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Webmasters Note: Three new bins were loaded with pics from Five Mile Point and some of our own on the asphalt at Airborne. Sorry, but we had some audio difficulties and many of the clips we recorded were not usable. We are now switching to the new back up recorder for the weekend and taking the old one into the shop. Gotta freshen it up I think!
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| Thursday, August 7th 2008 |
| New on the Audio Page from the Five Mile Point Speedway: Pre race conversations: Rick Laubach explained why he put a big block in his car for the ROC race at Five Mile Point. Pat Ward talked about his big point lead in the ROC Series and remembered his last two races. Jeff Rudalavage told me how his ROC races have gone and remembers a few of the tough outings. J.R. Crouse evaluated his season at Five Mile Point and looked ahead to some late season traveling. Nick Rochinski talked about his early season win and described what has gone wrong since then. Stewart Freisen recapped his weekend and told me what he did to detune his small block a little. Brett Hearn remembered his Fonda win from Tuesday night and his good 6th place at Merrittville. Earl Paules chatted about his season at Big Diamond and looked ahead to some big asphalt races. After the 75 lap ROC Modified feature: Pat Ward finished in second place and told me why he thought he was fortunate to do that well. Jeff Rudalavage came home in third place and talked about the big changes they made after the heat. J.R. Crouse led some laps early and explained why he fell back to finish in fourth place in the feature. Brett Hearn talked about his fifth place finish and wondered if his tire selection hurt his chances. Rick Laubach led 45 laps in the feature and told me when he knew he had a right rear going down. I took the one hour and twenty minute drive last night to the Five Mile Point Speedway in Kirkwood, New York to check out their ROC double header. A 75 lapper for the Modifieds and a 40 lap affair for the Sportsman were on the card and for once we did not have to look up at the sky all night long. Although I did hit some wet roads a little to the north on the way home. I recorded a lot of stuff but I did have an issue with some of my interviews from later in the night. I had a bad mic cable and it ended up making my post race interviews from the heats useless as well as the chat I had with the feature winner as well. Darn it! I have had some issues with my original recorder and am now going to take it into the shop to get it fixed. But don’t worry, I have a new one that I use in the studio and that one will get pressed into service this weekend. No problem in the long term, but I had some good interviews that will never be heard. As my good buddy says, “Darn, darn, darn!” I had a great time chatting with friends and checking in with some racers I usually see only a few times a year. I did a total of 16 pre race chats and half of those are on the site today. The others will show up tomorrow, unless it looks like Friday might be a wash. Can’t we just have a dry weekend for a change? C’mon!!! We’ll see how today goes I guess. When the cars hit the track I headed to my usual spot atop the roof of the tower to chat with the guys who record the video for the track. They are fun to hang out with and they always tell me what has been going on since the last time I came down. I hid in the corner, took notes and they helped me out when I needed some information. Thanks a lot for putting up with me and thanks for all of your assistance. There was a strong field of Modifieds on hand and the crowd was entertained by four qualifying heats. There was a nice mix in the 33 car field with big blocks, small blocks and everything in between. Pat Ward, Brian Weaver, Mike Colsten and J.R. Crouse all earned wins and if it was not for my faulty mic cable you would have been able to hear from them…darn, darn, darn! Three heats were also run for the Sportsman with Earl Paules, Brian Puckett and Justin Holland taking the checkered flags there. The heats were a lot of fun and the Mod consi also had some nice action in it too. The Lightning Cats were also on hand for a feature only race and they ran last, although I did not see who won. It looked like some real good racing. Next time I come down, I need to pay more attention to them. In the 75 lap ROC Modified feature race, it looked like Rick Laubach was going to cruise to the win at the half way mark. Sure...Stewart Freisen was charging hard, but Laubach had a big lead. Then a caution came out on lap 47 and you could see that the leader had a right rear tire going down. Make sure to listen to my post race interview with Rick and he’ll tell you why he stayed out instead of coming right in. Hey, you never know! Kudos go out to Stewart Freisen on his win as he was really fast on the quarter mile track. He really likes to get his car to come off the bottom low and bring it all the way out the wall on the straight-aways before he throws it hard into the next corner. It was fun to watch. At five Mile Point, you need to be aggressive and Stewart drove one heck of a race. Once I got home and realized his interview did not come out, I called him but he must have already called it a night at that point. (Well, it was 12:45AM, but I thought he might be in the hauler on the way home. Sorry to call you so late buddy!) Maybe