Racin' & Internet Stuff:

                                      By Tom Avenengo

                                         Volume # 73

                                           09/22/2011

 

First:

I’m starting this column on Sunday, September 18th.  I’m hoping that by this time (Thursday) I’m off of Jury Duty, but if not, I may have to still be in court on Friday, then I sure hope to get out early enough to get up to the Accord Speedway and not have to park out in the woods, so to say, and be able to get my normal seat – or seats, since other family members will be there, too.

Update:  On Tuesday, we never did get to hear anything, but were told to return on Wednesday at 9:00 AM – guess it’s time for closing arguments and then we’ll get the case to deliberate on.

Update:  On Wednesday afternoon, we finally got to hear the particulars and how the law will work on the case I’ve been on.  We got to deliberate a little over half an hour, and will return to the courthouse at 9:00 AM on Thursday.

 

Second:

If you read last weeks column fairly close, you might have noticed that as of today, I’m now 74 years old.  It’s unbelievable how fast the time goes by, especially as we get older.

Also on today, the 22nd, a grand daughter, Samantha Avenengo was born, back in 1988.  Wow!  She’s now 23!

 

Third:

Oh, as for Accord this coming weekend – no, you really don’t want to see the “long range” weather forecast, as of Sunday, anyway.  Monday the forecast was about the same.  Tuesday, it was this, which is worse:

Thursday: Rain showers in the morning then thundershowers in the afternoon. High 72F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

Friday: Thundershowers. Highs in the low 70s and lows in the mid 60s.

Saturday: Rain. Highs in the upper 60s and lows in the mid 60s. Potential for heavy rainfall

The forecast from Wednesday – not much different.  As of now I think we might have to wait another week.

The forecast as of 11:15 PM on Wednesday night:

Tomorrow: Rain showers in the morning then thundershowers in the afternoon. High 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

Tomorrow night: Scattered thunderstorms during the evening followed by a few showers overnight. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.

Friday: Showers and thundershowers likely. High 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.

Saturday: Showers, maybe a rumble of thunder. Highs in the upper 60s and lows in the low 60s.

 

Fourth:

 

The “Freedom 76” race at the Grandview Speedway was held this past Saturday, and it was announced that for next year the winner of this race will get $50,000.00.  That is a lot of dollars, my friends.  So the question will be – will DIRTcar or The RoC schedule a race against it?  I don’t see the RoC doing it, but I can see DIRTcar going against it.

 

Fifth:

Langhorne – the big oiled dirt circle racetrack – prior to it getting paved in the late 60’s - a “killer” track if there ever was one.  I witnessed some fatalities there.  But back on September 1, 1957, Charlie Musselman had one of the worst racing accidents I’ve ever witnessed.  At Langhorne, I usually sat in what could be said was the fourth turn area, where the stands were about even with the track surface.  Down into the first turn and the “Puke Hollow” area, the track was quite a bit lower than the stands, mainly for drainage, with the stands being level.  And, I usually sat pretty high in those stands, too.  On this day, Musselman happened to run over a wheel of the Joe Barzda stretched midget, in this fourth turn area, and got launched into a series of end over end flips.  On the very first flip, he was thrown out of the car.  Two photographers caught the action and every photo basically showed the car flipping and Musselman flying high in the air over it.  Had Musselman remained in the car, I would have witnessed another fatality, since the cockpit basically got closed up when the car landed on its tail on one of the flips and the cockpit closed up.  Back then, the Sprint Cars were turning the track at about an average of 109 MPH – and those speeds were basically like that around the whole track.  God must have been watching over Musselman on that day because, believe it or not, he didn’t even break any bones.  Here’s a link to those photos:

http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/showthread.php?p=849

Kinda lucky, huh?

 

Sixth:

From last weeks column:

“SEPTEMBER 20

1952

Bill Schindler... Died ... East Coast midget, sprint and Indy car driver. Raced with only one leg after a crash in 1936, but died in an AAA sprint car race at Allentown PA.  In 1947 he won 53 features and ended up 2nd in points to George Rice for the ARDC championship.  He came back and won 53 more features in 1948 and the ARDC championship.  He, in a way, was tested to see if he could drive Indy (Champ) cars, with just one leg, when he drove the # 17 (Clark Gable car) car in the dirt track action, in the movie "To Please A Lady".  In 1936, he vowed to never race two races in one day, which he was scheduled to do the day he lost his leg.  He kept his word until 9/20/1952, when he raced the Sprint Car at Allentown, then was to run a midget that night at the Hatfield Speedway.”

 

I sent out a short note to some, about it being the anniversary of Schindlers death, on Monday night.  By Tuesday morning, I had quite a few responses.  One of those that got back to me was from Sarah “Sally” Strickland, the daughter of George Rice.  She had this to say:

“Did you know my dad pulled him out of that car in Mineola?  I was with my dad when we heard Schindler was killed.  Never saw my dad so shook up.  Thought he would quit racing that day.”

 

 

Seventh:

 

A few questions:

 

Should auto racing be considered a sport?

 

With so many youngsters now in “bigger” forms of racing, like Sportsman cars, and with some of the drivers being 14 – 15 & 16, and still in school, can they compete in school athletics since they could, in a way, be considered as “professionals” since they win monies while racing?

