Speedweeks Recap and a Potential Truck Series Up-and-Comer

Who would have predicted that Daytona Speedweeks would result in a driver leading 1/8 of a lap to win his eighth race at the track after the front four drivers ran out of fuel, an announcement of a temporary Daytona short track for 2013, a rookie that never competed on a track larger than a mile and a half winning the truck race, a driver coming from 11th to the win in the last corner after the top ten drivers all wreck, a Daytona 500 being run on Monday night/Tuesday early morning and a freak accident that almost resulted in three underfunded teams and a start-up team finishing in the top four in the biggest race of the year? Even the nearby short track in New Smyrna Beach had some unusual controversy when perennial Tour-Type Modified favorite Ted Christopher won his first night, wrecked the second night and then came back and won the following night. However, after the third race another competitor protested the winning motor. After TC and crew refused to have the engine torn down they were disqualified and packed up and went home. Was this a disastrous Speedweeks or a huge success? Regardless, I'm glad the racing season is upon us!

There were a few drivers that I had my eye on going into the last couple weeks, and they all showed that they belong in their respective series:

The first was a no-brainer. Bobby Gerhart Racing once again overcame the odds after their qualifying time was disallowed and was forced to start 42nd. An unorthodox pit strategy early in the race put them a lap down, but the team took advantage of the "free pass" rule to get back on the lead lap. Obviously some luck is involved to win any race, but the team keeps showing year in and year out that they are capable of putting themselves in contention for the win no matter what obstacles they need to overcome. Pitting one lap after the rest of the competitors during an early caution turned out to be the unexpected winning strategy.

In the Truck Series race, the racer I was most impressed with was Grant Enfinger. After his recent performance in ARCA and the last couple years in the Truck Series races at Talladega, it came as no surprise to me to see him steadily marching through the field. He never contended for the lead, but besides the brush he had with Ty Dillon in the major wreck involving at that time leader Johnny Sauter he drove like a veteran throughout the entire race. I noticed that he ran the inside line during most of the race which put him in a spot to make some impressive maneuvers to avoid some wrecks, and he would occasionally get the momentum and find a hole in the middle with former Daytona winner and fellow Alabama driver Rick Crawford in tow on a couple of occasions. For the most part, he brought the truck home in one piece with a respectable 12th place finish.

Danica might have been the fastest qualifier for the Nationwide race, but the girl I was watching was Johanna Long who started 21st and finished 21st. I believe she was involved in one of the late race wrecks and she did fall a lap down once or twice, but the fact that she finished the race and gained a full race's worth of track time in a Nationwide Series car is something she and the ML Motorsports team should be proud of.

During the Daytona 500 and the days leading up to it, one of the hardest working teams had to be Tommy Baldwin Racing. They gave up last year's guaranteed owner points, and while I questioned this move at first they certainly proved me wrong when they ran a very smart Duel race on Thursday to get into Sunday's field. Of course the race didn't run until Monday night, but Dave Blaney drove a smart race again throughout the 200 laps. For a short time I thought that the Central Pennsylvania fans would have something to celebrate with Blaney in the lead during the long red flag period, since Blaney is a World Of Outlaws graduate and sponsor Ollie's Bargain Outlet was founded in state capital Harrisburg. The win wouldn't occur, but like Enfinger in the Truck race Blaney ran the inside line most of the closing laps and made some evasive maneuvers in order to minimize damage in the late race accidents. Blaney and the hard working Tommy Baldwin Racing team brought the car home in 15th, a very good start to the 2012 season.

Earlier in the month of February, I had the chance to chat with a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver and team that did not make the trip down to Daytona. Todd Peck and Peck Motorsports had their truck and hauler on display at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on a cold Saturday afternoon. If that last name sounds familiar, he is the nephew of Tom Peck who had some impressive runs in the NASCAR Nationwide Series during the late 1980's and early 1990's. After gaining experience in the Allison Legacy Series, Pro Cup Series, Super Cup Stock Car Series and the K&N East Series, Todd and his team made the move to the Truck Series for a few races in 2011 returning the family's #96 to one of the top levels of stock car racing. The team plans to race 10-12 times in 2012 starting at the third race of the season, the debut of the Truck Series at Rockingham Speedway. The team's hauler was also on display to show off their plans to convert it into a "green" machine with LED lighting and solar power and run on a blend of diesel and biofuel as they make their journey to and from the race track. In addition, the team is racing to spread awareness about Juvenile Arthritis, a condition Todd suffered from as a child. They even gained some local television exposure when Peck teamed up with a local ambulance company to grant a fan's wish to meet him after she was hospitalized for a serious arthritis condition a day earlier. Sadly, the young lady passed away last week and the team will race at Pocono later in the year in her memory.

