Archive for February, 2010
Among the 2010 show exhibitors are Grandview (Pa.) Speedway, Big Diamond (Pa.) Raceway, Kutztown Fairgrounds (Pa.) Speedway, Thunder on the Hill Racing Series, URC, Reading Eagle, Pioneer Pole Buildings Inc., Speedway Entertainment (Slingshots and SpeedSTRs), Reading Fairgrounds Speedway Historical Society, RAACE Foundation, Doug Borger’s XCel 600 Modifieds, Gary Silverman Productions, Dale Snyder Video, Clyde Martin Memorial (Pa.) Speedway, Bob Hilbert Sportswear, Keystone State Quarter Midget Club, the NEETS Enduro Series and the Montgomery County Quarter Midget Racing Club
With 113 race cars on display, the show continues through Saturday (Feb. 27) with nightly activities planned. The show features a wide cross-section of racing vehicles, including vintage/restored cars, big- and small-block Modifieds, Late Models, Sprint Cars, ARDC Midgets, SpeedSTR Midgets, Sportsman, Roadrunners, Micro-Sprints, XCel 600 Modifieds, Slingshots, Go-Karts, Quarter Midgets and more.
The annual Reading Fairgrounds Speedway Reunion (Friday evening, Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m.) and the LLANDCO Inc. Penn National Speedway Reunion (Saturday afternoon, Feb. 27 at 5 p.m.) are among the show highlights.
Show awards - including the first Don Marks Memorial Contribution to Motorsports Award - will be distributed during the popular BASH Racing Party to be held Friday night, Feb. 26 at the Temple Fire Company, just blocks from the mall, beginning at 9 p.m. Beer City of Quakertown and Lee Myles Transmissions are presenting sponsors of the BASH.
The BASH Party will feature music for dancing, a cash bar, racing movies (including 2009 footage from the Pennsylvania Dual-Track circuit) and plenty of bench racing. Tickets to the BASH are $10 and will be sold during the show and at the door.
Driver bartending at the Applebee’s on 5th Street Highway, adjacent to the small, is planned for Wednesday, Feb. 24 and Thursday, Feb. 25 beginning at 9 p.m. each night.
Author Gary Ludwig appears nightly beginning at 4 p.m. and during mall hours on Feb. 21 and 27 to autograph copies of his best-selling book Tommy Hinnershitz, The Life and Times of an Auto Racing Legend, which will be on sale at the show.
Randy’s Raceway of Kutztown, Pa., has set up his HO slot car track all week during the show. A celebrity race featuring Modified racers is planned for Wednesday’s ‘Modified Madness’ program.
Vendors are on hand selling national and local racing memorabilia, collectibles, racing DVDs and much more.
For general show information, contact Brett Deyo at 845.728.2781, via e-mail at Deyo99H@aol.com or on the web: www.bdmotorsportsmedia.com.
For further information on the Reading Eagle or WEEU, log on to www.readingeagle.com or www.weeu.com.
25th Racing Reunion & Car Show Schedule of Events
Wednesday, February 24 - Reading Plastic Fabricators presents Modified Madness Night
3-5 p.m. - WEEU 830 AM Live Radio Broadcast (Stage)
7 p.m. - Meet drivers from the area’s big- and small-block Modified divisions - Drivers scheduled to appear: New Jersey legend Billy Pauch, Grandview Speedway & Big Diamond Raceway talents Doug Manmiller, John Willman, Kevin Hirthler, Terry Meitzler, Jeff Strunk & more, Bridgeport Speedway star Ryan Watt - Don’t miss the debut of the the BFP Specialty Young Guns: Mike Gular, Billy Pauch Jr., Jon Kellner Jr., Sean Merkel, Brad Missimer, Kyle Follweiler, A.J. DeSantis, Addison Meitzler, Jordan Umbenhauer, Kevin Albert Jr., Danny Nicholas, Carroll Hine III, Mike Lisowski, Jared Umbenhauer & Michael Weinert - Meet Ms. Thunder on the Hill Cassi Pinder
9 p.m. - Drivers Jeff Strunk, Mike Gular, Doug Manmiller & Kevin Hirthler Guest Bartend at Applebee’s 5th Street Highway (adjacent to mall)
Thursday, February 25 - Joe Adams Lettering LLC presents Late Model & Sportsman Night
7 p.m. - Drivers from the Grandview Speedway Late Model division and regional Sportsman division - Kevin Kovac of the World Racing Group reports on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series - Drivers scheduled to appear: Sportsman stars Jason James, Michael Weinert, and Daryl Dissinger, Late Model talents Brian Shuey, Chuck Schutz, Bryon Sipe, Nate Christman, Kyle Merkel, Kurt Spotts (additional drivers TBA) - Meet Ms. Thunder on the Hill Cassi Pinder
9 p.m. - Drivers Brian Shuey, Chuck Schutz & Nate Christman Guest Bartend at Applebee’s 5th Street Highway (adjacent to mall)
Friday, February 26 - Salute to the Reading Fairgrounds Speedway - 31 years later!
