Racin'
& Internet Stuff:
06/23/2011
First:
Quite a hectic week for this writer. Late last week, our two daughters, Sandra and
Sarah, who live down in
Note: OCFS did get their show
in.
Second:
I had a couple of appointments this past Monday – one for me and my doctor and one for my furry four legged friend, our dog, Max and the vet. Me? I’ll be having a bunch of tests done over the next few days. Just hoping the results are somewhat favorable and nothing major has to be done, down the road. As for Max, he got a distemper shot and a couple of other things. Vet said he was in real good shape. Well, that was until around 6:30 Monday evening, then he just seemed to mope around, standing still, not attempting to walk. I went over to him and put my hand under his chin to lift his face up, and he let out a yelp, like I was hurting him. Things got progressively worse during the night. A call to the Vet in the AM on Tuesday might seem to have helped. Gave him an aspirin and that seems to have helped some.
Third:
I
see there are only 44 entrants for the Cup Road Race at Infineon Raceway. Being a road course, there are some “road
racers” taking the place of some Cup regulars, like Tony Ave in the # 38, Andy
Pilgrim in the # 46, PJ Jones in the # 77 and Brian Simo
in the # 81.
Fourth:
Fifth:
“How many here,
if any, remember the smell of racing cars using Castor Oil?
Oh, how sweet it was!!!”
I found a short
thread about this over on the Track Forum.
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?152122-The-Smell
Note: I love this post on the thread:
“O.K., you had a outdoor cookout. You are all done cooking, and you have embers still burning. Take a metal pie plate, put it on the burner. Then add a couple drops of castor oil. Let the neighbors try and figure out what you are cooking.”
Sixth:
“Big Show III” – It was, in a way, what I expected. Time trials set the field, so the faster cars start up front. Passing? Oh yeah! Mostlly on re-starts only. I don’t think they caught the passing, which to me was a tad early, by Matt Sheppard, on one of the last re-starts, though. Once they come out of the second turn, after a re-start, it’s basically single file – all night long. For some unknown reason, I’d say over 90% of those that were racing just refuse to go up on top to try to advance their positions. Maybe, during the heats, they should put cones out on the track to move the groove up a little?
The crowd, from
where I was, in the ˝ covered, almost equaled that of an Eastern States
Weekend. I didn’t venture out fo my seat all night long, so I have no idea as to how the
covered grand stand was. The first turn
bleachers were basically empty. The
drive-in was maybe 85-90% full.
As usual, the
speaker system for the ˝ covered was hard to hear. I know it could be better because a week ago,
for a few seconds, it was almost equal to what can be heard in the full
covered.
The announcer, at
times did make mention of the 50/50. Did
they ever call the winning number? To be
honest, we were in our seats prior to 5:00.
The racing ended close to 11:30, or thereabouts. Never once did I see a 50/50 ticket seller!!!
Note: Info I’ve seen, on the Internet, is that
there were no 50/50 ticket sellers. Who
missed the boat on that deal?
I wish I had a
dollar for every cup of beer ($4.00 – cup??) that I saw being held/drank by
those in attendance. Maxwells should be
happy that JP’s Stadium Snack Bar is closed, although a lot of the OC regulars
now bring eats with them, as I do.
Every Saturday
night, this year, that I’ve gone to OCFS, not once did they check my
cooler. I did inform my daughters,Sandy and Sarah, prior to us leaving for the “Big Show
III”, that “Watch, tonight they’ll check our coolers”. I was right.
They did. So what’s the
difference?
Note: If you’re interested in the results and lap
times, you can find all the nights racing stuff here: http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=675739
OCFS “Rumor”:
Something I
thought happened, kind of looks like it did.
I’m talking about the closure of JP’s Stadium Snack Bar. From what they (the former owners) told me,
last year, they were able to sell it to one of their employees. I always thought that a certain individual –
well, Maxwell’s Special Events Catering, might have been behind the closing of
JP’s. In a way, I guess that’s what did
happen, since I’ve been told that after the sale of JP’s to one of their
employees, the rent kind of went up quite a bit. It seems that someone was responsible for
that. Now, keep in mind, this is under
“Rumor”. I’ll let you do your own
thinking on this one. Personally, I
think that whoever (whomever??) signed that “supposed” 99 year “lease” thing
with Maxwell’s, should have his head examined – if he’s still with us, that is. Why in the world would you commit to something
that might be a bust? And if that person
that did sign the deal is/was not an attorney, I would think his attorney
should know enough not to sign such a thing.