I can catch him today. Thanks goes out to all the people at Five Mile Point who let me do my thing and wander all over the place. The scorers are great and always take time to answer my questions. Andy and Dan are fun to be around and whenever I go down there, I think back to the early 90’s and the Binghamton Pepsi Cola National Quarter Mile Dirt Track Championship weekend that I worked with veteran announcer Freddie Osmun. I was young, single and ready to party. I still remember Roger Phelps and his guys lifting my car in the air as I sat in the parking lot trying to take a nap. Ah…those were the days! This was a real good mid week show. With a two and a half class show (No heats for the Four Cylinders, that is why I said a half) you have just the right amount of racing for a Wednesday night. For a while there, we all tried to do too much with these mid week shows and ended up getting people home too late. As much as you would like to offer the fans four classes and more laps, time was always the enemy. In my opinion, 11 O’clock is when race fans turn into pumpkins (so to speak) on a week night. And if your track is dusty on that particular night, (It is dirt racing) then they have to take showers when they get home and that delays their late night routine even more. If they have to be to work at 6 in the morning, then they might not come back the next time you run on a week night. Get them in, get them out I always said. Hopefully the nice crowd that was there last night liked being done early and will come back for the next one. Today I should be able to record a few things in the studio, plus I have those extra clips I told you about as well. I have been promising to take my daughter to Chuck E Cheeses and today I will get to do that. I am however wondering who will enjoy the arcade more…her or me? I think I know the answer to that as I am nothing but a big kid when you get right down to it. Come back tomorrow for more and make sure to check in with us everyday as we always have something new for you to listen to. See you again soon I hope. |
| Wednesday, August 6th 2008 |
| New on the Audio Page for today: Leon Andrus previews tonight’s double ROC event taking place at Five Mile Point Speedway. Paul Szmal reports on the Tuesday night show from Fonda that included four feature races. Jimmy Phelps talks about his win on Monday in the Super DIRTCar Series race at Merrittville. Matt Sheppard told me how he doubled his win total for the year with 3 wins over the weekend. Mike Gular remembered some bad luck he has had of late and talked about his fresh motor. Kevin Hirthler got his car ready for hot laps and remembered a mistake he made the week before. In my latest Doug’s Thoughts, I offer some navigation tips for the site and recap my recent races. Today I am getting ready for a mid week show as Five Mile Point Speedway has a pair of ROC races happening tonight. Both the Mods and Sportsman are on the card and I can’t wait to come down and see some of the folks I have not seen in a while. If you are up past midnight tonight, then come on back as the new pics are always the first thing I put up after a race night. Plus there will be lots of new audio clips from the event up tomorrow as well. Those should be there by the time you get up. Plus I got a late night phone call from my buddy Paul Szmal as he was on his way home from Fonda, so we have a race report for you to listen to today from that show. It sounded like this was a real good one and it must have been nice for them to run without rain falling somewhere along the way. In case you don’t have time to listen and want to know who won…here it is. ESS- Justin Barger, Mod- Brett Hearn, Sportsman- Jeremy Wilder and Open Sprint- Jason Barney. For more, click on Paul’s chat on the Audio Page. As for the rest of my day, I spent a lot of it in front of the computer and in the studio doing interviews. As usual I was writing late into the morning hours as I got my column ready for the Thursday edition of the Post Standard. At first, I would stress over what to write and how long to make it, but now I look forward to it and can’t wait to get my fingers moving on the keyboard. I’m going to get going on that as soon as I finish this front page entry. I met someone new today at my afternoon appointment and they asked me about my job. I never know how to describe it, but I had that moment where I smiled to myself and thought about how fortunate I really am. And I have all of you to thank for that. I am the happiest now that I have been in a long time. I love what I do, my family is wonderful and I don’t cringe when the alarm clock wakes me up. Thanks everyone! Now let’s go into some more detail on the new clips I have for you on the Audio Page so I can get moving on the rest of my morning. First up, I find out about something cool happening later today. Leon Andrus previews tonight’s Race of Champions show at the Five Mile Point Speedway in Kirkwood. He talked about where the series is right now, who was hot last weekend and makes a prediction for later tonight. I’ll see you all there! Paul Szmal tells me all about the Tuesday night show at the Fonda Speedway that included four feature races. He told me about the strong run a former winner was in the ESS A-Main, the three wide move that got one driver to victory lane and the older chassis that barnstormed its way through the field in the final race of the night. Jimmy Phelps