Racin'
& Internet Stuff:
11/17/2011
First:
This past Sunday, my daughter, Judy, and I made our annual trip to the
Lobitz party/auction/dinner down in
As we were leaving, I realized that we never went to the barn that’s
behind the catering hall – where all of the old (not restored yet) racecars
are. Damn!
Info on the EMMR can be found here:
http://www.emmr.org/
Second:
The “
Racing collectibles:
Eastern
A subscription to the AARN?
Coastal 181 has lots of books and some at reduced prices,
too. As an example: DAREDEVILS OF THE FRONTIER by the late Keith
Herbst. Super Special: $16.95
Note: I was
privileged to have taken a trip to Coastal 181 with Keith just prior to his
book being published.
Slot Car racing stuff
http://www.hotlapsracin.com/hotparts.htm
Model cars etc
http://www.modelroundup.com/category-s/94.htm
How about some insurance for your racer?
Third:
From the Track Forum:
2012 Indy car has major issues at IMS
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?157553-2012-car-has-major-issues-at-IMS
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-series-trying-to-solve-2012-cars-speedway-issues
Note: Quite a few interesting
comments and thoughts on this thread. Up to 321 so far, as of this past Monday.
Fourth:
More from the Track Forum:
IndyCar going to
As of this past Monday, 190 comments on this one. Personally, I'd rather see them stay here in
the US of A.
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?157556-IndyCar-going-to-China-in-2012-(with-poll)
Fifth:
News from The
King of the Can - 'It's Good To Be King'
Media
Contact: Brett Deyo - 845.728.2781 or Deyo99H@aol.com
For
Immediate Release/Nov. 12, 2011
King
of the Can Set For Sunday At Penn Can
The
event will serve as a prelude to the historic $10,000-to-win 'Clash at the Can'
to be run in June 2012: the highest-ever paying race in Penn Can Speedway's
history. The Deyo/Miller/Wilcox promotional team paid $8,000 in the June 2011
'Clash at the Can' and attracted a field of 66 Modifieds. Thanks to the outstanding support shown this
year, the winner's share has been boosted to $10,000 and the '12 60-lap main
event will pay $300 to take the green flag.
GM
602 Crate Sportsman (25 laps - $1,000 to win) and Trackside Products Race of
Champions Street Stocks (25 laps - $500 to win) complete the program. The
Trackside Products RoC Street Stock title will be decided on Sunday. Bob Buono
currently leads the RoC Street Stock standings.
Modifieds
will run first throughout the order of events to benefit traveling racers and
fans.
Sixth:
Again, via an e-mail:
Wages
Salary
of retired
Salary
of House/Senate members ..........$174,000 FOR LIFE
Salary
of Speaker of the House .............$223,500 FOR LIFE
Salary
of Majority/Minority Leaders .....$193,400 FOR LIFE
Average
salary of a soldier DEPLOYED IN
Average
income for seniors on SOCIAL SECURITY - $12,000
I
think we found where the cuts should be made! If you agree...
Pass it on!
Note: I’m not sure, but I don’t think benefits are
included in the above figures.
Seventh:
Not only does "Benzee" have bus trips to various races, but
also some like this:
PRESS
RELEASE
Join Access #23 TV Station on Sun Dec 4th as we visit the Mt Airy Casino on a one day Bus Trip . Hosted by the Award winning TV show Keeping
Country Strong hosts
Carl Richards and Erwin " Benzee" Benz . R/T Deluxe Motorcoach , Refreshments , Raffles and onboard
entertainment by National Recording
Artist Carmine " The Crooner " Pace . Cost is $30 per person with
casino comping back $35 in play and food . Departs
Thank you to the media outlets that can print this in their newspaper , all proceeds will benefit the non profit station
. The last trip Sold Out and we expect a big crowd for
this one as well once the word get out
My contact info is same as above
Erwin "Benzee" Benz
benzee95@hotmail.com
845 234 5323
Eighth:
At times, one cannot believe everything that one sees on the
Internet. Since this
past weekend, there have been things said about the purses at
Hagerstown 350 Weekend”. Guess the
Internet was correct this time.
http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/DTD/index.php?/topic/41829-hagerstown/page__gopid__356779
Ninth:
Back on November 17, 1938, singer Gordon Lightfoot was
born, up in
Some info on him can be found here, in this link,
below. Yes, he’s had some pretty severe
health issues, that’s for sure!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Lightfoot
And, his most famous song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l3x_VoF3wo&feature=related
Tenth:
If only!
Yes, I wonder what it would have been like if only Jim
Clark or Dan Gurney actually took some laps in a Champ car back on August 17,
1963, when they visited the
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5JfGr7sr6w&feature=related
,Eleventh:
More from the Track Forum:
A
survey has been sent out that deals with this:
They
want your input as to the possibility of adding an IndyCar race on the infield
road course at
Quoting
some of the postings:
"It
sounds like they are having difficulty scraping enough tracks together for a
season. By the time you cross off the unsafe and unprofitable ones, the list
starts looking thin.
What
if they could only get 100,000 paying customers? Would that be profitable? If
so, do it. Running at IMS is nice and clean from a management perspective. And cheap for the teams. If the BY400 goes away, this would
be a way to keep some cash flow."