6:30 p.m. - Reading Fairgrounds Speedway Reunion (Stage)
9 p.m. - Beer City of Quakertown BASH Racing Party - Temple Fire Company on Kutztown Road (tickets available for $10 during show & at the door) - Sound provided by Lee Myles Transmissions - Presentation of the first Don Marks Memorial Contribution to Motorsports Award - PLUS Show Awards, Music for Dancing, Racing Movies, Cash Bar, Snacks and more.
Saturday, February 27 - Salute to Penn National Speedway presented by LLANDCO Inc.
5 p.m. - FIRST EVER Penn National Speedway Reunion presented by LLANDCO Inc. of Leesport, Pa., a landfill construction company (Stage) - Former drivers, owners, officials, sponsors, fans, etc., gather to remember the Grantville, Pa., oval that closed its doors in 1996.
- Mall Hours: Sunday 11 a.m-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-9 p.m. -
*Schedule subject to change
Racing Replay: 1981 125-Mile Qualifier at Daytona
Posted by: | CommentsSome of the best NASCAR racing of the season happens in the two qualifying races for the Daytona 500. To whet the appetite a bit for Thursday’s Gatorade Duels at Daytona, I figured it’d be fun to look back at some of the older races.
Here’s the second 125-Mile Qualifier for the 1981 Daytona 500. The race sports a who’s-who of old-school NASCAR: Darrel Waltrip, Buddy Baker, Richard Petty, AJ Foyt and Benny Parsons. The new body styles and restrictor plateless motors make for some awesome side-by-side racing and slingshot passes. They really mix it up hard, but stay professional down to the end.
Part 1 has the start. NASCAR coverage, like the sport in general, was a lot less refined back then… but I think some of the new broadcast teams could learn a lot from Ken Squier and David Hobbs.
Part 2 features the finish. After a late-race caution, the race is restarted with one lap to go. Today that would be a recipe for a definite crash — but not back in the day.
Wings Clipped, Spoilers Back
Posted by: | CommentsSo NASCAR’s dumping the wing — a primary feature of the Car of Tomorrow — and bringing back the spoiler, eh? I guess when NASCAR announced that the Nationwide Series new “Car of Tomorrow”-like car would have a more traditional spoiler, the writing was on the wall for the wing.
The wing had a couple of problems. First, the obvious problem, is that it was ugly as all get-out. I don’t think anybody really liked the look of it when it was first announced (okay, except maybe Brian France). The second is that its bulky appearance made it difficult for drivers to see out the rear window.
Johnny Anderson blows over at Daytona 1981.
Another controversy that developed late last year was the idea that the wing was contributing to blowover crashes, such as those by Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman at Talladega. I don’t know that the wing is any different in this regard to the spoiler. Blowovers have become pretty common since Detroit and NASCAR downsized the cars in 1981. (Watch Connie Saylor blowover at Daytona 1981.)
As of now, the new spoiler will be tested at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the early part of the season and adopted for the circuit probably by the end of March. To me, the move brings two things to mind: 1) NASCAR is willing to make changes to address complaints, and 2) NASCAR is still stuck in an IROC mentality.
Why do I make point 2? Simply because NASCAR has said that the spoiler will be produced by an independent manufacturer and all teams must purchase their spoilers from said manufacturer. The spoiler will be an aluminum blade 4 inches (!) tall and at a fixed 70° (!!) angle. Fixing the spoiler angle is what tees me off the most. The 70° angle is, of course, “all about safety”, and realizing that no crew chief worth a damn would be raising it above that, they probably figured they might as well make it fixed.
