The Write Track – Little Valley Speedway – Brock Young Memorial – July 15th, 2011

I’m back with part two of a two-day race fest, as this is the second track in two days that it was my first time being there. This was a bit different, as I was a guest with the Knowles racing team. I rode along with Brian Knowles who drives the number 7 BRP 360 late model who was going to be racing in the Brock Young Memorial Race,

a race that his father Larry has won before. Brian’s brother Jason was also racing(number 4)

and he beat us there, but we weren’t really racing to get there, but we were plenty early. As soon as we pull into the pits, the lady come right up to the truck and let us sign in and we were on our way. Thanks to Larry Knowles also for offering up the ride to get there and also on a side note, Larry is the owner of Doug Gross Construction, who obviously is helping out his kids racing now and he has retired from racing.

This racetrack is actually the Cattaraugus County Fairgrounds, so there are plenty of horse barns, fenced in areas and a bunch of buildings on the property. Brian parked the truck and trailer just outside of turn three which he was telling me the whole way there is you can see everything from where we park.

He wasn’t kidding, after we got the racecar un-strapped and the ladder out, I set that up and climbed up on the platform on the roof of the hauler. Wow, what a view. I am told that the track is a measured ½ mile and I think it looks a bit bigger than that. The straight-aways are very long and the corners are very tight, so I guess you could say it was a big “paper clip” so to speak. I could not wait to see some racing as I figured any car on this track is absolutely going to be flying down the long straight-aways.

I left Brian and John (Crew) to get their stuff out of trailer and set up so that I could walk around and check the place out. I noticed that the “Snack Shack”

was opened and went on over to see what was on the menu. This is the concession stand in the pits. To my surprise, you can get anything from a taco salad, ice cream, eggs and bacon, sloppy joes, potato and macaroni salad and much more.

They also were making milkshakes and ice cream floats along with serving coca-cola products for beverages. The condiment table was filled with a ton of things for your goodies. I had some French fries and a taco salad along with a hot dog, all was very good and another thing I like is that they have combo deals that save you some money. Just outside the Snack Shack is also the pit shack/office and there are two boards that they write the lineups on.

We had some time as we are there early and Brian took me for a ride out on the track on the four-wheeler, which gave me a great opportunity to snap some pictures.

^Turn 4^

The grandstands that are there are huge and are down into turn one. The flag stand is also closer to turn one and not centered on the straightaway.

I find it amazing that the place actually has no tower for the officials or scorers to sit and they sit in chairs on the platform with tables setup.

I could not believe this at all, I’m sure they are using pencils, as soon as you get dirt flying in the air you can’t write to good on paper with a pen. They also have a lap counter with the top 3 positions and this sits in between turn 1 and 2.

It was still a bit hard to see from where we were standing in turn three as it is or it seems like a mile away.

On the inside of the corners they have tires half buried and Brian is telling me it isn’t good when you get into to of them as they run right close to the bottom and many guys have been bitten by this.

I have a bunch of video that I will have posted on my youtube channel that shows a great speed shot of the E-Mods racing down the backstretch. I never made it over to sit in the grandstands or check out the food over there, but I guess the pizza you can get over in the grandstand area is huge.

This event was the 100th event on the BRP 360 Late Model Can Am Series that is run and operated by Gary Montgomery. Along with this racing were street stocks, UEMS E-Mods and also the super late models. The UEMS (United E-Mod Series) was doing a make-up feature from an earlier date as well as a regular show. They did no hot laps for the event and also had a drivers meeting. They pretty much covered all the basics in the meeting and Chris Zuver talked with the E-Mod drivers as he also runs this series along with the ULMS for the super late models.

John, Brian’s crew guy drew #6 and it ended up putting Brian on the pole in the first heat as no one drew any lower than that. The heats went 8 laps in distance and Brian would go on to win his heat, putting him in the redraw for the feature. John would then again draw the number six and that is where he would be starting the feature event. Brian’s brother Jason drew #3 just one row ahead of Brian. There was a total of 23 BRP cars in attendance which all would qualify and make the feature event. Bruce Miller started on the pole and went on to lead all the laps with Jeremy Wonderling in tow right behind him. There were 7 cautions in the first 8 laps, and unfortunately Brian ended up spinning out in turns 1 and 2. And lost some positions. On another restart it looked like someone hit Brian in the rear and then got banged up on the right hand side and ruined a great run giving Brian two flat rear tires. The crew was hustling around to get ready for him to come in and do some tire changes and we did, it was fast and he was able to get back out there and finish the race.
Jason held on for a 4th place finish while Brian charged up from the tail of the pack to salvage a 12th place finish. Hats off to Gary Montgomery for his 100th race and also to all the drivers who supported him along the way. Without much rain in the area, the track crew had watered down the track, but at feature time it was already hard and bumpy and very dry and dusty.

All the racing divisions put on great shows and there was racing and passing throughout each feature. Each class enters the corners completely different and some of the super late models were sliding it in so hard the rear of their cars was almost hitting the guardrail fence on the outside. The E-Mods were as loud as the super late models and put on a very competitive race in their makeup feature. Bob Close would take the win in that one while Dan Davies took the win in the regular feature event. I did not get to see the second feature as we were on our way out of there and going home. Andy Michael won the street stock race in their 15th lap feature while Richard “Boom” Briggs won the super late models.

Overall, this racing experience was really fun, I got to see some really great racing and more important is the speed that I got to see with the super lates. It was fun helping Brian out getting the mud of the car and just being part of the team was super fun and it gave me someone to cheer for. I want to say thanks again to the Knowles Racing family and a friends for allowing me to go with them racing. Be sure to check out there team website below and also find them on facebook under Team 4 Racing. Also check out Doug Gross Construction for all your construction needs. They specialize in equipment rentals, dumpster and roll off service, and much more. Give them a call at 607-936-0168.

No plans of yet where the next race track that I will be at, Little Valley will be racing next on September 4th for the Labor Day Coca-Cola Classic. So keep it tuned right her and stay on “The Write Track” and get out and support racing at your local track. Be sure to always visit sponsors who support racing as it helps us all in the long run. Thanks again to the Knowles family for taking me to a great racetrack I really enjoyed myself, THANKS!!
After a tought night of racing, the car is loaded and we were headed home.