"I
am not a fan of the road course and not really a fan of the other races held at
the
That
being said, I feel like it cheapens the 500 to run anything other than that 1
race. It used to open once a year and 33 drivers got a chance at immortality,
now Nascar drivers win there and say they won at
Indy."
"If that's all the survey is about they're throwing their money away asking. For INDYCAR, short on ovals, to even be wondering about financing another road course race on the schedule makes no sense. If anything it dilutes the 500 to even intimate that an IMS rc race would be worthwhile. The GrandAM race next year will be three hours on Friday with a $30 ticket and there's no way I'm paying to see that. Been to every Brickyard 400, tip of the cap to you narrow minded so called race fans, and the increased price for the NNW race on Saturday will be enough of an added expense for that weekend. Adding extra races to the Brickyard weekend is going to backfire on IMS, it makes the weekend too expensive."
"That's
what they get for turning their backs on ovals. This series is on its last
legs."
More
can be read if you go here: http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?157649-IMS-E-mail
Twelfth:
Bryan
Clauson will get another season as an INDYCAR racer.
The
USAC short-track standout clinched his second USAC National Drivers
Championship – and the scholarship to compete in Firestone Indy Lights – with a
sixth-place finish in the USAC Sprint Car race at Giant Chevrolet Kings
Speedway in
“It was a busy year with a lot of ups and
downs, and to lock down and get the job done late in the year to put this thing
away was just awesome,” the 22-year-old native of
Clauson
will try to become the first driver since Billy Boat to win three-straight
Turkey Night Grand Prixs at
Until
then, he said he’ll work with INDYCAR officials to determine how best to
utilize the scholarship for 2012.
“I'm really excited about moving forward on
the Indy Car side of things,” he said. “We had already been hard at work trying
to put something together without the scholarship and had some great meetings,
so I feel like the scholarship will only help solidify whatever program we put
together.
“As
far as a direction for where I'll land for sure, I think it’s too early.
Obviously I have an idea of where I'd like to land, but there are a lot of
people involved in the scholarship program that we need to make sure we take
care of. When I get home from this west
coast swing after Turkey Night, you can be sure that I will be back hard at
work to put a solid program together whether it ends up being on the Lights
side or the IZOD IndyCar side.”
Note: I’m kind of wondering, what with the reported
lower amount of oval races in 2012, how that might effect
Thirteenth:
NHMS Announces Plans for Museum. Fundraising efforts underway.
In
part:
"Stock
cars, vintage open-wheel cars, dragsters and motorcycles all have a spot in the
history books when it comes to racing in the Northeast, and now, all of these
forms of motorsports will be featured in the new state-of-the-art Northeast Motorsports
Museum at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The Racing History Preservation Group and “The Magic
Mile” announced the beginning of fund raising efforts to create a
20,000-square-foot motorsports museum on Rt. 106 in
Interesting
in reading more on this? Then please go
here:
Fourteenth:
When I was checking out the results for OVRP’s Novemberfest weekend of racing., I was rather surprised that there were no 2 Cycles in competition. Methinks that might be a first for Novemberfest. Why? I have no idea. To us, and we ran both 2 and 4 cycle, the 2 cycle was always less trouble.
Fifteenth:
While at the Lobitz function last Sunday, I had a chance
to talk with Lou Zrinski from the ARDC, after dinner. It really isn’t my place to come out with the
exact place, but I was told that the ARDC will be racing at a certain track 10
times in 2012. No, it isn’t the Accord
Speedway, but hopefully the ARDC will have at least one show at Accord. 2011 was the first year since the end of WW
II that there was no full sized midget racing in
Sixteenth:
Some F-1 news:
From the Track Forum:
Construction stops on Austin F1 track
Links:
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?157687-Construction-stops-on-Austin-F1-track
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20111115/F1/111119910
Seventeenth:
Some F-1 news:
From the Track Forum:
Construction stops on Austin F1 track
Links:
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?157687-Construction-stops-on-Austin-F1-track
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20111115/F1/111119910
Note: There are
some that think that the F-1 race in
Coming up:
The Parts Peddler Trade Show:
It will be held on November 18, 19 &
20, up in
This year it will be held on November 25th,
26th and 27th. On
Saturday, the 26th, racing action will include:
Open/Tour Modifieds, Dirt Modifieds, Dirt
Sportsman, WALL/SK Modifieds, Sportsman/Crate cars, Late Models, Factory
Stocks, Street Stocks, Legends and TQ’s.
Practice on November 12th and 19th. For Sunday, 8 cylinder and
4 cylinder Enduros – 200 laps, Trux and Ladies plus more???
From their website:
Turkey Derby XXXVIII is a two racing
tradition set for Friday November 25 and Saturday November 26 during the
daylight hours. On November 25, practice will start at 8:30 a.m., while
qualifying will start at noon and feature racing will begin at 2:00 p.m. On
November 26, practice will start at 8:30 a.m., with qualifying set for 11:00
a.m. and feature racing set for 1:00 p.m.
Pit gates will open at 6:30 a.m., with pre-purchased grandstand seating
opening at 9:30 a.m. and grandstand seating opening at 10:00 a.m. on both days.
Friday
main event action will feature the paved Sportsman cars, the dirt Sportsman
cars, Late Models, Legend Cars and the Factory Stocks. On Saturday, the Touring
Modifieds, Wall Modifieds, dirt Modifieds, TQ Midgets and Street Stocks will
all see main event action.
