Mostly
Racin' Stuff
By
Tom Avenengo
Volume # 213
02/19/2015
Some
personal/family stuff:
Some sad news this week. At 4:30 AM, on February 14th, my
brother-in-law, Hank, passed away, over near Melbourne, Florida. Both he and my sister moved down here from
Middletown around a year ago. A few
weeks ago, their daughter also left New York for the Melbourne area.
So I'm dedicating this week's column to my
brother-in-law.
This coming Thursday, my two sons will be
flying down from New York to spend a couple of days. Timing, as far as flying goes, looks pretty
good per the weather forecast. They'll
head back north on Sunday. We'll have
about 25 people over on Saturday for a family BBQ. Hope it isn't too hot for them, down here!
This past Sunday AM, I was going through
some paperwork from when my wife passed away - in a folder from the Funeral
Home was a Valentine's Day card that was
meant for me, from my wife. Somehow, it
wasn't signed.
"For my wonderful husband.
Our journey together has covered quite a
distance, and along the way, we've seen some changes in the view.
We've weathered storms and basked in
golden sunlight, and we've worked hard to make our dreams come true.
Together we have learned of life and
loving, and I'm hsppy to be traveling through life with you.
With all my love - Happy Valentine's
Day"
Note:
Dirt Track Digest changed their front page. I've visited it, and no where can I find
where "Recent Columns", where my columns appear, is. So, for this week at least, you might not be
able to see my column on DTD. Sorry!
Racin’
stuff:
Volusia Big Blocks on Wed night - former
OVRP Dirt Oval runner Anthony Perrego was 2nd in the feature.
Finish (Unofficial): SDS
Volusia Fin: Brett Hearn, Anthony Perrego, Jamie Mills, Larry Wight, Billy
Pauch, Sheppard, Friesen, Haers, Williamson, D Johnson
I was quite shocked to see some photos
that were taken at the New Smyrna Speedway this past week - photos of a Late
Model hitting the wall, then catching on fire.
Even though it was during practice, the fire protection was quite
dismal, in my opinion. Thankfully the
driver was able to get out of the car and wasn't injured, but his car was a
complete total loss. I had read that New
Smyrna was a NASCAR track. Photos will
appear in my photo section towards the end of this weeks column.
Some
Indycar aero info:
http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/113517-indycar-chevrolet-debuts-2015-aero-package#!Chevrolet_Aero_Kit_Component_Identification_
For what it' worth - the Rolling Wheels
2015 schedule:
Rolling Wheels Raceway
2015 Racing
Schedule:
DATE CLASSES
PRIZES ADMISSION
5-7 CRSA
SPRINT/STREET STOCK 5K FREE
5-16 OPEN
PRACTICES
5-20
CRATE/SPORTS/BB/MODS $25K/$35K $18
5-21 BB
MODS/SPRINT 360S $35K/$25K $18
5-22 360
SPRINTS/GO NUCLEAR $35K/$7K $18
5-23 FAN
FEST/KENNY WALLACE DRIVING EXPERIENCE
5-24
BBMODS/CRATE SPORTS $35K/$25K $18
6-2 SUPER
DIRTCAR SERIES 360 SPRINTS TBA TBA
6-16 BB
MODS/CRATE SPORTS $35K/$25K $18
6-30 BB
MODS/360 SPRINT/CRATE $35K/$20K/$10K $18
8-20 BB
MODS/360 SPRINTS/CRATE $33K/$23K/$13K $18
9-3 BB
MODS/360 SPRINTS/CRATE $33K/$23K/$13K $18
9-7 THRU
9-13 WEEK OF CHAMPIONS $100K/$50K/$80K $18
SPORTSMAN SPECTACULAR
10-10 WORLD
OF OUTLAWS WIN 2 GET IN TBA
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Leads Nascar's Highest-Paid Drivers
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2015/02/18/dale-earnhardt-jr-leads-nascars-highest-paid-drivers/
Note: I wonder how their earnings will be effected
now that NASCAR has taken over the sales of merchandise?
NASCAR fixes
Daytona group qualifying rules
http://www.sbnation.com/nascar/2015/2/18/8063211/daytona-500-2015-nascar-group-qualifying-rules
Back
in time:
From February 26th to March 5th:
FEBRUARY 26
1904
Elbert "Babe" Stapp... Born
1949
Danny Frye Jr. ... Born
1998
Russ Congdon ... Died
2001
Duke Nalon ... Died .
FEBRUARY 27
1910
Ted Horn... Born
1939
Peter Revson... Born
1945
Steve Chassey... Born
1954
Bobby Ball... Died
FEBRUARY 28
1940
Mario Andretti... Born
1964
That's the day this writer got his honorable discharge from the U.S.
Army, down at Fort Bliss, Texas
1966
Joe Gaerte... Born
FEBRUARY 29
1932
Masten Gregory... Born
MARCH 1
1919
Leroy Warriner ... Born
1941
Dave Marcis... Born
1995
Jackie Holmes ... Died
MARCH 2
1913
Duke Nalon ... Born
2004
Louie Unser... Died
MARCH 3
1944
Pete Halsmer... Born
1981
Ed Carpenter... Born
1984
Mike Mosley... Died
MARCH 4
1902
AAA The American Automobile Association was founded in Cleveland,
Ohio as a response to a lack of roads and highways suitable for autos. It soon
became a sanctioning organization for automobile racing in the United States
until 1956.
