Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Early Selinsgrove List

Just started asking around on who will be at Selinsgrove, here's what we're looking at so far. Susice, Willman, and Harris may potentially run their small blocks on Saturday if all goes well.

Small Blocks
3 Chad Brachmann
7 Colt Harris
9s Matt Sheppard
14w Ryan Watt
20 Wade Hendrickson
20 Brett Hearn
27J Danny Johnson
38 Ryan Susice
74w John Willman

Big Blocks
1 Billy Pauch
3 Chad Brachmann
9 Johnny Guarino
9s Matt Sheppard
10J Alan Johnson
11 Danny Hieber
14 Doug Manmiller
14w Ryan Watt
15 Billy Pauch Jr
16 Eric Kormann
20 Brett Hearn
20D Del Rougeux
23 Billy VanInwegen
27J Danny Johnson
m40 Mark Forte Jr
R40 Ryan Forte
61s John Scarborough
71 Mike Mammana
79 Jeremy Markle
88 Dave Dissinger
99 Wade Hendrickson
673 Gary Tomkins

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Bellinger Wins!

Sorry guys, internet kicked out!

Rob Bellinger out on an awesome display of driving to pick up the victory tonight! Matt Sheppard came broke from a flat right rear to pick up the DIRTcar Natonals title.

Here's the top 5 for the finale...
1st 8R Rob Bellinger
2nd 9s Matt Sheppard
3rd 99L Larry Wight
4th 74 Tim Fuller
5th 20 Brett Hearn

Saturday Night Live Updates

**Hit refresh by pressing the "F5" button your keyboard, or just renew the page. All of the updates will be on this page. The new updates will appear closest to the top of the page.

-Alan Johnson wins over Mario Clair, Michel Chicoine, Bruno Lepage, Darwin Greene, C.G. Morey, Jeremy Markle, Roger Chrysler, and Chris Ostrowsky. Everyone finished, impressive to see Ostrowsky out there after flipping in his heat.

-Bruno Lepage charges from 6th to 4th off of turn 4. Clair takes control of 2nd. Alan Johnson way out in front.

-Randy Chrysler and Mario Clair having a great battle for 2nd.

-Alan Johnson leads early in the consi. All cars will probably qualify.

-Wight wins the final heat over Larry Wight, Billy VanInwegen, Brian Berger, and Dave Allen, who qualify. C.G. Morey and Chris Ostrowsky (DNF) to the consi.

-Brian Berger spins with 4 to go in turn 1. VanInwegen was all over Scagliotta for 2nd on the restart.

-Chris Ostrowsky out of the car and okay. Chris tells Ozzie Altman, "that was awesome!"

-Chris Ostrowsky over big time in turn 1.

-Final heat line up: Wight, Scagliotta, Berger, VanInwegen, Allen, Morey, Ostrowski

-Sheppard wins heat 3 over Brett Hearn, Rob Bellinger, Dustin Delaney, Brian Truppi, who all qualify. Mario Clair and Jeremy Markle to the consi.

-Hearn all over Sheppard with 1 to go.

-Mario Clair cuts a left rear while running 4th. Caution out. Sheppard leads.

-Heat 3 Line Up: Sheppard, Hearn, Bellinger, Delaney, Clair, Markle, Truppi.

-Britten wins after holding off a late charge from Laubach, both will redraw for the feature. Rauscher, D.Johnson, Horton qualify, Alan Johnson, Michel Chicoine, and Darwin Greene to the consi.

-Britten takes the early lead, Rauscher looking good in a real strong heat as he passes Danny Johnson for 3rd.

-Heat 2 line up: Laubach, Britten, Rauscher, D.Johnson, Horton, A.Johnson, Chicoine, Greene.

-Tim Fuller wins heat 1. Andy Bachetti also makes the redraw with a 2nd place finish, Stewart Friesen, Michael Storms, and Jamie Mills qualify. Randy Chrysler, Bruno Lepage, and Roger Chrysler (DNF) to the consi.

-Bruno Lepage comes to a stop on lap 4. Fuller leads Bachetti, Storms, Friesen, and Randy Chrysler. Roger Chrysler pulls off on as we prepare to restart.