talked about his Super DIRTCar Series win Monday night at the Merrittville Speedway in Ontario, Canada. He told me about his battle up front with Justin Haers in the early stages of the race, compared where he is now to where he was at this time last year and recaps his races from the weekend as well. Matt Sheppard told me how he got to victory lane three times this past weekend and how nice it was just to be able to run three times in one weekend…let alone win! He also described his run around the top side at Brewerton, how the rain affected the racing groove at Canandaigua and explained why he was not sure if he won at Weedsport until he looked at the scoreboard. Mike Gular just finished his hot lap session on Saturday at Grandview Speedway and told me how much he was hoping to turn around a recent streak of bad luck. He also talked about the fresh motor he had under the hood, remembered using a provisional the week before and explained how important the heat races are when big money is at stake. Kevin Hirthler was working on his car getting it ready for its first laps of the night at Grandview when I stopped by to see how things were going and meet him for the first time. He talked about his fourth place from the week before, remembered a mistake he made going into one of the corners and described some of the work they were doing to get ready for later. In my latest edition of Doug’s Thoughts I offer you some tips on how to better navigate your way through this website including pictures, driver searches and downloading onto your own computer. I also recap my recent road trips including Orange County on Thursday and Grandview on Saturday. I hope to see some of you tonight at Five Mile Point and again this weekend. Hopefully the remains of the hurricane will not get us wet in a few days as we are so in need of a sunny weekend. See you again tomorrow with more from the world of dirt track racing. |
| Tuesday, August 5th 2008 |
| New on the Audio Page for today: Paul Szmal tells me what is on tap for the Tuesday night show this evening at Fonda Speedway. Dean Reynolds talks about the Empire Super Sprints show from Granby and previews tonight. Tony Veneziano reports on the most recent Outlaw races and talks about a first time winner. Tony Bruce Jr. explains how he earned his first ever win on the World of Outlaw Sprint Car Series. Danny Hieber described how his season has been going and remembers his history in the sport. Mark Garman breaks down the action that took place Friday night at Big Diamond Raceway. I got a lot done yesterday and every interview you see on the site today was recorded some time on Monday. Now I still have two chats left from Saturday at Big Diamond, but I want to make sure you come back tomorrow, so I’ll hold on to them until then. Plus I will also have the Doug’s Thoughts segment as well which will show you guys some shortcuts on the site that will help you find what you are looking for a little quicker. I hope you clicked on Latest Pics sometime yesterday as I was adding photos all day long. If the last time you checked was in the morning on Monday, then you need to hit it again as I put up about two hundred new images along the way. We have had some new photographers jump on board and I must give them a heartfelt “thank you” as this weekend may have set a new record for us. Thanks so much! Today will be a standard Tuesday for me as I have an appointment in the afternoon and then I will get to work right after that. I have a few things set up and more that I plan on doing along the way. Be sure and come back tomorrow to see what’s new. Plus I wanted to make sure that you guys are aware that there is a mid week show tonight at the Fonda Speedway. They have a full ESS show, a Go Green NMX race for the Mods that pays some big money (I always like to see big dollar Mod shows as they are not as common as they once were) as well as an open Sportsman race and a make up feature from an open Sprint Car show they did earlier in the year. Yeah…this is going to be a good one alright. As a matter of fact, that is where I will start today. First up on the Audio Page, I offer a pair of interviews that will get you ready for tonight. Paul Szmal previews tonight’s show at the Fonda Speedway and runs down the races that will take place. He explains how weather made this show even bigger than originally planned, how much the weather has affected the shows lately and explains why the decision on when to cancel a show is the toughest decision a promoter has to make. Although don’t tell that to the keyboard commandos as their mind is made up already. So don’t confuse them with facts! Dean Reynolds tells me about the Friday night Empire Super Sprints feature that took place at Granby Speedway in Quebec. He told me how the threat of rain kept the teams hopping, how a hometown boy made it to victory lane and looks ahead to tonight at Fonda. Tony Veneziano reports on the most recent World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series races that took place at 34 Raceway in Iowa as well as Wilmot Speedway and Charter Raceway Park in Wisconsin. He told me about the first time winner on Wednesday, the hot streak the Kings Royal winner has been on of late and the resurgence of The King on Saturday. Tony Bruce Jr. explains how he won his first ever World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event Wednesday night at 34 Raceway in Iowa. He told