Nobody Asked Me But....

Nobody asked me but.

We’re glad to hear that the folks at Port Royal Speedway have finally tackled their track problems before it became too late. Reports that the track showed little dust is a major improvement from recent weeks but will the no dust turn into a rough wet track every week? We hope not and hope that the upcoming Jim Nace Dream Extreme is a big success for a place that must have a few good nights to close out the season.

Holy tire deal! That’s about all we’ll say about the tire deal and what happened at Williams Grove Speedway last Friday night. Honestly, I’ve been sick of hearing about the tires since February. I just know it wasn’t one of track manager Justin Loh’s better days.

Speaking of track surfaces, what a beautiful racing surface Fred Putney had for action Saturday at Lincoln Speedway. Lots of passing during heat races meant for a great night on the track. Last Saturday’s overcast weather, combined with the rain the night before did wonders for the surface. While moving the start time back to 7:30pm, I’m not sure if it’s 95 sunny degrees on a Saturday, not much can be done.

The much hyped wingless Super Sportsman race last Saturday at Williams Grove Speedway produced a lackluster field of 15 cars. The race was won by points leader Carmen Perigo. While the fan count was the best for any Saturday night show at the track this season, I think the car count shows that most of the division’s drivers are not interested in taking the wings off. And by making this event a points race, would only make things worse for the division. Don’t force teams to do something they are telling you they don’t want to.

Kudos to car owner John Trone on bringing legendary Keith Kauffman back to the track. Now we only hope that Kauffman is given a car that he can drive and get back to victory lane before the season ends.

Thumbs up to Selinsgrove and Susquehanna Speedway’s for taking their annual summer break last weekend and giving teams and fans other options. Maybe other tracks will follow? It wouldn’t hurt.

Oh goody, we have yet another time trial based race Friday night at Williams Grove. The good thing about the “Outlaw tuneup” is that it does pay extra to win and that’s always a good thing.

And yes, the Outlaws are back at the Grove next Friday and Saturday for the Summer Nationals.

Speaking of next week, for those who weren’t aware of it (and I was one), Lincoln Speedway has a Sunday night, July 25 show on the schedule. Monday morning comes early!
It’s great to see Racin’ Jason Covert get a big $5,000 win in Sunday’s Ufo Race Championships event at Dog Hollow Speedway. Covert made a late race pass on Jamie Lathroum for the win as Jeremy Miller finished third.

If you haven’t already done so, make sure you get your Knoxville Nationals plans finalized as the 50th anniversary of the biggest sprint car race in the world isn’t too far away. While in Iowa, make sure you hit the Southern Iowa Speedweek races as well and visit the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame as well. Several members of the Pennsylvania Posse will be in competition at the Nationals.

PIT STOPS
Tony Stewart Racing drivers Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz will be making an appearance at the Bass Pro Shops in the Harrisburg Mall on Wednesday, July 21st from 5-7pm. Both drivers, along with their crews and cars will also be on hand at the event. In the event that Lernerville Speedway rains out on Tuesday, July 20th , this event will be moved to Thursday night, July 22nd at the same times.

Joey Saldana scored two wins on the World of Outlaws tour last week while Craig Dollansky returned to the winners circle as well. Saldana won Thursday night’s event at LaSalle Speedway over teammate Paul McMahan and Steve Kinser then came back to win Saturday’s Jim Boyd Memorial at Beaver Dam Raceway over McMahan and Kinser once again. Dollansky’s second season win came Sunday at Cedar Lake Speedway over Jason Meyers and Sammy Swindell. The Outlaws are in action this weekend at the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway…

Brad Sweet kept the Kasey Kahne Racing hot streak alive as he won Saturday’s All Star sprint main at West Virginia Motor Speedway over Tim Shaffer and Cale Conley. Tim Shaffer won Monday night’s All Star event at Can Am Speedway over Greg Wilson, Tony Stewart, Fred Rahmer and Jessica Zemken. Doug Esh was sixth and Mark Smith seventh. Tuesday night, the All Stars were at Utica Rome Speedway where Fred Rahmer scored the win over Shaffer, Wilson, Davey Sammons and Mark Smith.