Local racing is getting ready to start up for the 2012 season as well, and last week I had the opportunity to head to Reading, Pennsylvania for the 27th Annual Racing Legends Reunion and Car Show. The week long event is held at the Reading Fairgrounds Mall, which was formerly the site of the Reading Fairgrounds Speedway. The show features several appearances from current local drivers as well as reunions featuring drivers from the past. This year's showcase was NASCAR sanctioned Grandview Speedway, which is celebrating it's 50th anniversary in 2012. Most notably were the number and variety of race cars on display inside the mall including different types of Dirt Modifieds, Dirt Late Models, Midgets, Micro Sprints, SCCA Sports Cars and much more.

Before I sign off with this post, I'd like to return back to a major positive that came out of Daytona Speedweeks. The ones that may not always be commended as much as they should be: the track crew. Not only did they do a phenomenal job getting the race track back into a raceable condition following the unimaginable jet dryer fire in such a short amount of time, but the job they did throughout the entire two week period so that we could get to the point of seeing the Daytona 500 take place better late than never. Where I work we recently switched cleaning companies to ServiceMaster and certainly now I see why. Finally, kudos to everyone else involved that made sure first and foremost to assure that those affected by any accidents at Daytona International Speedway escaped major injury.

Motorsports Show/Gambler's Classic Recap and Daytona Picks

Even though no NASCAR races have taken place, I have kept myself quite entertained just a month through the new year. I didn't have the highest expectations for this year's Motorsports Show at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania, but there was quite an impressive turnout despite the snowstorm that passed through the Northeast the evening before.

Apparently weather was wreaking havoc throughout most of the east coast as the flight to PA for early afternoon guest, Jimmie Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus, was canceled. Fans didn't need to worry thanks to late afternoon guest Matt Kenseth who offered to fly Knaus in as the driver and crew chief for competing teams signed autographs and answered fan questions together. The situation worked out well for me too. Due to the delayed autograph session, I had the opportunity to attend the "Taking Photos at the Track" seminar which was among those that were offered free to the public throughout the weekend. Although I would consider myself an amateur at best and some of what was covered went way over my head, I think that whenever the time comes where I am able to upgrade from my little and worn out digital camera I could use some of the beneficial information I learned during the 45 minute session. I also spent much of the afternoon exploring the countless booths and cars that were on display, and met some various personalities involved in the racing industry at both local and national levels. Overall, it was another positive experience and I will almost certainly be returning in 2013.

This past weekend, I made the annual trip to Atlantic City, New Jersey for the tenth addition of the Gambler's Classic Indoor Races. This was the first year that I attended both Friday and Saturday nights, and I must say that I seemed to enjoy Friday's preliminary features slightly more than Saturday's main events. My pick to win the main event, Johnny Benson Jr., didn't fare too well on Friday night. Benson was among a handful of competitors that were piloting a new Drinan TQ Midget, which looked sleek and certainly was fast. However, I can't remember a single competitor driving this new chassis that didn't spin out at one point or another during the weekend. While leading from the pole and pulling away from the field in his heat race Benson's car all of a sudden spun without the aid of any other competitors, and despite his best efforts did not qualify for Friday's feature. Friday featured two A-Mains, a 600cc "Dirt" Micro Sprints 20 lapper and a TQ Midgets 30 lapper. Both races were won by NASCAR Modified Tour competitors, Erick Rudolph in the 600s and Ted Christopher in the TQs. Another reason I enjoyed Friday more was the exciting maneuvering that Johnny Benson's owner "Liquid" Lou Cicconi made on several occasions throughout the evening. Cicconi spun early in his TQ heat race as well as in the 600 and TQ features and had to restart in the back of all three of them. He came back to win the TQ heat race, finished second in the 600 feature and finished sixth in the TQ feature. Unfortunately, after all that work he did it appeared that he may not have saved enough for the next day.

Saturday night included 25 lap features for the Slingshots and Champ Karts in addition to the 20 lap 600 Micro A-Main and 40 lap 10th Annual Gambler's Classic Main Event for the TQ Midgets. Saying that the evening's races had a few wrecks would be an understatement. The Slingshots had their share of altercations and controversies which resulted in a last corner pass for the win. The Champ Karts had a few recognizable names such as Modified driver Justin Bonsignore and NASCAR K&N East Series second generation driver D.J. Shaw, but they couldn't hold off a former winner of the division's race from a few years back. Erick Rudolph made a late race pass for the lead to win for the second night in a row in the 600s. In the TQ Main Event, the previous night's winner Ted Christopher was done for the night after a multi-car wreck in the first turn on the first lap. Johnny Benson Jr. started mid-pack and had steadily moved into the top five until he ran into one of the inside truck tires, ending his night due to damage to the left-front wheel. The track layout was modified from previous years with the placement of tires spread out through the inside of the turns rather than a solid guardrail. It provided for a wider racing groove and increased some side by side racing competition, but at the same time it caused some new problems for the competitors such as what happened to Benson. Top dirt modified competitor Stewart Friesen led for most of the race until Erick Rudolph emerged again and didn't look back for his third win during the two nights of racing.

