Racing got underway at 7:34 for the tripleheader program of 358 modifieds (44),358 late models (17) and sidewinders (17). Sidewinders are 1200 cc (I think) mini sprints and they started the evening off with two quick heats. The late models were next and they crashed a little but not too badly. Then it was time for the modifieds who ran off four heat races in record time with all heat qualifying completed at 8:30. A late model dash for cash running for 5 laps was next and Bill Henning took home the money there. Then it was right into the 20 lap sidewinder feature race with the green waving at 8:40. Only two cautions slowed this high speed affair spun off in 15 minutes with Ben Murphy notching his fifth win of the year in the division. Joe Robertson finished second and Cooperstown, NY driver, Mike Kiser, who we saw win a sidewinder race at Bloomington, Indiana came home third. Only the modifieds needed consies and they ran two of them with Troy Wink and Craig VonDohren winning. It was 9:16 and there were only two features left to run. A reasonable thirty minute intermission was taken and by 9:44 it was feature time for the 358 modifieds.

The racing was good right from the start with the top guns working their way to the front. On lap 13 Duane Howard, who started 16th and has been on a roll lately was running third entering turn one with the front two of Cliff Quinn and Glenn Owens running side by side. They left an opening in between and that is where Howard stuck his #4 and passed both of them exiting turn two without ever touching either one. This is a move that the fans will be buzzing about for weeks to come. Once out front Howard was in his own time zone and though the caution waved three times he was able to power back in front on every restart. Duane Howard flashed under the checker flag at 10:08 winning his fifth win in a row at Grandview and eighth of the year at Grandview. Finishing second after starting 17th was Ryan Godown with Jeff Strunk finishing in the show position after starting 15th. Rounding out the top five was consie winner and 22nd starter, Craig VonDohren with 13th starter, Kevin Hirthler taking the fifth position. It was a very competitive feature with lots of passing and good runs.

The late models would go 20 laps with four cautions but if you eliminated two cars from the starting field the cautions would have been cut to one. Ron Kline kept the five win thing going coming home the winner in this one for the fifth time. Wayne Pfeil finished a close second with Chuck Schutz third, Brian Shuey fourth and Doug Walton closing out the top five. All racing was completed by 10:38 to conclude an excellent night of racing. Hats off to the drivers and track prep men for preparing a good surface for the guys to race on.

We arrived earlier then usual, at 7:15, as we got out of work early because of the holiday. Tonight’s format for the Jack Gunn Memorial was different then usual. First they ran time trials, something I do not care for. First out was Stevie Smith and his time stood as fast time throughout the time trials. The top 12 in time trials automatically made it into the main events with the remaining sprints running in two qualifying events. The qualifying events had seven and six cars repsectively with five to qualify from each. This did not make for real exciting races and by 8:45 the line-up was set for the first 20 lap feature.

The top eight times were inverted for the start and the 20 laps saw three cautions and took approximately 15 minutes to run. Racing was not bad with the fifth place starter Daryn Pittman taking the checkered in first. Second was fast timer, Stevie Smith, followed by Mark Smith, Danny Dietrich and Tyler Walker. My problem with this show is the down time between events. A normal show at the Grove consisting of the 410 and 358 sprints is always moving with a very short intermission if any. And even though this show had exhibitions by the vintage cars it is not the same as watching an action packed race. It was 1/2 hour from the qualifing events to the first feature and now another 1/2 hour before the second 20 lap event started. Granted they did have fireworks during this time but I was not there to watch fireworks.

Feature number two had only one caution and Tyler Walker took top honors in this event with Aaron Ott taking second followed by Steve Buckwalter, with a fine run. Chad Layton and Mark Smith rounded out the top five. Another 1/2 hour passed and the third 20 lap event took the green at 10:50. It paid $5,000 to win and the groove was high around the top. That is how it started out anyway. Then Don Kreitz Jr. took to the low side and simply drove by them all. It was not long and almost everyone was on the low side. Kreitz, who won the inaugural Jack Gunn Memorial back in 1999 won the event and the $5,000 prize. Steve Buckwalter finished second, Mark Smith was third with Stevie Smith and Danny Dietrich following. All racing was complete by 11:00.

