Selinsgrove 2011

I'm sure most of you guys have seen this in my posts on the other forums, but here's what I've got for SOME of the cars that will be at Selinsgrove for the RoC Icebreaker coming up in just over 2 weeks. This race has provided the best modified field both days over the past few seasons, and has been (other than my love for SDW) my favorite event of the season since it's first race in 2007. Rick Laubach, Danny Johnson, and Matt Sheppard are the past winners of this event in the big block division, and Pat Ward has won both small block events run.

Saturday Night (big blocks)
0 Richie Pratt
00 Doug Manmiller
1 Stewart Friesen
1c Craig Von Dohren
3 Chad Brachmann
4 Duane Howard
7 Rick Laubach
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Bobby Varin
10v Danny Varin
11 Danny Hieber
14 Jimmy Horton
18J Jason Rood
20 Brett Hearn
22 Danny Tyler
23 Billy VanInwegen
26 Ryan Godown
42 Brian Murphy
42B Kevin Bates
42p Pat Ward
55 Kenny Brightbill
66 Danny Johnson
L85 Ted Lamb
88c Billy Pauch Jr
91 Billy Decker
98H Jimmy Phelps
99 Wade Hendrickson
99 Ryan Phelps
117 Kevin Hirthler
267 Mike Barone
357 Jeff Strunk
711 Mike Iles

Friday Night (small blocks)
0 Richie Pratt
1 Stewart Friesen
1c Craig Von Dohren
R1 Ryan Godown
2 Addison Meitzler
2A Mike Mammana
3 Chad Brachmann
3G Mike Gular
4 Duane Howard
7 Colt Harris
10 Bobby Varin
11 Danny Hieber
14 Jimmy Horton
16x Danny Creeden
16xx (or 21K is motor is done) Kyle Weiss
18 Michael Weinert
19 Brent Boyer
19 Tom Umbenhauer
19 Brad Brightbill
22 Danny Tyler
42 Kyle Follweiler
42p Pat Ward
46 Doug Manmiller
L85 Ted Lamb
91 Billy Decker
99 Wade Hendrickson
117 Kevin Hirthler
357 Jeff Strunk

Fantasy League, Links, Double D Motorsports, Bash

Moose4m has reported that Double D Motorsports has released Ric Hill from the 53 ride. I'm currently trying to get ahold of someone and find out who's replacing Hill, and what Ric's plans are. Hill has driven for himself in the past. Joe Bargabello drivers the Double D Motorsports small block modified from time to time.

I've added Rob Kristyak and Stewart Friesen's under "Driver's Links."

Originally, we planned for 2010 to be the final Club Wago Bash on the Backstretch at Super Dirt Week. We've decided to do it for one more year. We're not sure what kind of entertainment we'll have (we've been talking to NY singer J.P. Shaggy about performing at the bash, we also might do a D.J., or even just use someone elses D.J. and merge our parties together). What we do know is that we'll have 1 more big wheel race. The rules for the big wheels will be the same as last year, plastic wheel on the front of the back to tires (shopping cart wheels are okay for the back 2 wheels) no wider than 36 inches, only 3 wheels can touch the ground (side-bars with wheels to prevent flipping are legal). This year we're going to tweak it around to make scoring easier. We'll do time trials again and heats, but the heats will be 4-5 trikes. The winner will go to the feature, 2nd will go into a 'B-main', third to a 'C-main', fourth to a 'D-main', and fifth to an 'E-main.' The winners from each main will advance to the next main until the A-main is set. The A-main will the the feature that will pay cash and a trophy to the winner. We're doing this so we only have around 6 trikes in the feature event, so its easier for everyone to keep track of who's where.

Still waiting on a few schedules to come out before I open up the 2011 Club Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League, but just so you guys can start thinking about who you want to pick, here are the dates that are currently on the Fantasy League schedule...

May 30th Utica Rome Speedway Victoria 100 $10,000 to win: big block modifieds RoC Tour 100 laps

June 7th Penn Can Speedway Clash at the Can $8,000 to win: big block modifieds RoC Dirt Tour 60 laps

July 30th New Egypt Speedway Friends of Mike Night $15,000 to win: big block modifieds non-sanctioned 100 laps

August 13th Grandview Speedway Forrest Rogers Memorial $10,000 to win: small block modifieds non-sanctioned 50 laps

August 17th Utica Rome Speedway Utica Rome 100 $10,000 to win: big block modifieds RoC Tour 100 laps

August 19th Ransomville Speedway Alex Friesen Summer Nationals $10,000 to win: small block modifieds non-sanctioned 100 laps