1919
Buck Baker... Born
1930
Alex "Al" Tasnady... Born
1936
Jim (or Jimmy) Clark... Born
1944
Greg Weld... Born
1953
Herm Johnson... Born
1960
Gary Hieber... Born
MARCH 5
1934
Ernie Triplett ... Died
1949
URC , the United Racing Club, made a public announcement that was
sent to the National Speed Sport News that URC was now an independent
sanctioning body and was no longer affiliated in any way with the AAA.
Note #1: Back in "The"
day, when they raced indoors, we did not really have any worries about S N O
W. Check out this race report from a 100
lap TQ race held in the Teaneck, NJ Armory:
http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/report/3_5_60-1.html
Note # 2: This might very well be the last of these
"Going back in time" sections, due to an increase in outdoor racing,
now.
Gator Dirt Nationals
Gator Dirt
Nationals were some "restricted" midget races held at the North
Florida Speedway. Supposedly there were
to be at least 33 entries, but in feature run downs, I've only seen 21
names. Midgets used are Ford Focus,
Chevy Ecotec, cycle (chain driven) & Quad 4's.
From the
promoter, Wayne Davis, on Facebook:
Just
so EVERYBODY is very aware the Southern States Midgets
Series are midgets that are chain and shaft
driven midget race cars. This format was formed in 2012 and is now taking shape
across the nation to allow these two entities of race cars to race
competitively together. It has been proven from the Midwest to New England and
to down south. We are as this is written in contact with BOTH premier National
midget series, USAC and PowrI with this format. USAC has already agreed to allow chain drives in there HPD series (old Focus)
at their shows for 2015...There are Midgets and there are National Midgets
PERIOD. I bring this up because of a phone call that said, "why was I not
going to allow chain drives anymore?" Even when I am pushing for all
other groups across the nation to allow them with their group. There was 4
different power plants in this past weekends Gator DIRT Nationals, Ford Focus,
Chevy Ecotec, Quad 4's and motorcycle powered, all raced competitively. This is
the future of midget/mini sprint/lightning sprint racing across the
country...So the answer to the question is HELL-NO I am not abandon chain
driven cars...not now or not anytime in the future...Wayne Davis
From
Jayski:
Note:
Were you able to watch qualifying for the 500?
Bowyer rips new Daytona 500 qualifying format, other driver comments:
#15-Bowyer
and #44- Sorenson tangled in the first round (group A) of qualifying for the
Daytona 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday,
triggering a wreck that destroyed both cars as well as damaging #32-Labonte,
#11-Hamlin and #23-Yeley. Bowyer made some comments about the new qualifying
format:
Q) What happened in the accident?
Bowyer: "First of all I wasn't behind the
44 (Reed Sorenson), he came flying around and came up on the apron, jumped up
in front of me and then runs over the 51 (Justin Allgaier), stacks us all up
and I run into him. It's idiotic to be out here doing this anyway. It makes no sense
in being able to put on some cute show for whatever the hell this is, then you
have a guy out there in desperation doing this crap like this. There's no
reason to be out here. These guys have spent six months working on these cars,
busting their asses on these cars to go out there and have some guy out of
desperation do that crap, but it ain't his fault. It's not, it's NASCAR's fault
for putting us out here in the middle of this crap for nothing. We used to come
down here and worry about who was going to sit on the front row and the pole
for the biggest race of the year and now all we do is come down here and worry
about how a start-and-park like this out of desperation is going to knock us
out of the Daytona 500. We've been in meetings for 45 minutes just trying to
figure out what in the hell everybody is going to do just so we can make the
race. There's no sense in doing this."
Q) Is there blame to be placed for the
accident?
Bowyer: "It wasn't his fault, he's
desperate and trying to get into the biggest race of the year. We need to be
focused on qualifying and who is going to sit on the pole for the biggest race
of the year and the front row just like we always have. There's no reason to be
putting a show on and trying to make something out of something that doesn't
need to be. We put a hell of a show on for the Daytona 500 and unfortunately
these guys have worked the last six months for nothing."(Toyota Racing)
Reed
Sorenson's comments on the accident:
Q) DO YOU HAVE A BACK-UP CAR?
Sorenson: "Not right now, we don't. I don't
know if we'll try to get a car up here or what they'll try to do. But as of
right now, we don't have a back-up car."
Q) CLINT BOWYER WAS REALLY UPSET. WHAT
DID HE SAY TO YOU AFTERWARDS?
Sorenson: "Yeah, he came up to the window.
He was pretty upset. He has a right to be upset. I was trying to block. I think
what he saw is what I was trying to do. I was just trying to stay in front of
him to get that good lap. I didn't think that he was all the way up to me yet.
And, listening to my spotter, I was going high, and then he says going low and
I went low as soon as he said that. The next thing I know, I'm spinning. I
guess I didn't think he was quite that far up. It's just a product of trying to
run that one good lap and I was trying to stay in front of that line. That was
our only shot to run a good lap was to stay in front of him. You see blocking
here all the time. It's part of this racing and now it's part of the qualifying
here.