My thoughts, of course!
Seventh:
OK, I realize
that those that live in the South are proud of their heritage. And, I imagine that at some southern race
tracks, when those southern folk are in the infield, they would/might proudly
display the Confederate Flag. Isn’t it
odd that we never see that on TV?
Coming up:
Accord:
Friday, June 24th,
KB Photos Night. Modifieds $2000 to win, Five Mile Point Southern Tier 100
Qualifier Plus Sportsman, Spec Sportsman, Pro Stocks-Pure Stocks & Legends.
Note: I hope they have more than ONE Legends car
show up!
OCFS:
Saturday, June
25th // Arkel Motors - King of the Track Part 2 - M/SP/PRO/SS
Saturday, June 25th
Weekly Divisions & Budget Sportsman (LV/Accord 602 Chase)
Tuesday, June
28: CARQUEST Auto Parts, Waste
Management & Sayer’s Auto Wrecking Present “EVE OF DESTRUCTION” School Bus
Race, Trailer Race, 4-Cylinders, Reverse Race Roll Over Contest EXTREME
STUNTS & CARNAGE PLUS MUCH MUCH MORE!!!!!! Gates
Open @ 5pm | Show @7pm
Note: No, you don’t want to see the weather
forecast for the rest of this week!
Found
on Jayski’s website:
Fox interested in
moving some races to SPEED:
Fox has held
informal discussions with NASCAR about a new TV rights agreement that would
allow the network to put some of its Sprint Cup races on Speed. David Hill, Fox
Sports chairman, said Fox would like to see some of the 13 regular-season races
it televises on Speed. A Fox source said the company could ask for as many as
six races for the network. Fox is five years into an eight-year, $1.76 billion
contract with NASCAR that mandates Fox televise all of its Sprint Cup races on
its broadcast channel except for two non-points, specialty events - the Sprint
All-Star Race and the Gatorade Duels from Daytona, which air on Speed. If it
wants to move regular-season Cup races to Speed before its contract expires in
2014, it would have to amend its agreement. Fox sources were skeptical such a
move would be made before the contract ends. The move would allow Speed to use
live NASCAR broadcasts to increase the license fee that cable and satellite
operators pay each month, which is currently around 30 cents, according to
sources. In addition to talking about putting Sprint Cup races on Speed, Fox
has raised the possibility of making NASCAR a stakeholder in Speed and turning
it into a joint-venture project. Sources familiar with those conversations said
that they have been ongoing for several years. By partnering with NASCAR on
Speed, Fox could avoid competing with the property if it decided to launch its
own channel.(Sports Business Journal/Scene Daily)(6-20-2011)
Note: I’m not positive, but I think I might have
said in previous columns that I can see the NASCAR races just being telecast on
SPEED TV in the future.
Red Bull leaving
NASCAR? UPDATES:
Multiple people
familiar with the decision say Red Bull [#4-Kahne & #83-Vickers] plans to
leave NASCAR at the end of this season. Those familiar with the decision also
say a team official traveled to Michigan Speedway last weekend to inform
industry leaders of Red Bull's decision. The people spoke on condition of
anonymity because an official announcement has not been made to team employees.
Red Bull is both the owner and sponsor of the two-car NASCAR team. The team has
struggled since its 2007 entry into NASCAR. Red Bull also owns a pair of
two-car Formula One teams. Current points leader Sebastian Vettel
is the reigning world champion and has won five of seven Grand Prix races this
season.(Associated
Press)(6-20-2011)
UPDATE: Sources say employees at Red Bull Racing have been told that the NASCAR
Sprint Cup operation will close at the end of the year. A surprise visit by
race director Thomas Ueberall had crew members
scrambling for job openings at
UPDATE 2: Statement from Red Bull Racing: "Red Bull Racing Team is
currently seeking outside investors as we evaluate next steps in the NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series. We are not at liberty to comment on details while negotiations
are under way. Red Bull fully supports NASCAR for the remainder of the 2011
season as we fight for victories and a position in the 2011 Chase for the
Sprint Cup."(Red Bull Racing)(6-20-2011)
Gibbs
courting Edwards?