I remember the days when the teams could adjust the spoiler as a means of setting up the car. Not just during the weekend, but in the middle of the race as well. It was considered another variable the crew chief could work with — finding a good balance between downforce and less drag, depending on the track. In the 80s teams could even lay that thing all the way back to 20° if they dared to.
Not anymore. Everyone runs the same spoiler now.
Same spoiler.
Same cars.
Same tracks.
Same drivers.
Boring.
NASCAR Season Off to a Rough Start
Posted by: | CommentsNASCAR Sprint Cup drivers appeared a bit rusty in today’s practice sessions for Saturday’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. When the smoke cleared, six Cup cars were trashed by crashes involving seven drivers.
The first incident occurred just 20 minutes into the first practice session when Denny Hamlin tapped Mark Martin going into turn 1, triggering a wreck that also collected Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer (subbing for an ill Kevin Harvick) and Jamie McMurray.
The second practice session didn’t fair much better, as Juan Montoya bumped Kurt Busch into the frontstretch wall just three minutes after the track went green.
All but Juan Montoya had to pull out back-up cars.
Jeff Burton topped the first practice session at 193.303 mph. Kasey Kahne was fastest in the second session at 191.673 mph.
Two practice sessions are scheduled Friday for the Daytona 500 (2:00pm ET and 4:00pm ET). The Budweiser Shootout will kick off the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season at 8:00pm ET on Saturday.
Photos: Gambler’s Classic at Atlantic City, January 29-30
Posted by: | CommentsFriday and Saturday photos from the Gambler’s Classic at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, January 29-30, 2010 — TQ Midgets / 600 Micro-sprints, Slingshots, and Champ Carts.
Congratulations to Lou Cicconi, Ted Christopher, AJ Roderick and Kyle Hieber on their feature wins!
Lou Cicconi held off Mike Stefanik to win Saturday's Gambler's Classic TQ feature.
Mike Tidaback had this scary crash on the backstretch.
Now This is a Stock Car
Posted by: | CommentsAt the end of last year Ford announced the return of the Mustang BOSS with the introduction of the BOSS 302R factory-built race car, ready to hit the race track right here in 2010. The car will share the track with its GT cousin in the Grand-Am Road Racing series and the SCCA this season.
The Mustang Boss 302R features a 5.0-liter, 32-valve engine capable of over 400 horsepower, a six-speed manual transmission, race-ready suspension and performance brake package, and a built-in roll cage. In other words, it’s totally awesome. And while we won’t be seeing these babies at a local race track any time soon — the base price starts at $79,000 — professional race teams are sure to have a field day with this new Mustang. Fifty Boss 302R cars will roll out of the factory in 2010.
Although “America’s #1 Motorsport” likes to think it has cornered the market on “stock car” racing, the truth is that the cars raced in road racing tours like the Grand-Am Road Racing series — ironically, owned by NASCAR since 2008 — are more “stock” than the race cars presented to NASCAR fans. NASCAR can slap as many headlight decals on its monstrosity of a race car as it likes, but it won’t change the fact that stock car fans find its insufferable “Car of Tomorrow” to be a total turn off. Not only does the Mustang Boss 302R look better (and not fake), but it’s powered by the same 302 cubic inches of small block glory available today on a dealer’s lot.
The Ford Mustang BOSS 302R features a race-ready 400-hp 5.0-liter engine, roll cage, and one badass cupholder no doubt. (Photo credit: Ford Motor Company)
Why is stock car racing important? Because everyone loves cars. They love speed. They love the engineering, the power, and the styling. And a stock race car is something that an average person can relate to. It’s easier to draw someone into racing when a person can relate to it. Stock car racing is a great stepping stone into the larger sport.
And what about the manufacturers? “Racing has long served as a technical proving grounds for production engines,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsports in a press release from Ford. “What’s good enough for the streets is now good enough for the racetrack. The 5.0-liter block and architecture in the Mustang BOSS 302R is the same as the 2011 Mustang GT.”
Exactly! You can’t say the same about the NASCAR Ford Fusion with its carburetor technology.
The Mustang Boss 302R had mixed results in its debut at Daytona International Speedway this past weekend. Okay let’s be honest — there were a lot of new car jitters. But on the positive side, Multimatic Motorsports started a Boss 302R from the front row and JBS Motorsports brought one home in fourth position.
Now all we need is to get these real “stock” cars into an oval racing series. That, I’d bet, would really take off here in America.
