Alright people, pull up a chair!! I got all kinds o’ yappin’ to do… that’s right Tank Boy, get your pillow out cuz with the Finale, my “Speilberg” project and some year in review traditions, there’s no way your will get to the end before
Actually, because of all the cameras and interviews going on all weekend, we didn’t really watch much of the racing outside of the SK’s on either day That kinda blew, but it was worth it cuz I think we really got some great footage this weekend. And I gotta give props to Steve Harraka as he was freakin’ money when it came to allowing us to do all we accomplished. With J-Rob’s blessing, Harraka was my track contact and worked great with us – that’s right people, the communication was there. With all the off-the-track drama in the weeks leading up to the event, I wasn’t sure how smooth everything would go, but needless to say, none of the drama intervened with what we were trying to accomplish.
And we accomplished alot in a 9 day span. Starting the previous Sunday we started with the interviews at the shops of the respective drivers we spot-lighted: Eddie Reed & car owner Nick Verno on Sunday in Westerly, Dennis out in Niantic on Tuesday, Tyler and his dad Jeff in Ledyard on Wednesday, my man JP on Thursday in Colchester then both Ronnie U and Janovic on Friday night. Yeah, it was intense… and props to Jess Gleason and his brother Brent who were just freakin’ awesome as they came to help conduct the interviews each night from Tuesday on
Then I ruined my man ‘chard’s Friday by having him get the ol’ camper ready so we can use as a make-shift production trailer. Yeah baby, low-budget at it’s best!! But we had some sweet equipment and some dudes with passion, so it wasn’t too hard to pull this off. Besides Jess & Brent, we had Nick DeLizio from Al Stone’s crew, Al Briggs and Chris Stedman from Ronnie U’s troop and my close friend (and part of the Benvenuti family link to the ‘bowl original owners) Steve Appleby all helping out me and my co-producer, long-time friend and fellow Waterford native Gayle Saunders. We also had a camcorder troop out in the stands – big thanks to Brian, debbieT and racie34 for helpin’ us out too!! Along with all the race teams’ enthusiasm and the track’s granted accessibility, by Saturday morning I was all geeked up for this bad-boy!!
I could tell ya ’bout most my travels this weekend, but unless you’re an AV dork like me, you’d hardly care. But I can tell ya that the 7 teams that worked with us were just awesome!! All shared the passion, but all were a lil’ different too. Team #25 has a unique dynamic as Eddie is one of the more accomplished active drivers in the SK’s driving for Nick’s team who’s relatively new to the SK battles at the ‘bowl. Tyler’s the young gun who’s come into his own, scoring his first 2 wins of his career this season. Ronnie’s back for his first full SK season at the ‘bowl since 2005 and JP is that quite and crafty veteran who just keeps rattlin’ off wins every year. But the story going into the Finale was the chase for the SK Championship, and in rare form, it was a 3-team battle this year.
Rob came outta nowhere after his Double Down event win and now came into the Finale with a realistic shot to defend his title – something only Dennis, Jimmy Broderick and the legend Bob Potter have done since the SK’s came to town in 1985. Kid Roc was in third, but still in striking distance besides his “here to win races, not championships” motto thoughout the season behind the Pane’s #57. And then ya had Dennis the Menace after an unprecident 7th Speedbowl Championship.
So with all that was goin’ on, there were still some new stuff I was gettin’ to check out. Like the drivers’ meeting, which I usually pass on. And wouldn’t ya know, during Saturday’s meeting Harraka admitted J-Rob was a crotchedy old man Trust me, not only was I there, I have it on tape (from 5 different angles too ) I’ll get back to this nugget later, but indeed it made my first drivers’ meeting in ions quite memorable.
My production crew and I were gettin’ some miscellaneous shots during the mini feature, and it was about this time that the fan in me started to get antsy how could I possibly concentrate on this damn SK documentary when my minis are on the track. Finally towards the end I made it to the turn 4 tower (sweet view from up there by the way, Webbie’s got awesome look at the track each week). Pretty impressed when I saw Phil on the point since I knew he started towards the butt for being MIA on Saturday. But on a late restart, and from that awesome view, I could see Phil waving his hand just as he should have been leading the field back to green. Homeboy poofed to a halt in turn 1 and that was the end o’ that for the #12 car.
