Around the Track with Jalopy Jack
Due to more technicalities, this part of Jalopy Jack Racing Entertainment wasn’t available in the last couple of weeks. I hope you were checking out WLAR [We Love Auto Racing] at 718-707-1052 because that’s were the commentary was gone. Backtracking a little bit to 6/27 at Wall Stadium, that was “Full Fender Night” and the Late Models replaced the weekly Modifieds in the headlined spot. We also had the Legend cars that had 15 take the green for the 25 lapper and the Street Stocks that had 16 take the green for their 25 lapper and the Factory Stocks had their annual 40 lap championship race and that saw 24 cars take the green. Only the Legends race was formful. The other 3 features were all slam bam affairs.
The Factory Stocks went 37 slam bang laps but they had to throw the yellow after the leaders who’re weaving thru lap traffic came to a meeting of the same spot in the third turn and took their troubles up the banking into the wall head on. A bunch of other cars got caught up in the confusing melee. You can find results elsewhere because I’m not a reporter but the man who won left earlier and everyone who passed him, was caught up in that rack. The Late Models only had 15 cars for their 100 lapper, but they were wrecking them like that had 40 cars. The man who won it #7A, Jim Wismer, was probably the only car not to make contact with anybody. For the most part, he was a fast but hopeless second but after circumstances, he made a bold move on a lap 85 restart to get the lead and it was his from there. A special shout out to the #14 car of Elliot Wohl, he had essentially a sportsman car with Late Model sheet metal and a Street Stock engine. A spin put him a lap down but I believe, he would’ve been on a lead lap at the end if he was left alone. I’m now seen Mr. Wohl this year on a road course, in a Street Stock, in an Enduro car and now brave enough to challenge the Late Models.
The following week 7/4 was the show, or should I say night, we’ve all waited so long for. Great weather on a racing night. Unfortunately the car counts were disappointing. All 5 regular divisions were there and the Legends and Street Stocks each had 18 cars, the Modifieds for their first actual regular distance 40 lap feature of the year, pulled 16 cars. Unfortunately a rookie mistake caused a hard 3 car crash in the middle of the back stretch and this pretty much ruined the competition. The car that caused it however, never got hit and got fifth place in a decimated field. “Showtime” Jimmy Blewett in his familiar #5 won this one hands down. I’m sure he’s leading the Wall Stadium Modified points and would be the only non-surprise in that department. I’ll explain more later. The Factory Stocks had 17 cars in their 20 lapper and the Sportsmen which haven’t been there in a while, started 21 cars for their 25 lapper. Three of the 5 races had final lap tangles.
The Street Stocks by the way had their annual 50 lapper that night. I’ve commented in the past either here or WLAR about conduct of the drivers on the last couple of laps, I’ll get more into this next week. This brings us up to date this past Saturday 7/11, was the second of 3 “Family Fun Nights” at Wall. This means Enduros and Legends cars are at $5.00 admission. This time it was more of a show then back in May, the 4 Cylinder Super-Modifieds were on the card and there were actually 7 of them. This is the club that’s been around for at least 15 years and this is the most I’ve ever seen. They just don’t race for any kind of money and as long as that’s the case, I don’t see them growing and therefore, not being offered any considerable purse money. But it was a good show for their 20 lapper.
The Legends cars had the same number, 18, as their last Enduro show but this time, all 18 made it to the green for their 25 lapper. Now after I went to town on restart procedures on WLAR, what do you think happens in this feature race after 3 restarts? Going into only lap 7, it was a single file restart. This is a division that had final lap tangles in 2 of the 3 previous features and also, a final lap tangle on the first Enduro night. This time the field spread, or at least the front end, like melted butter. The drivers that finished up front did deserve it, but you could have walked between them in the later laps. There was a surprise or 2 among competitors but no time for that this week. The Enduro portion of the show had much more quantity then the first. The 4 Cylinder cars were up for 5 to 8. This time they went 100 laps, there was a truck race added and
5 of them went 50 laps. And there was a women’s race added and that was a heartbreak for some of the ladies scheduled. I believe it was 8 cars going 25 laps. The regularly scheduled 100 lapper for the 6 and 8 Cylinder cars {here to 4] referred to as “the big cars”, started 29 cars. That’s over double the first time but their were 2 trucks included. The reigning “People’s Driver”, Bill Stockert had his new car out for the first time. It was a good looking red and yellow #310. He said he’d be going to Big
Diamond Raceway on Sunday if he got out of this race with no damage. That’s going to be debatable as his luck wasn’t the best. More about Bill Stockert in previous columns. The reigning “People’s Champion” Mike Tidaback was there to watch and he’ll be at Wall on 7/25 when the TQ Midgets race in the 30 lap Tony Romit Memorial.
