Racin' Stuff:
By Tom Avenengo - OWR Staff
First things, first:
Well, there were some that were happy with the Indy 500 and some that were not. From what I saw, and these are my thoughts, mind you, the race wasn’t all that good. Passing was at a minimum. But then, with spec cars, engines and the down force on the cars, most everything has taken the driver out of the equation. Some are referring to it as the “Danica Love Fest”, and I tend to agree. Way to much TV time devoted to her. How many times did you see Sarah Fisher on TV by herself? How about John Andretti? Milk Duno? How about Tomas Scheckter, Scott Sharp, AJ Foyt, IV or Davey Hamilton? Hey, they were all in the race. Big ads on TV that blocked off the view of restarts didn’t help either. I realize that commercials are a necessary evil, but it seems to me there were more than enough. Of course the male pit crew dressed up as women was funny, but how many times must it be shown? At least “Digger” wasn’t at Indy.
No idea as to what actually happened with Helio at the end, but it sure looks like they were going to attempt to stop him from doing his “Spider Man” imitation.
To add to the names of drivers that you probably didn’t see on TV, I did a “Google” search on the 2009 Indy 500 results. Even today, there are some that are in the dark, as you can see by this:
“It may be 250 laps worth of left turns, but
the
That, above, was
found, here: http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:es5heGAorP4J:auto.techchuck.com/2009/05/24/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-2009-indy-500/+2009+Indy+500+finish&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Going
back, in time:
Most of what will appear in this section will be about what’s happened, mostly in my area, through the years, by dates close to when the column is published. In some cases, you’ll surely recognize the names. Hey, maybe you might have even been in attendance at the events I make mention of.
May 25:
1923:
Smokey Yunick... Born ...
NASCAR and Indy mechanic and owner of the "Best Damn Garage in Town"
in
1925:
Bud Moore ... Born ... NASCAR crew chief and car owner. During his 37 years as a car owner, he has achieved 63 wins, 43 poles and two NASCAR Grand National Division championships.
1951:
Art Cross won the AAA Midget race at the Indianapolis Speedrome,
1975:
Bobby Unser won the Indianaplois 500
Van May won the ARDC Midget race over Drew Fornoro, Joe Gimpel, Johnny
Hubbard and Leigh Earnshaw at the Grandview Speedway,
1980:
Johnny Rutherford claims his third Indy win, then
provides a taxi service to a fellow driver. Rookie Tim Richmond, who would go
on to have a successful NASCAR career, runs out of fuel on the final lap. So
Rutherford interrupts his victory lap and invites
Benny Parsons won the World 600 over Darrell Waltrip at the Charlotte Motor Speedway,
1997:
Arie Luyendyk won the Indianaplois 500
Jeff Gordon won the Coca-Cola 600 over Rusty Wallace at
the Lowe's Motor Speedway,
May 26:
1906:
Mauri Rose ... Born ... Rose won
the INDY 500 three times; 1941, 1947 and 1948. He was inducted into the
International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994, and
Motorsports of Hall of Fame of
1962:
Dutch Schaefer won the ARDC Midget race at the Danbury
Fairgrounds,
1968:
Earl Halaquist won the URC
Sprint Car race at the Nazareth Raceway,
1974:
Johnny Rutherford won the Indianaplois 500
Dana Carter won the ARDC Midget race over Jim Hettinger,
Frankie Holz, Billy Hughes and Wayne Woodward at the
Grandview Speedway,
1985:
Danny Sullivan, forever known as the "spin and win," turns near-disaster into the biggest day of his career. Sullivan spins on lap 120 trying to pass Mario Andretti but somehow keeps his car off the wall. Twenty laps later, Sullivan tries again in the same place and completes the pass.
Darrel Waltrip won the World
600 over Harry Gant at the Charlotte Motor Speedway,
1996:
Buddy Lazier won the Indianaplois 500
Jimmy Vasser won the PPG U.S. 500 at the Michigan International Speedway that ran head to head with the INDY 500.
