Johnson and Strunk Land One-Off Rides

Two drivers will be running at season openers this weekend at tracks they won't be running weekly, in cars they won't be running weekly.

At Accord Speedway, Danny Johnson will pilot a Randy Sherlock Motorsports car. Johnson, of course, ran for Sherlock in a few races over the past two seasons. Tim Hindley and Randy Sherlock himself have also ran the car over those seasons.

For the Utica Rome Speedway opener this Sunday, Jeff Strunk will be behind the wheel of a Tad Parks Racing modified. Parks fielded a car over the last few seasons for Alan Barker, and will field a car in limited action this year for Stewart Friesen.

Super Dirt Week Club Wago Bash on the Backstretch Update

Hey guys, I know it's REAL far away, but just giving a little update on the 3rd Annual Club Wago Bash on the Backstretch, which takes place on the Friday of Super Dirt Week. Remember, the Bash is only on Friday, no other days! We do that so we can enjoy the other night life on Thursday night and Saturday night (mainly being the return of the Ghetto and the always popular Voodoo Lounge.)

We have already signed a new DJ for this year, replacing the DJ we had over the past 2 seasons. Special thanks goes out to that DJ, he did it for free the past 2 seasons, but we didn't really do well at communicating so we've decided to make the switch. No hard feelings. However, just a warning, those guys may end up setting up a party on that Friday to get back at us INSIDE the backstretch tunnel (so it'd be in the infield.) If that happens, please note, that is NOT Club Wago's Bash of the Backstretch. We'll be set up at our normal location, directly outside the backstretch tunnel, our tent will be set up where the party will be all week.

Once again, as always, we'll have Wago Juice on hand for free! For the first time ever, we'll have Club Wago Bash on the Backstretch shirts available as well.

We will be having the Club Wago big wheel races once again, but there are rules for this season! Last year was a lot of fun, but I ended up pissing a lot of people off with it in the end, so the main rule is, you HAVE to have a tricycle to race. If you get lucky enough to get an extra big wheel that somebody else brings, that works too, but there will be no sharing this year. Also, as for specific big wheel rules, it can't be wider than 30 inches, must have a pusher and a driver, must have 3 wheels, the driver has to steer it (no swivel wheels), and the tricycles must have either the front wheel, or both back wheels be plastic, it cannot have 3-rubber wheels. Once again, any money anyone wants to donate will go to the winner (last year's feature line-up decided to donate the money to charity, that was their choice), and we'll also have trophies for the top-3 finishers in the race. Anything that is considered illegal for the trike race will be allowed to run an "open competition" race, but, the winner of that race will only receive a trophy, all the prizes/money will go to the winner of the trike race. Also, another big improvement over last year, we will have a second mic to announce line-ups and who's supposed to be racing this year, and we'll also make everyone in the middle of the track sit down, or kneel, so everyone can see what's going on.

Also, we'll be giving away prizes throughout the night during the party. We know for sure we'll have quite a few free race tickets for tracks throughout the northeast, we'll also be giving away racing merchandise, and possibly even some collectible items. We're looking for ideas on how to give away those prizes throughout the night, any ideas, let me have them!

Again, I know this is way early, but wanted to get word out there, after-all, in 6 months, Super Dirt Week 2010 will be over! We hope you guys have as much fun this year as we'll have putting this thing together!

$10,000 to win small block show scheduled for August 4th

Orange County Fair Speedway has announced, (first released on Syracuse.com) that Orange there will be a $10,000 to win 40-lap open 358 motor rule race on Wednesday, August 4th. This is great news, over the past three years, we've lost the $10,000 to win Paul Sawyer Memorial, but have gained the $10,000 to win Victoria 200 at Utica Rome, the $20,000 All-Star race at Cayuga County, two $10,000 to win races at the World Finals, $10,000 to win races at Granby and Drummondville, the Friend of Mike $10,000 to win show at New Egypt, and the return of Mr. Dirt Track USA which pays $17,500 to win at Lebanon Valley. This is all great for dirt modified racing. I hope more big-paying races continue to show up over the next few years as well!

Also, even though this race pays $10,000 to win, it will not be on the Club Wago Crown Jewel Fantasy League. We've already received a bunch of entries, so, there won't be any races added to the fantasy league. Sorry!

Big Racing Weekend Winners; A Few Tidbits

It was a great weekend of racing, all racing, with the exception of Lernerville Speedway, got their races in, and there was a lot of big money on the line.

Starting things off on Friday, it was Duane Howard who continued his strong start to the season by picking up the $3,000 Big Diamond Raceway win. Moving to Saturday, Dale Planck won a thrilling race at Super Dirt Series race at Fulton Speedway as he picked up his first win of the year, Ryan Godown won the $4,000 Grandview Speedway small block race, Bobby Varin won $4,000 in the big block division at Fonda Speedway, Wade Hendrickson picked up right where he left off in 2009 by winning the Tri-Track Series race at Bridgeport, and Dustin Martin won his first race of the year in the small block division at Mercer Raceway Park.

My apologies to Lonnie Riggs. He picked up the win at Mercer Raceway Park's small block modified opener, and I forgot to report his win last weekend.

