PR.com Area Drivers Getting a Jump On The Season Down South

I have a love/hate relationship with racing this time of year. I love to check out the results from Speedweeks and the early season special events down south, but I hate that it still seems like so far off to the time when we will first get out to the tracks in Missouri, Iowa and the other nearby states. The good news is that we are now less than three weeks away from the March 14th event at Springfield Raceway and the Missouri and "All Iowa" season will just gain momentum from there......as long as Mother Nature cooperates! Race fans also have the opportunity to catch the USMTS opener at McCool Junction Nebraska the first weekend in March and the following week Staley's Mods will be at Caney Valley and Humboldt in Kansas. I'm actually hoping to make the trip to Caney prior to checking out the track in Springfield for my first time.

Back to the results from this weekend, I saw that Mike VanGenderen of Newton picked up an IMCA Stock Car win at the Icebreaker in Abilene Texas. There were more drivers from our area down there as well and I am looking forward to the next installment of TapFan's Tours (found on the home page of PositivelyRacing.com) for the full report. The Green Valley Speedway in Gadsden, Alabama, held its annual Bama Bash this weekend on the high-speed 3/8th-mile red clay oval. Ray Cook continued his domination of early season events in Dixie as he picked up the Super Late Model main ahead of Randy Weaver, Dale McDowell, Clint Smith and Tony Knowles. Eric Turner of Hermitage, Missouri, was impressive once again coming home in the sixth spot as he seems well prepared for a breakout rookie season in the Late Models. Story City Iowa's Jeremy Grady finished 18th in the main event.

The Crate Late Model feature was captured by veteran driver Ronnie Johnson ahead of Jason Hiett and Billy Mayo. Dustin Griffin is listed in the 14th spot and I am going to assume that this is the young driver out of Camp Point, Illinois, who runs weekly in the IMCA Late Model division at Quincy. Bobby Dauderman, the 2008 Crate LM track champion at Tri-City Speedway finished 19th.

If you are interested in what is going on at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson go to their website at http://www.leecountyspeedway.com/ and take a listen to their podcast. Promoter Terry Hoenig and announcer Dewain Hulett are calling me tonight for an interview to talk about PositivelyRacing.com, Shiverfest and other items......it is the "other items" that has me a bit worried! :)

PositivelyRacing.com Coverage Area Drivers Speedweek Recap

As I settle in for the start of the Daytona 500 I wanted to continue to recap the performances of our coverage area drivers down in the Sunshine state.

Darren Miller picked up the win on the opening night for the UMP Late Models at Volusia on Monday night and then followed that up with a seventh place run later in the week. John Anderson made the show on Wednesday night and finished 14th.

Terry McCarl wrapped up a solid trip down south as he finished 7th in the World of Outlaws show at Volusia on Sunday night, then finished fifth and second (to Daryn Pittman) at East Bay's 410 sprint shows on Tuesday and Wednesday. Bronson Maeschen finished 11th and 12th at East Bay.

The Modifieds took center stage at East Bay for four nights Wednesday through Saturday and Ray Guss Jr. was a top contender throughout. "The River City Hustler" set quick time on Thursday and Friday over a field that topped seventy cars each night. Guss made the main event all four nights as he had posted two thirds, a fourth and an eleventh-place run. Mike Hansen, who finished 10th in the 2008 All Iowa Points, was second quick to Guss on Friday night and finished 21st in the feature that night. Scott Drake made the show three of the four nights and was in the top ten twice with runs of 7th and 9th. Tommie Seets Jr. finished 6th on Friday night, Mike Harrison was 10th on Wednesday and Mark Noble was 15th on Friday.

Rodney Wing, the owner of Whynot Motorsports Park in Mississippi, won the $8,000 finale at East Bay Saturday night.

Hunter Rasdon of Jonesboro Arkansas (104th in th 2008 All Missouri Modified Points) picked up the $1,500 Modified feature win at Winterfest in Winchester Tennessee on Valentine's Day. You can find Rasdon often at Malden Speedway.

When we get our next update on the schedules posted you will see two new additions on the Weekly Racing page as Audubon Speedway in western Iowa will be running on Friday nights and Bethany Speedway in northwest Missouri will give it a go on Sunday nights in 2008. Hopefully the PR.com crew can make it to both of these tracks sometime this season. (Saturday February 28th update: Scott Traylor and Kirk Elliott better known as the Racin' Boys (see their link on our links page) are reporting that the Bethany deal has already fallen through)

Gotta go, can't be long until DW says "Boogity, boogity, boogity!"

A few thoughts on a sunny, warm February day in Iowa....