More info can be found here: www.wallspeedway.com
Eastern
We will re-open for our annual Holiday Open
House the first
weekend of December; always lots of fun and food. That’s the 3rd and 4th.
Starting every Thursday during the winter from 6-9 pm,
Lynn Paxton and the gang will be holding weekly work parties.
We would love to have some volunteers step up and help arrange
cars and displays in the new wing. Without all the great volunteers
in this organization, EMMR doesn't exist.
So thanks to all of you !!!
Northeastern Vintage Dirt
Modified Racing Club
NVDMRC Club Banquet —
Sunday, December 4 at 1:00pm at
RSVP to Ed Stevens at 845-386-3484
Indoor Go-Kart racing in
Yup, almost that time again – December 10, 2011. Back when my grandson was racing Karts, we
made a few of those shows. The racing
was top notch; the building the track is in was both heated and
ventilated. The only downfall was the
possible weather conditions – you know –
Info on this event can be found if you go here, below, and check out
the upper left hand corner for additional links.
http://www.cnyroadrace.com/indoor/
Found
on Jayski’s website:
NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series Clinch Scenarios Set For
Only one finish
guarantees Carl Edwards his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship a
victory in Sunday's season-finale Ford 400. Just three points separate points leader #99-Carl Edwards and second-place #14-Tony
Stewart, a margin so tight, no other finish would clinch the title for Edwards
regardless of where Stewart finishes. Stewart owns the tie-breaker (best
finishes), and therefore could tie and win his third series championship. All
other drivers are officially eliminated from championship contention. Edwards'
three-point lead roughly translates to 13 points under the previous points
system. That makes it the closest margin between first and second going into
the final race in Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup history, and third-closest
since the inception of the position-based points structure in 1975.(NASCAR)(11-14-2011)
NASCAR didn't see
Kenseth-Vickers wreck as retaliation:
NASCAR officials
didn't see Sunday's incident at Phoenix International Raceway between Brian
Vickers and Matt Kenseth as retaliation. Kenseth disagreed. "Had we felt
it was more than a racing incident we would have reacted,'' Sprint Cup Series
director John Darby said afterwards. Kenseth called NASCAR out for not responding
to Vickers wrecking him the way the governing body responded to Kyle Busch
deliberately running Ron Hornaday Jr. into the wall during the Truck Series
race last week at Texas Motor Speedway. "Obviously, it is retaliation for
retaliation, I guess,'' said Kenseth, whose championship hopes basically ended
three weeks ago when he and Vickers got into several on track exchanges at
Martinsville Speedway. "I was out of brakes and I was up on everybody and
I saw him coming and I lifted at least 10 car lengths before where I normally
would lift, and he drove in there at 165 miles per hour and cleaned us out.''
Kenseth reminded NASCAR that Vickers vowed payback after
Penske eyes Hornish
return to Cup:
Sam Hornish Jr.
could be back in a Sprint Cup car by 2013, team owner Roger Penske said Sunday.
"That would be the goal,'' Penske said of the three-time IndyCar Series
champion, who won his first NASCAR event on Saturday when he took the checkered
flag in the Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. "That
kid is a heck of a driver." Penske admitted he made a mistake by rushing
Hornish from the IndyCar into the Cup series fulltime in 2008 with little
experience in NASCAR's lower series. Hornish drove only 11 Nationwide
races before his first Cup season and drove only nine during his three seasons
of Cup. During that stretch, Hornish had only two top 5s and eight top 10s in
Cup. He lost his ride after the 2010 season, but Hornish and Penske remained
committed to NASCAR by competing in a limited Nationwide
program this season. Penske said on Saturday and reiterated on Sunday that he
hopes to have Hornish compete for a title in the Nationwide Series in 2012 with
his ultimate goal to get him back in Cup the following year.(ESPN)(11-14-2011)
Changes are coming #88 team? new #42 crew
chief?
#88 crew chief
Steve Letarte says teams expect to reevaluate rosters after every season.
"I'd be really surprised if we had the same guys that we started this
season with," Letarte said Saturday. "You can never be good
enough." There could be more changes than usual at Hendrick Motorsports
after this season, particularly with the addition of Kasey Kahne and his
support staff, led by crew chief Kenny Francis. Kahne and Francis have scored
10 wins since getting together for the 2005 season finale at Homestead-Miami.
Francis is expected to bring along several of his existing crew men from Red
Bull Racing. The addition of the Kahne-Frances partnership will change the
nucleus of the #5 Chevy currently led by Lance McGrew. Chris Heroy, who was the
team engineer and led Dale Earnhardt Jr. to two top-five finishes as a crew
chief in the Nationwide Series this year, is rumored to be leaving Hendrick
Motorsports to be crew chief for Juan Pablo Montoya and the #42 crew.(FoxSports)(11-13-2011)
Kyle Busch offered
Hornaday a truck ride:
#29-Kevin Harvick
met with media at Phoenix International Raceway and discussed the Kyle Busch
situation among other things, the transcript in part:
Q) AS THE TEAM OWNER DIRECTLY IMPACTED BY KYLE BUSCH'S ACTIONS LAST WEEK AT
TEXAS, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HOW IT'S BEEN HANDLED FROM NASCAR'S STANDPOINT
AS WELL AS THE SPONSOR STANDPOINT?
