What A Week!

Well, I've been back in Pennsylvania for nearly a week now and I'm still recalling the week's events from the Pensacola, Florida area. I apologize that I didn't get a chance to post any sooner, but I've been so busy with work that it has taken me all week to get around to posting photos, videos and typing this. Over 300 photos can be found at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064408&id=37801386&l=2fad6e2f6a and http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064439&id=37801386&l=2d91f346c3, and over an hour of videos can be found at http://www.youtube.com/ajcrdstr24.

The trip started off a little bit sluggish. Due to the dreary weather, my connecting flight from Charlotte to Pensacola was delayed about an hour and a half. Once I arrived in rainy Pensacola and got my rental car, I was ready for some dinner and headed straight to Beef O' Brady's where Speed 51 was doing a Internet radio show. Guests included Snowball Derby competitors Mike Garvey, Dan Fredrickson and eventual winner Johanna Long. From there, I headed back to the hotel to get some much needed rest. The good news was absolutely no inclement weather was expected for the remainder of the week.

When I woke up Wednesday I did my first of three days of sightseeing. After all, an advantage of traveling to races is seeing some great parts of the country as well. I headed west into Alabama for the first time in my life and into downtown Mobile. It's a very nice little historic city with good food. I then headed a little further south and checked out where Mobile Dragway and Mobile International Speedway were located. On the way back, I saw Hank Aaron stadium, which includes his childhood home and museum. Little did I know that I was only 15 minutes away from entering Mississippi. There's always next time!

Wednesday evening I headed to Five Flags Speedway for their Green Flag Party. As a spectator, I have never experienced anything like this! The pit area was opened to the fans for FOUR hours, with live music on the frontstretch part of pit road where fellow fans, drivers, crews and staff mingled and had a great time. I had a chance to talk to Chase Elliott about the Pro Late Model the team was working on right in front of us. The highlight of the night is when I got my picture taken with NASCAR driver David Ragan. Afterward, a guy nudged me and told me to look at the picture that was just taken. I looked up and it was Rusty Wallace's son Steve, and in the picture he was making a goofy face behind us. Priceless stuff right there! Before the evening came to an end, I made sure to thank the track general manager Tim Bryant for all him and his staff do and that as I fan I appreciated them making me feel welcome.

Thursday morning it was time for some more sightseeing. I headed down towards Pensacola Beach. Since the high temperature was only around 60 degrees the beach and area around it were fairly empty, but it was nice to see the Gulf looking very nice again. After my brief experience at the beach, I drove back to downtown Pensacola. I really like downtown there because it didn't really feel like much of a big city at all. There were very few one way roads, there was ample free parking available in lots of areas and there was plenty to check out. Following this it was finally time to head to the track to see some racing, even though it only consisted of Snowball Derby and Snowflake 100 practice sessions during the afternoon. Even at that hour in the middle of the week, the track parking lot was full. It would be that way the remainder of the week, but there were free parking and shuttles available about a mile down the road every day and night.

After practice concluded, I could have stayed to watch two of the local races at the track. However, I decided that I wanted to do some racing (or so I call it). Down at the Fast Eddie's Fun Center there were affordable go-kart races being held, in which some drivers and members of the media were competing too. It was a small slick track so you had to have some ability to handle your kart, although many of the races turned out to have quite a bit of beating and banging. I purchased a pass to race in one of the normal races they do as practice and I finished 3rd. This wasn't too bad because later on the top two finishers from each heat race would transfer to the next round. Following the media and Snowball Derby drivers races it was time for the Snowball Showdown heat races. I was in the first heat race, and I must say it was pretty neat hearing SPEED's Bob Dillner introducing my name prior to the heat race! It was even neater getting to rub fenders with him and drivers like former NASCAR Southeast Series champion J.R. Norris and Revolution Racing development driver Rebecca Kasten. Unfortunately, I did not transfer in either of the heat races I competed in. I was knocked around like a pinball and came home 7th in the first one. Then for an additional fee they allowed you to enter more heat races. I didn't do too bad in the next heat race, finishing 4th a few seconds behind three guys that are actually race car drivers. Overall, it was a fun experience and even though I hadn't seen an actual feature race at Five Flags Speedway I already had a spectacular week so far.

Friday morning was my last stint sightseeing and then later that day began the main reason I came to Pensacola. I drove down to the National Naval Aviation Museum. Prior to walking in I thought this will be something I can walk around and tour for about a half hour to an hour. I was totally wrong. I spent at least two hours gazing at all that the museum had to offer. Even if you are like me and don't have much knowledge about the subject matter, I would highly suggest learning from everything available in this museum. It was simply breathtaking and a privilege to walk around a building like this.

After a bite for lunch it was time to head to the track. Up first were practice sessions followed by Super Stock, Modified and Snowball Derby qualifying sessions. Cale Gale tied the all time track record set by Gary Balough in 1980 for the Snowball Derby! Qualifying was so competitive that big names such as Jeff Fultz, Mike Garvey and Clay Rogers were forced to take provisionals for Sunday's race. The night's Super Stock and Modified feature races were complete mayhem. I seriously lost count of how many red flags were flown during the evening. The modified winner took the checkered flag at 11:59PM, concluding a long, cold and probably expensive night for some.

Saturday turned out to be a much more pleasant day weather and racing wise. The late morning began with the final Snowball Derby practice session and then Snowflake 100 qualifying for the Pro Late Models. Then followed the Snowball Derby last chance race where Scott Hantz beat out Ryan Sieg for the win. Top drivers such as David Rogers, Stephan McCurley and Ryan Blaney were sent packing. Next up were the Snowflake last chance races. Chase Elliott qualified 2nd for the race, but his time was disqualified due to a minor technical infraction. Him and Daniel Hemric, who was DQ'd prior to qualifying, marched to the front and transferred into the feature. During the Snowflake 100 race it looked like Augie Grill was going to run away with the race, which surprisingly only had two cautions. However, Chase Elliott steadily moved towards the front all while saving his tires and came from 31st starting spot to win the 100 lap race. I was listening to the radio on my scanner and there is probably no one better than his dad and spotter Awesome Bill to calmly coach him to the front. The evening's festivities were over by 8:30PM, a full three and a half hours prior to the previous night. Now it was time to get some rest and get set for the big race on Sunday!

Sunday morning, the streets and the track were packed. It was finally time for the 43rd Annual Snowball Derby! The race started off very clean, with some great battles and passing for the lead positions. It seemed like no one could hold down the lead for more than ten consecutive laps. The first caution was a heartbreaker, because Eddie Mercer in his last Snowball Derby was involved and done for the day. The next 200 laps saw some great green flag racing with some cautions and multi-car wrecks peppered through. The first 250 laps showed me that these are some of the best short track racers in the country. It seemed like just about every driver in the race took their turn at running in the top five or top ten. Lots of pit strategies occurred and near the closing stages it looked like my dark horse pick Donnie Wilson was going to be the car to beat. He had already passed by such talents as Chase Elliott and Landon Cassill and had his sights set on leader at that time Bubba Pollard. Then the two got together sending Pollard spinning and the first of many cautions near the end of the race. I still thought that Wilson had this race won, but when crash after crash occurred it was apparent that Johanna Long had the car to beat on fresher tires. Making things a little more confusing for the fans and competitors was Five Flags Speedway's rule about finishing under green. Their rule is once lap 295 is complete they must run five non-consecutive green flag laps. It took them until about lap 325 to do this, which perhaps cost Wilson the win. After some controversial battles for the top positions Long ended up taking the lead and pulled away during the last two green flag laps of the race. The local girl from Pensacola secured the popular win! Even if the rules may have been confusing it was still quite the exciting finish, which is what I'm sure each and every fan went there for.

So now my time vacationing is over and it's back to reality. I would definitely like to go again, but even as a spectator the cost of traveling on my own to an event like this starts to escalate. I highly recommend experiencing the entire week's festivities and what Pensacola and the surrounding areas have to offer. If anyone reading this has an interest in going in the future, please let me know and maybe as a group we can all cut some of the travel costs for transportation, lodging, etc.