Must give credit where credit is due, I absolutely loved the press release generated this week by Jeff Nun, the Public Relations Director for the United States Modified Touring Series. The release titled “USMTS Implements Stimulus Package” was a perfect fit for the times. Check it out at one of the sites on our links page. Todd & Janet Staley’s series kicks off on March 6th & 7th at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool, Nebraska.

We have picked up a few compliments this week as more of you are finding out that PositivelyRacing.com now exists out here in cyberspace. Your comments are always welcome at news@positivelyracing.com.

The first ten days of racing down in Florida has been hampered by colder than normal temperatures, but it looks like the action has been as hot as usual with some exciting late race heroics by the winners. Several drivers from our coverage area are in action in the sunshine state:

Jesse Hockett has made the most noise so far as he picked up the $12,500 winner’s check at East Bay’s Ronald Laney Memorial for the 360 c.i. sprints. Terry McCarl was the All Stars 410 sprint winner at last Saturday’s show in Ocala. McCarl was in the hospital just before the event with kidney stones and went ahead and raced even though he had yet to pass them. Believe me, I know from experience what Terry had to overcome when it comes to the stones! Danny Lasoski was the runner-up to McCarl at Ocala and has posted a fourth and tenth place finish as the All Stars moved forty miles to the east this week at Volusia. Bronson Maeschen made the show on Thursday night out of a field of forty-five sprinters and finished 18th.

In the Modifieds Mike Hansen of Alton picked up a podium finish last night (Thursday) at Volusia as he took third behind Austin Dillon (the 18-year-old grandson of Richard Childress) and NASCAR star Ken Schrader. Brad Waits finished fourth in the Tuesday opener at Volusia and Scott Drake was fifth at Ocala last Saturday. With around eighty cars in attendance each night at Volusia this week just making the 28-car feature field is an accomplishment and Michael Long has done it two out of three nights and Tim Karrick once. Other area drivers making the effort include Terry McClintock, Roger Moser, Tommie Seets Jr. and Brent Mullins.

In the Late Model ranks only Darren Miller and Jesse Stovall have qualified for a feature this week at East Bay with the Lucas Oil Late Models. Decorah’s Tyler Bruening just missed making the show on opening night as he finished one spot out a transfer in his heat and then wound up sixth in the B-Main. Mike Collins is also in action at East Bay.

Hermitage Missouri driver Eric Turner continued his early season tour of the south as he wheeled his Super Late Model to a seventh-place finish at the Winter Classic in Columbus Mississippi. Veteran driver Ronnie Johnson won both the Super Late Model and the Crate Late Model feature.

I was saddened today to learn of the passing of William Thye of Burlington. Bill was the father of Modified driver Darin Thye and was always a fixture in the pit area. I have met a lot of great people around the racetracks over the past thirty years, but I have to say that Bill Thye ranks right near the top. He will be greatly missed by many, rest in peace William.

Banquets, TV Racing, Capped Entries & More....

I hope all racing banquets this offseason are as upbeat as what we experienced on Saturday night at the Lee County Speedway banquet in Fort Madison. Promoters Terry and Jenni Hoenig do a great job with their awards presentations and I must say that the speeches delivered by the five track champions were as entertaining as I have ever heard at a racing banquet. IMCA Modified track champion Josh Foster set the bar high delivering about a ten minute routine that would rival any mini-set by a professional standup comedian, but Jason Cook, Jim Gillenwater, Dean Kratzer and Rob Hammel did just fine for themselves as well.

For me at least Gillenwater delivered the most interesting “news item” of the night when he stated that he would step up from the Sport Mods and pair up with Michael Long for the 2009 season. The new team will make their debut in just a couple of weeks in Florida and it will be interesting to see how Long does in the IMCA Modified ranks at Donnellson. He has been virtually unstoppable the last couple of years at Quincy.

My wife Christine and I would like to thank the Hoenig’s for including us at their party and we really enjoyed our tablemates Dennis & Leslye Krieger and Dewain Hulett. Christine enjoys going to the races when she knows some of the people competing and after Saturday night I have a feeling that she will now be a Josh Foster fan! Keep in mind that Foster purchased Tony Fraise’s modified at the end of 2008.

While at the banquet Saturday night we had the DVR set for the NASCAR All Star Showdown live on SPEED from Irwindale California. The finish of the 250-lap event was dramatic to say the least as eighteen-year-old soon to be Sprint Cup rookie competitor Joey Logano drove Peyton Sellers into the turn four wall on the final lap. Logano appeared to be happy with his methods as he pumped his fist in jubilation after crossing the line first, but NASCAR penalized his rough driving by placing him last in the forty-car rundown. Sellers showed amazing restraint as he marched to Logano’s car and had a non-physical conversation with the youngster. Then, only a few minutes later, Sellers delivered a very classy interview after being crashed out of a certain victory and the $34,500 check that went with it. Instead he finished 13th and made $9,500. Needless to say, I am now a Peyton Sellers fan!

