Racin'
& Internet Stuff:
By Tom
Avenengo
Volume # 4
First things, first:
If you recall, some time ago, NASCAR, supposedly in an attempt to get more butts in the seats and more TV viewers, kind of took some “restrictions” away from their drivers, and, in a way, said, “OK, boys, have at it”. Well, last Sunday, one of the “boys” decided to do so.
If you happened to watch the Cup race from
Now Mr. Keselowski has made a “pay back” list for more
than a few drivers. Quite a lot of
people are saying that he got what he deserved.
In a way, I don’t – especially when they’re racing at almost 200
MPH. Mr. Edwards might have been better
off waiting another couple of weeks until they get to
I have no idea as to what NASCAR will do – penalty wise. It kind of puts NASCAR in a little bit of a bind – since they more or less gave the drivers a “green light” as far as maybe doing a little more that “rubbing”. Mr. Edwards, unfortunately, did his dirty deed right in front of the main grandstands, and the TV cameras did catch his act of turning right – something that his white driving gloves gave away. Then, his going up pit road, the wrong way, after getting the black flag didn’t help matter much, either.
I’m doing this part on Monday. Usually when some penalties are handed down by NASCAR, they do it on Tuesday, so maybe when you read this, you’ll know.
My thoughts: He
will be forced to miss the
Now, we have to wonder, can we expect more “mayhem” on the tracks, since it seems that the penalty was so “minor”?
Here is a link to a video about what happened: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_4I12wwBIE
At 1:42 into the video, you’ll see Mr. Edwards white gloves turning his steering wheel to the right, for an intentional hit of the Keselowski car.
Also, while working on this column, I found this on Yahoo!
OK, it is now Tuesday. The penalties have been announced. This, from Jayski’s website:
“No suspension
for Edwards? UPDATE - probation only: A person familiar with the decision
says #99-Carl Edwards will not be suspended for intentionally wrecking #12-Brad
Keselowski's car during last weekend's NASCAR race in
UPDATE: Carl Edwards has been placed on three weeks' probation by NASCAR
for intentionally wrecking Brad Keselowski's car during last weekend's race at
Note: Check out the “Internet” section, below for some specific links on the Edwards/Keselowsi situation.
Going
back, in time:
Note: A majority of the information that’s in this section is found here: http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/history.html
From
March 7th to March 13th
MARCH 7
1908
Joe
Garson... Born ... AAA driver from the early 1950's
1935
Malcolm Campbell sets a Land Speed Record of 276.82
MPH in his Bluebird at Daytona,
1938
Janet
Guthrie ... Born ... USAC / CART driver from the 1970's and 80's. The first woman to qualify and compete in both the
1980
Lee Roy
Yarbrough ( Former stockcar racer ), is
declared incompetent to stand trial for the attempted murder of his mother. He
will later be found innocent by reason of insanity. He suffered a bad head
injury in an Indy Car crash after he'd left NASCAR. There was a great story in
"Inside Sports" magazine in early 1982 on Yarbrough. By that time,
Lee Roy had been committed to a care facility. His family said his whole
personality changed after the head injury and he also began drinking heavily,
aggravating the situation that much more, leading up to violent behavior. In
the article, I recall his mother saying she forgave him and still loved her
son, but "that wasn't him anymore." There was discussion that he was
essentially suffering from a premature Alzheimer's. Many didn't think he was
very aware of his previous life or accomplishments, though some recall mention
in the article that he might have been aware that he had been a race driver.
Some recall Lee Roy's abscence in 1971-72 being explained as the result of him having contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a
camping trip. Lee Roy died in the facility in the mid-80's.
1993
Duane
Carter ... Died ... AAA / USAC driver from the 1940's, 50's & 60's.
He raced midget cars, sprint cars, and IndyCars. His son Pancho raced in Indy
cars, along with Johnny Parsons (who he helped raise). He was inducted in the
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1991 and the National Midget Auto Racing
Hall of Fame in 1989.