"Sorenson: Q) CLINT BOWYER SAID IT WAS NASCAR'S FAULT AND THAT THEY SET IT UP THIS
WAY. DO YOU THINK QUALIFYING SHOULD BE DONE ANOTHER WAY?
Sorenson: "Well, like I said, I was trying
to do everything I could to stay in front of Clint (Bowyer). Normally, in a
race, I probably wouldn't be that aggressive unless it was the last lap and
you're trying to win the race; just like (Matt) Kenseth did last night (in the
Sprint Unlimited). He blocked (Martin) Truex to win. And for us, trying to get
in the race, it's that big of a deal where I was treating it like it was the
last lap every race. And that's how aggressive you have to be; especially when
you're not guaranteed (a spot) in the race and you're on the outside looking
in. That's the way this qualifying is. It forces you into that."
Q) IS IT TOUGH NOW WITH THE RISK VERSUS
REWARD THAT YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE A BACK-UP CAR?
Sorenson: "Yeah, and if that was the case,
we could have decided on pit road and not gone out there at all if we weren't
going to take a chance. We took that risk. And now, looking back on it, I don't
know the answer to that question because maybe the same thing would have
happened in the Duels. So, this was one of our two chances to get in the race
and we were trying to do everything we could to do that."(Team Chevy)
Team Xtreme Racing tweeted that: "We are in the process of
getting a back up car to Daytona. Thanks for all the well wishes and
Support."
#78-Martin Truex Jr. thoughts of
qualifying:
"My
thoughts are they need to do something different. I don't know, it's just
doesn't seem like it's a good show. It's not fun. It's kind of chaos. I don't
know, seeing cars get tore up and other stuff. I'm not a fan of it, but hey it
is what it is. It's fun at every other race track it's just plate tracks we
need to figure something else out. With that being said 12th is okay. We took a
little gamble there at the last round and we missed our time calculation by
about four seconds on when we had to leave pit road to be the only one to get a
time. Everybody ended up getting there on time. We screwed that up a little
bit, but all in all everything is good."(Team Chevy)
#31-Ryan Newman:
"I
wouldn't say it's frustrating. The frustrating part is dealing with this whole
system which makes no sense whatsoever. It's hard to stand behind NASCAR when
everybody I talk to up and down pit road doesn't understand why we're doing
this. Maybe I need to be sat down and educated a little bit. Not what we wanted
for our Caterpillar Chevrolet, no doubt, but we also avoided the next two
crashes that come in qualifying, which should never occur."(Team Chevy)
(2-15-2015)
Judge orders Kurt Busch to stay away from Driscoll:
A Kent
County Family Court judge has ordered NASCAR's Kurt Busch to stay away from his
ex-girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, according to a court order filed Monday. The
order, good until 2016, says Busch has to stay 100 yards away from Driscoll,
her home and workplace. At NASCAR races he has to maintain the maximum
"practicable" distance from her and not attempt to contact her,
according to the order issued by Commissioner David Jones. Busch is also not
allowed to contact Driscoll by phone, email or any other means and has to be
evaluated for mental health problems related to anger control and impulse
control. He also may not be allowed to purchase or possess firearms or
ammunition. The commissioner's written opinion explaining the reasoning behind
the order will be released Friday. Carolyn McNeice, Driscoll's attorney, said
she and her client were pleased with the decision. "Ms. Driscoll can now
know that she will not receive any unwanted communications from Mr. Busch and
feel that she is safe after nearly 5 months," McNeice wrote in an email.
The decision concludes a long, drawn-out no-contact order hearing between Busch
and Driscoll.(Delaware News-Journal)(2-16-2015)
UPDATE: Busch attorney Rusty Hardin said in a
statement he was not surprised by the decision and that Busch plans to appeal
the verdict. He has 30 days to appeal once the full opinion and conclusions are
issued by the end of the week. "We are deeply disappointed because we
believe the evidence of Ms. Driscoll's total lack of believability was
overwhelming," Hardin said. "It is important to note that the
commissioner's ruling is a civil family court matter and totally unconnected to
any criminal investigation or finding. ... Mr. Busch's conduct was totally
reasonable and legal under the circumstances. He never intentionally,
knowingly, or recklessly caused her any injury." Hardin also said that he
has new evidence that will challenge Driscoll's credibility and has handed it
over to the attorney general's office. Carl Kanefsky, a spokesman for the
Delaware attorney general's office, said Monday that there is no timetable for
the investigation to be completed. "We deeply regret that Ms. Driscoll has
been allowed to abuse the justice system in such a flagrant way," he
said.(ESPN.com)
AND Stewart Haas Statement:
"These are serious allegations and we do
not take them lightly. We are relying on the authorities in Delaware and their
collective experience to identify all the facts. They are the experts in these
matters and their decision, specifically the one that will be made by the
Attorney General, will determine our course of action."(2-16-2015)
NASCAR Statement :
"NASCAR
has been closely following the civil proceedings in Kent County Family Court
regarding driver Kurt Busch and therefore is aware of the court order issued today.