me when he knew he had something for the boys, how he held off Steve Kinser in the closing laps and how satisfying it was to win after some recent changes with the team. Nice chat! Danny Hieber walks me through his most recent Modified race at Grandview and explained why he has stepped away from the sport twice. He also remembered his days in a Quarter Midget, his brief stint in a Craftsman Truck and told me how he got hooked up with a car owner who races one quarter mile at a time. Real good conversation! Mark Garman reports on the night of racing that took place Friday at Big Diamond Raceway in Pennsylvania. He told me how a car switch got CVD going well, the redemption of sorts for the Sportsman winner and remembers the person this Friday nights racing is named after. Congratulations on your new baby boy! Come on back tomorrow for more from the world of dirt track racing. As always, I take requests so send me your thoughts in an email to doug@dougsdirtdiary.com. See you tomorrow. |
| Monday, August 4th 2008 |
| New on the Audio Page for today: Brett Hearn remembers his win in the 100 lap Modified feature Friday night at Albany Saratoga. John Tschudy talks about his career best 2nd place finish at Grandview as he got ready on Saturday. Ryan Godown tells me how is season has been going at Grandview and the slow start he got off to. Bobby Gunther Walsh talked about some set up changes he has made to get his car some more bite. Shawn Reimert explained what has been going on with him this year and his hopes for $10,000. Dave Talbot walked me through is IMCA Modified crash on Friday at the Brewerton Speedway. It was a nice day here in Central New York and I played catch up here in the home studio rather than attend a race. I am still trying to make my plans for the week and if I get out of an appointment in time tomorrow, I may head out to Fonda for their Tuesday show. I am also considering Five Mile Point on Wednesday. I’ll keep you posted with my “Where will Doug Be?” icon at the side of the main page. I was wiped out yesterday after my long trip on Saturday but I will tell you that it was well worth it. I still can’t get over how impressed I was with Grandview and hard the drivers threw their cars into the corners on this tiny 1/3 mile bull ring. Nice job everyone and again, I was thoroughly impressed! Today I will be in the studio getting more work done and tracking down more people from the world of dirt track racing. I will also be recording a new Dougs Thoughts segment as I noticed some new people checking in over the last few days. Speaking of recordings, let’s find out more about the new clips I have for you today on the Audio Page. First up, I check in with a driver who has been on a real roll of late. Brett Hearn tells me all about his 100 lap Modified feature win Friday night at Albany Saratoga and the radio message he heard in the closing laps. He also told me about his rain out on Saturday, his hopes for later today in Canada and reflects on his accomplishment Thursday night at Orange County. John Tschudy tells me how good he felt about his chances Saturday night at Grandview after achieving a career best finish the week before. He thanked the people who helped make it possible, explained how the new car figured into the equation and how fast the race winner was on that night. Ryan Godown came into Saturday night in third place in the Grandview Modified point standings and told me about some things that have happened to him this year that never did in the past. He also told me about his slow start to the year, the wreck he was in last week and why you need a little luck to get into the Forrest Rogers Memorial. Bobby Gunther Walsh told me about his hopes for the Forrest Rogers Memorial at Grandview this past Saturday night. He talked about some set up changes he did to try to keep his car from sliding around so much, how much better his car has been working at Big Diamond and why the Forrest Rogers Memorial is so tough. Shawn Reimert told me about his season so far and some of the bad luck he has had along the way. He also described some of the other things that have gone wrong, where he is with his set ups and how much he is hoping to stumble on something later in the night at Grandview. Dave Talbot tells me about his big IMCA Modified crash Friday night at the Brewerton Speedway and what happened to get him on his roof on the front stretch. He explained why he was in such a hurry to get out of the car, how badly it was damaged and how he is feeling right now. Good luck in getting it back together. Glad you are alright! I will be looking for emails from you today as I am trying to figure out what was the best story of the weekend. If you have an idea, send me your thoughts at doug@dougsdirtdiary.com. I am also a little behind on photos, so be sure to keep coming back as I will be adding more along the way today. See ya tomorrow. |
| Sunday, August 3rd 2008 |