MARCH 8
1936
Milt
1987
Cris Eash won the Sprint Car race at the Williams
Grove Speedway , Mechanicsburg, PA. ( Click here for
the race report. )
MARCH
9
1950
Danny
Sullivan... Born ... Cart driver than ran in 12 Indy 500's and won in
1985.
1980
"Jumpin"
Jack Johnson won the Modified Stock Car race at East Windsor
2008
Fred
Rahmer won the 410 Sprint Car race over Lucas Wolfe, Chad Layton, Mark
Smith and Lance Dewease at the Williams Grove Speedway ,
Mechanicsburg, PA. ( Click here for the race report. )
MARCH
10
1905
Mark
Billman... Born ... AAA racer 1930's. He was
killed in the 1933 Indy 500.
1913
Rex Mays...
Born ... AAA driver from the 1930's and 40's.. He was
killed in a crash during the only Champ Car race held at
1959
Mike
Wallace... Born ... NASCAR race car driver. He
is a younger brother to Rusty Wallace, older brother to Kenny Wallace, and
uncle to Steve Wallace.
1973
Len
Duncan wins the TQ Midget feature at the indoor Atlantic City Convention
Hall.
MARCH
11
1929
Henry
Seagrave drove his Irving-Napier to a new One Mile Speed Record of
231.446 mph at Daytona Beach,
1930
Troy
Ruttman... Born ... AAA / USAC driver from the late
1940's to 1964. He raced in 12 Indy 500's and won in 1952. He was the
older brother of NASCAR driver Joe Ruttman.
1951
Derek
Daly... Born ... Formula One and CART driver from the 1970's and 80's
1956
Joe
Gosek... Born ... He was a super-modified racecar driver. He also raced
in the 1996
1977
John
Calla... Born ... Founder of racing website
wheelsofspeed.com. Note: Where I get most of this info from
1979
Gordon Johncock won the first ever CART sanctioned
Indy Car race, the 'Jimmy Bryan 150' at
A.J.
Foyt won the 'Aggieland 250' USAC Stock Car race at
1995
Tony
George announces the formation of the Indy Racing League.
MARCH 12
1938
Johnny
Rutherford USAC / CART driver from the 1960's to 1992
1963
John
Andretti... Born
1978
Casey
Mears... Born
Ed
"Dutch" Schaefer... Died. Eastern midget racer from the 1940's to the
1970's. Remembered as the man who saved the ARDC from
extinction. Schaefer was elected President of the oldest midget racing
club in the East in 1952. Near the point of extinction, Dutch managed to hold
together a small group of devoted ARDC car owners and drivers, and brought the
club and midget racing on the East Coast, back into the limelight.
MARCH
13
1947
Lyn St.
James... Born
1987
Marco
Andretti... Born
Racing
on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm
Friday,
March 12th:
6:00
AM to 7:30 AM on SPEED – Formula 1 practice from
Saturday,
March 13th:
6:00
AM to 7:30 AM on SPEED – Formula 1 qualifying
7:30
PM to 1-:30 PM on SPEED – AMA Supercross Special from
Sunday,
March 14th:
SPECIAL NOTE: Daylight Savings Time begins
!! Lose an
hours sleep by setting your clocks ahead one hour!
7:30
AM to 10:00 AM on SPEED – Formula 1 race from
12:00
PM to 2:30 PM on Versus – Indycar race from
6:00
PM to 9:00 PM on ESPN2 – NHRA Eliminations from
Track
news:
Next
week, I’ll have info on a good portion of the tracks here in the Northeast –
website links and opening days. Damn,
but it’s getting so close to some outdoor racing!
Don’t
forget the Middletown Motor Sports show coming up on Friday, March 19th,
Saturday, March 20th and Sunday March 21st.
http://www.middletownmotorsportshow.com/
Also,
“Spruce up” day is March 27th – weather permitting, at OCFS.
Hours: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
And: An open practice session is scheduled for
Saturday, April 10th. I do
believe the grandstands are FREE. I
wonder if the track will publicize that?
In
case of rain, April 11th is the rain date.
No,
not the Dirt Oval, but the whole place.
I was made aware of an up-coming event at OVRP while on Facebook,
believe it or not.