August 25th Lebanon Valley Speedway Mr. Dirt Track USA $17,500 to win: big block modifieds Super Dirt Series 100 laps

September 4th Big Diamond Raceway Coalcracker 100 $10,000 to win: small block modifieds non-sanctioned 100 laps

September 10th Utica Rome Speedway New Yorker 100 $10,000 to win: big block modifieds non-sanctioned 100 laps

September 17th Grandview Speedway Freedom 76er $20,000 to win: small block modifieds non-sanctioned 100 laps

October 1st Fulton Speedway Outlaw 200 $20,000 to win: big block modifieds DIRT sanctioned (show up points only) 200 laps

October 8th NY State Fairgrounds Salute to the Troops 150 $20,000 to win: small block modifieds 358 Dirt Series 150 laps

October 9th NY State Fairgrounds SEF 200 $50,000 to win: big block modifieds Super Dirt Series 200 laps

October 23rd Orange County Fair Speedway Eastern States 200 $20,000 to win: big block modifieds Super Dirt Series 200 laps

October 30th Hagerstown Speedway Octoberfest $10,000 to win: big block modifieds non-sanctioned 100 laps (small blocks only paid $5,000 last year, so only big blocks count towards the fantasy league)

Rick Laubach News

As reported in the chat box by Highlife, Rick Laubach has landed a Big Diamond ride. Beer City Racing, which fielded cars last season for Jason Hamilton at Grandview will supply engines for the Herman Motorsports team, who will field cars for Laubach. The Herman Motorsports team fields cars for Laubach in select big block specials. For Saturday night racing, Area Auto Racing News broke the news that Laubach will drive a big block for Blewett Racing, as a teammate to Jimmy Blewett who will be moving up to the big block modified division when he's not running his asphalt modified.

Mammana and K. Horton Added to Driver Chart

Just a three weeks until the northeast season kicks off at Selinsgrove Speedway!

The driver chart has been updated with Mike Mammana and Kirk Horton's 2011 plans.

Doctor J Finally Confirmed; Driver Chart Updates

Danny Johnson is finally confirmed to drive the Petruska Motorsports 66 in 2011. Johnson and Petruska was basically a done deal for over a month now, but had yet to be confirmed. Johnson will make his first start in the Petruska car at Selinsgrove in March.

Danny Tyler and Blaine Bracelin have been added to the driver chart.

Brandon Sweet Moving Up

Dirt Track Digest has reported that top sportsman driver Brandon Sweet will be moving up to the small block division using one of the new CT525 motors. Sweet will run in the division for just CT525 motors at Fulton, and will run the small block division at Can Am. Sweet might do some traveling, but right now the CT525 motors aren't legal in many events.

Piazza and Gilbert Moving Up?

South Jersey Dirt Racing is reporting that sportsman stand out Sammy Piazza will be making the full-time jump to small block modifieds in 2011. Piazza ran select 358 shows throughout the season last year, but focused mainly on the sportsman division.

Moving up from the mod-lite division in 2011, will be Jamie Gilbert. Gilbert, a former mod-lite Merrittville Speedway champion, will move up to the small block division for weekly competition at Merrittville.

On a side note, sorry I haven't been on top of the updates lately, I'll get back into the swing of things over the next few days, sorry guys!

Master Schedule and Driver Chart Updated; Stofflet Moving Up

Mike Stofflet will run a dirt modified weekly this year at Mahoning Valley Speedway, moving up from the Pro-4 Late Model division over the previous few seasons.

Utica Rome Speedway, Mahoning Valley Speedway, Lebanon Valley Speedway, and Dunn Tire Raceway have been added to the master schedule chart. Also, Billy VanInwegen and Matt Harrell have been added to the driver chart.

Finally Official; Higbie Out of Tuit 673

Jerry Higbie and the Ray Tuit Racing 673 team have parted ways before running a race. Jerry has announced on his Hig Fab Facebook Page that he will run his self-owned #97 big block modified at Orange County and Accord this year. I still wouldn't be surprised if he hooked up with a team to do some traveling with, but we'll see. As someone said in the chatbox late last week, Jeff Heotzler is a possibility to take over the Ray Tuit seat, as is Orange County Fair Speedway sportsman star Jim Spellmon. We'll have to wait and see.

Hearn and Friesen Claim Wins at Volusia

On Friday night, Brett Hearn added to his incredible Volusia Speedway Park record with another victory at the fast half mile. He was able to hold off Matt Sheppard for the win, and with the win, but himself just 2 points behind Sheppard and Friesen, who were tied for the points lead, with just 1 race on the Florida Dirt Tour remaining.