The racing was not stellar and this one would go into the books as our worst night of witnessing racing at Williams Grove. Well, I guess you can’t have a great show every time.

Racing finally got underway at 7:49, nearly 20 minutes late, but that was about the only thing that was a negative on the evening. A field of 23 big block modifieds pulled into the pit area for the Tri-Track series with only three being Bridgeport regulars, the same number as New Egypt drivers that showed up at Bridgeport last Saturday. It doesn’t look like this series will continue in 2011 after the reported rantings by New Egypt owner, Bill Miscoski, on the South Jersey Dirt website forum. My opinion on owners, promoters or track employees posting on forums is that it should not happen especially if you are going to complain about other tracks and so forth. I believe the only time any of the above should ever post on a racing forum is if there are malicious lies or to post updates about an injured driver or someone else injured at their facility. To bash another track or drivers shows a lack of professionalism. Enough said on this subject!! Back to the racing. A good point during the evening was the fact that track management only ran two heats for the 23 car modified field with no consie and just three heats and no consie for the ARDC midgets. All qualifying was in the books by 8:21 and a short intermission (25 minutes) followed. Next was another good move calling out the traveling series’ feature first with the ARDC midgets taking the green at 8:57. This one was the better of the two features with more passing than the modifieds. Steve Buckwalter started 12th and worked his way to the front taking the lead coming off turn four to start lap 9 and was never headed. Drew Heistand, the racing cop from York, Pa, finished second after starting 11th with 2nd starter, Bruce Buckwalter Jr., coming home third with 13th starter, Ryan Smith, netting fourth and Alex Bright driving in from the University of Akron in Ohio rounding out the top five. The race was spun off in 11 minutes with only one caution and was a competitive one.

The Summer Sizzler 40 for the modifieds was ready to go by 9:22 and only was slowed twice by cautions with the first one not waving until the halfway point when Jimmy Horton stopped short of the turn three exit with a flat left rear tire and the second occuring on lap 39 when Dom Buffalino running third at the time tangling with a lap car of John Keller and fourth running Tim Tanner Jr. on the homestretch with Buffalino ending up the worse for wear hitting the outside hall and ripping the right front wheel off his racer. In between Ryan Watt surprised first starter, Billy Pauch, beating him into turn one and leading until lap 15 when Pauch caught and passed him in lap traffic for the lead he would never relinquish. Tanner Jr. notched third with Frank Cozze making the charge from 12th to take fourth and Rick Laubach, the Bridgeport Tri-Track winner, rounding out the top five. New York’s Johnny Guarino turned in an impressive performance moving from 21st to 6th but losing two spots on the last restart and ending up 8th behind Richie Pratt Jr. and David VanHorn. Two New Egypt regulars, Gary Butler and Sammy Martz, rounded out the top ten. The final checker of the evening fell at 9:45 bringing down the curtain on a good night of racing at a reasonable hour for a mid-week show. Arrival back at 50 Riverview Drive in Williams Township was 12:15 which allowed almost six hours of sleep before rising for another day of work.

