Back to the Buckeye State for 2 more!

#103 Jackson County Speedway, Jackson, OH (3/8-mile dirt), 11/19/05...

The autumn season in the Northeast/Midwest/Mid-Atlantic regions has been simply gorgeous this year. We've been blessed with so many nice weekends one right after another. Not only has the weather been fair, but there has only been one that was pretty much a washout and that was the third week of October even though a few races like the Eastern States at Orange County and Potomac, MD that I know of were able to sneak in somehow.

This past weekend was no different and it gives you so much more incentive to go to races when the weather is nice. I had considered going to Summit Point, WV on Saturday or Sunday, but when Jackson County rained out last Sunday and rescheduled for Saturday coupled with the fact that I found out there was going to be races at the Ohio Expo Center on Sunday and I decided on the Ohio double.

Back in early October I came across Jackson County's website and noticed an aggressive fall schedule as they were scheduled to race right through the end of November. I had Jackson County down as a backup to 35 Raceway on October 9 following the afternoon Columbus races, but both 35 & JCS cancelled in the morning due to the cool temperatures. I planned to get to JCS for one of the November races.

At the end of October all of the November races were cleared off the schedule and they just posted an enduro race scheduled for November 6 and their banquet on November 20.

I e-mailed the webmaster to try and get a little more info on Sunday's rescheduled race, but he said to call the promoter. I tried the phone #, which according to the website says to try after 7 p.m. Finally on Friday night a message was on the phone that they were indeed racing with gates opening at noon and racing at 2 p.m. I tried again on Saturday morning before I left only to get the same message.

I departed at about 8:45 for the four hour drive. Southern Ohio and Northern Ohio are like two vastly different states. Once you get not too far below Columbus the scenery, people, and their accents all begin to change. Gas was selling for $1.92 at a BP station on Route 23 right off Interstate 270 on the south side of Columbus. It wasn't long ago people were saying we'd never see gas below $2.00. The common price throughout much of Ohio seemed to be $1.99. The drive down Route 35 from Circleville to the track is pretty barren. The town of Richmond Dale just popped up and looked like something out of the movies. Looks like things haven't changed there much in the last 30 years or so.

An old orange Jackson County Speedway sign was along Route 35 where you made the right onto Roberts Road. A narrow, rough road and one lane bridge lead you about a mile and a half to the speedway. I could seen dust billowing as I approached the speedway. It appeared to be a late model on the track. I got nervous when I didn't see any people.

There is a sign for speedway parking to both the left and right sides of the road. The left side I assume is the owner's house which overlooks the track. The parking to the right is behind the backstretch of the speedway. One road leads into the speedway which takes you to the only ticket booth for both the grandstands and pits.

Admission was $10 and the pits was $25. There was no release to sign for the pits, only a tablet to sign. The lady that worked the booth turned out to also be the one that registered the cars (if you want to call it that) and scored. She probably did payoff and a bunch of other tasks as well.

When I arrived about 70 minutes prior to race time there were a few "officials" standing around and 7 race cars, which included the late model. I wasn't sure if they were going to let him run or not with the 4-cylinder, compact-type cars. You never know at places like this! Guys just went out and practiced on their own. One car blew up and loaded up in an enclosed trailer. Another lost a wheel and didn't have a replacement. When he came back in one of the crew members yelled "I told you you should have saved it for the race."

The driver of the car that lost wheel asked, who I assume was the promoter/owner, if there were any wheels down there and the owner said "yeah there's one down there in the weeds I think." He took him down on his four-wheeler and came back with one. Apparently it didn't fit. So now I was thinking if he doesn't find a tire we're going to be down to four cars not counting the "late model".

A couple fans strolled in and more cars begin to roll in. This continued until about 2:20 or so when the last car arrived bringing the total to 18 including the car the loaded up, not including the late model that left, and yes the one driver did find a replacement wheel and tire to compete.

This was the first track I have been to where the pit bleachers are larger than the general admission stands. There were about 15 people in the stands that I estimated could pack about 450 in. It appeared to me that even the stands were moved or any old set were torn down as posts remained in the ground in the grassy area behind the bleachers.