Volusia Speedway Park
1st 20 Brett Hearn
2nd 9s Matt Sheppard
3rd 27J Danny Johnson
4th 1 Stewart Friesen
5th 10 Bobby Varin

On Saturday night, the final race of the 2011 season at Volusia was extended to 50 laps and $5,000 went to the winner. Bobby Varin and Stewart Friesen battled all race long until late in the race when Stewart Friesen was able best Varin as they battled through lapped traffic, and picked up with $5,000 victory. Matt Sheppard, who was tied for the points lead heading into the final night, ran into the back of Willy Decker on the pace laps and looped the 9s machine, damaging the left front wheel and ending his night before the race ever officially began. Stewart Friesen's win gave him his first ever Florida DirtCar Nationals title.

Volusia Speedway Park
1st 1 Stewart Friesen
2nd 10 Bobby Varin
3rd 20 Brett Hearn
4th 74 Tim Fuller
5th 7 Rick Laubach

Friesen (Night 1) and Sheppard (Night 2) Kick Off 2011 Just Like 2010...

Last year's opening night winner, Stewart Friesen, snuck around Brett Hearn on the final lap of night 1 at Volusia Speedway to pick up the first modified feature race of the year. Brett Hearn hung on for second, Danny Johnson, Matt Sheppard, and Tim Fuller rounded out the top 5.

Volusia Speedway
1st 1 Stewart Friesen
2nd 20 Brett Hearn
3rd 27J Danny Johnson
4th 9s Matt Sheppard
5th 74 Tim Fuller

Last night it was Matt Sheppard who passed Tim Fuller around the half way point for the lead, and narrowly missed 42B of Kevin Bates as he slowed with mechanical problems against the outside wall. Tim Fuller, who was battling Sheppard hard for the lead, was not as lucky and clobbered Bates, ending Fuller's night. Matt Sheppard didn't look back from that point on, and went to collect night #2 at Volusia (just as he did last year.) Here was the top 5 from night 2

Volusia Speedway
1st 9s Matt Sheppard
2nd 1 Stewart Friesen
3rd 1x Willy Decker
4th 5 Jimmy Horton
5th 20 Brett Hearn

A couple of cars ran into mechanical problems last night. Jeremy Markle hurt his primary engine in warmups which ended his night. The 79 team has switched motors for the rest of the weekend. Chris Higgins caught a rut going into turn 1 and damaged the rear suspension on the 19H, it was enough to end his night after just the heat race, but again, he'll be back tonight. Brian Truppi busts a left rear hub in the feature, which is an easy fix for the team. Randy Chrystler pulled off with major overheating problems, but he says that it's not a major problem either. Mario Clair and Kevin Bates ran into problems during the night as well, but I wasn't able to catch them to find out what the issues were.

RPW, SJDR, and DTD continue to do a great job with their Speedweeks coverage, be sure to check in there for live updates tonight and tomorrow night.

And I'm Off...

I'm heading out, I'm still undecided if I'm bringing my laptop on the trip, but I should have some computer access to do some updates here. The real updating will be on RaceProWeekly.com (I'll be helping them out), and DirtTrackDigest.com, as both websites will be doing "Cover It Live" pages. Both those websites and SouthJerseyDirtRacing.com will have a ton of photos up as well, including my girlfriend Lisa Hake's pit photos on RPW. There are already some photos up on DTD from last night's practice.

Volusia Update

Well, practice ran tonight. Race Pro Weekly and Dirt Track Digest did updates all night, and will continue to do so the rest of the week. Randy Chrystler was the only wreck and he made heavy contact with the outside wall. The team believes they can fix it but won't know for sure until later tonight. Roger Chrystler was announced by Shane Andrews, but his car was not unloaded and he never got onto the track, so it's possible he and his brother could be sharing a ride and running on different nights. Danny Varin was towed off from track with mechanical problems after a practice session, but returned later in the night. Kevin Bates (major vibration) and Brian Truppi (smoking) also experienced some mechanical problems but were able to get them fixed before the end of the night. Dale Planck ended up jumping into Brian Truppi's car for the final session and was very fast, no word on if Planck or Truppi will run the 02 car. Danny Johnson was the fastest car of the night. Here's a list of the cars that were at the track tonight...