Harvick:
"From a team
owner standpoint, it was expensive. I think as you look back at the whole
situation, the hardest part is that was the last time Ron Hornaday will race
for a championship? That's the part that bothers me the most. It's pretty
common that people know that I don't care for Kyle regardless of whether he is
in trouble or out of trouble, but that's the guy (Hornaday) I feel like has
taken the blunt of everything that happened last week. As far as the way it was
handled, it's not my situation. It's not something that I feel like I need to
weigh-in my opinion on, whether it was too much or not enough; it's just
unfortunate for Ron more than for anybody. And I think as you went through the
week, hearing the phone calls that were made to Ron from Kyle at the first part
of the week and trying to give him the #18 truck ride for next year and all the
things that he tried to do, he knew how wrong it was, hopefully."
Q) INAUDIBLE
Harvick:
"Yeah, as far
as I know, (team manager) Rick Wren called Ron and offered him the #18 truck
for next year. At first it started just with him calling Ron trying to get Ron
to call NASCAR so he wouldn't lose his job. That was how all that
progressed."(Team Chevy)(11-12-2011)
Aerodynamic testing
at Daytona:
NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series teams are scheduled to test at Daytona International Speedway in an
effort to evaluate and prepare aerodynamic baseline packages for the January
12-14, 2012 Preseason Thunder Test at DIS. Testing is scheduled for Tuesday,
Nov. 15th from 10 am - 5 pm/et. Teams scheduled to participate include:
Hendrick Motorsports (two cars with drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Aric
Almirola); Roush Fenway Racing (two cars with drivers David Ragan and Marcos
Ambrose); Joe Gibbs Racing (one car with driver Joey Logano), Michael Waltrip
Racing (one car with driver Martin Truex Jr.), and NEMCO Motorsports (one car
with driver Joe Nemechek). A section of the Oldfield Grandstands will be
open free to the public with access available through the lobby of the Daytona International
Speedway ticket office.(DIS)(11-11/15-2011)
UPDATE:
Seven NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series teams turned laps at the high banks of Daytona International
Speedway Tuesday, seeking the best baseline aerodynamic package for next January's
Preseason Thunder Test at "The World Center of Racing."
Teams participating in Tuesday's test included Hendrick Motorsports (Dale
Earnhardt Jr. and Aric Almirola); Roush Fenway Racing (David Ragan and Marcos
Ambrose); Joe Gibbs Racing (Joey Logano); Michael Waltrip Racing (Martin Truex
Jr.); and NEMCO Motorsports (Joe Nemechek).
After the track was dried following an early morning rain shower, teams first
got on the track at 11:45 a.m. The initial restrictor plate size was 29/32 inch
and the initial spoiler size was 4 ½ inches tall, 63 inches wide, which was the
same spoiler size for last July's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona. By
day's end, the size of the rear spoiler had been reduced to 3 inches tall by 62
inches wide. The smaller spoiler results in less down force and drag, but still
allows the cars to maintain high speeds and remain under control.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevy), a 13-time race
winner at Daytona, said Tuesday's test session was a "positive step in
finding a solution to the drafting style at Daytona."
"I did not anticipate finding a magical solution here today, but we will
be much better off and a lot smarter about things by having tested," said
Earnhardt. "This is just part of the work that needs to get done. There
are a lot of creative minds out here. We're learning what we need to know. I
think we're all in agreement that we probably won't totally rid ourselves of
the tandem racing, but I'm confident we can get to the point where it will not
be the norm."
Martin Truex Jr.
(#56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota), a two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and
solid restrictor plate racer, said there was a lot of mixing and matching going
on in the garage this afternoon. "We tried several different packages out
there today and what we're trying to do is put an end to this two-car draft, or
at least make it so we can only get together for a lap or two and have to
switch or run in a pack," said Truex. "NASCAR is being smart about
all of this and they are going through some steps to see if the changes that
we're making will result in what they think they will be."
John Darby, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Director, said that Tuesday's test should
allow NASCAR the ability to formulate a solid baseline aerodynamic package that
teams can work on heading into next January's three-day test session at DIS,
Jan. 12-14. "One of our goals is to give the teams more options when it
comes to how they draft and we believe we're headed in the right direction on
that," said Darby. "We want to be able to reduce the difference in
the speeds between the tandem style of racing and more of the pack style of
racing and we made a lot of good progress on that here today."
Both Earnhardt and Truex agreed that the transition to Electronic Fuel
Injection in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is right on track. The sport's
premier series will implement EFI beginning at Daytona next season. "The
computer guys like what they've seen so far with the EFI test and I'll tell you
what, when I've tested the EFI car, it drives as well or better than the
carburetor cars," said Earnhardt. "To be honest with you, if you
didn't know it when you got into the car, you couldn't tell a difference,"
said Truex. "The only thing that's different is the way it starts. You
don't have to pump the gas like a normal carburetor. You just flip the switch
and crank it up like a street car."(NASCAR)(11-15-2011)
AND:
Toyota NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Daytona Test -- Notes & Quotes from #20-Joey
Logano:
Q) What have you learned so far from today's test session at Daytona?
