To the Volunteer State we go for state #16

#123 Volunteer Speedway, Bulls Gap, TN (4/10-mile dirt), 3/24/07...

With three of the four past weekends getting cancelled due to the weather in the Northeast and with Friday already washed out for Williams Grove, I decided to make the trip down to Volunteer Speedway for the World of Outlaw Sprint Car show. Weather wasn't to be a problem with partly sunny skies and temps in the low 80s.

I've heard many reports about this place and being a sprint car fan and the first ever appearance by the WoO, I figured this was the time. The race was scheduled in conjunction with the NASCAR events being held at Bristol Motor Speedway some 40 miles to the northeast. Traffic wasn't a problem on I-81 as came through around 30 minutes before the scheduled 2:30 start time.

Hot laps were scheduled to start at 6:45, but that didn't happen to some hour later as fans filtered their way in from Bristol. Traffic was backed up to the highway for hours as fans filled the speedway for a standing-room-only crowd and what was reported as the largest in the 30-year history of the track.

There were 35 WoO Sprints and 26 FASTRAK Crate Late Models in the pits. The late models had one qualifying lap and ran only a feature. Joey Saldana set a new all-time track record with a lap of 11.696 (123.119 mph) in sprint qualifying topping the mark of 11.743 set by a late model in a "run what ya brung" event.

The sprints were simply awesome to see on the 32-degree banking as the fast way around was on the extreme outside in turn four as they brushed their right rear tire against the wall. It reminded me of the first time I saw sprints at Eldora.

The sprint heats did not start until a couple minutes shy of 10 p.m. That's 2 hours later than what I had planned on. Four heat races, a dash, and a B main for the sprints came before the two features. The late models were first and their feature started at 11:32. The racing was very good by three backmarkers accounted for 8 of the 9 cautions pretty much ruining the racing. After the 9th caution, the drivers were given 5 more laps and they ran those off making for a 19-lap feature rather than the scheduled 25. Dale Ball took the win holding off Brad Hall.

It was now after midnight and not one sprint was lined up. The sprint feature didn't take the green until 12:20. The feature though was excellent! Jason Meyers led the first 20 laps. On lap 21 he and Donny Schatz made contact with Schatz doing a 360-spin and Meyers suffering a flat tire. Saldana was handed the lead and he held off hard-charging ninth place starter Tim Shaffer for the $10,000 win. Shaffer ran the bottom and was right on Saldana at the checkered coming up 0.199 behind.

I really enjoyed the facility and the racing was excellent, but there's no excuse for barely a two-division show ending at 1 a.m. with fireworks still to come. My challenge now was driving back to my motel I had reserved in Roanoke, Virginia so I could head on up to central PA on Sunday for Lincoln and Williams Grove's rescheduled races from Friday & Saturday night.

I got in bed at 3:45 a.m. and set the alarm for four hours later to make the good four hour drive to Lincoln. I arrived as the sprints were completing their hot laps and got in my seat with about 10 minutes to spare. for the 1 p.m. start. After Lincoln completed their sprint portion I headed on up to catch Williams Grove's opener on the fifth attempt. Well over 1200 miles later I returned home from a long weekend.

Volunteer made for my first race in Tennessee, which gave me 16 states to see a race in.

#123 Volunteer Speedway, TN 3/24/07
#122 Ohio Expo Center (Coliseum), OH 1/20/07

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Rumble @ The Coliseum open 07 season for #122

#122 Ohio Expo Center (Coliseum), Columbus, OH (1/10-mile indoor concrete), 1/20/07...

I began the 2007 racing last Saturday with a trip to the Buckeye State at the Ohio Expo Center and the Ohio State Fairgrounds located right off Interstate 71. It was another "Rumble Series" event promoted by Tony Barhorst. I've seen his events at Toledo, Fort Wayne, and outdoors at Columbus Motor Speedway.

This was the first ever show inside the Coliseum building. Last year I took in racing a few buildings down at the O'Neill Building. This event included the highly-touted USAC Midgets along with the 600cc wingless Micro Sprints, and various classes of go-karts.

The Midgets had 26 cars on hand and less talented field than the one's held at Fort Wayne, IN. It was Ken Schrader Day as he was signing autographs and then competed in Midget competition. Schrader transferred to the feature by winning one of the two B mains, but was the second drop-out of the feature.

The Midgets were the only class to time trial, which started a few minutes before 5 p.m. and was followed up by various last chance races and features for the karts. Before the scheduled 7 p.m. start time for the midget heats, ABC commentator, Jack Arute, interviewed Sarah Fisher. Arute was competing himself in the Micro class.

