The ROC Cabin Fever 60 at New Egypt Speedway

Its been almost six months since we have hit the road to photograph  a race..  When New Egypt Speedway published their schedule the ROC Modified and Sportsman tours were first up opening the season March 23rd.While dirt racing is not on my schedule too many times a year how can you pass up a 60 lap modified race about 2 hours from home with so many big names.

As you can expect the 3rd weekend in March the weather can be less than perfect but other than unusually cold temperatures and a 20 mile wind it was a pretty good day.

Modifieds and sportsmen were filling the pits from several states as the track personnel worked hard to prepare the track surface.  It was good to see many of the big names pit side, Horton, Shepard, Johnson, Ward, Godown, Paunch, Friesen, Blewett and others.

Unfortunately the track surface would be the top story most of the day as huge ruts developed in many spots throughout the turns. The track surface was only applied a couple of weeks ago with unseasonably cold and wet weather it hindered the track preparation. I spoke to Fred who owns the track and he was upset with what the track became on Sat. and promised they will get it right.
 
Walking up the pit ramp to head to the infield I could notice changes to the track since the last time I was there last year. The biggest change was the large billboards that ring the track from turn 2 all the was down the backstretch.It gives a whole new feel to the track. One change that is not so noticeable is the irrigation system they are building so they will not have to water the track during race nights. Its a novel idea that should speed along races.

The qualifying races went pretty quickly with about 30 cars in each divisions turning their first laps of the season.  After the heats they had a lengthy delay to work the track and try to eliminate the potholes. To the credit of the many drivers there was no public bitching about the conditions, a tribute to their professionalism. (Although with the amount of broken hubs, shocks and crushed body parts there had to be some private complaints)

Shooting races from the infield of a large track like New Egypt you spend most of your time focusing on what is right in front of you. Last night no matter where you looked there was plenty of action to shoot.. Standing on the backstretch they roared by, standing in turn 1 and 2 the  Big Block modified cars bounced through the ruts while still on the gas. It was an amazing sight. Some of the cars were slowed down because they were literally plowing through the ruts bottoming out the cars. David Van Horn was a victim of one of the large ruts as he hit one wrong and rolled the car over, David was OK.

Jimmy Horton worked his way out front of the big block feature fairly early in the race and then picked his way through the pot holes  to win the race with a $10,000 payday. Jimmy looked very happy in victory lane even after the pounding he must have taken all night. Jimmy Blewett saved his car all night and made a late move for second place. Ryan Godown was strong all night but a late trip to the pits cost him any shot at a win ending up 3rd.

Ken Hammond took the lead  and the win late in the sportsman race over DJ Ruppert and Eddie White.

While the track was not good on Sat. the drivers put on a great show when the night could have been a disaster. With all the improvements already done and planned they should have the track surface problems solved for opening night. April 6th is the next show with 358 Modifides, Sportsman and Street Stocks.

Thank you to New Egypt Speedway for the hospitality they extended. It was our first time covering a race there and they made me feel as welcome as any track I have been to.

Next up for Myracenews will be the Ice Jam at Fonda on April 6th, Waterford on the 7th, Lebanon Valley on the 13th and Thompson on the 14th. Get to  you favorite short track and see a race!

Supporting the Sport That He Loves.

Some people go on various chat rooms, comment on Facebook and voice their opinions at the track about the state of the Modifieds. They discuss car counts, the quality of races, the quantity of races, that the races should be on TV and that Nascar modifed races should pay more money.

Well we got the races on TV, even tracks like Riverhead Raceway will be on Versus TV in HD no less!

Plus one person decided to stop discussing and start doing something about the purse at his home track.

That person is know to many as LImodmaniac but his real name is Jim Schaefer , a school teacher from Riverhead NY. Jim is a long time race fan, especially the mighty modified race cars.

Jim has personally sponsored cars and always supports the races by attending up to 50 or more races a year all over the eastern United States.

Jim's quest started last year at the Riverhead Raceway WMT flash race. Jim dug into his own pocket and added $1,400.00 winner Ryan Preece's payout. Last year Jim was able to round up the base winners purse to a cool $4,000.00 to win. Kids from Jim's class got to go on the track and give the start your engine command, quite a thrill for them I am sure.

After the race Jim started thinking that $1,400.00 was good but $10,000.00 would be better. Jim believed with the help of others he could raise the money.

Right now the goal for the 2010 Riverhead Raceway WMT race on July 31st is to add $300.00 to each position plus an extra $2,100.00 to the winners share for a total of $5,000.00 to win. Jim's total goal is to add $10,500.00 to the purse, plus if he goes over that he would also like to add tow money for the cars that do not qualify.

Jim personally spoke to many of the drivers at Stafford and showed them a copy of the enhanced purse, I believe Jim made many friends at Stafford.

Several friends of the Chrome Horn web page have pledged money including Hossfan, Mod11racer, StoningtonModMania, Axel and Liquid bread. Jim is getting close to his goal but still needs a little help. So if you would like to contibute, contact Jim on the Chromehorn.com or speak to him at just about any modified race between now and July 31st.

Jim will be at the May 15th Riverhead Raceway 100 lap Modifed race supporting is favorite race cars, adding a little money to that race and drumming up support for the July 31st WMT race. Come on down and join him, the first feature race starts at 5:00 o'clock sharp.