-Bachetti and Fuller swapping the lead! Great battle for the lead.

-Fuller takes the early lead, Bachetti charges into 2nd. Jamie Mills loops it on lap 2.

-Heat 1 on track, 5 qualify, top 2 redraw. Line Up: Fuller, Friesen, Storms, Bachetti, Mills, Randy Chrysler, Lepage, Roger Crysler

-Tim Fuller, Rick Laubach, Matt Sheppard, and Larry Wight fastest in the 4 qualifying groups.

-Lovely night at Volusia Speedway Park, 50 laps $5,000 to win feature event tonight! We will also crown the 2012 DIRTcar Nationals champion, Matt Sheppard, Tim Fuller, and Danny Johnson are separated by just 4 points.

Finale On Top Tonight

Tonight we will crown the 2012 Volusia Speedway Park DIRTcar Nationals champion. Tonight's feature event will be 50 laps and will pay $5,000 to the winner. Check in here for live updates tonight at 7:00. Here are the top 10 in points heading into the finale...

1st 9s Matt Sheppard
2nd 74 Tim Fuller -2
3rd 27J Danny Johnson -4
4th 85 Stewart Friesen -20
5th 10J Alan Johnson -24
6th 22c Mario Clair- 26
7th 7 Rick Laubach -28
8th 5 Jimmy Horton -32
9th 21A Peter Britten -26
10th 99L Larry Wight -30

Friday, February 24, 2012

Friday Night Live Updates!

**Hit refresh by pressing the "F5" button your keyboard, or just renew the page. All of the updates will be on this page. The new updates will appear closest to the top of the page.

-Matt Sheppard wins over Danny Johnson, Larry Wight, Tim Fuller, and Rick Laubach.

-Sheppard hammers Wight into 1 on the restart! Johnson around Wight as Wight falls to 3rd.

-4 laps to go, DeLorenzo comes to a stop. Wight, Sheppard, D.Johnson, Fuller, Laubach lead.

-Wight takes the lead!

-6 laps to go and Delaney brings out a caution as he comes to a stop. Top 5 remains the same.

-Half way, Sheppard, Wight, D.Johnson, Laubach, and Hearn the top 5.

-Awesome battle up front between Matt Sheppard and Larry Wight for the lead! Alan Johnson breaks while running 3rd to bring out the yellow. Lap 6, Sheppard, Wight, Hearn, Fuller, and Danny Johnson the leaders. Brian Truppi pulls off.

-Big block feature time!! Larry Wight and Rich Scagliotta will lead the field to the green! One more lap until green

-Jamie Mills wins the consi over Dustin Delaney. C.G. Morey qualifies in 3rd. Battle for the final qualifying spot came down to the line between Dave Allen, Bruno Lepage, and Darwin Greene, but it was Dave Allen that got the final transfer spot.

-Top 8 spots will be lined up from a draw. Rich Scagliotta, Jimmy Horton, Andy Bachetti, Alan Johnson, Brett Hearn, Larry Wight, Matt Sheppard, and Tim Fuller will be in the redraw. Here's how the rest of the qualified cars will start in the feature, spots 21-26 will be filled via the consis.
9th 22c Mario Clair
10th 27J Danny Johnson
11th 7 Rick Laubach
12th 3D Matt DeLorenzo
13th 60 Brian Berger
14th 02 Brian Truppi
15th 10 Michael Storms
16th 8R Rob Bellinger
17th 29 Chris Ostrowsky
18th 85 Stewart Friesen
19th 21A Peter Britten
20th 23 Billy VanInwegen

-Andy Bachetti wins heat 4 over Alan Johnson, Matt DeLorenzo, Rob Bellinger, and Billy VanInwegen put it in the show. Morey, Rauscher, and Randy Chrysler go to the consi.

-Pretty good battle between DeLorenzo, VanInwegen, and Bellinger for 3rd. Bachetti is flying.

-Billy VanInwegen showing some muscle! Charges from the final row up to 4th.

-MIssed the line up, Andy Bachetti leads early. Alan Johnson runs 2nd.