Also, there was practice over the weekend at multiple tracks. At Lebanon Valley Speedway, big block rookie D.J. Faulkner was involved in a serious wreck and taken to the hospital. He was knocked unconscious but is otherwise okay.

Mark Kislowski is officially in the Masagarus Racing #93 big block modified for 2010, it was reported on here back over the winter that he'd be in the car, but I wasn't able to confirm it until now.

Look for 2009 Can Am small block champion Lance Willix to make select starts for small block rookie Tom Gamble this year, possibly starting at Can Am's 358 Dirt Series race. Willix made the move up to big blocks and sold off all his small block equipment to make the transition.

Update on Gary Tomkins

Chad Brachmann's website confirms what I posted on here a few weeks ago, Gary Tomkins will run the Chad Brachmann #3 big block modified again this week at Fulton. The team will then sit down and decide whether or not they will follow the Super Dirt Series will Tomkins for the entire year. Brachmann will still run weekly at Merrittville and Ransomville, and also a few big block races, but won't travel as much as he has in the past because he and his wife recently had a child.

Big Racing Weekend

Well ladies and gentleman, the season is finally starting to shape up. More tracks continue to open, this week we've got a big weekend in racing. On Friday night, Big Diamond Raceway has a special $3,000 to win show for the small block modifieds. On Saturday, Fonda Speedway has the big block modifieds on hand for a $4,000 winners purse. Grandview Speedway will have the small block modifieds running 40 laps for $4,000 to win, and the Super Dirt Series has their second race of the season scheduled for Fulton Speedway as they run 100 laps for $6,000 to win.

Happy Easter; Weekend Winners

Happy Easter to everyone today! I hope everyone has a great day!

A beautiful weekend led to Big Diamond Raceway and Lernerville Speedway getting races in on Friday, and Grandview Speedway getting their show in on Saturday. Lots of practice sessions were held this past weekend as well.

Brian Swartzlander held on to collect his first win of the season in the Lernerville Speedway opener, Big Diamond Raceway saw Duane Howard pick up the big block modified $4,000 win and then saw Craig Von Dohren win the small block modified opener at the track. On Saturday, it was John Willman who picked up the win at the Grandview Speedway opener.

Congratulations to all the winners this past week, especially Duane Howard, John Willman, and Brian Swartzlander, who are all Club Wago members!

Hill teams with Postorivo

The 2009 Bridgeport sportsman champion, Jesse Hill, will make the move up to big block modifieds in 2010. He'll drive for Gino Postorivo Racing in the team's #X big block modified weekly at Bridgeport Speedway. Postorivo fields multiple sportsman cars, and has fielded a big block modified for Jimmy Horton in the past. Hill ran a few modified races with his small block at the end of the year at tracks like Delaware International, Five Mile Point, and Hagerstown. Hill will still use the family owned #99H in a few special small block shows throughout the year.

Monday Morning Tidbits

South Jersey Dirt Racing is reporting that Vern McLaughlin will be moving up from the Outlaw Stocks division to the big block modified division. His website has been added to the links page.

Also, Shawn Donath will be driving for NY Tech Racing as a teammate to Tony Steiner, per Steiner's website. Donath will run the team's small block at 9 races throughout the season.

Also, look for Gary Tomkins to be back behind the wheel of the Chad Brachmann #3 big block modified at Fulton Speedway. But, nothing is official yet.

Sheppard, Hearn, and Rain Win Big

Well, it was another tough weekend, as rain started off the weekend claiming the Lernerville Speedway opener. On Saturday, Hagerstown Speedway got their first race of the season in, as the Super Dirt Series and 358 modifieds invaded the beautiful 1/2 mile. In the small blocks, Brett Hearn snuck around Matt Sheppard late in the race to pick up the feature win and the guarenteed starting spot for the 100 lap small block feature at Octoberfest. Sheppard held on for second, Pat Ward, Stewart Friesen, and Rick Laubach rounded out the top 5. In the big blocks, Billy Decker snuck by Matt Sheppard on a late race restart and picked up the $6,000 win. Sheppard finished second in the big blocks as well, Michael Storms had a great run for 3rd, and rounding out the top 5 was Danny Johnson, and a solid run for Billy Dunn.

On Sunday, Big Diamond had their big block $4,000 to win feature called after the rain swept in. All qualifying was completed, so the feature has been rescheduled for this Friday as they have their first points race of the season. Here's the line-up for the feature...

1st 20 Brett Hearn

2nd 1c Craig Von Dohren

3rd 357 Ryan Godown

4th 5 Rick Laubach

5th 3 Mike Nicholas

6th 14 Jimmy Horton

7th 99L Larry Wight

8th 37x Tommy Scheetz

9th 4 Duane Howard

10th 9s Matt Sheppard

11th 91 Billy Decker

12th 11 Billy Pauch Jr.

13th 00 Doug Manmiller

14th 66 Jerry Higbie

15th 1 Stewart Friesen

16th L85 Ted Lamb

17th 41 Jeff Strunk

18th 10 Bobby Varin

19th 7 Colt Harris

20th 314 Ricky Yetter

21st J3 Dale Hartz

22nd 19 Brent Boyer

23rd 44 Frank Cozze

24th 976 Don Norris

25th 1L Bill Lowden

26th 78 Neil Huber

27th 118 Sean Merkel

28th 42p Pat Ward