Next up will be the Motorsports 2011 show followed by the Atlantic City Indoor Races in mid to late January once again. Until then, I hope everyone has a great holiday season! Thanks for reading!

It's Almost Snowball Derby Time!

As I sit at my computer typing this blog, I keep counting down the days for what might be the single most exciting trip of my life! On Tuesday, November 30 I will depart the Harrisburg International Airport and connect to a flight to Pensacola from Charlotte. Amazingly, it will be my first time outside the eastern time zone. After arriving in Pensacola, I will ride in my first official rental car to my hotel and from there it will be time to check out the many attractions Pensacola, Florida has to offer and the several events going on all week leading up to the 43rd Annual Snowball Derby. I will document the entire trip with my camera and flip video, posting photos and videos for everyone to see when I get back.

If you are unfamiliar with the Snowball Derby, it is a who's who of short track super late model racing with a bit of NASCAR flavor. Current NASCAR drivers David Ragan, David Stremme and Landon Cassill as well as Truck Series drivers Ryan Sieg and Johanna Long will be there competing. Although defending race winner Kyle Busch will be busy attending the NASCAR banquet, he will still have a presence fielding two cars for the race. Future stars with some familiar last names Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Ross Kenseth will be there contending for the win. Former winners of the 300 lap race Augie Grill, Clay Rogers, Eddie Mercer, Dave Mader III and perhaps Bobby Gill will all be there. Other notables among the current 55 entries include former ARCA champion Tim Steele, current ARCA driver Grant Enfinger, ASA Midwest driver Dan Fredrickson, former Kevin Harvick Inc. driver Cale Gale just to name a few. A couple drivers who have a ton of laps at Five Flags Speedway but have come up short from winning the Snowball Derby will be there to try again: Wayne Niedecken Jr. and David Rogers.

The night preceding the big race will be a 100 lap pro late model race called the Snowflake. Currently approximately 65 cars are entered including many of the names that will headline the Snowball Derby. Among the drivers doing double duty will be Mike Garvey, Stephan McCurley, Johanna Long, Ryan Crane, Bubba Pollard, Josh Hamner, Chase Elliott and Augie Grill. Modifieds, Super Stocks, Sportsman and Bombers will all be on hand for feature races during the week as well.

Predictions for Snowball Derby: How can you go against the 14 year old phenom Chase Elliott who has 12 wins in a late model in 2010? I think he will be taking the biggest win of his career so far at the Snowball Derby. Ross Kenseth will turn in an excellent second place performance with 2010 USAR Pro Cup champion Clay Rogers finishing third. My dark horse pick is Donnie Wilson. This Oklahoma driver has not won any races of this magnitude, but he has someone who has calling the shots. Freddie Query has been his crew chief all year and they have steadily improved race after race. The feel good story will be if David Rogers, after years of trying, would make it into victory lane.

Predictions for Snowflake: The double duty drivers will reign supreme as Mike Garvey, who has won two recent pro late model races and I think he will be able to take home his third during the Snowflake 100. Fan favorite Johanna Long will finish second and Georgia driver Bubba Pollard third. Kenzie Ruston will be my dark horse for this race. She hasn't really had the finishes to show for it, but she has run very well in some of the late model races she has competed in this year. The feel good pick would go to Eddie Mercer as this may quite possibly be his last Snowball Derby week as a driver.

Predictions for Homestead: Jeff Gordon wins and becomes the first full time driver to win at every Cup track he's competed on. Despite the silly chase format, Kevin Harvick finishes 2nd and wins the championship anyway when Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin finish just outside the top ten, giving Richard Childress Racing their first Cup championship since they won it with Dale Earnhardt in 1994. Finally, after the major set back of the week when Furniture Row Racing's hauler was involved in an accident going back to the race shop, the team regroups and Regan Smith gets his first top ten since his win at Talladega in 2008!

Babbling About Television Ratings

It's a given that week after week the television ratings for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races continue to sag. Given the arguments about the economy with less people investing in cable and satellite television, opinions that the radio announcing team is better than certain television networks and the presentation of television coverage (with all the commercials) taking a hit; let's set those aside and look at a couple other factors that I feel are making a major impact.

I do not like comparing NASCAR to other professional sports, but for the television aspect it must be viewed this way. NASCAR, much like all professional sports, has several teams/drivers/players a fan can pick from and some have a greater fan base over others. For instance, in Major League Baseball how many times do you hear the phrase: this outcome "will reduce the TV ratings" whenever mainstream teams such as the Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox or Braves fail to make the World Series? The answer to that question brings us to NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been by far the Most Popular Driver over more than half of the last decade. With millions of fans, his continuous fading away from a chance at wins and championships over recent years has to be impacting the sport in a negative way, as many slowly turn their backs and lose interest.

I think while the culture of individualizing sports players/drivers into big stars through fan bases, contracts and endorsement deals has definitely made professional sports what they are today, it is no doubt killing them at the same time. Some members of these fan bases focus on their one particular team and could care less about the rest of them, and when their team is out of the running they change the channel to find other entertainment. Whatever happened to people watching sports for the sheer enjoyment of it? Less and less people seem to be interested in the underdog story anymore. Society has pushed this selfishness onto many of us, leaving us saying "if my team's not winning, then it doesn't matter!" Obviously, when I say many or most I'm referring to mainly the casual fans. The hardcore sports fans tend to stick with their sport through thick and thin.

The one exception appears to be the NFL, which continues to thrive in the ratings category. Just think that no matter who is playing, millions of people look forward to the Super Bowl each year. To add to it, gatherings occur throughout the season for Monday night, Sunday night football, etc. no matter what teams are in the limelight (of course I am aware in areas around the major cities there normally is a spike in interest). NASCAR has some elements similar to it, but in addition to the tracks' promotions I think NASCAR and the television networks need to strive a little more to make each of their races their own major event. More needs to be done than the posts on NASCAR.com's homepage or the 15 second commercial that airs. Some random person off the street will most likely be familiar with the Daytona 500 or Brickyard 400, but would they know what the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 in Loudon is unless they live in the New England area? Trying to think from the casual fan's mindset, it just seems like some of these races are just another weekend at some track that looks different from the last one they were at. How is that supposed to convince more people to watch?

NASCAR should take some aspects from the marketing efforts of the NFL, or even other successes such as the Olympics or college basketball's March Madness and learn something about making themselves something absolutely unique as possible once again. Make it something that anybody that just has a glimmer of interest can't miss. I'm just tired of seeing events generalized and the officials wondering why their ratings are down every week. The answers are right in front of you. Do something about it!

NASCAR On South Park

Before I begin, I would honestly say that I am quite the South Park fan. While some of their humor can be considered vulgar, derogatory or sometimes childish; most often they successfully and brilliantly put a hilarious spin on pop culture and make some things questionable in the world today pretty funny.

That was not entirely the case with the "NASCAR" episode of South Park. In no way was I offended by their take on their views of auto racing; however, I would like to critique the episode without going into too much detail and ruining it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

This particular episode could have been about just about any subject and I would have been slightly unimpressed. It appeared that they just slapped an episode together in a few hours and said "here you go, Comedy Central!" Obviously I'm not referring to the visual aspect of the show (which always sort of looks to be thrown together in a short amount of time, haha!), but more the substance and plot of the episode.

In retrospect, maybe the creators should have done some research such as reading articles about what has been going on recently, or even read various fans' blogs all over the Internet criticizing some moves NASCAR has made recently and somehow factor it into the episode. They've done the same thing with hundreds of other topics for years and kept audiences laughing over and over again.

I wouldn't even mind if they completely tore NASCAR apart as long as they did it the right way, which normally involves me laughing and saying "that's true!" It was unfortunate that I went into the evening looking forward to this episode and ended up for the most part disappointed.

All is good though. I'm sure they will be back to their normal ways next week...when they make fun of Jersey Shore.

I Honestly Never Thought I Would Say This, but...