The Rotax Max Challenge was launched in the United States in 2002 and has since then reached over 25 regional series where young (and less young!) drivers can compete to qualify for the U.S. Grand Nationals, to be held in 2010 at New Castle, IN, in July.
More
on
How about an audio interview with Michael (Suitcase) Sanchelli, about
the changes being made to the track, and some talk about the Sportsman class at
OCFS. Interested?
Check it out, here:
http://www.dougsdirtdiary.com/audioplayer.php?id=9665
The
History of the Sport:
Something a little different this week: Quite a while ago, noted racing photographer,
John DaDalt helped me out tremendously, with information about George Rice,
when I needed it for nominating Rice for the National Midget Auto Racing Hall
of Fame. In turn, he requested some info
from me about some of the midget racing seasons at the Hinchliffe Stadium in
1947
Hinchliffe Stadium Results:
Taken
from Crocky Wright’s “Hinchliffe Stadium” book
Name: Wins Seconds Thirds
Art
Cross 10 4 8
Bill
Schindler 8 5 2
George
Rice 5 2 2
Al
Keller 4 3 0
Rex
Records 3 2 0
Johnny
Ritter 2 5 2
Tony
Bonadies 2 3 4
Ed
“Dutch” Schaefer 1 3 2
Lloyd
Christopher 1 1 1
Bob
Disbrow 1 0 3
Ted
Tappett 1 0 2
George
Fonder 1 0 1
Ernie
McCoy 1 0 1
Andy
VanHuesen 1 0 0
Mike
Nazaruk 0 2 0
Charlie
Miller 0 2 0
Walt
Fair 0 2 0
Joe
Barzda 0 1 1
Len
Duncan 0 1 1
Larry
Shurter 0 1 0
Johnny
Favinger 0 1 0
Bill
Claren 0 1 0
Stan
Disbrow 0 1 0
Charlie
Breslin 0 0 2
Al
Duffy 0 0 1
Johnny
Carpenter 0 0 1
Walt
Walasek 0 0 1
Ralph
Sheeler 0 0 1
Johnny
Ringger 0 0 1
Shorty
McAndrew 0 0 1
“Jeep”
Colkitt 0 0 1
Note: Sorry for the lines not being quite straight
up and down!
Former Dirt Oval runners:
I sent out an e-mail to quite a few of those that race or have raced at the Dirt Oval, asking for some info so I can post it here, as I’ve done in the past - with their results. This time, maybe getting some pre-season info. David Webb got back to me with this:
“Hi Tom,
Thanks a lot for posting updates
for all of the former dirt oval runners.
This year we will be returning to
Stafford Speedway full time to chase a championship in the SK Light division. We have a website running where
we post weekly updates, photos, etc....the site is www.webbracing92.webs.com . If you have
any questions or want any other details just let me know.
Thanks!
-Dave Webb”
Other racin’ stuff:
If you’re a race fan for some time, then I have to
imagine that you’ve heard of Stirling Moss – or to be more precise, Sir
Stirling Moss
falls
More racin’
stuff:
Angel Park: Ever
hear of it? It’s a neat 1/3 mile dirt
track up in Sun Prairie
The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is located there. For oh, so many years, the BMARA Midgets raced there – weekly. Well, from what I’ve been reading, the BMARA and Angel Park have kind of split up. Check out what’s being said on the Angel Park website
Sarah Fisher:
I take it you’ve heard of Sarah Fisher? She’s one of the few drivers today, that run Indy cars and actually came from Open Wheel racing – midgets, sprints etc etc. Sarah isn’t all that good on road courses – and not all that bad, either.
I take it you’ve heard of Graham Rahal? He’s the son of Bobby Rahal, and is/was without an Indy car ride for 2010.
So, the news has come out that Sarah Fisher Racing has signed Graham Rahal to drive – at least in a couple of races. Now, if there were any possibility of SFR having a third car, then, I’d imagine that Rahal could have a ride for the entire season.