Rain earlier in the week left for some muddy conditions. Two of the five women that were in the stands fell as the came in on the muddy small bank. The older lady didn't even attempt to get up, while the younger one struggled to get enough traction as she kept falling back down. Three people near the scene (no I was standing nearby laughing and not helping) came and held hands dragging them up. They were covered in mud, but it wasn't like too many were going to notice.

The announcer/scoring stand was an open-air old wooden stand up on stilts. Surprisingly they did have an announcer that gave lineups. The restroom and the concession building were separate from each other but both buildings took care of the pit and grandstand side with windows and doors on each side of the fence. You could tell the restroom building had been around for awhile.

The field was split into two nine-car heat races that began at 2:42. The finish determined the starting lineup and were won by #0 Hershell Wells and #53 Tom Largent 12 minutes later. They announced an intermission to give the drivers time to work on their cars. It looked like nothing had been done to the track since the last time they raced. It was pretty smooth with the exception of a hole going into turn one.

About 15 minutes into intermission they decided they were going to water the track. Two things you need for that are a water truck that runs and water! Well needless to say the water truck needed "jumped" and of course there was no water in it. The water truck headed down the road and probably 15 minutes later finally came back and entered the track from the backside where the three or four spectator cars were parked. After they finished watering the track they called for the cars to come out and pack the track down.

Once this process was finished the cars lined up and 17 of the scheduled 18 came trackside for the 50-lap race that paid $250 to-win plus a 4-foot trophy. The flagman was probably in his early 20s or so. There was only one "official" on the track for lineups. He was an older gentlemen probably well into his 60s and stood in the infield with a yellow flag.

The cars came onto the track and took the green flag from a stand-still position. The yellow came out and it was then after some discussion with the flagman and whoever he was talking to on the radio that he wanted to give them a pace lap and then turn them loose coming off turn four. The flagman yelled down to the official on the frontstretch and said "tell them I'm going to give them a lap and then throw the green in turn four". The lineup guy told the second row instead of the first. The flagman yells while he's pointing to the pole-sitter, "hey tell him". The lineup guy yells back "he knows". You can just picture this backwoods racing at its finest!

It was a decent race with five lead changes. Freddy Carpenter in car #49 ended up taking over from Largent on about lap 24 and then survived the endurance that had only five cars finish. Most of the attrition was due to flat tires. Carpenter was the last remaining front runner as all of the other ones dropped from the event and he had at least two laps on the second place car. The race was stopped five times and ended just before 4:40 p.m. It was a very pleasant day with sunny skies and temps around 55.

Note: On JCS's website www.jacksoncountyspeedway.net they have "2006 is just around the corner! Check back soon for our annual January 'Snow Bowl' race." I was not aware of this in the past and wondered if anyone else was.

#104 Ohio Expo Center (O'Neil Building), Columbus, OH (1/10-mile paved indoor oval), 11/20/05...

After staying in Columbus and breakfast at McDonald's, I made the 5 mile drive to the Ohio State Fairgrounds Sunday morning. It was another spectacular day with sunny skies and temps around 60, which was conducive for outdoor racing. Pulling into the fairgrounds I realized it was going to cost me $4 to park. Just before pulling away I figured I should ask where to park for the races and he hesitated and then said, "straight back and to the right".

I drove around and really didn't see any "racing people", trailers, or anything that gave me a hint to where I should be going. Finally I parked and followed people where there were three large-sized building that I thought possibly could house the racing. One building appeared to have no activity going on. The second was a craft bazaar and the third was some type dog show convention that smelled like a barn. I asked the gentlemen that was selling tickets if he knew where the racing was taking place. He didn't know nor did anyone around. He couldn't find security or anyone to help so I quickly dashed out for some much-needed fresh air.

So I decided to walk and walk I did. The next building I came upon that people were entering housed a hockey rink where young boys were competing. At least this building had a sign to what was going on. I went in hoping there would be someone around, but to no avail as apparently it was open to the public for free and no security to fairground personnel were present.