 

Back some years, there was a race driver – Ray Bateman, who raced modifieds here in the Northeast.  Naturally, when he raced, he got prize monies, so technically, he was a “professional” or “professional athlete” if racing is to be considered as a sport.  Now I don’t know if the Olympic committee back in those years when Bateman raced, considered racing as a “sport”, but he did compete in the Olympics in the Luge competition, which is, in a way, a “racing event”.

 

 

Eighth:

 

Looking at the entry list for the races at Loudon this coming weekend, I see there are 46 entrants for the Cup race and only 33 for the 36-car field in the truck race.  That’s as of Tuesday - I should ad.

 

 

Ninth:

 

Do you think that NASCAR drivers are not being kept busy?  Check out some schedules, here – from Jayski’s website:

 

http://www.jayski.com/pages/appear.htm

 

 

Ninth:

 

I was tempted to put this as another “is this true?”, but figured I’d throw it in here:

 

Again, via an e-mail

 

Who says stimulus money is not working??

 

How Lovely

 

THE STIMULUS AT WORK!

Some have said that the stimulus hasn't saved any jobs,

but here is a case where at least one job was saved.

 

Take for instance Oregon State University Athletic Director

Bob DeCarolis.

 

Now Mr. DeCarolis was considering firing their

Basketball Coach....... Craig Robinson after an

8 -11 start (2-5) in the Pac 10 conference).

When word reached Washington, Undersecretary of Education 

Martha Kanter was dispatched to Corvallis with $17 million

in stimulus money for the university.

Thankfully,Craig Robinson's job is safe for another year

Now comes the interesting part of our story....

For those of you unfamiliar with Coach Robinson,. he just so happens to be the brother in law of none other than our country's

beloved President.

NOW YOU'RE CATCHING ON......

that's right he is the brother of Michelle Obama!

But hey, can't we all come to the conclusion that Coach Robinson's job security was all just a coincidence?

I'm sure of it ..... Aren't You?

Thank Goodness For The Stimulus!!!

But $17 million for one job?  I wonder what mine is worth?

If this doesn't anger you, nothing will...  remember to vote next fall !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Coming up:

Accord:

Friday September 23rd

 

Roc Modifieds  $7000 to win* 100 laps

Sportsman 50 laps

Lightning Sprints 25 laps

4 cylinders 20 laps

 

ENTRY FORMS-GO TO “FILE” SECTION

 

Adult admission $23 Kids $5  Family 4 Pack $66** Indoor $30 Reserved $25

Pit gates open 3:30  Warm ups 6:30 Spectator gate opens at 5pm

For Tickets call the speedway:  845-626-3478

 

Saturday September 24th

 

Spec Sportsman 50 laps

Pro Stock 25 laps

Pure Stock 25 laps

Jr Slingshots 20 laps

305 Sprints 20 laps

ENTRY FORMS-GO TO “FILE” SECTION

 

Adult admission $20 Kids $4 Family 4 Pack $58** Indoor $25 Reserved $22

Pit gates open 3:30  Warm ups 6:30 Spectator gate opens at 5pm

*Modified payout is based on 40 entries

** Family 4 Pack is admission for 2 adults, 2 kids and $20 in food vouchers

 

Rain Date: Sept 30 and October 1st

 

ROCKET SPEED

AMERICAN RACER TIRES -PARTS & FUEL DEALER

TIRES-PARTS-FUEL AVAILABLE AT THE SPEEDWAY

 

Dave & Joanne Rocket

845-778-3839

 

 

 

OCFS:

All the info for Eastern States Weekend should come up if you go here:

http://www.orangecountyfairspeedway.net/

 

Bethel:

September 24th:

Sportsman, Pro Stock, Legends, Bandoleros,

BMS Modified, Street Stock, 4 Cylinder

Empire Sport Trucks

 

 

Oakland Valley Speedway (Dirt Oval)

 

Their Novemberfest races are scheduled for November 4th, 5th and 6th.

For more info, please go here:  http://www.oaklandvalleyspeedway.com/schedules-fees/

 

 

The Lobitz Movie Party/EMMR Auction

 

It’s just around the corner, folks!  Sunday, November 13th, at the Catering Hall near Hazleton, PA.  It is basically almost an all day affair, getting started around 9:00 AM and ends with a sit down dinner around 5-ish.  Free food and drinks, and one never knows who will be making a visit.  Arlen Kurtis, son of Frank Kurtis was there last year.  Eddie Sachs, Jr. was there prior to that.  If his health is all right, Chris Economaki usually makes an appearance.  They raise quite a few dollars for the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing every year, and it’s been a huge help in the Museum being able to expand.  Oh, and Stan Lobitz can really “bust chops”, too.  A real fun day, and there are quite a few various vendors joining in, too.