-Larry Wight wins heat 3 over Brett Hearn, Rick Laubach, Michael Storms, and Peter Britten qualify. Bates, Swinehart, and Greene to the consi.

-Wight takes the lead and Hearn has a great start and moves into second. Contact between Hearn and Britten have shot Britten back to 5th. Storms up to 4th.

-Heat 3 Line Up: 21A Peter Britten, 99L Larry Wight, 7 Rick Laubach, 20 Brett Hearn, 33 Ray Swinehart, 10 Michael Storms, 1 Darwin Greene, 6n Kevin Bates.

-Tim Fuller wins heat 2, Matt Sheppard also makes the redraw, Danny Johnson, Brian Truppi, Stewart Friesen also qualify. Dustin Delaney, Bruno Lepage, and Jeremy Markle to the consi.

-Friesen gets around Dustin Delaney for the final transfer spot with 3 to go.

-Fuller takes the lead from Sheppard.

-Heat 2 Line Up: 1st 9s Matt Sheppard, 2nd 74 Tim FUller, 3rd 27J Danny Johnson, 39 Dustin Delaney, 02 Brian Truppi, 85 Stewart Friesen, 99 Bruno Lepage, 79 Jeremy Markle

-Heat 1: Rich Scagliotta wins over Jimmy Horton, Mario Clair, Brian Berger, Chris Ostrowsky qualify. Mills, Allen, Chicoine, Roger Chrysler to the consi. Top 2 redraw.

-Opening ceremonies going on right now.

-Here is the top 10 in big-block points after 2 of 4 races for the 2012 DIRTcar Nationals...
1st 10J Alan Johnson
2nd 74 Tim Fuller -8
3rd 27J Danny Johnson -16
4th 9s Matt Sheppard -16
5th 22c Mario Clair -18
6th 85 Stewart Friesen -22
7th 21A Peter Britten -24
8th 5 Jimmy Horton -26
9th 7 Rick Laubach -32
10th 8R Rob Bellinger -34

-Rich Scagliotta, Matt Sheppard, Peter Britten, and Andy Bachetti will start the heat races from the pole.

-Andy Bachetti sets quick time in time trials by a pretty big margin. Track is much slower than last night after all the racing that has gone on today. In case you missed it, Alan Johnson won the early race. 33 cars ran earlier today... Tyler Siri (the car Bobby Varin drove last night) was one of the cars missing, he blew up last night. Brett Ballard, who crashed hard, also did not run today. Ray Swinehart, Darwin Greene, Dave Rauscher, who all had major problems last night, returned.

Alan Johnson Takes Friday Day Show

Alan Johnson survived an attrition filled, rare, afternoon race at Volusia Park Speedway. Johnson now holds the points lead with 2 races left this week.

Volusia Speedway Park (Friday Afternoon)
1st 10J Alan Johnson
2nd 21A Peter Britten
3rd 85 Stewart Friesen
4th 22c Mario Clair
5th 74 Tim Fuller.

Live updates starting now!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Live Volusia Updates

**Hit refresh by pressing the "F5" button your keyboard, or just renew the page. All of the updates will be on this page. The new updates will appear closest to the top of the page.

-Danny Johnson picks up the first checkered flag of the 2012 season in a dominating performance after starting 2nd. Fuller, Alan Johnson, Sheppard, and Horton round out the top 5. Tune in tomorrow! I'll be at work for the afternoon show, but I'll have full updates for the night race!

-Another hard wreck on the front stretch on lap 24. Dave Rauscher and Darwin Greene involved. We may be down a few cars by tomorrow with now Rauscher, Greene, and Ballard involved in major crashes, and Bobby Varin and Ray Swinehart blowing motors. Sheppard now runs 3th and Horton now 5th... those are the only changes in the top 5

-Brett Ballard basically knocks the wall down off of 4. He is okay. Alan Johnson got a run on Danny, but Danny was able to hold off his older brother to retain the lead. Danny Johnson leads Fuller, Alan Johnson, Sheppard, and Storms the current top 5. Just 8 laps to go.