...I went to the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway to watch some live racing! After experiencing the 2008 Daytona 500, I thought nothing would ever top that. Then, just over a year later I went to the reopened Rockingham Speedway and thought nothing would ever top that. Now I've been to the first stock car races at North Wilkesboro since 1996 and I've come to the conclusion that it just keeps getting better! The short track in the small North Carolina town may not have had as much three wide racing or hype as the Daytona 500 or didn't have Andy Hillenburg's rejuvenation and the speed of Rockingham, but it was the best overall race weekend atmosphere I've ever witnessed. Great food, great competitors and most importantly a great turnout of great fans were on hand and that's all North Wilkesboro needed to make it a successful first weekend back. Smiles were on everyone's faces throughout the entire race day. The only minor complaint I had was the old scoring pylon was not operable and it was a little hard to follow how many laps were complete during green flag racing. Initially I thought the old NASCAR Winston Cup Series painted walls were going to make the place look a little run down, but it along with the old 76 gasoline ball on pit road gave the track a very nostalgic look that you just don't see at almost any race track anymore. I literally cannot wait to go back for the 300 lap Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model race in April 2011! Photos from my trip can be found at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2061668&id=37801386&l=5ec159c551 (you do not need to be a Facebook member to view the album). Videos from the racing action can be found on my YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/ajcrdstr24.

And now...it's time to wind down for the next few months. I've been paying a moderate amount of attention to the NASCAR ranks, but haven't had a chance to watch or listen to any races from green to checker. Speaking of which, does anybody else mute their ESPN/ABC TV broadcast and listen to the MRN radio broadcast instead? In the news, I saw that Justin Allgaier has been set free by Penske to seek other options. How can Roger Penske do this?! Allgaier has proved that he is the most talented stand-alone Nationwide Series driver and has proved he is quite the versatile driver winning the ARCA championship a few years back with wins throughout his short career on short tracks, intermediate tracks, superspeedways, dirt tracks, road courses and even Pocono! If someone doesn't sign this rising star for 2011, something is completely wrong with NASCAR and I will be completely baffled about what can be done to save the future from going down the tube. Hopefully he doesn't go the same route as talent like Stephen Leicht and virtually disappear from the sport. On the other hand, I hope he doesn't go the Landon Cassill route and take one-race start and park rides with underfunded teams. Good for Landon getting his name out there, but there has to be a better way although I'm not sure what that could be. Auto racing has something that no other sport or competition experiences. Sure you need to have a bankroll if you want to aspire to be a professional at just about anything, but the bankroll needed for a professional racing career is astronomical when you compare it to just about anything else. Maybe that's what makes it so fascinating yet frustrating at the same time. It might be too early to be worried about this entire subject, but I sincerely hope that I'm not the one saying I told you so at Daytona in 2011.


Like I said before, I will pretty much be winding down getting into a bit of a save mode. I have one major poker tournament coming up in October where approximately the top dozen players will get invited to another tournament in Atlantic City where various prize packages will be offered. After that I'll be counting down the days until I get to fly down to Pensacola, Florida for the 43rd Annual Snowball Derby! More details about this upcoming trip to follow...

2011 Schedule Analysis and Other Exciting Happenings

I don't have much to gripe about regarding the last few weeks' happenings, but one thing I wanted to talk about is some of the schedule changes for the three major NASCAR series in 2011. Here's my summary of wins and fails:

- Kansas 2nd date: I'm torn between whether this is a WIN or FAIL. I don't really think they or any other 1.5 mile track with one date on the schedule deserves a second date, but technically it is replacing a California race date which suffered with sub par crowds and less competitive races. The June date is also a plus. The Midwest location is good and the new casino traffic could increase crowds much like I'm sure it does with Las Vegas and Dover; however, I would think Iowa should have been in the running for a Cup date. It has a Midwest location as well and it would put another short track on the schedule.

- Kentucky date: I'll have to go with this being a WIN. Excellent location, or so I've heard, for a race to be held and that along with the July date should attract a decent crowd. I'm not a big fan of Bruton or 1.5 mile tracks, but this race should be a pretty good one.

- Only one California date: WIN! The move of their only race back to late March should be a good thing, and maybe it will even attract some more fans to the races. Moving Phoenix to the old California date should also be a WIN, maybe a little bit reminiscent to the old Copper World Classic days.

- Only one Atlanta date: FAIL, but not necessarily NASCAR's fault. I think the track would be much better off if they had stuck with the original configuration and didn't convert it to the cookie cutter tri-oval format. When they lost the season finale they haven't really been able to rebound back either. Deletion of the March race is most likely a good thing, especially with the weather problems there have been in the past.

- Chicagoland date change: FAIL! It may be NASCAR's second largest market, but isn't that the case for most sports? It may attract fans to the race track, but I don't see any TV ratings increasing.

- Late July & August races being pushed back a week: WIN, but that might just be me being selfish. Now I get to see the annual micro sprint races that I go to every year during the last Saturday of July AND get the option of going to Pocono the following weekend to see the Truck Series and ARCA compete on Saturday. The races are back to the way they originally fell. The only downside is the Cup Series last break will be July 24. That's a lot of consecutive racing.

- Nationwide addition of Iowa race: WIN! Iowa gets rewarded after some large crowds and great racing. Now, if only the Cup Series would get a date and maybe you could hear or read the words SOLD OUT for once!

- Nationwide addition of Chicagoland race: FAIL! What is the point of this? Why not just run a second Kansas race with the Cup that weekend. If this is the start of their stand-alone plan to get less Cup drivers to compete for the championship then that is a FAIL as well, especially since none of the actual race dates conflict.

- Other Nationwide Schedule notes: Montreal moved to the same weekend as Michigan will take away from the prestige of the event a little, but on the other hand it will be a nice alternative for that weekend. One other note, two off weekends in a row in October? Why not go back to Martinsville or another short track that used to be on the schedule back in the series heyday instead?

- Truck Series notes: Overall schedule is still a FAIL. Way too many holes in the first half of the year. They tried to patch it a little bit with Darlington in March, but that doesn't make too much sense either. That may be an awfully cold race weekend for the fans. One Truck Series date is still TBA and it would be nice to see them go back to their roots with an additional short track race, but it's looking like they're going to Kentucky for a second time which doesn't make much sense. To sum it up the Truck Series will once again have great racing, but the schedule is quite unsatisfactory.

I have a couple more comments to add about this past weekend's races at Montreal. First of all the competition hasn't been the greatest to say the least regarding the Nationwide Series recently, but this is the race that I end up missing? Great finish and congratulations to Boris Said III and the entire RAB Racing crew. It's great to see a team like this in victory lane, and it can very well be the biggest upset since David Gilliland won at Kentucky a few years back. I hope the nice paycheck will keep RAB Racing around for awhile, and maybe the powers that be at Zaxby's may now think twice about not keeping their racing sponsorship predominantly within the family.

Prior to the Nationwide race was the Canadian Tire Series race, which also had an exciting although more controversial finish. If you didn't see it or hear about it, please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hba5ntCOLaw or to user Battalionfan888's YouTube page. My impression is there's a difference between payback for slight contact and dumping someone. Sounded and looked like there was a little favoritism from the officials and the crowd; however, the initial contact probably kept the officials from doing anything about it. There's been quite a conversation about this going on all year regarding Keselowski vs. Edwards, and it looks to be evident in other series as well.

Things have been a little quiet recently on the local front, as I'm gearing up for the return of racing to North Wilkesboro Speedway! Earlier in the month I enjoyed some 358 sprint and late model racing at Williams Grove Speedway featuring Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch. The NASCAR drivers got schooled! I went to Sundance Vacations Speedway during my birthday weekend and as always had a good time at the 1/3 mile track north of Hazleton, Pennsylvania up in the mountains. Videos from the racing action can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/ajcrdstr24. I also finished eighth in a Borgata qualifier tournament that same weekend and won the runner-up prize of $50 cash. It's better than nothing I suppose. It doesn't look like there will be any major poker tournaments coming up until October or November.