The newly formed Late Model team of Steve Rushin and Eric Turner made another January trip down south when they traveled to Ringgold Georgia for the Mid-Nite Oil Racing Fuels 50 at Boyd’s Speedway. Turner, who was the runner up in the 2008 All Missouri Modified points, impressed the locals by running fourth in the main event behind Ray Cook (who also won the Ice Bowl three weeks earlier), Ronnie Johnson and Anthony White. Mike Collins of Council Bluffs IA finished 17th in the 32-car Super Late Model field.

With the number of entries being capped at sixty for the Deery Brother Summer Series event at the Knoxville Raceway it is my hope that the folks at IMCA will consider the possibility that a regular point contender may get shut out of the event. It is not new for the Knoxville Raceway to limit entries as they have done it the last two years for the Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals, so it was not a surprise when they announced that only the first 120 IMCA Modified entries, the first 60 IMCA SportMod entries and the first 60 IMCA Late Model entries would be accepted for the expanded 2009 edition of the Harris Clash. But here is the potential problem. Only one of the events mentioned above is part of a points-paying traveling series and it is very possible that one or more of the drivers who are chasing points could be forced to watch from the grandstands simply because they didn’t get their entry postmarked early enough. Granted this scenario is a long shot as there are much fewer IMCA late models out there, but the lure of racing at Knoxville on Wednesday July 8th will likely bring them out of the woodwork. In my opinion IMCA should state right now that any driver who has perfect attendance up to that point on the 2009 Deery Series will be guaranteed the opportunity to compete that night at Knoxville regardless of when their entry was received.

I have mixed emotions regarding the announcement today that Lebanon’s I-44 Speedway will return to an asphalt surface in 2009. As a dirt track I have included the facility as one of my five favorites since the surface switch in 2003, but I must admit that before that I considered it to be one of the raciest asphalt short tracks that I have ever been to. With two new beautiful dirt track facilities (Lake Ozark Speedway and Lucas Oil Speedway) within sixty miles of Lebanon I-44 it now makes sense for it to return to an asphalt surface and we wish them the best in 2009 and beyond.

Another New Racing Website....Why?

So why did we do this? Why is there now a website called PositivelyRacing.com? Why not? After all, everybody else now has a racing website, right? Yes, that could be a very small part of our motivation, but there were many, many more reasons that you can now find the writings of myself, Barry Johnson, Dick & Joyce Eisele (coming soon!) and maybe more at this site. Allow me now to give you just a couple of those reasons.

First and foremost is the reason behind the name of the website itself, and that is the fact that all of us involved with this site, including our talented webmaster Sue McDaniel, are frustrated with, tired of, disappointed in and even sometimes completely disgusted with how our sport is treated on the internet. This foul treatment occurs primarily on the forums and message boards where anonymous “experts” make bold statements, call out drivers, promoters and officials by name, start rumors based on little or no information, or just state outright lies that do nothing but damage our sport in the eyes of the drivers, fans, promoters and sponsors. Former Sunset Speedway owner/promoter Craig Kelley dubbed these internet jockeys as “Anonymous Weasel Posters”, or AWP’s, as nearly all of them hide behind screen names that do not reveal their true identity. Whenever somebody makes a case for limiting or eliminating the ramblings of the AWP’s they always seem to invoke their “Right to Free Speech”, although it is my belief that this constitutional right does not actually apply and here is why. When our founding fathers established this right I feel that it went along with the fact that the speaker would always be identified so that those hearing his or her words could then decide, based upon what they knew about the speaker, whether or not to put much stock into those words. The reputation of the speaker and any potential biases could be weighed and you could then decide whether or not you should trust those words. And that is the problem with the internet forums, you are not given the opportunity to weigh the credentials of the AWP delivering the message and therefore you have no good way to filter out the few truthful posts from the rest of the…..well, insert your own descriptive word here.

