Racin' & Internet Stuff:
By Tom Avenengo
Volume # 20
First:
Has it been hot enough for ya? Has your green
grass, like my green grass, turned YELLOWISH/BROWN? Guess to cool off we’d have to go south, to
Today: Plenty of sunshine. Near record high temperatures. Heat index
near 105F. High 97F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight: Mainly clear skies. Low 71F. Winds light and variable.
Tomorrow: Sunny skies. Near
record high temperatures. High 96F. Winds N at
5 to 10 mph.
Tomorrow
night:
Clear skies. Low 69F. Winds light
and variable.
Thursday: Partly cloudy with a stray
thunderstorm. Highs in the low 90s and lows in the upper 60s.
While down in
Today: Variable clouds with scattered
thunderstorms. High 88F. Winds ESE
at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Tonight: Scattered thunderstorms during
the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 73F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance
of rain 40%.
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy with afternoon
showers or thunderstorms. High 92F. Winds NE at 5 to
10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Tomorrow
night:
Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms before midnight. Low 73F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance
of rain 40%.
Thursday: Partly cloudy, chance of a
thunderstorm. Highs in the low 90s and lows in the mid 70s.
Second:
I kinda feel good about this, from last weeks column:
“This coming Saturday night, there will be double features for the Modified class, with the rained out June 5th feature being run. Also, on tap will be a Sportsman “Elimination” race featuring the top ten in points.
Top ten, point wise, per the OCFS website:
1) 3
Erik Holmgren 499
2) J73 Joe Conklin 498
3) 44 Brian Krummel 487
4) 29 Sammy Piazza 443
5) 27V Frank Venezia 420
6) 71D Frank Doty 409
7) 6 Darryl Ford 378
8) 88 Dion Naples 362
9) 2X Eddie Burgess 354
10) 35 Shane Jablonka 351
As long as all of those above are able, it would be # 10 against # 9, then the winner against # 8 and so on. The last time a similar event was run, with the Modifieds, the outside lane was best, by far, and with these races, the winner of the previous race has the option of starting outside.
Going out on a limb here and picking Sammy Piazza.”
Yep, Sammy was the overall winner. He was able to beat all those that he was up against, and funny thing is, he did it from the inside row. There were some “problems” in his last race, to the extent that I’ve heard that Erik Holmgren is finished as far as being a driver at OCFS for the 2010 season.
True?
Some
of my thoughts:
What
with Independence Day being celebrated of this past weekend, I often wonder why
is it that not all towns have fireworks displays on or near the 4th
of July. Is it cost? Cost for insurance? Security? If cost, might it be possible to have some
places in town for folks to drop off change or small bills that might go
towards the cost? And, how can race
tracks afford them if towns/cities can’t?
Going back, in time:
Note: Most of the following
information was found here:
http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/history.html
Covering the days of July 1st to July 7th.
JULY 1
1962
Hugh Randall... Died ... USAC driver from the early 1960's. He died as a
relief driver for Bob Mathouser in the Vargo Special at the Langhorne Speedways 100 Mile USAC
Championship race July 1, 1962.
JULY 2
1924
Bob Tattersall...
Born ... The 1969 USAC National Midget Champion also raced in Australia and New
Zealand for thirteen winters, winning over fifty percent of the races he
competed in, as well as the World Championship at the Sydney Showgrounds on seven different occasions. He also drove
sprint and championship cars and passed his rookie test at the
1964
Edward Glenn "Fireball"
Roberts, Jr.... Died ... On May 24, 1964, at
the World 600 in
1973
Swede Savage... Died ...
Savage started racing 1/4 midgets then motorcycles and karts. He then graduated
to NASCAR, Can-Am, Trans-A and finally into Indy cars
where he tragically lost his life as a result of injuries sustained in the Indy
500 in 1973.