The original “People’s Champion” Vern McGlaughlin III won the 4 Cylinder race. His interview will explain more. And the original “People’s Driver” Richard Petey won the 100 lapper for the big cars. His victory was also eventually a runaway. An honorable mention in that race for the original Wall Stadium Factory Stock champ Rob Longo.
He was running third with Petey forth when 2 drivers who couldn’t mind their manners, took each other out of first and second. Laps later, Petey took Longo for the lead with a little help from lap traffic. Then there was a very bad crash right after finish line which took out 3 cars. This’ll be referred to in the interviews. The red flag was thrown and when racing resumed, Longo had a flat tire and lost 3 laps. On his return, he appeared to be the fastest car on the track. By this time, there were about 14 cars left and more room to boogie. Here now are the winning interviews, first conducted by Earl Krause in Victory Lane and then conducted for me personally in the pits. I’ve got to tell you that due to crowd noise, Vern’s interview couldn’t be heard towards the end, but I’ll fill you in.
Earl: “Well….Victory Lane…no stranger to this spot at Wall Stadium. After winning 8 Factory Stocks features and the 2007 track championship, returning to Wall Stadium tonight to win the Enduro feature, Vern McGlaughlin in Victory Lane….There he is ladies and gentlemen….a very happy winner….I’ll tell you what, a look like you had some pretty strong competition early on, but man it looked like you’re having a good time out there.”
Vern: “Yeah, I was really looking forward to bring this car out here. I was really hoping to bring this car here last year, NEETS was all set to run some Enduros last year, but we all know what happened. When they opened up again this year we were really happy to hear about that, you know that Jim Morton opened the track back up and brought the Enduros….”
Then the fans got kind of loud and Vern thanked a fellow who was with him named John and thanked his girlfriend Lisa and others who helped in the garage, but were unable to make it to the race. Vern stated that the races were really won in the garage. He then received his reward from Miss NEETS, Cindy Botts, who’s the wife of Howie Botts who’s in the big car race. Now the interview that I conducted with Vern.
Jack: “Here we go again Vern, make things happen right? What you got to say at my readers at yankeeracer.com?”
Vern: “I can’t get enough of it Jack, I can’t get enough of this”
Jack: “How many straight wins is this on the speedways of Jersey?”
Vern: “3 in a row”
Jack: “2 in Outlaw Stocks at New Egypt”
Vern: “Yeah, Jack in this year, OK”.
Jack: “The beginning of the season we talked about this, you said that you’d expected to be going flat out here. Did this happen?”
Vern: “Not really, no. I had to lift to get to the turns, this car probably had the wrong gear because I didn’t have the kind of RPM’s I would’ve liked to have”
Jack: “OK, it looked like you were taking it easy, you know, messing around with a front 4 at the beginning. It looked like you were saving something there.”
Vern: “Towards the end there, I wanted to be careful with the tires, a 100 laps with this amount of banking it was an abrasive track and you know, I just didn’t want something to go wrong there in the last 10 laps. So I thought of just cruising for a little bit there to help the tires cool a little bit off”
Jack: “Oh, one more thing Vern, are you leading points at New Egypt?”
Vern: “Yes”
Jack: “OK, we’ll be following you”
Vern: “Thanks Jack”
Jack: “This is the original “People’s Champion” Vern McGlaughlin III”
Before we get into Petey’s interview, I’ve got to explain that my interview with him in the pits was interrupted continuously as it was a very popular victory. My educated guess is that Petey was the oldest driver out there. The experience paid. Here’s the interview in Victory Lane with Earl Krause….
Earl: “third career win on this speedway for “Uncle Petey”, the last 2 in Factory Stock competition”, he’s getting congratulations in Victory Lane from Cindy Botts, Miss NEETS. As a celebration continues….”Uncle Petey”, let’s here it for him everybody, “Uncle Petey” in Victory Lane. Hey, great run man”
Petey: “Thank you very much, it started to overheat out there, but I got it home for the finish. Thanks to all of the fans for coming out and I really appreciate you guys coming up to Wall. Without you guys we can’t race. Thank you very much”
Earl: “One of the nicest guys in the business and when the races are over, you can go thru the Turn 4 Gate and go to #43 pits spot, you’ll be able to meet “Uncle Petey” in
person, get his autograph and kids, you’ll be able to be right inside the #43, right Rich?”
