Well another year in the books and it’s time to put a bow on the ’06 season – so let’s giddy up-up and reminisce, shall we!!
SK MODIFIEDS:
As I eluded to in my Finale recap, Dennis cemented his legendary ‘bowl status with his 6th title. Statistically he’s the most accomplished at the track in the SK division – he leads in both track championships AND career wins with 48. How many is 48?? Well, our man JP has 23 – which ain’t nuttin’ to sneeze at as it’s 4th all time – yet not even half of Dennis’ total.
Rob Janovic led the division in wins with 4 after taking the Finale 100 and breaking his tie at 3 which he previously held with JP & Diego. The VoJan team now has 20 victories between the SK’s (13) and LM’s (7) – unofficially that is…
LATE MODELS:
Timmy Stock did something quite rare in winning both the LM title and ROY. The 4-7 team deserves props for loading up and spending Sat nite fixing a car that got balled up in practice… for no other reason than passion for the sport. Everything was clinched, but according to our Team 47 embassador to the Family Section (Chris Burton), Timmy just believed the fans deserve to have the point leader racing in a big event. That’s fan friendly – that’s important – and cheer him or boo him, Timmy’s got the right idea…
Of course, the other LM story of the year was the JLoz barrell roll and the ensuing season long suspension for Jay Stuart. And I’m still not over that was the one week I missed, but we talked about it enough then…
Coates eluded he’ll be back for a full season in ’07. That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout Maybe Corey will hold his grudge with the Thompson brass throughout next year and make the ‘bowl his priority again… Who knows – maybe even Stuey-balls will come back too… I wonder about Jr Thomas & JLoz and if they’ll come back, move up or move on… but the potential to revive the LM is there – let’s hope next year is a return to better days…
SPORTSMAN:
Dwayne Dorr kept my busy this year!! I won’t lie – I thought Dwayne’s emotions would get the best of him at some point, and I agree the 99’s actions in the Finale were suspect at best, but a championship it is none the less. He’s etched his name in the Sportsman division’s history and although he busted my balls all year about always tellin’ him someone else did something better, he loved the challenge and did pretty good attacking the record books.
Curious Joe made for an interesting rivalry and point battle. Word around the campfire is Joe III got himself a mighty-fast ACT car for next year Did I mention the potential for a LM turnaround…
Congrats to Stash, Joe Bertholet and Greg Butler for taking down their first ‘bowl SM career wins
LEGEND CARS:
Buck-EYE! and Buck-EYE! all year long so someone give ’em consistent competition next year.
MINI STOCKS:
Well – this was it. More than likely our last year in the ol’ 4-bangers and I gotta say, I’m gonna miss ’em. ‘chard & the boys got the fever for the flava of more open-wheeled chassis – but with racing ya never know what next year brings. But I think the BB 65 rode it’s last mini point race this weekend…
This year more than ever I think all of us BB’ers were immersed in some drama more than ever before. A bitter rivalry bore outta a early season incident and by looks of the MS 50 Finale, I’d say the emotions are still thick between the champ and my boy. Sometimes I wish they coulda just raced on the track for the title and had it go down to the last week of the season, but it just didn’t turn out that way.
Ya know, it’s funny – When I remember back to the late-90’s when Richie first started, it was so much different. Rich wasn’t that good back then (although he did get his first win during his rookie year) Back then, the division was still dominated by the guys who were part of the transition from the Mini’s Sunday Enduro days – Bruce Thomas Sr, Dan Darnstaedt, Jeff Diegielewski, Mike Fernald, Billy Guyette, Brandon Plemons and then Jeff Miller. To me, these guys were amongst the pioneers of the division.
I’ve always compared ‘chard’s mini career (like most might compare Cassidy & Godbout now) to Phil Evans. They broke in the division around the same time – although Phil was fast right outta the gate while ‘chard wasn’t consistentlu running up front til around 2003. And they too have had their on-track rivalry. Over the years though, they’ve raced many a time side-by-side with no problem. My memory might be narrow, but they also might be 2 of the first who were able to run the outside groove consistently.
Over the years, one thing has never changed: the mini’s are just fun. They’re competitive and there’s always action and they’re the only division that can still put out a full field on a weekly basis with a good 8 to 10 cars capable of taking the win on any given week. Yeah, I know they’re only 4-cylinders, but they get faster every year. I remember back in the day someone like Miller would throw up a 18.1 in practice and we we’re all like “damn the 54 is on friggin’ rails” and nowadays that time means you’re a terd!! I think the 2 young guns (37 & 11) have put up 17.3’s on the transponder
It’ll be different watching the 4-bangers without my man ‘chard out there to cheer on – but I’m sure I’ll still be entertained…
Anyway – despite all the drama, Danny Boy wrapped up his second consecutive title – something only Jeff Miller (’98-’99) has done before. He’s also now 6th all-time on the mini win list with 12 – two behind Phil & ‘chard who both won twice and now have 14.
RANDOM NUGGET AWARDS
So how ’bout the annual nuggets:
MELTDOWNS
- Defending champ Mark St. Hilliare ramming JLoz under caution
- Papa Ron doing the same to Scott Bellisle’s #50 during a heat race
- Nate Appel doing the same to Jeff Miller in the pits
- Shawn P Monahan’s tyraid during “Barrell Roll” night
- Jeff Windsor (? or so I was told) who left the flagstand during a Finale event after a disagreement with the tower.
