Racin'
& Internet Stuff:
By Tom Avenengo
Volume # 35
10/21/2010
First:
I like to watch sports on TV. Football, baseball, the Olympics. This past weekend, there were some pretty
hard hits during some college and Pro football games. Enough to get a bunch of people up in arms –
from fans to those that run the NFL.
Face it, football is a rough, physical,
game. After the Monday night game, I
watched one of those “panels” – one with two former players on it, discuss the
game of football, and some rumored changes.
It was a very interesting discussion.
One of the former players, a retired QB, was all for some kind of
changing the game – restricting how hard hits could be made. The other one, a retied defensive player was,
of course, against what the QB was saying.
Well, I tend to agree with the defensive player and also the third party
on that panel – you really can’t “sissy” up the game.
In part:
"Jack used his timeouts," Fisher said. "My understanding is they needed network timeouts, and that's why Jack used his timeouts. They came over and asked me to do it, but I said, 'I was hoping to get a first down and kneel on it.'"
"At the two-minute warning in every game in the fourth quarter, there are conversations that go by. There's conversations that take place at the two-minute warning before the first half. But there's conversations that take place, and it's the official's responsibility to give the head coach a status of commercials and TV timeouts," Fisher said. "Yesterday, I was told that they were two short. And they looked at me and smiled, and I said, 'Sorry, I can't help you.' Mike Carey came across and said, 'Here's the deal. We're two short.' And I said, 'Mike, I can't help you. I'm trying to get a first down and I'm gonna kneel on it.”
“Perhaps the most disconcerting thing about this story -- the part that made it so hard to believe at first -- is the idea of a television network, and the need for ad revenue, deciding the pace of a game (no matter how awful it may be). That Carey would break away from his responsibility as a supposedly objective arbiter of the on-field action to try and wrangle timeouts from coaches in the name of commercial breaks -- well, this is where we truly have gone down the rabbit hole. And judging from Fisher's comments, this happens all the time.”
And:
More about hard hits and what some players are saying, can be seen,
here:
NFL
players speak out on the NFL's awful, new dangerous hit rule
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AmowWBG9icdWdqKz8KbDyDZDubYF?slug=jc-hardhits101910
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AstYLgBJ2yH7zYKfWOClP8XsYNAF?slug=ap-helmethits
In part, on the third link, above:
“The NFL imposed huge fines on three
players—Pittsburgh’s James Harrison(notes),
Atlanta’s Dunta Robinson(notes) and New
England’s Brandon Meriweather(notes)—on
Tuesday for dangerous and flagrant hits last weekend and warned that, starting
with this week’s games, violent conduct will be cause for suspension.”
Plus:
In part:
“Goodell sent a memo to teams today
informing them that more significant discipline, including suspensions, will be
imposed on players that strike an opponent in the head or neck area in
violation of the rules.”
"1. Players are
expected to play within the rules. Those who do not will face increased
discipline, including suspensions, starting with the first offense."
"2. Coaches are
expected to teach playing within the rules. Failure to do so will subject both
the coach and the employing club to discipline."
"3. Game officials
have been directed to emphasize protecting players from illegal and dangerous
hits, and particularly from hits to the head and neck. In appropriate cases,
they have the authority to eject players from a game."
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=nfp-20101020_roger_goodell_weighs_in_on_illegal_hit_isuse
Second:
As of Monday, here
is the weather forecast for the
Thursday: Times of sun and clouds. Highs
in the low 60s and lows in the low 40s.
Friday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 50s and lows in the
upper 30s.
Saturday Oct 23 Mostly Sunny High 57°FLow 47°FPrecip 0 %
Sunday Oct 24 Mostly Cloudy High 59°FLow 44°FPrecip 10 %
Note:
Monday called for showers/rain
And, as of Wednesday, at noontime:
Tomorrow: Cloudy with occasional rain showers.
High 58F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Tomorrow night: A few clouds from time to time. Low
38F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 50s and
lows in the upper 30s.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 60s and
lows in the upper 40s.
Sunday: Showers. Highs in the mid 60s and lows
in the low 50s.