 

 

Found on Jayski’s website:

More attendance woes for NASCAR Hall of Fame:

Attendance at the NASCAR Hall of Fame fell by 35% in July from a year earlier, continuing a trend of declining results. The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, operator of the $200 million publicly funded stock-car museum, reported the figures at its board meeting Wednesday. In July 2010, 33,452 people visited the hall of fame. Attendance declined to 21,910 in July 2011, the first month of the new fiscal year. July marked the third month of attendance slips of 30 percent or more in year-over-year comparisons. Those figures offer a barometer of interest in the hall of fame, which opened in May 2010. For May 2011, attendance was 30 percent below the previous year (25,034 visitors compared with 35,090 in May 2010). In June 2011, crowds dropped by 39 percent to 17,604 visitors for the month. Visitors authority board members didn't discuss the hall of fame results during their meeting. A recent update to City Council included questions and discussion of whether ticket prices could be hurting attendance (Charlotte Business Journal). Past info, links, announcements on the NASCAR Hall of Fame page.(9-15-2011)

Note:  I find it quite difficult why this HoF was built in the heart of Charlotte, and not out in the suburbs, where it more than likely would be easing to find and have places to park.  Then again, I’ve never been there, so maybe I shouldn’t comment?

 

Diet Mt. Dew replacing Amp on Earnhart, Jr's car:

Four years after making waves in NASCAR by signing on as the primary sponsor of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Amp Energy is phasing its brand off the car of the sport's most popular driver. PepsiCo is expected to announce this week that Diet Mountain Dew will replace its Amp Energy brand as Earnhardt's primary sponsor for 16 races in 2012. The company has the primary sponsorship rights for 20 total races on the #88 car, and Amp will serve as an associate sponsor while also appearing on the hood for the other four races. The shift is a major downsizing in the sponsorship between Amp, an upstart energy drink, and Earnhardt, the sport's biggest driver. Pepsi, which owns Amp and Mountain Dew, has one year left on its contract with Earnhardt and Hendrick Motorsports, and the company's executives believe that Diet Mountain Dew, which is one of the fastest-growing soft drinks, stands to benefit more from Earnhardt than Amp. Pepsi and Hendrick Motorsports are expected this week to unveil a new paint scheme for the #88 car for next year's Daytona 500.(Sports Business Journal)(9-19-2011)

 

Stenhouse could drive for Woods in 2012:

Wood Brothers Racing co-owner Led Wood says a decision will be made in the next few weeks about whether Trevor Bayne will return to the legendary #21 Sprint Cup Series Ford next season, or be replaced by current Nationwide Series point leader Ricky Stenhouse. "If I had to say right now, I would say it would be that guy," said Wood, pointing to Bayne's name on the roof of the #21 Quick Lane Tire and Auto Ford Fusion in the garage at Chicagoland Speedway. "He's done an amazing job for us this season, and we'd love to have him back. But it's all up to Ford Motor Company and the sponsors." Wood said he expects to run a similar number of races next season, with "at least 12 and maybe as many as 18" events on the schedule. "If I tell you 12 (races) and it ends up being 18, that's great," he said. "Right now, though, I'll just say 12." He said a decision on who will steer the #21 Ford next season will be made by Ford Motor Company and Roush Fenway Racing, which whom the Woods have a longstanding technical alliance. "We'll probably have a conversation about that with (RFR President) Steve Newmark in the next couple of weeks," he said.(Sirius Speedway)(9-18-2011)

Note:  Wow, I thought that Bayne has done good enough to warrant a return in 2012 to the # 21 car.

 

Gordon questions Menard's spin at Richmond:

UPDATES: #24-Jeff Gordon says there is something "fishy'' about Saturday night's final caution at Richmond International Raceway that opened the door for #29-Kevin Harvick to win. Gordon implied after the race that #27-Paul Menard, Harvick's teammate at Richard Childress Racing, spun out intentionally with 16 laps to go to bring out the caution. Harvick then beat Gordon off pit road and maintained the lead after the final restart with 12 laps remaining. Gordon said from what he's been told of the radio communications between Menard, crew chief Slugger Labbe and RCR executive Mike Dillon there is reason to believe the spinout was orchestrated on a second channel. NASCAR released a statement Thursday saying officials did not see any wrongdoing during the race. "We haven't seen or heard anything that would indicate the #27 did anything inappropriate in Richmond," NASCAR said. "We watch closely the activity in each event all season long to maintain a fair and even event for all competitors. We naturally will do the same for the balance of the season." Harvick said he asked officials within the organization about the incident after accusations began flying and was told the right rear tire on Menard's car was "down to the cords.'' Menard said on the radio the tire was going down with 17 laps to go.(ESPN)


AND: Statement from Richard Childress: "There were no team orders despite all the speculation in the media. I know Paul Menard well enough that he wouldn't have spun out on purpose even if he had been asked. We are at Chicagoland Speedway to win the race and get a great start toward the championship."(RCR)(9-16-2011)


UPDATE: NASCAR President Mike Helton said Friday morning at Chicagoland Speedway that series officials are investigating Paul Menard's spin late in the Richmond race that played a role in helping teammate Kevin Harvick win that race. Helton said he has yet to hear the audio from Menard's radio chatter. "We're going to look into it and see if there's anything,'' Helton said. "A lot of it is going to be interpretation. Certainly, it's on us to understand exactly what all we can find as far as facts are concerned. It's on all of our shoulders to get the facts right and if there's something there, we should find out about it and be sure that we've got it right.'' Helton said that series officials will look at video of the caution itself to determine "if it appears that there & it was done on purpose.'' He also said series officials will get access to the audio.(Virginian-Pilot)(9-16-2011)

UPDATE 2:

NASCAR officials said on Saturday there is no evidence to support allegations that Paul Menard spun out intentionally to bring out a caution and affect the finish of last weekend's Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway. Spokesman Kerry Tharp said officials listened to audio of Menard's radio transmission before he spun out with 16 laps remaining and found nothing to indicate he did anything deliberately.(ESPN)(9-17-2011)

 

Note # 1:  I found this while checking out Yahoo! News on Tuesday:

Sam Bradford(notes) and the St. Louis Rams offense were running the no-huddle offense on a depleted New York Giants defense on Monday night and doing it with great success. Unable to stop the Rams through traditional means like tackling and pass deflecting, the Giants tried a different strategy: faking injuries.

