Quick Health Update…In case you know someone with this “mystery illness”

I was looking forward to working on the site way more than I’ve been able to this year. I was off work since December with a very difficult to diagnose health problem. The only reason I mention it is this, I’ve had massive headaches, dizzy spells, low blood pressure and fainting spells since I was about eleven years old. I’ve been to literally hundreds of doctors, specialists and undergone so many tests and medications that I can’t count them. I was always told that “everything was normal” and logic says that all those symptoms, and passing out cold isn’t normal. If you or someone you know feels dizzy, fatigued often for seemingly no reason, passing out etcetera…they may be experiencing the same thing and I would have given anything to know others have this as well and that it can in fact be diagnosed and controlled. The syndrome is called “vaso vagel syncope and chronic static intolerance. Long story short…it’s a situation where the blood pressure is too low (but it records as the low end of normal) and blood pools in the legs and cannot return to the heart at the rate it should. Also, the electrical system in the brain causes the veins and arteries to constrict at the wrong times – thus the headaches and the passing out. Turns out it’s fairly common but very tricky to diagnose. If you recognize the symptoms…throw these terms at your doctor to get on the proper medication so you’re not on a wild goose chase for years. All is well and I’m able to get back to some races! Now…on with the show!

Voice of the Fans – Ponder these questions. Form your best answer and email them to cinpuckfan@aol.com – Be sure to include the topic you are discussing in the subject line of the email and start the email with the name or nickname you want me to refer to you as … I’ll compile the responses into articles on the topics. Have fun!

One – Let’s pretend there is a filthy rich race fan out there who wants to start a late model team. He wants to find a driver with all the talent in the world who is just one pile of money short of taking the racing world by storm. Who do you want in that seat? This owner will buy the best of the best. He’ll hire the best mechanics, he’ll stop at nothing to run up front. He wants a character guy who won’t run through people to win. He doesn’t want a guy who already has a bunch of cash or a great ride already. Who do you suggest…and most importantly…why should that guy get the chance? Talent. Character. Deserving of the shot. Who ya got?

Two – The Death of a Class – The Super Dirt Stock Class at Florence Speedway is dying a slow and painful death. Why is the class dying? How could it be saved? Should it be saved? What should replace it if it does go by the wayside?

Three – Build the Perfect weekly program. Which classes do you run? What is your purse? How many times do you run a year? What are your rules? Do you run any novelty or placement races (dash, Australian Pursuit, Powder Puff etc) How many laps do you run? How do you balance your bottom line with the happiness of the fans / drivers / sponsors / neighbors? This is your shot to be a track owner and a promoter. Let’s hear it!

Four – Splinters and Whiners - Pet Peeves – We’ve all got them. Let’s hear yours. More importantly – give us a reason it aggravates you and tell us how it can be realistically fixed. Now this one is going to be fun!

Five – Top Ten Lists – Give us some ideas for your “Top Ten…” Perhaps it’s “Top Ten Track Foods”… “Top Ten Late Model Events”… “Top Ten Reasons Dirt Racing is better than Asphalt racing”…you name the category…we’ll poll the fans and we’ll compile the results into articles. Fire away!

Six – Speedy Superlatives – Remember back in high school when they voted on the “Most Likely to Succeed”… “Most Beautiful” and on and on? Let’s get a good list going here. Give us a category and a winner for that title. We will proudly award a “Muddy Award” to your winner! Perhaps you want to tackle “Most underrated driver”… “Most overrated driver” “Driver who does the most with the least”, “Driver without a Crown Jewel win who is most likely to win a Crown Jewel”… Make it up…give us a winner. We’ll post the category and give everyone a chance to toss in their candidate. We’ll compile and article and declare a winner. Give reasons for your choice of category and your winner.

Seven – Teaching A Lesson – Let’s pretend we are teachers. The topic for today’s class is : “How to Watch a Race.” There is in fact a skill to it. Those who don’t know are often spotted yelling “Where the @#!did that guy come from?” when a driver who starts the feature seventeenth and is battling for second with three laps to go. They certainly didn’t know how to watch…they simply focused on the leader, complained that it was a “train race” when in fact there was action all over the place. Let’s help them out. What are the keys to watching and enjoying a race? We will compile your ideas into an informative and instructive piece. Let’s hear it!