-Lap 17 Hearn loses a left rear while running 2nd! . Jeremy Wilder also heads pitside. Danny Johnson looks unbeatable, Alan Johnson, Fuller, Storms, Horton, Sheppard, Scagliotta, Bachetti are the leaders. Hearn rejoins the tail of the field.

-Lap 13 caution for a car slow on the backstretch. Hearn up to 2nd. D.Johnson leads Hearn, A.Johnson, Fuller, Storms, Horton, Sheppard the top 7.

-Laubach comes to a stop on lap 12. D.Johnson leads Fuller, A.Johnson, Hearn, and Horton the top 5. Outside line gets big jumps on restarts with Danny Johnson choosing to restart from the outside. Sheppard up to 7th after starting 15th.

-Brian Truppi comes to a stop on lap 10, Larry Wight pits from 6th with a flat right rear . Danny Johnson leads Tim Fuller, Alan Johnson, Brett Hearn, Michael Storms, Jimmy Horton are the top 6.

-Feature line Up:
1st 74 Tim Fuller
2nd 27J Danny Johnson
3rd 10 Michael Storms
4th 10J Alan Johnson
5th 99L Larry Wight
6th 20 Brett Hearn
7th 34 Andy Bachetti
8th 5 Jimmy Horton
9th 85 Stewart Friesen
10th 22c Mario Clair
11th 21A Peter Britten
12th 1 Darwin Greene
13th 7 Rick Laubach
14th 8 Rich Scagliotta
15th 9s Matt Sheppard
16th 22J Jeremy Wilder
17th 48too Dave Rauscher
18th 3D Matt DeLorenzo
19th 30 Jamie Mills
20th 60 Brian Berger
21st 8R Rob Bellinger
22nd 02 Brian Truppi
23rd 6n Kevin Bates
24th 01 Brett Ballard
25th 39 Dustin Delaney
26th 97 Michel Chicoine

-Final consi, Truppi, Ballard, and Chicoine qualify.

-Bellinger, Bates, Delaney qualify through consi #1

-Heat qualifiers, #1: Fuller, Wight, Friesen, Laubach, Rauscher: #2, D.Johnson, Hearn, Clair, Scagliotta, DeLorenzo: #3: Storms, Bachetti, Britten, Sheppard, Mills: #4: A.Johnson, Horton, Greene, Wilder, Berger.... Swinehart and Varin both blew up while in qualifying positions

-Top 5 overall were Danny Johnson, Peter Britten, Bobby Varin, Brett Hearn, and Mario Clair. Remember, heats will start heads up based off of practice speeds.

-Group 4: Alan Johnson 17.766, Jeremy Wilder 18.825, Jimmy Horton 17.867, Ray Swinehart 18.157, Darwin Greene 18.188, Tim Kerr 18.321 were the leaders.

-Group 3: Peter Britten 17.478, Michael Storms 17.629, Brian Truppi 17.657, Andy Bachetti 17.725, Matt Sheppard 17.909, Jamie Mills 18.017, Brett Ballard 18.139 were the leaders.

-Group 2: Danny Johnson 17.441 (quick time overall so far), Bobby Varin (driving Tyler Siri's 5*) 17.516, Brett Hearn 17.565, Mario Clair 17.615, Rich Scagliotta 17.708, Rob Bellinger 17.858 were the leaders

-Group 1: Tim Fuller 17.686, Stewart Friesen 17.778, Rick Laubach 18.577, Larry Wight 17.790, Dave Rauscher 18.029, Bruno Lepage 18.154, Tim Currier 18.253, C.G. Morey 18.321 the leaders

-40 big-blocks entered.

-Practice/time trials for big blocks rolling out now.

-Practice getting ready to roll onto the track. Late models are currently on the track. At least 38 modifieds are in attendance.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Volusia Rained Out

Volusia rained out on Wednesday, creating a Friday double-header. Friday will feature a complete show in the afternoon, which will be today's rained out event. They will then run the regularly scheduled race that night.

Check back here for live updates tomorrow night. Since this site is dedicated to modifieds, I'm only going to provide the modified updates here (will make it easier on me.)

Here's the entry list (as of practice on Tuesday)...

