Mostly
Racin' Stuff
By
Tom Avenengo
Volume # 234
07/16/2015
This week’s
photo:
He was one of my favorites, and also a favorite of my
late wife. I first recall him racing a
midget that had two BMW Motorcycle engines in it - the Maier Special. That was way back in the mid-late '40's. A
daughter of his, Anne, married the son of Nick Fornoro, Sr - Drew Fornoro. She has been doing "PR" for A.J.
Foyt for quite a while now. His name: Russ Klar.
More names of drivers that thrilled me way back then,
will appear further down in this weeks column.
Special from
me:
Racin’
stuff:
I find it very hard to believe that as of
this past Monday, it's been 22 years since Davey Allison left us. Where does the time go?
Found
on Jayski:
Wise leaves #98 team:
Josh Wise tweeted Monday morning, "I have parted ways with Premium
Motorsports. The team and I did not share the same goals moving forward.".
The team was recently purchased from Phil Parsons by Jay Robinson.(7-13-2015)
Driscoll resigns from Armed Forces Foundation:
Patricia
Driscoll, the former girlfriend of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch, has resigned as
executive director of the Armed Forces Foundation in the wake of allegations
that she mishandled foundation money, Outside the Lines has learned. FBI and
IRS officials began investigating Driscoll and her oversight of the nonprofit,
multimillion-dollar foundation following an Outside the Lines report on May 22.
The report detailed a host of questionable practices during her 12-year run
leading the Washington, D.C.-based entity, which has ties to multiple
sports-related entities and athletes. Driscoll is also facing a federal whistleblower
complaint filed by a former foundation employee. The Armed Forces Foundation is
a charity that aims to help veterans in need. Last week, the foundation's board
of directors placed Driscoll on administrative leave, and it accepted her
resignation on Tuesday night. A foundation spokesman declined to comment but
issued a statement noting the foundation's accomplishments and thanking
Driscoll for her work: "We are appreciative of Patricia's 12 years of
service to our armed forces, veterans, and their families." Driscoll could
not be reached for comment, but a statement issued Wednesday through the
foundation attributed to her said, "I am proud of what we achieved during
my time at the Armed Forces Foundation. Especially as it pertains to PTSD [post-traumatic
stress disorder] and TBI [traumatic brain injury], the foundation is saving
lives by creating awareness and helping veterans find the services they need
before taking tragic and drastic steps such as suicide." The foundation
has hired a series of outside lawyers in recent weeks, and it began an internal
investigation and authorized an independent forensic audit -- both of which
remain ongoing, the spokesman said.(ESPN.com)(7-15-2015)
Superspeedway qualifying format to be used at
NASCAR
officials told NASCAR Sprint Cup, XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series teams
on Wednesday that it plans to use the superspeedway qualifying format at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend and Michigan International Speedway
next month. Beginning in May at Talladega Superspeedway, there were two rounds
of qualifying with drivers turning one timed lap. The top 12 advanced to the
final round. Each driver took a warm-up lap, the timed lap and a cool-down lap
before returning to pit road. Last weekend, the format was scheduled to be run
by the Sprint Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway, but rain forced the
field to be set per the rule book by practice speeds.
Based on a random draw at
Stewart disappointed in season; not planning to retire:
#14-Tony
Stewart participated in a NASCAR teleconference on Tuesday and talked about a
variety of issues:
Q.
STEWART: Honestly, we're just kind of trying to
get our program back on track. I don't know that we've circled any track and
said anything right now. It's been a disappointing year up to this point. It
seems like no matter what the package is, we seem to fight the same balance.
Q. Tony, you told me to tell people to
leave off of [crew chief] Chad Johnston. Are you still feeling like you're
making progress? Can you also mention how, you said you were struggling with
the new package, how you would like to see NASCAR move forward on some of this?
STEWART: I don't know that I'm really good at
giving direction at what NASCAR needs to do right now when we can't get our
balance a little better than where we're at. You know, I still really like
working with Chad Johnston. I don't feel like he's what's holding us back.
There's something about the way this package is that just doesn't suit my
driving style. So, you know, I'm holding him and the team back versus vice
versa. So it's just a matter of me trying to figure it out, figure out how to
go forward and get our cars better.
Q. You're involved with three other teams
there at Stewart-Haas Racing, in addition to your own. From an ownership
standpoint, do you believe that NASCAR is headed in the right direction with
these rules packages?
