June 29th, 2011
Here I am again, writing up a story from a race that I really didn’t have any plans on attending, which is awesome! I have been to the speedway back in like 2002-2003 when the small Block Series race was there when Mike Mallet was helping me get started in writing for dirt track digest. It was just called Afton Speedway back then and now it has been renamed to I-88 Speedway. However Mallet was off chasing his “sprint cars”, as the PA Speed weeks was in full force so I didn’t get to see him. Under the new promotional team of Ron Ford and Jamie Page the place has a good future in place for this neat little track. These two people worked hard with the fairboard to get racing back and they have succeeded in a good way for sure, with many improvements and the staff was very friendly also. Unfortunately I did not get to meet them, but I did get to see and talk with Announcer Leon Andrus who is very good behind the microphone, as he knows his drivers and nicknames well.
The best part was he as telling the crowd that someone left their lights on in the parking lot, “here at I-88 we have options, and you can either go turn them off or you can just leave them on.” That was freaking hilarious!!!
The night’s action was going to be filled with Modifieds and also Street Stocks. The Modifieds were contending for a $5,000 to win payday and $250 to start for the opener of the “Thunder on the Thruway Series”, which also takes place at Fonda and Utica-Rome speedways also. (I’ll have full schedule below article). The street stocks were racing in the Trackside Products ROC Tour racing for $500 to win. The price of admission was only $15 which isn’t that bad considering the payouts, especially for two classes. When I arrived there on Tuesday night, the weather was looking good and 39 Modifieds were there along with 23 streets, which I figured more would show for the Modifieds, but rain was still in the forecast so I’m sure it kept some teams away. The people at the ticket booth were very nice and Ric Lucia, promoter of Fonda Speedway was handing out flyers with the dates of the series and also promoting his Lucas Oil Late Model Show on July 27th. (Also next race for TOTT series. If anyone is interested, for ticket information on this event, call (518-382-3115). My uncle Dennis was with me and he hasn’t been to the track in years, so he was excited as well. I walked around behind the grandstands and checked things out and noticed a very unique thing right next to where the dollar bill booth is. (Yes it is dollar bills only). They have a Box that you can place your Popular Driver ballots into, which you can get one when you purchase there program for a dollar.
All programs have a number and they give out prizes for some lucky numbers. More on this later. It didn’t bother me about the dollar bill booth, as the staff behind the counter was rather fast on getting our food. One person was taking your order and money, and another person to get the food. Very fast and it worked out great with the amount of people there. The sausage and the salt potatoes were very good, and the pricing isn’t too high and rather affordable for the family I thought. They have two sets of grandstands there, a covered grandstand which is no smoking and also some open stands in front of the tower and in turn 4.
I didn’t make it to the pits, but you can see there is a set of grandstands along the backstretch as well. All stands were pretty much packed and it was amazing on how many people came out to support this show.
They have just finished working on the tower which has been newly painted and also had some AC put in and also a roof above the main lines to the concession stand. Leon Andrus was set to announce for the Modifieds and Steve Clapperton was going to announce the Street Stocks, the night was set and hot laps were on the track.
During the heats, Ric Lucia was spotted giving out tickets to the nights 50/50 and yes, he handed me one and then I introduced myself. It was rather comical as I have wanted to meet him many times, but just don’t get to go to Fonda, as it is 4 hours away from my house. He was telling me that it is a very good thing and he was glad that I-88 speedway came on board for the series. That is some good promoting right there, walking throughout the stands talking with fans and handing out 50/50 tickets to kids and everyone. My ticket didn’t end up winning, but it was different to say the least. Thanks Ric!
In the Modifieds, heat race wins went to Tim McCreadie, Jim Gabriel Jr., Dale Planck and Pat Ward. The Street Stocks heats, I honestly can’t remember, and I apologize. I watched the last RoC Street Stock race at Penn Can and with me being a fan of the full-fendered cars, this race was sure to be exciting. I checked out the points before heading down and the top three were close. Brenton Miller was leading by 8pts over Bob Buono and Dave Pope was in third place, only 30pts out. Just after the heats were over down came some sprinkles and then the sky opened up to a complete downpour and cancelled the racing until Wedsnesday night. The street stocks were all qualified so the only thing left for Wed. was there feature plus two consolation races for the Modifieds.
Wed night came and I was back at the track and this time without my uncle, however he gave up his rain check ticket to my cousin Shelly as she can’t afford to go to the races that much. Her daughter Hailey, who was turning 4 on this coming Sunday was able to go too. Megan my other cousin who is only 8 came along with us, as it was free for the kids to get in. The weather was much better and to my surprise there was only 11 cars that did not qualify in the Modifieds come back out of the 21 scheduled to run two consolation races. With that being said, only one consolation race was to be run with 8 cars going to the feature and 3 being sent home. Before all the features got started, both series were doing the redraw on the horse track that is before the main track. This is not that bad of a deal, you can still see the track from any seat in the place. All the Frisbees had numbers on them and the fans that caught the Frisbees with 1-2-3 on them won something, after the drivers threw them to the stands. Also after the feature the fans who have the signed Frisbee by the driver who finished in 1-2-3 positions also won something. I have always loved this idea, and it is great for the fans. Pat Ward didn’t throw his, he ran over and gave it to one of his fans, and it was really awesome.