01 Brett Ballard
02 Brian Truppi
07 Tim Kerr
1 Darwin Greene
3D Matt DeLorenzo
5 Jimmy Horton
5* Tyler Siri
6n Kevin Bates
7 Rick Laubach
8 Rich Scagliotta
8R Rob Bellinger
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Michael Storms
10 Tim Currier
10J Alan Johnson
14 C.G. Morey
20 Brett Hearn
21A Peter Britten
21K Randy Chrysler
T21 Roger Chrysler
22c Mario Clair
22J Jeremy Wilder
23 Billy VanInwegen
27J Danny Johnson
29 Chris Ostrowsky
30 Jamie Mills
33 Ray Swinehart
34 Andy Bachetti
39 Dustin Delaney
48too Dave Rauscher
60 Brian Berger
74 Tim Fuller
79 Jeremy Markle
85 Stewart Friesen
88 Dave Allen
97 Michel Chicoine
99 Bruno Lepage
99L Larry Wight

Just a couple more updates from last night's practice, Matt Sheppard had the fastest lap in all of practice last night. Jamie Mills and Jeremy Markle both had mechanical problems and had to be pushed into the pits. Both cars were at the track tonight when the rain hit

If you want to check out practice results from last night, click the following link, http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp? id=748200

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Volusia Update...

35 big-blocks practiced tonight at Volusia. I'm missing 3 guys that took time, but here's the list I got...

01 Brett Ballard
02 Brian Truppi
07 Tim Kerr
1 Darwin Greene
1w Jamie Mills
3D Matt DeLorenzo
5 Jimmy Horton
5* Tyler Siri
6n Kevin Bates
8 Rich Scagliotta
8R Rob Bellinger
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Michael Storms
10 Tim Currier
14 C.G. Morey
20 Brett Hearn
21A Peter Britten
22c Mario Clair
22J Jeremy Wilder
23 Billy VanInwegen
27J Danny Johnson
33 Ray Swinehart
34 Andy Bachetti
39 Dustin Delaney
48too Dave Rauscher
60 Brian Berger
79 Jeremy Markle
85 Stewart Friesen
88 Dave Allen
99 Bruno Lepage
99L Larry Wight

I'm going to experiment with doing race updates on here this year, starting with Volusia tomorrow-Saturday night. I'll try to post all time trial, heat, and feature updates throughout the night if you guys need somewhere to keep checking in at.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Holy Positivity, Batman!

In just a few short days, fans lucky enough to make the trip down to sunny Florida will be able to hear the idyllic sound of big-block motors come to life. There's not much comparable to that first race of the year, from the aroma of burning racing fuel, the shimmering, fresh, new liveries. Personally, I even grow to miss that thin layer of dust in your beer or on your french fries by the time the winter comes to an end. For you fans lucky enough to be able to quench your cravings built up after a long off-season

Unfortunately, if you're like most of us, we've got another four weeks (or longer) until we can feed our addiction. Our appetite will have to settle for an appetizer of watching/listening to the races on DirtVision, and frequenting our favorite publications or websites for results and photos from the DIRTcar Nationals.

Whether you're going to Volusia or not, technically, the off-season is officially coming to a close. Obviously, quite a few tracks/series have yet to release schedules, drivers have yet to announce plans, but when race cars start hitting the track, I consider that the beginning of the end of the off-season.

And what an off-season we've experienced. We, as humans, find it much easier to be negative than positive. It's why we call companies to complain when they mess something up, and rarely call when they do everything they're asked of. It's just human nature, and (despite what some people seem to think) it isn't an internet/message board thing, or a race fan thing. Despite this, there really isn't much negative to speak about this off-season, so we're going to focus on all the positives we've got going for 2012.

Let me first apologize if this appears to turn into a list, but a seemingly endless supply of positive news has graced the dirt modified racing world, starting all the way back in September when Grandview Speedway announced the 2012 Freedom 76er would pay an astounding $50,000 to the winner. Fans have been asking for a Super DIRT Week-like purse at a short track for years, and they finally get their wish in 2012.