From the drivers, team owners and fans of the sport, thank you Jim Schaefer.

See you at the track.

The 2009 Season in Modified Racing.

Well here we are 8 months after it all started at the Icebreaker. Only one race remains on the 2009 calendar, the Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium.

I was a good year on the WHT 13 races at 7 tracks in 5 states. I know that 13 races is not enough for some people but except the Spencer Speedway race the tour raced in front of good or great crowds all year long. The crowds at Bristol and New Hampshire we huge, seeing the mods at Thunder Valley and on TV was quite a thrill. The road trip to Bristol with Teds Race Tours was quite a trip. If you ever get a chance to travel with Ted do so as it is 40 dedicated race fans for anywhere from 1- 3 days on the big green bus.

The point race got very exciting after Bristol and went down to the wire. Donny Lia charge up the standings all summer and Fall was exciting to watch. Plus Donny had #3 team with Ryan Preece in tow all summer. No matter what was thrown at Donny, he and the team rose above it. The charge from the back 3 times at NH in September are what legends are made of.

Ted Christopher's decent in the standings after starting the season with 2 wins and a second was almost as startling as 2009 champ Donny Lia's climb to the top. Just one or 2 small breaks and Teddy might have been be the 2 time champ.

All told 2009 saw 61 different WMT drivers hit the track. Not the largest amount in history but with tough economy that was not too shabby. The True Value Tour had 69 different driver in action this year, the ROC had 57 drivers in only 8 races and while the Southern tour which only averaged 12-20 cars per race saw 43 drivers race at least once. Even the shortened season of the ASA tour saw 27 drivers this year.

With the ROC, WMT, WMST and True Value Series there were probably 125-150 different teams in action this year. Now if we could get them all in action at the same track like the old Race of Champions, that would be a sight to see.

In addition to tour tracks the independent track Shangra La II opened to good crowds and growing car counts. Lets hope they can keep the growth going with the installation of the rest of the grandstands, lights and the completion of the infield pit area. This would be a tremendous track to the ROC, WMT and maybe the Race of Champions some day.

This year I got to travel a lot more than I had planned and got to see a wide variety of tracks, I really enjoyed getting back to Oswego on 2 occasions. The steel palace has lost some its luster from when I first went there but it is still a big time track that puts on a great show. Labor day weekend it was packed with tons of cars, campers and fans. I also got to see the winged supers. for a special show in July.

Some of the more interesting news in the early off season is the paving of Albany Saratoga and Devils Bowl in Vermont. Those 2 tracks along with Airbourne Speedway may give the mighty mods 3 more quality tracks to race. Those and the WMT traveling to Lime Rock Park next year gets me excited already. The ROC and MRS racing series has already booked a race on April 18th 2010.

Add in the 10 rumored Speed TV races for the WMT series and it is shaping up to be another great year of open wheel racing all up and down the east coast.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

I can be reached at Mjaworecki@gmail.com

If he builds it, will they come?

As I entered the new track called Shangri-la II I could only wonder, if he builds it will they come?

Opening weekend and no more than 12 cars per class, odd for such a nice facility until you realize that no one there or anywhere near there had ever raced on cement!

Add in that opening day was the middle of every racers season at other tracks and you can understand the short fields.That plus word of mouth had circulated that the track would never be ready in time.

Guess what, it was done enough to schedule a FULL weekend of racing.

http://jaws17.zenfolio.com/p158924764

Track owner George Swansborough will have to add more seating, lights, a full PA stsyem, finish some paving and the fence, more permanent bath rooms and oh yes garbage cans and you will have a first rate facility. Word on the street is there will be foam blocks in place shortly, a welcome saftey addition to keep the drivers safe.

I for one will be back as soon as I can, 4+ hours drive from home will limit visits but for an ROC or WMT race I think I would be there in a heartbeat and I would not be alone.

NH how we love thee!

Well unless you are footing the bill for a bent race car.

Once again the WMT goes to NH and once again the crowd goes away very satisfied. This race had everything, passes back and forth for the lead, plenty of drafting, a new driver at the front, controversy, hot tempers, 39 very good looking cars and a nice crowd.

First of all congratulations to Donnie Lia on his first win since coming back to the tour, a nice run by Ed Flemke with a second place, Ronnie Silk finished a fine third and in post race comments took the blame for the last lap crash, other great finishes, Rowan Pennick in 4th and TC in 5th on 3 tires. I understand the 36 is a complete write off. Also seeing rookie Eric Goodale in the lead shows that there are up and coming drivers on the tour.

Further down in the field a top 10 for Glenn Tyler, its nice to see Glen in the top 10 at the tours biggest race. Also a great finish for the 18 of Ken Heagy in 13th after a 34th place start. Ken is one of the tours low budget teams but shows up each week with a nice looking machine.

OK and now the blame game and there was plenty of it going around, even an article that make TC "Public enemy#1", I think we are over dramatic on that one since another driver took the blame.

Next up Spencer Speedway in upstate New York, the furthest west race of the year since Mansfield is off the schedule. Then on to the only race on Long Island on August 1st at Riverhead Raceway.