Dale Jarrett won the Coca-Cola 600 over Dale Earnhardt at
the Lowe's Motor Speedway,
May 27:
1950:
Tom Cherry won the Little 500 Sprint Car race over Red
Renner and Roy Prosser at the Anderson Speedway ,
1962:
Ray Brown won the ARDC Midget race at the Williams Grove Speedway, Williams Grove, PA
1972:
Mark Donohue won the Indianaplois 500
1979:
Darrell Waltrip won the World
600 over Richard Petty at the Charlotte Motor Speedway,
1984:
Rick Mears won the Indianaplois 500
Bobby Allison won the World 600 over Dale Earnhardt at
the Charlotte Motor Speedway,
1990:
Arie Luyendyk won the Indianaplois 500
Rusty Wallace won the Coca-Cola 600 over Bill Elliott at
the Charlotte Motor Speedway,
2001:
Helio Castroneves won the Indianaplois 500
Jeff Burton won the Coca-Cola 600 over Kevin Harvick at the Lowe's Motor Speedway,
2007:
Dario Franchitti won the Indianaplois 500
Casey Mears won the Coca-Cola 600 over J.J. Yeley at the Lowe's Motor Speedway,
May 28:
1960:
Ronnie Duman won the Little 500
Sprint Car race over Parnelli Jones at the Anderson Speedway ,
1972:
Buddy Baker drove a Petty Enterprises Plymouth to victory
in the World 600 NASCAR stockcar race at
1973:
Salt Walther and 11 spectators are injured in a nasty crash at the start of the Indy 500. The race restart is delayed by rain. It would resume Wednesday, May 30th an won by Gordon Johncock.
1989:
Emerson Fittipaldi won the Indy 500 with a thrilling ending . Al Unser Jr. took the lead from Fittipaldi and appeared to be well on his way to his first victory at the Brickyard. Fittipaldi, however, caught Unser in traffic on the second-to-last lap. As the two blazed into Turn 3 neck and neck, their cars converged, and Unser's spun and crashed into the concrete wall. Fittipaldi cruised to victory with ease, while Unser, uninjured from his crash, ran to the track's edge and applauded his triumphant teammate.
Darrell Waltrip won the
Coca-Cola 600 over Sterling Marlin at the Charlotte Motor Speedway,
1995:
Jacques Villeneuve became the first Canadian to win the
Bobby Labonte won the Coca-Cola
600 over Terry Labonte at
May 29:
1948: Mark Light
won the AAA Eastern Sprint Car race at the Langhorne Speedway,
1955:
Ken Schrader ... Born ... USAC and NASCAR driver
Note: This does make me feel old. I graduated from High school in 1956.
1956:
Shorty Templeman won all 3
features in the Night Before The 500 USAC Midget races at the
1972:
Russ Klar and Johnny Coy won the twin feature ARDC Midget races at the Lime Rock Park, Lime Rock,CT
May 30:
A lot of Indy stuff on here, since the Indy 500 was run on the 30th of May for years.
Link to the 30th of May: http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/history/may_30.html
May 31:
1953:
Ernie McCoy won the Eastern AAA Sprint Car race at the
Hatfield Speedway,
Steve Yanigan won the URC
Sprint Car race at the
Pat O'Connor won the AAA Sprint Car race at the
Winchester Speedway,
1954:
Bill Vukovich won the Indianaplois 500
Wally Campbell won the Eastern AAA Sprint Car race over
Tommy Hinnershitz at the Altamont Fairgrounds,
1958:
Tony Bonadies won the ARDC
Midget race at the Hatfield Speedway,
1965:
Jimmy Clark won the Indianaplois 500
1976:
Elmer George... Died ... He drove in the AAA and USAC
Championship Car series, racing in the 1956-1963 seasons with 64 starts,
including the
June 1:
1952:
Wally Campbell won the NASCAR Speedway Car Charlotte 100
over Al Fleming and Buck Baker at the 3/4 Mile Dirt Oval, Charlotte Speedway ,
Bill Holland won the IMCA Sprint Car race at the Aurora Downs ,
Mike Nazaruk won the AAA Sprint
Car race at the Dayton Speedway,
Tommy Hinnershitz won the AAA
Eastern Sprint Car race at the Williams Grove Speedway,
1958:
Eddie Sachs won the USAC Mid West Sprint Car race at the
Salem Speedway,
Joe Barzda won the USAC Eastern
Sprint Car race at the Thompson Int. Speedway,
1973:
Leigh Earnshaw won the ARDC
Midget race over Doug Craig, Steve Howard, Jerry Stover and Johnny Coy at the
John F. Kennedy Stadium,
Coming
up:
Actually, not very much out of the ordinary for this coming weekend. However, on Wednesday, June 17th,
there is the “Big Show” – a 100 lap Super Dirt Series race at OCFS that’s being
promoted by Brett Hearn. I might be
wrong on this, but I think this is the first SDS race that actually has a rain
date listed - in case of inclement weather, when the original date is
announced, and that is the following Wednesday, June 24th.