Race up front for the lead now was between Kyle James and Danny Boy – back for a return engagement after winning the Mini crown at TIS. But then came Kenny, who also started at the rear for being MIA on Saturday too. Kenny had the lead with a few to go and Danny was all over him. Coming to the white flag the #18 got into the #11 and Kenny got all kinds of sideways coming off the turn, but threw down a sweet save to maintain his lead and eventually the win. Right when they got together, Gayle tapped me on the shoulder yappin’ about getting this shot or that… Dude… never tap me when the mini’s are dicin’, ya dig? Homeboy was still new to the game, so I let ’em slide this time Anyway, not too shabby a day for Kid Cassidy – 2nd consecutive Track Championship, Most Popular Driver Awards recipient and an amazing 4th straight Finale MS 50 win! Congrats to the #11 squad.
Shout out to everyone’s favorite Soup-a-dupe Civardi, who led early during what was his last race at the ‘bowl. Soup’s gonna be a car owner with some crafty Moran behind the wheel next year. Soup’s good for the ‘bowl. Gayle kept talkin’ about characters at the track, and Soup’s definitely one of those!! I’m glad he’ll remain active at the track even after he takes the firesuit off
Sportsman next in what had to have been one of the worst races I’ve ever seen. Sportsman, or Strictlies if you’re old school, can either be a ton of fun to watch, or absolutely dreadful, and unfortunately these guys went out with their worst show of the season. Brandon survived the chaos and took down the win. Josh Galvin and Ronnie Oldham were puttin’ on a show battlin’ up front with, but anutha freakin’ caution would always screw it up Just not the race ya want when the show was delayed 2 hours from rain. Congrats to Al Stone for capturing his first Track Championship and shout out to Walt Hovey Jr for scoring the Most Popular Driver Award – actually had to recount, but both times he came out 1 vote higher than Stone Cold.
It was funny, because Harraka told me the schedule was gonna change and that the SK’s were going to run after the Sportsman, not last, so as the Sportsman were lined up to go onto the track, we scrambled to get to the towers and ready to film the SK 100. If the Sportsman went green-to-checkereds, we coulda been screwed and not ready to get everything, but instead, we were waiting forever, it seemed.
So the SK’s take the track, and I go out to get what I hope will be a pretty sweet shot kneeling down in front of the field before they start their pace laps. The initial plan was to have driver introductions, but with the rain delay it was scrapped. That too woulda been great footage as it’s fan-interactive, but I still glad the “Gentleman Start Your Engines” command was still gonna go down. So I kneel down in front of the field – Shawn Monahan on my right and Mike Sweeney to my left. I motion to both of them like “yo, don’t hit me… I’ll be here until you go by” As sweet of a shot that I had framed up, when you’re there in person, 20+ something mods starin’ you down is a pretty threatening site Then they all fire up all at once (awesome sound from where I was, I tell ya) and off they go…
All’s good, shot’s money and then Kid Roc comes by and lays on the gas when he’s right next to me… I think I pooped a lil’ on that one then JP’s a comin and thought it would be funny to delay his veer away from me… (not cool dude – think I mighta pooped a lil’ more there too ). But it was worth it… then off it was to sprint back to the turn 4 to get the camera back up in the tower (thanks for dissin’ us on the ride Webbie )
… and then the ambulance dilema. Nothin’ but bad luck on that one, although we got some cool footage while we were waiting. Da House Ronnie U was the first to bail out of his parked SK on the frontstretch to run to the infield Port-O-Pot. Kid Rock, Rob and Tyler also made they trek. Eddie scored an ice cream cone and Sid was in the tower dreamin’ about tunes comin’ out of the PA
So close to an hour later, they giddy up and Shawn Monahan takes the early lead. But the 3-1 started smoking and had to bow out sometime later.. maybe 30 laps in or so. For a while beforehand, Diego and Shawn were pretty entertaining battlin’ for the lead. Diego inherited the point when Shawn bowed out and the 7-8 was a-runnin, probably the best D has run all year. All the guys we profiled were doin well, too… well, except for JP whose front end got all jammed up early and scored a DNF after going laps down in the pits.