The heats and last chance races for the Midgets were better than the 50-lap feature. Twelve cars were scheduled to start the Midget feature, but pole-sitter Matt Westfall was unable to fire, which slid third-place starter Blake Fitzpatrick to the pole. Fitzpatrick, a 15-year-old, led all 50 laps of the non-stop event which really stirred up the fumes in the non-stop action. The Midget feature was last and wrapped up well before 10 PM.

The various go-kart races and especially the Micro Sprint feature was better. Joey Payne, who won the week prior at Atlantic City, NJ, made it back-to-back wins taking the Micro Sprint main. Indoor standout and Ohio 410 Sprint Car racer John Ivy spun twice in the main, but charged back from 18th to finish 3rd and most likely was the fastest car on the track.

It was a good show. Admission is always high for these indoor events, which aren't cheap to put on. Adult grandstand admission was $21 with pit passes $30. Parking set you back another $5. The show was very organized and professionally run with little delays. The Coliseum provided an excellent view of the racing action as there wasn't a bad seat in the house. It was stated the Coliseum held 5,000 and the announced attendance was 4,000, but that seemed way overstated. Even with all of the people from the pits it may have approached half-full. It was nice to hear Paul Szmal (sp?) behind the mic. Paul is veteran of the Northeast racing scene especially the Modifieds. doing various media gigs and promotions.

It was sunny skies on Saturday with temps in the 30s in Columbus; however, the weather turned nasty the following day as snowstorm came through thankfully a day late.

The Coliseum made for my 26th track in the Buckeye State and #122 overall.

#122 Ohio Expo Center (Coliseum), OH 1/20/07

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The Gamecock State is #15 & #121

#121 Cherokee Super Speedway, Gaffney, SC (1/2-mile dirt), 11/25/06...

I was in the area on Saturday and was able to check out the racing at Cherokee. On tap was day one of the two-day World Crown 4 Cylinder Nationals. Saturday included time trials and heat races for the four divisions. Car counts were 43 4-Cylinder Street Stock, 42 4-Cylinder Super Stocks, 18 4-Cylinder Young Guns, and 9 Crate Late Models. There were about 100 people in the grandstands. The weather couldn't have been better with sunny skies, not a cloud nor breeze to be found, and temps in the low 70s.

At 2 p.m. hot laps started followed by two timed laps for all 112 cars in the four divisions and then eventually heat races. The first heat race didn't hit the track until 6:40 PM.

Dennis "Rambo" Franklin is one of the top late model drivers in the south. I was in the pits when he crawled out of his late model with jeans and tennis shoes on then climbed into a 4-cylinder. He went on to win Sunday's $5,000 4-Cylinder Super Stock event and finished 2nd in the Late Model feature to Johnny Pursley, who I saw win at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's earlier in the month.

I saw a kid in a driver's suit that looked about 10 and there was girl walking around that barely looked 12. I was told that the age minimum started at 10! Their feature on Sunday paid $500 to-win and was won by Ben Wiley, while Benji Griffin win the 4-Cylinder Street Stocks that paid $1,500.

With the huge payoffs, I was really surprised the car counts weren't higher. There were nearly 80 4-Cylinder at Lowe's for $500 to-win earlier this month. Maybe it had something to do with the fact of the $100 entry fee and two days.

Cherokee has the typical southern red clay and some of the longest straightaways I have ever seen for a half-mile track. They did announce they are bringing in turns one and two next year. There isn't too much modern at Cherokee as the facility is pretty rundown. The nicest thing at the track is their victory lane. The bleachers are concrete. They have a Confederate Flag flying with their American Flag. Their food prices were very reasonable. They actually had a playground in the pits, which I have never seen before.

Cherokee made for my first ever track in South Carolina giving me 15 states now plus Ontario to see a race in. It accounted for my 16th new track of 2006

#121 Cherokee Super Speedway (SC), 11/25/06
#120 Concord (NC) Motorsports Park, 11/4/06
#119 The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway (NC), 11/3/06
#118 Wyalusing (PA) Valley Motorsports Park, 10/15/06
#117 Shippensburg (PA) Speedway, 10/7/06
#116 Linda's Speedway (PA), 10/6/06
#115 Freedom Raceway (NY), 9/22/06
#114 Spring Valley Raceway (OH), 9/17/06
#113 Hilltop Speedway (OH), 9/8/06
#112 Kokomo (IN) Speedway, 9/3/06
#111 Lincoln Park Speedway (IN), 9/2/06
#110 Lawrence County Fairgrounds (PA), 8/16/06
#109 Midvale (OH) Speedway, 7/22/06
#108 McKean County Speedway (PA), 6/29/06
#107 Hesston (PA) Speedway, 6/17/06
#106 Grandview Speedway (PA), 5/16/06

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Concord is #120 and is part of a double with The Dirt Track

#120 Concord Motorsports Park, Concord, NC (1/2-mile asphalt), 11/4/06...