Am
hearing that Carl Edwards, currently the driver of the #99 Roush Fenway Racing
Ford, is being courted by Joe Gibbs Racing to take over the #20 Home Depot
Toyota ride. Where would that leave current #20 driver, Joey Logano,
to the long rumored 4th Joe Gibbs car, no word on who would be the sponsor, if
it happens.(6-17-2011)
JGR teams face
penalties for oil pans:
The Joe Gibbs
Racing teams of #18-Kyle Busch, #11-Denny Hamlin and #20-Joey Logano all face possible penalties after an issue was
discovered in inspection Friday morning at Michigan before practice began. John
Darby, Cup series director, said that all three Gibbs cars had oil pans that
had not been submitted for approval before competition. "We had them pull
(those) off and put what we're accustomed to, what has been submitted back on
their cars,'' Darby said. All three teams face possible penalties for the
infraction. "Chances are great (a penalty) wouldn't involve points,''
Darby said.(Hampton
Roads)(6-17-2011)
UPDATE:
Joe Gibbs Racing
had unapproved- and unusually heavy - oil pans seized from its three NASCAR
Sprint Cup cars Friday morning at Michigan International Speedway. Officially,
the issue was that the oil pans had not been submitted for approval by NASCAR,
a standard procedure for the thousands of parts and pieces on race cars. But a
bigger issue ultimately might be weight. While a standard NASCAR Sprint Cup oil
pan weighs about 4 pounds, the three taken off the Gibbs cars weighed an
estimated 20-30 pounds apiece. Competitors contacted by SPEED.com and
FOXSports.com said the heavy oil pans would allow the teams to remove weight
elsewhere in the car and put it low and on the front of the car, which could provide
a handling advantage, perhaps a substantial one. Officials did not penalize JGR
at the track but said in a statement, "NASCAR will discuss early next week
if there will be any additional penalties assessed to these three teams."(SPEED)(6-18-2011)
UPDATE 2:
NASCAR announced
today that the #11, No. 18 and No. 20 teams that compete in the NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series have been penalized for rules violations discovered during opening
day inspection June 17 at Michigan International Speedway. All three of the Joe
Gibbs Racing cars were found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions
detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR officials
that the race equipment used in an event does not conform to NASCAR rules
detailed in Section 20 of the NASCAR rule book, or has not been approved by
NASCAR prior to the event); and 20-5.5.4A (oil pan, failure to submit
component) of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book. As a result, the
three crew chiefs Mike Ford (#11 car), Dave Rogers (#18 car) and Greg Zipadelli (#20 car) have been fined $50,000 each and placed
on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. In addition, all three car chiefs Chris
Gillin (#11 car), Wesley Sherrill (#18 car) and Jason
Shapiro (#20 car) along with Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Jimmy Makar have been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec.
31.(NASCAR)(6-21-2011)
UPDATE 3 –
Statement from JGR:
"We received
NASCAR's ruling today with regard to penalties for having oil pans on our cars
that had not been submitted for approval prior to going through inspection on
Friday. Although the parts were not illegal, we did not follow the proper
submission for approval process. We will not appeal NASCAR's
ruling."(JGR)(6-22-2011)
Stock Car Racing
named
With the stroke of
a pen Tuesday, June 21st at Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina Governor
Beverly Perdue signed Senate Bill 322 into law, making stock car racing the
official state sport and adding to the legacy of fabulous firsts at the
historic 1.5-mile superspeedway. Perdue was joined by a host of special guests
on hand to watch the bill signing ceremony, including Marcus Smith, president
and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway; NASCAR Hall of Famers Ned
Jarrett and Bobby Allison; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver David Ragan; and a
group of fourth and fifth grade students from Lake Norman Elementary School and
Mt. Mourne IB School in Iredell County, who
originated the bill. In addition, 12 grassroots Legend Car and Bandolero drivers, industry leaders and dignitaries who are
members of the North Carolina Motorsports Advisory Council and Charlotte Motor
Speedway fans were in attendance.
"Sometimes it takes really bright kids to tell all of us grown-ups what we
ought to be doing. And that's what these students are about today," said
Perdue. "They found something that should have been right under our noses
because we all love NASCAR, we love Charlotte Motor Speedway, we get really excited during race season. So it's pretty
cool for these students to understand that we needed to do better."