Note: Previous forecasts,
for Sunday, did show “possible showers”.
Why the forecast? It’s
EASTERN STATES WEEKEND!!
Third:
Last Saturday, my daughter, Judy, and I
went to the practice session at OCFS. A
good turn out of cars was on hand. There
were enough cars there that really weren’t familiar to me, which probably means
they’ll have a pretty good “invader” turn out.
A little later on in the practice session, a car with the # 44 on it
went by. Judy asked me: “What the hell is that”? She had never seen a modified with “Sail
Panels” on it. It might have been Danny
Creeden in the car, since I could see a # 16x on the front and rear on what
must be the original bodywork. A “test”,
maybe for 2011 at OC? There were a
couple of Mini Sprints on hand, with one being wrongly geared for the track,
and the other more closer with correct gearing.
Still, the track is a might too big for those little gems. On top of that, there really are not too many
Mini Sprints in action in this area, anymore, with Accord having somewhat low
car counts for their “Lightning Sprint” class – cars very similar to regular
Mini Sprints, with the major difference being that the “Lightning Sprints” use
“Stock” engines.
Fourth:
Last week, I had
this, in the beginning of my column:
“Second:
This
coming November 14th, the annual Lobitz Movie Party/Auction will be
held at the Lobitz Catering Hall, which is located at
http://wilkesbarre.citysearch.com/profile/8845771/hazleton_pa/lobitz_catering_svc.html
The
map, on the upper right shows you where it is located.
Things
get started fairly early in the day, like around 9:00 AM, and continue all day
long, culminating in a sit down dinner that starts around 5:00.
The auction benefits the EMMR.
One never knows just who might show up, as far as racing folks go. Lots of vendors in the house, too. Also I believe the ARDC has a meeting and
election of officers at the Hall, during the day. You can also expect a lot of “chop busting”
to go on during the auction. There is an
“open” bar and lunch is also served.
Usually there are some old Indy 500 and other racing movies shown prior
to the auction.”
Well,
in a posting on the Yahoo! Race History Group, Stan Lobitz had this to say:
“I
would like to mention my movie party on Nov. 14.
Arlen Kurtis informed me that he and his lovely wife would be in
attendance as well as many members of our fine RH group.”
For
those of you that don’t know who Arlen Kurtis is, he’s the son of noted racecar
builder Frank Kurtis. I had heard that
Arlen Kurtis started making midgets from his fathers plans, and came across
this, in a search on Arlen Kurtis:
http://www.ewarbirds.org/automotive/1948midget.html
However, if I’m not mistaken, he has since
stopped making those “replicas”.
Some of my thoughts:
As of this column,
in NASCAR Cup “Chase” point standings, Jeff Gordon is shown as the car owner of
the # 48 that’s driven by Jimmie Johnson.
Owner Points Following Race # 31
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Bank of America 500
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics
Saturday, 10/16/2010 @ 11:44 PM Eastern
|
Rank |
Owner |
Car # |
Points |
Behind |
Behind |
+/- Top 35 |
Prev |
Gain/ |
Race |
|
1 |
Jeff Gordon |
48 |
5,843 |
- |
0 |
3672 |
1 |
0 |
31 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
However, I’m willing to bet
that if Jimmie should win the championship, and the winning team is up on the
stage, Rick Hendrick will be in the car owner’s seat. Why?
Going back, in time:
Note: Most of the following information was found
here:
http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/history.html
Covering the days of
October 15th to 21st.
OCTOBER 15
1919
Chuck Stevenson... Born
...Chuck drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, racing in the
1949-1954, 1960-1961 and 1963-1965 seasons with 54 starts, including the
Indianapolis 500 races in 1951-1954, 1960-1961, and 1963-1965. He finished in
the top ten 37 times, with 4 victories, 2 of them coming in the 1952 season
when he won the AAA National Championship. Stevenson also raced in two NASCAR
events -- one in 1955 and one in 1956, picking up a win at Willow Springs
Raceway in 1955 driving a Ford. The race he entered in to in 1955 was driving a
car owned by Indy winner Pete DePaolo.