We now await the full findings of the Commissioner and any actions by the
Attorney General of Delaware related to the allegations against Busch. As we
stated earlier, NASCAR fully recognizes the serious nature of this specific
situation and the broader issue of domestic violence. We will continue to
gather information and monitor this situation very closely, and we expect our
members to conduct themselves properly."(NASCAR)(2-16-2015)
NASCAR: no plans to fines drivers for comments about qualifying:
An
interview (in part) with Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's chief racing development
officer and executive vice president, some Q&A's about Sunday's qualifying
for the Daytona 500:
STEVE O'DONNELL: I wanted to
make a few comments on the qualifying session today. I think as everybody
knows, this format was put together by NASCAR with feedback from the industry,
but ultimately to be as exciting as possible. We used it last year in Daytona
for the summer race. We made some adjustments from there. Going into Talladega,
obviously learned throughout that. Then came into Daytona with some minor
adjustments for the Daytona 500, as well. So if you look at group qualifying as
a whole, we felt it worked really well, but certainly there's some challenges
on superspeedways. One of the reasons we moved away from single-car qualifying,
I think you've heard from the drivers as well, a lot of things go into it as
well, aero packages, different setups, not based on a race setup. You also
heard Jeff Gordon talk about putting it back in the drivers' hands more. That's
something we like. We don't want to see wrecks of any kind. Not lost on us how
much work goes into these cars by the teams, the efforts for our biggest race
of the year. I close by saying I believe we've got a really good track record
of making adjustments where we need to, so we'll certainly evaluate what took
place today, we'll continue to get feedback from the industry, from the drivers
as we did to get to where we were today. With that, I'm happy to take any
questions anybody may have.
Q. You mentioned you made some minor
adjustments after Talladega last October. There were a lot of complaints there.
What adjustments did you make? Were there things that happened today that you
wish you would have addressed?
STEVE O'DONNELL: That's a good
question. When we looked at it, some of the things you saw that took place on
pit road today we were hoping to avoid. Then some of the drivers, how they
enter a track on a superspeedway, we put in rules in place for today's session
to avoid incidents candidly. Blocking, we were going to monitor. We said we
could look at things to disallow times, but that was more on how you entered
the track coming up to speed. Some of those were put in place, but I think
those are areas we need to continue to look at.
Q. Steve, Brian [France] has talked
about in the past that he's fine with drivers making comments, but don't
disparage the product. Certainly some of the comments that came out today, what
is NASCAR's stance on the comments of Clint Bowyer or Tony Stewart? Are they
clear or are they facing any type of penalty for comments made today?
STEVE O'DONNELL: I think what
Brian said is you can take us on. We're NASCAR, that's part of our job. When I
look at the comments that Clint made or Tony made, those are based on wanting
to see the best racing out there. So certainly tough to hear. But those are
things we have to have conversations with them on and work with those guys to
figure out if there's a better way to do it. We will do it. But it's not something we're going to
fine the drivers for today.
Q. When determining whether to make
changes to this format, how much of it is driver input and how much of it is
fan input?
STEVE O'DONNELL: I would say we
look at input from the entire industry. You're going to take fan feedback.
We're going to talk to the drivers, the owners, crew members. That's a little
bit of how we got to where we are today, going away from single-car qualifying,
taking input from all of those folks we talked about. It's a balance for us.
Ultimately it's our job to make a decision. Not always does everybody agree
with that decision, but we've got to make that decision at the end of the day.
Q. I understand you still want to get
feedback from the industry and evaluate things. As it stands now, was NASCAR
happy with how today's session unfolded?
STEVE O'DONNELL: I think it's a
balance. Jeff Gordon on the pole, certainly his last Daytona 500, is great.
Seeing the incident that took place is not. So it's a balance. We've got to
take everything kind of in stride. We see new things every day, have to make
decisions on that. Overall I think we're happy about the excitement of the
qualifying session, but we've got to look at if there's adjustments we can make
to continue to improve that, we're going to do that.(NASCAR)(2-16-2014)
Looking for
a job with a NASCAR team?
Michael Waltrip Racing (Sprint Cup Teams
#15, #55) is seeking an experienced designer with good surfacing skills for its
aerodynamics department. Resumes can be sent to hr@michaelwaltrip.com.(2-3-2015)
RSS Racing (XFINITY team #39) is seeking a
full time hauler driver for the 2015 race season. Shop is located in Tucker GA.
Send resumes todannydugan744@yahoo.com.(1-29-2015)
Johnny Davis Motorsports with Gary Keller
(XFINITY teams #01 & #4) is looking for an experienced fabricator for shop
work, and for mechanic work at the track (working on the car and doing tires).
Resumes can be sent to ATauras@jdavismotorsports.com.(1-28-2015)
ThorSport Racing (NASCAR Truck Series
Teams #88, #98, #13) is currently seeking qualified fabricators, mechanics and
race engineers with race team experience. Must be willing to relocate to
Sandusky, Ohio. Send resume to jobs@thorsport.com or call (419) 621-8800.(1-14-2015)
The Motorsports Group (TMG), scheduled to
field the #30 car full-time for the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season is
hiring for their new team. Jobs Available inculde: Car Chief, Interior
Specialists, Shock Specialist, Engineers, Tire Specialist, Mechanics and EFI
Specialists/Engine Tuner. Contact Gary Showalter via email at hr@themotorsportsgroup.com or the shop via phone (704) 663-1670 or go
to themotorsportsgroup.com.(1-8-2015)
Note:
Just a heads up - I've heard, first hand, that some teams don't pay
diddly-squat, when it come to salaries.