Website Links of interest

Little Valley Speedway>
http://www.littlevalleyspeedway.com
BRP Can Am 360 Late Model Series
http://www.brpcanamseries.com/
UEMS E Mod Series>
http://unitedlatemodelseries.com/
Knowles Racing Team>
http://www.goteam4racing.com/
My Blogsite>
http://thewritetrackracing.blogspot.com/
My YouTube Channel>
http://www.youtube.com/user/tazman27j

Full Results July 15th, 2011

Super Late Models: (30 laps) 1. Boom Briggs 2. Mike Knight, 3. Chad Valone, 4. Jason Dupont, 5. Rod Maloy, 6. Dick Barton, 7. Greg Oakes, 8. David Scott, 9. John Lacki, 10. Chris Hackett, 11. Jeff Dayman, 12. Terry Porter, 13. Doug Ricotta, 14. Dutch Davies, 15. Paul Grigsby, 16. James Mason, and 17. Bump Hedman. Heat winners were Knight and Briggs.

360 Late Models Brock Young Memorial: (22 laps) 1. Bruce Miller, 2. Jeremy Wonderling, 3. Mikey Wonderling, 4. Jason Knowles. 5. Bryce Davis, 6. Greg Galligan, 7. Dave Dubois, 8. Dusty Waters, 9. Mike Wonderling, 10. Brian Hoffman, 11. Bob Close, 12. Brian Knowles, 13. Jon Rivers, 14. DJ Krug 15. John Waters, 16. Glen Writenour, 17. Jarod Hill, 18. Carl Cleveland, 19. Ron Wilkins, 20. Jeff Chesebro, 21. Quinn Sutherland, 22. Bob Babbitt, and 23. Barry Payne. Heat winners were Brian Knowles, Mikey Wonderling, and Chesebro.

E-Mod Makeup: (20 laps) 1. Bob Close, 2. Joel Watson, 3. Rich Michael, 4. Jack Young, 5. Craig Bedell, 6. Kyle Bedell, 7. Al Brewer, 8. Justin Carlson, 9. John Woodward, 10. Tim Peterson, 11. Vic Vena, 12. Mike McGee, 13. Randy Hall, 14. Nate Hill, 15. Brian Fardink, 16. Bud Watson, 17. Kari Gasser, 18. Kyle Inman, 19. Butch Southwell, 20. Dan Davies, and 21. Tim Rockwell. Heat winners were Joel Watson, Michael, Rockwell, and Davies. Consi winner was Woodward.

E-Mod Feature: (20 laps) 1. Dan Davies, 2. Justin Carlson, 3. Butch Southwell, 4. Rich Michael, 5. Joel Watson, 6. Al Brewer, 7. John Woodward 8. Darren Tarabori, 9. Craig Bedell, 10. Tim Rockwell, 11. Brain Fardink, 12. Bud Watson, 13. Kari Gasser, 14. Vic Vena, 15. Kevin Buff, 16. Tim Peterson, 17. Mike McGee, 18. Jeff Johnson, 19. Jack Young, 20. Randy Hall, 21. Nate Hill, 22. Bob Close, 23. Ben Asel, and 24. Kyle Bedell.

Street Stocks: (15 laps) 1. Andy Michael 2. Rich Wojtowicz, 3. Critter Hemphill, 4. Rob Stromecki, 5. Butch Talbot, 6. John Woodward 7. Levi Watson, 8. Jeff Woodward, 9. Josh Wilcox, 10. Tim Bruce, 11. Steve Sklar, 12. Barry Tingue, 13. Chris Austin, 14. Kevin Dzuroff, and 15. Craig Rex. DNS: Bruno Mowery. Heat winners were Michael and Wojtowicz.

The Write Track – McKean County Raceway – July 14th, 2011 Jim Duffy Memorial

Racing and friends it can’t get any better than that, simply put I had some money saved up and was planning on attending MCR either way, by myself or with someone. I have never been to this track and was excited for sure. A big thanks goes out to Jerry who drove us to the track and I was able to go along.

For anyone that doesn’t know, McKean County Raceway is 1/3rd mile track and is absolutely a nice track, and this like many others is also a fairgrounds so there is many barns and even had a flea market set up too.

The track is run by McKean Motorsports who is Ken Leet, Rich Yeager, Rod Biehler, Tom Gleason. Before I get into to my story, I want to thank all of these people who let me in to the track, Thank You!!

This was a Thursday night, mid-week show and I was excited as on the racing card was the ULMS Super Late Models, E-Mods, Street Stocks and Mini Stocks and Fastrak Crate Late Models. The ULMS series is short for United Late Model Series, which is run by Chris Zuver. (There will be links to the sites at bottom of story.)

When arriving at the track I didn’t notice any big signs stating that it was McKean County Raceway, but my friends knew where to go. This place was different for sure, there is no area that is fenced in at all, you pay for your ticket at the right of the grandstands

and they just have people standing making sure that you paid and your right into the grandstands. The grandstands are really awesome with them being all aluminum and also have backs on them too.

I figured after walking from turn one to turn four there really isn’t any bad seat in the house at all. There is also a small section of stands setup in the pits just outside of turn four. The cars enter the track from turn four and the exit to the pits is down the backstretch off turn three. The pits are outside of turns 3+4 and it is almost like they are in the woods, trees are all over the place, so it gives you that feeling like a big campground, but instead of tents/campers, you have haulers and race cars all over SWEET!

The restrooms in the pits are the good ole fashioned Port-a-Johns. However I found it interesting that the restrooms for those not in the pits are right behind the stands. I always rate the bathrooms, so here goes, the men’s room has only two urinals and many were all standing in line waiting to go and many were noticed “doing the dance”, so to speak. However they were clean but just need more toilets. Heck us guys we know where to go, go find a tree or whatever. Just couldn’t resist on that one! The food prices were fair and not expensive, didn’t really notice that many different items, just the normal things you find on the menu. The French fries and burger I had were good. The concession stand over in the grandstands is literally inside a barn along with a vendor selling racing stuff and toys for kids. It is the booth of Fast Pace Photos, who is the official photographer at the track. (Link to site below)

So with this being the case no dirt is flying at you while your ordering or adding those condiments to your grub. There was also a vendor just under the grandstands also selling a bunch of hats, racing t-shirts and much more.