The races were scheduled to start at Concord at 2:15 with last chance races. This would leave plenty of time to see some races and head back to The Dirt Track, which was only about 15 or so minutes away.

Though it was cool, it was a beautiful sunny, peaceful day with not a cloud nor any wind to be found. On tap at Concord was the North-South Shootout with various modified classes along with two classes of vintage cars. When we arrived shortly after 1 PM they were having an autograph session on the speedway with the cars and drivers. This is a very neat touch as fans go around collecting autograph cards and getting pictures.

I could tell Concord was a very fast track with it's banking. It has the old, nostalgic-type southern-feel to it. The pits were full of cars of cars and a decent crowd was on hand of probably 800 or so, but not what I expected even though it was announced that it was the largest crowd and car count in the event's four-year history. A total of 44 Modified Tour Type Cars and 34 SK-Type Modifieds attempted to qualify on Friday. The Vintage Modifieds totaled 15 and Vintage Sportsman 17. The combination of Pro-Four Modifieds and Four-Cylinder Stocks came in at 23 and there were 10 Limited SK-Type cars.

Concord has the cement bleachers and it looks like they added on with additional bleachers down toward turn one. You can tell as the old pit booth and entrance in the track that went under the bleachers are no longer used due to the size of the trailers I surmized. There is a tunnel underneath turn two that is used to get in and out of the pit area.

I'm not an asphalt fan, but I do really enjoy the modifieds as they flew around the tri-oval. Pennsylvania's Tony Hirschman set fast time on Friday night with a lap that averaged more than 117 miles per hour. We watched the two last chance races, which started shortly after 2:30, and the first feature before heading out. Hirshman ended up winning the 100 lapper, which was run last, and earned $10,600.

The facility, though old, is well taken care of and very neat. They have a nice play area for the kids behind the grandstands. The one thing I noticed in the parking lot was the large number of northern licenses plates of people that came down from the north.

Concord made for my second track in the Tar Heel state and 15th new track of 2006.

#120 Concord (NC) Motorsports Park, 11/4/06
#119 The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway (NC), 11/3/06
#118 Wyalusing (PA) Valley Motorsports Park, 10/15/06
#117 Shippensburg (PA) Speedway, 10/7/06
#116 Linda's Speedway (PA), 10/6/06
#115 Freedom Raceway (NY), 9/22/06
#114 Spring Valley Raceway (OH), 9/17/06
#113 Hilltop Speedway (OH), 9/8/06
#112 Kokomo (IN) Speedway, 9/3/06
#111 Lincoln Park Speedway (IN), 9/2/06
#110 Lawrence County Fairgrounds (PA), 8/16/06
#109 Midvale (OH) Speedway, 7/22/06
#108 McKean County Speedway (PA), 6/29/06
#107 Hesston (PA) Speedway, 6/17/06
#106 Grandview Speedway (PA), 5/16/06

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"The Dirt Track" #119 is one of the nicest!

#119 The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, NC (4/10-mile dirt), 11/3-4/06...

I headed south for the World Short-Track Championships at The Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Located northeast of Charlotte, NC in Concord, the 4/10-mile dirt track is one of the nicest dirt facilities in the nation. The track is located right across the street from NASCAR track, Lowe's Motor Speedway. The stadium-style seating holds some 15,000 spectators and with the Musco lighting, it leaves for a pretty spectacular view.

Six divisions made up the event as a record 271 cars from 16 states plus England competed in preliminary action on Friday night including in some 77 four-cylinders, 55 Fastrak Crate Late Model, 47 USLMS Steel-head Late Models, 30 ASCS 360 Sprint Cars, 28 IMCA E-Mods, and 26 CRASHCars.

With so many cars hot lapping on Friday night they missed their scheduled starting time of 7 as the first of 24 heat races took the green at 7:23 PM. In between their heats they ran a make-up feature for the CRASHcars. It was a long day for me so I headed for the exits after their feature as they still had 8 heats for the 4 cylinders and 3 heats for the UMP Mods. The temperature had dropped from the mid 50s down to the low 30s. A crowd of 500 or so gathered for the preliminary action.

Saturday evening opened up with last chance B main qualifiers for five of the divisions before leading into the six features. Scheduled starting time was 6:50 and they pretty much hit that. A much better crowd was on hand somewhere in the 1,500 range. Though it was again sunny the high for the day only was in the mid 50s and quickly dropped down into the low 30s by the end of the night probably keeping their crowd down. They were predicting nearing record lows in the upper 20s.