There
are a few different things, race wise on that night, and also some special
prices – especially if you’re going in the drive-in section (5 in a car for a
total of 50 bucks!). Oh yes, that
drive-in, well it goes from turn two all the way down the backstretch to turn three,
and is about six rows high. Larger
vehicles, like Motor homes are parked on the top row. Many race fans have “cook outs” in the
drive-in, too.
More
news gets added to a special website for this event, as more news comes
in. You can see all about it if you go
here: http://www.thebigdirtshow.com/
And,
there will be another tire test by Goodyear at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
from June 1st to June 3rd, then another one on June 15th
to 17th. I read that the last
tire test didn’t go over to well, with the tires not lasting as long as a full
tank of fuel. Funny thing is, during the
Indy 500, they didn’t seem to have tire wear problems with the Firestone tires. Ok, I know, the Indy cars are a lot
lighter. But, look at the down force
they have. Surely that has to put extra
strain on their tires, right? And,
they’re going a tad bit faster, too.
From
Jayski: “Goodyear to test tires at
Indy, June 1-3: Goodyear has two tire tests scheduled next month at Indianapolis Motor
Speedway as the tire manufacturer tries to find a way to avoid last year's
debacle. Nine cars are scheduled to test June 1-3. Those scheduled to test are
#14-Tony Stewart, #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, #9-Kasey Kahne,
#7-Robby Gordon, #36-TBA, #12-David Stremme, #16-Greg
Biffle, #21-Bill Elliott, and either #07-Casey Mears
or #31Jeff Burton. The second test is expected to have at least a dozen teams
June 15-17.(Roanoke Times)(5-25-2009)”
Racing on TV:
I’m just going to supply a link to this website: : http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm If, at times there’s something noteworthy, I’ll make mention of it.
My
thoughts:
I
imagine I’ll get some “grief” for what I’m about to say here, but somehow, in
the back of my mind, I have some doubts on this Helio
Castoneves deal with the problems he had with the
IRS, and it’s outcome. Naturally I hope
I’m wrong, but when you have people with extreme wealth, to me, they like to
keep that wealth - at all costs. Yes, I
still think that, to me, there is a good possibility that things weren’t all
that “Kosher” on the whole deal. Enough
said.
I
was somewhat surprised that there are not “Safer Barriers” on the inside walls,
at
While
watching the Coca-Cola 600, Kevin Harvick had an
encounter will the wall. Some right
front fender damage resulted. Of course
he didn’t pit, since he’d probably lose a lap.
Then, as usual, when cars come in contact with the walls, his right
front let go and an even harder contact was made with the outside wall. What I can’t figure out is why do most all
drivers wait until a tire blows out or goes flat? Stupid is as stupid does, I guess?
Also,
I was rather upset during a red flag period of the 600 when the cameras focused
on a discussion that was going on between Tony Stewart and the eventual race
winner, David Reutimann. I noticed David attempting to guide Tony away
from the Reutimann pit area, and Tony was about to
until a crew member on Davids team said
something. Later, when Stewart was asked
what it was about, he came out with something about Reutimann
RACING him when there was still about 400 miles to go. So, I got to thinking – is Stewart the ONLY
ONE allowed to race, per Mr. Tony Stewart?
I’ve seen both the good and bad sides of Tony, and this was one of the
bad ones. To top it off, the idiot
announcers agreed with him. Now, I
wonder, what if David was not “racing” – would the final outcome have been different?
Some people are questioning the financial well being of Vitor Meira, who suffered some injuries during the Indy 500. I do know there is a company that does insure drivers, crew members and others that are involved in racing, and I had something about it in a column of mine quite a while ago. Usually it’s between the driver and the team that hires him, to figure out what is what, insurance wise. Keep in mind, race drivers do not have any “union” to back them up, like other professional athletes have. And, in a way, those other athletes get away with getting paid their full salaries while not being able to perform, or they don’t have “performance” clauses in their contracts, either, and that is something I think should be in all the contracts – especially ball players. My thoughts, of course
Other
forums/message boards and websites:
From
the Track Forum - http://www.trackforum.com/forums/
Man,
has the Carl Long deal ruffled a lot of feathers. Here is a driver, part time, who hasn’t
qualified for a race yet in 2009, has old equipment that is worn, and after he
blows an engine at Lowes, NASCAR checks the engine and from what I’ve read, it
came out to 358.17 Cu in. The maximum
allowed, per the rules, is 358 cu in.