North Carolina now joins other U.S. states with an official state sport,
including Alaska (dog mushing); Colorado
(snowboarding and skiing); Massachusetts (basketball); Minnesota (hockey); and
South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming (rodeo).(CMS)(6-22-2011)
Congresswoman
renews effort to end military sponsorship:
Rep. Betty McCollum
(D-Minn.) is readying her next move in a months-long
effort to slash Pentagon spending for NASCAR and other sports sponsorships.
McCollum questions whether the
Note: In a way, I kind of agree with her on this –
why use tax payer monies to help support a race team? Are there really enough young people out
there, age wise, that are eligible for military service?
Found on the “Frontstretch”:
Tom Bowles – The
death of NASCAR’s Middle Class:
http://www.frontstretch.com/tbowles/34361/
Bryan Davis Keith –
5 Points to ponder:
http://www.frontstretch.com/bkeith/34351/
Phil Allaway – Talking NASCAR TV:
http://www.frontstretch.com/pallaway/34353/
Indycar stuff:
“The best part was the Izod IndyCar Series' on-track
product. Dario
Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves waged an
entertaining three-man battle that was finally resolved in Franchitti's
favor when Kanaan crashed and Castroneves
was forced to make an unscheduled stop to replace a tire punctured by the
subsequent debris.
The dark side was
the sparse attendance, estimated at no more than 15,000 in the 38,000-capacity
grandstands. The weak crowd was added proof that even in historically strong
markets for Indy car racing, the sport continues to
struggle to gain traction (and regain its fan base) three years into the
unified era.
In addition, the
promoters incurred wrath by charging for parking and restricting the ability to
bring in coolers. Grandstand seats were reasonably priced at $25 and up, but
paddock access should have been included, not an additional $40 (!) charge.”
http://espn.go.com/racing/blog/_/name/oreovicz_john
Note: Somehow, I can’t get it out of my head that
there are three major things that are contributing to the lack of attendance at
the Indy car events – the influx of foreign drivers and how they’ve gone to
more and more road races, and the lack of the Indy drivers from participating
in other forms of racing, like Sprint Cars and Midgets. Apparently, due, mainly
to “contracts” in today’s world, drivers can no longer participate on races out
of the Indy car “realm”. Well, in most
cases, that is. Tony Kanaan
seems to have a blast when racing the Late Models at the “Prelude to the Dream”
races, and I read that Scott Dixon wanted to race in last Years “Prelude” race,
but was told he was “too late”. Was
there an invite issued to this years Indy 500 winner? I doubt it, since Kanaan
was already invited. Some drivers are
now seeming to be getting interested in driving other types of cars –
“switching seats” with drivers from other forms of race – although that seems
to be only on road courses, where speeds are not as high. Yes, I’ve read where the wife of Jimmie
Johnson says “No!” to
him running an open wheel (Indy car) on an oval. And, yes, I’ve also read where it was posted
– “Imagine AJ’s wife, or
Yup, gone are the
days when one could see your favorite Indy car driver race a midget or sprint
car on the same weekend they have an Indy car race near bye.
I have a photo in
my computer of the start of a midget race at
Former
Note: I’ve been away from the track for more than a
few years now, so it’s very possible that there have been other drivers – other
than those I make mention of, that have also gone onto bigger forms or racing
vehicles, so chances are real good that I do not know their names. If you know of anyone that’s gone onto bigger
things, and had run at the Dirt Oval, how about dropping me a line and let me
know their names and where and with what they are now racing. Thanks!
At Kutztown, last
Wednesday, June 15th, Luke Schostkewitz
was a DNQ for the 600 Micro Sprint feature.
Mike Mammana was 9th in the Sportsman feature at Big
Diamond on 6/17.
At Penn Can, in the
CRSA 305 Sprint Car feature, Josh Pieniazek was s8th,
John Virgilio 12th, Billy VanInwegen 16th and his sister, Emily 20th. Brittany Tresch was
a DNQ.
Tiffany Wambold was 13th in the wingless 600 Micro
Sprint feature on 6/17, and 3rd in the 270 Micro Sprint feature on
6/18 at Borgers.
Rich Coons won
another Sportsman feature at
At Mountain
Speedway, Nick Pecko was 8th in the
Modified feature.
Bobby Hackel, IV was 4th and Alex Bell 9th
in the Modified feature at Devil’s Bowl.