Now onto the racing which consisted of seven divisions with the following car counts: four cylinders (9), mod lites (5), mini stocks (2), true streets (5), street stocks (7), super streets (4) and AMRA open wheel modifieds (7). Thirty nine cars in seven divisions!! The next time we think that some of the fields in the northeast are low we will think back to this night in West Virginia. To their credit they started on time at 7 but would you believe it they had time trials for every car in the pit area. Then they lined up the heats with the fast timers up front so passing was at a preminum. The time trials took an hour and the heat racing added another hour. At 9:10 it was intermission time and 20 minutes later it was feature time. After the sun dropped behind the mountain they watered the track one last time and for the rest of the time we were there it was dustless. The four cylinders were first up for their 10 lap main event and ran decent with David Boggs winning. The mod lites would go 20 laps for their main event with Matt Rowe prevailing after five cautions slowed this one with one car causing 4 out of the 5 slowdowns. The results were not on the track website when I sat down to write this story but I believe I have the names right. It was now 10:04 with five features still to run and we had been here three hours already. The entertainment value at this point was nill so the decision was made to pull out and begin the hour long back to the Wingate by Wyndam which we secured for $45 using Priceline. If you have never used Priceline you should as we secure very nice hotels for less than what you would usually pay for a Motel 6 or Super 8.

It was a new track for the both of us but we agreed that it would be one that we would never return to. The program would have been more entertaining if they had gone with either time trials and features or heats and features but not all three. The 200 or so fans in attendence seemed to be enjoying themselves so I guess that is all that counts. But if I had to attend O’Brion Oval Speedway as my racing entertainment I would instead take up bowling. The next day we traveled over to Cumberland, MD where we boarded the Western Maryland Railroad and took an 18 mile round trip journey on a steam powered locomotive. It was an enjoyable Sunday afternoon traveling the rails and checking out the countryside. At the stop in Frostburg a turntable was used to reverse the direction of the big steam engine for the return trip to Cumberland. Frostburg is the home to Frostburg State University and also next to their ballfield the man considered by many to be the best lefthander that ever pitched in the majors, Lefty Grove, is buried. From Cumberland it was east then north to home where we arrived just before 8 PM. It was just another “Typical Weekend".

It was a picture perfect day for a drive across Pennsylvania, not a cloud in the sky, no humidity and temperatures in the low 80’s. We checked into the hotel in New Stanton, PA prior to traveling the final 40 miles north to Sarver, PA, a town located on the outer most northeastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. It was 6:15 when we pulled into the parking lot and the fans were first starting to filter in but you could just tell that this was a special place for the fans. It is the kind of place where this is what you do on Friday night. Groups of fans sat together in the same locations every week and in addition to seeing good racing it was a social event with friends. There were massive grandstands that ran the distance of the homestretch and they were 2/3 filled for this final point race of the year. The place had character a lot like our usual Friday night track, Williams Grove.

I told Bruce before we arrived that we should eat at the track because I just knew they would have a wide variety and that it would be good. I was right. The fish sandwich was excellent,far surpassing the size of the bun and the fried mushrooms were yummy. The kettle corn made fresh on the premises was awesome and the peanuts, well not everything can be great. The national anthem was song promptly at 7:30 and the green dropped on the first heat at 7:34. Prior to the actual racing there was some excitement in the warm-ups as there was a double flip in the sprints and they were not involved with each other. I was watching a sprint tumble down the homestretch while another was flipping down over the third turn bank. It cut the number of sprints able to run the qualifying heats down to 22 from 24.

There were 19 modifieds, a combination of both big and small block, that ran the first two heats of the evening. In this division there were three drivers capable of winning the championship, Kevin Bolland, Jeremiah Shingledecker (I love this name) and Brian Swartzlander. I was impressed how they ran turn four. A high sweeping run that always had the appearance of someone connecting with the wall. There was no huggy pole here. After the modifieds they ran three sprint heats and two super late model heats before going back to the sprint B main. After the B main it was two more heats for the sportsman, a late model division, and then it was intermission. All of this was run in exactly one hour. The large score board showing you the laps and the top 5 positions also tells you the time. They then called for intermission prior to the first feature and that was not even 10 minutes long.

