|
MIS E-News
Week of May 14, 2007
by John Wells
Madison International Speedway is
an ASA sanctioned track
Greeting MIS Fans,
First of all I would like
to say "Get Well" to our friend, Charlie Spry. Charlie is
recuperating at University Hospital in Madison. Many of you are probably
familiar with Charlie's racing stories that have appeared in a variety of
publications. Charlie is one of those great people you meet in racing.
This
week at MIS will feature the Weaver Auto Parts Madison Late Models, Big Eight
Limited Late Models, and Roto Rooter Bandits. Joining the racing program will
be the International / American Short Tracker four cylinder cars that race at
Jefferson and Rockford respectively. This Friday will also be the big coin
drop for the kids during intermission.
Schedule of Events for Friday,
May 18th
4:45 Hot Laps: MLM, LLM, Bandits, AST / Internationals
6:30
Qualifying: MLM / LLM
7:30 National Anthem: Fast Qualifiers plus 5/11Bandit
Winner
Wayne's Custom DIECAST Dash (6 laps)
MLM Heats (10 laps)
Bandit
Heats (8 laps)
AST / International Heats (8 laps)
Big Eight LLM
MLM
Feature (50 laps)
Bandit Feature (20 laps)
AST / International Feature
(20 laps)
Big Eight LLM Feature (38 laps)
Friday Night Rewind
Fans
got their money's worth for our season opener on Friday night with action in
five racing divisions. Congratulations to feature winners Tom Gille, Bobby
Wilberg, Chester Ace, Joel Wyttenbach, Vern Fagerberg Jr., and Caylie
Duncanson. Here are some observations from each division.
Weaver Auto
Parts Madison Late Models: I had indicated in a previous newsletter that Tom
Gille was going to be a force in the MLM this season and with his run on
Friday he is definitely going to be one to watch. Tom always runs well at MIS
and has a great car owner and crew. His patience was rewarded on Friday as he
waited for the best opportunity to make the pass of Zack Riddle to pick up the
win. Congratulations Tom. It was also a very strong run by Riddle who we can
expect to see running up front all season long.
New Zealander Michael
Pickens led a couple of laps early on before his day ended early and it was
back to the pits courtesy of Seitz Towing. I interviewed Michael last week and
he is a very enjoyable person to talk to. I have received several emails from
his fellow Kiwis wondering about his progress. Should be fun to see how he
adjusts to the world of stock cars this season. Another great story is how the
Urban Force Racing team came together and their involvement with Beloit
Memorial High School. It was great to have a group from Beloit there on Friday
to see their MIS debut.
Mike Adams Jr. of Rockdale picked up a heat win
in his pavement debut at MIS. Mike has raced midgets but this was his first
short at stock cars driving the Jon Minor #41. Mike is also an accomplished
harmonica player. Jon and Mike will be trading off driving duties this season
as Jon's work obligations take him overseas...I believe he told me he's gone
to Asia over fifty times!
Tough luck award goes out to Shane Morrissey
from Cuba City who experienced problems during hot laps. Keep your eye on the
21 car this season. I had an opportunity to see Shane play both football and
basketball this season and he's a competitor.
Rockweiler Insulation
Limited Late Models: A very solid car count and a competitive field were here
on Friday.
Bobby Wilberg won the feature in a car that was just
completed the night before! Bobby has a great crew and he is always one to
point out how important they are to his success.
The real story in the
limited late models had to be the drive of rookie Ryan Goldade in the #39 car.
Ryan drove a very impressive race and finished a close second behind Wilberg
while driving one of Bobby's former cars. Ryan was very competitive in the
Area Sportsman and it looks like a great future on the big track is in store.
Another
driver making his first appearance in a limited late model also found victory
lane when Casey Burns won his heat. It's great to see drivers who have
supported MIS over the years finding success as they move up the ranks.
Several
cars were on hand in preparation for this week's Big Eight Series event that
will also count as MIS points. Wayne's Custom DIECASAT will also be sponsoring
their first dash series event.
Roto Rooter Bandits: Chester Ace of
Oregon won his first-ever feature in the Bandits division. It was a great race
by the second year driver who took advantage of lapped traffic and never
looked back despite a late race caution. Opening day was not a good one for
Ace who certainly bounced back with style. It was a much cleaner race than the
opener which was something we were all happy to see.
Bobby
Selsing Jr., the "Batboy" won his heat race tonight after suffering
damage at the Sunday opener.
The Chief, Steve Dickson, was interviewed
before the race by Channel 27's Paul Garcia for an upcoming feature story.
From
the stands the Bandits might not appear to going
very
fast, but when you stand ten feet away from them
in the infield you get
a
whole new perspective!
Legends: It was the first time on the quarter
mile for the Legends who did previously race at MIS on the old short track in
the mid-90's. Only one driver, Herman "The Hermanator" Greinig, was
on hand for that event.
Joel Wyttenbach won the Legends feature. For
those of you who follow dirt racing you may recognize the name as one of
the strong runners at the weekly shows in Beaver Dam. Joel was willling to
give it a chance and was pretty happy he did. As he told me in victory lane
when I asked him if he would be back he said, "I won twice tonight. How
could I not come back." He's hoping to bring some his fellow competitors
from Beaver Dam including his sister to race the next time the cars are here.
I
have to admit I did have a favorite driver in this division in the #71 Blake
Brown. Blake was involved in the backstretch incident in the feature and
unable to finish the race. He'll be back!
Bandoleros: What an
interesting group of drivers! They might be young but they have very
solid backgrounds in racing. Caylie Duncanson, a fifth grader, has many years
of experience in snowmobile racing. Many of these youngsters began
racing at four or five years old. They put on a great show and they will be
back.