Poll Position – We will post a poll asking a question relevant to racing fans. We want your opinion! Vote on the poll on the site, then email me the reasons for your vote…in addition…give reasons that the other choices are inferior to your selection…cinpuckfan@aol.com

The Week Before the North / South 100 – Must have been a full moon!

Florence Speedway, Union, Kentucky

August 1, 2008

Fans that made their way to Union, Kentucky’s clay covered speed plant were either eager to witness the final tune-up before the biggest event of the year, hoping to set up a camping spot or simply came a week too early for the US 127 “World’s Longest Yard Sale” and decided to stay for the races. No matter the reason, the fans were treated to one of more bizarre evenings of racing in recent memory. We aren’t sure if the moon was full or if something strange was in the water but the first day of August provided its fair share of oddities and action.

The strangeness began with the very first set of hot laps. One lap in saw Troy Whitaker and Larry Pickleheimer Jr. tangle in turn two. Both cars were heavily damaged. The #27 would not return while Pickleheimer would thrash to get his car back in time for the B-Main. Ted Nobbe rolled out for the initial hot laps session, only to pull into the pits immediately. Jerry Rice was turning laps at 16.562 on the moistened surface. Mr. Saturday Night was piloting the Steve King #71. It began trailing ominous white smoke and wasn’t heard from again. Barry Doss was solid as usual. Josh Williams and Audie McWilliams showed well in the second hot lap session as Ted Nobbe took the track and ran laps this time. Hot lap session three featured points leader Jesse James Lay running the low side and Rick Corbin laying down laps in the low seventeen second range.Twenty eight late models took the track for those sessions. Several wouldn’t return.

Twenty seven modifieds rolled out for practice. Notable by their absence were one third of last week’s spell binding modified feature in the 12c Ed Hounchell, last year’s champion Shawn Tolson, “The Dude” Dan Dehner and Larry Moreland Sr…

A messily ten Super Dirt Stocks showed up for one hot lap session, one heat race and a feature. Tune in to “Voice of the Fans” to let us know why you think this is occurring. Seventeen pure stocks took the track for hot laps.

The late model heats saw some unlikely heroes and some good moves by the normal cast of characters. Tony Brewer would have to be in contention for the most improved driver. Coming out of pure stocks into late models is obviously a huge leap…he certainly showed that once he gets in a groove he can handle the car. He drew the pole for heat one and danced away for the win. Robby Hensley, Jerry Rice and Barry Doss followed him across the line. Rice looked stout and he ran fullback for Doss as they made their way through the field. Steve Landrum was behind the wheel of the Devin Sebree #118 and rounded out the top five in heat one. Pick your highlight reel for heat number two. Do you like Jeff Alsip leading the pack out of four, only to get pitched sideway, rip it back and forth, getting it literally sideways facing the crowd head on, jerking it back straight only to get bumped again and go around at the entrance of turn one? Perhaps Adrian Nichols holding Audie McWilliams back lap after lap? Maybe Josh Williams blasting out to the lead and taking the win is more your speed? Bill Blair Jr. was riding the high side. Audie McWilliams was…well…he was Audie McWilliams. He bided time and passed ‘em where he caught ‘em until he got to Nichols who he just couldn’t do anything with until one lap to go when ran the high – low and got around him to take second. Ted Nobbe came in behind Blair Jr. to round out the top five. The final late model heat feature some bent sheet metal at the outset as Jason Jameson and David Spille started on the last row and brought out the first yellow doing pirouettes down the front chute. Spille’s crew massaged the front sheet metal and got him back out to re-take his starting spot. Jason Jameson was sporting a body in white with the number twelve on the sides. New car…same style. Wide open on the high side, he was flying. Chad Smith drew the pole and checked out for the win. David Spille was the show as the ripped through the field to take second spot, Jesse James Lay was third after being charged by Spille in the final laps. Rick Corbin continues to be solid in the forty-nine machine rolling in forth.