The first feature was for the modifieds and both Bruce and I agreed this was the best of the three we saw. There were five cautions during the 25 lap event but it was evident that the three drivers in contention for the championship all came loaded for bear. It appears they draw for ther starting positions when they enter the pits upon arrival. Therefore you can have the fast cars starting up front sometimes. It all depends on the luck of the draw. Shingledecker was on the pole, Swartzlander was third and Bolland was seventh. It was obvious Bolland was the villian, as he received rounds of boos every time his name was mentioned. Lap 5 saw one of the contenders, Swartzlander, go to the pits with a flat right rear but he was able to make it out in time to tag the rear. It appeared Shingledecker was going to be the winner but a restart with 4 laps to go saw Bolland make a very clean pass for the lead, the fans still booed, and go on to win the event. In the end it was Bolland picking up his fourth win of the year and his third point championship. He was followed by Shingledecker and Swartzlander.

The sprint feature also had a possibility of multiple drivers winning the championship but it was only if the current point leader, Danny Holtgraver, made mistakes. He made sure he did not and as he said in the post race interview, when I got into fifth place I just took it easy. Meanwhile Dale Blaney picked up the win but there were a few uneasy minutes for him when Ed Lynch Jr. closed in on him during the final circuits. If he was close enough it might have become pretty interesting as Blaney’s slide job to take the lead from Lynch earlier in the event had Lynch dropping back several positions as he eased up on the throttle to avoid contact with a not totally cleared Blaney. In the end it was Blaney taking the win to the crowds delight followed by Lynch, Brian Ellenberger, Cole Duncan and track champion Danny Holtgraver.

The late models only had 12 cars but their 25 lap event was still filled with good racing. That is if you consider the winner taking the lead in turn four coming down for the checkered. Jared Miley passed Ohio invader John Mollick for the win with Dave Murdick rounding out the top three. Even though the time was only 10:19 we were tired and chose to skip the final sportsman feature and head back down to the hotel.

It was a fun night. There was a good crowd on hand that was into the racing, good food and competitive racing. The track surface was awesome. They announced that there were 8 sets of fathers and sons that had won championships there in the past. That alone tells you alot about the history and the promise of the future of a track. It was a good night. It was Don Martin’s Lernerville Speedway. It will not be another 20 years before we return.

We arrived on the grounds around 6:35 and made our way to the grandstands. Rounding the corner from the walkway between the two sections we were almost immediately spotted by my older brother, Bob, and the look on his face on seeing us two weeks in a row was priceless. We settled into our seats in front of Bob and his friend, Seth, and grandson, Cole, and I announced that I was there for the dollar hot dogs and the money scramble. The money scramble is for the kids, ages 1 to 12 divided up into several groups and I knew I would not qualify to participate in this one!! But the hot dogs were another story. Deitz & Watson are the suppliers of the hot dogs at Bridgeport and I headed down to pick up some. A total of seven in fact with plans to consume four myself. Well, it turned out that my eyes were better than my belly and I opted instead for three with Bob and Pat each consuming two each. They were good and indeed worth the buck to buy them with. Seth’s grandson was here for the money scramble and he probably came back with several dollars in a brown paper bag after collecting them off the track during intermission. It was a fun time for the youngsters and hopefully it may have created some new racing fans in the process.

It was race time and at 7:08 the first of two heats for the crate modifieds (19) was trackside and soon underway. They were followed by three heats for the big block modifieds (24) and by 7:42 all qualifying was completed. The heat racing was decent and we looked forward to the features. Just four minutes after the last modified heat ended the outlaw stocks (14) were ready to go in their 15 lap main event. It was almost a replay from last week with Rick Brouschard winning his second straight, the only difference being this one had one caution while last week’s went non-stop. The money scramble was next up with track maintenance also performed during the 50 minute intermission. By 8:57 the 20 lap crate modified feature saw the green silk with only one caution slowing matters and that one did not appear until lap 17. The first three were strung out up front but there was some fast and furious dicing happening in spots seven through eleven. The entire feature took ten minutes to completed with Eric Kormann winning his second of the year over Dan Cogdill and Chuck Hopkins.

