Racin'
& Different Stuff:
By Tom Avenengo
05/23/2013
Special note:
Please keep those people down in
Also, on Facebook,
there have been photos posted of some of our racing family and what has
happened to their race cars during the tornado.
First:
Chances are that
you might very well be reading this before or while I’m either in surgery, or
that the surgery has been completed. I
was due to arrive at the hospital at 11:00 AM today, for a supposed 1:00 PM
surgery. I was told that as long as
there are no problems, I should be able to go home tomorrow – Friday.
Update: Surgery time has been advanced. Now I have to be there at 8:00 AM for surgery
at 10:00 AM.
As
for a column next week – not sure yet.
Second:
I was treated
to the races at OCFS this past weekend by my son, Eric. He got tickets for both Saturday and
Sunday. Saturday, of course was washed out. They announced that we could use the
wristband for monies off on the Sunday ticket or can use it for next
Saturday. Since we already have our
Sunday tickets, that leaves next Saturday. With my surgery on Thursday, I won’t be able
to make the show next Saturday. In the
past, you had a couple of weeks to use your rain check. I’m hoping they go back to that policy, or
I’ll end up eating the ticket – or son will, since he paid for it.
Note: Per a telephone conversation with OCFS on
Wednesday, the wrist bands are good for the next two Saturdays, and could be
extended if one of those Saturdays get rained out.
Third:
The WoO show at
OCFS:
It was about what I expected. Not much passing with the WoO
contingent. I was somewhat disappointed
that there were only 23 cars. If you
consider Ryan Smith as a “PA Posse” member, then he was one, of maybe a few, to
represent the “Posse”. Tony Stewart was
there to race. Seems there were two NY
State Police officers assigned to his pit area.
When I was at the USA International Speedway, down in
I heard that Kasey Kahne
was in the pit area. I wonder why he
didn’t run?
And, I wonder – did anyone tell Tony Stewart that OCFS is for sale?
The 50/50 was a little over a thousand
dollars. Methinks they should have
called the number a little earlier, not after most of the fans were heading to
their cars. I do believe that the holder
of the winning ticket was still there to collect her winnings, though! Congrats, Carol!
Something that does other me – there never
was an ad in the Middletown Times Herald-Record advertising that the WoO was coming to town.
It’s a shame they could not advertise that Tony was gong to be there,
like
Fourth:
An interesting thread over on the DTD forum –
where are all the modifieds?
http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/DTD/index.php?/topic/47450-where-are-all-the-modifieds/
Fifth:
From last week:
Quiz:
He is the only driver to win
the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of
Any idea? If so, email
me your answer!
Correct
answer is: Sir Graham Hill. He won the F1 championship in a BRM
in 62 and a Lotus 49 in 68 (driving Colin Chapman crazy),
He won Indy in a Lola ford in 66 and Lemans in a Matra
with Henri Pescalaro in 72.
Sixth:
This weeks quiz:
In his career he ran just
about everything, and retired very young. He won 31 percent of the NASCAR Cup
races he entered, 25 percent of the Indy Car races, and 5 percent of the
Formula One races. What is his name?
Answer will be in my next
column.
Seventh:
Found this on the OCFS Facebook page – from their website:
“This
Coming Saturday May 25 - Veterans Night brought to you by McGannon
Excavating. Modifieds,
Small Block Modifieds, Sportsman, Rookie Sportsman
and Street Stocks will all be in action. Pit Gates open at 3:30, Drive In at
4:30 and Main Grandstands open at 5.”
Note: Now as far as I know, Veterans, with proper
ID, get admitted free. However, what if
said Veteran was in attendance last Saturday, when the show rained out, and was
told he has to use his wrist band this coming Saturday?
Note: Per a telephone conversation with OCFS on
Wednesday, the wrist bands are good for the next two Saturdays, and could be
extended if one of those Saturdays get rained out. And, if this Saturday should rain out, then
the Veterans Day date would be carried over to next week. So, you Vets with a wrist band – use your Vet
status this coming Saturday and the wrist band later – my suggestion.
Eighth:
Ninth:
I’m pretty sure I
saw a post or two on Facebook about how a certain
thing will be sneaked through, what with all the extra things going on – The
IRS deal, the deal with the papers – phone records, Benghazi, and now, the
unfortunate tornados that have hit the mid west. Funny how that just happened now, just when the sh*t was hitting the fan on
the other three things. No, not funny,
really! Of course no one wished it. Just a damn bad
coincidence.
Senate panel passes
Link: http://news.yahoo.com/u-senate-panel-approves-sweeping-000103921.html
Yeah, they passed the
immigration bill.
Oh, and yes, on quite a few
meetings with the media, FOXNews has not been invited. Kinda stinks,
doesn’t it?
Tenth:
Congress' Option on IRS:
Testify or Lose Your Job
Lois Lerner, the IRS official
who headed the division that targeted Tea Party and other conservative groups
for special tax scrutiny, invoked her Fifth Amendment right to refuse questions
before Congress on Wednesday. The decision could cost her her
job.
And it doesn't mean that she
won't be forced to answer questions. In fact, it's relatively easy for Congress
to force her to testify.