Following an 8-yard run on first down, two Giants players, Deon Grant(notes) and Jacquian Williams(notes), simultaneously fell to the ground as the Rams came to the line without a huddle. The phoniness of both injuries was so obvious it was called out in the booth by the usually uncritical ESPN announcing team.

Trainers attended to Grant (Williams got up once he realized there was another possum on the field), play was stopped, the Giants caught their breath while waiting for the game to resume and then held on the next two plays to force a Rams field goal.

Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek(notes) appeared to do the same thing Sunday night in an attempt to give Michael Vick(notes) some time to shake off a big hit. Celek was limping off the field, looked toward the Eagles sideline and then conveniently fell to the ground to wait for trainers to attend to him. He was back in the game two plays later.

Redskins safety Laron Landry(notes) pulled a similar move last season (is it an NFC East thing?) and I'm sure it happens a handful of times per season. I don't want to get all "back in my day" on you, but you know this type of nonsense wasn't happening when Sam Huff and Lawrence Taylor were patrolling the field for the Giants. Football is a different game now, what with all the rule changes and overbearing protection of the quarterbacks, but it's still the milieu of tough guys. Don't invite comparisons to soccer by diving every time the situation becomes difficult.

Stamp out this practice before it becomes a trend, Roger Goodell. Since you can't expect officials to determine which injuries are legitimate and which aren't, don't leave it open for interpretation: If play has to be stopped because of an injury, that player can't return until the next series.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Two-Giants-players-feign-simultaneous-injuries-t?urn=nfl-wp7507

Note # 2:  Really not much difference that I can see between Menard helping out his teammate and the football players helping theirs.  Oh, as for Menard – of course he did that – intentionally spinning out.  At least I’m convinced he did, after hearing the crew to Menard on the radio and then seeing what some had to say while waiting out the rain delay at Chicago last Sunday, while interviewed on TV.  It really doesn’t take much to put two and two together – something the NASCAR heads can’t seem to do, or want to do.  Maybe they should get their heads out of the sand?  Might be another reason NASCAR has lost so many fans, huh?

 

NASCAR increasing restrictor plate size at Talladega:

NASCAR will implement two rule changes for next month's running of the Good Sam Club 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. The size of the restrictor plate that teams will use to prepare and practice for the race will increase by 1/64 inch and is now going to be 57/64 inch diameter. This will provide the teams with an additional 7-10 horsepower. Additionally, the pressure relief valve on the cars' cooling system will be recalibrated to reduce the pressure by approximately eight pounds per square inch from last April's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega. "After the last few superspeedway races, we've heard many drivers express their desire to open up the size of the restrictor plate some and we thought the time was right to do that," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president, competition. "We anticipate these revisions in the rules package for Talladega will help continue to provide competitive and exciting racing for the fans."(NASCAR)(9-21-2011)

 

 

Former Oakland Valley Speedway (Dirt Oval) runners:

At OCFS, on September 10th, in the Modified feature, Tim Hindley was 6th, Mike Ruggiero 12th, Billy VanInwegen 16th and Danny Creeden 17th.  In the Sportsman feature, Brian Krummel was 2nd, Anthony Perrego 3rd, RJ Smykla 9th and Jason Roe 10th.

At Accord last Friday, Tim Hindley was 9th, Danny Creeden 12th and Mike Ruggiero 15th, in the Modified feature.  Brad Szulewski was 8th and Anthony Perrego 19th in the Sportsman feature.  In the Spec Sportsman feature, Kyle Rohner was 2nd, Kyle Van Duser 3rd and Tyler Dippel 8th.

Roger Coss finished 4th in the 76 lap John Blewett Memorial race at Wall Stadium.

At Penn Can, in the Crate Sportsman feature, Tyler Dippel was 16th, while in the Sportsman feature; Anthony Perrego was the race winner while Mike Mammana was 20th.

Brian Pomponio was 24th at New Egypt in the TSRS 305 Sprint Car feature.

At Wyalusing, Jacob Hendershot was 19th in the 270 Micro Sprint feature and 18th in the wingless 600 Micro Sprint feature, while Molly Chambers was a DNS in the 600’s.

Rich Coons had a 7th place finish in the Sportsman feature at Bethel.

Nick Pecko was 5th at Mountain Speedway in the Sport Modifieds.

The racing season is winding down, so I expect that there will be fewer and fewer results in this section in the weeks to come.  If I missed anyone – sorry!

 

Going back, in time – in racing history:

Note# 1:  Most of the following information was found here: 

http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/history.html

 

Note: 2:  Yes, most of this info is from Open Wheel racing from “Back in the day”.