1979
Sam Hornish,
Jr.... Born ... An American
racecar driver. He is best known for his open wheel accomplishments,
which include an
JULY 3
1971
Mark Donohue
won the Pocono 500 USAC Championship race on the 2.5 Mile Paved Oval Pocono
International Raceway, Long Pond, PA. Joe
Leonard was second followed by A.J. Foyt, Mario
Andretti and Billy Vukovich Jr.
JULY 4
1951
Walt Faulkner
won the Darlington 250 AAA Championship race on the 1.25 Mile Paved Oval
Darlington Raceway in Darlington,
Note: More on this race, below, in the “History of
the Sport” section.
JULY 5
1928
Elmer George... Born ...
He drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1956-1963
seasons with 64 starts, including the
1964
Tony Bonadies...
Died ... A very popular midget car driver, Tony Bonadies'
career spanned over twenty-four years during which he competed in more than one
thousand races. Although he never won the ARDC Midget Championship, he was
ranked amongst the top six in seven out of his last eight seasons in the
series' final classification table, and he was twice the title runner-up. He
entered the Indy 500 three times, but failed to qualify in all attempts: in
1955 and the following year his times aboard a Kurtis
3000D - Offenhauser were simply not quick enough, and
in 1957 he wrecked his Kurtis 500C - Offenhauser at the Turn 4 at the northwest end of the track
during practice and had to withdraw from the race. Bonadies
was taking place in an ARDC midget race at the Williams Grove Speedway on 05
July 1964 when, as he pitched his Frankenfield - Offenahuser into a slide at the entrance to Turn 1, the
right rear axle of the car snapped. The vehicle barrel rolled several times and
then got airborne. Tony was thrown to the ground and died instantly.
2004
Rodger Ward... Died ... USAC Midget and Indy car driver. 2 time Indy 500
winner, 1959 & 1962
JULY 6
1952
Dana Carter ... Born
...ARDC, USAC and CART driver from the 1970's & 80's. Son of Duane Carter,
brother of Pancho Carter and half brother of Johnnie
Parsons Jr. Dana died on May 5th in 1983 of a heart attack after finishing
second in a midget race in
1958
Art Bisch
... Died ... Bisch started racing midgets in 1948
before moving on to Sprint Cars in California, dominating the 1956 season,
winning 10 of the 27 races. He moved up to Champ cars
in 1958 and won his first race in the Rex Mays 100. Sadly his career was cut
short when he crashed at the
JULY 7
1906
Johnny Matera ... Born
1928
Cotton Farmer ... Born
1936
Eldon Rasmussen ... Born
1941
Mike Hiss ... Born
1946
Steve Krisiloff
... Born
1952
Stan Fox ... Born ... The
Wisconsin native was one of
1965
My,
how the time flies! Forty-five years ago
on this date, our son, Tom, Jr. was born – our third child and first son. He lives up by
2000
Kenny Irwin, Jr. ... Died ... He was a NASCAR
stock car driver. He had driven in all three major of forms of NASCAR and had
two total victories. Before that, he raced in the
Racing
on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm
Friday,
July 9th:
9:00
AM to 10:30 AM on SPEED – Formula 1 practice from
11:00
AM to 12:30 PM on SPEED – Nationwide practice from
12:30
PM to 2:30 PM on SPEED – Cup practice from
3:00
PM to 4:00 PM on SPEED – Cup final practice
4:00
PM to 6:00 PM on SPEED – Nationwide qualifying
6:00
PM to 7:30 PM on SPEED – Cup qualifying
8:00
PM to 10:30 PM on ESPN – Nationwide race
Saturday,
July 10th:
8:00
AM to 9:30 AM on SPEED – Formula 1 qualifying
7:30
PM to 11:00 PM on TNT – Cup race
9:00
PM to 11:00 PM on SPEED – ARCA race from
10:00
PM to 12:00 AM on ESPN2 – NHRA qualifying from
Sunday,
July 11th:
10:30
AM to 12:00 PM on SPEED – FIA GP2 Championship from
12:00
PM to 2:00 PM on FOX – Formula 1 race from
12:30
PM to 1:30 PM on SPEED – FIM World Superbike Race # 1 from
2:00
PM to 4:30 PM on SPEED – Truck race from
4:30
PM to 7:30 PM on SPEED – American LeMans Series race
from
11:30
PM to 12:30 AM on SPEED – FIM World Superbike race # 2 from
11:30
PM to 2:00 AM on ESPN2 – NHRA Eliminations from
Track
news – (for tracks in my area):
This coming Friday:
$2000
to win 30 Lap Modified Race, Plus Sportsman
– Spec Sportsman,Pro Stocks – Pure Stocks & Mini
Sprints.