I came across a couple other buildings, but no activity was taking place. I walked to the end of the fairgrounds and to my joy came upon the race trailers. I finally felt like I found some evidence! But it still wasn't that easy as the hunt wasn't over.

Finally I heard the sound of racing and knew which building it was in. The next part was getting in. I walked clear around the building and saw no clearly marked entrance or even a main entrance. I began trying doors all which were locked. "How hard could this be?" as I thought I was going crazy and was quickly losing my patience.

I finally came upon "life" as guy and his son who were trying doors and opened the lucky door. When I entered it was around 11:30 and practice was taking place. I was told no general admission was on sale simply hot pit passes, which were $13. I watched some of the practice and then figured I should go find my vehicle and move it considering now I really had no idea where it was at. I found it after searching for awhile and moved it closer. I had no real reason of waiting inside until the 12:30 starting time as the fumes were strong. At 12:10 I heard the sounds of racing again so I figured they must have started earlier than scheduled.

I walked back to where I exited at, which was a door beside the entrance for the women's restroom. Yes that's right the main entrance was the entrance for the women's restroom and the racing was held in the pig building I was told. The next problem was the door that I entered (at least I thought as everything looked a like) was now locked!

Luckily a janitor was near by and had the key. Can you believe this? What an operation I thought! After talking to another family, whose son was going to be racing, they said they had trouble too and couldn't understand why there weren't any signs or markings and how no one seemed to know what was going on. Earlier I watched as other people struggled to know how to get in from my vehicle.

The gentlemen that told me the O'Neil Building was the pig building was someone I knew from home. He and his son were big into go-kart racing before moving into sprint car racing and kidded that you had to be invited to come here because people don't come to watch go-karts. He said once you come you just know about it. He also went out to his car to get something to drink and did so because he knew about their concession prices. Drinks were $2.50 (the smallest size and I think the only size) and sandwiches were generally $5 or $6.

The 17 classes of go-karts were split into two sessions with 9 going in the first. Each session ran two sets of heat races. The feature was lined up on points earned from the two heat races each car ran. Car counts for the first sessions were Senior Stock Lite (36), Senior Stock Medium (18), Junior Stock Lite (18), Senior Caged (8), 5HP Flat Head (7), Kids Karts (5), Junior Caged (4), Super Stock (3), and Gas Class (2).

Ohio 410 Sprint Car racer John Ivy, who runs a lot of the indoor winter races all over, won the Sr. Stock Lite class and finished second in the Sr. Stock Medium class. I enjoyed watching him race as he's always been one of my favorite sprint car drivers. I always liked his green #5i (yes that's a lowercase i) car that dominated the 305 ranks throughout Ohio & PA back in the 90s.

The Senior Caged division was the only countable division according to Trackchaser rules. The 12-lap feature saw the #07 kart lead all the way for the victory. I watched the entire first session and they announced they would be taking an intermission. I waited about 10 minutes and the lineups were still not posted so I decided to head home at about 2:40 p.m.

The second session included the Senior Stock Heavy, Junior Stock Heavy, Rookie, Senior Super Heavy, Kids Karts, Over 35 Stock, 400# Class, and 4 Combined.

I will give them credit for running a fast, efficient show as the first session ran two sets of heats, B mains, and 10 features (including a B trophy feature) in two and half hours. One race quickly followed another and lineups were very quick.

I just really didn't understand why they didn't have any signs posted for which building the race was being held in and the entrances marked. With the exception of the one janitor I found, I didn't see one person inside the grounds associated with the fairgrounds anywhere.

The Ohio Expo Center's O'Neil Building made for my 16th new track of the year (2 off my record of 18 last season) and 104th overall. It was also my 23rd career Ohio track.