STEWART: Yeah, I mean, anything that's going to
make the fans happier, you know, put better races on is in all of our best interests.
The part that's hard for the teams is the process, you know, changing this,
changing that. All that cost comes out of our pockets. It doesn't come out of
NASCAR's pocket. NASCAR decides they want to change something, we're the ones
that have to spend the money to do it. They don't spend a dime to do it. That's
the part that's hard. I think all of the owners will do whatever's in the best
interest of making it better. I just would like to see NASCAR share some of
that expense versus saying, Hey, we got an idea, we want to try this, then the
teams have to spend all the money to do it.
Q. Tony, I wonder where you feel like the
sport has the most momentum right now, where it's making the greatest strides,
and where you feel like it has to make the greatest strides?
STEWART: I guess if I had to look and say what
I thought was the greatest thing, it's seeing NASCAR as a whole work with the
teams and the drivers and be more accommodating as far as having the Drivers
Council, the RTA, them working with NASCAR the way they are. I mean, that's
something in the 17 years I've been in the Cup Series I've never seen. it was
all right to walk in the trailer and give them an idea, and that's as far as it
always went. Now you're actually having meetings, working hand-in-hand with
NASCAR. I think that's something that I've never seen in this sport, which to
me is really exciting as a driver and owner. I think it's great. so, you know,
as far as the flipside of that, I really don't know what the answeris for that.
But, I mean, I definitely think that seeing NASCAR's involvement on the more
personal side, I'd love to see Brian France show up at some of these council
meetings and stuff, but I'm sure he's busy.
Q. How much longer do you see yourself
[racing]?
STEWART: Right now I'm just trying to figure
out how to get my car working, to be honest with you.
(Team Chevy)(7-14-2015)
From
Track Forum:
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/forum.php
Here's a very touching article on Davey
Allison. It's well worth the little time
it takes to go through it.
Davey Allison
died 22 years ago, a loss that still hurts and haunts
http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/13253881/nascar-davey-allison-death-felt-knew-best
From the Dirt Track
Digest Forum:
SDW 2016 and beyond
http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/DTD/index.php?/topic/54182-sdw-2016-and-beyond/
Note: Quite a few different tracks being mentioned
in this thread. Somehow, I have a
feeling it will still end up in what I consider "Northern"
From
the AARN:
Preece Comes
From The Rear To Win Stafford’s ‘SK 5k’
‘Liquid Lou’
Cicconi Wins First Mod Feature On Dirt At New
Riverhead
Raceway
Rich Blaney
Memorial All Star Sprint
Sesely Scores
Improbable Win In Wall Stadium’s Garden State Classic
Jimmy Horton’s
Bridgeport Score Extends Win Streak To 42 Straight Years
Otto Sitterly
Stars In ISMA Winged Supers At
Stateline
Speedway Remains Closed
Szegedy’s
Claremont VMRS Race Win Denied; Chris Pasteryak
Declared Winner
And some more
from this week's edition:
Is this year's
SDW at
Interesting news
- Riverhead Raceway might very well have a new owner. Ed Partridge and his wife, Connie, are
attempting to buy the track from the previous owners, Barbara & Jim
Cromartie.
The ARDC ran two
features at the
What was worse,
however, was that that ARDC notified the Mercer Raceway Park that they would
only be able to have four cars for their show, so that was cancelled. Main reasons:
Accidents and engine failures.
Note: Things surely are not looking too good for
the ARDC from what I can see. I still
feel that for them to survive, they'll have to go to some cheaper power
plants. Heck, they're basically just
running short tracks, now, so I'd have to figure that competition would still
be pretty good - IF they get more cars.
I see where Lou
Cicconi won his first modified feature - that one coming at New Egypt.
I noticed the name Jeff Richardson as finishing in
10th place in the 358/Sportsman feature., at Bethel.
Jim Kepply,
73, Emidio J. Camilli, 83, Barbara
Wayne (mother of AARN's Robin Ervin, Tom Eriksen, born in 1955 and Michael R. Argetsinger, 70, were six
names listed from motor sports that have left us.
On the next to last page in this week's edition, there
was a photo of Shelby Harper, the 2015 Ms. Motorsports, upside down, in mid air
in her 600 Micro Sprint at Kutztown.
also, there was a photo of some 178 Quarter Midgets on the front stretch
of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, prior to them taking a lap around the
famous track.