From
Track Forum:
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/forum.php
Daytona Qualifying Format
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php/192096-Daytona-Qualifying-Format
From the Dirt Track Digest Forum:
http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/DTD/
Golden Isles time change
http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/DTD/index.php?/topic/52959-golden-isles-time-change/
OCFS Sportsman claimer rules
http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/DTD/index.php?/topic/52952-ocfs-sportsman-claimer-rules/
From
the AARN:
This week in the AARN:
Seekonk Back As
NASCAR Sanctioned Speedway
Billy Moyer Wins
Three Of Six Lucas East Bay Mains
AARN’s Annual
Safety & Trailer Edition: Tips For Safe Racing & Safe Transport
Pittman, Schatz
& Sweet Top Volusia 410 Sprint Races
Preece Bests
Tour Mods Twice At Smyrna; Keeps One
NASCAR Daytona
500 Qualifying Fiasco: What Happened?
ARDC To Invade
Lanco For First Time In History
Meet The Owners:
Utica Rome’s Bill & Kim Shea Reveal Plans
Grant Enfinger
Wins Second Straight ARCA Daytona Race
Danny Johnson
Adds Golden Isles To Mod Win Resume
And a little
more:
Former OVRP Dirt
Oval runner Joe Kata, will be leaving the 305 Sprints and heading to PA in 2015
with a 410.
Joe Laguzza,
speaking in behalf of Pay Dirt - those that bought Rolling Wheels, sent an
email to the AARN telling of their huge plans for the track in 2015.
Note: Should be interesting to see if this deal
actually bears fruit.
This week's
issue is their annual safety & trailer issue.
Deter Schmidt
has picked Tommy Meier to drive his car at OCFS for 17 races, including Eastern
States. Jimmy Horton will still drive in
at least 10- 15 races, including Syracuse.
The headline on
Ernie Saxton's column read: Jeff Gordon
will win the Daytona 500 in his last start in the event.
Note: I'd like to see that, myself. I've been a fan of Jeff ever since he went to
NASCAR, mainly due to his open wheel racing.
However, to be honest, he did lose a little when he could/would not show
up for his induction into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame, with a
supped meeting at Daytona the day AFTER his induction.
Ernie also
questions whether were facing information overkill on racing due to the media,
which might be one reason for a drop in at track fan attendance.
Attorney Lou
Long, has two full pages that deals with "The Insurance Release - Know
what You're signing".
Note: Many times in my columns I make mention of
STIDA, which is insurance for racers - any racer that races a vehicle where
he's strapped in and the vehicle has a roll cage - yes, including champ karts
& 1/4 midgets.
Elmo Reckner
will call Lebanon Valley his home track for Saturday night racing this coming
season. To do so, he's hooked up with
engine builder Dave Hunt (Hunt's Machine) on a new 454 Cu in "LS7"
engine.
Rico Abreu was
17th in the 155 lap LM race at New Smyrna.
Read he was involved in an accident.
Promoter Phil
Guadagno was satisfied with the field of midgets they had at the North Florida
Speedway. The racing does has engine
restrictions, and keeping the high dollar engines out is the main one. He's hoping that next year they'll do it
again, but the information will be out much earlier than this year's
event. He's also been after DIRTcar to
have the northeast big blocks come to the track to race, too.
Craig Mitchell
has a new TEO to replace his destroyed car from last year. His plans are for OC on Saturday's, with a
possible few visits to Accord. He will
not be racing his 358, and will not be at the Deyo race at OC due to the need
for AR tires. He says it cost him an average
of $720.00 a week to run OC last year.
He's hoping to cut that down to around $530.00 a night in 2015.
Former OVRP Dirt
Oval runner Matt Janiak has hooked up with Willy Auchmoody to drive a # 17
Sportsman - with a 2014 Hig Fab chassis.
Plans are to run some Small Block events, too, as time permits.
Speaking of
Auchmoody - he's hooked up again with Halmar International (They're also
sponsoring Joe Kata & his 410), with a team of 7 cars - 4 TEO modified
& 358 competition, 3 Hig-Fab cars for Sportsman and they're building a
wingless Sprint Car for Accord. Mike
Ricci will be at OC in one of their modifieds, while brother Rich will make
occasional appearances in another.
For weekly
competition in New Jersey, drivers must wear a head and neck device. Outsiders have two years to do so.
The head and
neck system - Hutchens Hybrid Pro with a 2013 SFI 38.1 has been found to be
counterfeit, by Bill Simpson and the SFI Foundation.
The historic
Walt Disney World Speedway will be closing.
Former OVRP Dirt
Oval runner Tyler Dippel was 3rd in one Super LM 35 lap race at New Smyrna and 23rd
in another one. He was 18th at Golden
Isles in his modified. Another OVRP
runner, Anthony Perrego was 8th at Golden Isles.
New helmets must
meet new Snell Foundation 2015 standards.
More on former
OVRP Dirt Oval runners - Billy V was racing a Micro Sprint at the North Florida
Speedway and had finishes of 11th and 5th.