I can give you two specific examples, the first that I can recall and the most recent, of how this process directly affected racing projects that I was involved with. The first one came during the 2000 season when I was running the NKF Heartland Tour for a Cure. We had a mid-week race scheduled at the Crawford County Speedway in Denison and the forecast called for scattered thunderstorms during the day and clearing conditions during the evening. As we made the four and a half hour drive west we encountered some of those storms, but with each storm we called promoter Howard Mellinger and he assured us that Denison had escaped the rain. When we arrived at the track around five o’clock it was obvious that the few sprinkles that had fallen had now passed on to the east and that we were ready for a great night of racing. The cars checked in at a slow pace that night and while we still had a respectable car count I was surprised that at least six of the drivers who were chasing the points championship on the Tour failed to ever show. The crowd was okay, but nothing close to what the Tour had drawn to Denison before and the racing was great on the high-speed half-mile oval. The next morning when I posted the results on the internet, within minutes I started fielding calls from those point-chasing drivers. “You guys ran that show last night?? I thought that it was rained out.” When I asked the first caller why he thought that, his response was that his wife saw it on the internet and called him on his cell phone to tell him to turn around and come home. The story was the same for the other callers, some even called each other once they got the “news” from an internet forum post that the race in Denison had been cancelled due to rain. So I went to the primary internet forum at the time and under the Modified section, sure enough there was a thread started by an AWP who was making just his/her second post ever on this forum stating that he/she had just returned home from the track and that the races were cancelled due to rain. No sense of “speculation” that they “might” be cancelled, just a point blank statement of “fact” backed up by the “evidence” that this person had actually been there and witnessed the rainout.

Today, after years of seeing how the internet forums work, most people wouldn’t have taken that rainout report as fact without backing it up with a check of the track’s website, a phone call to the track, or even a phone call to the Tour director. But back in 2000, we were apparently a little too trusting of the AWP’s. I added a response to that post the next morning stating what a blatant lie it was and pointing out how this misinformation might have an effect on the outcome of the points for the Tour not to mention the money that it had cost Mr. Mellinger for those drivers, and fans, who stayed home that night. You know I never did see another post from that username, but of course that doesn’t mean that he or she didn’t just assume another username in order to continue their AWP ways.

The more recent instance had much less of a financial affect, but to me was every bit as annoying and perfectly illustrates the role that many AWP’s take on today as a pot-stirrer, instigator or gossiper. We were just a few weeks ahead of our annual “Shiverfest” event at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson and the rules for the event had been posted on the track’s website. On one of the regional message boards somebody had posted a question asking what tires would be allowed on the Hobby Stocks. Now of course the first question is this. Why would somebody who wants to know what tires could be run on the Hobby Stocks get on line and go to an internet message board to ask the question when he could have just as easily went to the track’s website to find the rules? But it was the response that he received from an AWP that really made me laugh. “I was told that they will be able to run the same tires as the Stock Cars.” Now of course that information was totally inaccurate, so I replied, “Really? Who told you that?” And then I posted the accurate information in regard to the tires and referred any other questions on the rules to the track’s website. Of course the AWP never did respond as to who gave him the bad information, but I will credit that exchange as being the last push that I needed to move ahead with PositivelyRacing.com.

As you have guessed by now, there is no forum or message board on this site, nor will there ever be one! No AWP’s allowed! We know that this fact will keep up us from capturing some of the traffic looking for racing information on the internet, but that’s fine, we can live with that and sleep at night. I’ll admit that I myself will still go look at those forums from time to time, but primarily for entertainment purposes only and we hope that the regular visitors to this site will view those forums in the same light. On our Links page you will find a couple of sites operated by friends of ours that do have forums/message boards, but it is the information that they provide in the main body of their site, not the forums that rate our approval. The bottom line is this, we feel that the AWP’s are detrimental to the sport and we hope that we can provide an alternative going forward.

The second big reason why this site now exists has to do with the constraints that were put upon us in print. Now don’t get me wrong, both Barry and I love to write for Hawkeye Racing News and we both plan on continuing to contribute to the best regional racing paper out there. However, when the racing season is in full swing and there are stories and results from all over the Midwest to include in the paper, there is just not much space left for us columnists and we are asked to keep our efforts to one thousand words or less. That is a very reasonable request and we completely understand why it is made, heck as former editor, Barry was the one making those rules a few years back. The problem is though that if you go to more than one race in a week it is virtually impossible to keep our columns to a thousand words or less. Then consider early August when both of us spend ten or twelve straight nights at Knoxville and, in my case at least, I only use about 10% of my notes for my column. This site will allow us to write as many words as we want and hopefully you will find them to be informative and entertaining.

So there you have it, that is why we are here and we hope that you will check back often to see what we have to say and to see what is new. If you have never checked them out before, take a look at the All Iowa and the Missouri Points (the final 2008 standings are currently listed) and once the season starts check back regularly to see how your favorites are doing. We have some big plans for this site, but we are going to start slow and try to build momentum. Bookmark it now, PositivelyRacing.com, and help us get that ball rolling!

And more thing…..don’t be an AWP! :)