| New on the Audio Page from the Grandview Speedway Saturday night: Pre race conversations: Ernie Saxton announces for the crowd at Grandview and gave me a preview of what was to come. Jason Hamilton talked about his streak of top ten finishes and wondered if it might carry over. Troy Wink explained why he was in a brand new car for the Forrest Rogers Memorial at Grandview. Billy Pauch Jr. chatted about his hopes for the night and his fifteenth place finish at Pocono. Doug Manmiller spoke about some tough luck he has had lately and the need for a looser racecar. Jeff Strunk remembered his past wins in this race and told me about his run on Friday night. Duane Howard told me why he was back at Grandview and how he was DQ’d at Big Diamond. After the heat races: Danny Erb tells me what he saw on the outside of the track that got him the lead on the last lap. Troy Wink spoke about winning his first ever Modified heat race at the Grandview Speedway. Kerry Kratz described the grooves he ran on his way to a win in the third Modified heat race. Danny Hieber talks about his heat win and how happy he is to be back after a break from racing. After the Forrest Rogers Memorial: Craig Von Dohren talks about his $10,000 win and his streak of four wins in the last nine days. Duane Howard finished second and told me what the crew did to get him back out after a crash. Doug Manmiller described his third place finish and how a late race caution cost him a spot. Jeff Strunk told me what happened over the course of his race night and how he came home fourth. Jason Hamilton finished in fifth place and described the big problem they had in the pit area. Troy Wink led eighteen laps in the feature race and told me how happy he was with a 6th place finish. It is always nice to get to see a new racetrack for the first time and last night I got to do that very thing. I have been talking to a lot of people from the Grandview Speedway over the last ten months or so and I finally got to meet a lot of them in person last night and see where they race. And I must tell you, I was not disappointed. Our day began early as we left Liverpool just past noon and arrived in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania at about 3:45 or so. We stopped by The Woodside for dinner and then headed to the track. Mark Garman had recommended the place and now I can see why. It reminded of the diners my parents took me too as a kid and the food was great! Then we rolled up to the speedway and got to work. J-Fish was with me for this trip and he was busy taking photos in the pit area early on and then in the infield once the racing began. His stuff should be up later today. I recorded a total of twenty four clips along the way and have put eighteen of those up today. The others will show up tomorrow and over the course of the week. In the can right now and awaiting release at a later time are chats with John Tschudy, Ryan Godown, Bobby Gunther Walsh, Shawn Reimert, Kevin Hirthler and Mike Gular. The mood in the pit area was intense as there was $10,000 on the line in the fifty lap Forrest Rogers Memorial. There are not a lot of races that pay that to win, so you can imagine how hard everyone was working to make sure they were ready for the challenge. The heat races were intense with lead changes in each one. Early on, I saw how hard these drivers had to throw their cars into the corners to get around this tight 1/3 mile track. It was impressive to say the least. They also ran a pair of consolation races before getting the lineup sorted out for the feature. As for the big race, it saw some cautions early on and some of the big name drivers head to the pit area early. Believe it or not, three of the top five drivers actually came from the rear. That shows you how racy the track was and how good these guys are to come from that far back to get a top five. Heck, race winner Craig Von Dohren was in a lap two incident and came from 30th to win. I had a great time at this show and it was so much fun to meet all of you. Ernie Saxton and the bunch in the tower were great and really helped me follow what was going on at this unfamiliar track. Plus all the drivers were very accommodating in the pit area and I was thoroughly impressed with the racing. I will be back again! Make sure to click on my picture of the winning 1c car in the filmstrip at the right side of the page to see what I saw on my trip to Pennsylvania. The next trip I need to schedule is going to be to Big Diamond Raceway. I hear that is about the same distance from the Syracuse area. So I will be setting that up soon. Today I will be in the home studio as I did not get to bed until almost 7AM this morning and now need to catch up on some sleep. But I will make sure I get a few things done in the studio today. Again thanks so much to everyone at Grandview and I can’t wait to come down and see you all again and meet more of you. If I missed you and you want to be on the show; then just send me an email at doug@dougsdirtdiary.com. Keep checking back today as I have some new photos to put up. I’ll make a Webmasters Note at the top of the page when I do, so be sure to keep checking back. See you again tomorrow with more from the world of dirt track racing. |
| Saturday, August 2nd 2008 |