89. 1/2 Mountain Speedway, Saint Johns, PA
90. 8/12 Big Diamond Raceway, Minersville, PA
91. 8/13 Mahoning Valley Speedway, Lehighton,PA
92. 8/13 New Egypt Speedway, New Egypt, NJ
93. 8/24 Westmoreland Fairgrounds (Rolling Rock Arena), Norvelt, PA
94. 9/9 Lake Erie Speedway (figure 8), North East, PA
95. 9/11 Thunder Moutain Speedway, Knox Dale, PA
96. 10/8 Columbus Motor Speedway, Obetz, OH
97. 10/9 Lawrenceburg Speedway, Lawrenceburg, IN
98. 10/15 35 Raceway Park (new 1/5-mile), Frankfort, OH
99. 10/16 Winchester Speedway, Winchester, IN
100. 11/5 New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, NY
101. 11/5 Greenwood Valley Action Track, Millville, PA
102. 11/6 Five Mile Point Speedway, Kirkwood, NY
103 11/19 Jackson County Speedway, Jackson, OH
104 11/20 Ohio Expo Center (O'Neil Building), Columbus, OH

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Upcoming Schedule V

These are some possibilities for me as we head through November and into December. I'm really not sure at this point.

11/12 Lake Cumberland Speedway (Burnside, KY)?
11/13 Jackson County Speedway (Jackson, OH)?
11/19 Summit Point Raceway (Summit Point, WV)?
11/26 Wall (NJ) Speedway for the Turkey Derby?
12/17 DeVos Center (Grand Rapids, MI) for Auto Value Super Sprints
12/30 Allen County Memorial Expo Center (Fort Wayne, IN) for USAC Midgets

Spectacular weekend with 3 new tracks and great weather!

What a spectacular weekend with unbelievable weather as I was able to catch three new tracks in two days hitting and eclipsing the century mark. I never realized how beautiful the sights at this time of the year are in northeastern Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier of NT. Ironically all three races I attended were rained out at least one other time from October and were run under ideal weather this past weekend.

#100 New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, NY (1-mile cinder), 11/5/05...

On October 9, rain showers came in and postponed the running of the "Eckerd 200" with 52 of the scheduled 200 laps completed. After some days of questions of when and would it would be finished due to numerous other events throughout October and November and rescheduling concerns at the fairgrounds, Saturday, November 5 was picked with a noon start time. In no one's wildest imaginations would anyone expect the weather that graced the event to have temps in the low 70s and sunshine.

This was one of these tracks that always seem to elude me partly because I never had much desire to see bits and pieces of the week-long event, endure the weather elements that always seem to plague it, fight the large crowds and expense of the event. With a rain check given to me in hand, a short mild day, and the opportunity to hit two other new tracks I made the four hour and 15 minute journey northeast.

I followed the stream of traffic into the fairgrounds and parked. Little did I realize I was going to be on the backstretch as buses waited to take people to the grandstand area. Not being one for waiting on others I took off on foot and realized it wasn't too bad of walk through the infield and to the main grandstand area. It didn't appear to me that they were selling tickets, but only checking what was being brought in as food and beverages are not permitted. I can see why as a hot dog (only slightly bigger than a regular hot dog) and small cup of Pepsi cost me $5.50. They pretty much waved everyone else on in.

Checking on past times of the race for the 200-lapper, it looked like most of the events were completed in about 2 hours and 30 minutes. With 52 laps already completed, I was hoping for a two-hour race and be on the road and headed to Greenwood Valley Action Track by 2:30.

When racing resumed on the Moody Mile about nine minutes past 12 noon, Billy Decker picked up where he left off at the helm of the Northeast's most prestigious short-track event. All eyes were on Richie "Tobie" Tobias, Jr., who used the outside of the speedway to race from where he restarted in 18th into the top five on lap 82 past Jimmy Phelps and then past Pat Ward into fourth on lap 84 to the delight of the big crowd. Decker, Danny Johnson, and Todd Burley pulled away from the pack by lap 85. Decker made sure he got to lap 100 before pitting as he picked up the $5,000 halfway challenge.

On lap 106, Decker and Johnson pitted while Burley got caught behind them on the inside of turn four. By the time, he got his speed picked back up Tobias roared past into the lead. Burley, who clearly had the faster car, worked on Tobias before finally getting by for the lead on lap 115. Eyes now shifted to Bobby Varin, who passed Ward for third on lap 124 then one lap later shot past Tobias for second.