This night even got better for myself; you know that program that I bought? Well it turned out that Leon announced my number for winning a ticket for Afton, so I told my cousin Shelly, “hey go on up and get this for me I just won!” She finally made it back and I did the good thing, I told her to keep it, and that made her day, so she can bring her daughter back to Afton. Your Welcome Shelly!! They also said that the Modifieds that all were there were going to start the feature due to the promoters saying, they are all racing! Now that is a stand up deal, and helps the racers, so now 27 of them were going to take the green. One of the notables that didn’t make it in was Matt Sheppard and now he was racing too.
They did the national anthems just before the features and the street stocks were up first. Only 18 started the feature as some of these guys did not come back either. Bob Buono took the checkers at the end of the 25-lap feature, but not without a challenge as Denny Decker was charging late and had his front bumper almost into the door of Buono. Very exciting ending for sure!! Points leader in the series going into the nights action, Brenton Miller finished 6th, so no idea what the total is now as Bob was only 8 points out before the night. The feature did have a few cautions and one scary wreck on the front stretch. Everyone turned out to be okay. You can always tell who is whom at a track that you haven’t been to in a long time; as car #15 Nick Robinson slowed; the crowd was cheering that he was done. I laughed it off, but you always have to have a favorite to cheer for right? Full results are below.
27 Modifieds were lined up to start the feature and were lined up double file on the horse track with a “gentlemen start your engines” over the microphone after Steve Clapperton announced all drivers. Arnie Slade and Elmo Reckner were on the front row going to the green. By lap 8 Jim Gabriel Jr. was into the lead from his third starting spot and never really looked back. The crowd was going crazy as they see him race every Friday night there and he took home the big payday of $5,000. There was a ton of passing in the feature and a few wrecks and spinouts, nothing really major to speak of. Full results are below.
Overall I-88 Speedway has good people in place that care about the racers and the fans as they did an excellent job from my point of view on this event. Hats off to the three speedways (Utica-Rome, I-88, Fonda Speedways and Ric Lucia on the Thunder on the Thruway Series as this is a hit with the fans and also with the drivers. The bathrooms at the speedway are obviously owned by the fairgrounds, but they were clean, also had a good report on the ladies room also, so overall rating was 8 out of 10. The track did get dusty in a big way, but it didn’t bother me, as we were at a dirt track!!! Whiners just stay home if you don’t like dirt in your beer, hair, food..etc…etc… Great job to all involved and I enjoyed the experience at I-88 Speedway. Thank You! Full Results and links are below.
Full Results from I-88 Speedway June 28th/29th, 2011
Thunder on The Thruway Race #1 Modifieds 50 Laps: Jim Gabriel Jr., Rich Ricci Jr., Tim McCreadie, Danny Johnson, Stewart Friesen, Billy Decker, Pat Ward, Arnie Slade, Matt Sheppard, Dale Planck, Elmo Reckner, Matt Delorenzo, Larry Wight, Bobby Varin, Mike Trautschold, Dustin Delaney, Jeremy Wilder, Josh Hohenforst, Chad Cook, J.R. Hurlburt, Bob Hamm, Wade Decker, Shaun Walker, Tommy Johnson, Don Hart Jr., Ronnie Johnson, Greg Tatich
Trackside Products Race of Champions Street Stocks 25 Laps: Bob Buono, Denny Decker, Buck Mills, Earl Zimmer, Butch Green, Brenton Miller, Neil Palladino, Rich Green, Rob White, Dave Pope, Paul Harrington, Dave Van Buren, Nick Robinson, Kurt Decker, Mike Coddington, Dustin Harris, Nick Nye, Russ Morseman
Next Trackside Products RoC Street Stock Race is Tuesday August 9th, 2011 at Penn Can Speedway
My Blog will not be posted on my Blog Site until a later date, I'll have pictures up there also. I'll post when updated with pics. (Not good enough internet connection to do so now)
I-88 Speedway can be found here >
http://www.i-88speedway.com/index.html
RoC Street Stock Series can be found here >
http://www.rocdirt.com/index.shtml
Fonda Speedway>
http://www.fondaspeedway.net/
Utica-Rome Speedway>
http://www.uticaromespeedway.com/
Penn Can Speedway
http://www.penncan.com/
Thunder On The Thruway Series Best of 8 Modifieds, Best of 4 Pro Stocks Following Schedule
Sat. July 9th Fonda – Pro Stock
Wed. July 27th Fonda – Modifieds (Along With Lucas Oil Late Models)
Thurs. July 28th Utica – Modifieds (Along With Lucas Oil Late Models)
Wed. Aug. 10th – Fonda – Modifieds
Tue. Aug. 30th – I-88 Modifieds
Fri. Sept. 9th – Utica Mods and Pro Stocks
Sun. Sept 25th – FINALE Fonda – Mods and Pro Stocks
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