AJ Filbeck was 5th in the Sportsman feature at
Utica/Rome.
At Hamlin, in the
Wingless 600 Micro Sprint feature, Kyle Rohner was 6th
and Joe Kata 7th. In the nights 270 Micro Sprint feature, Rick Casario was a DNS.
In the 5/21 makeup feature, Rick was 7th. In the 600 Micro Sprint Rookie feature, Jacob
Hendershot was that races winner.
At the Greenwood
Valley Action Track, in the 600 Micro Sprint feature, Geordan
Farry was 10th Cait
Chambers 11th and Molly Chambers was a DNF. In the 6/11 make-up feature, Molly was a DNF
and Cait a DNS.
At New Egypt, in
the TSRS 305 Sprint Car feature, Brittany Tresch was
17th and Brian Pomponio was 22nd.
At
Danny Creeden was 10th in the Modified feature at Five
Mile Point.
Kyle Armstrong was
22nd in the Modified feature at
At OCFS, Michael
Storms won the Modified feature, while Billy VanInwegen
was 3rd, Tim Hindley 8th and
Mike Ruggiero 20th. Clinton
Mills was a DNQ. In the Sportsman
feature, RJ Smykla was 2nd, Brian Krummel 8th, Matt Hitchcock 10th,
Jimmy Johnson 15th, Matt Janiak 16th,
Zack Vavricka 21st, John Lodini 24th and Keith Still 26th. Kyle Redner was a
DNQ.
At the “Big Show
III” – In the 100 lap SDS race, Michael Storms was 13th and Tim Hindley 22nd. Not qualifying were Billy VanInwegen,
Johnny Guarino, Clinton Mills and Mike Ruggiero.
In the Sportsman
feature, Brian Krummel was the winner, with Matt
Hitchcock 5th, Tyler Boniface 6th, John Lodini 7th, RJ Smykla
13th, Jason Roe 15th, Jimmy Johnson 17th,
Corey Ziegler 24th, Matt Janiak 29th
and Keith Still 30th.
Note: There’s a great possibility that I might have
missed some, so if I did, I’m sorry!
Going back, in time – in
racing history:
Note: Most of the following information was found
here:
http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/history.html
Covering
the days from June 24th to the 30th.
JUNE 24
1889
Howard (Howdy) Wilcox... Born ... AAA driver from 1910 to 1923. Wilcox won the 1919
1911
Juan Manuel Fangio ... Born ... A driver from
1961
Wayman "Hut" Stricklin...
Born ... NASCAR driver 1986- 2002.
1985
Al Smith... Died ... USAC
driver from the 1960's
JUNE 25
1950
Jack McGrath won the 100
mile AAA Championship race on the 1 Mile Dirt Oval Langhorne Speedway,
Langhorne, PA. Henry Banks was second followed by Chuck Stevenson, Duke Dinsmore and Duke Nalon.
2000
Jeff Gordon won the NASCAR
Winston Cup Save Mart/Kragen 350K over Sterling
Marlin at the Infineon Raceway,
2006
Jeff Gordon won the NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Save Dodge/Save Mart 350 over Ryan Newman at the Infineon Raceway,
JUNE 26
1939
Dick Moroso
... Born ... Motorsports performance parts manufacture and racetrack operator.
JUNE 27
1963
Johnny Benson Jr. ... Born ... NASCAR driver and the son of former
1994
Sam Hanks ... Died ... He
won his first championship in 1937 on the West Coast in the AMA. He barnstormed
the country, racing on the board tracks at Soldier Field in Chicago and the Los
Angeles Coliseum Motordome. Hanks reportedly won the
first two board track races at Soldier Field in 1939. Hanks won the 1940 VFW
Motor City Speedway championship. After World War II, he captured the 1946 URA
Blue Circuit Championship. He won the 1947 Night before the 500 midget car race. He was the 1949 AAA National Midget champion. He won
the 1956
JUNE 28
1931
Junior Johnson ... Born ...
Junior was a legendary moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the
early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in
his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s he became a highly
successful NASCAR racing team owner; he sponsored such NASCAR champions as Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip.
He is credited with discovering drafting.
1949
Bill Sheffler
... Died ... AAA driver from the 1940's. He died in a practice crash for the
AAA race at the Trenton Speedway (NJ).