In general, Congress hates
when government officials refuse to answer questions. This time, of course, it
is especially those in the House's Republican majority who are unhappy.
Republican Darrell Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee,
required Lerner to come before the committee and invoke her Fifth Amendment in
person at the hearing, rather than just letting her lawyer inform the committee
that she's not going to answer their questions. That's not something you do to
a witness you regard as friendly.
Her lawyer has said that
requiring her to appear at the hearing served "no other purpose than to
embarrass or burden her." That's half true. It certainly is a burden and
an embarrassment to have to stand up in front of the nation and refuse to
answer questions from elected representatives. Regardless of what the law says
about this, a lot of ordinary folks think that only criminals fear
self-incrimination.
But there's a broader purpose
served by making her appear before the committee. Very often seeing public
officials appear before Capitol Hill panels helps to focus public attention on
government abuse—even when the public officials refuse to answer the questions
put to them by lawmakers. Perhaps especially when the
officials refuse to testify. Think of Oliver North refusing to testify
before the Senate in 1986.
A lot of regular folks
watching this unfold will wonder why the sons of guns who refuse to answer
questions about possible government abuses cannot just be fired. The
sophisticated folks among us tend to shake their heads, wondering why so many
people don't understand that the Fifth Amendment right against
self-incrimination includes a right not to be fired from a government job for
refusing to testify. Threatening a government official's livelihood is just another
form of compelling self-incrimination, the sophisticates say.
As is usually the case,
however, the ordinary folks are closer to the truth than the sophisticates.
Congress can require Lerner to choose between testifying and losing her job.
But the cost of putting this choice to her is granting her immunity from any
future prosecution based on what she says before Issa's
committee.
"[The government] has
every right to investigate allegations of misconduct, including criminal
misconduct by its employees, and even to force them to answer questions
pertinent to the investigation, but if it does that it must give them immunity
from criminal prosecution on the basis of their answers," Judge Richard
Posner explained in a 2002 case, Atwell v. Lisle Park District.
This is what happened when
Oliver North invoked the Fifth Amendment in the Iran-Contra hearings. The
Congressional investigating committees found the need for his testimony
compelling enough that they granted him immunity from being prosecuted for the
contents of his testimony and required him to appear before the committees.
The case for doing the same
thing in the IRS case is pretty persuasive. Even if Lerner authorized the
targeting of the Tea Party groups, there's a good deal of doubt that she could
be criminally prosecuted for doing so. No federal statute that I'm aware of
directly criminalizes that kind of behavior, and federal courts refuse to
impose criminal penalties for just doing bad things that Congress hasn't
specifically outlawed. So granting her immunity from prosecution might not
actually involve giving anything up at all.
What's more, Lerner's
testimony could be instrumental in understanding two things that are still
murky about the IRS targeting scandal.
First, we need to know how
deep this goes in the IRS. Is this conduct deeply ingrained in the
organization? How many employees were involved? How many different offices? Was
this a huge deviation from normal IRS activity or something that involved just
inching over very blurry lines?
Second, more importantly, we
need to know how high up this goes. Was Lerner the top official involved? Or
were her superiors aware of what was happening? Did the IRS see itself as
acting alone here or as part of a broader government effort to crack down on
the tea-party groups?
Surely a better public
understanding of how the IRS targeting program developed would be worth the
price of granting Lerner immunity from prosecution for her answers to Congress.
Another advantage to granting
Lerner immunity is that it might lead to evidence of actual criminal
wrong-doing on the part of others in the IRS or elsewhere in the government.
Lerner's immunity wouldn't extend to them and she cannot refuse to testify to
avoid incriminating fellow IRS employees.
Lerner is not a big fish and
whatever she might have done probably is not a federal crime anyway. If Issa and the GOP are serious about getting to the bottom of
the IRS scandal, they should grant immunity and require testimony.
Note: You should see what Judge Napolitano says on
this. She more or less has cooked her
eggs, and could be recalled and made to testify. She, in her comments, today, opened that
door.
Should get to be interesting,
AS LONG AS SOMEONE DOES THEIR JOB!
Eleventh:
Hey! There’s quite a lot, racing wise, coming up
on TV over these next few days. Qualifying and some races at
Covers most
everything, folks.
Twelfth:
A late breaking news bit
about the Hinchliffe Stadium and their “Racing Expo”:
This year's Hinchliffe Stadium Racing Expo is set for Labor Day
weekend. We will release more details in the coming weeks...
Coming up:
Taken, in part, off of Facebook:
Orange County Fair speedway's
2013 Nostalgia night is June 8th. Hope the weather is great and all can make
it. Please spread the word. Drivers that said they will be here; Carl Van Horn,
Frankie Schneider, Bobby & Steve Bottcher,Gerald
Chamberlain, Carl Reynolds, Jerry Wilson, Hank Goranson,
Del buss, Rich Eurich, Bob Schmitt, Bob Schoenberger, Steve Makocy, Ed
Davis, Stan Sherman, Joe Romer, Sam Rogers Sr and Jr, Ron and Scott
Goodrich, Ed Stevens, Lou Inezo, Rich Marenelli, Red Muir, Loren Holland Sr,
Bruce Quinn,Ed D'Angelo,George
Van der Wall and we are still waiting to hear back
from other drivers.