1920
Chris Economaki ... Born
... Racing journalist, TV commentator and Publisher of National Speed Sport
News.
1964
Craig Breedlove became the
first man to drive 500 mph when he set a
OCTOBER 16
1924
Budd Olson ... Born ...
New Jersey Stock Car driver from the 1940's, 50's and 60's. From local dirt
tracks to NASCAR, Budd Olsen built a solid reputation, first as a driver and
then as one of the leading race car builders in the region.
1977
James McElreath... Died
... USAC Sprint Car driver, son of Jim McElreath. James recorded 2 USAC wins in
1977, before his fatal sprint car accident at
OCTOBER 17
1951
Bill Schindler won the AAA
Midget race at the Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City,NJ.
Note: I was there, that night. Remember it quite well. Schindler “set up” many drivers that night by coming up on the outside, then diving under them in the turns, while driving a red # 10 Offy. For quite a while, he was the only driver the car owner would let drive the car.
OCTOBER 18
1979
Louis Unser... Died ...
Race Car Driver. "Uncle Louie" Unser was a nine time winner of the
OCTOBER 19
1997
Cory McClenathan became
the first person in NHRA history to register a 320 mph top speed at the end of
a 1/4-mile run. His exact speed was 321.77 mph at
OCTOBER 20
1921
Manny Ayulo... Born ...
AAA driver from the 1940's and 50's. His efforts, along with those of friend
and teammate Jack McGrath, helped establish track roadsters as viable Indy race
cars. He ran the
2006
Ted Johnson ... Died ...
He briefly drove a midget in his early years before settling into a career as a
china salesman, never could shake the racing bug and in 1978 he unveiled the
World of Outlaws, a collection of the biggest names in sprint car racing that
traveled around the country trying to swipe purses from local competitors. The
series drew huge crowds, attracted national television audiences and major
sponsorship all while competing nearly 100 times a year with Johnson calling
the shots every step of the way. Ted Johnson lost his battle with cancer at the
age of 72.
OCTOBER 21
1951
Jimmy Bryan won the Ted
Horn Memorial AAA Eastern Sprint Car race at the Williams Grove
Note: I was at that race, also. Believe it or not, that was the only time
I’ve been to the “Grove”. From what I
can recall, we were under the impression that it was the last point race, here
in the East, for the AAA Sprint cars.
Tommy Hinnershitz was leading the point chase and Bill Schindler was
trying to get the championship.
Schindler had car problems, and, for a while, it looked like he wouldn’t
make the feature. As they were pushing
the cars off, for the feature, a reddish # 73, which had been pushed off,
returned to the pits, and the driver, who I think was Buzz Barton, told his
crew to get Schindler so he could drive the # 73. I can still recall watching Schindler, going
from where he was pitted, and heading towards the pit area of the # 73, on his
crutches. He got in the car, and they
pushed him off. The starter signaled to
Schindler, by holding up either one or two fingers, the amount of laps they’d
give him to get familiar with that # 73.
Schindler gave the starter his usual “nod of his head” to show he
understood. At the end of that race,
Hinnershitz still held the point lead, but there were a couple of more Sprint
car races scheduled for down south, that would also be included in the point
chase. Tommy did end up as the 1951 AAA
Eastern Sprint car champion.
Track news – (for tracks
in my area):
OVRP – the dirt
track: http://www.oaklandvalleyspeedway.com/
There’s a practice session
scheduled for Friday, the 22nd, then Kart and Slingshots on the 23rd
and more Bikes and Quads on the 24th. Saturday, October 30th the Karts
and Slingshots run their last point show.
Novemberfest will be held
on November 5th, 6th and 7th.
