet stuff. Then, this past Saturday, I got another IM from “Danny”.
“Danny
Burton: My mom, sis and aunt have all been taking those Resv pills they showed
on Cnn and 6o minutes. They all are dropping the pounds super quick and get
this... they are boucing off the walls with energy, I just ordered a bottle for
myself, only 5 dollars from” – I’m not listing the place. When I checked on his name on IM, there was
that message!
Oh
yes, one of the things that pops up on IM from people on my IM list is about
some kind of Acai Berry diet that is supposed to shed many, many pounds. No idea as to how those ads get sent out, via
IM’s.
Video
time:
Hey, remember I told you that I was a fan of country music, and that I might link to some country songs on occasion? Well, this is one of those occasions.
Back
on June 15th, 1937, some three months and a week prior to my birth,
Waylon Jennings was born. Most often
described as an “Outlaw” due to his style of singing, and his actions, there
were some that didn’t really consider him to be “Country”. Way back when he was much younger – back in
the late 1950’s, Waylon toured with Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.P. (The
Big Bopper) Richardson. You know what
happened to them on February 3, 1959 – a day that is referred to as “The Day
The Music Died”. Waylon was scheduled to
fly on that plane that night, but because the Big Bopper was feeling under the
weather, let him use his seat. Waylon
never forgot that. Waylon left us on
February 13, 2002 – way to early. I have
a few favorites in country music, and Waylon Jennings is right up near the top
of my list. Whether you’re a country
music fan or not, why not check out the links, below, and give a listen to some
“Waylon” music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGz_xSSgjY0&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ecE1UML1q8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4wPQxdY2Sg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxXPxhEUH8M&feature=related
From
his “earlier” days:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBdjv_VzCkg
Note: Now I really don’t know just how many
“Waylon” fans are out there, but I found something rather interesting about the
second link above – the one for “I’ve Always Been Crazy”. The other day, on the Track Forum, someone
had posted something about the Indycar race down in Texas, and how they had
“Waylon blasting” on the radio on their way from the races. I had to respond, of course, and I supplied
that link, above. Just for “ha-has”, I
noticed the amount of “hits” had – the number shown on the bottom right under
the video – and noticed that it was 134,840.
On Tuesday night, it had gone up to 135,201. Now, as I’m finishing up this column, on
Wednesday, at approximately 3:30 PM, I see that it has gone up again – to
135,759. Over 900 hits in just a couple
of days. Not bad, I’d say!
Other (non racing)
news:
The stupidity of some
“fans” can be seen in this:
“NEW YORK
(AP)—Suspended slugger Manny
Ramirez(notes)
remained fifth among NL outfielders in the latest fan voting for starting spots
in the All-Star game.
The Los
Angeles Dodgers star is serving a 50-game penalty for violating baseball’s
drug policy. He is eligible to return July 3, and the All-Star game is 11 days
later in St. Louis.
Philadelphia’s Raul
Ibanez(notes)
leads NL outfielders with 1,415,493 votes, followed by Milwaukee’s Ryan
Braun (1,269,033), the Mets’ Carlos
Beltran(notes)
(1,092,516) and the Cubs’ Alfonso
Soriano(notes)
(1,078,904). Ramirez is fifth with 838,353 in results released Monday.
Ramirez hit .348
with six home runs and 20 RBIs in 27 games before he was suspended May 7.”
Chrysler
is having some problems with its sale to Fiat, so I’ve been reading. Info on that can be found, here:
And,
related to the above, is this:
Then,
on Tuesday, the Supreme Court has OK’d the sale.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_supreme_court_chrysler
And
there was this, on Yahoo! News on Wednesday:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090610/ap_on_bi_ge/us_chrysler_bankruptcy
Note: It should be interesting to see how this
affects race teams that use Chrysler products.
As noted in previous columns, there have already been cut backs to some
teams already – especially in NASCAR.
And,
late on Wednesday, this, linked too, below, is saying no more federal money
will go to both GM and Chrysler. Hmm,
maybe that will affect motor sports?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090610/ap_on_go_co/us_automakers_congress
Cost
of living:
Usually
some people get what is called a “Cost of living” increase in their pay. For us older people that are retired and
drawing Social Security, that is something that we will not get in 2010. Kinda sucks, ya know?
This
is something that should be done:
On Yahoo! News, on
Wednesday, there is an article about NOT capping the pay for corporate
execs. Well, maybe I might go along with
their salaries, but definitely some kind of caps should be put on bonuses. My reading of the short article – I might be
a little “dumb” here, but it mentions SALARIES, and not BONUSES. Are they different? Might “out of this world bonus monies” still
be granted to execs that fail in their jobs?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090610/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_executive_pay
Closing with this:
The other day I received an e-mail from Ron Lauer, former President of the ARDC. The subject was “Think you’re having a bad day?” Check out what these poor folks went through!
Fire authorities in California found a corpse in a
burned-out section of forest while assessing the damage done by a forest
fire. The deceased male was dressed in a
full wet suit, complete with scuba tanks on his back, flippers, and face mask.
A postmortem test revealed that the man died not
from burns, but from massive internal injuries. Dental records provided a
positive identification. Investigators
then set about to determine how a fully clothed diver ended up in the middle of
a forest fire.
It was revealed that on the day of the fire, the man
went diving off the coast, some 20 miles from the forest. The fire fighters, seeking to control the
fire as quickly as possible, had called in a fleet of helicopters with very
large dip buckets. Water was dipped from
the ocean and emptied at the site of the forest fire.
You guessed it.
One minute our diver was making like Flipper in the Pacific, the next,
he was doing the breast stroke in a fire dip bucket 300 feet in the air.
Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. but
A man was working on his motorcycle on the patio,
his wife nearby in the kitchen. While
racing the engine, the m otorcycle accidentally slipped into gear. The man,
still holding onto the handlebars, was dragged along as it burst through the
glass patio doors.
His wife, hearing the crash, ran in the room to find
her husband cut and bleeding, the motorcycle, and the shattered patio
door. She called for an ambulance and,
because the house sat on a fairly large hill, went down the several flights of
stairs to meet the paramedics and escort them to her husband.
While the attendants were loading her husband, the
wife managed to right the motorcycle and push it outside. She also quickly blotted up the spilled
gasoline with some paper towels and tossed them into the toilet.
After being treated and released, the man returned
home, looked at the shattered patio door and the damage done to his
motorcycle. He went into the bathroom
and consoled himself with a cigarette while attending to his business. About to stand, he flipped the butt between
his legs.
The wife, who was in the kitchen, heard a loud
explosion and her husband screaming.
Finding him lying on the bathroom floor with his trousers blown away and
burns on his buttocks, legs and groin, she once again phoned for an
ambulance. The same paramedic crew was
dispatched.
As the paramedics carried the man down the stairs to
the ambulance they asked the wife how he had come to burn himself. She told them. They started laughing so hard, one slipped,
the stretcher dumping the husband out.
He fell down the 20 remaining stairs, breaking his arm.
The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the
Exxon Valdes oil spill in Alaska was $80,000.
At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively saved animals were
being released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers. And 20minute later, in full view, a killer
whale ate them both.
A woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen
shaking frantically, almost in a dancing frenzy, with some kind of wire running
from his waist towards the electric kettle. Intending to jolt him away from the
deadly current, she whacked him with a handy plank of wood, breaking his arm in
two places. Up to that moment, he had
been happily listening to his Walkman
Iraqi terrorist Khay Rahnaje didn't pay enough
postage on a letter bomb. It came back
with 'return to sender' stamped on it. Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it
and was blown to bits.
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