When I went to sign in the lady knew and was expecting me to show up, awesome; it was obvious that Rich Yeager let them know I was on my way and communication is the key in running a track or any business for that matter. This made my day as the staff was all very friendly and it was great to get to a new track I never been to before and greeted with great hospitality. THANKS.

The tower where all the officials sit is dead smack in the center of the stands all the way at the top.

I sat about 5-6 rows down from the top row and sitting in turn four, it was a little hard to hear the announcers, however when the Super Lates and E-Mods hit the track they are super loud, so it was still a great experience even though I couldn’t hear all the calling of the race.
With me working at South Arcade Speedway and knowing that some of our racers race down here, I knew that I would see some racers that I knew. I was able to meet up with some new drivers as well and people.

I counted 85 cars total in the pits, which is not too bad for 5 divisions of racing especially on a weeknight. I took some pictures sitting outside of turn three from the pits and it was a different view rather than from the stands.

It was nice to see the Bud Light scoreboard showing the top 3 and also a lap counter as well sitting off of turn two. I love lap counters as this gives the average person an idea on how many laps to go and also if your not paying attention you will know who is leading.

I also spotted the big Hoosier Tire truck in the pits selling tires. Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic covers the following areas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia and Ohio.

The Mini Stocks ran their feature first and Brad Ullman took the checkers. Then it was time for the Super Late Models for the Jim Duffy Memorial ULMS race. I don’t get to see these cars too many times so this was going to be something different for sure. It must have been just a bad night for some drivers in this class as in the first 8 laps we had 7 cautions. After the cars finally got in a rhythm the racing was fast loud and just amazing around this little bullring. Robbie Blair would end up taking the checkers over Mike Knight, and Chad Valone. This was a great preview of the Super Lates as the World of Outlaws is coming to race here on July 26th. I have some video posted as a small preview, I definitly recommend anyone to attend this show. Bob Close of Close Racing Supply located in Eldred, PA. Went on to win the E-Mod feature, which was his first of the year. He (Close) builds chassis’ and sells a bunch of racing related parts, tires and stuff for your street stock to Late Models. The Fastrak Late Model feature was on tap next and these have crate motors and always put on a great show as there usually is plenty of passing and the competition is tough. Adam Sixt in the 6t took the checkers in this feature, which was filled with some drama.

The 50 car of Steve Dixion was closing in on him after a few cautions and it seemed that Dixon was catching him, but had to settle for second. During one caution, John Lacki looked like he never lifted off the gas while his right front was into the left rear of Max Blair’s car who then got into Brian Haggerty who ended up in the infield and over on his side.

Lacki was black flagged and sent to the pits. I’m sorry but that could have been real scary for sure and luckily everyone was okay. The street stocks put on one heck of a show, however Andy Michael was the class of the field and started on the pole and never looked back to take the checkers. Overall, a great night of racing and I had fun with friends and also met some new ones. Congrats to all the winners and I send out a big Congrats to Adam Sixt, great race Adam. I was like the little kid in the candy store, I made it to victory lane to get my picture taken with Adam, as his family’s business Sixt Lumber supported us at South Arcade this year and last, so Congrats from all the staff on win and Thank You!

It was interesting as the features were going on, I took a bathroom break and these kids were all looking under the stands and apparently there was a skunk on the loose, obviously no one scared it and it didn’t spray as that would have made the night stinky for sure. The bathroom rating has to be set at a 4 as there aren’t enough stalls as mentioned above, but what are you going to do. The food was great and the staff even better. It really has a great family atmosphere there and it is a relaxed and well-run show. Thank you MCR for giving me some great entertainment on a weeknight and I will be back. The next event is on July 27th, 2011 with the World of Outlaws Late Models come to town along with UEMS E-Mods and MCR Street Stocks. Another thing that I was told is that at MCR, they are racing for fun and money, no points apparently from what I am told, now that is racing!!

Be sure to check out the links below and always visit sponsors that support racing, and tell them you heard about them at the track. I also had the chance to meet Jay Pees who is the owner of the website Raceway Magazine, so be sure to check it out as he takes a bunch of great pictures and also you will find results from local area tracks there.

Until Next time, keep it on “The Write Track” and be safe and don’t drink and drive, be sure to have a DD (Designated Driver) or how my new friend calls it a DDH, which stands for Designated Drunk Hauler!! Thanks to Jerry for that one. Full results are Below the Links.

My Blogsite>
http://thewritetrackracing.blogspot.com/
My Youtube Channel>
http://www.youtube.com/user/tazman27j
Mckean County Raceway>
http://www.mckeancountyraceway.com/index.html
Fast Pace Photos (Official Track Photographer)
http://www.fastpacephotos.com
Bob Close Racing Supply>
http://closeracingsupply.com/index.html
Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic>
http://hoosiermidatlantic.com/
Chris Zuver’s ULMS/UEMS Series>
http://unitedlatemodelseries.com/
Raceway Magazine>
http://www.racewaymagazine.com/


RESULTS, July 14th, 2011:

ULMS Jim Duffy Memorial:

ROB BLAIR, Mike Knight, Chad Valone, Dennis Lunger, Dave Hess, Greg Oakes, Dutch Davies, Jason Dupont, Jeff Hoffman, Andy Boozel, Brent Rhebergen, Dick Barton, Boom Briggs, David Scott, Doug Ricotta, Matt Lux, Bump Hedman, Paul Grigsby, Derek Frank, Greg Satterlee

Mini Stocks:
BRAD ULLMAN, Chad Babcock, Tom Boylan, Riley Ellison, Duane Powers, Shawn Byerly, Eric Canfield, Michael Oakes, Davey Lowe Jr., Joe Boylan, Jeff Buhl, Theresa Shelley, Taylor Jacobs, Dave Kineston

Emods:
BOB CLOSE, Dave Hess, Travis Asel, Butch Southwell, Vic Vena, Nathan Hill, Rich Michael, Brent Rhebergen, Mike Eschrich, Tim Peterson, Jaben Hill, Alex Froman, Leonard Enos, Darren Tarabori