| New on the Audio Page for today: Jeff Hoetzler chats about his recent Orange County wins and the illness he has bee battling. Dan Creeden tells me about his second place last Saturday and how shocks made the difference. Chris Schultz talks about his two win season so far down at Middletown and a recent change. Jimmy Phelps told me about his hot lap session and what has been going on in the series this year. Justin Haers wondered what he would see later on as he got ready for a drivers meeting on Thursday. Brad Alger comments on his Utica Rome win last week and something nice his sponsor did. Simon Jupe spoke about Modifieds in Australia and his upcoming trip to the US to learn more. In my latest Motor Sounds clip, hear the big blocks as they sat in the staging area at Orange County. It was a lazy day of sorts for me as I worked till almost 7 in the morning on Friday, went to bed and then more work done later in the day. I did record one new clip and added them to six I saved from Orange County and one that I recorded on Wednesday. No days off for me at this time of the year…just like the race teams. Although since I am so wiped out, I am not going to write a lot as I need to get to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour tonight. I am heading down to Grandview today for my first ever race at the track and I can’t wait. I hear it could get wild tonight with $10,000 on the line for the winner. My friend Jeremiah Fish is coming down with me too so he will taking pics all night long. Those might not make it up early tomorrow but they should show up somewhere along the way. I am going to make a special effort to chat with the people who have been so nice to speak with me even though they have never met me before. I am truly thankful for all the Grandview regulars who have trusted me to help tell their stories. I can’t wait to meet you all later on today. Now remember, I have no idea what you guys look like, so please come up and introduce yourself. I’ll be wearing the orange Doug’s Dirt Diary shirt. Don’t be bashful, I want to know what you think of what we are doing here and of course I want to help you tell everyone what is going on in your world. Now since I have another long day in front of me today, I am going to jump right into the new interviews I have for you on the Audio Page. First up, I check in with the guy everyone has been chasing on The Hard Clay. Jeff Hoetlzer has won the last two Saturday night big block Modified races at Orange County and told me how well he has been running the last two weeks. He also told me how he is feeling after a recent illness and remembers the moment when he looked at his leg and knew was in trouble. Get better soon Jeffer! Dan Creeden has his best ever Modified finish at Orange County Fair Speedway one week ago and told me how some shock changes helped considerably. He also told me how his car felt in the first hot lap session on Thursday at the Super DIRTCar Series race and what he hoped would happen later on. Chris Schultz talked about how his season has been going at Orange County and chatted about both his big block and small block programs. He also told me about the new engine he had under the hood for the Super DIRTCar Series race, explained why he thought it was time for a change and remembered his two trips to victory lane earlier this year. Jimmy Phelps just finished hot laps at Orange County Fair Speedway and was preparing for time trials when I came by to see how things were going. He told me what he saw during his on track session, what he was hoping for in qualifying and described what they were going to do to the racecar to try to make that happen. Justin Haers was waiting for the drivers meeting to start at Orange County and paused to chat with me about what he expected to see later on. He told me what usually happened at this track, what he had heard coming in and then had to end our conversation as the meeting began. Short clip, but I didn’t want to make it go away just because of its length. Brad Alger talks about his most recent Sportsman feature win at Utica Rome and talked about his lack of bite Tuesday night at Penn Can. He also told me about something nice one of his sponsors did to put a smile on a young race fans face. Nice story with a guy who is thinking about a move up in class somewhere down the road! Simon Jupe told me about the new Troyer Cars he just put together in Australia and explained why he took the 07-08 season off to be stronger in 08-09. He also talked about his upcoming trip to the states, what he will do while he and his buddies are here and what they hope to learn from their time here. Make sure to give them a nice welcome one week from today in Canandaigua. In my latest Motor Sounds clip, hear with the big blocks sounded like Thursday night as they waited to go on the track at Orange County. Nice long clip with a lot of good audio from my favorite class of cars! As they say on the new Series trailer, “800 horses without all the mess.” Good one Cory! I hope you all stay dry today and get to see some great racing at your favorite Saturday night track. I wish you all the best. Be safe, be fast and have fun. See you tomorrow with new stuff from Grandview. |
| Friday, August 1st 2008 |
| New on the Audio Page from the Orange County Fair Speedway: Pre race conversations: Billy Decker talked about Middletown and the two totally different finishes he usually gets. Jerry Higbie spoke about the new motor in his car and what he learned in a recent practice session. Ric Hill described what learned at the same practice and how baldy his season has gone up till now. Brett Hearn predicted what the track would do later and told me how comfortable he felt beforehand. Dale Planck told me what he was doing on hot laps and looks ahead to tonight at Ransomville. David Van Horn was the fastest in time trails and explained why he was watching the Pro Stocks. Alan Johnson had a new car under him and told me how good the car felt as he timed fourth fastest. Danny Johnson explained how he got a ride in a M10 car and what his plans are right now. After the