By the time Varin got to second at the three-quarter mark of the event, Burley had more than a half-straightaway lead built up. Varin quickly chopped into the lead every lap and ran down the leader. After hounding him for about five laps, Varin got under Burley for the lead on lap 133.

Tobias' fine run ended when he slowed on lap 143, while Johnson hit the turn one fence after blowing a tire bringing out the caution. After pitre-shuffledhuffled the field, Decker, who was about to get lapped before the caution, was back in charge as the early pit stop paid off. Teammate Ward restarted second with Ronnie Johnson.

World of Outlaw Late Model "Dirty Dozen" member, Tim McCreadie passed Johnson for third on lap 167 then one lap later took over runner-up from Ward. Just after losing second to McCreadie, Ward slowed while Burley flew past Johnson and Ward for third.

Burley ran down Decker and McCreadie as the trio pulled away from the pack with 15 laps to go. After pressuring McCreadie for numerous laps, Burley finally made the pass stick for runner-up on lap 191. Burley though was never able to mount a serious bid at overtaking the leader. Decker crossed the line first for the minimum $50,000 base payoff and was his fourth Eckerd 200 win all of which have come in the last eight seasons.

Burley's impressive $25,000 runner-up finish definitely stole the sub-headlines as he also earned the $2,000 Rookie of the Race becoming the highest finishing rookie in the history of the event. Ronnie Johnson was a career best third in the event, Kenny Tremont was fourth after restarting 15th, and Varin dropped to fifth.

The racing was much better than I anticipated and I also could see more of the track than I expected. The race concluded at 2 p.m. and I ran back across the infield and to the backstretch parking area. I was about the third one into my vehicle and first that came from the front stretch, I quickly exited the grounds and was on my way south back into Pennsylvania toward Greenwood Valley Action Track.

#101 Greenwood Valley Action Track, Millville, PA (1/5-mile dirt), 11/5/05...

According to the track's website racing was starting at 4:30, one hour earlier than their normal 5:30 starting time. I wasn't exactly sure what was racing as all the website said was the Blaise Alexander Memorial for Micro Sprints. An e-mail I sent from a link on the old website came back from the webmaster said he wasn't sure, but to contact the track. I called about 10 AM on my way to Syracuse and didn't get answer nor a recording. As soon as I left the track I called and a lady said they were indeed racing and that the gates were open, hot laps were going to start at 3:30 and after the "go-karts" they were going right into their micro sprint program. Now I was a little concerned how much I was going to miss.

The drive down from Syracuse to GVAT was a little more than I bargained for, but nonetheless, I pulled in at 5:30 at the exact time I planned on at the onset. I could see micro sprints on the track and heard nothing over the p.a. system so it appeared they were still hot lapping.

One odd thing was the track's admittace gate. It was a little old mini shed with no lights and two people were standing there. This was the same gate where the race cars entered the track behind the grandstands and anyone could walk into the pits as no one manned the pit gate.

About 30 people or so were in the grandstands as hot laps concluded. I headed into the pits and checked the line-up board. The go-karts were running features only. The first of seven features took to the track at 5:50, one hour and 20 minutes past the starting time. There were only a total of 30 karts amongst all the classes.

I also came to find out there were five classes of micros racing. There were still race cars coming into the track after 5:30. After worrying about getting to the track on time and how much I would see, the first micro heat didn't hit the track until 6:35 over two hours after when I was assuming they would start (if not earlier).

Car counts were 45 270 micro sprints, 13 rookie micros, 10 600 mini sprints, 9 125 mini micro sprints, and 5 sportsman micros. The Blaise Alexander Memorial was rained out on October 22 and rescheduled for Saturday. According to the track's press release, "On October 4, 2001, Alexander lost his life while going for a win in an ARCA race at Charlotte. Alexander competed in the NASCAR Busch Series full time in 2000, while also attempting a handful of Winston Cup events. He was the ARCA Rookie-of-the-Year in 1996 finishing fifth in points, and won two series events in 1999. His racing career began in go-karts in 1989 and he was the WKA champion in for the Eastern Regional Series in 1992. From 1992-1994 he raced micro sprints winning 48 races at tracks in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York." I remember watching Alexander race micros in the early 90s throughout PA.