Logano: "We learned that when you take a spoiler out of a race car at
Daytona it makes the car go faster. We were going 206 or 207 or so. We've been
doing that, taking the rear spring out of the car and just taking downforce
away from these things. Trying to get away from that two-car
draft. We're slowly getting away from the two-car draft, making it
harder to do it. I guess we've made gains today because that's what NASCAR is
looking for."
Q) Have you noticed a difference with the new electronic fuel injection in the
race car?
Logano: "No, we can't really tell much at all, but that's a good thing.(Toyota Racing)(11-16-2011)
Nemechek runs
203mph at Daytona test....alone:
#87-Joe Nemechek, a
driver/car owner, reached 203 mph without a drafting partner during Tuesday's
test session at Daytona International Speedway. The day was supposed to belong
to NASCAR as it tested various setups in an effort to break up the two-car
tandem draft. But instead, Nemechek was the talk of the garage and what it
might mean for qualifying if Tuesday's changes are implemented for the Feb. 26
Daytona 500. "We were changing the restrictor plates and all kinds of
stuff," Nemechek said. "I mean, (the speed is) just the product of
putting more horsepower to the back tires. I think we're going to be quite a
bit faster when we come back here for qualifying day. It's going to be
interesting. All the teams are going to have to do some more homework."
Nemechek was testing with Triad Engine Development, a North Carolina-based
company. "We were using a 1 1/16-inch plate and a 3-inch radius
spoiler," Triad Racing Development head engine builder Jon Dysinger said.
"This was better than we expected."(Daytona
Beach News Journal)(11-16-2011)
Former car owner
Bernstein retires from racing:
Six-time NHRA
champion Kenny Bernstein has turned the final page and closed the book on his
career as a competitor and NHRA racing team owner. "My wife Sheryl and I
have come to a place in our lives where we want to pursue other
interests," said Bernstein. "We have poured our hearts and souls in
motorsports for over 30 years and that's a full time job. It consumes you and
there is very little time to relax. We are very proud of our accomplishments
through the years and it's been a great ride, but we're interested in being
able to travel at will, we want to spend some time on the golf course, and
we've recently taken up fly fishing, which we really enjoy. It's time to enjoy
life while we still have our health." Team owner and six-time NHRA
champion Kenny Bernstein is a gifted driver and businessman. He holds the
unique distinction of being the first and only race team owner to have
collected wins in each of
Johnson's comments
on being out of the championship hunt:
Q) YOU HAVE BEEN MATHEMATICALLY ELIMINATED FROM THE DRIVER'S
CHAMPIONSHIP, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHAT YOU ACCOMPLISHED THIS YEAR?
Jimmie Johnson: "Yeah, I'm definitely disappointed that we won't be able
to go to
Note: Kind of ironic that he thanks Hendrick
Motorsports and Chad Knaus, but not the one that’s listed as his car owner for
every race – Jeff Gordon.
Red Bull Racing
still looking for investor / buyer:
Red Bull Racing
announced in June that it would sell the team [#4-Kahne, #83-Vickers] by the
end of the year or shut it down. While there have been inquiries, no deal has
been announced. Red Bull Racing has notified the state of
Marlin interested
in Fairgrounds Speedway:
Retired NASCAR
driver Sterling Marlin is interested in acquiring the lease to
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 mostly from Open
Wheel racing from “Back in the day”.
Covering the days from
November 18th to the 24th:
NOVEMBER 18
1941
Gary Bettenhausen ... Born
... His father was Indianapolis 500 and sprint car legend Tony Bettenhausen,
and his brother was former Champ Car team owner Tony Bettenhausen Jr. Another
brother, Merle Bettenhausen, lost his arm in a fiery crash.
2008
Chuck Amati ... Died ...
Chuck Amati was an 'Outlaw' long before the inaugural 1978 World of Outlaws
season. For over 40 years he raced from coast-to-coast chasing wins, and when
he took his helmet off for the final time in 2002, he had accumulated hundreds
of them in his career in a number of different types of race cars. Amati will
always be remember as "The One Armed Bandit," a nickname he earned on
a night, when he sustained an injury to his right arm and devised a harness to
hold the arm in place in his lap, driving using his left arm. The arm would
eventually heal, though the nickname stuck with him for the rest of his career
and contributed to him being one of the most colorful drivers to ever climb
into a sprint car. He won a in a variety of machines during his legendary
career including: winged sprint cars, non-winged sprint cars, supermodifieds
and even midgets. From 1969-1986, he won at least one sprint car race every
year during that span.
NOVEMBER 19
1925
Eddie Russo ... Born ... A
retired American racecar driver. Russo won the midget car racing track
championship
1954
Spike Gehlhausen ... Born
... A former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in
11 seasons (1975-1982 and 1984-1986), with 79 combined career starts, including
the
1961
Al Keller... Died ...
Keller participated in the NASCAR "Strictly Stock"/"Grand
National" (predecessors to the current NEXTEL Cup) series from 1949 to
1956 with 29 career starts. He won two races during the 1954 season and is the
only driver in the history of NASCAR's top division to have won a race in a
foreign-built car, winning the 1954 Grand National road-race at the
Note: At the end of this column, when read on the
New England Tractor website, I'm hoping that a headshot photo of Al Keller
works.