heat races: David Van Horn told me about his win in the first heat and a problem he had at the end. Brett Hearn talked about his win and the crowd’s reaction when he drew the pole for the feature. Billy Decker recapped his heat win and described the side by side he race he had with Rick Laubach. Alan Johnson won the final Modified qualifying heat race and told me how his car felt to him. After the feature race: Brett Hearn tells me how special it was to win his 100th big block series race at Orange County. Chuck McKee chatted about his runner up finish and described a problem they had in time trials. Dale Planck talked about how happy he was to finish third at a track he does not usually do well at. Jerry Higbie picked up twelve spots to finish fourth and talked about his right rear tire choice. Ric Hill told me how he went from winning the consolation race to a ninth place finish in the feature. Yesterday I made my first trip to Middletown this year for the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTCar Series event. I rode down with Roger Phelps and his crew for the night as they brought down his son Ryan’s back up car. It had been a long time since I have been on my way to a speedway with a racecar on the back and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Normally when I go to races these days I either go by myself, bring someone along to help me or go with a fellow media member or track employee. I have been doing this for so many years without really thinking it about it, until yesterday. When I started as an announcer in the early 90’s, it was the only way I went to certain tracks. It taught me a lot about the sport real fast and gave me a unique opportunity to learn about racers real fast. I also got the chance to know what it was like to ride back in silence after a tough nite at the track and when it was time to stop for a celebration of sorts after a solid finish or dare I say it…a win! It brought back a lot of memories of my first few years in the sport and it certainly made the three hour ride a lot easier. Thanks for letting me tag along guys. I need to do more of this! I had a great time Orange County Fair Speedway and I hustled as soon as my feet hit the ground in the pit area. We ran a little late as we hit the usual traffic jams in Syracuse but we still drove up to the pit shack at 5:45 after teasing Roger about his driving the whole way up. I didn’t know that a Dodge Hemi could turn 5600 rpms with the Cruise Control on. Just kidding Roger! I got right to work right away and recorded a total of twenty five clips over the course of the night. Most of those are on the site today and the rest will show up tomorrow as well as a conversation I had with someone half way around the globe on Wednesday. Come back on Saturday to hear pre race chats with Justin Haers, Jeff Hoetzler, Chris Schultz, Danny Creeden and Jimmy Phelps. Plus I find out how the new Troyer Cars are coming along in Australia with my friend Simon Jupe who will be coming to the states next week to hang out with us and learn more about his new car. Orange County was a lot of fun and I took a lot of pictures as I walked the pit area. You can see those by clicking on the Brett Hearn victory lane photo in the filmstrip at the right side of the page. And yes, I did get to talk to Danny Johnson and his interview is up on the Audio Page. A lot of you have been requesting it and I wanted to make sure to try and do it for you. I had a great view of the races as I watched from the infield tower with some of the folks who work at the track. It was nice to be there as I could really follow what was going on very well from my vantage point up high. They make it real easy for me to come down and do what I do. Thanks everyone! I just wish you guys were a little closer as I always have a great time when I come down. And no, I did not go to the 31st lap. I was a good boy this time! By the way, is that what it is called now? The night turned out to be a special one for Brett Hearn as he won his 100th Super Dirt Series Race. I guess it was only fitting that it happened at Orange County! Congratulations to Brett and everyone associated with his successes over the years. That is quite an accomplishment. But as I write this, it is past 6AM on Friday, so I really need to stop typing and get this up for you to see. I’ll be staying away from the track today but I am on track for my first ever trip to Grandview Speedway tomorrow. I’ll have more about that on Saturday and more for you to listen to and see as well. Have a great Friday and I’ll see you again then. |
 
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This site designed and maintained by Pyro, Doug and a crack team of invisible interns. We hate popups, trojans and spyware more than you do...if you're seeing popups or virus warnings here, your computer has been compromised. To contact us, see the About Us page.
Doug's Dirt Diary maintains a strict policy of neutrality with regards to tracks, teams, sanctioning bodies, drivers and fans.
All content copyright 2006-2008 Doug's Dirt Diary and Elkins Media Service. Any use without prior authoriziation (other than legal "fair-use" applications) is strictly prohibited. See our picture page for an explanation of our picture use policy.
This site has been tested on Mozilla 1.7, Firefox 2.0, Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0. Yes, it works.
Be safe, be fast and have fun!.