The Blaise Alexander Memorial was a 40-lap feature for the 270 micros that ended GVAT's season. Twenty-six cars started the event, which was dominated by Ross Perchak. Perchak took over from pole-sitter Brian Kishbaugh on the opening lap and survived eight cautions and quite a bit of lapped traffic for the victory. The $1,000 win came just one week after he earned over $3,000 for winning the Linda Speedway National Open. Kishbaugh was a close second over Pete Skias, who won the 600 mini sprint feature last weekend at Linda's, came from seventh to finish third.

Sean Stoltz won the 20-lap feature for the 600 mini sprints, Mike Koehler took the 20-lap rookie micro sprint feature, Brayden Winters led all 12 laps of the non-stop sportsman micro main, while Ben Foss did the same in the mini micros. It was announced in the press release that GVAT has added the 600s to their weekly card in 2006 and dropped the sportsman.

The headlining 270 feature was run last and didn't end until 10. Two seemingly unneeded long intermission were taken, one was 35 minutes and the other was 30 minutes. GVAT did have very good and reasonably priced food as I had a cheese steak sandwich, french fries, and a slice of homemade pizza. The flagman was one of the most lackadaisical flagman I have ever seen. Instead of waving the flags, he simply just held them and many times didn't even decide to go green until the cars were approaching the cone when he simply turned the green light on, which seemed bizarre. GVAT made for my 43rd Pennsylvania track.

#102 Five Mile Point Speedway, Kirkwood, NY (1/4-mile dirt), 11/6/05...

Sunday dawned another warm and sunny day as temps were already in the mid 60s when I left my motel room at 10:30 in Wilkes Barre and climbed into the low 70s by afternoon.

The story of the day was the weather. This was expected as thunderstorms were predicted all week to strike in the afternoon. Checking the radar before I left the motel showed one thin line in central Pa. that was heading north, but was breaking up. Scattered thunderstorms were developing throughout central Ohio eastward to western Pa.

My hope was to at least see some racing so I could log the track. I called the track just to confirm they were racing and to my delight said they were going to start at 1:30 if everything was in place. It looked like there wouldn't be any problem of seeing quite a bit of racing before the rains came in.

After stopping at McDonalds for a quick breakfast I took my time making the hour drive up from Wilkes-Barre enjoying the beautiful sights on this perfect Sunday morning. I arrived at the track at about 11:45.

Five Mile Point Speedway is located just off Interstate 81 in Kirkwood, New York just minutes from Binghamton. The facility is somewhat rundown and reminded me of a smaller version of PA's Sportsman's Speedway. At noon they were already making the weather announcements that they were going to push the show along. Hot laps were going to start at 12:30 and they did. After hot laps a drivers meeting was held reiterating the weather situation and that they would need everyone's cooperation and that it was ultimately in the driver's hands to get the show in.

On the card was the twice rained out opening night portion of the National Quarter Mile Dirt Track Championship from October 14 & 15. Three sanctioning bodies came together for their championship events for the T3 All-Star 358 Modified Series, the Race of Champions Sportsman Modified Series Championship, and the BRC Late Model Series Championship. Car counts were strong with 41 358 modifieds and 37 sportsman modifieds, but only 12 late models and only a few hundred people in the stands.

Racing got underway just a couple minutes past 1:30. I was thoroughly impressed with the track officials and the entire operation, which takes a lot to do. They ran a tight-run show starting on time, no breaks between races, quick clean-ups of accidents, and line-up restarts. The flagman was the best I've saw all year. He did everything in his power to keep the show moving by not throwing quick, unnecessary yellows and counting laps before throwing the caution. The next race usually went green the next lap after coming out of the pits and lineups usually only took one lap before racing resumed.

The announcer was also very good and teamed with T3 Series coordinator Kenny Shupp, who is the announcer at Woodhull made for a good tandem. The announcer said they had four and half inches of snow a few weeks ago. On this first Sunday of November, people were out in short-sleeves and enjoying ice cream! They also had Papa John's Pizza, which I sampled.