They really did a good job keeping the show moving and the crowd entertained. The Raceiever radios certainly helped keeping the cars in line. One thing they didn't do was use the red flag, which was a first for me.

The CRASHCars is a novelty entertainment division, which are basically souped up demolition derby cars with roll cages. Their feature was first up and took the green just a couple minutes shy of 8:30. Chris Blair survived a late-race tangle with Jim Cook to score the 15-lap victory. As part of the show, Cook crashed Blair's victory lane celebration.

Johnny Pursley came out on top to win the 25-lap feature for the Fastrak Crate Late Models, one of the south's fastest growing divisions. 18 of the 19 finishers were on the lead lap and the only car one lap down wasn't lapped until turn three of the final lap. Pursley earned $2,500 for his efforts beating Lowe to the finish. 16-year-old Chris Ferguson charged from 18th to finish third ahead of 20th starting Dennis "Rambo" Franklin. It was a busy day for "Rambo" who competed in preliminary action at another North Carolina track earlier in the day before running two features Saturday night.

Making his first ever ASCS Southern Region start, Ron Blair made the long haul from Ohio pay off as he captured the 25-lap 360 sprint car feature for his first career win. The Troy, Ohio driver has been fast all year running all over the country competing in both 410 and 360 events. Just in his last five events, he's run with SOD in Michigan, the Canadian 360 Sprint Championship in Ohsweken Speedway, the 410 finale at Williams Grove, the Short Track Nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas, before nabbing the $1,500 victory Saturday night.

Blair charged from the 10th starting spot in his heat race Friday night to capture the victory then drew the pole position for Saturday night. Six cautions and a few challenges on the restarts by Justin Collet were the only things to slow the Buckeye gasser from victory. New York invader, Bryan Howland, ascending from the 11th starting spot to finish second after getting past Collet on the final lap. Howland also earned $1,500 including the $500 for being the highest finishing pre-entered car. Five of the six stoppages were for accidents that necessitated the red flag at 99% of the tracks in the country, but not here.

Ricky Weeks totally dominated the 25-lap USLMS Late Model feature for steel-head motors leading from start-to-finish in a race that started just three minutes shy of 10 PM. Weeks took advantage of his outside pole starting positions and only four cautions slowed his run to the checkered. Weeks, a three-time Carolina Clash Champion, earned $2,000 for his second win. "Rambo" Franklin came from 13th to finish second.

With it already being well after 10, I didn't stay for the final two features of 4-cylinders and UMP Mods, which I had the least interest in.

I really enjoyed the facility. Though it seemed as they were way overstaffed, their workers were very courteous. The Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway made for my 119th career track and the 14th different state to see a race in. This year I have been to 88 races at 27 different tracks.

After the races we stopped at Sonic drive-in restaurant to get something to eat. After placing the order, I used the restroom to interestingly find a sign giving instructions "how to wash your hands". Thank God, not sure what I would have done! When the girl came out to bring our food, my friend paid for his off the grand total. I then asked her what I owed her. She looked at me and said, "ah ah...i can't do math'. Hmmm...but this was girl making change! I guess everyone pays with the exact amount. I said forget it, give the money back, and I gave her a $20. She gave me back my change, which wasn't exactly correct as I think we made out in the deal by 50 cents. I guess that's why there are signs in the bathroom giving directions "how to wash your hands".

On our way home we stopped to get gas and a sandwich from Subway in Virginia. Beside the Subway counter was hot food like chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, etc. There was one item that was unfamiliar to me and I asked the girl what that black stuff is and she responded in her southern accent and missing teeth, "it's green not black and it's kale." I thought it looked like onions and she responded, "it's not onions it's kale". I told her I had never heard of it and she asked where I was from and I told her Pennsylvania and she rolled her eyes and said, "must be a full moon out there." A guy that overheard the conversation came by and rattled off something to the effect about beer and kale and being good together as that was all I caught as the rest was southern jibberish to me.

#119 The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway (NC), 11/3/06
#118 Wyalusing (PA) Valley Motorsports Park, 10/15/06
#117 Shippensburg (PA) Speedway, 10/7/06
#116 Linda's Speedway (PA), 10/6/06
#115 Freedom Raceway (NY), 9/22/06
#114 Spring Valley Raceway (OH), 9/17/06
#113 Hilltop Speedway (OH), 9/8/06
#112 Kokomo (IN) Speedway, 9/3/06
#111 Lincoln Park Speedway (IN), 9/2/06
#110 Lawrence County Fairgrounds (PA), 8/16/06
#109 Midvale (OH) Speedway, 7/22/06
#108 McKean County Speedway (PA), 6/29/06
#107 Hesston (PA) Speedway, 6/17/06
#106 Grandview Speedway (PA), 5/16/06

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North we go to Wyalusing for PA track #50!