Grandview wasn't done with the announcements. The annual Forrest Rogers Memorial could potentially see a major increase as well. If a Grandview regular wins the Forrest Rogers Memorial, they'll receive $20,000 to win, while if an invader wins they'll receive the normal $10,000.

Next to announce a significant purse increase was Brett Deyo and Penn Can Speedway for the Clash at the Can. The Clash at the Can will make Penn Can Speedway history in 2012, as the winner of this year's edition of the race will receive $10,000 to win, the highest paying race in Penn Can history.

Speaking of purse increases, Big Diamond Speedway and Can Am Motorsports Park made drastic weekly purse increases. Big Diamond Speedway will pay an amazing $2,750 weekly winner's purse for the small block modified, while Can Am Motorports Park ups their winner's purse to $1,500 to win.

Trying to get the track back to its glory days of the past, Can Am Motorsports Park has also announced multiple higher-paying mid week shows throughout the season. I-88 has recently an aggressive schedule as well with two of the highest paying races in the history of the track with the Wade Decker Memorial as well as the RoC Dirt Tour event.

No tracks that ran modifieds full-time in 2011 will be dropping the division in 2012, but 2 historic tracks have added modifieds to the weekly card. Bridgeport Speedway welcomes back the big-block modifeds under the helm of Doug Hoffman. Not only will Hoffman bring the big-blocks back weekly, he'll also introduce the innovative "Poker Series" which will bring more high-profile races to the big 5/8 mile than in recent years.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway has brought back the dirt and the modifieds under the leadership of Howie Commander for this year. A big 2-day opening weekend is already scheduled, as is an invasion from the Super DIRTcar Series. A final schedule is currently being finalized.

Black Rock Speedway is another former popular modified track that dropped the division in recent years. While the modifieds won't be a weekly attraction at Black Rock, they're on the schedule more than in recent years with 5 appearances, including a $6,000 to win race in October and a $5,000 to win RoC Dirt Tour event in July.

Even a new Series was formed, as DIRTcar announced a DIRT/Asphalt 4 race mini-series, with races held at Dunn Tire Raceway Park and Airborne Speedway. Each race will pay at least $3,000 to win.

Roaring Knob Speedway will host modifieds for the first time in a few years in 2012 as they have scheduled a BRP Tour race, while I-96 Speedway in Michigan is currently negotiating bringing the Super DIRTcar Series into town because of high interest from fans and the track owner. And of course, we've all seen the Bubba Raceway Park wants the modifieds in 2013 to replace the USAC sprints.

While the Super DIRTcar Series schedule has yet to be announced, it will have at least new tracks on the schedule with Albany-Saratoga Speedway and Ransomville Speedway joining the fold. Most exciting though, is that Cayuga County Fair Speedway, worst case scenario, will be part of the Super DIRTcar Series schedule and run a handful of times.

The RoC Dirt Tour added new tracks Glen Ridge Motorsports Park, Black Rock Speedway, Bridgeport Speedway, and I-88 Speedway to its 2012 line up. The only track not to return to the schedule was Big Diamond Speedway.

Despite it looking like modifieds may not return to Hagerstown at all in 2012, the Octoberfest event has been replaced with the "Fall Brawl" which will be a 50-lap $10,000 to win feature race.

To top it all off, we've still go the SEF 200 ($50,000 to win) and Nationwide 150 ($20,000 to win) at the NY State Fairgrounds, Fulton Speedway hopes the weather cooperates this year to run the Outlaw 200 ($20,000 to win), Eastern States will once again be at Orange County Fair Speedway for the Eastern States 200 ($20,000 to win), Mr. Dirt Track USA ($17,500 to win) will be run at Lebanon Valley Speedway,New Egypt Speedway once again will hos the Friends of Mike ($15,000 to win), Utica Rome, despite being for sale, will have the Victoria 100 and New Yorker 100 (both $10,000 to win), Big Diamond Speedway will once again host the Coalcracker ($10,000 to win), the Alex Friesen Summer Nationals ($10,000 to win) will once again be at Ransomville Speedway, and I'm sure I'm probably missing one.