Note: I didn’t see “Buzzie”
on that list. I know he usually comes to
every one of the Nostalgia Nights. No
Robbie Green, either.
The Port
This year it will be held on
June 9th. It’s the largest
local Soap Box Derby in the world, is what is said. A major portion of the cars that compete were
bought and furnished by local businesses.
Info can be found here: http://pjsoapboxderby.com/
Going back in time:
On May 23rd
in:
1925
Joe James ... Born ... 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
1935
Jim Malloy... Born ... USAC
driver 1950's , 60's and 70's. He drove in the USAC
Championship Car series, racing in the 1967-1972 seasons, with 61 career
starts, including the 1968-1971 Indianapolis 500 races. He finished in the top
ten 23 times, with his best finish in 2nd position in 1969 at
1949
Jerry Sneva...
Born ... Jerry is a former off-road driver who also drove in the USAC and CART
Championship Car series. He raced in the 1977-1982 seasons, with 26 combined
career starts, including the 1977-1980 and 1982 Indianapolis 500 and was named
1977 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. He finished in the top ten 5 times,
with his best finish in 4th position in 1979 at Pocono. Jerry is the younger
brother of 1983
1963
Wally Dallenbach,
Jr.... Born ... A former NASCAR
Winston Cup driver. He competed in 226 Winston Cup races from 1991 to
2001, but had only 23 top 10 finishes and no wins. The son of legendary open
wheel racer and former CART chief steward, Wally Dallenbach,
Sr., Wally Jr. is also an accomplished road racer. Aside from NASCAR, Wally has
raced in SCCA Trans-Am, IMSA Camel GT, CART, and the Pikes Peak International
Hill Climb. Without a ride, Wally took up TV commentating in 2001, covering the
NASCAR races.
1970
Bryan Herta...
Born ... CART / Champcar/ IRL Indy Car & ALMS
driver
1982
Don Prudhomme
set an NHRA Funny Car top speed record of 250.00 mph in
Some racin’
stuff:
Action Track Update
(Kutztown):
The Monday night test and
tune went over very well,track conditions held up
through all the laps put on the speedway.We started
at 6 laps,advanced to 8 laps and had 5 lap sessions
to close out the evening,so if you were looking at
tire wear or fuel use,this is how we went last night.
A few suggested to brighten
up the homestretch and entrance into turn 1,a couple of the drivers said they
could not see the flags or the upper groove heading into turn 1.Rich and I
talked about it this morning.
There will be a driver in car
radio system used this year,the
frequency has not changed and should be 454.000 unless otherwise noted.
Transponders will be used for
all scoring and rentals will be available for the evening.
Qualifying events will be 9
laps this year,they were
always 8,but a new twist this year will be if the white flag is waving and a
yellow is needed before the checkered is thrown the race will considered over
with no 1 lap restart being used.Single file with 5
laps to go will be used for all events this year.
There will be a starting zone
and the green will wave when the leader takes off anywhere from point A to
point B of that zone.You get to Point B and the
leader doesn't accelerate,Race is On.
Drivers meeting will be at
5:45.Pit gates will open at 4 PM,grandstand
gates will open at 5 PM.Slingshots will be part of
the 6 PM hot laps with the timed dashes for the SpeedSTR's
slated for 7:30.
TOP 3 from each feature will
go to victory lane for photos.Friends and family may
take photos,but must be
ready when photo session begins.
USAC membership will save you
$5.00 each week when purchasing a pit pass.
Thanks,Mike
Found
on Jayski’s website:
Bruton Smith could move fall race out of Charlotte UPDATE:
NASCAR mogul Bruton Smith says there is a strong
possibility that he will move the Bank of America 500 out of
UPDATE - Statement From O. Bruton Smith: The
following is a statement from Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Chief Executive Officer
and Chairman of the Board, O. Bruton Smith:
"The 'done deal' report
by WBTV regarding moving a race is false. No final decision has been made
regarding any race date move, and I have not discussed this with NASCAR.
"Instead of what 'could' happen, let's set the facts straight about what
has happened. We've invested $100 million in the Charlotte Motor Speedway
complex in the past six years to make it even better for the fans. We've
expanded our fan zone, added pit road suites and built the world's largest HDTV
for every fan to enjoy. We've put more people to work with these projects and
we've added more events to the calendar to bring in more tourists and fans. And
we've done this during the worst economy since the Great Depression. We've done
this without asking for a handout from the government, like we've seen from so
many other sports facilities, teams or franchises, and yet at the same time
property values are falling during the recession, our
TV graphic mistake leads to
fan confusion: A television graphic incorrectly showed #48-Jimmie Johnson
should have entered pit road 11th instead of fourth on the mandatory four-tire
stop before the final segment of Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race. It
started a social media outcry for those who didn't know the facts. It grew
louder when Johnson left pit road second. It grew even louder when the
five-time Sprint Cup champion won for the second straight year and a record
fourth time overall, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt and
future Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon. "People just want to hate," Johnson
said with a laugh inside the media center at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
"That's fine. I'm just lucky. NASCAR rigs the races and whatever they want
to believe. I'm going home with a cool trophy and a big check and we all really
know what happened. So whatever."(ESPN)
NOTE: Johnson coming in 4th
for the pitstop was correct, see the averages of the
four segments and the order of pit road entry on my Jayski's
Sprint All-Star Race page.(5-19-2013)
Note: They had me going, I'll tell ya! What pizzes me off is that when Jimmy pitted in 4th place,
instead of 11th, they never said one word.