Novemberfest info:
Note: For some weird reason, I could not connect
with the Dirt Oval’s website, so what is below was copied from the 4 Cycle
Karting Forum – what the Dirt Oval had posted;
3 ROUNDS OF FEATURE RACING
- 25 LAPS EACH
EVERY FEATURE COUNTS TOWARD FINISHES
50% OF ENTRY FEE GOES TOWARDS THE PURSE
Friday November 5th - Open Practice
Gates Open - 2:00 pm
Registration - 2:00 - 7:00 pm
Open Practice - 4:00 - 9:00 pm - 4 1/2 HOURS OF PRACTICE
Break from Practice - 7:30-8:00 pm
Barbecue - 7:30 pm
Saturday November 6th
Gates Open - 8:00 am
Registration - 8:00 - 10:30 am
Practice - 10:00 am (2 Rounds of Practice)
We will do our best to get in 2 rounds of features on Saturday. We will take a
break at 7:00 for dinner.
Beef & Pork Roast - 7:00 pm
Sunday Novebmer 7th
Gates Open - 8:00 am
Practice - 10:00 am (1 Round of Practice)
Racing will resume after practice
3 Round of Features, every feature counts toward official finishes. Round 1
will be lined up by draw. Round 2 will be lined up by the invert of the draw.
Round 3 will be lined up by the total points from Rounds 1 and 2.
Classes Offered: (must have 5 or more entries)
Junior 1, Junior 2, Junior Clone, Junior 3, Junior Stock, Junior Sportsman
Champ, Junior Champ, Lights, Mediums, Heavys, Super Heavys, Senior Stock,
Animal Lights, Animal Heavys, Senior Champ, Star Champ, KT 100, Junior
Slingshot, & Senior Slingshot.
Kid Karts & Rookie Champ – Saturday ONLY
$25.00 entry fee (doesn’t include pit pass)
Please check the website for additional class information.
Classes
Friday Night Practice* - $25.00 - INCLUDES BARBECUE
Entry Fee* - $75.00 per class - INCLUDES BEEF & PORK ROAST
1 Day Pit Pass - $12.00
2 Day Pit Pass - $20.00 (save $4.00)
3 Day Pit Pass - $30.00 (save $6.00)
Friday Barbecue - $5.00
Saturday Beef & Pork Roast - $10.00
If you are interested in bringing a camper, please be sure to email me to let
me know the size of your camper. Reservations are a must and it is first come
first serve. There is a limited amount of room available.
www.oaklandvalleyspeedway.com
denise.ovspeedway@gmail.com
Most everything you want
to, or need to know about this coming weekends Eastern States Weekend, can be
found on their website with the exception of ticket prices and/or a driver
roster of who might appear – as of noon on Wednesday. To get them, I can only suggest you call the
track at: 845-342-2573 from Tuesday to
Friday – 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. We’ll be
there all three days in the ˝ covered stands – seats 44 & 45 – row “N” –
one row up from the poles, on the right side of the 2nd stairway –
seat 44 is on the end of the aisle.
Note: Brian Grisel, CEO of the CRSA 305 Sprint Car
organization did put something out by Toby LaGrange, on the Internet about the
up-coming ESW:
ANDRETTI & CRSA SET TO
VISIT EASTERN STATES WEEKEND
For Immediate Release 10-17-10
By Toby LaGrange for CRSA
Saturday nights racing action will be highlighted by
the appearance of former IndyCar/CART Series competitor Jeff
Andretti and the Jeff Andretti Coaching Group.
The Jeff
Andretti Coaching Group offers a perfect turnkey solution to your high
performance track event or driver training needs. They also offer coaching,
racing driver development, teenage driver development and many other services.
Jeff will be
signing autographs at the CRSA Apparel Trailer during evening.
You can learn
more about the Jeff Andretti Coaching Group log on to their website at www.jeffandretticoachinggroup.com.
The CRSA
would like to thank competitor Greg Jezarian of G. Jezarian, Purveyor of Fine
Jewelry for making their appearance possible. You can learn more at www.GJezarian.com.
The A-Main will be
sponsored by Bruce’s Speed Shop and Wayne Subaru. The night’s Dash event will
be sponsored by Flammer Heating, Cooling and Refrigeration of West Milford, New
Jersey. Chuck Alessi Plumbing and Heating of Middletown will award $50 to the
driver who turns the fastest lap in each heat race.