Video
time:
This past Saturday, I went to the ARDC’s website, and clicked on a video. It was from their opening night in 2009. Then I found some others from their 2009 opener. You might want to turn your volume down just a little bit. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj_fl-bu9Ng&feature=player_embedded#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NkFTMnkkqs&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPlynOeqG8k&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYbg_KZdIrk&feature=related
Some of my thoughts:
Are NASCAR cars so fragile? After
seeing Greg Biffle have contact with the wall at
Tire rub – why do they go until the tire blows, like Hornaday did in
truck race on Sat. or like David Ragan did in the Cup race. One would think that the crew chiefs would
have more sense, and make the driver pit.
Or the car owner, for that matter. It just seems that every time there’s contact
with something, be it a car or a wall, a tire rub results and a few laps later
– well, you’ve seen it just as I have, right?
Do you get tired of Drivers always taking a sip, when on camera, like
me? Yeah, I know,
the “Sponsor” thing. I think it gets
carried away a little.
Is this true?:
You might get e-mails about the health care proposal, like I do – most
are against it. But might what follows
be true? From an e-mail I received this
past Monday – in part:
“The
impudent tyranny of Sen. Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of
Buried in his massive amendment to the Senate version of Obamacare is Reid's anti-democratic
poison pill designed
to prevent any future Congress from repealing the central feature of this
monstrous legislation!
Beginning on page 1,000 of the measure, Section 3403 reads in part: ". it shall not be in order in
the Senate or the House of
Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment or
conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this
subsection."
In other words, if President Barack
Obama signs this measure into law, no future Senate or House
will be able to change a single word of Section 3403, regardless whether future
Americans or their representatives in Congress wish otherwise!!
Note that the subsection at issue here concerns the regulatory power of the
Independent Medicare Advisory Board (IMAB) to "reduce the per capita rate
of growth in Medicare spending."
And:
At times I often wonder how some of these professional football or baseball teams actually sign some players. As an example, the New York Jets have just signed Antonio Cromartie – a defensive cornerback. You should see the millions this “Athlete” is getting! On top of that, he’s had some “personal” problems, too, like having 7 children, with six different women, in five different states! Talk about un-protected sex! Oh, and yep, you guessed it, with the millions he’s been paid to play football, he is naturally behind in his child support payments, too. What? He is in th elast year of a five year twelve million dollar contract, and he is behind? Give me a break, please! Well, I’m sorry, but as far as this writer is concerned, Mr. Cromartie sure fits the description of a “low life”.
You can bet that there will be more “problems” from Mr. Cromartie in the future. Watch and see.
His problems:
http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2010/03/paternity_issues_other_legal_m.html
And how the Jets will “help” this clown out:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4978394
Some Safety stuff:
I imagine that by now you heard about the fella out in
Well, from what I’ve read, ALL newer cars now have a “rev limiter” in them. One of the first things that one must do, if the same circumstances should come up, is to put the car in NEUTRAL. Sure the engine will rev up like crazy. Hell, a blown engine is better than a wrecked car and possible serious injuries, right? Oh – wait – that rev limiter – that should really stop the engine from going “poof”.
Once it’s in neutral, you should turn the key off – but just off, not into the “locked” position so you can still steer it. I have no idea as to why that fella waited until the car got slowed down to 50 MPH before he did that.
In an interview after it all happened, he said he was “afraid” to put it in neutral, for fear of putting it in reverse. This guy is 60 years old, not a kid. One would think……………
Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_runaway_prius
It should be interesting to see the outcome of what happened.
Note: I also read that it would not be surprising that if someone driving a Toyota vehicle should have an accident, due to their own actions, in some cases, it would - or could be – blamed it on a “throttle problem”.
And, reading more about this, it seems this guy drove that Prius for 30 miles after it went “looney”. That’s not a “typo”, friends, it was 30 (thirty) miles.
The latest, as of Tuesday: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100309/us_nm/us_toyota_california
Internet stuff:
Ok, the Carl Edwards/Brad Keselowski deal has really stirred things up since last Sunday. For what’s being said on the Track Forum, you can find out if you go here: http://www.trackforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=6
Other
forums/message boards and websites:
Note: In this section, from now on, I’ll be making mention of some certain things being said on the Internet, and will give you links to those items, along with links to various websites, message boards and forums. Hope you get a kick out of what some people are saying.