Former OVRP
Dirt Oval racers:
Kenney Johnson was 6th in the USAC DMA Midget feature
at Bear Ridge.
A.J. Filbeck was 2nd in the 602 Sportsman feature at
U/R.
Mike Mammana won the Sportsman feature at Big Diamond.
Joey Bruning was 5th and Winter Mead 6th in the Spec
Sportsman feature at Accord.
Johnny Gurarino was 6th in the 358 Modified feature at
New Egypt.
Brad Szulewski was 10th in the Modified feature at 5
Mile.
Davie Franek won the 358 Sprint feature at the Lincoln
Speedway, then was 5th in the 358/360 feature.
Kolby Schroder was 19th and Kyle Armstrong 20th in the
first Modified feature at Lebanon Valley.
In the second feature, Kyle was 3rd, John Virgilio 17th and Kolby 23rd.
Matt Pappa was 2nd and John Virgilio 26th in the
Sportsman feature.
Tyler Dippel was 6th, Alex Bell 19th and Bobby Hackel
IV 23rd in the Modified feature at A/S.
Hunter Bates was 13th in the Sportsman feature.
Cody Bleau was 14th in the Sportsman feature at Fonda.
A.J. Filbeck was 6th in the Sportsman feature at Glen
Ridge.
Molly Chambers was 16th in the 600 Micro feature at
Kutztown.
Jacob Hendershot won the 270 Micro feature at Hamlin.
Rich Coons was 2nd and Kyle Redner 6th in the 358/Sportsman
feature at Bethel.
Joe Morris was 4th in the 4 Cyl Advanced feature.
L.J. Lombardo won the modified feature at OCFS. Mike Ruggiero was 6th, Tim Hindley 8th,
Anthony Perrego 10th, Mike Kolka 14th and Billy V 18th.
In the Sportsman feature, Joey Bruning was 5th, Zack
Vavricka 6th, Matt Janiak 7th, Anthony Falanga 9th, Doc Young 10th, Joe Conklin
14th, Matt Hitchcock 22nd and Brandon Finley 23rd. Joe Falanga was a DNQ.
Tim Hindley was 2nd, L.J. Lombardo 4th and Tom Hindley
7th in the 358 Modified feature.
Josh Pieniazek was 7th, Emily VanInwegen 8th, Brian
Krummel 9th, Billy V 10th, Joe Kata 21st and Danny Hennessey 25th in the CRSA
Sprint feature.
Note: There was
a massive pile up on the first lap as they entered the third turn, and only
four cars actually made it through.
Scott Goodrich was the winner of the Sprint
feature. For him now at OCFS, he has won
features in Big Block Modifieds, Small Block Modifieds and Sprint cars at OC.
Checking the paper, it looks like that about covers
those that are/were former runners at the OVRP's Dirt Oval from their racing
last week.
Midget
Racing from "Back in the Day":
Some of the drivers that used to race the
midgets - and some later on in the Sprint Cars, up in the Northeast, where I
was raised. In some cases, some great
drivers would pass on to the "Speedway in the sky", while racing. Yes, I've seen that happen to more than I
would have liked to, but, back then, it sure wasn't a safe
"Occupation".
Along with the photo of Russ Klar, there
were names like Johnny Ritter, Bill Schindler, George & Johnny Rice, Lloyd
Christopher, Len Duncan, "Ted Tappet", whose real name was Phil
Walters, Ed "Dutch" Schaefer, "Iron" Mike Nazaruk, Bill
Baker, Tony Bonadies, Bob & Stan Disbrow, Tony Romit, Steve McGrath, Bert
Brooks, "Dee" Toran, Vernon Land, Walt Fusco, Walt Fair, Art Cross,
Al Keller, Charlie Breslin, George Fonder, Ray Nestor, Henry Renard, Chet
Gibbons, Joe Barzda Johnny Ringger, "Pickles" Bicklehaupt, Buddy
Chase, Johnny Zeke, "Jeep" Colkitt, Nick Fornoro, Jim DiMarco, Ralph
& Harry Sheeler, Charlie Miller, Ernie Gesell, "Wild" Bill
Holmes, Red Redmond, Ernie McCoy, Fred "Jiggs" Peters, Andy Furci,
Walt Walasek, Bill Claren (Who's still alive and down in Florida, I believe,
and has a radio show), Vic Sloane, Rex Records, Larry Bloomer, Lew Volk,
"Wimpy" Erwin, The Fanelli brothers, "Doc" Shanebrook and
Larry Shurter.