Eventually, and after way too many cautions, Rob got the lead from Diego and the two were puttin’ on a show battlin’ for the lead. Kid Roc, Dennis, Ronnie, Tyler all in the mix… and then the infamous situation coming out of turn 2 where Dennis spun and at first glance, seemed to get his spot back when he shoulda been an accident car I saw Dennis spinning and went beserk with the implications it meant to the point chase. I really thought it was weak he wasn’t starting at the end of the lead lap. But as I talked to more afterwards, this incident apparently involved Rob & Diego too… and I didn’t see that part. I looked up and saw the #3 spinning and no one else. Nor did I see the #97 spin which is apparently what the caution was for. But I do have footage…
And after further review, I found one angle that shows the contact b/w Rob, Diego and Dennis. At the time the light in turn 3 turns to yellow, Rob and Diego are outta the frame down the backstretch while Gada is at a stop. Another angle shows the Frank Ruocco spin. The footage zooms in, so the light in turn 1 is eventually out of frame, but in the last frame it’s in… still green… Ruocco is in a high groove with only the 2 last cars in the field (and both well to the inside) that haven’t passed him yet. Now you decide which scenario warranted a caution To Harraka’s defense, he didn’t have the ability to freeze-frame multiple angles of the incident like I did a lil’ while ago. Like it mentioned before, I didn’t even see the Rob/Diego part of the backstretch incident, so it ain’t easy. Nonetheless, it was a controversial part of the race and had me all wound up at the time.
Back to the action and Kid Roc put on a sick move on Rob to gain the lead I had my eyes elsewhere from the turn 4 tower and glance down to the leaders and see Keith throw it underneath the 51 like a champ. It was impressive, and he would lead the rest of the way to win his division leading 7th win of the year. Rob put on a great show trying to get by Kid Roc before finally settling for 2nd, with Ronnie U running well all night for the 3rd spot. Diego and Tyler got bunged up on a late restart, one which it seemed like Kid Roc blew a shift or sumptin, and they both hit the wall to end their nites. Tough break for both, Diego led a ton of laps and Tyler was in the Top 7 all race Also props to Frank Ruocco, who seemed to have pitted during every caution and somehow finished 5th.
Dennis finished 4th to clinch his record 7th championship. I spent some time with Dennis this week, and I can tell ya, he wanted this one bad. If there’s one thing I learned about the Gadas over the years, it’s that not only have the contributed to alot of the Speedbowl’s history, they appreciate their place there as well. Despite your view on the spot-back controversy, ya gotta admit – 7 Championships is just an amazing complishment Congratulations!!!
Didn’t get to take in much of the LM feature, but Brian told me afterwards it was probably the best race of the night (figures). How ’bout Rondeau, Fox, Coates and Corey all back in the Speedbowl’s LM field… that was sweet! Ya shoulda seen the smile on Tommy’s face this week Congrats to Bruce on Title #2 and another impressive double-digit win season
As for the stuff we filmed… we got some serious footage and a ton of ideas, but it’ll take a lot more work, some luck and some funding (sounds like goin’ racing, no?). Not sure of everything yet, but there will definitely be a video for the banquet. If I gotta throw the banquet myself, there’ll be a damn banquet!! We had cameras everywhere – all the towers, 3 in the grandstands, one following Danko, one in the pace car and one in Dennis’ car. Yup, we had some cool stuff goin’ on, so I’ll keep ya posted as we go through all the footage and start puttin’ this thing together.
So that’s a wrap on 2008… and I gotta say, the Speedbowl’s nowhere near where I thought it’d be. I mean, after last season, with all the foreclosure chaos, I never thought the drama would get any worse but the fact of the matter is that the cloud of uncertainty is stronger than ever, but before I delve into that, lemme throw down some the annual superlatives, shall we:
RANDOM NUGGET AWARDS
BIGGEST BUMBER
Ronnie U and the Sangermano #96 bowing out of serious weekly LM competition while only 6 points outta the point lead.