Chaos rained down on the mod heats. Heat one featured a racing incident in turn three where a great battle between Bob Lanter and Larry Moreland Jr. turned ugly. Lanter had a great run on Moreland and if he touched Moreland at all it looked to be slight incidental contact at best, Moreland went around and into the wall. As the field came back around Moreland headed the wrong way on the track and nosed into the oncoming Lanter. Moreland was immediately disqualified for the evening. Lanter went on to finish third behind winner Mike Stacy and an impressively painted 28a of Bill Arnold. Ray Branscum won heat two, followed by Larry Shortig and points leader Kevin Hartman. Heat three featured a typical strong run by Dave McWilliams as he garnered second place after starting fourth. He pushed and shoved, sliced and diced for the lead with Billy Vaughn who made his return to he modified division is grand style as he powered down the final straight with his left arm out the window signaling victory. What a show! . In a pre-race interview McWilliams and Hartman discussed the outstanding three way battle last week and McWilliams said that he had no problems with Hartman or Hounchell…but he couldn’t say the same for “some other guys.” Wonder who he was referring to there. Bruce Gould III finished third but did not return for the feature after an emergency in the pits called him away. Dave Cook lost a drive shaft while up front and it was a miracle that everyone avoided him, nice piece of driving by all involved…could have been a mess. Speaking of Cook…did Brad say that Cook helped build twelve demo cars for the Hamilton County Fair? Was Brad involved there? Many thanks to the Cookie Monster for making that derby happen.

Super Dirts had one heat. In an oddity…the finishing order was car #1 first…car #2 second, car #3 third and car #4 was forth. Names with numbers now…Proffitt, Freeman, Rickels and Kruetzkamp. On the track, the number three of Mark Robertson finished in there as well but after the checkers he was involved with Rickles who then got out of his car and lunged at Robertson through his driver’s side window. End result was Robertson being disqualified for the event. Anyone with further details is more than welcome to email them to cinpuckfan@aol.com as I didn’t see the incident.

Pure Stock heats were also marred by chaos. Heat one had ten cars. That was…had at the start. The start was painfully slow…the result was the expected…did we say chaos? The 3r car pushed the 76 down the front stretch…we’ll call that racing. The rest of the mess…just has to be called…well…CHAOS! At the end of the first lap we had the 9d upside down, the 75 was being shoved down the straightway by the 71 well after the yellow was out…75 destroyed…75 driver thoroughly annoyed…runs up to 7 and has a discussion…was there something in the water tonight? Too bad…it was going to be a good race. The 75 and the 9d put on a great show last week. Four cars finished. Heat two had some great battles and went relatively incident free as Kevin Hess in the 06 took the win followed by Dana Moore in z9, Clay Ellison in 24 and 11 of Dale “Action” Jackson.

Jeff Alsip ran off with the late model consolation race. Larry Pickleheimer Jr. had the car back to race condition after the hot lap mêlée…he started last and picked everyone off but Alsip was too far gone. Whitaker in the 13 and Crisp in the 11j would take the final transfer spots

The Late Model feature was action packed from start to finish. David Spille and Josh Williams stared on row one and battle for the lead briefly before Spille took the lead which he would hold for many laps. Jerry Rice was on a mission as he launched from his seventh place starting spot and used the low line primarily to pick off drivers wherever he needed to in an all out assault on the field. Several yellows slowed the action and the fan favorite Delaware Double File restarts served to shake up the lineup time after time as Audie McWilliams would either get a great restart or not such a great restart. At one point…McWilliams pulled off a move that was absolutely astounding as he floated high, dove low, shot to the middle and went from fourth to first by the time the got to one…only to have the yellow come out and erase all of it with one spin out. Rice did likewise as neither could get the perfect start every time. Jesse James Lay meanwhile was marching steadily forward from his initial starting spot of ninth. Landrum had trouble getting into a good rhythm, Jameson was rim riding, Bill Blair Jr was on a rail up high but couldn’t make consistent ground on the leaders. David Spille was on a roll and began to reel in back markers. Jerry Rice slowly closed in lap after lap and was putting pressure on Spille. Out of turn two with less than ten to go, Spille shot the very tiny gap between Jeff Raisor low and Jim Bently high. Bently moved low and caught the right quarter panel of Spille and sent him head on into the wall and out of the lead. Spille showed his displeasure by running over to the damaged lapped #19. The Spille crew got a standing ovation as they thrashed to get the Ice Man back out there. He rallied back for a seventh place finish behind Bill Blair Jr. and Josh Williams. The incident threw the finish into a blender. Rice kept running the low side and Audie McWilliams jumped high and they battled tooth and nail to the finish. McWilliams drew out with a lap and a half to go to take the win over Rice, Barry Doss, Jesse Lay and Josh Williams. What a show!

