So here we are… days before one of my favorite sporting weekends of the year!! The first weekend in April – March Madness is down to the Final Four (won’t win my pool, but definitely do better at that then the jp.com pick ’ems) Baseball season finally starts (and with it, comes the Red Sox/Yankee fan verbal abuse – look out Rose P.!!) and of course the Modified Nationals kick off our short track season out at the ol’ Speedbowl…
This off-season was different than most. It’s been about 9 years since there wasn’t a Mini in the BigBall garage before opening day… and watching my favorite division without my man ‘chard toolin’ around in the 65 will be different. Can you believe I’ll actually miss having a near-coronary when it’s time for ‘chard’s race each week… It’ll be interesting to see who’ll give Danny Boy the biggest challenge this year. On paper, Phil & Jeff seem to have a killer combo, but races aren’t run on paper…
In fact – it’s pretty cool all 5 Sat champs will be back to defend their title… that’s good for car counts among other things…. Speaking of which – is it me, or does the projected weekly SK field look better than it has in years?? Sure hope we see 20+ mods every week – or even some consis…. Dennis going for Title #7 will be interesting to watch… and quite historic should he be able to capture it…
For me though, I’m most intrigued by the Late Models as we head into the season. Not only to see Timmy try to defend his title against some returning crafty vets (Coates), but to see if the division as a whole rebounds from…. well just some real crappy situations last year… Like I’ve said before, the Speedbowl was THE Late Model short track not so long ago, and I’d love to see the division recapture some of it’s former glory…
It’ll be wierd not having the WMT around this year – although I don’t blame the track for not hosting an event… Not sure what NASCAR is doing with some of their touring series, but that’s another topic I don’t feel like gettin’ into…
The Speedbowl history project went well this off-season. Soon enough the research results will be available on the site – with the continuing generosity of the racing community – almost all of the last 40 years (1966-2006) is complete in the Almanac. That info, along with the stats listed in John Brouwer’s History from 1951-1965, have made a comprehensive Record Book come sooner than I imagined… more records than you can think of, trust me…. I’m currently working with the web-maestro to get it on The Vault webpages here on jp.com…. I’ll keep ya posted when it’s ready…
Definitely interested to see what kind of improvements have been made to the bathrooms and the bleachers. Those two have been long standing complaints amongst us fans, so I hope the improvements are completed…
This late program scenario isn’t good news right before opening weekend, but hopefully it gets it’s due attention and is rectified sooner than later…
How ’bout our Forumland friends Doug Coby and Eddie Reed, among others, returning to the weekly grind!!
I won’t get my hopes up to hear some tunes in the mix on the PA system… and until I do, I stay true in my belief that the track is simply missing out on an element that provides a great sense of “something happening” even when nothings happening on the track… poor horse is beyond dead by now, ain’t it??
So it’s safe to say the Family Section will be rockin’ the joint like a mutha on Saturdays… I should probably just apologize to Missy & Jen now for all that Lil’ Bryan & A-Train might here this season….
I hope everyone has a great year – although you know we all can’t at once!! But that’s what keeps us compelled…. and don’t forget to bring someone to the track this year… someone NEW!! Last year I got 24 non-regulars to the track at least once – this year I’m going to try for 40… cuz I’m just that insane…
Do you think I’ll mention the programs in my first recap? 🙂
See ya this weekend
Sid