News & Notes – January 3, 2008
NEAR Banquet Tickets on Sale
The annual New England Antique Racers Hall of Fame Banquet is slated to take place on Sunday, January 27th at the LaRenaissance Banquet Hall in East Windsor, CT. Tickets can be ordered by downloading the order form from the NEAR web site. The Class of 2008 includes car owners, drivers and members of the media. Dave Alkas, Dave Darveau, Dick Bathchelder, the late Howie Brown are all a part of the class. Car owners Joe Brady and the late Mike Scrivani, Sr. along with the multi-talented Dick Berggren and writer Pete Zanardi will also be inducted at the NEAR banquet in January. Veterans committee choices were to Johnny Gammell, George Lombardo, and Fred Luchesi.
Oktoberfest Date Set for Lee USA Speedway
The 3/8-mile Lee USA Speedway has finalized the date for its annual Oktoberfest season finale. The date for Oktoberfest is the weekend of October 4th and 5th, 2008. The popular True Value Modified Racing Series will hold their penultimate race at Lee USA. Along with the regular variety of open competition races for Late Models and Strictly Stocks that welcome drivers from similar tracks like Seekonk or Twin State. Drivers with home tracks as far away as Unity, Maine and Waterford, CT were among the winners last fall.
A quick look at the local racing docket for that weekend presents a conflict as the Waterford Speedbowl hosts its finale with the NEMA Midgets, Allison Legacy North cars, and the All Star Race Trucks joining the card with their regular divisions.
I want to give a plug to Jason Christley’s new blog on NASCAR.com entitled: “Going ‘Round In Circles’s”, which is the source for the next two stories.
Eddie MacDonald Lands Ride on Camping World East Circuit for ’08
Eddie MacDonald will run full-time on the NASCAR Camping World Series East this season. MacDonald Motorsports and crew chief Rollie Lachance will be teaming up with Robert Grimm Racing to run his #71 Chevrolets. MacDonald ran a partial schedule last season that included a victory at Stafford in his own #48. He also competed for Grimm with a best finish of 5th at Adirondack. The full press release is available here.
NASCAR 2008: Blog Set to Keep Fans Posted
Jason Christley and the staff at NASCAR.com have set their New Year’s Resolution: 400 blog posts this year.
The search for a new media coordinator for NASCAR’s fastest division appears to be over. Jason Cunningham takes over the full-time position for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2008. His former employment was at Ohio University, where he worked in the publicity field for the Bobcats. “He is sure to get the most attention for NASCAR’s Oldest Division,”
There are several things in the immediate future to look forward to. The blog will feature a countdown of memorable moments from 2007.
NASCARLocalRacing.com will be relaunched on February 1st with photos, stories and “up-to-the-minute updates of the NASCAR Developmental Series.” This includes the Camping World Series, the Whelen Modified Tours, NASCAR’s series in Canada and the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.
But first comes a special experience for some of NASCAR’s champions and crowd favorites. January 3-5 is the Chevy Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen, held at Lake Placid, NY. 2007 champions will travel to the home of the famed 1980 Winter Olympics for some off-season competiton in bobsleds. The prestigious list includes Ron Hornaday, Jr. of the Craftsman Truck Series, L.W. Miller of the Whelen Southern Modified Tour join regional champs Donny Lia of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and Joey Logano of the Camping World Series East. Road course specialist Boris Said, who competed successfully in last year’s event, seems like he has the upper hand on the competition.
Auto Racing Historian Don Radbruch Passes Away
The New Year started off sadly when I received word of the passing of Don Radbruch yesterday after a long illness. The Sagle, Idaho resident was an auto racing historian and writer. A former driver himself, Don began his racing career in 1948 and was a quick learner, winning the American Racing Association Sprint Car championship in 1951. He continued his career with the midget-sanctioning body , the Bay Cities Racing Association before he retired in 1967. After he retired from his job as a soil engineer in the mid-1980s, Don turned his attention to preserving auto racing history. He authored three books – Roaring Roadsters I & II, which he coauthored with Bob McCoy, and 2004’s Dirt Track Auto Racing, 1919-1941: A Pictorial History. A private memorial service will be held. Donations can be made to the National Sprint Car Museum Foundation in order to develop its racing history research library. They are available at (800) 874-4488.
He was always helpful to members of the Atlas F1 Forum and the Yahoo Racing History group, which has fittingly had many posts written honoring him or sharing their memories of him. Whether it was researching a specific item or a broader project, Don was always helpful in supplying information and sharing his knowledge to us.
While I did not have that much correspondence with Don, I did purchase a copy of Dirt Track Auto Racing a few years ago. This pictorial history book has proven invaluable to me in researching the inter-war period and it is filled with photos and well-organized by the different regions that hosted Big Car, Outlaws and Midget racing during those important years. It also notably mentions racing locations as the sport developed in each region. Of interest to the readers here, the New England section was helpful as it revealed information on two overlooked tracks at Canobie Lake and Hannahan’s Farm. The front cover of the book features Hall of Famer Joe Sostillio leading the pack at the old Weymouth, Mass. Fairgrounds.
My condolences to Don’s family and friends on their loss. I believe I speak for many when I say we appreciate Don’s dedication to the sport and his friendship.
Start Your Engines! SimFactory Brings ARCA Excitement to Sim Racing
Be ready to fire up your PC for some adrenaline filled drama next month.