Fastrak Late Models:
ADAM SIXT, Steve Dixon, Tommy Kronenwetter, Max Blair, Damien Bidwell, Justin Tatlow, Jr Peters, Darren Peters, Brad Mesler, John Haggerty, Cody Mason, Justin Smith, Matt Cobb, Kyle Zimmerman, Brian Haggerty, Ron Baker, Ike Fanton, John Lacki (DQ) and Patrick Willar (DNS)

Street Stocks:
ANDY MICHAEL, Randy Taylor, Steve Mowery, Josh Wilcox, Chris Austin, Craig Rex, Kevin Dzuroff, Scott Fuller, Patrick Yohe, Steve Field, Mark Schweikart, Joe Chamberlain, Chris Conkey, Steve Sklar, Bruno Mowery, Rich Hemphill, Ron Budinger

The Write Track – Five Mile Point Speedway – 61st Anniversary Special ROC Modifieds July 5th, 2011

The Write Track – Five Mile Point Speedway – 61st Anniversary Special ROC Modifieds July 5th, 2011

After a late start and a late dinner I was off to Five Mile Point Speedway and was anticipating a great show with Modifieds and Sportsman on the card racing. A total of 35 Modifieds and 27 Sportsman were in the pits for both competing in a Race of Champions Series race. They also had the enduro cars or what they call the Colossal Cats racing also. The place didn’t change much that I could remember from the last time I was there, however the pits were now behind the backstretch

and not off of turns three and four. I almost forgot to mention the new aluminum bleachers that were in place in front of the towers and also a new handicap seating at the top of them as well.

This is a great addition, as I can remember just the old school boards down as seats. I have a bunch of pictures I’ll be posting.

The first thing that I noticed was that when they were doing hot laps that they put the tires that normally sit on the very inside of the track out on the track. .

(Picture shows this) No idea why this is, but either way I figured it was to save the inside groove. They have a nice big Lap Counter down in turn one which is always good to see, as many fans love knowing how many laps left, or how many have been completed either way.

Hot laps were going on and they brought all the cars out on the track from the pits that are off of turn two now and staged them all in the infield. During the hot laps, it was getting dusty so I knew I was in for more dust than normal just like Uncle Dennis said to me, “I’m Warning You!” My cousin Rich brought all the family with him as he was one that had the opportunity to use the Family Pack deal, which is good for two adults and three children, and with his 8 kids, it was one heck of deal especially with all 17 and younger getting in free. Senior citizen prices were fair at $15 with just adult admission at $19. Normally series races it costs more and I thought this wasn’t that bad of a deal. Weekday shows it is sometimes hard to get people there, but the place was pretty filled up for sure.

During the heat races I noticed it was looking like a one-groove racetrack, which I was hoping it was going to get better come feature time. So I took some time and walked around taking pictures of the place. I spoke with Tom and Joanne Schwarz, owners of Racing Collectibles, who had their trailer full of racing memorabilia there for sale, and I can say they have a bunch of great stuff.

Speaking about great stuff, Garys U-Pullit was the sponsor of the nights racing and just from experience; they have a ton of parts in their yard for many cars. I think my uncle Dennis lives there as he is always going to get spare parts for all his vehicles and most anything you find there is cheap!!

The heats were run off rather quickly and notables that did not make it were Brett Hearn, Danny Johnson and also Matt Sheppard. There are many others, but I’m just getting used to the drivers down this way, so it has been taking me some time. Danny ended up breaking in his heat and later would still not make the consi and get a RoC Provisional to start the feature. Usually at all tracks I’ll get some popcorn and popcorn is popcorn right? Well for $2.50 you get a huge bag of it, more popcorn than any other place that I have been to before, not bad for the money. I also had the normal Hot Dog and Hamburger but was told I had to try the Cheese Steak Sandwich and for $4 it was well worth it, I recommend it now if you go there. The funny thing is at this place the condiment table with all the fixing’s for food is under a canopy, which is rather hilarious, as I would find out soon later on why it is.

I sat down in turn four on the good old wooden benches with a bunch of friends that I met over the Internet on the forums. We had Danny Johnson, Friesen, Planck and Holland fans their and we all were getting along just fine. That’s the best thing about racing, family. The sportsman feature was set to go for their 40-lap affair and let me tell you I didn’t know many of these guys but the competition was tough and very competitive. The leader Clay Butler was going into turn four after leading most of race and lost it all on his own

and gave up the lead to eventual winner Nick Petrilak in the #72.

I'm sure that Butler was mad at himself for sure on screwing up, but sometimes that is just racing I guess. This race was very exciting to see, a bunch of passing and these guys were really moving around this small bullring, so I couldn’t wait to see the modifieds! Of course it was dusty,

but not as bad as I could remember the last time I was there back like 7-8 years ago. (I have said it before it’s a dirt track, get used to it) The modified’s were all set to get lined up along the fence for driver introductions which gives it as more of a special event status, which was really cool, all the fans can go down and look through the fence and get a up close look at the cars. Meanwhile the water trucks were out watering the track down the whole time and with all the talk on the message boards lately I couldn’t wait to see if this was going to help or not. Near the end of the feature, the track was getting a little bit rubbered up and the longer the green flag runs the dust seemed to settle down a bit. There was no wind either so the dust just went where it did. Well After the intro’s were over the Modifieds were out on the track and even from the announcers, said they are working in the track and were going green soon, (After putting some more water down). My Uncle Dennis left me there and had my Aunt come get him, he had enough. I really think he didn’t think that Danny Johnson wasn’t going to run the feature and if he isn’t racing, my uncle doesn’t usually want to go. That is just the way he is.
I loved the dirt coming at me because I was prepared for it, but never thought it put a damper on the good racing that I seen in all classes. Another bad thing was the Bugs were out in big numbers and all over you during the racing program after it was dark and getting later into the night.

I still was able to hear the announcers fairly well, which is always good to have a sound system you can hear. Another interesting tidbit is when I was looking at some of the Modifieds up close, while they were lined up is the front bumpers on them have another row of bars and are bigger than what I have seen before, has anyone else noticed this?