These are just some of the bigger announcements we've seen throughout the year, series and high paying races are also planned at Volusia, Charlotte, Fonda, Five Mile Point, Merrittville, Brewerton, Accord, Mercer, Sharon, Lernerville, Delaware, Lincoln, Selinsgrove, Little Valley, Brighton, RPM, Rolling Wheels, Woodhull, Sportsmans, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

Point is, with all this positivity heading towards 2012, I just wanted to take a moment to thank all the promotors, track owners, or anyone that has contributed towards this off-season filled with positivity. I haven't been this excited for a racing season to get here in a long time.

**Again, sorry if this was hard to read... since this is just a blog, I just write as I think, and don't really look it over afterwards, which I'm sure can make it read choppy. Thanks for reading though!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Weekend Updates

First of all, been getting a lot of e-mails lately asking about Jeff Strunk and Norm Hansell. All I know is that nothing is official. Hansell and Strunk have not come to an agreement that would put Strunk in the 357 car again in 2012, but the doesn't mean it won't happen. Personally, I'd be shocked if Strunk did not return to the seat of the 357, not only because of the year the 2 had together last year, but because there isn't anyone out there that would be considered an upgrade over Strunk. Hansell is considering running a 2nd car, and a lot of big names from outside the Pennsylvania area have been mentioned for that ride. We'll see how it all plays out.

Brett Hearn has announced that "The Big Show 4" will take place in 2012, but will be at a new facility. After having 3 successful events at Orange County Fair Speedway, Hearn will move his self-promoted event to Albany-Saratoga Speedway in 2012. The Big Show 4 will be a Super DIRTcar Series race on July 10th.

Just a few days after Mike Mammana told me that he would be only a part-time modified driver in 2012, Mammana shot me an e-mail informing me that plans have changed. Mammana will now be a weekly small block runner at Big Diamond Speedway, officially making the move up from the sportsman division. Mammana will also have a big-block for special shows, starting with Selinsgrove in March.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Cosco signs Steele, Ransomville to SDS Schedule, Other Tidbits

Pete Cosco Racing has signed former modified driver, and current 360 sprint driver, Chris Steele to run the #17c weekly per Dirt Track Digest. The team will run weekly at Merrittville Speedway and also run the Humberstone Speedway events.

The Super DIRTcar Series schedule should be out soon, but Ransomville Speedway has announced that they will return to the Super DIRTcar Series schedule in 2012. The "Battle of the Border" will now be a Super DIRTcar Series race.

Brad Arnold is the latest driver to announce his rookie campaign in 2012. Arnold will run weekly at Big Diamond Speedway after graduating from the small car divisions.

Look for Jeremiah Shingledecker to add Sharon Speedway to his weekly racing efforts in 2012. Shingledecker will also continue to run Lernerville on Friday nights.

Mike Mammana plans to run the big-block portion of Selinsgrove Ice Breaker Weekend again this year. The sportsman star was hoping to make the full-time move to modifieds in 2012, but will only run select modified races while concentrating on his sportsman efforts.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Delaney and Wilder to Volusia

You can add 2 more names to the Volusia big-block entry list. Youngsters Dustin Delaney and Jeremy Wilder will both be heading down to Florida to kick off the season. Here's the updated entry list...

OB's Mike Kolka
01 Brett Ballard
1 Darwin Greene
3D Matt DeLorenzo
5 Jimmy Horton
5* Tyler Siri/Bobby Varin
7 Rick Laubach
8 Rich Scagliotta
8R Rob Bellinger
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Michael Storms
10 Tim Currier
14 Alan Johnson
20 Brett Hearn
21A Peter Britten
22c Mario Clair
22J Jeremy Wilder
23 Billy VanInwegen
27J Danny Johnson
33 Ray Swinehart
34 Andy Bachetti
39 Dustin Delaney
42B Kevin Bates
48too Dave Rauscher
60 Brian Berger
61s Johnny Scarborough
74 Tim Fuller
79 Jeremy Markle
85 Stewart Friesen
99L Larry Wight

Friday, February 10, 2012

Schedule Updates Coming; Volusia Update; Other Tidbits

Sorry for the lack of updates this week, I'm still getting settled in with my new job.