Parnelli Jones won the USAC
sanctioned Bobby Ball Memorial Race on the 1 Mile Dirt Oval Arizona State
Fairgrounds in
1973
Mike Salay ... Died ... AAA
driver from the 1940's and 1950's.
1980
Jack Hart ...Died ... New
Jersey NASCAR Sportsman Stock Car driver from the 1950's and 60's.
1989
Dale Earnhardt won the
NASCAR Winston Cup Atlanta Journal 500 over Geoffrey Bodine at the Atlanta
Motor Speedway,
2001
Bruce Craig... Died ... He
was a self-employed auto racing photographer, videographer, and historian who
was well known throughout the
NOVEMBER 20
1965
Jimmy Vasser ... Born ...
An American racing driver and race team owner. Vasser won the 1996 Champ Car
champion with Chip Ganassi Racing, and scored ten victories in the series.
Vasser was the last American to win the Champ Car championship.
NOVEMBER 21
1996
Elmo Langley... Died...
NOVEMBER 22
1893
Ira Vail... Born ... AAA
driver from 1915 to 1928
1947
David "Salt"
Walther ... Born ... A former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car
series. He also drove NASCAR stock cars, unlimited hydroplane boats, and was a
car owner in USAC. He is the son of George Walther, owner of Dayton Steel
Foundry, who fielded Indy 500 cars for Juan Manuel Fangio in 1958 and Mike
Magill in 1959. His brother, George "Skipp" Walther III, was fatally
injured while trying to qualify as an Unlimited driver
at
1961
Our first child, a girl,
Judith Ann Avenengo, now with the last name of Kehlenbeck, was born at the
1970
Ronnie Sox becomes the
first person to run 140 mph at the end of the 1/4-mile in an NHRA Pro Stock car
when he runs 140.18 mph at
1990
Stan Fox won the last race
ever held at the legendary
NOVEMBER 23
1939
Mel Hansen won the Turkey
Night Grand Prix 150 AAA Midget race over Bob Swanson and Fred Friday at the
Gilmore Stadium,
1968
Bobby Hogle won the Pacific
Coast Open 200 Sprint Car race over Paul Jones, Billy Wilkerson, Terry Kawell
and Don Ewart at the Ascot Park Speedway (1/2d) ,
Note: Isn't it rather sad that we no longer see
long distance Sprint Car races anymore?
Or Midget races that are long distance, too?
NOVEMBER 24
1938
Bob Swanson won the Turkey
Night Grand Prix 150 AAA Midget race over Sam Hanks and Mel Hansen at the
Gilmore Stadium,
1977
Gary Patterson won the
Turkey Night Grand Prix USAC Midget race over Mel Kenyon, Johnny Parsons, Dana
Carter and Johnny Rutherford at the Ascot Park Speedway,
1979
Stan Fox won the Jimmy Caruthers
Memorial MMA Midget race at the Manzanita Speedway ,
Al Unser, Jr. won the Jimmy
Caruthers Memorial Sprint Car race at the Manzanita Speedway
,
News
from the AARN:
From
their November 8th issue:
As
far as there being dirt put down on the Wall Stadium track – ain’t gonna
happen, per Cliff Krause, the Wall promoter.
What
do Scott Bloomquist, Josh Richards and Chub Frank all have in common other than
Late Model racers? All three use
Roush/Yates engines in their Late Models.
None can really explain why, but their cars drivability and handling
seem to improve with those engines.
Sprint
Car driver Jeff Taylor, 59, has purchased Gamblers Speedway in
Oh – as for the URC going wingless – could very well happen, but only on tracks that are not big and fast – as of now, anyway. I made mention of that on the ARDC’s message board and one poster came back with: “
In AARN this Week’s issue of November 15th:
Ernie Davis
'Salvages'
Josh Richards Rockets
To Victory
Tyler Haydt Has
Cody Darrah's
Missing Money
Favorable November Weekend
For Short Tracks
Former
In last weeks column, I missed Nick Pecko being 21st in
the North-South Shoot Out at Caraway Speedway in asphalt modifieds.
At Penn Can last
weekend, Danny Creeden was 10th in the Modified race while Mike
Ruggiero was a DNQ. Kyle Rohner won the
Sportsman feature with Anthony Perrego 2nd, Tyler Dippel 8th
and Tyler Boniface 20th.
Here’s hoping I
didn’t miss anyone. Not much racing
going on now, so chances are this little section will be missing for a while.
More
racin’ stuff:
Still
more from the Track Forum:
DW12
Issues at IMS...Problem or Not? (This is about the new car - the Dan Wheldon 12
Indycar).
Some
of what's being said:
"We've
all heard the stories about the DW12's teething issues and that it isn't
performing at IMS like Dallara had modeled. It snaps loose, can't get the speed
up, etc...
So
here's my question...assuming that the car isn't ridiculously horrible and
objectively impossible to engineer to a reasonable base level...is this lack of
performance maybe a good thing in some ways?
Let's
say next year the pole speed is something like 215 or 216. Wouldn't that add
some intrigue over the next few years as aero kits come out and as teams try to
engineer solutions to the car's issues? Maybe the pole speed goes from 215 in
2012 to 225 in 2015...to me, that adds interest from a
technical perspective. Which teams found answers? Which aero kits are making
the car work best? Blah blah blah."