Covering the days from September 23rd to the 29th:

 

SEPTEMBER 23

1930

Don Edmunds ... Born ... Racecar driver and car builder. He had his first start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1957. He won the 1957 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year after finishing nineteenth over Bill Cheesbourg, Elmer George, Mike Magill, and Eddie Sachs. Edmunds' Indy career ended in with a serious practice accident at the Speedway in 1958. He founded Autoresearch, Inc. in Anaheim, California, which specialized in building midget cars and sprint cars. His chasis won several National Midget Championships in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He became a collector and restorer of old race cars. He built Evel Knievel's Snake River Canyon Sky cycle. Edmunds was named to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1991and was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1994.

 

SEPTEMBER 24

1936

Bobby Marshman ... Born ... Born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Marshman died in San Antonio, Texas from injuries sustained in a tire test in Phoenix, Arizona. He drove in the USAC Midget, Sprint and Championship Car series, racing in the 1961-1964 seasons, with 49 career starts, including each Indianapolis 500 contest in that span. He finished in the top ten 25 times, with one victory, in 1962 at Phoenix. His 7th place finish at the 1961 Indianapolis 500 earned him co-Rookie of the Year honors with Parnelli Jones.

1960

Johnny Thomson... Died ... AAA / USAC . He won the 1952 AAA Eastern division Midget championship. He drove in the AAA and USAC Sprint Car and Championship Car series, racing in the 1953-1960 seasons with 69 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 races in each season. He finished in the top ten 43 times, with 7 victories. His best Indy finish was third in 1959. Roy Sherman, the first National Midget Champion, was his chief mechanic for several Indy 500s. He was the first driver to win a 100-mile dirt track race in less than an hour at Langhorne, Pennsylvania. His champ car's average speed was 100.174 miles per hour. Thomson was the 1958 USAC Sprint Car Series champion. He won the AAA Eastern Sprint Car championship in 1954. He died at a sprint car event at the 1960 edition of the Allentown Fair when his car crashed through the fence and flipped into the infield. Thomson was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1996 and the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1997.

Note:  Thomson was fatally injured while driving the same car that Bill Schindler drove when he was fatally injured on September 20, 1952 - also at Allentown.

1967

Gary Congdon ... Died ... USAC midget, sprint and Indy car driver. Congdon died in Terre Haute, Indiana in a crash in a midget car race.

1999

Kevin Gobrecht... Died ... Pennsylvania Sprintcar driver. Kevin Gobrecht was 30 years old when he was killed in a violent sprint-car crash at I-80 Speedway in Nebraska. Today, the World of Outlaws rookie of the year receives the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award, named for the driver known on the Central Pennsylvania circuit as The G Man. After a successful career racing micro sprints, Gobrecht won his first sprint-car feature in mid-1995, and in 1996, victories came more frequently. He posted victories driving for various sprint-car owners before he got the call from Dave Blaney to drive his World of Outlaws car in 1999. Gobrecht posted his biggest victory when he picked up the $100,000 top prize for winning The Big One at Eldora Speedway. It was his last victory.

 

SEPTEMBER 25

1998

George Tichenor... Died ... AAA driver that raced in the 1950's 

 

SEPTEMBER 26

1892

Frank Farmer ... Born ... AAA driver from the 1920's and 30's. Farmer made 10 Championship Car starts in his career with a best finish of 3rd in the June 1930 race at Altoona Speedway. He was killed in a crash at Woodbridge Speedway.

1956

Steve Butler ... Born ... He won six national driving championships in USAC Sprint Car and Silver Crown open-wheel racing. Butler was highly regarded for his technical skills and performed chief mechanic duties on several of his winning race cars. He also communicated his view of racing to fans both as author and television commentator. Despite a relatively brief racing career (1981-1993), Butler is an inductee into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. He retired at age 37 to pursue both an engineering career and more time with his growing family.

 

SEPTEMBER 27

2007

Nick Fornoro Sr... Died ... Nick was the American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) driving champion in 1950, and he was the first NASCAR Midget driving champion in 1953. After retiring, he went on to be one of the best starters (flaggers) ever, starting out here in the Northeast – his first flagging job was the day after he retired and was at the Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown,NY -  and eventually ending up as the flagger for two hundred consecutive Championship Auto Racing Teams Indy Car Series races (CART), serving in that position from 1979 to 1992. In 1993 he was the honorary starter for the Indianapolis 500.

 

Note # 1:  Do you have any idea as to what was another “first” at OCFS as far as racing goes?  Yes, there has been some history made at the old girl.  Answer at the end of this column.

 

Note # 2:  I was honored, and proud, to have the opportunity to have read to those in attendance - at his Memorial Service - what was said on what Nick meant to, and was remembered by, family members and friends.  Later on, I was fortunate to get the paper work and have it put out in the Internet, and also in an abbreviated form in the AARN.  The website it was on – www.openwheelracer.com is no longer in existence.  It will now come out again, on Dirt Track Digest, either as one part or as two, beginning on the 27th, then 28th, and also on the New England Tractor website

http://newenglandtractor.com/racereport/

 

It has also been sent to the Vintage Racer website, and hopefully will be posted shortly.