Friday, July 16, 2010
5:00pm -
$2000 to win Modified + all other divisions + ARDC
Midgets and ACOT. I see, according to the ACOT schedule, that
they will be there for a “Still” show only, with no track time being shown.
OCFS:
The CRSA 305 Sprint Cars will be at OC on July 17th.
The Fair will run from July 21st to August 1st.
A 100 lap Enduro is scheduled for July 22nd.
On July 25th, it’s Demo Derby time.
The Sportsman class has a 50-lap feature on July 28th, and that will also be a qualifier for the Sportsman race on Eastern States Weekend.
The 358 Small Block Modifieds headline the racing on July 31st. That is also a qualifier for the Small Block race on Eastern States Weekend. The Big Blocks will not be racing on the 31st at OC. I’m wondering how many Small Blocks they might get for that show on the 31st, since OC has, in effect, dropped that class for 2010.
Also, I’m not sure just what days/nights the drive-in section is open during the fair. Probably not for the Demo Derby.
Some purse info on the 358 Challenge that’s coming up on Thursday, August 5th, with a rain date of Thursday, August 12th:
1
$10,000.00
2
$4,000.00
3
$2,800.00
4
$2,000.00
5
$1,600.00
6
$1,200.00
7
$1,000.00
8 $900.00
9 $800.00
10 $700.00
11 $600.00
12 $500.00
13 $475.00
14 $425.00
15 $400.00
16 $400.00
17 $400.00
18 $400.00
19 $400.00
20 $400.00
21 $400.00
22 $400.00
23 $400.00
24 $400.00
25 $400.00
26 $400.00
Any additional Sponsorship
will be distributed from 12th place on back.
Additional information is supposed to be forthcoming, so check it out, here: http://www.orangecountyfairspeedway.net/Hard-Clay-Challenge-40.html
OVRP’s Dirt Oval:
Regular
show of Karts and Slingshots, with an appearance by the World
Formula Modifieds are scheduled for this
coming Saturday. I see that Quads and
Motorcycles aren’t scheduled until the 18th and 25th of
July. As of now, no “Big” events are
scheduled for July with the Karts.
Hamlin:
Regular show plus Regular Slingshot Qualifier for Linda’s PSC Event – top two qualify.
This coming Saturday:
Dirt Sportsman, Pro Stock, BMS
Modified, Street Stock, 4 Cylinder, Bandoleros
The
History of the Sport:
28 cars
started the race. Johnny McDowell, in
the Hart Fullerton “Water Injected”, blue # 79 had won the pole with an average
of 112.652 MPH. No idea as to how the
water injection worked, but that car sure sounded sweet!
Mike Nazaruk, Bill Schindler, “Doc” Shanebrook
and Joe Barzda were drivers that were there that were
from my midget watching days. Nazaruk ended up 8th, and Schindler 21st,
dropping out after 117 laps due to magneto failure. Shanebrook and Barzda were among the 11 cars that didn’t make the show.
Top ten
qualifiers were:
McDowell, Cecil Green, Walt Brown, Vukovich,
Jimmy Davies, Joe James, Walt Faulkner, George Connor, Kenny Eaton and Cliff
Griffith. McDowell was flagged after he completed 170
of the 200 laps. Back then, the track
was a mile and a quarter.
Bill Vukovich, in the Central Excavating # 81 the first 25 laps
from his 4th starting spot.