For that .17 of a cubic inch, Carl was docked 200 driver points, his car
owner (his wife) 200 owner points, and his crew chief was fined $200,000.00! Check out what’s being said, here:
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123484
Note: There are some on the internet that are
saying that NASCAR came out with this deal on Long to get the heat off of them
about the Jeremy Mayfield “drug” deal.
Sorry, but I’m with Carl Long on this one.
Did
you watch the Coca-Cola 600? What about
them stopping the race at 3:00 PM to go along with what the President
asked? A good thread is on the TF on
this, and can be seen, here: http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123782
Bruton Smith had some things to say last week, and some of them were not to
complimentary, either. In a way, I think
NASCAR should be happy that Mr. Smith is in his 80’s and not in his 60’s. Interested?
Check it out, here:
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123688
The question has come up on whether Tony George has been let go as the CEO of the Indianapolis Speedway. It’s been reported that he has. It’s also coming out that he hasn’t. The thread, listed below, started out on Tuesday AM and by 3:00 PM here in the East, it has gone up to almost 20 pages.
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123903
And
a link to an interview with Mr. George can be seen if you go here: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/
From
Jayski - http://www.jayski.com/
NASCAR
sponsors may face boycott over Confederate flag: The Miami-Dade branch of
the NAACP has set its sights on NASCAR,
Note: To some of the southern folks, the
Confederate Flag IS their flag. Why some
think it to be a “racist” symbol – well, I can’t figure that out. I do know that there are usually a lot of the
Confederate Flags in the infield at some tracks, especially
NASCAR
takes #7 rear-end housing: During post-race inspection, NASCAR confiscated #7-Robby Gordon's
rear-end housing and took it back to its
Note
# 1: I don’t know why, but it sure seems
to me that NASCAR has it out for Robby Gordon.
I made mention to my wife, after the 600, that I’d be surprised if they
found a problem with his car. As of
Wednesday, the 27th, nothing new to report, so hopefully, the rear end of the car is legal.
Note
# 2: Late on Wednesday, this came out,
on Jayski’s website:
Robby
penalized for rear axle: NASCAR has issued penalties to the #7 team that competes in the NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series as a result of rules violations committed at Lowe’s Motor
Speedway earlier this week. The #7 car, driven and owned by Robby Gordon, was
found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car
racing); 12-4I (any determination by NASCAR Officials that the race equipment
used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-10.6H (rear axle
housing exceeded the maximum specified toe of plus or minus one degree) of the
2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book. The violation was found during
post-race inspection on May 25. As a result, Gordon has been penalized with the
loss of 50 championship owner and 50 championship driver points. Crew chief
Kirk Almquist has been fined $50,000 and placed on
NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.(NASCAR PR)(5-27-2009)
Note
# 3: You gotta
love it! Besides him saying exactly what
he thinks, in most cases, what else has Robby done to ruffle NASCAR’s feathers
so much? I wonder why they chose his car? I wonder how
many other cars they checked for this “violation”?
NASCAR
opens floor to drivers, owners: NASCAR officials spent more than four hours in two
meetings Tuesday discussing with drivers, owners and team management everything
from the sport's drug testing policy, to how to improve the new car, to the
economy. It was a big change from the days when the governing body made
decisions and solved problems by talking to one or two drivers in the back of a
hauler at the track. All of those involved described the meetings as positive
and expected more to follow in the future. "Hopefully, this is the
beginning of a new form of communication," NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter
said. Chairman Brian France said open lines of communication are needed because
"things are more complex."
"One-one-one meetings and trying to cover all the issues of the day either
at a shop or at the track, that becomes hard to do," he said. "There
are too many complicated issues. It was consistent with where we need to be.
And we have a lot of smart people in the industry. We had Roger Penske here. We
had a good communication line in the first place. We just want to build on
that." Hunter said a lot of good ideas were broached, some that would have
to be considered short term. He did not elaborate, but among those under
consideration are double-file restarts with all of the leaders up front.