"Being
slower than "modeled" is not a problem.
But
the current state of the sport has a heavy emphasis on driver safety, so while
a car that "snaps loose" is a good thing to separate the good racers
from their grandmothers, it has the potential to be a very big problem if it's
likely to result in a lot of seriously injured drivers."
"It's
incredibly unlikely that the problem won't be fixed before May."
"Exactly.
I
think the issue is that the simulator's are getting
things wrong which is affecting the quality of the car on track. It's not
really the car itself but the simulators not matching the real life
expectations. Once they figure this out I can't see a reason why the DW12 can't
at least match the speeds of the last generation Dallara."
"That's
what I was thinking too.
I
thought all the hawks around here were clamoring for a car that's less
"stuck" and "harder to drive" and "requires the
drivers to lift".
Isn't
that exactly what this is?"
More
on this can be found if you go here:
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?157679-DW12-Issues-at-IMS...Problem-or-Not
Racing and
television:
Racing on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm
Some non-racing stuff:
From an e-mail I
received this past Monday:
Subject: Meet
Date: Friday, October 28,
2011, 7:59 AM
Wow! How about this? A
breath of fresh air!
Wow! How about this? A
breath of fresh air!
Meet
The new Maine Governor,
Paul LePage is making
He brought down the house
at his inauguration when he shook his fist toward the media box and said,
"You're on notice! I've inherited a financially troubled State to run.
Observe...cover what we do...but don't whine if I don't waste time responding
to your every whim just for your amusement."
During his campaign for
Governor, he was talking to commercial fishermen who are struggling because of
federal fisheries rules. They complained that 0bama brought his family to Bar
Harbor and
The Martin Luther King
incident was a political sandbag, which brought him National exposure. The
'lame stream' media crucified him, but word on the street is very positive. The
NAACP specifically asked LePage to spend MLK Day visiting black inmates at the
Maine State Prison. He told them that he would meet with ALL inmates,
regardless of race, if he were to visit the prison. The NAACP balked and then
put out a news release claiming falsely that he refused to participate in any
MLK events. He read it in the paper for the 1st time the next morning while
being driven to an event and went ballistic because none of the reporters had
called him for comment before running the NAACP release.
He arrived at that event
& said in front of a TV camera, "If they want to play the race card on
me they can kiss my ass", and he reminded them that he has an adopted
black son from Jamaica and that he attended the local MLK Breakfast every year
that he was mayor of Waterville. (He started his morning there on MLK Day.)
He then stated that there's
a right way and a wrong way to meet with the Governor, and he put all special
interests on notice that press releases, media leaks, and all demonstrations
would prove to be the wrong way. He said any other group, which acted like the
NAACP could expect to be at the bottom of the Governor's priority list!
He then did the following,
and judging from local radio talk show callers, his popularity increased even
more: The State employees union complained because he waited until 3 P.M.
before closing State offices and facilities and sending non-emergency personnel
home during the last blizzard. The prior Governor would often close offices for
the day with just a forecast before the first flakes. (Each time the State
closes for snow, it costs the taxpayers about $1 million in wages for no work
in return.)
LePage was CEO of the
Marden's chain of discount family bargain retail stores before election as governor.
He noted that State employees getting off work early could still find lots of
retail stores open to shop. So, he put the State employees on notice by
announcing: "If Marden's is open,
He told State employees:
"We live in
Governor LePage symbolizes
what
THE LAW IS THE LAW!
I really love this one.
This is one of the better
e-mails I have received in a long time! I hope this makes its way around the
So, Be It!
THE LAW IS THE LAW So
"if" the
And "if" that
same government decides that the "Ten Commandments" are not to be
used in or on a government installation, then, so be it.
I say, "so be it," because I would like to be a law abiding
I say, "so be it," because I would like to think that smarter
people than I are in positions to make good decisions.
I would like to think that
those people have the American public's best interests at heart.
BUT, YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE I'D
LIKE?
Since we can't pray to God,
can't Trust in God and cannot post His Commandments in Government buildings, I
don't believe the Government (Federal, State and Local) and its employees
should participate in the Easter and Christmas celebrations which honor the God
that our government is eliminating from many facets of American life.
I'd like my mail delivered
on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter.
After all, it's just another day.
I'd like the" US
Supreme Court to be in session on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving &
Easter as well as Sundays." After all, it's just another day.
I'd like the Senate and the
House of Representatives to not have to worry about getting home for the
"Christmas Break." After all it's just another day.
I'm thinking that a lot of
my taxpayer dollars could be saved, if all government offices & services
would work on Christmas, Good Friday & Easter. It shouldn't cost any
overtime since those would be just like any other day of the week to a government
that is trying to be "politically correct."
In
fact....
I think that our government
should work on Sundays (initially set aside for worshipping God....) because,
after all, our government says that it should be just another day....
What do you all think????
If this idea gets to enough
people, maybe our elected officials will stop giving in to the "minority
opinions" and begin, once again, to represent the "majority" of
ALL of the American people.
SO BE IT...........
Please Dear Lord, Give us
the help needed to keep you in our country!
'Amen' and 'Amen' Touché!
These are definitely things
I never thought about but from now on, I will be sure to question those in
government who support these changes.