Anyway, I-88 Speedway and Penn Can Speedway have just announced their 2012 schedules. Both are available on their track websites (PennCan.com and I-88Speedway.com), and the modified portions of their schedules have been updates on the master schedule (link on the left.)

Tim Currier, Brian Truppi, and Kevin Bates are the latest drivers to confirm their participation in this year's DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia. Remember, there's no registration or pre-entry forms for teams to fill out this year, and I've been behind with talking to guys about plans this year, so don't be alarmed by the low car count currently. Here's the updated list of guys that will be there...

OB's Mike Kolka
01 Brett Ballard
02 Brian Truppi
1 Darwin Greene
3D Matt DeLorenzo
5 Tyler Siri/Bobby Varin
7 Rick Laubach
8 Rich Scagliotta
8R Rob Bellinger
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Michael Storms
10 Tim Currier
14 Alan Johnson
20 Brett Hearn
21A Peter Britten
22c Mario Clair
23 Billy VanInwegen
27J Danny Johnson
33 Ray Swinehart
34 Andy Bachetti
42B Kevin Bates
48too Dave Rauscher
60 Brian Berger
74 Tim Fuller
79 Jeremy Markle
85 Stewart Friesen
99L Larry Wight

Look for sportsman star Dave Dissinger to drop a big-block into his self-owned #88 to run the Saturday portion of Selinsgrove Speedways RoC Dirt Tour Ice Breaker Weekend coming up March 16-17.

The Super DIRTcar Series has announced that the season will kick off April 7th at Canandaigua Motorsports Park. Look for the final schedule to be released within the next week.

Kyle Weiss has confirmed that he plans on putting together a second car to run at the Freedom 76er with Alan Johnson returning to team with Weiss. Johnson filled in for Weiss in the 2011 Freedom 76er after Weiss had season-ending shoulder surgery and brought the car home with a second place finish.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Minor Updates

Woodhull Raceway and Sharon Speedway have released their schedules. You can check them out on their websites, or by checking out the master schedule link to the left.

Dave Rauscher has now confirmed his intentions to run Volusia.

Rest in Peace Mike Ronca

I apologize for not posting this sooner, I meant to and didn't realize it didn't get posted for whatever reason. Glen Ridge Motorsports Park regular and longtime Albany Saratoga Speedway front-runner Mike Ronca passed away late last week. We'll certainly miss seeing that beautiful blue and white #7 on the track. Rest in Peace, Mike.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Handful of Thursday Tidbits

Jon Kellner Sr has landed a ride for 2012. Kellner will drive a second Vince Gagliardo Racing small block modified in weekly competition at Grandview Speedway on Saturday nights. Kellner drove in one of the team's cars for some big-money races towards the end of 2011. The veteran will be teammate to Glenn Strunk, who returns to the Gagliardo team and will run at Big Diamond and Grandview weekly.

Per a Bridgeport Speedway press release, veteran Scott Irwin, who ran a very limited schedule in 2011, will return to weekly competition this season. He will run Bridgeport every Saturday night.

Black Rock Speedway has landed a RoC Dirt Northern Tour event for July 11th.

Delaware International Speedway has released their schedule, you can check it out at DelawareRacing.com. It has been added to the master schedule on the left.

Brett Ballard, Andy Bachetti, Stewart Friesen, and Mario Clair are the latest drivers to confirm plans for Volusia, here's the updated entry list...

OB's Mike Kolka
01 Brett Ballard
1 Darwin Greene
1 Stewart Friesen
3D Matt DeLorenzo
5 Tyler Siri/Bobby Varin
7 Rick Laubach
8 Rich Scagliotta
8R Rob Bellinger
9s Matt Sheppard
10 Michael Storms
14 Alan Johnson
20 Brett Hearn
21A Peter Britten
22c Mario Clair
23 Billy VanInwegen
27J Danny Johnson
33 Ray Swinehart
34 Andy Bachetti
60 Brian Berger
61s Johnny Scarborough
74 Tim Fuller
79 Jeremy Markle
99L Larry Wight