FEEL GOOD MOMENTS
- Greg Butler, Joe Bertholet and Richard Staskowski’s first SM win
- C Will’s first career Mini Win
- Soup’s long overdue return to Victory Lane
- …and veteran Donny Fowler’s return from a stroke to race again at the end of the year – including a top 5 in the Finale 100.
WORST WRECKS
Well, even though I didn’t see it, it’s hard to imagine anything I did see was even close to the barrell roll…. but here’s a couple of memorable ones from the rest:
- Norm Root’s #80 goin’ off on the hook in the size of a mini
- The rapid-fire wallshots after Sylvia blew his motor
ON TRACK RIVALRIES
- Jr Thomas & The Professor
- ‘chard & The Wildman
- Timmy Stock & Larry Goss
- VoJan & MFR
- Jeff Miller & Nate Appel
BUMMERS
- Corey, Allen, Stuart and Botticello not running full LM seasons
- My man The Reg once again electing not to run the ‘bowl’s WMT race
- Darth Vader once entertaining returns in that now gone 13SK
- Norm Root & Roger Perry’s limited Sportsman schedules
OFFICIATING GRIPES
- 20 pt penalties
- Not letting the flagman decide when to throw the yellow
- F-bombs over the track frequency (If I can hold off during LL season, they should be able to during race day – it’s just unprofessional)
- The current handicapping system
- Pit road blocked during the features
VAULT MOMENTS
- Diego Monahan becoming the first driver with victories in all 4 NWRS divisions
- Mark Bakaj’s record tying 6 feature wins in a row
- Dwayne Dorr’s record tying 10 feature wins in a Sportsman season
- Dwayne Dorr’s sweep of the extra distant events
- Dennis Gada’s record tying 6th track championship
’07 WISHES FOR IMPROVEMENT
- Programs for the whole year
- A new audio system (call me if ya need me!!)
- Some damn music to juice up the crowd (you can call me on that one too!)
- Dunkin’ Donuts booth on the midway
- A new audio system
- Unified LM rules
- did I mention a new audio system
In place of last year’s Forum Awards, this year we got:
THE FAMILY SECTION SUPERLATIVES
FUNNIEST ENTERPRETATION OF “That’s What I’m Talkin’ ‘Bout!”:
“That’s how we talk about it!” Little Bryan
MOST LIKELY TO NOT GET ALL JAMMED UP DURING AN SK FEATURE
Brian
MOST LIKELY TO NOT SHOW UP
Jen Pearl of course
MOST LIKELY TO LAUNCH VERBAL DOUG COBY TAUNTS AT RONNIE SILK
Jeff D
MOST LIKELY TO GET LOST LOOKING FOR THE FAMILY SECTION
Doug Coby
MOST LIKELY TO CHEER FOR DANNY FIELD RIGHT IN MY GRILL
Jeff Williams
MOST TIMES WALKING UP BLEACHER STAIRS WITH HIS ARMS WAVING IN DISGUST
That dude from VoJan who’s always hootin’ & hollering when he feels the 51SK has been done wrong by the officials
MOST F-BOMBS SCREAMED AT THE TOWER ONCE HE GETS TO THE TOP
same dude
MOST LIKELY TO GET DRAGGED TO A PARTY WITH SID AFTER THE RACES
Chris Burton
MOST LIKELY TO MAKE FUN OF CHRIS BURTON
Rich’s sister Dianne
MOST LIKELY TO LOSE A STARE DOWN GAME TO CAMERON PEARL
Richie Brooks
(actually – it could be a tie with me, but since homeboy didn’t win the Finale, I’ll throw ’em a bone)
MOST LIKELY TO TAKE VERBAL ABUSE FROM ‘CHARD FOR WHAT I JUST WROTE
that’d be me 🙂
The LARRY GOSS UN-RETIREMENT AWARD goes to:
John Mahoney, who initially stated none of his MFR cars would return to the ‘bowl after “Barrell Roll Night” only to have all 3 pretty much run full seasons afterwards.
The BEST MODIFIED TOUR QUALIFYING AWARD goes to:
The True Value Series and their heat race qualifying format – much more entertaining
Farewell to Pete Zanardi who more than anyone got information, news and releases out to the masses to promote our lil’ track. He was an enormous help with not only The Vault but my Little League Night idea as well. I’ll miss ya & your bad jokes!! Thanks for everything
Congrats to Shelly Perry and her one-arm bandit championship ways and to her brother Norm who never lets his lack of vision take away from his passion for our sport – or ability to build some steam!! You da man!!!
I’d like to say the Family Section had a lil’ bit of a revival this year… I mean, no one team brings in a clan of 50 like Karns used to do, but collectively we rock the joint with all our lunancy and it’s part of what makes me have such a good time each week!!
And not only did I meet The Reg before opening day, but over the course of the season I had a chance to meet Billy Harman, Bob Gada, Ed Bunnell, Tom Fox, Ed Moody, Jerry Pearl, “Flash” Rodgers and Dennis Gada – talk about some Speedbowl Royalty!!! That’s pretty cool…
Finally, this year you guys made me realize that the Vault wasn’t a bad idea after all. I would have never imagined how much exposure it has gotten and interest it’s generated. Seems like the everyone from announcers to the press to race teams and officials – everyone’s using it – and that’s great… and what it’s there for. Hopefully during the off-season I’ll have time to complete it by opening day… I’ll keep ya posted.
So stay positive about our track’s future and don’t be afraid to offer an idea. We all have a choice to be part of the problem or part of the solution – so choose wisely!!
See ya at the World Series
I’m OUT
Sid