Kulwicki Team Assembles 20 Years After
Title: Twenty years after losing their mentor, their leader, in a plane crash
near
Schrader wins ARCA race,
oldest driver to win an ARCA race: Ken Schrader won the Menards 200 presented
by Federated Car Care Sunday afternoon at Toledo Speedway, making him the
oldest winner in ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards history. Schrader
started second in his Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet and led 163 laps. The
NASCAR veteran took command of the lead early in the race and held off a long
side-by-side battle with Grant Enfinger and took the
checkered flag while waving to a capacity crowd. "I love it,"
Schrader said in
Kahne says he and Kyle Busch are good: Despite three
on-track incidents between them in just 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup races this season,
#5-Kasey Kahne told SPEED.com that he doesn't have a
problem with #18-Kyle Busch. Prior to Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race at
Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kahne told SPEED.com that
he and Busch talked things out and are OK going forward. "Yes, it's over.
I thought it was over before
2014 NASCAR Hall Of Fame
Class Announced: NASCAR announced the inductees who will comprise the 2014
class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The five-person group the fifth in
NASCAR Hall of Fame history consists of Tim Flock, Jack Ingram, Dale
Jarrett, Maurice Petty and Fireball Roberts. Next year's Induction Day is
scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014, broadcast on Fox Sports 1 from
Class of 2014 Inductees:
Tim Flock - A two-time NASCAR
premier series champion, Flock was one of the sport's first dominant drivers.
In 187 starts, Flock had 39 victories, a total that still ranks 18th on the
all-time wins list. Flock won his first series title in 1952 while driving Ted
Chester's Hudson Hornet, and his second in 1955 driving Carl Kiekhaefer's Chrysler. He dominated that season, posting 18
wins, 32 top fives and 18 poles in 39 races. Flock's 18 wins stood as a
single-season victory record until Richard Petty surpassed it with 27 wins in
1967.
Jack Ingram - The NASCAR
Nationwide Series has had a variety of incarnations through the years but when
considered collectively, an argument can be made that Jack Ingram is the
series' all-time greatest driver. Before the formation of the series, Ingram
won three consecutive championships, from 1972-74, in its precursor the
Late Model Sportsman Division. When the NASCAR Busch Series was formed, he won
the inaugural title in 1982 and again in '85. In his 10 years of competition in
what was called the NASCAR Busch Series, Ingram had 31 wins, a record that
stood until Mark Martin broke it in 1997. All but two of Ingram's 31 wins came on
short tracks.
Dale Jarrett - Dale Jarrett
personified big-stage performances. A three-time Daytona 500 winner and
two-time winner of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jarrett
excelled under NASCAR's brightest spotlights. His 32 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
victories 21st all-time also include the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte
Motor Speedway. Jarrett won the 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, and
recorded six additional top-five championship finishes. With father Ned, the Jarretts are only the second father-son combination with
NASCAR premier series championships after NASCAR Hall of Famers Lee and Richard
Petty. Ned Jarrett was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in May 2011. Ned
and Dale Jarrett become the third father-son duo selected to the NASCAR Hall of
Fame, following Bill France Sr. and Bill France Jr., and Lee and Richard Petty.
Maurice Petty - The chief
engine builder at Petty Enterprises, Maurice Petty becomes the fourth member of
the dynasty to be chosen for membership in the NASCAR Hall of Fame
following his older brother Richard, father Lee and his cousin Dale Inman. The
man simply called "Chief" supplied the horsepower that propelled
Richard Petty to a majority of his record 200 NASCAR victories, plus his seven
NASCAR premier series championships and seven Daytona 500 victories. Lee Petty,
Buddy Baker, Jim Paschal and Pete Hamilton were also among those who won with
his engines. Petty had a brief driving career 26 premier series races
with seven top-five and 16 top-10 finishes between 1960 and 1964 but was
satisfied to work behind the scenes as one of the top engine builders ever seen
in the sport.
Fireball Roberts - Glenn
Roberts, who got his legendary nickname from his days as a hard-throwing
pitcher in high school, is perhaps the greatest driver never to win a NASCAR
title. He was arguably stock car racing's first superstar, an immensely popular
prototype for some of today's competitors who are stars on and off the track.
During his career he often came up big in the biggest events, winning the
Daytona 500 in 1962 and the Southern 500 in 1958 and '63. Overall, he won seven
races at Daytona International Speedway, starting with the Firecracker 250 in
the summer of 1959 the year the speedway opened.(NASCAR)(5-22-2013)
Woods Poised To Make
Milestone Start At
Former OVRP Dirt Oval
runners:
Davie Franek was 14th
in the ESS Sprint Car race at Selinsgrove.