#118 Wyalusing Valley Motorsports Park, Wyalusing, PA (1/5-mile dirt), 10/15/06...

After attending the races Saturday night at Williams Grove Speedway, I left from the Motel 6 in Carlisle early Sunday morning and headed northeast toward my Sunday afternoon destination- Wyalusing Valley Motorsports Park.

A few notes from Saturday. I did the online reservation for Motel 6, which will save you some money. On my way to Williams Grove I stopped at Mama Leone's Pizza in Marysville and asked if the last name Leone got you a discount and I was granted one. Williams Grove ran off a great program starting right at 6 PM with 30 Sprint Cars and 29 Big-Block Modifieds and finished up at 8:45 PM.

After Williams Grove I got gas at Sheetz in Middlesex Township for $2.09. I got $26.05 worth of gas and ordered food. When I went to pay the clerk, she was sure I had already paid and couldn't seem to figure out the confusion. Finally a kid came back in and said he paid for the wrong gas. At the time just one register was open with all the racing people coming in. The "manager" opened a second register and after a delay was able to refund the guy's money. Meanwhile the clerk had difficulty redoing my transaction and asked me if she could ring up the food separately and I said that was fine as long as I got a credit card receipt for each transaction. After another length delay the "manager" comes back and finally asks me If I could pay with something other than a credit card. Even though I could have paid for cash, I told him no I was paying with my credit card. Their problem was not my problem and I had waited long enough and people were now getting impatient. Finally the "manager" said, "there's nothing we can do" and I said "so you mean I don't have to pay" and he said "no". I thanked the guy, who was now trying to pay for "his gas" and he said "yeah anytime". Wow is all I could think. Stuff like this just amazes me. Can you imagine how the higher-ups at Sheetz would take this?

So at the end of the day, I got a discount at Motel 6 for booking online, a discounted meal because my last name was Leone, and $26.05 of free gas to complement a great night of racing!

Back to Sunday...I took my time on the gorgeous sunny day taking in all the sights of northeast Pa. If you've never been to this part of the state, I believe it's the state's most beautiful part. When you get away from the hustle & bustle of city life and our daily grind and get to an area like this you really see how simple life is. Time passes by slower, worries are minimized, and people seem more content with themselves. You feel one with nature and closer to God. The sunshine hitting the mountains and changing leaves gave you a calming, relaxing feeling.

Wyalusing (pronounced Y'lou'seen by the natives) is located on Route 6, which runs across the northern corridor of the state. The track is located a couple miles off Route 6. I arrived just shy of noon and hot laps got underway at 1 p.m.

The 1/5-mile dirt oval opened earlier this season running 270 micro sprints, slingshots, and go-karts. Sunday’s season finale included the track’s featured division- the 270 micros (season-high 26 cars), their slingshots (9 cars) along with the 600 micro sprints (5 cars). There might have been 50 people in the stands. Grandstand admission was $10, while the pit admission was only $15 and a two-day pass was only $25. The high school chorus did a nice rendition of the national anthem in the infield right before the features.

There are no lights at the track as racing started 25 minutes past the scheduled 1:15 p.m. start. The day belonged to Shane Penny. The Nescopeck driver nearly made a clean sweep of every race he entered winning both micro features, both heats, and one of the two dash for cashes. Penny first led all 25 laps of the 600 micro main earning $350 topping Parker Evans, Dusty Hesitand, Johnny Gearhart, and Vic Quinones in a race that had just one caution.

After finishing third in the 270 micro dash, the only race he didn't win, Penny started third and passed Ryan Kissinger for the lead on lap 16 and cruised to the dominating victory. The 35-lap race had four cautions in the first two laps then the final 33 laps went non-stop with Penny winning by more than ¾ of the track. Penny earned $500 for the win plus lap money and contingencies. Kissinger held off Russ Thorton and Nick Porreca, who were all over the second place finisher for the second-half of the event.

The 25-lap slingshot feature had just one caution as 14-year-old Nick Pecko led from green-to-checkered for the $250 win. Cody Coons was more than a straightaway back in second. Third through fifth were Shawn Light, Scott Elmes, and Rich Howard.

The three features took just a bit over one hour to complete, which was much better than I had thought and even with starting 25 minutes late having two intermissions to put some water on the track, and 270 driver intros the show was still completed 10 minutes shy of 5 PM.