Once again this year's trip whet my appetite for the racing season, and also provided some entertainment of the gambling kind. I took some money from a couple first and second place finishes I had during the month of January in some free poker tournaments, and ended up slightly ahead overall playing roulette, blackjack and war (yes, war the card game). I would not recommend playing war at a casino as they do certainly find a way to have the house advantage and you can risk losing your money fairly quickly playing such a simple game.

As I look ahead to the Spring months, besides a couple local shows that I'm planning to go to I will be spectating from my living room couch or the chair at my computer for the most part. One task that I need to accomplish during the month of February is to get my travel plans organized for my first trip to Las Vegas in late June. The World Series Of Poker schedule has been released and although most of the events don't seem to interest me during the time frame I'm able to go, I'm still planning to go out there for the experience. During the weekend I'm out there, I'm planning to drive out to California to see more parts of the country that I've never seen and check out a SRL Southwest Tour race at Madera Speedway.

In the immediate future, I'll be looking ahead to the Daytona Speedweeks festivities. My first pick is for the ARCA race, and it is the perennial favorite Bobby Gerhart. Until one of the teams shows that they can consistently outrun the Lebanon, Pennsylvania based team, the veteran driver will most likely be my pick year in and year out...or until he retires. The most exciting race during speedweeks could most likely be the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. With several veteran competitors switching teams during the off season and rising stars joining the series, the race could potentially be wide open. If I had to pick one driver it would have to be Todd Bodine in his new Red Horse Racing ride. Don't count out some dark horses such as Cale Gale in the Eddie Sharp Racing #33 though. The NASCAR Nationwide Series race is probably my toughest one to pick since I hardly followed the series in 2011. For that reason, my pick will be Elliott Sadler mainly because I think the KHI/RCR equipment will boost him to victory.

Finally my pick for the Daytona 500 is a standard one, none other than Jeff Gordon. Many may think it could appear biased to pick Gordon or another Hendrick car almost every year, but their past and present on track performance at the 2.5 mile tri-oval including January's preseason testing puts them at the forefront of the competition. Obviously there is the usual luck factor and the perennial dark horses that will be in contention, but Gordon appears to be the overall favorite to win. Expect to see drivers such as David Ragan, David Gilliland, Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith, Bobby Labonte and Dave Blaney to have a shot for at least a top ten finish once again. After all, my system for picking top ten finishers can't be too flawed considering that I am proud to be the defending Raceline Mechanix Wear Weekly Racing Challenge Daytona 500 winner!

10th Annual Gambler's Classic Videos

2012 10th Annual Gambler's Classic
February 4, 2012
TQ Midgets, Champ Karts, Slingshots and 600cc Micro Sprints
Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey

 600 Micros, Slingshots and Champ Karts

 

Driver Intros

 

TQ Midgets Feature

 

Here Comes 2012!

Welcome to the new year everyone.  I don't know about everyone else, but I'm already getting set to see some racing.  I've had the chance to watch some of SPEED's online stream of Daytona Testing.  It's a nice feature that they offer and it is a delight not to have to put up with a handful of commercials every few minutes.  I believe I have reached my quota for the number of times I've heard the words Danica and Twitter already.  I might have to start extra early this year listening to the races on MRN so that I know what's actually happening on the track during a race.

Before I start going into some of my ambitious plans for 2012, I thought I would recap the last few weeks at the poker tables.  The last time I posted, I left off down some from the Biloxi trip after pretty much no luck at all.  Things turned for the better back home, as I five-way split a small grand-prize tournament and then went to Atlantic City and cashed in an invitational tournament.  I still ended up behind for the year, but the late 2011 winnings sure did make up for some disappointments earlier in the year.  January has started off alright as well winning a couple of nightly prizes already.  Things are looking up for the time being.

Now it's time to shift gears once again to the world of racing, starting with the annual PA Motorsports Show next weekend.  For the casual fan it might appear to be a little sparse when it comes to the driver appearances compared to other years, which may perhaps be in part due to the NASCAR Acceleration and Hall of Fame induction taking place the same weekend in Charlotte starting this year.  However, the show as always plans to offer several cars on display as well as the latest information available regarding area tracks, regional touring series, parts suppliers and much more.

A couple weeks after the show will be the annual Atlantic City Indoor Races.  Once again droves of competitors have signed up to compete across four different divisions, including defending Gambler's Classic race winner Ted Christopher and former NASCAR Busch Series and Truck Series champion Johnny Benson.  Benson is my pick to win this year, not because of his recognizable name but because of his recent open wheel experience and success in ISMA supermodifieds.  The TQ midgets are not the same, but I think his proven versatility and the fact that he will be driving for former winner Lou Cicconi will get him to the front.  I will be at the track both Friday and Saturday night this year, and will have videos and photos to share from both Atlantic City and the Motorsports Show.