Brad Szulewski
won the Sportsman feature at Five Mile.
Kyle Rohner
was 4th in the Sportsman feature at Penn Cann.
Tiffany Wambold
was 7th in the 270 Micro Sprint feature at Big Diamond, on the
“Little track”.
Danny Creeden
was 4th and Billy VanInwegen 9th
in the Modified feature at Accord.
Anthony Perrego won the Sportsman feature with
Tyler Dippel 4th and Brad Szulewski 10th.
Mike Traver was 4th in the Spec
Sportsman feature, while Tyler Boniface was 9th and Andrew Reeves 12th.
Jacob Hendershot
was 6th in the 270 Micro Sprint feature at Hamlin. Tyler Pirone was 3rd
in the All Star Slingshot feature. Paul Tigue was 4th in the Junior Slingshot
feature. Kyle Rohner
was 2nd and Molly Chambers 13th in the Wingless 600 Micro
Sprint feature.
Rich Coons was 1st
and Bobby Morris 3rd in the Sportsman feature at
Bobby Hackel,
IV, was 8th, Kolby Schroder 10th
and Kyle Armstrong 12th in the Modified feature at
Note: There was a protest on the Dippel car.
AJ Filbeck
was 2nd in the Sportsman feature at Utica/Rome.
BJ Wambold
was 1th in the Street Stock feature at
sister Tiffany was a DNQ.
Roger Coss was 2nd in the Modified
feature.
Nick Pecko
was 9th in the RoC Modified feature at
Shangri-La.
Davie Franek was 22nd
in the WoO Sprint Car feature at OCFS. Anthony Perrego won
the Sportsman feature, with Tyler Dippel 3rd,Tyler Boniface 4th, Joe Conklin 9th,
LJ Lombardo 10th, Matt Janiak 11th,
Joey Falanga 12th, Zack Vavricka 17th, Andrew Reeves 23rd,
Brian Krummel 24th (rolled over after
contact with wall coming out of turn 2) and John Illanovasky
is listed as a DQ – not because of the Krummel
accident, I believe.
Note # 1: On that protest on the Tyler Dippel win at
TO ALL MY FACEBOOK FRIENDS,
FAMILY, FANS, COMPETITORS AND HATERS:
It is with great pride and
pleasure to inform you of the findings regarding the protest of my Crate Sportsman
motor at
Note # 2 – from the DTD
Forum:
“That Facebook
post has been deleted. idk
what that means.”
Hmm, I wonder why it was
taken down?
Maybe because of something that was said on the Forum??
News from the AARN:
Note: Don’t forget – if you’re a subscriber to the
AARN, you can have the free digital version.
That is available on Tuesday mornings.
Note: Due to time, and being a little extra busy
these past few days, I’m forced to skip news from the AARN, this week. Hope ya don’t mind!
However –
In AARN
This Week:
Another ACT Photo Finish;
This Time Hoar Wins
Hometown Driver Danny
Dietrich
Dusts The
Outlaws
For Popular
Hirschman Continues
RoC Asphalt Tour Mastery;
Wins At
Shangri-La
Second Mike Heffner
410 Sprint Team Ready To Roll
Jimmie Johnson Win Again
In
NASCAR Cup Race
Matt Sheppard Hot
At Merrittville;
Claims DIRTcar
Monday
358 Mod Race
'Cowboy' Steinman Honored
At Mercer
By Friends, Fans
Selinsgrove 358 Double Header:
Stutts, Cannon Both Claim Victories
Bachetti Ends Hearn's
Leb Val Mod Win Streak
At Four
Press releases:
NEWS FROM
Orange County Fair
CONTACT
Mike Gurda
845-342-2573
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Small-Block Modifieds Return to the Hard Clay
MIDDLETOWN, NY (May 19)……..As
part of our country’s celebration of Memorial Day, all military personnel in
uniform and veterans with appropriate identification will be admitted FREE for
the Saturday, May 25 night of stock car racing at Orange County Fair Speedway
in Middletown, New York.
“We owe so much to our
military people. Their sacrifices have kept us free, allowing us to enjoy a way
of life that is the envy of all the other nations,” says Mike Gurda, speedway promoter. “It’s just a small token, but
we’re happy to have active and veteran military folks as our guests at the
speedway on Memorial Weekend.”
Defending point champion
Jerry Higbie leads a strong corps of Big-Block
Modified drivers in the ir quest for
Admission prices for the May
25 race meet remain at $14 adults, $12 seniors, and free for children 12 and
under. The full night of racing begins promptly at 6:30 pm.
Advance ticket sales,
including the 52nd Annual Eastern States Weekend, and track information is
available at the
I
get e-mails:
From
5/20:
Make this YOUR business!
Did you notice who ObamaThreatened?
It's incredible that 42% of
Americans think that this unqualified, incompetent, dishonorable, ego-driven
fraud is doing a good job. Take a moment. Admit it to yourself. You know who
his supporters are. They are the people that YOU support -- financially.
Did you notice who Obama
threatened when he wasn't getting his way on raising the debt ceiling? He
threatened to not pay:
- Social Security Retirees
- Military Retirees
- Social Security
- Disability
and
-Federal Retirees.