Heading into
the weekend Matt Tanner holds a slim five point lead over former Dirt Modified pilot Jamie Christian in the battle for
the fifth CRSA series championship. Tanner is the defending series champion.
Billy Jaycox, Jr., John Cunningham and Josh Pieniazek complete the top five.
Tanner and Christian are the only drivers still mathematically alive for the
championship.
This weekend
will mark the fourth appearance for the CRSA at the facility. Billy VanInwegen
won the first visit on May 8th. The CRSA returned on July 17th
with Ryan Smith picking up the win while Tanner won the last visit on August 28th.
The 2010
Magsarus Hard Charger Award will be given out to the driver who improved his
position the most during the A-Main. In the three previous visits Tanner was
the recipient on May 8th while Scott Flammer and Billy Jaycox, Jr.
did the same in the next two events. All three drivers advanced eight
positions.
The Capital
Region Sprint Agency would like to thank our 2010 series sponsors: Pancho’s
Racing Products, Triple X Racecars, Peak Racing Equipment, D&D Auto Supply,
K&N Filters, Magsarus Ignitions, Bruce’s Speedway Shop, Fisher Sprint Parts
Warehouse, Hinchman Racing Uniforms, Kreitz Oval Track Parts Inc., Keizer
Aluminum Wheels, Holiday Inn Express of
The History of the Sport:
Taking you back to October 21, 1956, this week, to the
Champ car/Indy car 100-mile race at
Twenty-six
cars entered on that day to fight for the eighteen spots. Jud Larson won the pole with a speed of
95.188 MPH. The average qualifying speed
was 92.907. Total purse for the event
was $12,336.00.
Those
that were not fast enough to make the eighteen-car field, and had to go home
were:
Jack
Turner, Mel McGaughy, Dempsey Wilson, Ray Crawford, Johnnie Parsons, Roger
McCluskey, Billy Garrett and Jim McWithey.
No “provisional” starting places back then. And only the top 12 cars earned points, too.
Those
that did make the event were, in qualifying order:
Larson,
Pat O’Connor, Rodger Ward, Don Freeland, Jimmy Reece, Bob Veith, George Amick,
Art Bisch, Johnny Boyd, Andy Linden, Ed Elisian, Dick Rathmann, Jimmy Bryan,
Johnny Tolan, Tony Bettenhausen, Elmer George, Bill Cheesbourg and Len Sutton.
O’Connor
led the first 12 laps, and then was passed by Larson, who led the remaining 88
laps. At the end, Larson was trailed by
Freeland, Bryan and Veith – all had completed the full 100 miles. Next, in order, with 99 miles were George,
Reese and Elisian. Boyd was next with
98, then Rathmann, Tolan and
Larson
won by about a third of a mile over second place Freeland.
Some
of the car owners for this event were:
John Zink, Bob Estes, Al Dean, Pete Schmidt, Bruce Bromme, Pete Salemi,
Pat Clancy and Hart Fullerton. Some of
the cars, by name, were: Federal
Engineering Spl., HOW Spl., Bowes Seal Fast Spl., McDaniels/Schroder Offy,
Dayton Steel Offy, Sumar Spl., Hoplins Offy, Wolcott Offy, Whittington Offy and
the Miller/Collins Offy.
Former Dirt Oval (
Quite a surprise
over this past week with the notice coming out about Michael Storms and the 4*
team splitting. I understand that
Michael will be driving one of the back up Madsen owned cars of Brett Hearn in
the Big Block class at ESW.
At Penn Can last
weekend in their “King of the Can” racing event, Mike Mammana was 8th
in the modified feature while Danny Creeden was a DNQ. In the Crate Sportsman feature, Kyle Rohner
was 3rd and Anthony Perrego 14th. In the ROC Sportsman feature, Anthony was 9th
and Brad Szulewski 19th.
For sale:
My son, Eric,
still has the dirt modified for sale:
2006 Teo,
Complete car minus engine. Kirkey full containment seat, Winters rear, Bert
transmission, inboard starter, profile steering, parker pumper, wilwood hubs.