Next up will be the return of racing to North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina for the first time since Jeff Gordon won a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race there in 1996. The always exciting Pro All Stars Series along with the Allison Legacy Series, Limited Sportsmans and Stadium Stocks will be there Labor Day Weekend for the Labor Day Classic 200. The PASS South cars will be running 200 green flag laps and a fairly large turnout is expected. I'll have photos and video footage available after I get back.

Should We Start Keeping Track of Crew Chief Victories?

Ok...so the title is a little sarcastic, but seriously! Has anyone else noticed that the winners of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 2010 have been decided by mixed pit strategies in the end much more often than in the past? A team's pit crew plays a HUGE part in the overall performance during any given race weekend, but with late race cautions it's becoming a fact that one little mistake or one little gamble is the difference between a crew chief looking like a genius or a complete idiot. In the end it results in the best car sometimes not even having a chance to win. When the rain started falling after what ended up being the final pit stops during Sunday's race at Pocono, the announcers started comparing Sam Hornish staying out on the track to Dave Marcis' win at Richmond in 1982. I was barely a thought in 1982, but there's a huge difference. While he may not have battled for the lead, Marcis was one of a handful of cars that was in contention for the win. Hornish lost a lap on at least one occasion on a 2.5 track and ran around 25th the entire race with an ill-handling car and the team perhaps made a lucky gamble. As it turned out, the race went back to green and Greg Biffle who's team also made a gamble in the pits had the all important clean air and pulled away for the win. Congratulations to his team, but with these sometimes gutsy calls it takes out teams who stuck with their plans for four tires and fuel from contention. Where or should they draw the line? I have never looked at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as a 20 lap dash with an inverted field, but it sure is starting to look that way sometimes. One way to alleviate this is to not permit these teams from pitting for tires under caution after a certain point of the race. It would cut costs with teams possibly saving them at least one set of tires, and the end of the race would be more in the drivers' hands trying to handle their race car on old tires.

These sudden winners are also making the chase more of a crapshoot than it already is. To date, Biffle has been in contention for the win at most a couple occasions while Jeff Gordon has been in contention at least a half dozen times. However, due to the current rules Biffle will start the chase ten points ahead. If they're going to include the bonus points for winning the race, why not also include the bonus points for leading laps? It's ridiculous that Carl Edwards has led only six laps all season and currently will start the chase with as many points as guys like Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon who have led hundreds of laps during the season and ended up unlucky at the end of the race! Based on my calculations, with laps led included after 21 races the start of the chase would like this:



Notice that instead of what would normally be a 50 point difference between first and twelfth, there would be a 130 point difference. However, 130 points is still a margin that can be made up in ten races. Also, with laps led points maybe we could see some more intense challenges for the lead during the middle stages of races and not so many teammates letting each other by to lead some laps. One thing that so far would not make a difference this year, but I think should be reflected in the chase as well are points penalties. If a team gets penalized prior to the chase, why should they be allowed to start with a clean slate? Just look at how 2007 would have started for example:



Notice despite having the most wins Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are mid-pack to start off the chase due to their 100 point penalty earlier in the season. After the chase races the final point standings would have looked like this:



No major change in the final standings, right? However, the final points margin actually ended up being smaller. Maybe if NASCAR would have factored in laps led and penalties then maybe it would quiet many of the naysayers that think Johnson or Gordon cheated their way to the top two in points that year, or say that Bowyer didn't deserve third in points. This system would show teams earning their championships based on performance more than it does now. Why won't NASCAR look at a system like this that encompasses more than just one stat or a silly elimination format?

On the local side of things, mother nature butted into the night's racing action at Motordrome Speedway and postponed the last two local races. Luckily they were able to get the first two local shows and the Super Cup Stock Car Series race in, which turned out to be some decent races with some old names from the Pro Cup Series competing. Perhaps the biggest name in the field was Todd Peck, and unfortunately they suffered mechanical problems prior to the green flag and weren't even able to start the race. Videos from the trip can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/ajcrdstr24. Two weeks later I made an annual stop at Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway and for the first time in three years we didn't haven't to put up with any rain delays. The weather and the micro sprint racing were great!

Thanks to the encouragement from a friend, I have made a spur of the moment decision to attend the Battle at the Grove at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania on Thursday, August 4. This night of racing will feature Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart racing sprint cars and Kyle Busch racing a dirt late model. From there, I might go to Sundance Vacations Speedway north of Hazleton, PA for some local racing a couple weeks later. Possibly more videos and another blog post coming in late August.

Empty-Handed, But At Least The Future Looks Good

There are various subjects to talk about in this blog edition. Unfortunately, I came back from Atlantic City empty handed. I played in the $300 + $50 No Limit Hold'Em Poker Tournament on Tuesday, June 22nd, and for seven hours the deck of cards was extremely cold to me. I managed to hold on to about 35th place out of the 191 that started, which I feel was very respectable considering the cards I was dealt and the very few maneuvers I was able to make with the cards I did have. Despite not cashing it was a very enjoyable experience. The only thing I'll have to do differently next time will be to change my mindset a little bit on how a play certain hands. After playing free tournaments and $100 and less cash tournaments for the past five years, I found out that playing a $300 tournament is a very different game. People respect your raises and I feel like I could have made a couple more maneuvers with some hands that I decided to fold, or not raise so much when I had a good hand. Would it have made the difference between making the final four tables and making it into the cash? Probably not, but you never know with the game of poker. It was definitely a learning experience and I left Atlantic City satisfied with how I played. I'll be saving up some money to head down there another time. Back home the game of poker has worked out well for me, making a profit in every game I played in during the last week. The Pennsylvania table games are opening for business during the month of July, but I'm trying to stay away for the moment, avoiding the crowds and saving a few bucks. I'm entered in a couple more invitational tournaments in the coming weeks, which offer some more prize packages including Atlantic City trips so we'll see how I do in them. One of them that I'm proud to say I've qualified for the third year in a row for is the Venue Leader Tournament. I qualified for this through a bar I play a free game at just about every week and I accumulated the most points for 2009. In the past couple years, this tournament has offered prizes to all the finishers at the final table and the winner has received a Borgata prize package valued at approximately $1,000.

Moving over to NASCAR News, I must say that I'm very discouraged with some of these things Brian France has to say about what they are considering for the chase. Elimination format? Jumbling race tracks around each year? Why would they want to do this? I can't stand when they start comparing racing to other sports, saying that an elimination format would be similar to College Basketball March Madness. No, it won't be. Competition in racing has NOTHING to do with other sports and should not be compared to them. Instead of trying to find a way to boost interest in the season finale, why not help the individual race tracks some more and focus on each individual race? The more they focus on the end of the season, the more the ratings and fan interest in races throughout the rest of the season will continue to decline. Shuffling or revolving dates around in the chase will not work either. NASCAR has set itself apart for being the unique sport to hold it's "Super Bowl" during the beginning of the year at the Daytona 500. Now, they're thinking about trying to revolve dates around like the NFL does for their season finale? It will not work and I don't know how they expect to generate increased interest in this besides on television. Sponsors have commitments to the current last race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Many fans count on the race in their area to be in a certain specific date range each year so they can plan accordingly and purchase tickets. It's not the same as other sports. NASCAR fans don't have half the season as home games; at most they have two. A maneuver like this would price out several fans, which I assume would decrease the attendance at races even more.

Despite some of the questionable moves NASCAR is considering and the almost non-existent rookie battle in 2010, the next generation of possible NASCAR competitors looks very promising. Three sons of current NASCAR competitors have especially caught my eye over the last couple years: Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Ross Kenseth. All three, while they most likely have more funding, media training and are getting an earlier start than many competitors, are proving with their performance on the short tracks that they are the drivers of the future while keeping a very level-headed and often times humble demeanor. The thing I like most about these three is the steady approach that their families are taking in moving them up the racing ladder.