Modified feature. Yellow. Yellow. Yellow. Yellow. Time limit. Congratulations to Ray Branscum. Vaughn, Arnold, McWilliams and Stacy made up the top five. Super Dirt Feature…Timmy Proffitt runs off, Adam Dixon second, Kevin Kruetzkamp third, Stan Freeman and Randall Lee Dooley were your top five. Some nice dicing in the Pure Stock feature settled in to another David Pauly Sr. win followed Dana Moore, Kevin Hess and Dale Jackson. The Dirt Stocks and Pure Stocks were uneventful which isn’t the norm, but that’s why we go racing…we just never know what’s going to go on at the race track. What a night of action…never could find out what was in the water! Can’t wait for next week and the North / South 100 weekend. See you at the races!

Dirt Clods – Random thoughts and notes from the racing world…as seen from the seats!

• The Boss…and we don’t mean Springsteen…Barry Doss has been running strong with an amazing lack of sponsor decals on the side of the #13 machine. Tough and clean at several area tracks.

• In a Pickle…Two days could not have been more different for the pilot of the black and red #10. Larry Pickleheimer Jr. took the checkers at Moler Raceway Park for his first ever late model feature win Friday, July 31^st. He was taken out during hot laps the next night at Florence Speedway. The crew thrashed. He powered through the B-Main to take second and lined up near the tail of the feature. He was promptly slammed, rammed, creamed and knocked around by a variety of cars…he did persevere to finish in the top fifteen. Way to stick it out Larry!

• Tuning up the Mower…Great to see the 9N of Ted Nobbe roll out onto the track for Late Model hot laps. He even rolled out for two sessions! Tuning up the North / South we presume? Good Luck Ted!

• Speaking of Mowing the Grass…Why have the cars been cutting through the grass near turn two to get to the scales? Saving gas? Just curious.

•Starting Up Front…Finishing Up Front! Great runs by Tony Brewer in the Zero car. Started on the pole of heat one and held ‘em all back to take the win. Adrian Nichols started fourth in heat two…ran in second and was holding off Audie McWilliams until the last few laps…he finished third. “The Kid” Chad Smith started on the pole of heat three…he checked out for the win!

• Spille Your Guts…What a night for David Spille! He gets roughed up in the heat race…pulls in, rips some sheet metal off, starts at the tail, powers his way through the field and around Jesse James Lay to finish second to Chad Smith in heat three. Starts on the pole of the feature…holds off battles from Josh Williams, Jerry Rice, Audie McWilliams and is putting on a whale of a show…he dodged a bullet off of two as he threaded the needle between the 55R of Jeff Raisor on the low side and the #19 of Jim Bentley up high. Risky move…he felt the push of Jerry Rice and blasted through the middle…Bently clipped him the right quarter panel and sent him head on into the back stretch wall, ending what was an amazing drive for the Ice Man…too bad his chance for a win had to end that way…he did however make repairs, re-enter the race and fought back to finish seventh…he was a thrill to watch. Let’s not forget that epic battle he gave none other than Scott Bloomquist last year at the North / South 100, he held off the legend for many laps in the heat and made his way into the big show…let’s see that again! Thanks for an entertaining night!

• Who just got Louder? Someone lost a muffler during the Late Model Feature…Brad mentioned that losing a muffler “may get you DQ’d”…does anyone know who lost it? Plus…does it get you disqualified? If so…were they disqualified?

• Reaching the Limit…Ever been watching a thrilling modified feature where three or four guys are battling up front and two or three guys are coming from the back, picking guys off one at a time but the action is repeatedly interrupted by yellow flags? Then, for one reason or another, it’s yellow after yellow….the guys from the back keep coming…the battle up front keeps raging and then the time limit is reached and the checkers fly…the guys from the back are irate that they didn’t get all their laps to try for the win…the second place man is irate…the winner is elated that he didn’t have to fend off all that heat and the fans feel cheated out of a great finish. On the other hand…sometimes a twenty minute time limit extends to forty-one minutes as drivers spin time after time, sheet metal is bent, wreckers have trouble getting mangled cars off the track and a race is allowed to drudge on and on. Time limits are a needed evil in today’s world of massive subdivisions sprouting up around race tracks which have been in operation for decades before people decided it was time to bulldoze corn fields to make housing clusters. If they are a rule…follow them all the time or get rid of the rule. Nothing is more aggravating than inconsistency.

