Around the Track wth Jalopy Jack
Kind of ended with a whimper, didn’t it? Yeah, we really got teased a couple of weeks ago at Texas. They say it’s the little things that count. Jimmie Johnson and his team really got those little things in order and had no plans to make any changes in their team, so the feeling’s that it’s more of the same to come. Unless 1 of the new combinations concerning car owners, crew chiefs, drivers and teams really magically clicks, probably the only thing to look forward to for the 2010 Cup Season is the earlier starting times for some of the Sunday races, including the Daytona 500.
And I got to think of another name for Daytona because it just doesn’t seem like the Daytona we used to know. It seems more like “Tellawrecka” and the only thing Daytona has anymore is the hype. I can still look forward to the “shootout” or whatever they call it, because that race doesn’t mean all that much anyway. But the Daytona 500 itself really being decided by a crap shoot just doesn’t cut it for me anymore. Just look at how successful the winner has been the rest of the season in recent years and you can see what I mean. I can still look forward to the ARCA race because that’s a big chance for those guys. Where you need to be is down there in person so you can see the real action and that of course is on the short tracks.
Just in case you wonder what does keep me interested in Cup racing anymore, it’s the few good courses they have left and I’ll spell them out for you. Martinsville, Bristol, New Hampshire, Darlington and the road courses. So while it seems to be another “knock NASCAR session”, let us get into the Nationwide Series. The “Car of Tomorrow” is there too. Sounds like 2 levels of a country club to me. Junior level and senior level. And how about the modified? I’m hearing that they’ll be on the road course at Lime Rock. A double header with the Camping World East cars. I’ve no big problem with this one, except they’ll be running them clockwise. If you’ve been to Lime Rock Park you may know whythat bothers me. Although I understand it’s for safety reason due to the reconstruction of the course. But what does bother me is that as soon as the Modified gain popularity, somebody has to toss their ego in and come up with a hair-brained scheme. Bristol, New Hampshire and Martinsville’s not good enough.
And speaking of Modified, their final northeast appearance will be at Turkey Derby this coming weekend. It looks like another good field for the Tour Type Modified this Saturday in their 100 lap main event. The weekly SK Modified also have a 100 lap feature race. Rounding out the program are 3/4 Midgets and the Street Stocks. On an unexpected entry in the TQ’s will be the current “People’s Champion”, Mike Tidaback. A Wall Modified driver will be making his TQ debut and that’s Shaun Carrig and he’ll be in the #54. He’s looking to shake it down for the indoor races which begins a week later in Providence, Rhode Island. But if it goes I don’t think he’s just going to sit there and let them disappear. A surprise entrant in the SK Modified is going to be the #6 Junior driven by a fellow, who probably never seen Wall Stadium before. This’ll be Dave Tessin Jr. The day before will be the Sportsmen, Legends, Factory Stocks and the headlining Late Models. I already guaranteed a win for the #48 Legends car, driven by Ryan Flores. Ryan will also have a ride in the Sportsmen #6 Junior. I hear this car has been redone and can really go. It could be 2 wins for Ryan this Friday. Let’s hope that the weather cooperates and that Wall Stadium has a good plan in case it don’t cooperate. Don’t forget Sunday is the Enduro, Legends and 4-C Super Modified and that’s supposed to be for a $5 admission. But I wonder if it can all be worked in, in case of non-agreeable weather. The Late Models by the way is scheduled for 75 laps and Jimmy Blewett’s set to go in that one. Just keep a sharp ear for late developments for this year’s Turkey Derby.
I want to correct a couple of mistakes from recent columns. We’re trying a new system that’s based on sound and we’ll have to be put on the back burner for now. Last week, NASCAR came out “Nascer”. So if you’ve never heard of a “Nascer-Dad”, it should’ve been “NASCAR-Dad”. Also a wrong number was given out for Costal 181. That should’ve been 877-907-8181. Also let me use this opportunity to remind you of WLAR [We Love Auto Racing] at 718-707-1052. When at Wall don’t forget to look up the big guy named Mike O’Brien. He’ll be shooting the action and selling some tapes and he’s really good at his craft. His product should be on sale at the Gazebo, which’s just about right smack in the middle of the mezzanine, or ground level if you don’t want to be fancy.
This past Saturday was my last Dirt race of the season and it was at the Quarter mile of Bridgeport Speedway. Four divisions were scheduled; the Micro Sprints, the 270cc and the 600cc were the headliners as well as the 125cc Micro Sprints in what they call “4 Cylinder Stock Cars”. But I still like to call them “Mini Stocks”. To get the disappointments out of the way, the 125cc’s had only 4 cars for an 8 lap Heat and 12 lap Feature. The stock cars had 10 entries for two 8 lap Heats and then only 9 came out for a 20 lap Feature. The 270’s and 600’s each had full fields of over 30 cars and had four 8 lap Heats and a 10 lap consi to qualify a full field of 24 cars in each division and the feature race and each division, guaranteed $50 to start and $1,000 to win for a 30 lapper. Bridgeport of course is a 5/8 mile which was to be used the next day.
The quarter mile’s off the center of the straight away and adjoins the main straight away and it’s basically pretty wide with no walls on the outside. There’re walls however, all the way around on the inside. This was a completely winged show also. Micro Sprints are normally fun, probably more for the competitor then the fan. Despite normally a lot of flips injuries are very rare. Saturday the only flip over was a tip over. They’re relatively cheap to run compared to other open cockpit divisions, but don’t normally race for much money either. Off hand I can think of about 5 good paying shows for these men and women to compete in. This was 1 of them. My main complaint against Micro Sprints are their format for starting positions. They draw for starting positions in the Heat races and then the feature lineup is head’s up from the Heat race finish. In other words, the winner of the first Heat starts on the pole in the feature race. So the first 4 rows are Heat winners and the next 4 rows are cars that finished second in the Heats, etc. Well guess what folks? Each 1 of the 4 features was won for the poll. It’s not just the Micro Sprints, but a lot of race meats are decided this way. I’d rather see time trials and something more imaginative then this. What they did might be OK to start the season but not to end it. You’re on the internet already so you can look up all the results you want. I can just tell you that the 2 most entertaining races of the day was the 270 Feature and the Stock Cars. The absolute highlight was watching the 270 of Ryan Smith start in 20th and finished 3rd. Basically I like the idea of Micro Sprints because they have a lot of tracks they race at and usually the teams don’t have to change the cars around very much to race at different tracks. Only the Legend cars have them beat in that matter.
Hoping you all can get out there and make what little’s left of the season, keeping the fans in the stands and the cars on the track, this has been Jalopy Jack.