Now it was time for the 30 lap Tri-Track modified feature went took the green flag at 9:23. The racing was good when they were racing but with seven cautions this one could not be considered a great race. The caution flew on the first lap when third starting Mike Illes got sideways in between turns one and two and Brian Kressley never backed out of it and brought him around. It was amazing that no one else was involved and both Illes and Kressley were sent to the back of the field for the restart with Kressley napped as the culprit. The majority of the people in attendence felt that with the front row of Rick Laubach and Billy Pauch that was where the feature winner would reside. All those who felt that would have been correct no matter who they picked. How is that so?? Let me explain in a moment. Laubach took the early lead with Pauch in pursuit. It remained that way until lap 19 when Pauch powered to the high side of Laubach exiting turn two and shot by him into the lead. There were several more restarts in the race and at Bridgeport they start two abreast until the last two laps (No, NASCAR did not invent this procedure!) so Laubach had chances but could not repass Pauch. When the checker waved at 10:03 after eight cautions it was Pauch the winner over Laubach with Jimmy Horton advancing from 20th to finish third with Ryan Watt coming from the rear after suffering a flat tire earlier to grab fourth and Mike Illes starting 22nd after his early tangle and driving with elbows up to round out the top five. As we later approached home we received a phone call from our buddy, Jeff Alhum, who is the announcer at Bridgeport. He reported to us that Billy Pauch’s mount, the Will Brown #1W, was found to be over the cubic inch displacement allowed at Bridgeport and was thereby disqualified. So that is how if you picked either one of the front row starters you won at one point or another. But the final verdict was in Laubach’s favor and the disqualification moved Brian Kressley who was involved in the tangle with Illes to move up to fifth.

The racing overall was good for the second straight week and we may return before the season closes at Bridgeport in November. But next week it is a road trip and we will fill you in on next weekend’s “A Typical Weekend". Thanks for reading and all comments are welcomed.

The other two divisions on hand for the evening were the pro stocks (9) and the pure stocks (14) which would only run feature events. The pro stock feature was first and even with only 9 cars the racing was good. Take away one car from the field and there would have only been two cautions instead of four. Nonetheless the 20 lapper was spun off in 12 minutes with Torin Betterton never being challenged for the win. Next up were the pure stocks and we figured that this one would probably be a long one. Wrong!! They surprised us all going their 15 laps non-stop in the time of five minutes with young go-kart grad, Craig Cuneo, capturing his first win.

Before I go on I want to comment on the only two negatives of the evening. That being too many classes and with the stands being so close to the track, too dirty. The dirt is not bellowing dust coming off the surface but rather a sneaky light rain type of dirt swirling around above you descending onto your body as you watch the races. It was bearable until the modified feature when it covered the writing pad we use every time it was layed down on the seat in front. The dirt also covered our clothing and was not easy to brush off. The racing was very good but I don’t think we could attend this track each week and go home so covered with dirt.

Anyhow back to the racing end of the evening as the sportsman were third up for their 25 lap feature and another good race was witnessed. Darrell Ford was able to hold off Mike Barrett and Kevin Ward for the win with the race only having four cautions and lasting just 21 minutes. The 25 lap ARDC midget feature took to the track at 10:05 and was a real racy event. This track is the ideal size for the midgets and they took to the track like a duck to water. Good racing was witnessed throughout the field not just up front where Tim Buckwalter and 12th starting, Ryan Smith, diced it out for the top spot using slide jobs on each other to the fan’s delight. Buckwalter was able to hold off the charges of Smith to gain his first career ARDC win in his rookie season. Drew Heistand, who already has won twice at Accord, made a late surge from his 20th starting position to garner third while 11th starting P.J. Garguilo placed fourth and Brett Arndt rounded out the top five. Stephanie Stevens looked like she would finish just outside the top ten in 11th until a tangle with Donnie Trent with two to go relegated her to 15th at the end. Steve Buckwalter, who was looking for his third straight win, was involved in an early tangle and was never in contention for the win eventually placing 7th to retain his point lead. The 30 lap modified feature was still left to run and saw the green flag at 10:26. Another competitive race ensued with long time East Windsor campaigner, John McGill, looking like he would score the victory but Mike Ricci caught him with two to go and spoiled his dream of winning. Ricci flashed under the checker at 10:45 with McGill second, Rick Mill notching third, Andy Bachetti fourth and Danny Johnson rounding out the top five. The spec sportsman were still left to run but we headed for the exit for the drive home.