SWEETEST RETURN
Farmer Phil back in the Late Models
MOST RIDICULOUS SAVE
Randy Churchill Jr in the Mini during the last Sat nite 20 lapper
CRAZIEST WRECK
*TIE*
Jimmy Blewett’s flip onto his roof during the Bud Nats SK 150
Jeff Paul’s frontstretch corkscrew during the middle of the season
BEST FAMILY SECTION MELTDOWN
Mrs. JP during No-Check night
DUMBEST APPROACH TOWARDS MUTHA NATURE
Shutting the track lights off
DUMBEST THING TO SAY TO THE LOCAL MEDIA
“It’s non of your F*&%ing business” – Jerry Robinson
MOST CURIOUS SATURDAY VISITORS TO THE SPEEDBOWL
*TIE*
Terry Eames
Ben Dodge
MOST IMPRESSIVE PROMOTION OF THE SEASON
Wings N’ Wheels a.k.a. Saturday Night Fever
MOST OVER-RATED PROMOTION OF THE SEASON
Wings N’ Wheels a.k.a Show me the consistent weekly crowds and then I’ll be impressed
MOST CREATIVE RACE EVENT
Outlaw Stock Races
MOST ANNOYING SPEEDBOWL PET PEEVE
Sloppy marquee sign maintenance
All dorky awards aside, the story as the competition on the track ends is now the soap-opera that is the operational control of the Speedbowl will inevitably continue… especially with J-Rob’s lease apparently up next month. Indeed it is amazing the track has survived this long with all this nonsense that goes on behind the scenes. What’s next?? Who the hell knows. As priveledged as I am to talk with so many in the racing community, I gotta tell ya… I’ve heard a ton of possible scenarios and really have no clue what the hell’s gonna happen.
In my opinion, Jerry should probably bow out. I just think his terrible people skills far out weigh whatever successful business resume he brings to the table. He’s just not a nice person and how that’s good for business I have no idea. But my opinion is jaded from a direct conversation I had with the Wizard earlier in the year. The conversation ended with him accusing me of trying to take the place down and jeopardizing the millions he’s invested. Seriously, I didn’t know how to even respond to that. It was apparent from that day on that when it came to the things I do for the track I love, he had no clue what he was talking about. It made me feel like he thought he was above criticism… and no one’s above criticism. I get criticized all the time. Mistakes every week in the program, stats that are goofed or not corrected yet in sidsvault.com. But I don’t get an attitude about it, I actually make friends fixing the problems. Jerry’s nothing like that, and therefore, we’re never really gonna get along too well when it comes to the ‘bowl.
And don’t forget the Late Models. For all the chaos over the operational control, there’s still a major issue with this division. I mean, just what is the LM division. It’s almost like the Outlaw Late Model division during the World Series. Yeah, the car counts have risen. I said myself earlier in the year that I’d be impressed with a steady 15-20 count by the end of the year, and the ‘bowl definitely scored on that one. But, honestly, as a die hard fan, there’s about 5 cars that can win each week. No disrespect to anyone, but there’s just too many field fillers out there. That’s the next step, right?? Keep the count and improve the quality… guess we’ll see.
The Speedbowl needs someone with a genuine passion for the place and a comprehensive vision of how the revive the joint and I don’t think Jerry has that passion or vision. Plus, he can’t defuse negative press effectively. Everything’s so mysterious and that’s kinda annoying. Starting back at the banquet when he had someone else announce he will be buying the track right thru his Blogger Boy conversation, the bleacher incident, the mysterious website crash during a price increase down to the guess-why-you-won’t-get-paid-today game with the purse checks. For a guy who constantly says he hates negativity, he sure has an uncanny way to attract it to himself.
As I’ve said before, I feel bad for those who work for him. Harraka already holds a position everyone loves to critique the hell out of, and, as evident in the driver’s meeting this weekend, now he’s doing damage-control as well. That’s a tough spot and not one I’d want to have. I’d rather work under the bus
But regardless of what happened, my lil’ documentary project did let me learn more about the passion that surrounds the Speedbowl. J-Rob sure makes it harder to enjoy, but for the most part, my time at the track, interacting with race teams & fans and watching the great racing was still a blast. I’ll miss seeing my ever-growing extended family each week, but hope we can do it again, under a much more positive vibe next season.
Here’s hoping for the best!!
Congratulations to all the Sat Champs!
Dennis Gada
Bruce Thomas Jr
Al Stone III
Ken Cassidy Jr
Shaun Buffington
More additions and revisions to sidsvault.com coming soon!! Check jp.com for updates
Have a great off-season everybody
Sid