- Most notably is Chase Elliott, son of 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott. He has taken the Super Late Model world by storm with several wins in recent months. With support from Ford, Aaron's and Red Bull, just about any good driver should be running well in that equipment, but Chase isn't getting overly cocky about his performance and appears to be learning something every time he takes to the racetrack. And who better to have as a mentor than his dad Bill? His young age of 14 will allow him to continue to gain track time before he's able to move up to the next level at 16 and then to the top NASCAR levels if he's ready at age 18.

- Ryan Blaney may be the more underfunded of the three with his dad, NASCAR competitor and former USAC and World Of Outlaws champion Dave Blaney, providing support pretty much for the entire race team. However, he has definitely caught my eye as the one to watch for in the next few years. I had the chance to see Ryan for the first time in 2008 at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, North Caroliona when he was making one of his first PASS South Super Late Model Series starts. He qualified about mid-pack, but kept his car in one piece and finished sixth. The next year I saw him race at Orange County Speedway and at one point he held a half lap lead. Unfortunately, he was involved in an altercation not of his own doing which led to a cut tire and an unfavorable finish. In 2010 he has been one of the drivers to beat in the PASS series, nearly lapping the field at the season opener in Dillon, South Carolina and winning once more to date. This is another example of a young driver who is taking his time to move up. He has spent nearly three years in super late models and him and his dad have even discussed some dirt track racing in the near future. By the time Ryan is ready to make the next step, he will already be a well-seasoned short track racer.

- Ross Kenseth is probably the one that I know the least about, but he is the son of 2003 NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth. In my opinion, he quietly came onto the stock car racing scene in 2007 when he began competing in the Big 8 Late Model Series, which I believe is a limited late model series in the Midwest that competes in some shorter distance races. He was fast qualifier that year in October at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in Wisconsin, and claimed two wins in 2008. In 2009, he won the series championship. Later that year, he gained some recognition when he qualified his super late model on the outside pole for the 2009 Snowball Derby. While being involved in a couple minor altercations, Ross brought his car home to a 12th place finish completing all 300 laps. Matt Kenseth finished last in his first Snowball Derby in 1995. In 2010, Ross has moved up to the ASA Midwest Tour and won for the first time in the second race of the season. In the tour's most recent race at Madison International Speedway in Wisconsin, he finished third to his father and Midwest short track legend Steve Carlson. Ross will run the balance of the series schedule and also has a few trips South planned, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him run one more season with the tour in 2011 while traveling a little bit more when he can before making the move to the next level.

My racing travels will take me next to Motordrome Speedway in Smithton, Pennsylvania to see the Super Cup Stock Car Series along with the track's local racing divisions on Friday, July 16. The Super Cup Stock Car Series was formed in late 2007 after escalating costs chased out some teams from the USAR Pro Cup Series. It's a very low cost and low profile racing series that I look forward to seeing for the first time. The current point leader is Todd Peck, who's uncle Tom Peck raced in the NASCAR Busch Series for many years. I once again will be capturing video footage and will upload it to my YouTube account. A couple weeks later I will be making an annual stop at the local Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway North of Lititz, PA to see some Micro Sprint races with some friends. I will not be taking any video or pictures as I've decided to just take in the racing for the evening.

So Close Yet So Far Away

The title is the main theme for this blog post, as it pertains to many aspects in the poker and racing world. My first example unfortunately once again is in the poker world. I qualified for a tournament which occurred over the weekend where the top three finishers win prize packages to the Borgata in Atlantic City valued at $2,000 for first and $1,000 for the runners up. I fought through the field of 80 players and nearly six hours later arrived to the final table of eight. I was down in chips compared to most of the other players and knew it was going to be an uphill battle. I made it pretty far, but once again got unlucky and came up short finishing fifth. It gets frustrating being so close to winning a major prize, but I've been keeping my head up. It's excellent practice for the real thing, which will occur Tuesday, June 23 when I go to the Borgata with my own cash and play in a $300 tournament. My recent finishes keep me optimistic because if I play as well as I have and dodge some tough luck there is no doubt in my mind that I can make it into the cash.

Being so close yet so far away can sometimes be a good thing. This past Saturday night was a prime example. The weather forecast looked iffy, but my friend and I made the two hour drive to Mahoning Valley Speedway to see some local racing as well as the Seven Card Stud Modified 100. Everything was going fine until early evening when the clouds started closing in during the heat races. Then during the preliminary features the thunder started rumbling, and during and following the 4C Super Modified race lightning was seen appearing to be striking behind the trees right outside the track. Things looked grim. The Modifieds came out for their pace laps and on the wave lap the raindrops started coming down. Fans including my friend and myself started briskly walking to our cars. Modifieds were called into the pits. However, before we made it to my car the rain suddenly stopped. Modifieds were called back onto the track and we headed back to the stands. The rain diminished to some drizzle and then a few minutes later came to a stop. We had dodged a bullet. The rest of the night was precipitation free and full of lots of side by side action. Videos from the night's racing can be found at http://www.youtube.com/ajcrdstr24.

A driver that has been the class of the field in the series that they race in is a prime example of someone who has been so close yet so far away from making it in NASCAR's top series: Clay Rogers. In my opinion, this guy is the number one short track driver in the country that deserves another shot. He has won three USAR Pro Cup Series championships with three different teams and is running circles around the competition with a fourth different team in 2010. He's had his chance in the NASCAR Nationwide and Truck Series, but I don't feel he's had a legitimate opportunity to show what he can do. In 2001, the then 20 year old received the call to drive for Robbie Reiser when Cup Series rookie Matt Kenseth couldn't drive the stand-alone events. At this time, Rogers only had one full year experience in these types of cars and struggled much like Ricky Stenhouse and Colin Braun have in the Nationwide Series this year. His other full time opportunity came mid-season in 2007 in the Truck Series. However, the team he drove for Spears Motorsports closed their doors following the season and Rogers never had much of a chance to show his talent on the track with a team that was on it's way out of the series. What impressed me the most was in 2005 when he drove for the underfunded Glynn Motorsports team. He had a fourth and eighth place finish and only failed to complete two laps in five starts. He even competed in the Nationwide Series finale that year for the same team and finished 14th on the lead lap, moving up from 33rd starting position. Unfortunately, once again, the team closed up in 2006. His impressive finishes in recent years in one-off starts with ARCA should be turning somebody's head as well. If I was an owner or a sponsor this guy would be the first person on my radar, and I'm baffled why he hasn't received the nod to move up to a top series with a top team.

NASCAR's latest announcements and rumors regarding their cars are an example of an organization being so close yet so far away. They're finally getting it. The current STOCK cars look absolutely nothing like anything you would drive on the street and it seems like they're finally going to change some things around with the splitter and perhaps switch to the pony car models. It may not be exactly what NASCAR in the past was all about, but it's a way better option than the Fusion and Impala which are not very comparable to the Thunderbirds and Monte Carlos of the past. Even if these new cars are a success and eventually result in less of an expense for the teams, there is still a lot that needs to be done regarding cost containment. The disconnect between the main three series and all of the developmental, short track touring and grassroots series is outrageous. I miss the days when the K&N Pro Series (then Winston West and Busch North) teams could run semi-competitively in front of a live national audience with the Cup and Nationwide Series a few times a year when they came to their neck of the woods. Besides the tape-delayed broadcasts of their races where has the exposure gone? How does NASCAR expect anyone besides a multi-millionaire businessperson or a kid with a vast amount of financial backing to make the giant leap to the top three series in the future? At this moment, the expansion or even stability of NASCAR (there is always team attrition) are looking bleak. Just look at the manufacturer involvement in stock car racing in recent years:

- Besides Penske, there is ONE competitive Dodge team in the top three series, Jason White. However, Mopar has a vast involvement in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series with nearly half the field driving Dodges, sponsorship of the Mopar Fast Five Award and primary sponsorship of one of the full time drivers.

- Despite struggling GM's gradual movement away from NASCAR the Chevrolets are still strong, predominantly because of Hendrick and Childress equipment. However, they helped produce the new Chevrolet Camaro body that races in the Sunoco National Tour: a model that they wouldn't even approve to race in the Nationwide Series! GM Performance Parts is also a sponsor with the series and I believe they have at least some involvement in the development of their spec engines.