02 Brian Truppi
07 Tim Kerr
1 Darwin Greene
1 Stewart Friesen
1x Willy Decker
3D Matt DeLorenzo
4 Jeff Schaffer
5 Jimmy Horton
7 Rick Laubach
8 Rich Scagliotta
8R Rob Bellinger
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Bobby Varin
10 Tim Currier
10v Danny Varin
11 Danny Hieber
19H Chris Higgins
20 Brett Hearn
21K Randy Chrystler
22c Mario Clair
23 Billy VanInwegen
33 Ray Swinehart
34 Andy Bachetti
42B Kevin Bates
48too Dave Rauscher
79 Jeremy Markel
711 Mike Iles

This isn't a final entry list, there are usually a bunch of cars that don't practice Tuesday night. Dan Vauter, Michel Chicoine, and Tim Fuller are a few drivers that have told me that they were racing their modifieds at Volusia, but didn't hit the track tonight.

Brad Missimer 2011 Car

Here's another photo I got e-mailed to me, keep them coming guys! This is Brad Missimer's #327 small block modified that he'll run weekly at Grandview Speedway.

Live Volusia Coverage, RaceProWeekly.com

Race Pro Weekly has live updates of the racing tonight, including photos of modifieds that are already at the track! The modifieds hit the track tonight for practice. Go to www.RaceProWeekly.com, click the banner at the top that says, "Race Pro Weekly Tour 2011" and click play, and the updates will come in. There's also a chat section in there as well.

Club Wago Master Schedule

I've been putting together a "master schedule" of all the 2011 dirt modified races. Keep in mind that it's not anywhere near completed, as only about half the tracks have released their 2011 schedules. I'll also have a link on the left side under the 2011 Driver Chart link.

Click Here to Check It Out

Manmiller and Follweiler Schemes

Here are 2 2011 paint schemes done by Frank's Truck Lettering (www.frankstrucklettering.com). The #42 is the Kyle Follweiler small block modified that he'll run weekly at Big Diamond and Grandview, the the #46 is owned by Josh Biever Racing and will be driven by Doug Manmiller at Grandview Speedway every week.

Cars at Volusia Already

Eric Orozco sent me a text and let me know that Mario Clair, Tim Kerr, Willy Decker, Rick Laubach, Michel Chicoine, Randy Chrystler, Billy VanInwegen, and Rob Bellinger are already at the fast Volusia half mile. I'll be leaving Wednesday night for Volusia, I'll have my laptop so I'll post some stuff here (nothing you won't be able to find on SouthJerseyDirtRacing.com, RaceProWeekly.com, or DirtTrackDigest.com) and I'll be doing some live updates for Race Pro Weekly from down there. My girlfriend, Lisa Hake, will be taking pit shots at Volusia as well. So, let me know any photo requests you guys have while I'm there! We won't be getting there in time for the first night of racing, but Chris Coogan will pick up my slack and be updating Race Pro Weekly that night.

Higbie Out with Tuit... Already?

Jerry Higbie has already had a strange off-season. Now, according to multiple reports, it just got stranger. Higbie and the Ray Tuit 673 team may have split before even hitting the track. I've heard talk on this a few days ago, but was asked to keep it quiet. Now, Syracuse.com is reporting the news as well.

Higbie will be in his own #97 weekly at Accord, and Syracuse.com mentioned the Smith Bros. 74 car (which I haven't heard). We'll post more info as we get it.

Bored?

Hey guys, with just over a week left until the modifieds hit the track for the first time in 2011, it's a good time to look back at some old racing videos. There aren't a ton on Youtube, but I believe I've found all the full (or mostly full) races that are posted on YouTube. The in-car and wreck playlists are still a work in progress. Here's the link to the videos, http://www.youtube.com/user/ClubWago#g/p

Note that I didn't upload the videos, I've just kind of put them in one place.

Here's a list of the races on there...
1980 Schaeffer 200 (NY State Fairgrounds)
1996 Fay's 300 (NY State Fairgrounds)
1999 Eckerd 300 (NY State Fairgrounds)
2001 Eckerd 200 (NY State Fairgrounds)
2002 Sunoco 75 (NY State Fairgrounds)
2002 Eckerd 200 (NY State Fairgrounds)
2003 Southern Tier 100 (Five Mile Point Speedway)
2003 Eckerd 200 (NY State Fairgrounds)
2004 Rite-Aid 200 (NY State Fairgrounds)
2007 Paul Sawyer Memorial (Virginia Motor Speedway)
2008 Rite-Aid 200 (NY State Fairgrounds
2009 Rite-Aid 200 (NY State Fairgrounds)
2010 VP Fuels 100 (Fulton Speedway)
2010 Outlaw 200 (Fulton Speedway)
2010 SEF 200 (NY State Fairgrounds)
2010 World Finals 40 (Dirt Track at Charlotte)

Brett Hearn's 2011 Car

Here's a shot of Brett Hearn's 2011 big block modified that he'll debut at Volusia.

