The last time I blogged, I previewed my trip to Atlantic City and clued all of you readers in that I'll be making some journeys during the months of July and August. Unfortunately, I didn't fair too well in the tournament I played in or during the entire short-lived trip for that matter. I almost knocked a player or two out of the tournament for some bounty money and I almost folded what I thought was a winning hand instead of pushing all of my chips in, but "almost" doesn't pay anything. The gambling is over for the time being, but the travels to several racing venues are just about to begin.
In fact, the first brief trip occurred over this past weekend when my dad and I made the less than an hour trip to the 27th Annual Latimore Valley Fair in York Springs, Pennsylvania. The Latimore Valley Fairgrounds no longer features competitive racing, but the 1/2 mile dirt track still stands. The Saturday afternoon's festivities featured track time for some vintage stock cars, modifieds, sprint cars and midgets. The Eastern Museum of Motor Racing that overlooks the fairgrounds was opened for extended hours, and the fairgrounds also featured tractor pulls, a hot cruise-in, food and other entertainment from Friday through Sunday. I had intentions of going to this the past few years and could never make it, but it sure was worth going to. I uploaded some photos, which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.569010970669.2071711.37801386&l=73c3a3fa90.
Following the July 4th holiday, I will be kicking my own personal street car into high gear and visiting some new places as well as some old favorites. Shangri-La II Motor Speedway, which is located west of Binghamton and near the New York-Pennsylvania border will be the site of my first stop. I believe that several precipitation related circumstances have kept the fairly new track from completing a full program on schedule this year to date, but I'll be crossing my fingers that all of it has passed as the Race of Champions modified tour visits the "concrete castle" on Saturday, July 9. This tour features some very well known names from the northeast, including Matt Hirschman, Chuck Hossfeld and Jan Leaty. Late Models, Sport Modifieds, Street Stocks and the unique Speedstrs will run supporting features as well.
The next weekend will be even busier as I make my initial trip to the NASCAR-sanctioned Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Virginia close to Washington, D.C. Several weekly local divisions will be racing as well as the ASA sanctioned ISCARS Dash Touring Series. This longtime sport compact racing series is now dubbed "the world's premier stock car tuner racing series." Although I have seen them many times before, I'm really looking forward to seeing the new body styles up close and seeing some of their side by side racing much closer to my home than usual. As a matter of fact, with the proximity back to Pennsylvania I'll be waking up early Sunday morning and making the three and a half hour drive from my hotel in Northern Virginia up to Kutztown, PA for a poker tournament.
If I enjoy my first experience at Old Dominion, which I'm confident I will, I plan to return the following weekend for a special event benefiting Joe Gibbs' Youth for Tomorrow foundation. It will include an entire afternoon of events, concluding with a 150 lap late model race featuring drivers such as Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday, Max Papis, Johnny Benson, Andy Lally and road racer Spencer Pumpelly as well as several of the area's top local drivers.
From there, I plan to make some stops locally at Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Mahoning Valley Speedway and perhaps the New Reading Fairgrounds. I'll check in later in July and summarize my experiences as well as post links to photos and video footage. I'm purchasing a lap top this week, so I actually may have the ability to upload while on the road so stay tuned to my YouTube page for uploads: http://www.youtube.com/ajcrdstr24.
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