- Ford's decline in involvement is evident with their performance in the top three series, especially the Truck Series where their only remaining long time representative Rick Crawford's team recently stopped competing due to a lack of funding. However, they announced that they will have a contingency program with the American Canadian Tour for teams that support their Ford crate engine program.

- Even Honda is entering the world of stock car racing, but through the development of a new body and fuel injected engine in the ISCARS series. Fuel injection is being considered for the future of NASCAR. Even though the cars and motors differ shouldn't NASCAR be paying more attention to and endorsing this concept?

The only manufacturer that seems to be keeping up with their involvement is the youngest of NASCAR's manufacturers: Toyota. As you can see from the examples, the manufacturers are continuing involvement in stock car racing throughout North America while they gradually reduce support in the most advanced series. It's very interesting because years back the short track series were saturated with General Motors products and none of the other manufacturers were providing any support. Now it appears to be going in the reverse direction. Something is wrong! If NASCAR worked more with the manufacturers and the lower-level series to explore technology that is more cost effective, maybe the manufacturers, sponsors and most importantly the fans would regain interest and more teams would be capable of advancing into NASCAR's mainstream!

As I digress finally, the next race I'll be going to is so close yet so far away. In fact, I'm not 100% sure when and where I'll be going next. Chances are I'll be traveling a few hours west to Motordrome Speedway near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the month of July. They have a few special events to pick from during the month: the Super Cup Stock Car Series visits on the 16th, ISCARS on the 23rd and the ARCA Truck Series will be there on the 30th.

Close But No Cigar and Looking Ahead to Upcoming Races and the Summer Months

Once again I have come home empty handed after the latest round of poker tournaments over the past couple weeks. Some heartbreak was involved including finishing second in a $500 winner-take-all tourney when I got unlucky during the last hand. I'm starting to feel like Jeff Gordon with all these recent second place finishes, haha! Suffered an enormous bad beat this past Sunday during the middle stages of a tournament, which I prefer not to go into detail about in this blog. Have no fear though, I'll be back on the horse and giving it another try again. Next month I'm putting up my own money and plan to enter one of the Borgata Summer Poker Open events in Atlantic City, most likely the Tuesday June 22nd $300 + $50 event.

The bad news is with all the poker playing I didn't get to see hardly any of the NASCAR All-Star race. Heard it was a good race, but since I don't have much to say about it I'll just move on. I did catch some of Indy 500 qualifying. I didn't mind the new and much easier to follow qualifying format; however, it seemed to lack the suspense that the old drawn out process had in the past. Maybe it was just the fact that Helio Castroneves set a blistering pace and backed it up twice. Maybe it's just my perception of it, considering I don't get Versus and had to watch and listen to the IMS feed on my computer. I miss ABC/ESPN's coverage of qualifying; for the most part I thought they have done a great job covering the Indy 500. Nevertheless, it should be a good race even though it might be another battle between Penske and Ganassi for the win. The favorite once again is Castroneves, but I'm going to predict one of his teammates Will Power or Ryan Briscoe will be drinking the milk in victory lane at the end of the day.

The good news about my early exit from the poker tournament on Sunday was that I arrived home in time to see the tail end of the NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony. It looked like it was very well run. One of a few things that crossed my mind after reading a couple articles online is down the road who will and won't be "Hall of Fame" worthy? Sure there are at least a couple dozen drivers that no doubt will be inducted over the next few years, but what will happen a decade or so from now? In my opinion, since it is the NASCAR Hall of Fame the inductees should cover all of NASCAR's current and past series. Future inductees should include the late great Modified legend Richie Evans, Jack Ingram, Sam Ard, Hershel McGriff, multi-time Whelen All American Series champion Larry Phillips, and dirt racers Steve and Joe Kosiski just to name a few. What about guys like A.J. Foyt who had their share of stock car success in addition to their open wheel fame or anyone else who may make a successful crossover in the future? Will their overshadowing success in other forms of racing prohibit them from being a NASCAR Hall of Fame member? Will they continue inducting five a year or will they begin to back off at some point? If it eventually only becomes a couple a year this could all be a moot point.

The one sad thing I see is out of today's racers I don't see many current non-Cup drivers being future Hall of Famers. The Nationwide Series is so top-heavy with Cup drivers and there doesn't seem to be many dominating forces in the touring series anymore. There are a few current or fairly recent drivers that I wouldn't be surprised to see there when I become old and gray. Ron Hornaday Jr. since he pretty much has been the face of the Truck Series. Mike Stefanik who won championships in stock cars and modifieds in the same season two years in a row. Robert Huffman some may not remember brought Toyota it's initial success in NASCAR in the Dash Series. He's now a crew chief for the Revolution Racing team in the East Series, and if he remains with the team and they achieve continued success for years to come that's one more reason he should be considered. Phillip Morris could also be considered if he continues his championship winning ways in the Whelen All-American Series.

No matter what happens in the future, the NASCAR Hall of Fame looks like an immaculate facility. I plan to visit there sometime in 2011; a little bit after the initial hype similar to my interest in going to Bowman Gray Stadium following the Madhouse TV series.

Over the upcoming weeks there will be a few things to look forward to. The annual day before Memorial Day and perhaps one of the greatest days of the year in auto racing: the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600. Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne appear to be the men to beat in the 600 so I'll have to pick one of them to win again. However, the great part about the 600 is drivers have broken through with their first career win or first win in awhile before. I don't realistically see a first-time winner this year, but there are many drivers that are looking for their first win in quite awhile. Could Jeff Gordon return to the glory he had at Charlotte in the 1990's? The Roush drivers and guys like Burton, Martin and Earnhardt Jr. are looking for their first win of the year. This race is always worth staying up for!

The next race I will be going to is coming up quick. Current plan is to go to Mahoning Valley Speedway in Lehighton, Pennsylvania on Saturday, June 12th for some local racing including a 100 lap Modified race, the first of a seven race 7 card stud poker series where the driver with the best five card poker hand wins a $2,500 cash bonus at the end of the year. A unique idea I must say. I'll be posting a blog update following the race and will post links for some video that I plan to capture again.

Hickory Recap and More NASCAR Analysis

I'm back from another great trip to North Carolina and saw some great races at Hickory Motor Speedway. I completely forgot that the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown was in Virginia on Thursday night. Maybe next year if the dates align again I could take a longer vacation and head down to the Richmond area for that race and head down to North Carolina the following day. Although all five divisions at Hickory seemed a little low in car count (biggest field I believe was 21 USAR Pro Cup cars), it definitely was worth going.

The winners of the Allison Legacy Series and Rolling Thunder Modifieds led every lap of the race, which is fine with me because if you have the fastest car why not try and lap the field. It seemed like in the ISCARS race that many of the teams suffered and dealt with mechanical problems, but there was a great side by side battle for the lead for much of the race. In the USAC Ford Focus Midgets and USAR Pro Cup Series races it goes to show you that even if a car runs away with the show it's not over until the checkered flag. It always amazes me that people will just leave the track in the middle of a race if there's not a battle for the lead. In my book, they're not real race fans. There were still battles for position all over the track and near the conclusion of both races the dominant leader's engine expired. I must add that it was awesome seeing a Food Country USA #75 in victory lane! Videos of the races can be found at http://www.youtube.com/ajcrdstr24. Recaps and race results can be found at all of the series official web sites.

I said in the previous paragraph that the race isn't over until the checkered flag and it could not be more true especially in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2010. I have to admit that the Daytona 500 finish was one of the best I've seen in a long time and at first was a fan of the multiple green-white-checker rule. However, it seems like time and time again the same story evolves. Someone gets into trouble late in the race and whether it is a big wreck or just an innocent spin, NASCAR has thrown the caution. This is where I feel the end of these races have turned into something comparable to the end of a poker game. The stakes are high and the drivers and teams have used skill to get into the position they are currently at. Everyone is gunning for the current leader who in many cases this year has led the most laps and failed to win; basically making him a bit of a sitting duck during the late stages. So the teams start gambling whether it be through pit strategy or risking thousands or maybe even millions of dollars worth of parts by making a decisive maneuver for the win (Talladega for instance). This has happened in past years on occasion as well, but even more so this year. The multiple green-white-checkered finishes are where the luck factor comes into play, which isn't all that bad but for it to happen almost every race (once again Talladega for instance) has been getting sort of ridiculous.