At the top, it says,
"I hope this makes its way around the
IF YOU GOOGLE THE NAME PAUL
LEPAGE THERE IS A VIDEO SHOWING THE NAACP INCIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is
this true?:
Remember
this, from last week?
Some
non-racing stuff part 3:
Fannie
Mae loss widens, asks taxpayers for $7.8B
In
part:
"Mortgage
giant Fannie Mae is asking the federal government for $7.8 billion in aid to
cover its losses in the July-September quarter."
Well,
how about this?
Fannie,
Freddie executives score $100M payday post bailout
In
part:
"Mortgage
finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received the biggest federal bailout
of the financial crisis. And nearly $100 million of those tax dollars went to
lucrative pay packages for top executives, filings show.
The
top five executives at Fannie Mae received $33.3 million in 2009 and 2010,
while the top five at Freddie Mac received $28.1 million. And each company has
set pay targets of as much as $17 million for its top managers for 2011.
That's
a total of $95.4 million, which will essentially be coming from taxpayers, who
have been keeping the mortgage finance giants alive with regular quarterly cash
infusions since the Federal Home Finance Agency (FHFA) took control of the
companies in September 2008.
Fannie
CEO Michael Williams and Freddie CEO Charles Halderman, each received about
$5.5 million in pay for last year, and they could receive more when their final
deferred compensation for 2010 is set. All the executives receive a significant
portion of their pay in the year or years after they earn it."
"The
CEOs' pay targets for 2011 are about $6 million a piece, though Halderman might
not get much of that money since he's announced plans to leave Freddie sometime
in 2012. He must still be at the company in order to receive the deferred
compensation. His base pay for 2011 is $900,000, with most of the rest of his
compensation coming in deferred payments.
The
salary filings were all made by the companies in early 2011, but received
relatively little attention until a recent report by Politico, the political
news Web site, which highlighted about $12.8 million in bonuses the executives
received for last year.
That
published report sparked a political firestorm on Capitol Hill that could lead
to legislation to put strict limits on pay at the two firms. But it only told
part of the story. The full extent of salary, deferred pay and bonuses are only
found in the filings."
More
on this can be found here: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fannie-freddie-executives-score-100m-105300790.html
Video time:
How about taking a
trip back in time to 1963 and to the Langhorne oiled dirt circular one-mile
racetrack?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmfEGDsnxAU&feature=related
Interesting e-mails that
I get:
Most have to do
with our every day lives.
The “Bakken”:
WORTH
As you may know, Cruz
Construction started a division in
Dave Cruz said they have
moved more rigs in the last 6 months in ND than Cruz Construction moved in
in April 2008 that only scientists and oil men knew was
coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn't been updated since
1995) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota,
western South Dakota, and extreme eastern Montana. Check THIS out: The Bakken is
the largest domestic oil discovery since
up the Bakken's massive reserves, and we now have access
of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those
billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!!!!!! That's enough
crude to fully fuel the American economy for 2041 years straight. And if THAT
didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from
2006!!!!!!
U S. Oil Discovery -
Largest Reserve in the World Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006
Hidden 1,000 feet beneath
the surface of the
reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver
Post .Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price even with this find? Think again!
It's all about the competitive marketplace, it has to. Think OPEC just might be
funding the environmentalists? Got your attention yet? Now, while you're
thinking about it, do this: Pass this along. If you don't take a little time to
do this, then you should stifle yourself the next time you complain about gas
prices, by doing NOTHING, you forfeit your right to complain. Now I just wonder
what would happen in this country if every one of you sent this to everyone in
your address book. By the way, this can be verified. Check it out at the link
below! http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911
No virus found in this
message.
Checked by AVG -
www.avg.comVersion: 2012.0.1869 / Virus Database: 2092/4610 - Release Date:
11/11/11
Note: It was a while back when I made mention of
the “Bakken” in a couple of my columns.
The first was similar to the above, while the second was that this was
mentioned on NBC’s News with Brian Williams and how they were looking for help
and how there wasn’t enough housing to take care of all the people that were
going there to work. Now, it would seem
to me that by now, some oil has to have been
extracted, since there is so much “work” going on.
Photos:
I’m going to try
posting a photo a week for a while.
Closing with this:
A Mafia Godfather finds out that his bookkeeper, Guido, has cheated him out of $10,000,000.00
His
bookkeeper is deaf. That was the reason he got the job in the first place.
It
was assumed that Guido would hear nothing so he would not have to testify in
court.
When
the Godfather goes to confront Guido about his missing $10 million, he takes
along his lawyer who knows sign language.
The
Godfather tells the lawyer, "Ask him where's the money? The lawyer, using sign language, asks Guido
where's the money?.
Guido
signs back, ‘I don't know what you are talking about.’ The lawyer tells the
Godfather, "He says he doesn't know what you are talking about"
The
Godfather pulls out a pistol, puts it to Guido's temple and says, "Ask him
again ! "
The
lawyer signs to Guido, "He'll kill you if you don't tell him.." Guido signs back, ‘OK. ! ! ! ! You win ! The money is in a brown briefcase, buried behind the
shed at my cousin Bruno's house.’
The
Godfather asks the lawyer, "What did he say?" The lawyer replies,
"He says you don't have the balls to pull the trigger."
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