One of the biggest complaints coming in was the new car that many
drivers and crew chiefs believe has hurt competition. Series director John
Darby consistently has said no changes are planned -- that changes would create
more problems.
The drug policy that has been scrutinized since Jeremy Mayfield was
suspended on May 9 was clarified. Drivers "scared" that a
prescription drug could cost them their career left assured that was not the
case. "I'm very comfortable now," Mark Martin said. "I'm also
very comfortable with the way they're handling the list." NASCAR does not
provide its drivers with a full list of substances they are tested for, arguing
that leaving it open ended gives them more room to catch offenders. "I
feel much better now than I did before the meeting," Martin said.
Note: There was quite a bit of talk about these
“meetings” prior to them being held, but since they’ve been held, not very much
being said. It’s a shame that the media
wasn’t allowed to attend. Now, we’ll
have to hope that there might have been some “spies” that will come out and say
(in secret, of course) just what was discussed.
Ain’t it great that we are kept in the dark?
Dirt
Track Digest’s forum:
An interesting thread about whether “kids” should race against adults is on the DTD’s forum. Quite a lot of good points being made, both pro and con. Check it out, here: http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=29126
OCFS
- http://www.orangecountyfairspeedway.net/
To satisfy my curiosity on the attendance problem at
OCFS, I went there last Saturday. First,
it was announced that veterans would get in at half price. Then it came out on the radio that veterans
would be admitted free. For veterans, it
did turn out to be free admittance to the races. Usually I get there quite early, but this
time I was a little hesitant about going, since the weather forecast called for
occasional showers then thunderstorms.
In fact, as I was about to get into my car to leave, it was already
starting to rain. On the trip to
A
few things here:
The
speedway says that when they have the 358’s that they lose money. I still hear complaints that the fans miss
them and wish they had them every week.
Five races for them, over the season, aren’t very much. It’s almost not even worth having a 358, if
you run at OC.
Next,
during warm-ups, I only saw ONE 4 cylinder car on the track. Now I’m wondering – whey were
they even scheduled? I noticed that they
had 4 cylinders at
During
the running of the held over modified feature, there was a re-start at about
the 13th lap. Rick Mill had
started on the original pole for the race with Jesse Kline outside pole. When it came time for the re-start, they were
still one and two. Coming out of the 4th
turn, Kline had a lead on Mill, when the green flag flew. By the time the field got to the first turn,
the yellow came out. As they came
around, one of the officials, on the track, pointed to Kline, then to his “rear
end” signaling Kline that he had to go to the rear, since he jumped the
start. Mind you – no warning – they just
sent him to the rear! Kline accelerated
ahead of the field, and when he reached the third turn, he went into the pits,
and parked his car. A pretty loud chorus
of “boos” could be heard from the stands.
Needless to say, Kline did not run in anymore of the nights
races. As far as I’m concerned, the
track made an enormous error on this. A
simple warning would have sufficed. Now
OC has probably lost Kline for the season, along with his crew and whatever
fans he might have brought along with him.
On top of that, his father usually competes at OC too; so I’d say they
lost two cars, tow crews and whatever fans.
I must say that during one of the modified heats, the same thing did
happen to Tim Hindley – he being sent to the rear
because he, too, “jumped” a re-start.
Even though I say OC officials were wrong, at least they were
consistent.
I
still think that you would have better racing at OC if the track were a little
smaller. If it was possible, about the
only way to do it would to bring the third and fourth turns in. Heck, there are no stands down by the fourth
turn anyway.
There
are new “T” shirt out for OCFS. If
you’re interested, you can check them out, here:
http://www.davesracing.com/ocfsproducts.htm
Accord
- http://www.accordspeedway.com/
Last Friday, I went up to the “Big A”. As usual, there was a lot of side-by-side racing, but I did notice, not very much actual passing throughout the field – especially in the modified class. Yes, there were some exceptions, but most cars kept their positions through out the feature. As far as this writer is concerned, dust is still a problem at Accord. It has gotten slightly better than what it was like on opening night, when it just seemed to constantly “rain” down on those in the stands.
I
paid a visit to Steve Pados up in the announcers booth, prior to the nights racing, and while I
was there, both Jeff Nicol and myself spotted each
other at the same time. In case you
don’t know Jeff Nicol, he’s a race fan and also loves
to dabble in taking photographs.