Having the opportunity to speak with them in the pits
before the races was very enjoyable. These will be names you will here again
as they have some big goals in sight including Duncanson who told me in the
post race interview that she's "Keeping my options open."
Website
Update
We are in the process of updating our website. All of the previous
information will be here including video and audio from the WCS race on
opening day courtesy of Jake Roth and Miracle Video.
The plan at this
point is to update all mylaps information and point standings on Monday.
May
25th at MIS...Check out the schedule
The Weaver Auto Parts Madison Late
Models and Roto Rooter Bandits will be in action on Friday, May 25th along
with the second annual "Faster Pastor" race. Admission is only
$8.00 and your ticket stub from this event is worth $3.00 off admission for
the Saturday night Hooters Pro Cup event. The Rockweiler Insulation Limited
Late Models will be in action on May 26th.
Hooters Pro Cup Coming to
MIS
Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 26 when the USAR Hooters Pro Cup
Northen Division comes to Madison International Speedway for the Sears Auto
Center 200 presented by BF Goodrich Tires.
This event will feature live
pit stops and all the action of the previous Hooters Pro Cup events at
MIS. A large field of rookies have taken on the challenge of running the
Hooters Pro Cup Series. Currently Clay Rogers and Gary St. Amant lead
the points race. Benny Gordon, who's been very tough at MIS, is in 22nd
place. Here's a current look at the standings in the Northern Division:
1
29 Clay Rogers Mooresville, NC 275
7 Gary St. Amant
Delaware, OH 275
3 4 Jody Lavender Hartsville, SC 252
4 56 A J Frank
Mooresville, NC 242
5 48 Sam Fullone North Collins, NY 225
6 26 Matt
Carter Denver, NC 218
7 22 Derek Kale Winfield, WV 215
8 75 Eric Corbett
Clearspring, MD 209
9 71 Lonnie Rush Jr. Mooresville, NC 206
10 63 Jim
Crabtree Jr. Muncie, IN 195
11 8 Johnny Rumley Summerfield, NC 191
12 67
Jeff Fultz Troutman, NC 190
13 49 Michael Kidd R Bluefield, VA 183
14 38
Shane Wallace Mooresville, NC
17 315 00 Tim Bainey Jr. Osceola Mills, PA 171
16 93 Brandon Ward R Winston
Salem, NC 169
17 05 Danny Jackson R Loveland, OH 168
9 Ben Stancill R Ayden, NC 168
73 Jeff Agnew
Floyd, VA 168
20 16 J J Pack Haymarket, VA 167
21 57 Joe Harrison Jr.
Renick, WV 164
22 66 Benny Gordon DuBois, PA 159
23 13 John Gibson R
Statesville, NC 153
24 11 Jack Bailey Stafford, VA 150
25 08 Ray Love
Jr. R Faulkner, MD 123
26 68 Allen Purkhiser Moore, SC 116
27 55 Ronnie
Souders R Beloit, OH 114
28 92 Kris Szekeres R Hartland, MI 87
29 90 Ken
Butler III Snellville, GA 85
30 60 Rick Markle Mooresville, NC 80
96 Sean Sauer R Wellington, OH 80
95 Tim
Kerr R Picton, Ont. 80
33 09 John Townley R Athens, GA 79
34 31 Mike
Hampton Jr. Fort Mill, SC 40
44 Wally
Schweizer Schrewsbury, PA 40
77 J.D. Leonard
R Brodhead, WI 40
74 Mark Zacchigna R Belle
Ewart, Ont. 40
19 Craig Wood R Culpeper, VA
40
Here's the schedule for Saturday, May 26th:
8:00 a.m. USAR HPCS
officials Meeting
8:20- 9:30 a.m. Transporter Parking
9:00 a.m. USAR
HPCS Crew Chief Meeting
9:30 a.m. Pit Gates Open
10:00 a.m. USAR HPCS
Tech Inspection Begins
10:30 am USAR HPCS Rookie Meeting
12:00 a.m. USAR
HPCS Practice Begin
2:00 p.m. USAR HPCS Practice Ends
2:15 p.m. USAR
HPCS Drivers Meeting (Engines Off)
2:30 p.m. Chapel Service (Engines Off)
2:45-3:15
Limited Late Model Practice
3:30 p.m. Front Gates Opens
3:45 p.m.
Limited Late Model Qualifying
4:30 p.m. Sears Auto Center 200 Qualifying
for the USAR HPCS
5:45 p.m. Wraps Ink on track Autograph Session for the
USAR HPCS
6:30 p.m. Pre-Race Ceremonies for the Sears Auto Center 200
7:00
p.m. Sears Auto Center 200
To Follow Limited Late Model race 30 laps
The
Chaplain' Corner
by Todd Christopherson
We are off and run on Friday
nights. What a fun week and good racing we saw. Those little guys were cool
and Limiteds and MLM put on a great show.
So last week we talked about
the green flag rounded up in the hand and spinning. This week we think about
the green flag that is waving. The cars are coming around the fourth corner
and you can feel the anticipation of the start of the race, the engines
roaring and the cars motoring off into turn one.
We too have that in
life. We get ready and grow in many ways from the little newborn to 8 and 9
year olds. We just take off. And most of us take off our own way. We just go
on and usually follow the crowd. We often do not crack open God’s Word and
see what it say and how God says we should live. I say this because that is
how I was. I went to church, but it had no meaning. I was just on cruise
control at a high rate of speed.
I saw some flying by and I flow by
some, but when I stopped and looked back there was always a void. We will find
out more about that, but for now that’s enough.
Next we will go on to
the waving yellow flag.
See you at the track and remember I would count
it a privilege to pray for you and with you or any help I can be.
todd
christopherson torch_for_jesus@yahoo.com
That's
all for this week...see you at the races and bring your friends.
John
Wells MIS
|
|
|