Found on the South Jersey Dirt Racing
Forum:
|
Found on Facebook - racing related:
Back in the day, like the 50's
& 60's and maybe even into some later years, midgets would race on a dirt
track (Flemington) in the afternoon, then a paved track (Wall Stadium) at night
- not with a different car for each surface, but the same car. And. both Sprint Cars and Silver (Champ) cars
would do the same - same car for dirt and pavement. Then some genius decided to have specially
made cars for pavement. So instead of a
car owner being able to race both track surfaces with one car, he had to go out
and get a pavement car.
Maybe now, things are starting
to reverse and go back to using the same car on both surfaces?
From Facebook on 2/16/15:
Wayne
Davis
This is just
like we are doing only I allow the ecotec also
The USAC HPD Midwest Midget Thunder series is pleased to
announce plans for the upcoming race season.
The series is planning a schedule of dirt and asphalt races in 2015, with a
goal of expanding on the previous
focus as a developmental series to involve grass roots racers seeking a cost
effective formula for midget
racing.
The Midwest Midget Thunder series will be open to competitors with HPD legal
Honda and Focus engines,
and will move towards a ‘one car’ concept based on the traditional dirt midget
chassis. The series is
committed to stringent enforcement of rules for 2015, and will work closely
with competitors to seal and
inspect cars in order to meet the objective of low cost, competitive midget
racing.
In order to provide full fields to promoters and competitors, The Midwest
Midget Thunder Series has elected
to partner with area mini sprint/lightning sprint associations to co-sanction
the dirt series races for the 2015
season. Montpelier Speedway’s midget series, the recent DuQuoin Indoor race,
and associations such as BAM
(Budget American Midget Series) have demonstrated that the HPD legal cars and
mini sprints have very
comparable performance on dirt tracks. There are three strong mini sprint
associations in the Midwest,
(American Mini Sprint Association, Midwest Mini Sprint Association and Southern
Ohio Lightning Sprints)
which primarily run winged races. Mini sprint participants will be required to
meet the rules and
membership requirements of the co-sanctioning mini sprint association, and will
not be required to obtain a
USAC membership. Each association will track points for its own members for any
applicable point
championships. These partnerships will benefit mini sprint racers by providing
non-winged race
opportunities at premier speedways in the Midwest, including Waynesfield
Raceway Park, Limaland
Motorsports Park, Atomic Speedway, Jackson Speedway, and Plymouth Speedway, and
benefits current and
potential USAC members by giving them assurance that they can own a HPD legal
car and have ample
opportunities to race in the Midwest throughout the season. Negotiations are
ongoing to finalize purse
structures and points’ funds, however several tracks including Waynesfield,
Limaland and Atomic have
committed to a $500 to win, $100 to start payout.
The series is also committed to a long term strategy to bring asphalt midget
racing back to the Midwest.
Columbus Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis Speedrome, Kalamazoo Speedway, Shady
Bowl Speedway, and
Toledo Speedway have demonstrated their support in the future of asphalt midget
racing by committing to
dates at their facilities for the 2015 season. In order to provide the best
possible field to these promoters,
the Midwest Midget Thunder Series will utilize USAC HPD national rules for
these events in 2015, and will
work with the North Carolina based Eastern HPD series for a ‘home and away’
series for races at Speedrome,
Columbus and Hickory Motor Speedway.
Please contact 317-771-6596 for additional information on the series, the Honda
HPD engines, or rental car
availability.
USAC HPD Midwest Midget Thunder Series Schedule
April 25 Columbus Motor Speedway (1/3 mile asphalt) open to all USAC national
HPD legal cars
May 1 Toledo Speedway (1/5 mile asphalt) with the USAC Silver Crown Series
May 2 Shady Bowl Speedway (3/10 mile asphalt)
May 23 Indianapolis Speedrome (1/5 mile, asphalt) co-sanctioned with USAC HPD
East Series
June 6 Waynesfield Raceway Park (1/3 mile dirt) co-sanctioned with American
Mini Sprint Association
July 24 Limaland Motorsports Park (1/4 mile dirt) co-sanctioned with American
Mini Sprint Association
July 25 Waynesfield Raceway Park (1/3 mile dirt) (co-sanctioned with American
Mini Sprint Association)
Aug 8 Plymouth Speedway (3/8 mile dirt dirt) co-sanctioned with Midwest Mini
Sprint Association
Aug 22 Kalamazoo Speedway (3/8 mile asphalt) USAC HPD National Race
Aug 28 Jackson Raceway Park (1/4 mile dirt) co-sanctioned with Southern Ohio
Lightning Sprint Association)
Aug 29 Atomic Speedway (3/8 mile dirt) co-sanctioned with Southern Ohio
Lightning Mini Sprint Association)
Sept 5 Shady Bowl Speedway (3/10 mile asphalt)
September 18 Columbus Motor Speedway (1/3 mile asphalt) open to all USAC
national HPD legal cars
Nov 21 Hickory Speedway (1/3 mile asphalt) (co-sanctioned with USAC HPD East
Series)
Note: Think it will catch
on and save some bucks? Should the
winning purse be somewhat higher than $500.00?