Unfortunately, he has gotten away from taking photos at the races, and
as far as I’m concerned, they are greatly missed. Jeff joined me in the stands. He’s never seen a race at Accord from the
stands, just from the infield, when he was taking pics. My son, Eric, joined us, and we kept three
spots in the first row of the stands clean for the nights races. Even with passing at a minimum, to an extent,
all three of us agree that the last few laps of the modified feature were well
worth the price of admission. And, the
last few laps of the sportsman feature were just about as good.
If
you can put up with the dust at Accord, I can only suggest you go there and see
for yourself, some pretty good side by side racing. Some kind of safety glasses or goggles would
be a great help, if you decide to go there.
Note: In an e-mail from Jeff, he said he’s going to
Hamlin this coming Saturday to take some photos – mainly of the wingless 600
Micro’s I believe, and he said they’ll be posted on the DTD, probably on Sunday
evening. Welcome back, Jeff!
OVRP’s Dirt Oval - http://www.ovrpdirtoval.com/
There is no racing this weekend at OVRP – both the asphalt road course and dirt oval are closed.
Former
OVRP Dirt Oval runners:
Last
Friday, at
At
Accord, Greg Hastie was 14th in the modified feature. In the sportsman feature, Brian Krummel was 10th, Mike Ruggiero 12th
and Clinton Mills 13th. In
the spec sportsman feature, Anthony Perrego was 2nd,
Kyle Rohner 3rd and Jason Roe shown 21st
with no laps shown.
At
Penn Can, Danny Creeden was 9th in the
modified feature
At
Selinsgrove, Davie Franek was 15th in the 358 sprint feature.
At
Utica/Rome, AJ Filbeck was 8th in the
sportsman feature.
At
Weedsport, Mike Storms was 11th in the modified 50 lap feature.
At
At
Hamlin, in the wingless 600 Micros, Brittany Tresch
was 5th, Keith Still 11th and Molly Chambers 15th.
At
New Egypt, Johnny Guarino was a DNQ for the modified
feature.
At
At Borgers, Luke Schotskewitz was 16th
in the 270 Micro feature. In the 270 rookie feature, Tiffany Wambold was 6th.
In the Stage 1 Modifieds, Kyle Rohner was the feature winner.
Down
at Trailways, in their big racing weekend, Brad Szulewski was 6th and Geordan
Farry 18th in the 600 modifieds. Billy VanInwegen
was 8th and 4th in the two SpeedSTR
features, while his little sister, Emily, was 9th in the Slingshot
feature.
At Lanco, Brad Szulewski was 7th
while Geordan Farry was a
DNQ.
At
OCFS, in the held over modified feature, Danny Creeden
was 11th and Clinton Mills 12th. In the nights regular
feature, Danny was 6th, Clinton 7th and Jamie Yannone 18th.
In the sportsman feature, Mike Ruggiero was 2nd, Matt
Hitchcock 4th, Anthony Perrego 8th,
Rich Coons 11th, Doc Young 14th, Joe Conklin 20th,
Matt Janiak 23rd, while Bobby Hassenmayer was a DNQ.
Note: Here’s something that bugs the heck out of me
– why have a website if it’s not kept up to date? I’ve noticed this on some tracks as I search
the internet for race results to fill in the above info. And, it just isn’t track websites
either. I won’t mention one particular
track, but as of May 27th, their last up-date is shown to be on May
9th! And in some case, active
drivers have websites that haven’t been updated since last year, or further
back. Why?
Family
members in racing:
Grandson
John Rizzo was finally able to get his “new” car on the track last Saturday
down at the
Meanwhile,
up here and our 600 Micro Sprint - the
engine parts finally arrived on Wednesday, so I have to figure that the car
will still be in the garage on Saturday.
No reason to rush in putting the engine back together and messing
something else up, like the timing.
Other racin’
stuff:
Next week, the USAC sprinters make a trip
east. One of the major problems with
this is that there are no sprint car teams here in the east
that are willing to take off their wings to compete. I would not be surprised if this ends up
being the last trip east for the USAC dirt sprinters. The pavement ones would still go to
“
By
David Newton
ESPN.com
The more than 17
inches of rainfall that has fallen in Daytona Beach, Fla., since Sunday has
left portions of Daytona International Speedway under water.
Pictures show water
levels halfway up the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers in some
portions of the track. The Turn 1 tunnel that haulers use to enter the track is
filled with about 10 feet of water.
Track spokesman
Andrew Booth said there is no apparent damage and the track will be ready for
the July 4 Sprint Cup race.
