Archive for March, 2010
Photos: Open Practice (1/4-mi.) at Bridgeport Speedway, March 28
Posted by: | CommentsClick here for photos from open practice on the 1/4-mile Bridgeport Speedway, March 28, 2010.
Friday night micro-sprint racing returns to Bridgeport on April 2.
Photos: Open Practice (5/8-mi.) at Bridgeport Speedway, March 27
Posted by: | CommentsClick here for photos from open practice on the 5/8-mile Bridgeport Speedway, March 27, 2010.
Stefanie Palmai will drive the 2010 TSRS season for Tony Pietrofitta.
Trevor Lewis (21) and Scott Pursell (1) were on hand to practice for the URC / Bridgeport season opener on April 10.
SEASON KICKS OFF AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY ON APRIL 3, EXTRA DISTANCE EVENT SET FOR APRIL 10
Posted by: | CommentsGRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY PRESS RELEASE
BECHTELSVILLE, PA March 26, 2010 . . . Another season of stock car racing gets the green flag at Grandview Speedway on Saturday, April 3. The NASCAR 358 Modified and Late Model stock cars will be the attraction with each division presenting a full series of qualifying events leading up to a 30-lap feature race for the Modifieds and a 20-lap feature for the Late Models.
Eight time NASCAR Modified champion Jeff Strunk will start defense of his title and start his efforts to secure an unprecedented ninth title. Strunk will have plenty of competition with multi-time champion Craig VonDohren set for a strong season along with past champion Duane Howard, Ryan Godown, Mike Gular, Doug Manmiller, and a long list of other top talents seeing action.
In the Late Models Brian Shuey goes for his third track title but it will not be easy. Randy Stoudt, the leading Late Model feature winner amongst active drivers, has a new ride and a desire to win the title. Past champion Chuck Schutz is looking to have a strong season as is Ron Kline, Mike Kellner, Kyle Merkel and others.
“We are expecting strong fields of cars in both divisions as the season gets underway,” said track owner Bruce Rogers. “The opener will actual serve as a tune-up for the extra distance event we have planned for the NASCAR Modifieds on April 10. It should be an exciting night of racing.”
Modified racers will be racing for valuable end of the season point positions as top performers are rewarded with NASCAR point money, track point money and American Racing Tires point money and tire awards.
Youngsters, up to the age of 11, will have the opportunity to participate in the Virtual Essense Salon Easter Egg Hunt.
Adult admission for the season opener will be just $13 while youngsters 6 through 11 pay $5 and children under 6 are admitted for FREE.
On Saturday, April 10, 7 p.m., the NASCAR Modifieds will be featured in a 40-lap championship event that will carry extra prize money. And the Late Models will top their part of the show with a 20-lap feature.
Racers are reminded that they must sign their cars into the pit area prior to 5:30 p.m. for Saturday events during April.
Then on Sunday, April 11, 2 p.m. the first of eight appearances for the NEETS Enduro competitors will take place along with the SpeedSTR open cockpit racers.
Grandview Speedway is located at 43 Passmore Road, just off Route 100, in Bechtelsville, PA just 10 miles north of Pottstown. For information telephone 610.754.7688 or check in at www.grandviewspeedway.com.
COMING EVENTS:
Saturday, April 3, 7 p.m. SEASON OPENER - NASCAR 358 Modifieds and Late Models plus Virtual Essense Easter Egg Hunt.
Saturday, April 10, 7 p.m. NASCAR 358 Modifieds and Late Models, 40-lap championship feature for Modifieds.
Sunday, April 11, 2 p.m. NEETS Enduro and SpeedSTRS.
Saturday, April 17, 7 p.m. NASCAR 358 Modifieds and “Topless Truckin’ 20” for Late Models
Event promoter: Bruce Rogers @610.754.7688
Media Contact: Ernie Saxton Communications, Inc.
Ernie Saxton @ 215.752.7797
E-mail: Esaxton144@aol.com
Cell: 267.934.7286
FREE GRANDSTAND ADMISSION FOR BOTH PRACTICE SESSIONS AT BRIDGEPORT SPEEDWAY
Posted by: | CommentsBRIDGEPORT, NJ (March 22, 2010) - Before the 39th season of racing
begins at Bridgeport Speedway, race fans will be able to see two
practice sessions for free from the grandstand during the last weekend
of March.