WVPM made for my 50th Pennsylvania track and 118th overall. They use a trailer for their office/scoring/announcer tower. The food was reasonably priced. The flagman was one of the best I've seen in some time. I was very surprised as most small tracks incompetent officials. But I did hear him say that he's flagged for 19 years. He also passed candy out for the fans during intermission. They announced they are going to move back the backstretch and bank the turns for 2007, which should make for better racing. The 600 micros will be much more frequent visitors, if not regulars.


#118 Wyalusing (PA) Valley Motorsports Park, 10/15/06
#117 Shippensburg (PA) Speedway, 10/7/06
#116 Linda's Speedway (PA), 10/6/06
#115 Freedom Raceway (NY), 9/22/06
#114 Spring Valley Raceway (OH), 9/17/06
#113 Hilltop Speedway (OH), 9/8/06
#112 Kokomo (IN) Speedway, 9/3/06
#111 Lincoln Park Speedway (IN), 9/2/06
#110 Lawrence County Fairgrounds (PA), 8/16/06
#109 Midvale (OH) Speedway, 7/22/06
#108 McKean County Speedway (PA), 6/29/06
#107 Hesston (PA) Speedway, 6/17/06
#106 Grandview Speedway (PA), 5/16/06

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14 hours after Linda's, Shippensburg accounts for #117

#117 Shippensburg Speedway, Shippensburg, PA (1/4-mile dirt), 10/7/06...

Room rates were sky high because of a car show taking place in Hershey, so I booked a room in Shippensburg Friday night. Little did I realize I was at the exit of the speedway only one-half mile away.

I left the room at 11 AM to find the speedway. Racing was to begin at 2 PM and you'd never know racing would take place in three hours as I didn't see a sole around. I did see a grill going which was a good sign and the answering machine told of the day's racing. What was supposed to be a partly sunny day in the mid 60s turned be a cloudy, windy day with temps in the low 50s.

I figured I had a lot of time to kill so I headed into town to find something to eat. Brother's Pizza was the stop and I had an excellent, small (huge) stromboli. After killing more time at the nearby K-Mart, I headed back to the track. It was now 12:45 and there were only three race cars. The cars finally did come in all at the same time from about 1 to 1:30.

Rather than heat races at 2 PM it was hot laps. As soon as the final hot lap session ended the first heat was lined-up and ready to go taking the green at 2:27.

Just like Linda’s Shippensburg is located right on I-81 only Shippensburg is located 40 miles southwest of Harrisburg . Shippensburg is a very small and narrow ¼-mile dirt oval. Shippensburg had seven classes scheduled with very low car counts in all classes as only 51 cars were in the pits. Car counts were 12 600 micro sprints, 12 mini stocks, 9 six-cylinder strictly stocks stocks, 8 thunder rear stocks, 6 front-wheel-drive strictly stocks, 3 cyclones, and 1 truck. The lone truck ran with the six cylinders. There were less than 75 spectators spread around the five-row bleachers and picnic tables.

The eight heat races took 45 minutes to run and after a 20 minute intermission the first feature hit the track at 3:30 . Shippensburg inverted the heats on points; however, the finish of the heats determined the feature line-ups with a heads-up start meaning for little passing in the feature. All of the feature winners started either first or second.

The thunder rear stocks saw Keith Armolt lead green-to-checkered in the 15-lap non-stop feature over Greg Short. Three cautions slowed the six-cylinder strictly stock main as it was pole-sitter Jeff Dicken leading all the way over Randy Stahl. Mike Holley kept the trend going in the 600 micro sprints as the pole-sitter led all 15 laps with just one caution slowing the event. Outside pole-sitter Keith Bass led all but one lap to win the 15-lap mini stock main over Gary Newell. Just two of the three cars started the cyclone feature as it was Dillon Stake winning by one-half lap over Carl Biddle for his 14th victory. The front-wheel-drive strictly stocks was run in a light drizzle as it was second starting Chuck Ingram leading all 15 laps for the win over pole-sitter Adam Adams. The checkered flag waved at 4:48 .

Shippensburg did a great job keeping the program moving even though the flagman was very quick with the yellow throwing it as soon as a car got sideways or got in the infield. Actually there would have been hardly any cautions had he not been so quick. One of the mini stocks got upside down after catching the backstretch jersey barriers. That turned into a lengthy delay as they first had to get the car righted, then burned off the gas, and then cleaned up the mess.