Petey: “You’re welcome, I wished I had 3 backseats for the kids”
Earl: “Tell us about the race, there was lots of action out there tonight. Rob Longo gave you quite a race, guys like Elliot Whol was strong, but what about the race itself”
Petey: “Well the beginning of the race there was lots of carnage going on, so I kind of, you know, you buy your time. That’s what Enduros are all about, you’ve got to be there for the last lap, but not for the first lap. So the #56 was in the lead. He was pretty tough but I got around him and I guess we got around the #45 in the middle of the race….It was a great race, everybody stayed cleaned, it was a very, very good race. I appreciate all the guys I raced with and all the people here at Wall, they’re great people, thank you.”
Earl: “Ladies and gentleman, our winner in the main street motor special, Richard Petey who’s called “Uncle Petey”, in the famous #43″
That brings us to the interview in the pits:
Jack: “What you gotta say for yankeeracer.com, folks are going to read us in a couple of days Petey”
Petey: “A hell of a race, the car was overheating. I had to play it by ear. There was so much carnage at the beginning of the race. I knew if I didn’t slow it down at the beginning, I wasn’t going to be there at the end.”
During this time Elliot Whol and Jim Morton came over to congratulate Petey.
Jack: “Petey, at what point was it overheating?”
Petey: “At the red flag”
Jack: “So when you stopped?”
Petey: “Yeah, it went to about 230 to 240 and then I passed Rob Longo when I got around Rob, I had a lot of free air. I started cooling it down to around 220 to 210, then I started running all right. I started running the race, it started going up to 230″
Jack: “So you were more concerned about the car then any competition from around 60 laps on, right?”
Petey: “When I got behind the 56..14, I let them play games behind me. I got the feeling they were at the tail end of the lead lap, so….”
Jack: “So how do you feel about the #50 being left on the track like that?”
Petey: “That’s racing, you do what you have to do”
Jack: “OK, OK”
Petey: “They call it an Enduro”
Jack: “They left the 50, how come they didn’t leave the other car out?”
Petey: “Maybe he was leaking fuel or something, you never know”
Jack: “Was this the first win of the year?”
Petey: “Yeah, I couldn’t pick a better place, better time, better track. I love this stadium, I love this track, I love driving it….”
From this point on, it was impossible to conduct the interview any further. Before we wrap it up, I want to say a little about the ladies race. I was concentrating on basically just 2 women who’d be in this race. One is Sue Simpson who’s been doing great work in the office of Wall Stadium and related work on the road on behalf of Wall Stadium. The other lady didn’t give me permission to mention her in this column. I’ll refer to her as “Miss Hopeful”. “Miss Hopeful” is a great fan of Wall Stadium and I see her every single week. She’s always there before me. Early on in the evening, she thought she’d be in the Enduro for the ladies. Now mind you, this is not a powder puff derby. You could be in there with some experienced female speed jockeys. The ladies were assigned their cars before the show and the car that “Miss Hopeful” was assigned became a wreck during the 100 lapper. Earl Krause announced that they’d do their best to find a replacement car. Mind you, this all has to be with the permission and blessings of the car owners. It was a heartbreaker because so many people were looking forward to seeing “Miss Hopeful” out there, but a car couldn’t be found and I did personally hear, Jim Morton promised “Miss Hopeful” a car next time. Sue Simpson finished second and was beat by an experienced driver, who previously took part in the 4 Cylinder race.
All and all, a good evening of racing as we beat the weather again and I caught rain about 40 minutes later, not far from Belmar on my way home. This coming week is something that’s not making complete sense to me. The annual Garden State Classic takes place. This race dates back something like 49 years. At the beginning, this race was 300 laps. It was then shortened thru periods of time, but it has currently been 100 laps. For some reason, Jim Morton decided to make it 150 laps for this year. These Modifieds had trouble enough making 30 laps this year. 150 laps means a pit stop for everybody. It just don’t make sense to me. But just like you’ve got to throw the green flag to see who’s going to win, you also throw the green flag to see what kind of race it is. Thankfully, also on the show are the Legends, Street Stocks and Factory Stocks. Next week, this column will be more diverse. No matter what kind of racing’s coming your way, I hope you’ll be there to be a part of it. Two things that I’m really happy about. One’s the Modified race at Bristol on Wednesday night 8/18 being on almost live TV. I know not everyone out there gets the Speed Channel, but for this I feel whatever you’ve got to do to see this one, will be worth it. Secondly, I’m very happy with the success of Bobby Santos III. Mr. Santos has been kind enough to be a guest on WLAR in the past and when I’m able to get back to interviews, I’m sure he’ll grace us again with his presence. Bobby’s winning races all over the USAC Midget and Sprint circuit. He says he wants to concentrate on paved tracks. USAC tries to do both Dirt and Pavement. I’m wondering if Santos is thinking Indy? This just might be a good time and I’ll explain further next week.
Thank you for your support. So it’s that time, keeping the fans in the stands and the cars on the track, this has been Jalopy Jack.