The car was covered with dirt and when I was pulled over in Milford, PA by an police officer for running a light the first thing he asked was where we had been with the car. I told him and he started a conversation with us and I knew he was not going to throw the book at us. He retreated to his car and upon returning informed me that he was going to give me a lesser fine ($25) with no points and no report to the insurance company in place of the $300 fine that the infraction warranted. Well, after looking over the ticket the next day, the fine was indeed $25 but the added charges (EMT fee, medical fee and other BS) totaled up to $109.50!!! Ouch!! Well, I did it so what are you going to do!! We finally pulled into the driveway at 50 Riverview Drive in Williams Township around 2:15 AM after a good but dirty night of racing.

Saturday – August 14 – When I woke up the first time it was 8:30 and I was just going to rest a few more minutes before getting up. The next thing I knew Bruce was telling me it was 11:00. I guess we needed the sleep. The first item of the day was to get the car washed and it was so dirty that the Shammy Shine Car Wash did not get it all off. We ran a few errands and before we knew it, it was 5:00 and we were off to the Bridgeport Speedway. We rarely go to Bridgeport and this would be our third attempt at seeing a race here. The first was rained out and the second was cancelled because it was too hot. We told Jeff Alhum, Bridgeport announcer and good friend, we were not going to tell him the next time we were planning to come to Bridgeport because they would probably cancel. So, when we spoke with Jeff earlier in the day we told him we were thinking of heading out to Selinsgrove and we would talk results later in the evening. Bruce’s brother Bob is also a regular at Bridgeport and we did not tell him either that we planned on heading to the South Jersey speed plant.

It was 6:35 when we pulled into the parking lot and Bruce’s brother was sure surprised as we headed up the stands. Tonight was a four division show including the 305 sprints, modifieds, crate modifieds and a feature only for the outlaw street stocks. There were only fourteen 305 sprints and they ran 2 heats. Being a big fan of the 410 sprints, the 305 sprints just do not cut it for me. Next up the 26 modifieds ran 3 heats followed by 2 heats for the 17 crate modifieds. The starting time was 7:04 and all was complete by 7:52. Prior to intermission they ran the 15 lap outlaw street stock feature and it went non-stop. It was a decent race and Rick Broschard picked up the win followed by Pat Conaway. It was now only 8:04 and it was intermission time. Tonight’s intermission was longer then normal as the fans voted for drivers to participate in a pie throwing event. The pies were not really thrown but there was whipped crème all over the faces of the chosen. Along with the drivers was Ms. Bridgeport and all who participated at a dollar per pie seemed to have a really good time. The 20 lap 305 sprint feature was next and I must admit it was not a bad race. There was only 1 caution and it was quite competitive. Mike McManus seems to be a shoe in for the win but his engine let loose on lap 17 and McManus was able to guide his sprint off the track in turn two, avoiding a caution. This left Dean Schaeffer in the lead and he held off a late charge from the John Wyers. It was a close finish and one of the better 305 races I have seen in a while.