• Duck Season! The only thing that was in doubt during the Super Dirt Feature was whether or not the rabbit that found its way onto the track during a yellow was going to lap the field or not. He blasted down the back chute, made the hard left into the infield…and rocketed up the turn four banking only to realize that a huge menacing concrete wall stood between him and the safety of anything other than angry sounding racecars. He opted for one insane leap for life! He sprung right over the wall and out of sight…one of the biggest cheers of the night! Timmy P. dominated the race from start to finish.

• Don’t Leave Early! Some of the hottest action is in the Pure Stock division. Five or six guys could be dicing for the win at a any given point. Great points battle as well. Keep it up guys.

• Alslippery…Jeff Alsip made one of the better saves of the year as he was tapped off of turn four…he wipped it right, left, wiggled and gathered it up…only to be tapped again and sent around for good entering turn one. He had her saved…great piece of driving. Came back to dominate the B-Main. Nice work!

• Something in the Water? Sometimes you go a season without anyone reaching into an opponent’s cockpit to voice displeasure…taking a run at a guy going the opposite direction under yellow…getting out of the car and running full speed at a guy with nasty intentions before being restrained by officials…how many times did it happen Saturday? Five or six! WOW! Guess we aren’t the only ones mad about gas prices!

• Simple rule…yellow flag…slow down! Why would a driver see a spinning car…continue to depress the accelerator and shove the now stopped car five or six hundred feet down the front straight? Boggles the mind.

• One step at a time…Are some teams in too big of a hurry to jump classes? I wouldn’t mind being able to win at a level before I jumped up over my head so I could drive a car I can’t handle yet. Spinning every nine feet should be a sign that it’s time to drop down until I’m more skilled or more confident to move up. Or is that just me?

• Surprise Surprise!?! Who’s got a guess on what the surprises are for the Hall of Fame Ceremonies? Some sort of give aways? Auctioning famous memorabilia? Can’t wait to see it!

• What ever happened to? Anyone know what happened to the #5 pure stock that Bob Lanter dominated the division with for so long? Just curious if it’s been re-skinned and is running around somewhere. Along that note…how about Troy Green? Tim Anderson? John Rhodes? Ronnie Douglas? Who else was regular recently or years ago that we would love to see back?

• Was he or wasn’t he? A group of fans were debating it…so I’ll open it up for discussion…was Steve Casebolt ever what we’d call a “regular” at Florence? Seems like we battle Darrell Lanigan quite often when he was a “regular”…or did I pick the wrong week to stop sniffing glue?

• Sharp Article Coming…Get your Copy! Up and coming young modified driver Trent “The Dagger” Green is slated to appear in an upcoming issue of Stock Car Racing Magazine. Congratulations on the promising career and the national publicity.

• Riddle Me This Shaftman…Can anyone explain the huge rash of driveshaft explosions and failures over the last two years? Between Lawrenceburg, Moler and Florence we’ve seen dozens simply shear off or detonate. Weaker materials? More powerful engines? Anyone with some insight?

• Just for Fun…Name the Race…

Here are the results from a big race at Florence…can you name the race? The year? Plenty of clues for the taking.

FEATURE (50 laps): (1) Jack Boggs, (2) John Gill, (3) Steve Barnett, (4) C.J. Rayburn, (5) Kevin Claycomb, (6) Mike Jewell, (7) Rick Corbin, (8) Troy Green, (9) Kris Patterson, (10) Darrell Lanigan, (11) Rick Aukland, (12) Jerry Rice, (13) Shane Yoder, (14) John “Weasel” Rhoades, (15) Steve Cornelius, (16) Mike Hawley, (17) John Holt, (18) Steve Landrum, (19) Randy Robbins, (20) John Lawhorn, (21) Randy Boggs, (22) Scott James, (23) Steve Smith, (24) Audie McWilliams.