 

 

SEPTEMBER 28

1920

Fred "Jiggs" Peters ... Born ... Jiggs started racing Midgets in 1948, winning the ARDC championship in 1951. He then moved into Sprint Cars. In 1955 he unsuccesfully attempted to qualify for the Indy 500 in a Scopa-Offy. Equally at home on dirt or asphalt, he tried to qualify for Indy again in the Lee Glessner Offy in 1957. Short on speed on the first weekend, he was fast enough on the second to qualify but he chose to come home to NJ to run locally to make money as opposed to sitting in Indy for the whole month of May without an income. He was very good in long distance races and won numerous times at long tracks like Trenton, N.J. and Langhorne, Pa. He was injured at Bedford Speedway in 1969 in a URC Sprint Car race and retired after that. He continued to stay involved by running the pit gate at Grandview Speedway for promotor Ed Darrell. He also was very involved in numerous Old Timer Clubs until his passing.

1924

Russ Congdon ... Born ... USAC midget and sprint racer from the 1950's and 60's

1958

Jimmy Reece... Died ... Reece was Midget, Sprint driver and a 6 time veteran of the Indianapolis 500, with Top Ten finishes in 1952, 1956 and 1958. He died in a racing accident during a 1958 champ car race at Trenton International Speedway.

Note: He was fatally injured while going for second place as they entered the first turn on the last lap of the race, with his car leaving the speedway and ending up outside the high banked first turn.

 

SEPTEMBER 29

1923

Joie Ray ... Born ... He was one of the nation's pioneer open wheel and Stock car race drivers. His racing career spanned 17 seasons (1947-1963) as a Sprint, Midget, and Stock car driver. Ray was the first Black AAA license holder and ran in the Central States Racing Association (CRSA), The International Motor Contest Association (IMCA), United States Auto Club (USAC) and the Midwest Dirt Track Racing Association

2001

Mickey Stavola... Died ... Along with his brother Billy co-owned Stavola Brothers Racing. The Stavola Brothers formed their NASCAR Winston Cup team in 1983 with veteran crew chief Harry Hyde and rookie driver Bobby Hillin, who was a high school senior at the time. Before closing the team at the end of the 1998 Winston Cup season when the team lost Circuit City as its primary sponsor, the brothers fielded cars for eight drivers, including Bobby Allison, Sterling Marlin, Jeff Burton and Dick Trickle. The brothers' primary business was Trap Rock Industries, a rock quarry in New Jersey that has an asphalt company as a subsidiary.

 

 

 

 

News from the AARN:

http://www.aarn.com/

 

From their September 13th edition:

 

For last weeks column, I was looking for results for the TSRS 305 Sprint Cars that were supposed to race at the Bridgeport Speedway, knowing that former OVRP Kart racer Brian Pomponio was supposed to race there.  Nowhere did I find any.  Well, this weeks AARN had an article, almost a full page, about an accident with a Sprint Car at Bridgeport that night.  Seems they were push starting one of the cars, in the pit area,  and somehow the driver could not get it out of gear, nor hit the “kill” switch quick enough, and he ran into the car that Ray Evernham was scheduled to drive, and also hitting Ray/s mechanic, causing some serious leg injuries to the crew man.  Hey, one never knows what could happen in the pits, and that is why, on Facebook a few weeks ago, I commented about a little on (maybe 3 years old) in the pits at a track close to where I live, and saying the pits are NOT a place for small children.  Imagine if that had been a child that the Sprint Car had hit?

 

Lemmy Sammons, in his column makes mention of Keith Kaufmann, 61, being honored at Port Royal as a “Living Legend” for that track.  Keith says he still is not ready for retirement.  Also, in the Sammons column was mention of Rick Lafferty having a rather bad accident in his Sprint Car when the side board of his top wing came off.  The same thing happened just a short time ago to Aaron Ott, and Ott has been sidelined with some neck injuries.

 

Why do I usually agree with what Ernie Saxton has to say?  In his column he’s saying that when there is down time at a NASCAR race, why to the TV people always go interview the “name” drivers?  Why not interview the lesser known ones, and give them airtime.  Heck, the lesser known guys are rarely seen on TV during the races!

 

Back on September 7th, out near Manheim, Pa., 53 year old Mark Geib, a Micro Sprint driver and mechanic, lost his life when he drowned in the Chiques Creek during some flooding in that area.

 

Brett Deyo makes mention of Rick Laubach looking to compete at Penn Can in the King of the Can race, ESW, Octoberfest at Hagerstown and the “World Finals” at Charlotte.  You can expect to see Laubach in a new TEO for SDW, too.

 

Ron Mentus, in his column was asking:  “Who cares about the fans”?  In a way it was his way of commenting on the Indycar race on the streets of Baltimore and how difficult it was to see the racing, itself, due to it being on the city streets and with buildings galore around the track.  He also made mention of a lot of banners at eye level which also restricted the viewing of the track.

 

At Lebanon Valley, when they had the race honoring the late Jim Langenback, they ahd 17 Sportsman, 31 Budget Sportsman, 18 Pro Stocks and 45 Pure Stocks signed in.

 

Kevin Rice is hinting that there could very well be a NASCAR Modified race at Rockingham in 2012. 

 

Lou Long, in his column, is confirming that Brett Hearn will be driving a new TEO car for his brother, Bobby, at Syracuse.

 

Brian Danko had news about the UNOH (University of Northwestern Ohio) “Showdown” a the Thompson, Ct track, The Whelen Modifieds and the Whelen Southern Modifieds each had 125 lap races, then the top 15 from each race squared off in a 50-lap $53,000.00 shoot out with a possible $15,000.00 to the winner.