Well besides the dust problem the night would even get worse so it seemed. My phone was about dead from doing updates all night. (Backup battery ordered so it will last the whole night) Billy Decker was in the lead early on from his 2nd place starting position with Larry Wight who started on the pole right behind him most of the way. Stewart Friesen was running third in the later stages of the race and this was a 61 lap scheduled race. Well on lap 59 the yellow came out for no apparent reason that any of us could see. So the running order was Decker, Wight, and Friesen 1-2-3. They go green again and Friesen gets by Wight going into turn three and the yellow comes out again for a car slowing on the track going to the infield. So this is where it gets a little messed up. All night long when they had a caution they would go back to the last lap completed and if anyone passed someone like in this case would have been put back in position. But, this didn’t happen and Friesen was still in second place and the crowd could not understand why, along with myself. The checkers would fly one lap later and Decker wins

with Friesen second and Wight in third. I know from experience on being in a tower at a racetrack and one of the hardest jobs is to be a scorer. I’m not saying it was their fault by any means, but someone really screwed up and this is definitely not a good situation to be left with as many are thinking the place is playing favoritism to Friesen. I just don’t think that Andrew Harpell would go and do that type of thing. Everyone is human and when us humans get under pressure or in the heat of the moment we are prone to make mistakes at times, and if someone honestly made a mistake, Sh*t happens and it makes everyone pissed off at something or someone. It is human nature to always blame someone or something, I have been in the tower before at racetracks and it is no easy job for sure. That includes the scorers, race directors and even the announcers have all made mistakes. Andrew Harpell has a good staff set in place at the speedway and I’m sure he sticks behind him when they make a mistake and/or tells the public/media/fans the truth on what happened.

In the official Press Release from the RoC Series on there website found here> http://www.rocdirt.com kills all the confusion on what happened. Andrew Harpell is quoted with the explanation. I was waiting to post this as I made a call to Andrew myself and wanted to hear his side of the story, and him being a professional returned my phone call and explained it to me.

Andrew told me on the phone, “If their isn’t anyone more disappointed with the dust, it is myself, I work hard on the surface the whole week and we do our best, Tuesday night there wasn’t much wind, and the track has been super smooth weekly and you have some good nights and bad nights; The hot weather with the sun beating down didn’t help much either.”

There was a pile up early on and a few of the drivers from way back got to the front quick and there was passing and close racing all night, the sportsman were almost coming of turn four 3-4 wide at times along with the Modifieds. The bathrooms are a bit small and they are what they are, no feedback on the ladies room, but still a 7 out of 10 bathroom rating. The people were friendly, food was good and so was the racing. I’ll try to forget the drama and move on to the next race. Andrew Harpell does a great job with the RoC Series and also Five Mile Point, as the weekly car counts prove it.. The best thing to do is go back out there Saturday night and go racing again!!! I had a fun time at this track and I’ll go back. The next RoC Series race is next Tuesday Night on July 12th at Lincoln Speedway

in PA. And also Five Mile Point will be racing this coming Saturday night on July 9th. The info sheet for the Lincoln event is found under the schedule page on the RoC Dirt Site.

Until next time Let’s all try to stay positive and go to the track near you and keep on doing what we all like to do, go to the races, talk races, and live racing!!! While doing so keep it on “The Write Track” and be part of the solution not the problem… Any and all feedback is welcomed and can be sent to me via email at tomames2@yahoo.com . I’ll post some pictures when I get the blog updated I’ll let you all know. Also Jay Fish was there shooting with his camera, who Does work for RacePro Weekly and Luvracin.com and also Dougs Dirt Diary. I have included his link to the pictures below, Thanks Jay for the great shots and work you do! I also have two small videos that will be on my youtube channel soon.

LINKS OF INTEREST>

Five Mile Point Speedway>
http://www.fivemilepointspeedway.net/
RoC Dirt Series>
http://www.rocdirt.com
Gary’s U-Pull It>
http://garysupullit.com/
Racing Collectibles>
http://www.07racingcollectibles.com
Jay Fish Pictures>
http://luvracinphotos.smugmug.com/Jay-Fish/Five-Mile-Point-ROC-Mods-July/17925530_dW9Pkq#1372290147_dMMLJFv

My YouTube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/tazman27j
Full Results>

Gary’s U-Pull It Official RoC Modified Feature Finish 61 laps: BILLY DECKER, Stewart Friesen, Larry Wight, Dale Planck, Rick Laubach, Danny Johnson, Pat Ward, Jeff Strunk, Justin Holland, Matt Sheppard, Bobby Varin, Joey Grammes, Danny Tyler, Kevin Bates, Kevin Albert, Mike Colsten, Ryan Watt, Tim Votra, Scott Brady, Mike Nagel Jr., Jim Gabriel Jr., Jimmy Phelps, Ronnie Johnson, Joey Colsten, Glenn Knapp, Dan Vauter, Brett Hearn, Doug Manmiller, Nick Rochinski, Ken Titus.

Lap 61 Bonus $ Sponsors…In Memory of Five Mile Point Speedway Track Founders Anna and Irving Heat ($100), Keystone Electrical Contractors, Inc. Lake Ariel, PA ($61), Spiegel’s Recycling Elmira, NY go Mike Bills Woodhull Speedway ($21), LogoThis – Logothistee.com ($20), 07 Racing Collectibles Endwell, NY ($20), To 99L Lightning Larry Wight Good Luck from Dillon Falter ($20), Village Train & Hobby Windsor, NY ($10), Good Luck to the New Egypt Speedway (NJ) teams ($10), VanDyke Trash Hauling – Sidney, NY ($10), Webstore.com ($10), RJM Automatic Fire Protection – Phillpsburg, NJ ($10), Martini Room – Grosset Drive Kirkwood, NY ($10)…

Gary’s U-Pull It Official RoC Sportsman Feature 40 laps: NICK PETRILAK, Chris Wood, James Cornell, Sammy Piazza, Ryan Olsommer, Jeff Crambo, Greg McCloskey, Mike Dougherty, Ben Bushaw, Claude Hutchings, Jerry Tonti, Clay Butler, Brad Szulewski, Alex Stanton, P.J. Goodwin, Anthony Perrego, Vinnie DeCicco, Chris Stevens, Bryan Batzel, Bill Shire, Dusty Barton, Bob Lineman Jr., Chance Spoonhower, Mike Austin, Ryan Beltz, Justin Andrews, Brad Weaver.