Clouds rolled in during the heat races. A couple sprinkles fell during the 358 heats, which were run second. Some light rain began to fall during the late model heats but racing continued on without any delays nonetheless. Two B mains were scheduled for both the sportsman and 358s before they were going right into the features. The intenstity of the rain picked up during the first sportsman B main, but they were able to get it in. The cars came on the track for the second sportsman B main and they tried to keep them out there in order to not "lose the track," but the rain was too hard. The track monitored the radar all day. They said this band popped up unexpected and it would end shortly and there was a pretty big window before the front would come in.

Though it only rained for about 15 minutes after the cars were sent off, it was another 40 minutes or so before racing resumed. The rain did help provide a racy surface for the features as the sun and strong winds did a good job drying the track out in the heat races. The sun did return and the wind along with the help from the race teams got the track back to race ready at 3:50.

The B mains were completed, though the 358s took some time, and word was coming in that severe weather watches and warnings were being posted. The R.O.C. Sportsman feature took the green flag at 4:27 with 26 cars taking the green. I figured with that many modifieds on a 1/4-mile there would be a lot of bumping, banging and cautions, but to my delight the first 17 laps went non-stop. Another caution was displayed when racing resumed before seven more laps went green. The fourth and final caution came out with 32 laps in as the last eight went green-to-checkered. Mike Ketcham pulled off an upset to win the event as he led all the way for his first ever win, which was worth $1,000. Brett Tomkin challenged Ketcham throughout the event racing side-by-side at times, but didn't have quite enough to make the pass work. Danny Creeden, Brad Grim, and series champion Jason Hamilton rounded out the top five.

The 40-lap feature for the T3 All Star 358 Modified Series took the green flag just nine minutes after the start of the sportsman feature. The feature was a good one, but didn't run off so smooth as it was slowed eight times for cautions. The cautions were also much more lengthier than the sportsmans. Just past halfway of the event you could see the clouds rolling in, the wind really picked up, and lightning was evident in the distance.

Mitch Gibbs made it two-for-two as he swept both T3 events at Five Mile Point and became the series's only repeat winner of the season. Gibbs made the winning move on lap 31 after racing side-by-side for numerous laps with Rich Keehle, Jr. The victory was worth $2,000 for Gibbs. Keehle edged track champion Brian Weaver for second. J.R. Hurlbert had a strong run coming from 16th to place fourth over Glenn Knapp.

I gathered my stuff up and stood and watched the final three laps before making my getaway to the vehicle just before 5:30. I got just out of the track's parking lot and the rain began to fall and really picked up when I got on the interstate. I later found out they did complete four laps of the scheduled 25 for the late models before it rained out and it will be made up next year.

The wind and rain on I-81 was the strongest I have ever drove through. Luckily by the time I got on I-80 it tapered off and skies cleared for the trip home. I even saw a falling star land not too far off the interstate.

FMPS made for my eighth Empire State track of which half of them have been logged since June 2004. It was my 14th new track of the year with 13 of them have coming in the last three months. Though the facility itself left little to be desired for, I really enjoyed the show as the racing and operation of the event was some of the best I've witnessed all year.

89. 1/2 Mountain Speedway, Saint Johns, PA
90. 8/12 Big Diamond Raceway, Minersville, PA
91. 8/13 Mahoning Valley Speedway, Lehighton,PA
92. 8/13 New Egypt Speedway, New Egypt, NJ
93. 8/24 Westmoreland Fairgrounds (Rolling Rock Arena), Norvelt, PA
94. 9/9 Lake Erie Speedway (figure 8), North East, PA
95. 9/11 Thunder Moutain Speedway, Knox Dale, PA
96. 10/8 Columbus Motor Speedway, Obetz, OH
97. 10/9 Lawrenceburg Speedway, Lawrenceburg, IN
98. 10/15 35 Raceway Park (new 1/5-mile), Frankfort, OH
99. 10/16 Winchester Speedway, Winchester, IN
100. 11/5 New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, NY
101. 11/5 Greenwood Valley Action Track, Millville, PA
102. 11/6 Five Mile Point Speedway, Kirkwood, NY

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