And to top it off, a majority of those names
would all appear at any night at any given speedway, to thrill the fans and try
to win a feature race.
And if it wasn't for some car owners, a
good many of those listed above would never have been on the track. Owners like Caruso, Curtis, Hickey, Hough,
Van Nostrand, Cressbaugh, Gordon, Allen, Wheeler, Willets, Plakstis, Stevens,
Schloeder, Gertler, Eckert, Hull, Fray, Sperling, Bourgnon and Caccia.
Then there were those that owned the cars
they drove, like Ritter, Barzda, Land, Toran, Frick, Shanebrook and DiMarco.
Some were single car owners, while other
had up to five cars on a trailer!
Yes, back then, they would race anywhere
from 3 to 5 to 7 races a week. Some
would get "paid" to race elsewhere, too. And what's even more remarkable, there was
very little sponsorship back then, either.
If there was a name on a car, it was usually the owners name on the
hood, and the drivers name close by the cockpit.
And there were quite a few various engines
that powered those midgets back then, too.
Ford V-8 60's, Outboards, Cycles and of course, the Offenhauser engines,
too.
Yes, it was a LOT different "Back in
the day".
Press Releases:
NEWS FROM
Orange County Fair
CONTACT
Mike Gurda
845-342-2573
FOR RELEASE BEGINNING MONDAY, JULY 13
SMALL-BLOCK MODIFIEDS ADDED TO SATURDAY,
JULY 18 RACING PROGRAM AT ORANGE COUNTY FAIR SPEEDWAY
Rescheduled Charlie Loder Memorial race
previously postponed
MIDDLETOWN,
NY (July 13)......The Charlie Loder Memorial race for the Small-block
Modifieds, postponed from June 20, is just one of the exciting highlights of
the Saturday, July 18 racing program at the historic five-eighths-mile Orange
County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York. In addition to the first-place
prize money, the winner of the 25-lap Loder Memorial feature will earn a
guaranteed starting slot in the October 24 Eastern States Small-Block Modified
race. And for some added spice, the top-ten drivers in Small-Block Modified
points will race in a one-on-one elimination, with the winner taking home $551
courtesy of the Loder family and friends.
It’s
a full night of racing that also includes the Big-Block Modifieds, Sportsman,
Rookie Sportsman, Street Stocks, Thunder Trucks, and the Vintage Modifieds. If
that isn’t enough action on the Middletown Hard Clay, the Sportsman will race
in two 15-lap features instead of the usual single 20-lap main.
Preliminary
heat races will set the fields for all competing divisions’ feature races.
Falanga Trucking is the evening’s sponsor.
Admission
prices for the July 18 race meet remains at $14 adults, $12 seniors, and $1.00
for children 12 and under. The full night of racing begin promptly at 6:30 pm.
Information
for all Orange County Fair Speedway action is available at the speedway
website, www.orangecountyfairspeedway.net, or at the Track Office. Call
845-342-2573 during business hours.
Upcoming: July 22–August 2 -- The 175th Annual Orange County Fair!
... and this
is the seal of the Confederate States...
Trivia
question:
In Indy 500 history, this driver completed
1944 laps out of a possible 2000 laps (97%).
Any idea who that driver was?
Note:
Answer will be in next weeks column.
Music video:
Sorry, no "Music" video this week, so how
about an Abbott & Costello with a Midget race car?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WjW7Gs1DhQ
Other News:
First in Fox News First: New poll shows Hillary way
under water in swing states
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/15/first-in-fox-news-first-new-poll-shows-hillary-way-under-water-in-swing-states/
This week's joke:
Two
police officers responding to a domestic disturbance with shots fired arrive on
scene. After discovering the wife had shot her husband for walking across her
freshly mopped floor, they call their sergeant on his cell phone.
"Hello Sarge."
"Yes."
"It looks like we
have a homicide here. "
"What
happened?"
"A woman has shot
her husband for walking on the floor she had just mopped."
"Have you placed
her under arrest?"
"No sir. The floor
is still wet. "
Until my next column – next week
Columns are
available on the Dirt Track Digest at: http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/ at Contributing Columnists
And:
http://newenglandtractor.com/racereport/
Just in case anyone wants to
contact me. My email is:
ygordad@yahoo.com