Gary’s U-Pull It Official Colossal Cat Challenge Feature 20 laps: ANDY BRIGHAM, Nick Griest, Dan Wood, Duane Kinne, Andy Colwell, Travis Hayes, Jeff Hayes, Dave Husnay, Jason Colwell, Bobby Edwards, Robbie Finney, Dennis Keesler.

The Write Track – “Stars and Stripes 100” – Rolling Wheels Raceway July 4th, 2011

The Write Track – “Stars and Stripes 100” – Rolling Wheels Raceway July 4th, 2011


The racing weekend for me, or shall I say the week started back at I-88 Speedway and I was hanging out with my Family in Binghamton. With that said, I stayed a bit longer than expected and was abler to not just get my uncle to go, but some of my cousins went to the race as well. My original plan was to hit up Thunder Mountain Speedway on Sunday for their special sportsman show, but decided to chill with family and take the day off, as it is only about 25 minutes from my uncle’s house. It amazes me that I had no intentions yet again to go to Rolling Wheels and also even be away from home during the 4th of July weekend. Well racing is in my blood and if you can get a full carload to go, then your doing something right and bringing in more fans to attend and to support local racing. The last time I was at the Wheels, was the one day All Star Weekend show, which actually had me surprised at the turnout and when I arrived this time for the “Stars and Stripes 100” I was in complete awe again!!!

The weather was absolutely amazing and with a start time of 7:30PM, it was hopefully going to be a good track and great entertainment for the night. DIRTcar put the start back a little bit in hopes that it would not be normal conditions for “Daytime racing”, and yet still some people complained. I spoke with Jeff Hachmann who is the general manager at Rolling Wheels and “Ya know you just can’t please everybody”, he told me at the gate. Also, some people were bringing in large coolers, bigger than the 6-pack size ones and were told; sorry you can’t bring that in. Well personally this rule kind of stinks, but to a certain extent. Some of the people in line were going overboard on what was in the cooler and also the size of the cooler. , This track like many others needs to make some kind of money to survive and they have to do what they have to do. I told my cousin Amy that no coolers allowed and after I got my ticket from the will call booth, right on the ticket, it reads “NO COOLERS, Refunds or Exchanges.” No problem, we had a cookout in the parking lot and grilled up some burgers and dogs and just relaxed until it was time to go find a seat. Jeff (Hachmann) mentioned to me as I asked him about this rule before I noticed it on my ticket.. D’OH!! “Well Tom, if I start with one cooler that comes in, it will open a can of worms and everybody and their brother will have to bring one in.” Hey no problem, I understand and proceeded back to the car. Just an observation, but now they have people working the parking lot and most of the vehicles are being parked on the left hand side of the entrance (behind turn four side) and there was cars parked all the way to the road. I’m thinking that there were fewer campers there in the camping area to the right of the main roadway, but most people had to work on Tuesday, so that was expected I guess. Still the parking lot was filled up.

I mentioned in my last blog about many of the updates at the raceway and I’m not really going to talk about them this time, but I can say this, a few water leaks were fixed in the men’s room, and they must have put in some kind of aromatic fresheners and also had some new fresh paint in the place. It really isn’t the tracks fault the bathrooms get the way they do as many drink beer and obviously they can’t aim right or just stand straight up to make it where it needs to be…Maybe after a few too many (Well maybe you can relate, maybe you can’t) It is ok to celebrate on a holiday, race or whatever having a few cocktails, but just don’t drive that’s all I’ll say on that topic. I am saying this, as it is what I believe in, I always go to the source if there is a problem with anything at all. So with that being said, If any fans/drivers/sponsors have any problems at Rolling Wheels Raceway, you can call the office at any time at 315-834-6606, and some one will be able to help you out as long as you act mature and not screaming at them, I have found out that it works rather well and never been treated badly.

Finally I have the family and we are headed to the gate and the FIREMOD, (what I call It) was sitting outside the gate, which is a street legal Modified which is dedicated to all the firefighters.

This is really neat. There again was the big rig tow truck from Pullens Truck Center. Another great site was walking into the entrance and to the right hand side sat four 360 Sprint Cars!!!

Awesome the kids didn’t even know what they were, over checking them out! Thanks to the Empire Super Sprints organization for being a part of the Stars and Stripes 100. The four cars on hand were those of, Chuck Hebing, Jason barney, Shawn Donath and also Lance Younge. These drivers were going to participate in a 5 Lap dash for cash for a preview of Rolling Wheels Raceways “Sprint Car Spectacular” which will be on July 22nd-23rd 2011.

The bounce house was back for the kids to enjoy along with Nutmeg Collectibles, Ice Cream Truck, another food vendor offering some very good sandwiches, which is different than the normal Burgers and hot Dogs. The DIRTcar apparel trailer was there as well as a few drivers and other sponsor set up. Meanwhile, there was loud music blasting and playing music that was really getting the vibe of a party so to speak, or that feeling you get that you know your going to have a good time. SpazmanSpins who is actually owned and operated by Craig Simmons provided the music. He does a bunch of different things, and he was rocking out and asking people for guesses on who was going to win the Modified race and the fan would win tickets to the next event at RWR. What a great promotion by the raceway and also thanks Craig for Jammin Out, it really gave the place a good buzz so to speak.

Be sure to check out his website and give him a call. (Info Below). Another great site was the vendor/sponsor of Dig safely New York. They have a awesome interactive setup explaining what all the painted lines on the ground are, what color stands for what type a line be it water, gas, electrical.. etc..

More info on this below. There was a representative there explaining to a kid what it all was and you know kids, they like to ask questions, and he was like maybe 5-6 but it was rather interesting on the info I got just from standing and watching this. Be sure to call 811 before you DIG, their motto. I learned a few things at a racetrack; totally awesome not even racing related either.

I was one of the people who took DIRTcar up on the offer of ordering your tickets ahead of time and getting a free pit pass when you do so. I hate ordering tickets ahead of time, as you never know what the heck Mother Nature is going to do, so the weather looked good and I went with it. It is a real good way to get more people there offering this to the fans, but the people who just go to the pits aren’t really getting a deal. What if there was a program to let the drivers in for free and/or something of the nature to give some of the teams a break even from past performance or a DNQ from the last race. Just an idea.