Danny Hieber's 2011 car

The Nitro Fish Racing #11 (changed number from the previous few years) Danny Hieber's modified that will debut at Volusia next week! Sorry for the size of the photo, it's from a cell phone. Thanks to Diamond Dog for the shot!

Bachetti and Lamb Florida Bound

Andy Bachetti and Ted Lamb, despite not entering in time to be on the initial Volusia entry list, have confirmed their plans to run at Volusia in just over a week.

Stewart In at LaSalle

One of the more underrated drivers in the sport, Todd Stewart, has landed a big time ride for 2011. Stewart replaces Brian McDonald aboard the LaSalle Motorsports #m96 358 modified for weekly competition at Brockville, along with specials on the road. The team may run a 2nd night a week as well, and Todd Stewart still has his own #72 equipment that he may use for a 2nd weekly track. Stewart's first run with the team came at the Brockville Ontario Speedway during their Super Dirt Series weekend in October. Brian McDonald still has his own #151KB equipment that he'll race when he's not running his sprint car.

Pilat Graphics has a bunch of templates for 2011 cars posted on their Facebook page. Here's the link, http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/album.php?aid=319494&id=61215620217

Volusia Entry List Posted...

Dirt has released the Volusia Speedway entry list for the big block modifieds... kind of. The list is definitely updated, because Mike Iles, Danny Varin, Danny Hieber, and Matt DeLorenzo are on the list and both of them will be making their first career starts at Volusia, however, the reason why I'm not sure what to believe and what not to believe on here is because I personally talked to Dexter Stacey, Wallace Stacey, Rex King, Brett Ballard, and Rex King Jr and each of them told me that they wouldn't be attending this year's races, but they're all on the entry list though, anyway, here's the entry list.

0 Richie Pratt (not sure)
01 Brett Ballard (told me he wasn't racing)
07 Tim Kerr
1 Darwin Greene
1F Stewart Friesen
1P Billy Pauch (not sure)
1x Willy Decker
3D Matt DeLorenzo
6 John Stangle (not sure)
7 Rick Laubach
8R Rob Bellinger (heard he wasn't going)
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Tim Currier
10 Bobby Varin
10v Danny Varin
11 Danny Hieber
14 Jimmy Horton (was told he was going to run the Dieter Schmidt #5)
19H Chris Higgins
20 Brett Hearn
21k Randy Chrystler
T21 Roger Chrystler
22c Mario Clair
23 Billy VanInwegen
27J Danny Johnson
33 Ray Swinehart
42B Kevin Bates
48too Dave Rauscher
56 Vince Vitale
65 Rex King (Russ King told me none of the King modifieds were racing Volusia)
66 Dexter Stacey (told me he wasn't going)
66w Alan Johnson (was told by a few people he's not running)
66w Wallace Stacey (doubtful he'd run if Dexter isn't running)
79 Jeremy Markle
85 Dan Vauter
85J H.J. Bunting (not sure)
97 Michel Chicoine
165 Rex King Jr (Russ King told me none of the King modifieds were racing Volusia)
711 Mike Iles

Obviously, there's still plenty of time to turn in entries, but quite a few guys are missing. We already knew that the Gypsum Racing trio of Wight, Ward, and Decker weren't going, but Jamie Mills, Dale Planck, and Andy Bachetti have been front runners at Volusia over the last couple of seasons and they're missing from the list. Jimmy Phelps hasn't had the best of runs at Volusia, but he's missing along with Matt Sheppard's teammate Jeff Brownell.

Another Volusia Entry

Dan Vauter is the latest to confirm that he'll be running Volusia per his interview on Doug's Dirt Diary. Here's the updated list with the driver's home track listed...

07 Tim Kerr (Fulton)
1 Darwin Greene (Penn Can/Fonda)
1x Willy Decker (Utica Rome)
3D Matt DeLorenzo (Fonda)
5 Jimmy Horton (New Egypt)
10 Bobby Varin (Glen Ridge/Fonda/Utica Rome)
10v Danny Varin (Fonda)
19H Chris Higgins (Charlotte)
20 Brett Hearn (Lebanon Valley)
23 Billy VanInwegen (Orange County)
79 Jeremy Markle (Orange County)
85 Dan Vauter (Woodhull)
97 Michel Chicoine (Granby)
107 Danny Hieber (Grandview)
711 Mike Iles (New Egypt)