Track Forum: - http://www.trackforum.com/forums/
Quite a lot being said about the Edwards/Keselowsi deal
at
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134419
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134474
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134440
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134439
If you watched the race, then you would have seen, as I did, quite a few empty seats – even up high. For some good and not so good reasons why, go here:
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134424
Frontstretch.com:
http://www.frontstretch.com/
Tom Bowles thinks that Carl Edwards should not be suspended for his actions last Sunday.
http://www.frontstretch.com/tbowles/28815/
Jayski: - http://www.jayski.com/
How about some of these subjects?
Tires a question mark, Goodyear on hot seat again over tire issues, NASCAR looking closely into Edwards incident, Montoya-McMurray ok...sort of and Kyle Busch not happy with Boris. Check them out, here: http://jayski.com/cupnews.htm#news-tires2
There’s lots of stuff being said, both pro and con about the penalty that Carl Edwards received from NASCAR, and the link, below, will lead you to many, many items on Jayski’s website.
http://jayski.com/pages/stories.htm
Hoseheads: - http://www.hoseheads.com/
Dirt Track Digest’s forum: http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/forum/index.php
An interesting thread that originally had one specific subject – not getting paid from DIRTcar for 2009 racing, but kind of got side tracked to another subject or two. Check it out, here, if you haven’t read it already:
http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=33299&st=0
Note: To be able to read and/or post, you must register on SJDR’s message board
OWR3: http://www.openwheelracers3.com/
Note: This website has been around for a little while. Dennis “aXe” Silvia runs it. At one time he attempted to continue www.openwheelracers.com but had no success in attempting to do that, due to circumstances beyond his control. To me, that’s a shame.
Other
(non racing) news:
Hey,
do you have a full time job? If
so, consider yourself pretty lucky.
One way or another, these politicians will get us – watch and see.
And: “But a provision in the
2008 Farm Bill lifted the ten–year statute of limitations on the government's
ability to withhold Social Security benefits in collecting debts other than student
loans—for which the statute of limitations was lifted in 1997—and income taxes,
where the limit remains 10 years.”
Education – it might get pretty ugly out there:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100304/ap_on_re_us/us_university_cuts_protests
Growing
low-oxygen zones in oceans worry scientists
They warn that the
oceans' complex undersea ecosystems and fragile food
chains could be disrupted.
In some spots off
Washington state and Oregon , the almost complete absence of oxygen has left
piles of Dungeness crab carcasses littering the
ocean floor, killed off 25-year-old sea stars, crippled colonies of sea anemones and produced mats of potentially noxious
bacteria that thrive in such conditions.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100307/sc_mcclatchy/3444187
I realize that in
today’s world, $250.00 isn’t much and sure doesn’t go very far, but still it
would come in mighty handy to those of us that are retired and have a fixed
income.
Senate rejects $250
checks for elderly
Of course, I live
in
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Pennsylvania-helps-jobless-hmoney-3417196184.html?x=0
Like we older
folks haven’t noticed this?
Big Generation Gaps in Work Attitudes Revealed:
New survey research
announced today suggests indeed that is the case: Large generational
gaps exist, particularly when it comes to work attitudes. The findings
reveal young people just entering the workforce, often called GenMe or
Millennials, are more likely than their elders to value leisure time over work and to place a premium on
rewards such as higher salaries and status.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100310/sc_livescience/biggenerationgapsinworkattitudesrevealed
Closing with this:
SENIOR DRIVING
As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway,
his car
phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife's voice
urgently warning him, 'Herman, I just heard on the news
that there's a car going the wrong way on Interstate 77.
Please be careful!'
'Heck,' said Herman, 'It's not just one car. It's hundreds of
them!'
May “Guardian Angels” sit on the shoulders of all of our race drivers and race fans, and guide them safely around the tracks!
Drive safe!
As
usual, you can reach me at: ygordad@yahoo.com