Practice on the big and fast 5/8th mile dirt oval will take place on
Saturday, March 27th at 1:00 PM with the pit entrance opening at 9:00
AM. A test and tune session for quarter mile racers is set for Sunday,
March 28th at 1:00 PM as the pit gates will open at 10:00 AM. If foul
weather should occur on Saturday, March 27th, practice will take place
for both ovals on Sunday, March 28th. General Grandstand Admission is
free to the public on both practice days. Pit Admission for each
practice day is $20 with a license and $30 without a license. No
season pit passes will be accepted.
The 2010 season at Bridgeport Speedway gets underway on Friday, April
2nd at 7:00 PM with RTS Chassis sponsoring the action on the 1/4 mile
dirt oval. The 270cc and 600cc Micro-Sprints will each compete in
25-lap features paying $500-to win. Also, the 4-Cylinder Stock cars
will do battle on this night. All gates will open at 5:00 PM.
On Saturday April 10th at 6:00 PM, the 5/8th mile season gets cranked
up with a big three division show. The second leg of the Tri-Track
series for the Big Block Modifieds (30-laps) and the season opening
event for the URC Sprints (25-laps) will share the spotlight. The
newly formed Crate Modified division will also be in competition. Pit
Gates will open at 12:00 PM, Grandstand Gates open at 4:00 PM and
Warm-Ups will begin at 5:00 PM.
Bridgeport Speedway provides a safe and secure family atmosphere, free
parking, giveaways and fan participation games. Billed ‘The Fastest
Dirt Track in the East’, Bridgeport Speedway is a banked 5/8th mile
dirt oval, featuring a dirt 1/4 mile oval embedded in the center, and
is located in Southern New Jersey — just minutes from Pennsylvania
and Delaware at exit 14 off of I-295.
Bridgeport Speedway
83 Floodgate Road
Bridgeport NJ 08014
DE Office: 302-875-4197
NJ Office: 856-467-4408
24 hr. Info: 856-467-4407
Fax: 856-467-5843
E-mail: jess@bpspeedway.com
Website: www.bpspeedway.com
Twitter: twitter.com/bridgeportspeed
FREE GRANDSTAND ADMISSION OFFERED FOR WALL PRACTICE SESSION THIS SATURDAY (MARCH 27)
Posted by: | Comments
WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. ~ Fans of professional auto racing at Wall Stadium will have a great chance to see action on the third mile paved high banked oval this Saturday (March 27) from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. as the track hosts on-track practice. While it is a paid practice session for competitors, fans will be admitted to the grandstands free of charge for the five hour session.
“We’ve got a lot of interest from the competitors. Licenses and pit area parking spots have been going fast and we had over 30 cars here for practice last Saturday,” Promoter Jim Morton said. “Judging by the enthusiasm we’ve seen in the office and at the practice session last Saturday, I think we’ll have many more cars here testing and practicing this Saturday as we get closer to opening night.”
That opening night event on the third-mile oval for the 2010 season is set for Saturday, April 3. On the opening day agenda will be a special 40-lap points awarding event for the Wall Modifieds. Also on that agenda will be the Sportsman racers, Street Stocks, Legend Cars and the Factory Stocks. On April 3, spectator seating will open at 4:00 p.m., while qualifying will start at 5:15 p.m. and main events will start at 6:30 p.m.
In addition to auto racing events during the 2010 season, Promoter Jim Morton is currently working with various promoters in an effort to bring other “family friendly” shows and events to the Wall Township stadium this season. More details will be announced soon.
Wall Stadium is located on Route 34 in Wall Township, N.J., just one mile north of Garden State Parkway exit 98 and Interstate 195 exit 35B. The speedway office is open from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and all day Saturday during events. The speedway hotline number is 732-681-6400, while more information is also available at www.wallspeedway.com
NASCAR Embraces “MadHouse” Approach to Racing
Posted by: | CommentsNASCAR has either totally lost its mind or is so deep into the pockets of sponsors, team owners and corporate interests that it can no longer see and think clearly. I suspect it’s a lot of both and the fact that it could barely muster the courage to put Carl Edwards on a measly three-race probation is evidence of it. Instead of making it firmly clear that NASCAR was in control of its sport, it turned its press statement into an opportunity to express just how concerned it is about the fact that Brad Keselowski’s car got airborne after Edwards dumped him. Safety first, after all! NASCAR President Mike Helton explained it: “[Keselowski's car going airborne] is a very important element of all of this that I would ask all of us to be reminded of the fact of the car getting airborne was a very serious issue. And that’s something that we’ll take a look at very quickly and try to figure out how to help prevent that happening in the future.” Way to divert the attention away from the real issue.