$5000.
Interested? Send me an e-mail at: ygordad@yahoo.com
or send him one at: ema19us@yahoo.com
More racin’ stuff:
NASCAR’s point
standings – two ways – as they used to be (still should in my way of thinking),
and how they are with the “Chase”.
How they still should be:
2010
Sprint Cup Driver 'Classic' Points Standings:
[after race 31
of 36....the OLD way]:
rank, car#, driver, points, behind
1) #29-Kevin Harvick (x), 4459
2) #48-Jimmie Johnson (x), 4210, -249
3) #24-Jeff Gordon (x), 4180, -279
4) #18-Kyle Busch (x), 4131, -328
5) #11-Denny Hamlin (x), 4084, -375
6) #14-Tony Stewart (x), 4073, -386
7) #99-Carl Edwards (x), 4070, -389
8) #31-Jeff Burton (x), 3994, -465
9) #17-Matt Kenseth (x), 3933, -526
10) #2-Kurt Busch (x), 3923, -536
11) #1-Jamie McMurray 3786, -748
12) #16-Greg Biffle (x), 3785, -673
13) #33-Clint Bowyer (x), 3764, -674
And, the “Chase”:
1) #48-Jimmie Johnson [6 wins], 5843
2) #11-Denny Hamlin [6 wins], 5802, -41
3) #29-Kevin Harvick [3 wins], 5766, -77
4) #24-Jeff Gordon, 5687, -156
5) #18-Kyle Busch [3 wins], 5666, -177
6) #14-Tony Stewart [2 wins], 5666, -177
7) #99-Carl Edwards, 5643, -200
8) #16-Greg Biffle [2 wins], 5618, -225
9) #2-Kurt Busch [2 wins], 5606, -237
10) #31-Jeff Burton, 5604, -239
11) #17-Matt Kenseth, 5587, -256
12) #33-Clint Bowyer [1 win], 5543, -300
(Bowyer without 150 pt penalty 5693, -150 would be 4th)
Note: As you can see, there are four drivers in the
chase win no wins in 2010 – Gordon, Edwards,
Breaking news:
Kasey Kahne has
been released from the 9 car and replaced by Aric Almirola. Chances are Kahne will be in the Red Bull #
83 this weekend
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/
Racing on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm
Video time:
Oh yeah! Sprint cars on a “Bull
ring”!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFaAFoNzP6Q&feature=player_embedded
Note: Try to see where they turn
LEFT, to go left. Mostly all right hand
turning folks!
Found the news on Jayski’s website at:
http://jayski.com/cupnews.htm#20101020k
Other (non racing) news:
“
Merkel weighed in for the first time in a blistering debate sparked by a central bank board member saying the country was being made "more stupid" by poorly educated and unproductive Muslim migrants.”
"This approach has failed, totally," she said, adding that
immigrants should integrate and adopt
"We feel tied to Christian values. Those who don't accept them don't have a place here," said the chancellor.
"Subsidising immigrants" isn't sufficient,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101017/wl_afp/germanymuslimreligionimmigration
“All told, one
in seven Americans are living in poverty. To visualize
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20101019/cm_huffpost/767734
O'Donnell questions separation of church and state
In part:
“Republican
Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell of
"Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?" O'Donnell asked, a statement that drew laughter from the audience. When Coons returned to the topic a few minutes later, he said her comment "reveals her fundamental misunderstanding of what our Constitution is."
"The First Amendment establishes the separation, the fact that the federal government shall not establish religion," Coons said.
"The First Amendment does?" O'Donnell interrupted. "You're telling me that the separation of church and state is found in the First Amendment?"
When Coons summarized the amendment as saying government shall make no law establishing religion, O'Donnell interrupted again: "That's in the First Amendment?"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101019/ap_on_el_se/us_delaware_senate
Note: Yes, folks, she is running for office!
Is this true?:
Kinda makes one sit and think about what’s going on, today, in our
world.