"It's a
significant amount of water, but all it is, is water,'" Booth said.
"We have people living around the speedway and in
"What happened
will not affect what happens in July.'"
NASCAR officials
have seen photos of the track and are not concerned about damage. They said no
special test will be scheduled to help rubber in the surface.
But until the water
level has dropped, Booth said there is no way to know for sure there is no
damage.
"The pictures
are very dramatic,'' he said. "It's not a sight
you usually see. We'll be good to go in July.'"
More racin’ stuff:
If you watched the
Coca-Cola 600, then I’d have to imagine that you saw a yellow then red flag at
3:00 PM eastern time. That was done to
go along with an official request from the White House that all Americans
observe a moment of silence at that particular time. Nice move on NASCAR to go along with that
request, even with the threatening weather.
Ralph Corwin:
Ralph continues to update his website, from
The
History of the Sport:
Some names from the past – could be drivers, car owners, photographers, writers or anyone else associated with racing, get included in these lists that I come out with, on occasion. Some you’ll know – some you won’t.
Here are some names from the past, from the “Hey-day” of midget racing from the mid 40’s to the early 50’s:
Crocky Wright, Bill Schindler, Dave Randolph, Ray Nestor, Rex Mays, Ed
“Dutch” Schaefer, Speed McFee, Bert Brooks, Al Bonnell, Chet Gibbons, Johnny Ritter, “Jeep” Colkitt, Lloyd Christopher, “Pappy” Hough, Charlie Miller,
Art Cross, Chet Conklin, Dee Toran, Lew Volk, Joe Barzda, Charlie Breslin, Wes Saegesser. Bill Holmes, Len Duncan, Al Keller, Ernie McCoy,
Johnny Ringger, Rex Records, Larry Bloomer, Bob and
Stan Disbrow, George and Johnny Rice, Mike Nazaruk, Red Redmond, Mike Joseph, Andy Furci,
Johnny Thomson, Ted Tappett, Russ Klar
and Nick Fornoro
Video
time:
As you might now know, I’m a big fan of country
music. I’ve had favorite singers ever
since I became a fan, back in the 40’s, thanks to my mother. Johnny Cash was a favorite of mine. I was able to see him in person at the
Newburgh Armory in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6ktvEadtC4&feature=related
Oh, and for you race fans out there – remember Jimmie Johnson at Watkins Glen? One word: OUCH!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YPvPgNxZaA
Other (non racing)
news:
Things are not looking
very good for GM.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090527/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gm_bondholders
Note: I’m not sure if I would buy a new car, if I’d
buy it from a manufacturer that went bankrupt.
Are you thinking of
going to
“Public
notices have been posted for the past two years and in recent months border
agents have been actively offering verbal reminders and handouts, all urging
travelers abroad to obtain proper identification that will be required by June
1.
That cut-off
date is just about to arrive and come Monday, a typical driver’s license or birth certificate will no longer be accepted. All
Closing with this:
Maybe you’ve seen this one, maybe not, but it’s rather cute and funny:
Dear Grand-son, The
other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a 'Honk if you
love Jesus' bumper sticker...
I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a
thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting... So, I
bought the sticker and put it on my bumper.
Boy, am I glad I did; an uplifting experience followed.
I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about
the Lord and how good he is, and I didn't notice that the light had changed.
It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn't honked, I'd
never have noticed.
I found that lots of people love Jesus!
While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy, and then
he leaned out of his window and screamed, 'For the love of God!'
'Go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!'
What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus!
Everyone started honking!
I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving
people.
I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!
There must have been a man from
I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in
the air.
I asked my young teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant. He said it
was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something.
Well, I have never met anyone from
My grandson burst out laughing. Why even he was enjoying this religious
experience!!
A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got
out of their cars and started walking towards me.
I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I
noticed the light had changed.
So, grinning, I waved at all my brothers and sisters, and drove on through the
intersection.
I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection before the
light changed again and felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the
love we had shared.
So I slowed the car down, leaned out the window and gave them all the Hawaiian
good luck sign one last time as I drove away. Praise the Lord for such
wonderful folks!!
Will write again soon,
Love, Grandma
May “Guardian Angels” sit on the shoulders of all of our race drivers and guide them safely around the
tracks!
Drive safe!
As
usual, you can reach me at: ygordad@yahoo.com