Besides the Modifieds and the Sprint cars, sportsman and DIRTcar Stock cars were racing with the Pro Stocks in a special challenge race. The pits were filled up and many people roaming around, this day was just different for some reason, the mood of the place and the surroundings was making me feel like I was back in the years 2000 when it was always booming here. Without going into the pits much in the past It was a treat to walk around and chat with many old friends and people that I haven’t seen in awhile and just to be able to check out the cars up close and see the order of events roll of with the sound of Engines and the smell of racing fuel, I was in heaven! DIRTcar officials do a great job with the Hauler that is set up for the SDS races with all the info that you could ever ask for on the event and rules, out lined order of events, lineups, entry’s and much more. They also have live scoring from the AMB Timing from the transponders that cars have on them, which helps in scoring the races a lot easier for sure.

If you have ever been to the track, you will know that in the past all drivers meetings and the hauler were at the pit entrance, and now it has moved right behind the grandstands near the entrance from the stands to the pits. Most fans stand along the fence to get a glimpse into the pits from here and can also listen into the drivers meetings and whatever is being said over the speakers in the pits. This also has another advantage as well as it isn’t that long of a walk to check lineups and also closer to the bathrooms and just easier all around.

The car counts were kind of what I thought to be expected with 36 Modifieds, 40 Sportsman Modifieds and also 13 Pro/Street Stocks (which was up from the last time). I spoke with Mike Welch and he told me most cars are just sitting home and not racing, which has to be a sign of the tough economy and high fuel prices now. I am like any fan what to see more cars and a huge car count, but I think that with the economy and not all the drivers following the tour, I’m happy to get 36 Modifieds. It always can be worse, has been my motto here recently, being lucky we have a race, a track, and everything else. Basically be happy with what you have and make the best of it.

The track conditions were really not that bad, I couldn’t say it was as good as it was on All Star Weekend, but pretty darn close. I know the track crew was working hard on the surface since Thursday the week before. It seems like through the night it had a few bumpy spots and yes the dust came back again in the features like it usually does. I mean after you get 32 Modifieds out there it’s like a wind turbine spinning and if there is any amount of dust it’s going to fly at ya! I don’t have a solution for the dust, but your at a dirt track, expect some dust at least, be prepared to get dirty, get your hooded sweatshirt on, go buy a set of the bubba goggles and/or get a big set of safety glasses to cover your eyes. This is what I don’t get is that many of my friends and co-race fans are the ones screaming about the darn dust and we have been going to the dam races for years and now it sounds like we all have been criticizing all tracks on the dust problems they have no matter what track.

Come on, some are worst than others we know, but at Wheels many of the drivers didn’t want the dry slick and this time out looked like there was bite for the entire night on the track. I have came to the realization that it is going to be dusty no matter what happens and sometimes worse than at other times. Like I said above, just be prepared when you go, as supporting local tracks is more important now than in the past, if we want this sport to survive we have to help in making it prosper.

The modified feature was set to go the distance of 100 laps and as always it really gets exciting at the end. A very impressive run by Tim McCreadie who had problems on lap 48 bringing out the first caution, who came back out to finish an impressive 5th place at the end of the night. Billy Decker would set a grueling pace out front with Matt Sheppard in tow behind him and Sheppard would get to the lead on a restart over Decker near lap 55. It was also good to see Bobby Varin back at the Wheels as he used to run the whole tour and is always fun to watch, unfortunately his 2nd pace starting spot was as high as he could get finishing in 15th. Tim Fuller who won the All-Star Weekend race earlier in the year was defiantly a favorite to win and he started third and faded back to finish 6th. Peter Britten (21a Modified)who was second in points for awhile has been doing real good and I like most people were watching him to see how well he was going to do, but he ended up with 14th place.

I know from drivers that Rolling Wheels Raceway is a big track and fast, (Thus the nickname “The Fast Track”) and it is hard to get the hang of, so if you finish there your doing something right. The big story of the night was Danny Johnson

as he started 9th and was a force to be reckoned with as he was charging late in the race and with five to go was really closing in on Matt Sheppard. Coming to the checkers though it was Matt Sheppard by about half a car win over “The Doctor”. WHAT A RACE!! I left and just said wow! Maybe one more lap and Danny could have got him, but that’s a coulda, shoulda, woulda, argument, the race is over and it is what it is. Yes Mallett the race was 100 laps not 101.!!!

The Sportsman race was very exciting and close racing for the whole show. David Marcuccilli won the feature in the end. One bad event for the whole night happened in this feature. Kevin Ridley got sideways coming out of turn four and sat doormat on the front stretch, the yellow came out and most all the cars passed him, except for one. The car of Jenna David was about the last place car and for some reason, her one-way radio didn’t work or she just wasn’t paying attention and slammed right into Ridley sitting still. Both cars looked pretty beat up, but the main key here is no one was injured and both drivers walked away. I was shocked as were many others that just could not believe she did not see the car sitting there.

Whatever the reason the results are two badly beat up race cars and Ridleys car didn’t seem to bad until after Jenna slammed into him. Her car was totally ripped apart along the whole right hand side and both had to be put on the hook to the pits.

The DIRTcar Stock Car challenge race was won by Pete Stefanski over Rocky Warner. If any one knows me I am a fan of this class and always have loved the full-fendered classes, hopefully next time out they get some more cars to show-up and the street stocks will grow in numbers.

The sprint car dash was won by Lance Younge over Chuck Hebing as Shawn Donath broke his water pump before the dash and Jason Barney broke his main brake on the car during hot laps, but still awesome to see a preview of what is to come next at the Fast Track..