Then a connecting rod let go. He
later relieved Walt Brown and that combo finished 10th. Two others led the race – Gordon Reid led
laps 26, 28-31. Faulkner led laps 27,
then 32 – 200. Faulkner won by 72.100
seconds. The average qualifying speed
was 110.811 MPH. The total purse was all
of $22,452.00. Faulkner won a whopping
$5,616.00! 19th through 28th
got all of $112.00. Those that failed to
make the show got a big fat zero, although I would imagine that if they were
relief drivers they might have gotten something from the car owners.
Top ten
finishers were:
Faulkner
in the Agajanian # 7, Tony Bettenhausen
– Belanger # 99, Green - Zink # 4, Bill
Mackey – Iddings # 33, Jack McGrath – Hinkle # 9,
Manuel Ayulo – Coast Gran # 31, Henry Banks – Blue
Crown # 1, Mike Nazaruk – Robbins # 83 (1 lap back),
Chuck Stevenson – Bardahl/Marchese # 8 (4 laps) and
Walt Brown/Vukovich – Federal Engineering # 44 (5
laps).
Sixteen
cars were on the track when Faulkner got the checkered flag. The other six were:
Note: More by Peter Kessler over then next two weeks!
Former Dirt Oval (
Note: In most cases, the names that appear in this section are names of those that have run at the Dirt Oval for an extended period of time. And, in some cases, maybe some only had occasional appearances at the Dirt Oval, too. And, yes, some I’m not even sure about!
At the Stafford Speedway, David Webb was 4th in the SK Light Modified feature.
At 5 Mile Point, in the RoC Sportsman feature, Brad Szulewski was 10th while in the CRSA 305 Sprint car feature, Josh Pieniazeck was 2nd.
There was a two-day event at
Tiffany Wambold was 7th in the Rookie 270 Micro Sprint feature at Borgers, while Kyle Rohner had a 2nd place finish in the Stage One Modifieds.
Someone I’ve missed so far this year is Corey Ziegler. At Penn Can, Corey was 2nd in the Sportsman feature.
Roger Coss had a 10th place finish in the Modified feature at Wall Stadium.
At Big Diamond, Mike Mammana was 2nd in the Sportsman feature.
Davie Franek had a 3rd place finish in the 358 Sprint car feature at Selinsgrove.
At Brewerton, Michael Storms was 20th in the Modified feature.
Rick Casario was 6th in the 270 Micro Sprint feature at Hamlin. Brittany Tresch was the wingless 600 Micro feature winner, while Geordan Farry was 15th, Molly Chambers 17th Cait Chambers 20th and Luke Schostkewitz was 24th. Joe Kata won the 600 Wingless Micro Rookie feature.
At Accord, in the Modified feature, Danny Creeden was 10th, Greg Hastie 12th, Clinton Mills 22nd, Tom Hindley 24th and Jimmy Johnson was (luckily he says) a DNQ
In the Sportsman feature, Mike Ruggiero was 3rd, Brian Krummel 4th, Anthony Perrego 8th and Brad Szulewski 11th.
Kayala Smykla was 6th, Jason Roe 9th, Kyle Rohner 10th and RJ Smykla 14th, in his first race, in the Spec Sportsman feature.
At OCFS, Matt Janiak scored his first feature win in the Sportsman class. Brian Krummel was 2nd, Keith Still 5th, Matt Hitchcock 8th, John Lodini 12th, Joe Conklin 13th and Anthony Perrego 20th. In the held over Modified feature, Danny Creeden was 8th, Mike Ruggiero 13th, Clinton Mills 14th and Billy VanInwegen 19th. In the nights regularly scheduled feature, Mike Ruggiero was 3rd, TimHindley 8th, Danny 10th, Clinton 15th, Billy 16th, while Corey Ziegler was a DNQ. I believe he was running a Small Block.