 

Joe Krawiec won the 2011 driving champion for the USAC Dirt Midget Association at Bear Ridge Speedway.  Denny Zimmerman also raced with that series, and former ARDC driver Hank Rogers ran with them for some shows, too.

 

Don and Jo Ann Davies have said the Brett Hearn will drive the car that he got his 800th win with, at Fonda, at Syracuse.

 

The AARN had an ad for it’s “newbie” – e-mail news.  Current subscribers can get e-mail alerts and previews of the up-coming issue.  To sign up, call 609-888-3618 or e-mail at sub@aarn.com with current name, mailing address and e-mail address.

 

Listed as race people that have left us are Billy Cannon, 70, a modified driver from the New Jersey area, and Ben Basinger, 28, a former USCS Sprint Car driver.

 

The Albany/Saratoga Speedway held its last race show for 2011.  They drew 11 Modifieds, 5 Pro Late Models, 5 Renegades, 5 INEX Legends and 11 Bomber cars.  Not many, huh?

 

Bill Utter reaffirms that the Petruska owned # 66 cars – Big and Small Blocks, will be at Eastern States.  As of now, no idea as to who will be in the cockpits, though.

 

Gary London covered almost all of Jeff Gordons NASCAR history in his column.

 

Geoff Yoder was making mention of safety issues at Vintage Race meets.  He also made mention, for those that still have not heard, that the Vintage Race Car meet for Darlington has been canceled.  Again, he cites the main reason – lack of entrees.  From what I’ve heard, an increase on entry fees might have had a little to do with that.  Same goes for the Vintage meet at Loudon, an increase in entry fees, along with some new “rules” for the Vintage cars, quite a lot earlier than the show was scheduled for, chased some entrants away.  Prior to the show, a majority of those rules had been rescinded.

 

Yoder also made mention of the passing of Dick Murphy.  Dick was the owner of the Geoff Bodine # 99 Valiant, which he ran at various Vintage meets.

 

Phil Smith, in his “going back in time” made mention of it now being 30 years since the Danbury track closed.  Uh huh, time does fly!

 

There were ads for the indoor races at Providence, RI and also for Atlantic City.  You might want to contact the AARN if interested.

 

John Snyder makes mention that when Brett Hearn won the track championship at Accord, it was his 76th track or series championship, gong back to 1977 when Brett won his first championships – the Sportsman Championships at both Nazareth and OCFS.

 

Karen Mansfield writes a column for the AARN, and she also push starts Sprint cars at race tracks.  Her column this week pertained mostly to safety for push starting the cars, with the main thing being that the drivers must have their seat belts on as well as all of their safety gear prior to getting pushed off.

 

Ken Kuhlman wrote about the late Al Tasnady in his column – how “Tas” set the standard in racing and in life, itself.  Back when I was talked into writing, one of those responsible for it was the late John LeVan.  He thought enough of Al Tasnady to have taz70739 as his e-mail addy.

 

Guy Smith, the “Race chaser” was down in Florida on August 12th, and visited the Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, FL.  Mr. Smith says that the Volusia track had started out the year by being the most successful Saturday night track in Florida, but by mid-season, had switched their race night to Friday.  As usual, for Florida, it had rained in the afternoon, and was still slightly raining as race time drew near.  Some teams had already entered the pit area, but most remained outside, waiting to see what “Mother Nature” was going to do.  The promoter attempted to get those that were outside, to get their pit passes and enter the pits.  They refused.  Words were said by both race teams and the promoter.  In fact, Mr. Smith says that the promoter actually banned one team from the track.  During this, only one pick-up truck was circling the muddy track.  Some of those in the pits attempted to move, but got stuck.  Whether they were attempting to move out of the pits, or to another pit area is unknown.  Those outside wanted assurances from the promoter that once they got their pit passes etc etc, that racing would actually go on.  This went on for some 75 minutes, with little, if anything, being done to the track surface.  Then it started to rain again, and that seems to have solved the big problem – or did it?

 

 

 

More racin’ stuff:

 

“Back in the day” or the “Good old days” – what does that mean?  Someone was asking this, about Indycar racing, really, on the Track Forum.

 

http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?155394-What-were-these-Good-Old-Days.

 

 

 

 

Racing and television:

Racing on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm

 

 

 

Some non-racing stuff:

 

This came out on 9/15/2011:

Obama backs away from Social Security in deficits plan

In part:

“President Barack Obama, yielding to pressure from his political base, has backed off a proposal to reform Social Security retirement benefits in a high-stakes deficits deal Congress needs to reach this year.

The Democratic president upset many core supporters in July when he considered changing how the popular pension funds are linked to inflation during acrimonious negotiations with Republicans over raising the U.S. debt ceiling.

Obama saw the change as a way to ensure the federal program remains viable for future generations, but liberals felt he was giving up too much ground to Republicans.

White House spokesman Amy Brundage said Obama's suggestions on how Congress can get to a $1.2 trillion deficit-reduction target, to be unveiled on Monday, "will not include any changes to Social Security."

A senior administration official said his proposals to 12-member congressional panel tasked with finding the savings by November 23, were still being finalized.