While I continue to pass the time through the late winter and early spring, I will be continuing to make some plans for the remainder of the year.  I'm currently waiting patiently for the World Series of Poker schedule to be released in order to plan my first ever visit to Las Vegas this summer.  I'm hoping I can coordinate the schedule so I can ride out to California for a few days and maybe see an SRL Southwest Tour race.  Also, it was recently announced that the Pro All Star Series will be sanctioning the All American 400 at the historic Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and the distance will return to its traditional 400 laps.  I most certainly will be planning some sort of trip around this race weekend in early October.  As usual some other somewhat local races will be peppered in throughout the summer and in between the major trips, but many exact dates remain to be seen until more official schedules for 2012 have been released.

Gambling in Mississippi and My 2nd Annual Snowball Derby Trip Recap

For the second straight year, my late fall trip south has been completed without delays, and with quite excellent weather and some exciting racing!

This year the week began in Mississippi, as I used a prize package I won earlier in the year for a three day, two night stay in Biloxi. The town is very clean and safe and the casinos are state of the art, but it is evident that they are still rebuilding after the tragic events as a result of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Maybe it was because I was there early in the week rather than the weekend, but many of the casinos were not very populated. Most of the poker rooms only had a handful of tables playing and the tournament I played in only had thirty-some players enter. Although I had a great time, luck was not on my side. Let's just say that the only profit I made in any session was $2.50 on a video poker machine. It would be neat to see in a few years how the town develops, hopefully barring any further roadblocks from mother nature.

From Wednesday on, it was time for me to travel to Pensacola for the 44th Annual Snowball Derby festivities. Once again, it was a superb time. Wednesday night was the Green Flag Party where fans can roam around the pit area and watch crews go to work in preparation for the next day's practice sessions. Also featured this year was the qualifying draw for both the Snowball Derby and the Snowflake 100 pro late model race, as well as some live music.

Thursday night was the Fast Eddie's Snowball Showdown at the local go-kart track and entertainment center, which featured a media race, drivers race and then heat races for the main event where fans could compete against the drivers and media for a very small fee. For the second straight year, I proved that I am not a race car driver after failing to qualify through my heat after three attempts. Although it was very brief, standing next to the eventual winner of the Snowball Derby and more than likely a future NASCAR star is indescribable and probably something that an ordinary race fan does not have an opportunity to experience just about anywhere else.

Friday was the site of Snowball Derby qualifying and the local Super Stock and Modified division features. I had the chance to witness 19-time late model winner in 2011 Bubba Pollard qualify on the pole and break a track record set by Gary Balough several years ago. The Super Stock and Modified races were unlike last year's crashfest and completed within a few hours with some decent racing.

Saturday featured qualifying for the Snowflake 100, last chance races for the Snowball Derby and Snowflake and the Snowflake 100 lap feature. The first 75 laps of the Snowflake were phenomenal and showed that these were some of the best pro late model drivers in the country. Then the last 25 laps occurred. The first 75 laps took less than an hour to complete, but after caution after caution the remainder of the race took about an hour and a half to conclude. For instance, there was so much attrition that 2010 race winner Chase Elliott finished fifth with no front end. Through it all, Augie Grill stayed out of trouble out front to become the first driver to win two Snowflake 100s and two Snowball Derbys.

Sunday's prestigious 300 lap race kicked off with some exciting green flag racing throughout the first half of the race. A mid-race incident took some of the top competitors out of contention. Chase Elliott was also involved, but managed to stay on the lead lap. The scariest moment of the race was with only a handful of laps to go when a multi-car wreck involved Derek Thorn, who's team traveled 36 hours from California to make the race, when his car clipped another car and flipped across turn one. Luckily he was okay. This was believed to be the first super late model at Five Flags Speedway to do such a thing. This set up a thrilling five lap dash to the finish between Elliott, who worked his way back to the front, and local driver D.J. Vanderley. The two raced side by side until the last turn of the last lap, resulting in Elliott winning by the smallest margin in Snowball Derby history.

It was certainly one if not the most exciting finishes of the year, and made it for me a requirement to work on coordinating getting a group together so I can make it to my third Snowball Derby in 2012. It was very nice catching up with old friends and meeting some new friends during the week, and I would recommend to anyone to go see this event at least once in their life. There is also so much to do in the area: Pensacola beach, downtown Pensacola, Naval Aviation Museum and nearby towns and beaches such as Mobile and Gulf Shores, Alabama just to name a few. I uploaded videos from just about every day of the week and they can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/ajcrdstr24.

Now I count down the days until the Atlantic City Indoor Races in the new year. Until then, have an excellent Festivus and see you in 2012!