Again, this is from an e-mail I received a short time ago:
We now live about 30
miles from
Excuse the language, but
don't excuse the facts. Don't give up your guns, and buy necessary ammunition
if you can find it. Be cautious and alert. Be ready if, God forbid, we need to
protect our families and loved ones.
If you weren't at Rotary
meeting on Friday, you missed the only decent speaker we've had in more than a
year. LTC John Cotter is the 144th Fighter Wing's antiterrorism officer. John
had a two-part presentation. First part was describing his job as the unit's
antiterrorism officer.
Pretty standard stuff.
The second part was
information that will curl your hair. A Part-time air guardsman works as a
checker at local Von's. Two women in full burkas buy every pre-paid cellphone
in the store. Clerk/airman gets to thinking about it. Goes to Cotter and reports
incident. Cotter asks
store for surveillance
video. It's scary enough that he contacts Fresno FBI.
FBI investigates and
determines these women have been doing this all over the Valley. Cell phones
shipped through
The Shell station at
Peach and Shaw. Every time a local GI goes there in fatigues they are asked
specific questions. What is your unit? When are you deploying? How many
aircraft are you taking?
The F-16s out of
Cotter said the ragheads
(But we don't profile) are always probing the base. Two dorks in a pickup show
up at the front gate wanting to deliver a package marked Air National Guard,
I asked Cotter why we
haven't seen anything about this in The Bee, on KMJ, on local TV news. He said
they're not interested. Since Friday I've learned of two other things. My
brother-in-law, Frank, (management at Avaya) had a Muslim tech who took a
leave-of-absence for 6 weeks in
A Muslim who owns a
liquor store in my former hometown of Kingsburg was constantly bugging
customers to buy guns for him. Finally one of the guys I grew up with called
the FBI.
We are a country at war
and the enemy is among us. I don't care what Janet
Napolitano says, it's a fight to the death and we should be prepared as
possible. Brother-in-law Frank has a theory and I think it may be closer to the
truth than Homeland Security wants to admit.
There are a certain number (probably a large number) of Muslims among us who
are awaiting the trigger date and will begin randomly killing as many of us as
they can, sort of a Fort Hood on steroids. I know I'm getting prepared to shoot
back.
Two items of interest:
Sheriff Margaret Mims wants to grant concealed carry permits to all who are
qualified. Columnist Jim Boren, among the most bleeding of the bleeding heart
liberals, says it's time for
places other than
Closing with this:
Ralph Corwin sent
me this the other day via e-mail. Hard
to visualize just how the engines work like they do, especially after they’re
usually rebuilt after each and every run.
Read this thru slowly and try to comprehend the amount of
force produced in just under 4 seconds! There are no rockets or airplanes
built by any government in the world that can accelerate from a standing start
as fast as a Top Fuel Dragster or Funny Car!
DEFINITION OF ACCELERATION
One top fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine
makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows of stock cars at the Daytona 500.
It takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 6,000+ horsepower of an NHRA Top
Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels.
Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitro methane
per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less
energy being produced.
A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the
dragster's supercharger.
With 3,000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on
overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before
ignition.
Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.
At the stoichiometric (stoichiometry: methodology and technology by which
quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions are determined)
1.7:1 air/fuel mixture of nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures
7,050 deg F.
Nitro methane burns yellow... The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks
at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by
the searing exhaust gases.
Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug.
This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After halfway, the
engine is dieseling from compression, plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1,400
deg F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.
If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds
up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the
block in half.
In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate an average
of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph (well before half-track), the launch
acceleration approaches 8G's.
Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before
you have completed reading this sentence.
Top fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!
Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.
The redline is actually quite high at 9,500 rpm.
Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once
NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimate $1,000.00 per second.
The current top fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.428 seconds
for the quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher,
at
Putting all of this into perspective:
You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter
'twin-turbo' powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up
the road, a top fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile
strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette
hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and pass the
dragster at an honest 200 mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that
moment.
The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but
you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within 3
seconds, the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line,
a quarter mile away from where you just passed him.
Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph and
not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within
a mere 1,320 foot long race course.
...... and that my friend, is ACCELERATION!
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