The modifieds were next and we knew this was going to be the last race we would stay to watch before heading back across the Commodore Barry Bridge into Pennsylvania. It did not start out good when an eight car tangle on lap 1 had the red come out to clear the track. It took close to 10 minutes to clear the melee but it would be the only major incident of the event. Another quick caution on lap 4 for a spin in turn three slowed the field again and then it was off to the races. One of my favorites, Chic Cossaboone took the lead at the halfway sign and Ryan Watt was closing in fast in the final circuits. The final caution waved on lap 23 of the 25 lap event and it was going to be two to go with Watt right on Cossaboone’s bumper when the green waved. It was an exciting final two laps and when the checkered fell it was 61 year old Chic Cossaboone standing in victory lane. Ryan Watt had to settle for second followed by Wade Hendrickson, Jimmy Chester and Richie Pratt Jr. It wasn’t even 10:15 when we pulled out of the parking lot and we left with a feeling of satisfaction. We were even talking about returning later this season. The show was run well, the track was in good shape and the racing was competitive.

Oh, forgot to mention, we did not get dirty.

We made good time and pulled into the parking lot at 6:45. Upon signing in at the pit shack we were told since we were with Gater News we could go in the press tower. Now normally I do not care to watch the races through glass but at Penn Can even though the racing is good you get real dirty. We ventured up into the press box met a few new people and got to talk to a friend we probably have not seen in 5 years. JR Kennerup came over from the announcing booth to say hi and catch up a bit and then we went over to see co-announcer Al Robinson, who always has something interesting to say. Of course we also had to chat with Jeff Alhum, our sometimes traveling partner and co-announcer with Al.

There were 36 modifieds, 13 late models and 16 sportsman. Qualifying consisted of 4 heats and consolations for the modifieds and 2 heats each for the late models and sportsman. This was run off in just over an hour and the racing was pretty good. After intermission the late model feature was on tap first and the green dropped at 9:01. Most eyes were on Dan Stone who had a commanding lead when he was involved in the only caution of the event. Lap cars tangled in turn 1 and Stone was caught up in the ordeal and had to go to the rear. I thought for sure he would easily come back up through the pack but second was all he could muster up. During the final three laps we saw some real close racing with Tracy Gregory taking the win and Stone settling for second. The event took only 10 minutes to run.

Now it was time for the modified 60 lap feature event. Now I am sure at one time in your life your mother told you, “If you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all”. Well I thought about that quote and thought I would just end this blog now but I can say something nice. We were sitting behind a glass window and did not get dirty; we had ham & cheese sandwiches with drinks; we got to talk racing with a group of fellow media members and I met a very nice 12 year old young lady, whose father owns Reading Plastic Fabricators. They were getting involved in racing through sponsorship and in speaking with them it turned out they were from the same area in Berks County, Pennsylvania that I was from. Tim Long’s 12 year old daughter, Morgan, reminded me of myself when I was her age. Her excitement and love of the sport was evident and I know when you are a 12 year old girl that loves racing you are not like most of the other 12 year old girls in your class. She sat next to me and we chatted most of the night. Therefore, most of the time between 9:30 and 10:40, we were laughing and enjoying ourselves. Oh, yes there was a race going on at the same time.
In the beginning of the race, the cautions out numbered the laps. At one point it was lap 5 and there were 7 cautions. We are not talking a car spinning. We are talking multi car tangles, some as many as 7 cars. Tonight the drivers drove as if they had blindfolds on. No one in the press box could believe what we were seeing. Now, going to sprint cars races a lot, I am used to the red coming out for a fuel stop, but when the red comes out on lap 17, during the 9th caution, for a fuel stop for modifieds that is hard to believe. Before the event would end there would be 14 cautions. Now you would think when the fans were on their way out of the gate they would have been disappointed with this event. This was not the case. The final 5 laps saw some great racing for the lead. While Alan Rudalavage and Duane Howard were battling side-by-side for the lead, Stewart Friesen drove by them on the outside. I must admit the final laps were awesome. It was Friesen in for the win followed by Rudalavage and Howard. So when we left at 10:40 we enjoyed ourselves and saw 5 great laps of racing. It was almost funny. After coming up here approximately 8 times between last season and this season we had to just shake our heads and say what were the drivers thinking tonight.