What is the solution? Maybe it will just take time. Maybe these drivers just have to get used to it and prove they are the best drivers in America. After all it's worked well for years in the Truck Series and several short track divisions throughout the entire country. Maybe I'm not like most race fans, but I don't mind seeing the dominant car win more often than not, and a lot of times if that car, driver and/or team falters near the end of a race I feel their pain. For the time being, if I want to see the end of a poker game I'll go to Atlantic City.

Over the next month I won't be going to or watching many races anyway due to some poker tournaments I will be concentrating on, including playing for top prizes such as $500 cash, a trip to Atlantic City and a trip to Las Vegas. Just like every year, I look forward to tuning in to see the Indy 500 and Coca Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend. In June, I'll probably go see a local race or two at Mahoning Valley Speedway, Sundance Vacations Speedway or maybe even consider traveling to Port Royal Speedway for the first time to see some dirt racing.

I'll be back later in the month to share my poker results, preview the summer and maybe have another comment or two regarding the world of NASCAR.

Victory at Last in the Poker World and Recent Weeks in the Racing World

I can finally say that I won a fairly major poker tournament "freeroll," with the help of a friend of mine. We competed in a "Tag-Team" Texas Hold'em tournament where I would play the first blind level and then he would take over the next level with the same chip stack and so on until the tournament was over. We came back several times from near death and while I didn't think I pulled my weight in the beginning, I definitely feel like I redeemed myself near the end!

As with many free to enter tournaments there was not an outright cash prize, but we both are now qualified for another tournament later in the year in which we will play against approximately thirty players for a chance at entry into another tournament that takes place at the Borgata in Atlantic City. In the invitational tournament at the Borgata, everyone gets a prize and the winner normally gets an entry into a major tournament that takes place at the Borgata as well. As with many things in life, you have to use momentum to your benefit in order to succeed consecutive times and win the ultimate prize. We'll see if I'm up for the challenge, but most of all I'm just happy to have the opportunity and have a good time while I'm trying!

The next major poker tournaments might potentially take place on the same day in late May. One of them will be for a trip to the Borgata and another will be for a trip to Las Vegas and entry into a $1,500 World Series of Poker event in the summer. Last year in the WSOP qualifier event, I finished second so I will be very hungry to redeem myself. Win or lose, I have some money set aside to travel down to Atlantic City for one of the Borgata Summer Open events in June. Should be a fun experience!

The most intriguing news as of late in auto racing has to be Kasey Kahne's move to Hendrick for 2012. While I'm not really a fan of Kahne, I see it as a pretty good maneuver by Hendrick Motorsports to sign him. I just hope that they will work closely with Mark Martin to keep him in competitive equipment if he wishes to keep racing past 2011. The last thing I would want to see is such a class act like Martin struggle in sub-par equipment during his twilight years in NASCAR.

Talladega is coming up. Let's hope that this year's races will rekindle my interest in attending races there someday. Usually my favorite race to watch during the Talladega race weekend is the ARCA race. I'll be rooting for the restrictor plate master, Lebanon, PA's Bobby Gerhart to win once again! I feel that overall ARCA has the most entertaining race, although the Nationwide and Cup races normally have some wild finishes. Let's hope those finishes this year are mostly a result of competitive side-by-side racing during the late stages and not a complete demolition derby like we've seen often in recent years at Talladega.

For any short track racing fans, how about the competitive fields and car counts in some of these series? Namely, the fifty cars that showed up for the PASS South Series Easter Bunny 150 that took place at Hickory Motor Speedway. It makes me look forward to going to their North Wilkesboro race on Labor Day weekend later in the year even more! Another short track series that is turning some heads but may not get as much attention is out in the Southwestern part of the United States: the SRL Southwest Tour which has many of the same drivers and cars that competed in the former NASCAR Southwest Series. There were more than thirty cars for their season opener last month at All American Speedway in California. This is a series that struggled to get twenty competitive cars to an event during the past few years. Great to see short track racing alive and well!

On the local front, a friend and I made it out to Big Diamond Raceway near Pottsville, Pennsylvania to see some dirt modified racing last weekend. The weather would have been much nicer if we had gone the weekend before, and we heard that it was standing room only throughout the stands which is a great thing to hear. However, the Friday night we made the trip we braved the approximately forty degree weather to see some great racing. It was probably the best time I have ever had watching an event in weather that chilly.

No pictures or videos were taken from the Big Diamond event; however, I will be bringing my Flip Video when I travel down to Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina later this month for what should be an excellent night of short track racing. Scheduled to compete are the USAC Ford Focus Midgets, Allison Legacy Series, Rolling Thunder Modifieds, ISCARS Dash Series and the USAR Pro Cup Series headlining the night with a 250 lap race. Videos will be posted on my YouTube account following the race. Hopefully the weather will be a little warmer for this event, and most important of all precipitation free!

Last of all, how about them Duke Blue Devils?! They weren't my pick to win it all this year, but it's always great to see coach Mike Krzyzewski and his players work hard and take home another title. In my opinion, it was one of the best championship games in years and both Duke and their unlikely opponent the Butler Bulldogs showed that they deserved to play for the college basketball title. Now college basketball is over and it's full steam ahead in the racing world for the next several months!

Spring And Short Track Racing Are Right Around The Corner

There's been a hint of warmth in the air and it's making me look even more forward to the Spring, Summer and the start of the short track racing season! The first month of the NASCAR season has been interesting to say the least. My opinion of the Edwards/Keselowski wreck is that there is a difference between retaliation and purposely wrecking someone on a straightaway going over 190mph. Clearly I didn't agree with the call, but since the subject has been beaten to death over the last week that's all I am going to say.

Many might say that there is nothing to look forward to during this weekend with the lack of NASCAR races, but the casual NASCAR fan just has to look a little harder as several racing series are in action. The UARA late model stock car series is in Hickory, North Carolina for their season opener and in addition to the great short track drivers in the field is Sprint Cup Series competitor Max Papis. He's driving a car owned by Jarit Johnson (Jimmie's brother). The PASS South Series has approximately 30 super late models in Dillon, South Carolina for their first points race of the year. The CRA super late models are at the new Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia. These races, along with most of their races all season long, have live coverage and online radio broadcasts at various Web sites. In addition, many short tracks around the country are opening up for the season now or in the coming weeks. If one of the tracks near you is opening up or if one of the aforementioned series is coming to town I strongly urge anyone to record the NASCAR race on TV and go see some great short track racing!

As for my travels, I'm still trying to firm up where to go in 2010. I got a taste of the racing world in early March with a visit to the Sundance Vacations Speedway Laurel Mall Race Car Show. Lots of great 2010 cars that will race at that track in various divisions were on display. Photos I took can be viewed at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050378&id=37801386&l=ec73e7e6ee. The next local race I'll be going to will be in April to Big Diamond Raceway near Pottsville, PA. I went there for the first time last year and can't wait to get back and see some great dirt modified racing.

May will be my first travel South for the year, but I'm not 100% sure where I'll be going yet due to the various amount of options during that month. UARA and the USAR ProCup Series will be at Rockingham in mid-May. CRA has put together a two-race weekend taking place at Tri-County Motor Speedway and Hickory Motor Speedway, which is sure to see many of the Southeast's top super late model drivers. However, the race I'll most likely be going to is Saturday, May 1 at Hickory. The USAR ProCup Series will headline a jam packed night of touring series action with a 250 lap race. In addition, the ISCARS Dash Series will have a 125 lap race and will debut their new Honda in that race, the Rolling Thunder Modifieds, Allison Legacy Series, and USAC Ford Focus Midgets will also be there.

One thing is for sure: my flight and rental car are booked for my trip to the Snowball Derby in December!