- Now let this sink in really
good...
- He did not threaten to stop
payments to illegal aliens.
- He did not threaten to take
frivolous benefits such as Internet access away from violent inmates.
- He did not offer to fire
some of the thousands of unnecessary federal employees that he hired.
- He did not offer to cut
down on his or his wife's frivolous gallivanting around. $20 Million already
spent on family vacations. (One Million on a FL golf outing). All our
money...why not?
- He did not threaten to not
pay the senator s and representatives or any of their staff.
- He did not threaten to take
benefits away from welfare recipients or to stop the free cell phones they get.
- He did not threaten the
food stamp programs.
- He did not threaten to
reduce payments in foreign aid.
- He did not threaten to cut
back on anything that involves his base voters.
- The list could go on and
on. He is in full political mode!
Why are we allowing this
person to destroy this wonderful country with his selfishness and his lies?
Have WE lost our blooming minds!!!!!!!!
His type of change is killing
our country. He needs to be stopped.
Do not forget about his
tactics when it's election time 2014.
Get out and Vote in the
mid-term election - 2014. Support the people in the House and Senate that are
willing to cut taxes and spending.
LET'S MAKE 2014 - THE
Beginning of a turn around. Forget change, we want our $$$$$$$$$ back and we
want to take our country back!
We the people are coming.
Only 86% will send this on. Should be 100%. What will you do ?
Here, in part, is from an
email I received the other day:
“Tom,
I enjoy your column each and
every week and if no one has told you in a while, I think you do a great job
and please keep up the good work! I read
your column on Thursday mornings at newenglandtractor.com while having my
morning coffee and cigarette.
Did you ever see the
commercials long ago for Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups? You know the ones, when the guy exclaims
“You’ve got your chocolate in my peanut butter!” And then the other guys
says “You got your peanut butter in my chocolate!” I kind of feel the same way about reading
your column sometimes. “You’ve got your
politics in my racing. ” LOL! It reads like this:
Racing good
Politics bad
Racing good
Politics corrupt
Racing good
Politics lopsided
Racing good
Politics a shame
Racing good
Politics terrible”
Note: To be honest, I’ve given serious thought
about the political crap in my columns.
There’s a little in this weeks column, but in the future, I’m going to
try to keep it at a bare minimum.
Good News from the White
House Concerning Pensions and Benefits
نور
اگر رفت
سايه پيدا
نيست نقش
ديوار و چشم خيره
ما نقش سايه دگر
نمي دان
نور اگر
رفت سايه. ر رفت
نور اگر رفت سايه
پيدا نيست
نقش ديوار
و چشم خيره
ما نقش
سايه دگر
نمي دان
نور اگر
رفت سايه. ررفت
ديوار و چشم خيره
ما نقش
سايه دگر
نمي دان
نور اگر
رفت سايه
پيدانيست
نقش ديوار
و چشمخيره
ماسايه
ديوار و چشم
خيره ما
نقش سايه
دگر نمي
دان نور
اگر رفت
سايه پيدانيست
نقش ديوار
و چشم خيرهماپيدا
نيست
نقش
If I hear anything else, I'll let you know.
Found on Facebook:
Found on 5/20:
If putting your taxpayer
dollars to work means massively wasting them, then give the Department of
Energy (DOE) an A+. The President told us in 2008 that DOE loan programs would
create 5 million jobs over 10 years. 5 years later, just over 2,000 jobs have
been "created" for the $26 Billion of your hard-earned money that's
been spent. I'll save you pulling out the calculator: that's $11.5 Million PER
JOB. That's not just stupid, it's obscene. And it has to stop.
Note: Don’t ya just love
how they spend OUR money?
On Facebook
on 5/17:
The acting chief of the IRS
claims he was told who was responsible for the Tea Party attacks... then smiles
and says he can't remember who it was.
Watching the IRS scandal
unfold is like watching a cheesy mafia movie. These people are crooks and
they're proud of it.
The acting IRS commissioner
claims he “can’t remember” who was responsible for the attack on the Tea Party.
He admits that he asked who it was, that he was told who it was — but claims he
can’t remember. This is an old legal move where people can simply say they
don’t remember in order to protect the guilty. Everyone knows what’s happening,
which is why it’s frustrating to those in the room. Watch him lie here:
Link: http://www.capitalisminstitute.org/irs-official-remember/
Geoff Styner
update – May 17th:
It's time again for a Geoff Styner update .... Geoff is still
doing as well as possible. His Dr has taken him off of the pain medication
because it was causing him to hallucinate. He will hopefully see his
neurosurgeon on Tuesday to have the halo readjusted and get a new pain
prescription to help him deal with the uncomfortable feeling as they will have
to re-torque the screws in his skull. We will be on location at Full Throttle
Speedway again tomorrow night to collect some donations with the members of the
FMARA. If you haven't already, please check out YouCaring.com
to HELP Geoff Styner. Every $1 matters.
Need a Fund Raiser? http://www.youcaring.com/
Found on the
Internet:
About the
passing of the immigration bill:
In other words, the American
Citizen who is out of a job and has been for the past year(+)
will still be out of a job. To the crooks in congress "illegal" is no
longer a word it has been replaced by "perspective voter".