But they are expected to total as much as $3 trillion over 10 years and include tweaks to Medicare and Medicaid, the government's healthcare programs for the elderly and for the poor, and tax changes to close more loopholes for wealthy Americans and companies.”

More on this can be seen here:  http://news.yahoo.com/social-security-not-obama-deficits-plan-white-house-135310933.html

 

 

And, how about this:

 

$16 muffins, $8 coffee served in Justice audit

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the U.S. government grapples to find ways to trim the bloated federal deficit, a new report suggests officials might start with cutting out $16 muffins and $10 cookies.

"We found the Department (of Justice) spent $16 on each of the 250 muffins served at an August 2009 legal conference in Washington," said a DOJ Office of Inspector General report released on Tuesday.

The DOJ spent $121 million on conferences in fiscal 2008 and 2009, which exceeded its own spending limits and appeared to be extravagant and wasteful, according to the report that examined 10 conferences held during that period.

The review turned up the expensive muffins, which came from the Capital Hilton Hotel just blocks from the White House, as well as cookies and brownies that cost almost $10 each.

The department spent $32 per person on snacks of Cracker Jack, popcorn, and candy bars and coffee that cost $8.24 per cup at another conference, the report said.

The DOJ also spent nearly $600,000 for event planning services for five conferences, the document said.

A Justice Department spokeswoman said most of the gathering were held when there were no strict limits on food and beverage costs, adding the DOJ had taken steps since 2009 "to ensure that these problems do not occur again."

Word of the agency's extravagant spending drew a swift response from Capitol Hill.

Senator Chuck Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee which has oversight of the Justice Department, said the report was a blueprint for the first cuts that should be made by the "super committee" searching for at least $1.2 trillion in savings.

"Sixteen dollar muffins and $600,000 for event planning services are what make Americans cynical about government and why they are demanding change," Grassley said in a statement. "People are outraged, and rightly so."

The above was found on Yahoo! News on Wednesday at:  http://news.yahoo.com/16-muffins-8-coffee-served-justice-audit-023623142.html

 

 

 

 

Is this true?:

 

Again, from an e-mail I've recieved:

 

Lemons & Cancer - a must read

 

Useful info that may help someone ...

 

LISTEN UP FOLKS:

This is something that we should all take seriously – just had a recent test myself that sent shivers up my spine – or near by – Even doctors are now saying that there is value in trying “LEMON”

 

So, a tablespoon of "real lemon" (the concentrate in a bottle) in a glass of water every morning.

What can it  hurt?

 

Subject: A must-read-The surprising benefits of lemon!

 

Institute of Health Sciences, 819 N. L.L.C. Charles Street Baltimore , MD 1201.

 

This is the latest in medicine, effective for cancer!

Read carefully and you be the judge.

Lemon (Citrus) is a miraculous product to kill cancer cells.

It is 10,000 times stronger than chemotherapy.

Why do we not know about that?

Because there are laboratories interested in making a synthetic version that will bring them huge profits.

You can now help a friend in need by letting him/her know that lemon juice is beneficial in preventing the disease.

Its taste is pleasant and it does not produce the horrific effects of chemotherapy.

How many people will die while this closely guarded secret is kept, so as not to jeopardize the beneficial multimillionaires large corporations? As you know, the lemon tree is known for its varieties of lemons and limes.

You can eat the fruit in different ways: you can eat the pulp, juice press, prepare drinks, sorbets, pastries, etc...

It is credited with many virtues, but the most interesting is the effect it produces on cysts and tumours.

This plant is a proven remedy against cancers of all types.

Some say it is very useful in all variants of cancer.

It is considered also as an anti microbial spectrum against bacterial infections and fungi, effective against internal parasites and worms, it regulates blood pressure which is too high and an antidepressant, combats stress and nervous disorders.

The source of this information is fascinating: it comes from one of the largest drug manufacturers in the world, says that ,after more than 20 laboratory tests since 1970, the extracts revealed that:

It destroys the malignant cells in 12 cancers, including colon breast, prostate, lung and pancreas ...

The compounds of this tree showed 10,000 times better than the product Adriamycin, a drug normally used chemotherapeutic in the world, slowing the growth of cancer cells.

And what is even more astonishing: this type of therapy with lemon extract only destroys malignant cancer cells and it does not affect healthy cells.

 

Institute  of Health Sciences, 819 N. L.L.C. Cause Street, Baltimore, MD1201

 

SEND TO EVERYONE ... Please! ! ! ! !

 

 

 

 

Video time:

 

USAC Dirt Midget Association race at Bear Ridge Speedway up in Vermont, from July 2, 2011.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A2Iv8JirOc&feature=player_embedded#!

 

 

 

Closing with these:

 

You think English is easy?? – Continued:

 

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

 

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

 

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

 

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

 

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

 

PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ?

 

Hey, don’t forget – If you ever knew Nick Fornoro, Sr. or had heard of him, I’ll have it out on Tuesday, the 27th, on both websites that my weekly column comes out on, what his family and friends had to say about him a this Memorial Service.

 

Answer to the question about another first at OCFS:

 

The first time ACOT (Atlantic Coast Old timers) members heard the command to start their veteran engines was on Saturday, May 21, 1983, when 31 ACOT entries signed in for an exhibition racing program on the hard clay of the venerable Orange County Fairgrounds Speedway in Middletown, NY.

 

 

 

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