Shippensburg was like Linda's pricing with $6 adult admission and had very low food prices. The surface was very smooth and slick as go-karts were scheduled for Sunday. It didn't look like there much track prep. The announcer was very annoying and basically said whatever he wanted including one time when one of the mini stocks went into the infield, "oh he just got his nuts shook around". He wasn't afraid to use hell and damn either. When he asked one of the winners about last week, the driver replied, "shit happens".

Shippensburg made for my 49th Pennsylvania track and 117th overall.

#117 Shippensburg (PA) Speedway, 10/7/06
#116 Linda's Speedway (PA), 10/6/06
#115 Freedom Raceway (NY), 9/22/06
#114 Spring Valley Raceway (OH), 9/17/06
#113 Hilltop Speedway (OH), 9/8/06
#112 Kokomo (IN) Speedway, 9/3/06
#111 Lincoln Park Speedway (IN), 9/2/06
#110 Lawrence County Fairgrounds (PA), 8/16/06
#109 Midvale (OH) Speedway, 7/22/06
#108 McKean County Speedway (PA), 6/29/06
#107 Hesston (PA) Speedway, 6/17/06
#106 Grandview Speedway (PA), 5/16/06

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Getting Linda's track out of the way for #116

#116 Linda's Speedway, Jonestown, PA (1/4-mile dirt), 10/6/06...

The weather report was certainly conflicting for central Pa. this past weekend. Some forecasts had rain early Friday and clearing for the rest of the weekend, while others had a chance of rain right throught Saturday evening.

My plan was Linda's Speedway Friday night, Shippensburg Speedway Saturday afternoon, capped off by my favorite track Lincoln Speedway Saturday night. The first two tracks would be new ones.

Rain showers broke up and pushed south early in the morning. However, the rain pretty much stayed right on the turnpike and south for much of the day. Linda's is only 20-30 miles away. I watched the radar all day and the shower seemed to have a tough time progressing north of the turnpike so I left at 2:30 figuring worse case I'd either be down their for Saturday's races or at the last minute could head to Borger's.

I had sunshine until I got off I-80 and it got progessively cloudier as I headed south. By the time I reached Port Royal it was cloudy and looked as if it could rain at any minute. I kept calling every 30 minutes and never did talk to anyone only the answering machine. As I got to Harrisburg and headed north on I-81 the skies lightened and I figured i was in the clear. In fact skies cleared later and the moon, with an odd large ring around it, was visible for most of the night.

I got to Linda's shortly after 6:30 PM as hot laps were slated for 7 and racing at 7:30. A huge field of cars were on hand including 59 270 micro sprints, 47 600 micro sprints, 21 125 micro sprints, and 13 chargers. The car count was boasted for three reasons, one was the fact that it was the Steve Buch Memorial with $500 on the line in both the 270s and 600s., two, many drivers were prepping for the upcoming National Open, and three, Path Valley Speedway had cancelled.

I knew it was going to be a long night with the large car count plus a make-up feature was up first for the 270s. Hot laps, which started after 7 took forever to complete. The September 22 make-up feature took the green at 8:06. Rich McKay won his first of the year in a race that had just two cautions. Mike Rutherford and Ed Kenderdine were second and third. The field was so tough in the night’s regular program that McKay didn’t even make the feature.

The first of 14 heat races took the green at 8:24. After 5 b mains, the 600 micro sprint feature took the green at eight minutes shy of 11 p.m. Mike Dicely took the lead on lap three and cruised to the dominating victory in his first appearance of the season. Seven cautions plagued the event. Arron Spahr and Drew Heistand finished second and third.

The charger feature was a good one with pole-sitter Chris Smith scoring the victory. Smith’s victory came by less than one-half car-lenth over Mike Derr. Dave Reightler was third.

Mike Dicely’s bid for a sweep of both features was short lived. The pole-sitter led the first two laps of the 270 feature, but Steve Buckwalter was too much taking over on the third circuit and went on to the easy victory. Buckwalter of Royersford drives just about anything including ARDC Midgets, 410 Sprint Cars, and 358 Sprints to name a few. Buckwalter has been at winner at Mercer in the midgets. Dicely completed a great night finishing second. Robert Crawford, who finished fifth in the make-up feature, came home third. In should be noted that a fuel stop was required after just three cautions and ZERO laps completed...yes that's right! The feature ended up with 7 cautions.

With it being after midnight and only the 125 micro feature remaining, I made my way to the exits. I did enjoy the racing at Linda's. The 600s always put on a great show no matter where I see them race. The downside was the constant problems getting the car in line. The flagman grew more and more frustrated as the night went on and numerous times went down to line-up the cars himself, which cost more and more laps. Admission at Linda’s is only $6 and they had some of the cheapest food prices I’ve seen. I had an excellent hot sausage sandwich from the crock pot, french fries, and a pop for just $5.