Also:
For Lease
Evergreen
Raceway Park
St. Johns,
PA.
65+/- Acres
1/3 mile
banked paved oval
Located
within a few miles of Interstates I-80 & I-81
Call
832-512-9555 for more information
On Facebook
on 2/17:
Lincoln Speedway
We have been forced to cancel this
Saturday's, February 21st, season opener!
Press Releases:
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
FEBRUARY 17, 2015
DICK JORDAN
OCALA SPRINT TIMETABLE MOVED BACK ONE DAY
"Winter Dirt Games VI" is moving back one day as a result of the cold
temperatures and rain moving into Florida today and tomorrow. This week's
AMSOIL USAC Sprint Car National Championship schedule at Bubba Raceway Park in
Ocala, Florida now opens with an open practice Thursday night, followed by
racing Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Times remain the same for Friday and
Saturday, while warmups on Sunday night will begin at 6 pm.
Defending AMSOIL USAC Sprint Car National Champion Brady Bacon leads the series
into the 2015 openers, which will be followed the next week by races
Thursday-Saturday (Feb. 26-27-28) at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla.
This week's races at Ocala will be streamed live on www.TheCushion.com while the East Bay events will be
streamed live on Xsan.tv.
--USAC--
News from Thunder Mountain Speedway
Media Contact: BD
Motorsports Media LLC – thundermtnspeedway@gmail.com or 845.728.2781
For Immediate Release/February 16, 2015
Reconfigured Thunder Mountain
Speedway Ready For Busy 2015 Schedule; Season Passes Now Available For
Grandstand & Pit Areas; Weekly Lineup Announced & Schedule Posted;
Waymart Building Center & Sharkey’s Fuels Sponsor Season Opener
CENTER LISLE, NY – The rumble of race engines is just two
months away from its return to the Center Lisle, N.Y., hilltop home of Thunder
Mountain Speedway.
And planning is well underway to make the 2015 season one
of the best in the history of the three-eighths-mile facility.
A new, widened and banked turn three and additional clay
will greet competitors when the first race cars hit the track for a
scheduled open practice on Saturday, April 18 (rain date: April 19). One week later, on April 25, Waymart
Building Center of Waymart, Pa., and Sharkey’s Fuels of South Canaan, Pa., will
present the official Season Opener headlined by a $1,992-to-win event for the
big-block/small-block Modifieds.
Weekly action at Thunder Mountain in ’15 will include sail
panel outfitted Modifieds, Open Sportsman, Crate 602 Sportsman, Street Stocks,
XCel 600 Modifieds and Four Cylinders. Rookie Sportsman will be in action from
April 25 through June 20. SRP Sprints, winged 600cc Micro-Sprints, will be
featured on a bi-weekly basis.
The Crate 602 Sportsman and XCel 600 Modifieds are new
divisions for the track and have generated a significant amount of interest
during the off-season.
Thanks to Barrett’s Race Cars, competitors in the Street
Stock division will compete for an increased $500 to win during the ’15 season.
This is the most lucrative weekly winner’s share in the Southern Tier.
Season passes for
the 2015 season are on sale now. Passes are $475 for the pit area and $175 for
the grandstands. They are valid for all regular, Saturday night events (no
Sunday shows, special events or outside promotions). The season pass form has
been posted on the Thunder Mountain website:http://thundermtnspeedway.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/2015ThunderMountainSeasonPassForm.pdf
Again in ’15, drivers and pit crew members will not have to
purchase pit licenses/memberships. Pit admission for a regular
season Saturday will be $30, with no license required.
Standard grandstand pricing is as follows: $12 (Adults),
$10 (Seniors ages 65 and over and Students ages 10-17) and FREE for Kids 9 and
under.
Weekly action at Thunder Mountain will run from April
through September.
Special events are once again plentiful on the Mountain.
The Short Track Super Series Fueled By Hi-Tek Modifieds will be featured on two
occasions: Sundays June 28 and Sept. 13 with rain dates of June 29 and Sept.
20, respectively. Both events offer points toward the Bob Hilbert Sportswear
North Region $15,000 championship.
Both the June ‘Lightning on the Mountain’ special and
September Wade Decker Memorial will offer minimum $5,000 winner’s shares with
$1,000 reserved for the 10th-place finisher and $400 to take the
green in the big-block/small-block Modified ranks for 50 laps of feature-event
racing.
Adding to the excitement of the Short Track Super Series
events is the addition of the Tobias SpeedSTRs on both programs. The SpeedSTRs
have a tremendous following of superstar drivers and will compete for $3,000 to
win in June and September.
The Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints (ESS) 360 Sprint Cars
make their second appearance in Thunder Mountain history on Labor Day weekend
(Sept. 5) as part of the ‘Sprint Car Saturday’ event. The CRSA 305 Sprint Cars
are also on a program that includes a number of winged divisions.
Small car racing will be showcased at Thunder Mountain on
Sunday, May 3 with the ‘Small Car Showcase’ featuring the NY6A winged 600cc
Micro-Sprints, wingless 600cc Micro-Sprints, 270cc Micro-Sprints, Allstar
Slingshots, Empire Lightning Sprints and XCel 600 Modifieds.
The current ’15
Thunder Mountain schedule, with additions possible, has been posted athttp://thundermtnspeedway.com/schedule.