As for the next few weeks, racing will slightly take a back seat to March Madness as I enter numerous NCAA Tournament pools and probably lose miserably again. My pick to win it all: Kansas.

Atlantic City Wrap Up and Daytona Preview

Well it was a snowy weekend, but the Atlantic City Indoor Races still went on as scheduled! This year's race was a lot more exciting, and many believe it was due to some of the changes that were made to the layout of the track. There were still several cautions and some scary moments, but there was lots of side by side racing. It was interesting seeing the mix of drivers in the field, including some of the Northeast's top Micro Sprint and TQ Midget drivers, a few NASCAR modified drivers and even a multi-time Indy 500 competitor! It was my first time using my Flip Video and I love it! I got some great shots from the pre-race "FanFest" and compiled them together. The videos are up at http://www.youtube.com/ajcrdstr24. Also, photos from the Motorsports 2010 show can been viewed at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049140&id=37801386&l=aefe0df5fa.

Now the focus has shifted to Daytona Speedweeks. It looks like Hendrick Motorsports is the team to beat once again. I may be biased since I'm a fan of them, but I think this is the year Jeff Gordon becomes a 4-time Daytona 500 champion. If not, then it could be Jimmie Johnson with his second Daytona 500 victory. Don't count out the Childress cars either, and my underdog picks are David Reutimann or Marcos Ambrose. The sentimental pick would be fast qualifier Mark Martin. No doubt he will have a front running car, but it would be great to see him pull off the victory.

The Nationwide Series looks like it will be another dose of "Cup Lite" this year. I haven't seen an entry list yet, but the Gibbs cars are most likely the favorites, but my pick is whoever is in the KHI #33. I think it's going to be Kevin Harvick, but it could be Tony Stewart or Ryan Newman.

The Truck Series should be exciting this year with a bunch of new teams coming in, but I believe it will be another battle between Ron Hornaday and Todd Bodine, with Hornaday coming out on top this time for KHI and new crew chief Dave Fuge. Surprisingly, Hornaday has never won a Truck race at Daytona.

Lastly, I'd like to say kudos to a team from my neck of the woods as Lebanon, PA's Bobby Gerhart won his sixth Daytona ARCA 200 Saturday. He has Daytona down to a science and seems to be one of the nicest guys in the garage area. In fact, he was one of the first drivers I ever met when I moved to PA at the age of five.

As for me, it looks like I'll be spectating from the couch the next few months. No travels planned, except for a poker tournament in late February in Myerstown, PA. However, I might venture out in the Spring weather to one of my local tracks in April, perhaps Big Diamond Raceway near Pottsville, PA. In May I plan to travel down South for the first time in 2010, but haven't decided where yet. The good thing is there are many options for where to go in May when it comes to short track racing!

First Big Racing Weekend of 2010 Preview

Welcome to 2010 everyone! I've already cashed in a poker tournament and the racing season is about to begin!

In fact, I'm looking forward to the first big racing weekend of 2010. No, I'm not talking about the Daytona 500 or Speedweeks. I'm talking about the last weekend of January where there will be several races across the United States and even one major event overseas.

In my opinion, the Free State 500 sanctioned by the American Speed Association taking place at Phakisa Freeway in South Africa will be the most interesting race of the weekend. There are two ways to look at this event and they're both valid points. On a track similar to Las Vegas Motor Speedway with cars very similar to the NASCAR Camping World East and West Series, some have been saying that it's going to be a very inexperienced field and could potentially be a disaster. I'm taking the optimistic approach and applauding ASA president Dennis Huth for giving several drivers, their crews and families an opportunity of a lifetime to be a part of this race. Two very experienced drivers, Geoff Bodine and Ron Barfield, could be the favorites but they are no doubt going to be helping out some of these inexperienced drivers prior to the race. Many time Midwest late model champion Steve Carlson and many time Northwest late model champion Gary Lewis have deserved a shot like this for several years. Don't count them out, as well as NASCAR competitor Scott Wimmer's younger brother and my pick to win Chris Wimmer, and young drivers Marc Davis and Tiffany Daniels. Also, who knows what the international competitors in the field will have for the drivers from the states. It should be an exciting race, and is supposedly going to be televised although I haven't seen anything official.

Perhaps the most notable race of the weekend will be the 24 Hours of Daytona. Although I don't follow sports car racing very much, the annual endurance event always has an interesting mix of drivers and this year is no different. There will once again be a strong presence of NASCAR and IRL drivers, including Jimmie Johnson, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, and Bobby Labonte. My picks to win are one of the Ganassi teams in the Daytona Prototypes and one of The Racer's Group teams in the GTs. The race will be televised once again on SPEED and the weekend will also feature the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge as a support race.

Also being televised once again on SPEED this year will be the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown in Irwindale, California. After last year's rain-plagued and shortened events this year may be a little up in the air as to who will show up. Already some big names have announced they will run in the Camping World Series event though, including Joey Logano who was involved in a controversial finish in 2009. This year; however, Logano may be a slight underdog driving for former East Series champion Mike Olsen rather than the big buck Joe Gibbs equipment. Short track up and comer Matt DiBenedetto will drive for JGR. Local driver Nick Joanides made news that he will compete in all three events during the weekend. There will once again be a super late model and late model race, and hopefully the bad weather will stay away this year and not drastically shorten the support events. I'm going with somewhat of an underdog to win the Showdown: making the tow all the way from New England, Eddie MacDonald.

If the Showdown in California isn't enough, there will be plenty of short track racing on the East Coast as well. The annual Speedfest will return again to Lanier National Speedway in Georgia for a 250 lap CRA sanctioned event. This race will feature a star-studded field with defending race winner Kyle Busch being joined by David Stremme and Steven Wallace. Short track standouts currently entered include Eddie Hoffman, Johanna Long, Brian Campbell, Bubba Pollard, John VanDoorn, Jeff Fultz, Scott Hantz, Casey Smith and Ryan Blaney. My pick to win will be the local guy Jason Hogan who went winless in 2009 and is hungry for a victory. There will also be a 150 lap Pro Late Model race and if a driver wins both races they will win a $10,000 bonus. Speedfest can be heard live on Race Talk Radio.

Entering the trend of early season races will be the Pro All Stars Series with a 150 lap Winter Fest event at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida for their super late models. This will be a PASS National points event so expect some teams to come down all the way from Maine. One driver that will not be competing is 2009 PASS South and National champion Ben Rowe whose team parted ways with him following the season. Former NASCAR Camping World East Series champion Brad Leighton takes over in that ride and could definitely be a threat to win right away. The exciting thing I find about PASS especially in the South is there never seems to be a clear cut favorite to win during the season and for the championship. With Rowe departing it appears to be that way again. Maybe this could be the breakthrough year for Cassius Clark from Maine. However, with this particular race being in Florida the local favorites are going to be hard to beat which is why my pick to win is Tim Russell.

Finally we come to the race that I will be attending in much colder Atlantic City, New Jersey: the Gambler's Classic Atlantic City Indoor Race! There are already over 80 TQ Midgets/Micro Sprints entered, including former NASCAR Modified champion Mike Stefanik who will definitely give 2009 winner and another former NASCAR Modified champion Ted Christopher a run for his money. Other notable racers entered for this event include Bobby Santos III, Billy Pauch, former Gambler's Classic winners Mike Tidaback and Joey Payne, 2009 ATQMRA champion Alison Cumens, sprint car racer Becca Anderson and an Indy 500 veteran (which I'm assuming will be Davey Hamilton). Slingshots and Champ Karts will also be in competition during the weekend. My roulette money will be on Mike Stefanik coming down from Rhode Island to steal the win away!

I'll be debuting my recently purchased Flip Video at the Atlantic City Indoor Races and will post the videos to my YouTube account upon my return. I'll also post a blog update when I get back, which will include a link to photos from my visit to the Motorsports 2010 Race Car & Trade Show the weekend prior, a summary of the January events and perhaps a Daytona preview.

Who's ready to begin the 2010 racing season?!