Linda’s made for my 48th Pennsylvania track and 116th overall.

#116 Linda's Speedway (PA), 10/6/06
#115 Freedom Raceway (NY), 9/22/06
#114 Spring Valley Raceway (OH), 9/17/06
#113 Hilltop Speedway (OH), 9/8/06
#112 Kokomo (IN) Speedway, 9/3/06
#111 Lincoln Park Speedway (IN), 9/2/06
#110 Lawrence County Fairgrounds (PA), 8/16/06
#109 Midvale (OH) Speedway, 7/22/06
#108 McKean County Speedway (PA), 6/29/06
#107 Hesston (PA) Speedway, 6/17/06
#106 Grandview Speedway (PA), 5/16/06

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3 hours to see what....#115 in NY

#115 Freedom Raceway, Delevan, NY (1/3-mile dirt), 9/22/06...

Have you ever gone to the races and wondered what you saw or secondly worried that you were even going to see a race?

The above was the case at New York's Freedom Raceway. I had planned on making my first visit a week ago Friday for their season finale, which was to include the traveling New York Mini Sprints. Despite no rain, Freedom pulled the plug due to wet grounds and postponed the event to this past Friday night less the Mini Sprints; however, two of Bradford (PA) Speedways classes were added. Freedom has been a track I've been trying to get to for years now and it just never works out. With very little racing taking place in the region, I decided hopefully this would be the week.

Friday's forecast called for increasing clouds with rain holding off until at least 10 PM according to weather.com and after midnight according to the NWS. The rain quickly spread across Ohio, but began to break up as it neared eastern Ohio and western PA.

I doubled-checked to make sure racing was still on and it was confirmed. I hit a few sprinkles and a brief shower near Erie. The weather didn't look very good south of Buffalo, but as I neared the speedway the sun peeked through.

I arrived just before their scheduled 7:30 start time and found very few people or race cars. A drivers meeting was taking place. And when the lineups went up on the board I was relieved that racing was going to be taking place. The crowd slowly came in, but still numbered only around 125. Car counts were 16 mini stocks, 7 street stocks, 6 pure stocks, 5 e-mods, 3 Bradford charges, 2 super stocks, and 0 Bradford thunder stocks. A total of 39 cars for what was supposed to be 7-division show.

I came to realize that "Fun Night" was only to be King of the Hill Races for their regular divisions except the Mini Stocks, which I knew were going to be highlighted in a 30-lap $300 to-win feature.

Because there were only 5 e-mods and 2 super stocks they decided that instead of a King of the Hill, they'd combine the class for a single 10- lap event, which was won by champion Greg Oakes in his e-mod over Rich Thorton's super stock.

The street stocks held their King of the Hill won by Rich Wulff followed by two mini stock heats, a pure stock King of the Hill won by John Ellwood, and the charger heat race.

They went right into the 30 lapper for the mini stocks, which was a decent race won by Kyle Bedell after passing his brother Craig Bedell on lap nine. Only three cautions slowed the event as all 16 cars took the green.

They went into their intermission as all that was left were mechanics races, official races, ladies races, and the charger feature so I made my way for the exits as it was 9 PM with about a three hour drive home. I hit rain not far from the speedway and that continued for much of the drive home.

Freedom used to feature New York's only weekly 360 sprint class before dropping them a few years back. The Patriot Sprints were schussed to make an appearance on the Friday of Labor Day Weekend, but that show was scratched. They did have a T3 All-Star Modified Series event earlier this summer and they are trying to work in a crate late model division.

Freedom has been for sale for a number of years now. The facility is in drastic need of improvements. They do have a scoreboard and one of the biggest American flags I've seen at a race track. A program was on sale for $2, which featured colored driver photos of both themselves and race car for the five divisional champions. There is an infield road course, which I believe is operated on various Sundays. The surface itself was very nice, although very few races took place on it and it was dark by the time racing got underway.

Freedom Raceway made for my 9th Empire State Track, 10th new track of the season, and #115 overall.

#115 Freedom Raceway (NY), 9/22/06
#114 Spring Valley Raceway (OH), 9/17/06
#113 Hilltop Speedway (OH), 9/8/06
#112 Kokomo (IN) Speedway, 9/3/06
#111 Lincoln Park Speedway (IN), 9/2/06
#110 Lawrence County Fairgrounds (PA), 8/16/06
#109 Midvale (OH) Speedway, 7/22/06
#108 McKean County Speedway (PA), 6/29/06
#107 Hesston (PA) Speedway, 6/17/06
#106 Grandview Speedway (PA), 5/16/06

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