JUNE 29
1952
Tom Cherry won the 100 mile
NASCAR / Champ Car race on the 1 Mile Dirt Oval Langhorne Speedway, Langhorne,
PA. Steve Yanigan was second followed by Wally
Campbell, Tony Bonadies and Tex Keene.
Note: More about this race can be found, below, in
the “More racin’ stuff”.
JUNE 30
1930
Chuck
Booth ... Born ... USAC driver from the 1960's.
1957
Sterling Marlin ... Born
...Former NASCAR driver.
1974
Eddie Johnson... Died ... AAA/USAC driver from the 1950's & 60's. Ran in 13 Indy 500's with a best finish of 6th in 1960.
News
from the AARN:
From their June 14th
issue:
In Ernie Saxton’s column
he, along with quite a few others, I’d imagine, would like TV to show us the
debris when there is a yellow for debris on the track.
He makes mention of a
possible boycott of the NASCAR Hall of Fame because Wendell Scott has not been
inducted.
Note: I’m trying to figure out why he should be in
the
Jerry Reigel,
in his column made mention that Lance Dewease now has
76 wins at Williams Grove.
At the ASCoC
race at Williams Grove, there were only three ASCoC
regulars in action.
Maybe you already know
this, but Sammy Swindell is second in WoO Sprint Car wins to Steve Kinser.
As of a little over a week
ago, Donny Schatz had a one point lead over Joey Saldana in the WoO Sprint Car standings.
Jac Haudenschild won his 1st
race at Atomic Speedway – now KC Raceway.
Thirty-six years later, 16 year old Sheldon Haudenschild
won his first at the same track.
Up at Stafford Speedway,
Keith Rocco, a top runner in the NASCAR Asphalt Modifieds
dislocated his left arm in an accident.
Kyle Hardner,
in his column said that there will be no more mirrors allowed at Mountain
Speedway, except for the INEX Legends Cars.
In the column by Don and Jo
Ann Davies, they make mention of the John Roese # 28
Pro Stock that runs at Accord, is the same car that his father raced some 30
years ago as a Late Model at Fonda. That
car is still VERY competitive, too.
Joe Johnson, in his column
says that the WRG has paid about ˝ half of what it was said they owed at Cayuga
County Speedway for water usage. They’ll
pay the rest of it back over the next year.
They’re still looking for ways to make sure the water bill is being
calculated correctly.
A full page ad for the
Roush/Yates Used Racing Engines was on page 57.
They start at $17,500.00.
Interested? Call 877-798-7977 or
go to www.roushyatesparts.com.
Next years Motor Sports
show at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA will be h led on
January 20, 21 & 22. That on page 58.
On page 65, I notice in the
race results for Black Rock, in the Tobias SpeedSTR race, there were only 11
cars. It seems to me that they have not
increased their car counts all that much over the years. That’s one of the problems of having a “Spec”
racecar.
When I was down in
On page 69 it made mention
of two-time ARDC Midget champion Hank Rogers, Jr. going to run some of the USAC
Dirt Midget Associations events – six times at Bear Ridge.
Also, Bristol Motor
Speedway made the listing as one of the worlds top 100
“Sports Destinations” places to visit.
That’s the only NASCAR track to do that.
Race chaser Guy Smith was
over in
More
racin’ stuff:
That
100 mile NASCAR Champ Car race at Langhorne on June 29, 1952:
Tom
Cherry won by a lap. He averaged 87.315
MPH. His car was powered with a Mercury
engine. Following Cherry, as noted above
were Steve Yanigan, Wally Campbell, Tony Bonadies and Tex Keene – the top five. Next, in order were:
6. Bob Halston
7. Gene Darragh
8. Mike Magill
9. Buck Baker
10. Lyle Scott
11. Charlie Miller
12. Pete Peterson
13. Mickey Fenn
14. Budd Olson
15. Frankie Schneider
16. Al Keller
17. Ed “Dutch” Schaefer
18. Bob Johnson
19. Sam Waldrop
20. Steve McGrath
21. Fred “Jiggs”
Peters
22. Len Brown
23. Bill Miller was a DNS.
Yanigan, Bonadies, Keene, Miller, Keller, Schaefer,
McGrath and Peters are drivers that had competed with the ARDC Midgets in the
mid to late 40’s.