There ya
go. Sell the country out to the illegals.. As far as I can tell there was only one thing wrong with
the current immigration laws, they weren't being enforced! Amnesty didn't work
in '89 and it wont work now. What a mess.
I'm surprised the WH twerp
even knew there was a vote. He seems to be unaware of anything else that is
going on. In fact his whole administration is stricken with a case of the
"I didn't know" syndrome. Conveniently contagious.
Note: Somewhere I had seen it that “Don’t be
surprised if they sneak that immigration bill through while we’re trying to
figure out the other damaging things – the IRS and it’s dirty dealings,
Benghazi, the deal with the papers and now the God awful weather and storms
that have hit Oklahoma.” And, damn if
they didn’t!
From the Track
Forum: In the past, the “Road to Indy”
was through the Midget, Sprint Car and Silver Crown divisions. With the advent of rear engine cars and
racing on more road courses than ovals, and no more racing on dirt tracks, the
“Road to Indy” has changed. Now it’s things like Indy Lights. But for how long? What follows might give you an idea:
THE INDY LIGHTS SERIES IS IN
TROUBLE: Here’s Why
May 13, 2013
Imagine you’re in a
McDonald’s restaurant. You order a Big Mac. The cashier plops your sandwich on
the counter and says, “That’ll be six hundred and twelve dollars, sir.”
“Uh… excuse me. Did you
actually say six hundred and twelve dollars?”
“Yes, sir. Our Big Macs come with special sauce, lettuce and
cheese. They’re really good.”
You would probably respond,
“They’re not that good!” and walk out of the restaurant.
I was recently offered a
sponsorship package for the Indy Lights series. My sponsors were willing to
spend $50,000 as an associate sponsor in four or five races. But it soon became
apparent that no other sponsors were willing to chip in on the deal.
No problem. My sponsors are
reasonable people. They reduced the expected number of races to only two… the
Freedom 100 and any other race of choice. And I had specific offers from three
teams. But the sponsorship necessary to support a two-race deal ranged from
$92,500 to $160,000.
Still, I was not dissuaded. I
sent my resume to Indycar and they approved me for
the Lights series. A two-hour visit to the friendly folks at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway’s infield medical facility got me through my physical with no
problems. The Indycar staff helped me plan my initial
testing.
But money was still the issue.
So I called the Indy Lights series directly to check out prices for myself.
Turns out that engine leases are $10,000. And that only gets you a used motor
that cannot be raced without a $17,000 rebuild. You are not allowed to buy an
engine or build your own. You must lease and rebuild through the series, which
owns all 50-some-odd engines.
Tires are $2,700 per set.
They’re mandated, too. And constructed from a soft compound
that burns up quickly. The series also prescribed two preliminary test
sessions. Track rental, tires and travel expenses racked up a $25,000 bill for
testing alone.
The $50,000 budget I was
given would not even pay for an engine lease and the mandatory tests.
So I did the obvious. I asked
my sponsors for more money. They are fair people. They looked at the series,
the exposure, attendance and the television package and their response was
simple and honest – “This series doesn’t return enough value to justify more
than a $50,000 investment.”
Nay-sayers
will indignantly claim that big time racing costs big time money. That’s all
well and good. But two weeks later the Firestone Indy Lights Series opened the
2013 season in
Reality stinks.
At the end of the day, the
market says that the Indy Lights series is not worth fifty to eighty thousand
dollars per event.
You can argue till you’re
blue in the face, but corporate America will not pay six hundred and twelve
dollars for a Big Mac and they are walking out of the restaurant.
It’s simply not worth it.
The Indy Lights series is set
to introduce a new chassis in 2015 in the hopes of getting European bankers and
South American oil tycoons to spoil their children by writing seven-figure
checks to buy their way into Indycar.
Okay, that’s a fair plan. But
how’s it working out so far? Fan Force United has cars for sale. So do Younessi Racing and Andretti Autosport.
Two other cars are rusting in a
It appears there are more
available cars than rich kids to drive them.
Dallara told me they have stacks of spare parts in their
As business plans go, this
one is only slightly better than the White Star Line’s idea for a new ocean
liner.
I may try for the Freedom 100
again next year. And I certainly have no bitterness against the series. On the
contrary, the entire Indycar staff could not have
been more helpful. They openly wanted me in the series and did everything in
their power to promote my program. They are fantastic people and I support them
and the series wholeheartedly.
But like it or not, one of
three things is going to happen to Indy Lights:
The series will return vastly
more value to its teams and sponsors.
The series will slash
operating costs to a small fraction of their current levels.
The series will cease to
exist.
There are no other
alternatives. The writing is on the wall, and I hope someone reads it in time.
Stephen Cox
Sopwith Motorsports Television Productions
#20 Boschett
Timepieces/Ed & Co. Racing Supplies ARCA Truck
Co-host, Mecum Auto Auctions
Some
non-racing stuff:
IRS official will refuse to
answer questions at U.S. House hearing
Link: http://news.yahoo.com/irs-official-assert-fifth-amendment-house-hearing-201537467.html
The Autocrat Accountants
Link: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/348687/autocrat-accountants-mark-steyn
In part:
"Try this thought
experiment: You decide to donate money to Mitt Romney. You want change in the
Oval Office, so you engage in your democratic right to send a check.