And this is where NASCAR’s conflicting statements begin. They want to “prevent” an incident like this from happening in the future, yet they’ve given the drivers the green light to act like complete morons on the racetrack. Does that make any sense at all? Everyone in the racing community is rallying around NASCAR’s supposed pre-season pronouncement that drivers are free to “take the gloves off”. Did I miss the press release? When did NASCAR say that its drivers had free reign to behave like totally reckless maniacs and wouldn’t be punished for intentionally causing violent accidents? If NASCAR thinks that fans are interested in watching their prima donna racers engage in tit-for-tat crashes rather than real racing, then they are even more hopelessly out of touch than I first believed.
NASCAR doesn’t understand the simple concept everyone calls “rules”. Is it or is it not, by the rulebook, acceptable to intentionally crash somebody? And if it’s not, what is the penalty, per the rulebook? Because if the only penalty is a slap on the wrist then Keselowski should be free to send Edwards right over the damn billboards at Texas next month.
Kyle Petty nails it: “I think we took ourselves away from just being a sport to being a sideshow in some ways. We’re not a sport. Sports have rules.”
A Tale of Two Carls
Remember last May when Carl Long — an underfunded driver who was attempting to qualify for a non-points paying race — blew an ancient and decrepit motor and had it inspected by NASCAR? NASCAR found the motor to be less than two-tenths of a cubic inch larger than the limit. Two tenths. Despite the fact that the violation was almost certainly unintended, they suspended the guy for 12 races, fined him 200 points that he didn’t even have, and fined his crew chief $200,000. Twelve races for two-tenths.
Carl Edwards nearly kills someone and he gets “probation” — which amounts to nothing more than being under the “watchful eyes of NASCAR”.
Consistency isn’t a NASCAR trademark. Consider:
- In 2007, Robby Gordon was suspended for one race after failing to yield to a black flag that was displayed for aggressive driving in the previous day’s Nationwide Series race.
- Ricky Rudd was fined $10,000 and placed on probation for the rest of the season after intentionally crashing Jeff Gordon in the 1994 Mello Yello 500 at Charlotte.
- In October 2004, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was fined $10,000 and docked 25 championship points for joyfully dropping an s-bomb in a victory lane interview at Talladega. The point loss dropped him from leading the standings.
- At Indianapolis in 2002, Jimmy Spencer intentionally crashed Kurt Busch in what is probably the most dangerous corner in all of American motorsports. Busch was scolded by NASCAR for “gesturing” towards Spencer after climbing from his car.
The Apple Falls Far From the Tree
Unfortunately for NASCAR, Brian France does not seem to be able to command the kind of respect his father and grandfather garnered from its participants. The limp-wristed, “well we’re not really sure if that’s over the line” approach doesn’t exactly exude a sense of strength on NASCAR’s part.
It makes me remember a time in 1990 when Dale Earnhardt and Geoff Bodine were wrecking each other consistently until Bill France, Jr. stepped in. The intervention was recalled in the film Days of Thunder. France had lunch with Bodine’s then car owner Rick Hendrick and explained: “Rick… If you can’t control your drivers any better than this… then maybe you should stick to something you can control. … Like selling used cars in downtown Charlotte.”
NASCAR Needs to Step Up
Posted by: | CommentsFor all it’s boasting about safety it makes me laugh how much insanity NASCAR’s drivers get away with on the racetrack. The sanctioning body is like the wrestling referee who’s off watching something else while a guy is bashing his opponent over the head with a steel chair.
NASCAR needs to grow a set, step up, and start sitting drivers who can’t contain themselves down for a week or two. This whole fascination with “intentional crashing” is a black eye on the sport and really calls into question the legitimacy and integrity of NASCAR racing.
And a special thanks to Carl Edwards for ruining for the fans what was shaping up to be a great and dramatic finish between Kurt Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya today at Atlanta. The race ended up taking a back seat to Edwards — who was 156 laps down — and his pouting match with Brad Keselowski, who was running in the top five with just three laps to go. Television cameras caught Edwards attempting to and then finally successfully crashing Keselowski at the fastest part of the speedway.
To his credit, Edwards admitted to intentionally causing the crash, but seemingly expressed surprise that it ended so violently, with Keselowski’s car getting airborne and smashing the wall roof-first, crushing the driver’s side roll cage. Not to be Captain Obvious here, but what else would one expect on a superspeedway with speeds reaching 195 mph?
Can we please get this kind of crap out of NASCAR before something bad happens and the national spotlight shines on yet another ugly aspect of our sport? It’s really getting embarrassing.