The
various engines in the race were:
Mercury - 4, Ford
7, Chrysler 1, Nash 1, GMC
1, Cadillac 2, Olds 3, DeSoto 2 and Kaiser 2.
Racing and
television:
Racing on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm
Some non-racing stuff:
NBC apologizes for omitting
‘under God’ from pledge before U.S. Open.
“Rory Mcllroy has almost certainly drained all the drama out of the on-course play at the U.S. Open. But outside the ropes, NBC led off its telecast with an immediately controversial pre-taped segment. Listen to the pledge of allegiance that runs alongside the patriotic images, and later to the one that overlays video of previous U.S. Open winners”
“In case it's been
awhile since you said the pledge in elementary school, the first version left
out the words "under God" and "indivisible." The second
went even further, knocking out "one nation" as well.”
Note # 1: As I posted on Facebook
– how can someone be so , stupid?
Note # 2: On the Track Forum, believe it or not,
there’s quite a discussion going on, about this:
Post office
suspends retirement contributions:
In part:
“
The agency said
Wednesday it is acting to conserve cash as it continues to lose money. The post
office was $8 billion in the red last year because of the combined effects of
the recession and the switch of much mail business to the Internet. It faces
the possibility of running short of money by the end of this fiscal year in
September.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110622/ap_on_re_us/us_postal_problems
Note: A long time ago, we lived in Sparrow Bush,
NY, just outside of Port Jervis. I had a
PO Box at the time, and still have it, since some mail, like Medicare and
Social Security stuff had been sent there back then, and even today.
They had small
waste baskets for their customers to drop their junk mail into. Well, those wastebaskets just had to be
replaced by higher and bigger plastic containers with locking tops on them. So why weren’t the wastebaskets good
enough? Why, if the US Postal Service is
in such dire financial straights, did they go to the extra expense and replace
those wastebaskets? Kinda
dumb move, I’d say.
Tesla Roadster
reaches the end of the line
In part:
“Automaker Tesla
Motors (TSLA)
will stop taking orders for the car in the
Note: Some pretty good comments can be found if you
scroll down from the article.
Is
this true?:
Got, what follows, in an e-mail a little over a
week ago:
Part 2 of 3:
What if they left?
At
least 400,000 anchor babies would not be born in our country, costing us $109
billion per year per cycle. At least 86 hospitals in
Americans
wouldn't suffer thousands of TB and hepatitis cases rampant in our
country-brought in by illegals unscreened at our
borders.
Our cities
would see 20 million less people driving, polluting and grid locking our
cities. It would also put the 'progressives' on the horns of a dilemma;
illegal aliens and their families cause 11% of our
greenhouse gases.
Over
one million of Mexico's poorest citizens now live inside and along our border
from Brownsville, Texas to San Diego, California in what the New York Times
called, 'colonias' or new neighborhoods. Trouble is,
those living areas resemble
The New York Times reported them to be
By enforcing our laws, we could repatriate them back to
It's time to stand up for our country, our culture, our
civilization and our way of life.
Part 3 next week, some interesting
statistics, folks.
Video time:
In one of my
recent columns, I questioned why Dale Earnhardt, Jr. hasn’t raced in the
“Prelude to the Dream” races. Maybe this
video, when he had that fiery crash when racing a Corvette, might be part of
the reason? What I’ve found rather
amazing is that he was able, in such a short amount of time,
realize that he had to exit out of the door, and not through the window, as is
the norm when racing NASCAR cars. He was
quoted as saying that someone did help him out of the car, and as you can see,
there is no visible person helping him.
Reading between the lines, it seems that he might have thought his
father had helped him. I always wondered
where they got the camera shot of him, in the car, with all the fire around his
person. Where was that camera?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGR0KWLs51c
Closing with this:
PREGNANT AT 71
A woman went to the doctor's
office, where she was seen by one of the older doctors.
After about four minutes in the examination room, she burst out,
screaming as she ran down the hall.
A young doctor
stopped her and asked what the problem was, and she told him her story.
After listening, he had her sit down and relax in another room.
The young doctor
marched down the hallway back to where the old doctor was writing on his
clipboard.
"What the
heck is the matter with you?" the young doctor demanded.
"Mrs... Terry is 71 years old, has four grown children and
seven grandchildren, and you told her she was pregnant?"
The old doctor
continued writing, and without looking up said,
"Does she
still have the hiccups?"
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