Several days later, President
Barack Obama, the most powerful man on the planet, singles you out by name. . .
. The message from the man who controls the Justice Department (which can
indict you), the SEC (which can fine you), and the IRS (which can audit you),
is clear: You made a mistake donating that money."
"Kimberley Strassel wrote that on April 26, 2012. Five weeks later,
one of the named individuals, Frank VanderSloot, was
informed by the IRS that he and his wife were being audited. In July, he was
told by the Department of Labor of an additional audit over the guest workers
on his cattle ranch in
This
is really sad, folks!
How the
Nidal Hasan, accused of killing
13 at
In 2009, Nidal
Malik Hasan was arrested
for allegedly killing 13 people and wounding 31 others during a shooting spree
at
How is that possible? The
answer is that the Army can't stop paying his salary under the Military Code of
Justice, according to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth.
SEE MORE: Why Oklahoma Sen.
Tom Coburn doesn't want tornado relief money
If Hasan
was a civilian instead of a U.S. Army Medical Corps officer, his pay could have
been suspended after seven days. Instead, the Army has to pay him until he is
proven guilty.
Meanwhile, the victims of the
shooting are fighting to maintain benefits because the shooting wasn't
"combat related."
SEE MORE: Today in business:
5 things you need to know
Retired Army Spc. Logan Burnett, who was shot three times during the
attack, was livid after NBC 5 told him about Hasan's
salary:
There have been times when my
wife and I cannot afford groceries. We cannot afford gas in our car. Literally, times where we ate Ramen noodles for weeks on end.
This makes me sick to my stomach. [NBC 5]
Unlike military personnel who
were injured during the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon, those injured at
Fort Hood aren't eligiblefor combat pay, Purple
Hearts, or health benefits. Currently, the military classifies the shooting as
a case of workplace violence.
SEE MORE: Managing the
growing Millenial workforce
In the House, Reps. Tom
Rooney (R-Fl.), Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.) and Frank Wolf (R-Va.)
are petitioning Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to
change that:
Calling this terrorist attack
'workplace violence' is an insult to the victims and their families, and it
denies them the benefits they deserve. The Department of Defense and the Army
should be ashamed of the terrible care and service they've provided to these
heroic American soldiers, and they should rectify this situation immediately by
re-classifying their injuries and deaths as combat-related. [Thomas Rooney]
Hasan's trial will begin on July 1, despite his defense
team's efforts to delay the trial over bias concerns stemming from the Boston
Marathon bombings.
Video time –
Music
The
late Roy Orbison, with some songs. Hope you all
don’t mind, but I’d really like to dedicate the first and third songs to my
wife or some 52 years, Joan Marie (Rose) Avenengo –
the love of my life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i51CyfyO_Ok&feature=related
Video time – racin stuff:
Dick Wallen’s
Open Wheel Tribute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=q_r5hY49jLM
Names of those
in the video, as best I can tell:
At 10
seconds: Jimmy Bryan
25 Sec: Don Branson
28: From right to left, Bryan, Tony Bettenhausen and AJ Foyt
36: Shorty Templeman
47: Bob Sweikert in
black shirt
52: Sweikert fatal
1:00: Johnny Thomson
1:11: Foyt
1:30: Don Branson
1:47: Roger McCluskey
1:51: Tony Bettenhausen
2:20: Elmer George
2:28: Eddie Sachs
3:10: Gary Bettenhausen
3:24: Jud Larson
3:30: Rodger Ward on left, Bobby Marshman on right
3:47: Shorty Templeman
3:50: Rodger Ward
3:53: Parnelli Jones
3:55
Jim Hurtubise.
Photos:
Note: The photos are not available on Dirt Track
Digest, only on New England Tractor - http://newenglandtractor.com/racereport/
Note: I have to apologize for the mess up last
week. No idea as to what happened. I had a short paragraph along with a photo,
but somehow it went “poof” out into wherever Internet things disappear to.
The 1953 Indy
500, which, as usual, back then, played out in front of a full house, had some
major problems with extreme heat that caused many drivers to ask for a relief
driver. One driver, Carl Scarborough,
died due to the extreme heat – temps in the 90’s and track temps at 130
degrees.
Here’s a photo
of the winning driver from that race, the late Bill Vukovich,
as he was pulling off of the track and heading to “
Closing with this:
Subject: FW: Humor - How did
the human race appear?
A little girl asked her
Mother, "How did the human race appear?"
The Mom answered, "God
made Adam and Eve and they had children, and so was all mankind made.."
Two days later the girl asked
her father the same question.
The father answered,
"Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race
evolved."
The confused girl returned to
her mother and said,
"Mom, how is it possible
that you told me the human race was created by God, and dad said they developed
from monkeys?"
The mother answered,
"Well, Dear, it's very simple. I told you about my side of the family and
your father told you about his.."
Remember,
there’s a possibility of no column next week.
Time will tell!
Until next
column, folks!
As usual, you can reach me
at: ygordad@yahoo.com