Marketing and
sponsorship options for the ’15 Thunder Mountain Speedway season are now
available by contacting thundermtnspeedway@gmail.com or BD Motorsports Media LLC at
845.728.2781. Night sponsorships, divisional sponsorships and billboard
opportunities are all affordable opportunities for local businesses.
For Thunder
Mountain Speedway general information and a complete schedule, visitwww.thundermtnspeedway.com. The speedway office number is
607.657.8202. On race day, call 607.849.7899. The speedway e-mail is thundermtnspeedway@gmail.com. “Like”
Thunder Mountain Speedway on Facebook or follow @thundermtnspeed on Twitter.
Thunder Mountain Speedway is located at 91 Hunts Corners
Road Center Lisle, NY 13797, approximately 25 miles north of Binghamton. The
three-eighths-mile clay oval features hillside concrete seating, free parking
and camping, a variety of concession items and novelties, a family environment
and more.
Brett Deyo
Promotions, Public
Relations & Marketing
Thunder Mountain Speedway
91 Hunts Corners Road Center Lisle, NY 13797
Cell: 845.728.2781
"Thunder Mountain Speedway" on Facebook
@thundermtnspeed on Twitter
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This week’s
photos:
Note: photos
can only be seen if you go to the New England Tractor website.
http://newenglandtractor.com/racereport/
The Late Model fire at New
Smyrna:
http://speed51.com/from-the-flagstan...-series-wreck/
This weeks video:
The All Star Sprints at
Volusia on February 12th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zav0DkV1AYk
Non racin' stuff:
Studies Show Fake Honey Is Everywhere. Here’s How To Know The
Difference:
The next time
you find yourself in the honey aisle of your grocery store, debating between a
pricy premium, artisanal honey and the store-brand nectar contained in a
plastic bear, you might want to think twice before choosing based on price.
That’s because
a searing investigation of the honey market by Food Safety News found that 76%
of all honey bought at grocery stores were treated with a process called
“ultra-filtration,” which removes not only impurities like wax, but also all
traces of pollen. And of the types of brands at grocery stores, the ones that
were far-and-away the most likely to be ultra-filtered were generic brands.
There are
issues with ultra-filtration in general. Many believe that pollen, and other
so-called “impurities,” are actually beneficial to human health, and make honey
a better choice than rival sweeteners like sugar. And there doesn’t seem to be
any serious benefit to the process; it’s expensive and doesn’t significantly
improve shelf-life, even though some manufacturers claim it does.
But according
to FSN, the biggest reason to avoid ultra-filtered honey is that pollen is the
only sure-fire way to trace the source of honey to a geographic location. As a
result ultra-filtered honey is often used to mask the shady origins of certain kinds
of honey, especially Chinese honey, which is subject to heavy import tariffs on
account of its frequent contamination by heavy metals and illegal antibiotics.
Chinese honeymakers ultra-filter their honey, and then ship it through
byzantine paths, to sneak their sham product onto American grocery shelves
without being hit with a tariff.
Food Safety
News honey samples were sent to premier melissopalynologist and professor at
Texas A&M University, Vaughn Bryant. What he found was that roughly three
fourths of the honey contained no pollen, making it unidentifiable and unsafe.
Of that average, he found that:
100 percent of
Winnie the Pooh sold in Walmart stores had all pollen removed.
100 percent of
honey from individual packets from KFC and McDonald’s had all pollen removed.
77 percent of
honey from big box stores like Costco, Sam’s Club, and Target had no traced of
pollen.
100 percent of
honey from drugstores like Walgreen’s and CVS Pharmacy had all the pollen
filtered out.
He did find
out, however, that honey purchased from co-ops, farmers markets and stores like
Trader Joes contained the full amount of original pollen.
Many have
called for the FDA to do more to prevent adulterated and smuggled honey from
landing on grocery shelves, but the group has so far shrugged off the burden.
The EU, for
its part, just changed labeling regulations to require that honey containers
list “pollen” as an ingredient, when it is one, despite the objections of some
honey farmers, who call pollen intrinsic to their produce.
One ounce of
raw honey contains approximately 20 vitamins, 18 amino acids, 16 minerals, and
a ton of antioxidants and phytonutrients. Raw honey is an antibacterial,
antiviral, and antifungal substance. It is also highly nutritious. It contains
significant amounts of B2, B3, B5, B6, C, magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium
chlorine, sulphur, and phosphate.
In the
meantime, though, worried consumers do have a good option: buying honey from
farmers’ markets and natural food stores. The FSN investigation found that few,
if any, of the honeys sold there had been subject to ultra-filtration.
Source: Food Safety News
You have our permission to reprint this article via
creative commons license if you attribute us with a live backlink
to this article. - Organic Health
http://complete-health-and-happiness.com/studies-show-fake-honey-everywhere-heres-know-difference/?t=PD
Note: Wow, I hope I don't get in trouble for
posting this!
This weeks joke:
Got this one via
an email on 2/16 from one of my friends up north:
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Until my next column – next
week
Columns are
available on the Dirt Track Digest at: http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/ (Click on “Recent Columns – and I hope it works!)
And:
http://newenglandtractor.com/racereport/