Nick Pecko was 4th
in the Modified feature at Sundance Vacations Speedway.Jeff
Gallup is shown to have finished 13th at
Kyle Armstrong was 5th, Kolby
Schroder 6th and Alex Bell 13th in the Sportsman feature
at
Jacob Hendershot was 2nd in the Wingless 270 Micro Sprint feature at Wyalusing.
Just looking over the above list, I counted 47 names of drivers that have competed at the Dirt Oval, and have gone on to bigger things. I know there are others that are not mentioned, above, too. I wonder if there are other Kart tracks that might have similar results?
More
racin’ stuff:
After doing the above results for former OVRP Dirt Oval runners, I’m wondering, why can’t all the racetracks in this area name their “Crate” Sportsman classes the same? We have “Spec”, “Budget”, “Crate” and who knows what else they’re being called.
Looking at the Sportsman classes at
Other forums/message boards and websites:
You might find some interesting reading if you go to the links below.
Track
Forum: - http://www.trackforum.com/forums/
Frontstretch.com:
http://www.frontstretch.com/
Jayski: - http://www.jayski.com/
Open
Wheel Racers3: http://www.openwheelracers3.com/
Race
Pro Weekly: http://raceproweekly.com/
Video
time:
Over
the years I imagine that there might have been a song that just sticks with
you, right? Well, I have one – “The Lion
Sleeps Tonight” by the Tokens. I found a
great video of the song, and after a while, it disappeared. Oh, there were other versions by the Tokens,
but not the one I’m talking about. Well,
I finally was able to dig it up, and went to play it. Huh?
My sound go off? Dammit! Oh, wait,
what’s that message there?
“NOTICE This video contains an audio
track that has not been authorized by WMG. The audio has been disabled.”
Click on the link below.
There will be no sound, actually, unless you click on that little
doo-hickey on the bottom right – 4th from the right. You’ll get sound, ok, but some weird kind of
noise, for sure. To see what might have
happened, scroll down a little and read some of the comments,
that usually appear under videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdGiQi5AkMg&feature=related
Here’s
a 2008 version – with sound:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHB_STa-lxI&feature=related
Is this true?:
We all get e-mails about our problems.
Some are true, while others get discredited by “Snopes”. I’ve requested, from “Snopes”
some info on what’s below, but chances are I might not get it prior to this
column being published.
You might want to check these out.
I’ll let you decide or check them out for yourselves, or if you believe
them.
First Amendment
suspended in the
http://www.naturalnews.com/029130_Gulf_of_Mexico_censorship.html
What Mainstream
Media is Not Telling You about the Gulf Oil Cleanup
http://www.naturalnews.com/029127_Gulf_Coast_cleanup.html
Other
(non racing) news:
The economy – still not looking too good, for sure:
8 Problems That Could Trigger a Double-Dip Recession
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/8-Problems-That-Could-Trigger-usnews-2034065513.html?x=0
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/3558838
In
part: “The Justice Department Tuesday sued
Note: I wonder if our government has any idea as to
just how many of its citizens, and even other states, are FOR that
Closing with these:
Why the
A DC airport ticket agent offers some examples of why.
(First six of twelve)
1. I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman (Carol Shea-Porter) ask for an aisle
seat so that her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window. (On an airplane!)
2. I got a call from a Kansas Congressman's (Moore) staffer (Howard Bauleke), who wanted to go to
Without trying to make him look stupid, I calmly explained, '' Cape Cod is in
3. A senior Vermont Congressman (Bernie Sanders) called, furious about a
He replied, 'Don't lie to me. I looked on the map and
4. I got a call from a lawmaker's wife (Landra Reid)
who asked,
''Is it possible to see
I said, ''No.''
She said, ''But they look so close on the map.'' (OMG,
again!)
5. An aide for a cabinet member (Janet Napolitano) once called and asked if he
could rent a car in
6. An Illinois Congresswoman (Jan Schakowsky) called last week. She needed to
know how it was possible that her flight from
I explained that
And to think – some of those people, above, were probably VOTED into office! And, they probably “multiply”, too. Scary, isn’t it?
Note: Next week,
the remaining six.
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