Before the feature and in between the features, Fireworks were going off and what spectacular show that was, which really made my Fourth of July a great time! Not too many people know my family in Binghmaton, but most of them all have paper routes and work for the Press and Sun Bulletin delivering the news everyday 7 days a week and always have some crazy hours. With that said, my cousins boyfriend was driving and they had to be out of the track at 11:30pm no matter what. They all have to get to the press and start delivering the news. Well I had a ride so I wasn’t going to complain, but as the night went on, the schedule was running a little bit behind and I didn’t know if the show was going to be over at 11:30 so I was scrambling to find someone that was going back toward Binghamton for a ride so I could stay along with my Uncle Dennis to watch the ending of the race. My family, mostly Danny Johnson fans, decided they were going to be late for work and stayed till the end. Danny was on the charge and was looking like he was going to win. So thanks to Harry for staying and letting us stay to watch the finish and also Thanks to Shawn Shields for saying no problem on a ride home if we needed it. So with me posting pictures and doing updates on twitter my phone was about to die and did so I couldn’t call Shawn until back in the car. We were out of the parking lot exactly at midnight all happy we seen a great race at the Fast Track!! Hats off again to the DIRTcar Staff members, Jeff Hachmann and also the track crew for providing a great track. The vendors also that were there and all the fans that came out on a great holiday weekend. My cousin Shelly sat at work all night and was helping me put updates on facebook, so thanks to her also. I’m not quite sure how to put this or describe it, but to me it seems that Rolling Wheels Raceway IS BACK!!!! The whole atmosphere of the whole day/night being there with everything going on really seemed like it used to be back in the day. It was the Stars and Stripes 100, but also The Robert Petrocci Memorial as well as a relative of the original owner of the track was the grand Marshall of the race and it really meant something. That is keeping a tradition alive!! It was good to hear Shane Andrews and Joe Maroda on the mic again and it was rather interesting how Joe was telling the story of how this track was founded and built.

It was also good to see friend and videographer Bob Miller, Doug Elkins

(Picture - Doug interviewing Ricky Breed Pure Stock Driver) and many others and the ESS gang, who sat in front of us and were having a blast during the Mod feature. Overall I had a blast at this “event” and got my monies worth and then some. Rolling Wheels Raceway will be in action again on July 22nd-23rd for the Sprint Car Spectacular. Unfortunately I’ll be working at South Arcade Speedway on Saturday so I won’t be attending this event, but if you like fast cars and exciting racing you should get on out there and check it out as the sprints are fast there!! If anyone has any feedback good or bad, be sure to send emails to tomames2@yahoo.com
And Remember get out to your local track and watch some racing and in the mean time Keep it on, “THE WRITE TRACK”.

Full Results July 4th, 2011 Rolling Wheels Raceway
Super DIRTcar Big Block Series Race #5-Rolling Wheels Raceway July 4, 2011 'Stars & Stripes 100' Event Summary
Feature Results: 1. (9s) Matt Sheppard; 2. (27J) Danny Johnson; 3. (91) Billy Decker; 4. (14J) Alan Johnson; 5. (4*) Tim McCreadie; 6. (74) Tim Fuller; 7. (98H) Jimmy Phelps; 8. (673) Gary Tomkins; 9. (20) Brett Hearn; 10. (99) Ryan Phelps; 11. (49) Billy Dunn; 12. (8R) Rob Bellinger; 13. (3) Justin Haers; 14. (21A) Peter Britten; 15. (10v) Bobby Varin; 16. (62s) Tommy Sears; 17. (10) Tim Currier; 18. (44) Steve Hulsizer; 19. (8) Rich Scagliotta; 20. (21K) Randy Chrysler; 21. (48too) Dave Rauscher; 22. (77x) Dale Planck; 23. (1) Stewart Friesen; 24. (7x) Steve Paine; 25. (42p) Pat Ward; 26. (19) Brian Murphy; 27. (99B) Chuck Bower; 28. (99L) Larry Wight; 29. (33) Mike Mahaney; 30. (21) Derrick Podsiadlo. BILSTEIN FAST TIME AWARD: Billy Decker
Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series (25 laps) Finish: 1. (m1) Dave Marcuccilli; 2. (66) Dan Wiesner; 3. (10) Josh Van Brocklin; 4. (83x) Tim Sears Jr; 5. (JVS1) Jim Spano; 6. (19w) Justin Wright; 7. (1) Sammy Reakes IV; 8. (18R) Brad Rouse; 9. (99P) Greg Paunute; 10. (77jr) B.J. Willard; 11. (3A) Adam Hilton; 12. (22) Greg Cool; 13. (15s) Shane Pecore; 14. (15) Adam Leslie; 15. (69K) Ken Boniface Jr; 16. (2P) John Juhl; 17. (3E) Tim Schneider; 18. (5) Tyler Siri; 19. (30) Brent Kelsey; 20. (52) Jessica Power; 21. (55c) Jesse Cotriss; 22. (69) Tyler Boniface; 23. (81) Christine Martin; 24. (m70) Billy Cook; 25. (7c) Cody McPherson; 26. (7x) Tom Benedict; 27. (20x) Kevin Ridley; 28. (0) Jipp Ortiz; 29. (2) Jenna David; 30. (85H) Robert Humphreys; 31. (67G) Eric Giguere.
DIRTcar Stock Car Challenge (20 laps) Finish: 1. (2) Pete Stefanski; 2. (79) Rocky Warner; 3. (73) P.J. Peters; 4. (715) Mike Cooper; 5. (272) Kevin Smith; 6. (14) Ron Hawker; 6. (00) Mike Welch; 7. (90) Nate Peckham; 8. (1R) Ricky Thompson; 9. (75) Scott Smith; 10. (5) Ricky Breed; 11. (48) Dion Oakes; 12. (55B) Blane Smith; 13. (98T) Pat Hobbs.
LINKS OF INTEREST

Rolling Wheels Raceway>
http://www.rollingwheelsraceway.com/
Super DIRTcar Series>
http://www.superdirtcarseries.com
Dig Safely New York>
http://www.ufpo.org/
Spazman Spins Entertainment
http://www.spazmanspins.com
Pullens Truck Centers>
http://pullenstowing.com/
Other Forums Where I post>
http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/DTD
RaceNY>
http://www.raceny.com/smf2/index.php
Dougs Dirt Diary>
http://www.dougsdirtdiary.com

Here is a guy that we all Know, Bob Miller who does the videos from Number 9 Video, leaning up to the food stand, Thanks Bob for all that you do!!

Chuck Hebing's 360 Sprint Car>

#33 Big Block Modified of Mike Mahaney