Looking Back Again

On an earlier post I showed some classic stock car images.  The cars come from a Midwestern club that creates stock cars from the 1950s-1970s.  They are NASCAR, USAC and short track cars.  These are not the actual cars that a Richard Petty or Junior Johnson drove but they are real race cars and they did race them that night at Lake Geneva Raceway in Wisconsin.

A copy of the LeRoy Yarbrough driven, Junior Johnson owned1966 Chevy.

This would be the Buddy Baker driven, Cotton Owens owned, 1969 Dodge Daytona.

The Fred Lorenzen, Holman & Moody, 1965 Ford

A copy of the 1964 Chevelle short track car that was owned and driven by Dale Earnhardt
Sr.

NASCAR Richmond

I enjoyed Saturday nights Richmond race on the NASCAR Cup tour.  Great job by Kyle Busch in getting his first victory of the season. Friday night's Nationwide series event was even better with the same Kyle Busch getting his first win as an owner in that series.  Kyle's older brother Kurt drove little bros Toyota to a bumping and banging victory over Denny Hamlin.  Coming back to the Cup series Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored a competitive second with an angry Tony Stewart finishing third after his pit crew blew it on his final stop.

As an aside, I simply do not get the Carl Edwards penalty for pulling ahead of Tony Stewart on a restart.  I fully understand that you should not be ahead of the leader when you reach the start finish line.  I even get the acceleration box, but when the leader of the race literally stands on his brakes, (for the third time) and does not go, it would seem common sense for that leader to relinquish his right to that lead.  NASCAR should have brought out the yellow once again, and told Stewart to use his right foot and told Carl of the potential for an infraction.  A miscue by either one on the next restart would produce a penalty. The leader can pace the race for a starting speed of his desire, as long as he either stays at the same speed, or speeds up.  He was attempting a"Texas Start" which will only result in wrecks and an unfair advantage.

Also, let's not go back to the early NASCAR days of phony "debris yellows"  It's a great series and even the new generation of NASCAR fan can live through a few events without 20 restarts.  Those crashes will be back soon (next week?) on their own and we will all have plenty of restarts.

On my next post I will include a few more of those "classic remakes" of stock cars.  A series of look alikes from the old days.  Real race cars running at Lake Geneva Raceway in Wisconsin.

Super Modifieds

In the world of auto racing, the term modified or super modified, covers a lot of ground. They can be from the past or the present, and run on asphalt or dirt. For this post the term super modified, supermodified, super mod, or super means New England’s “Oswego” style radical offset asphalt super Modified. We will take a look at the International Super Modified Association. They sanction races in the U.S. and Canada at a variety of northeastern paved tracks. Paved track supermodifieds, have their own culture of fans.

In 1964 my parents and I took off in our 1961 Ford for the New York World’s Fair. As with most of our summer vacations, there would likely be at least one stop at a race track along the way.

By this point in my life I was very familiar with the form of Modified Stock Cars that competed in my home region of Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. Beautiful old coupe and coach bodied cars. Short wheel bases with fuel injected engines of all sizes. They ran on a series of mostly ¼ mile dirt tracks, but there were three asphalt tracks that also hosted these pretty cars. We had heard that a track in Oswego, N.Y. hosted modifieds
and we made it just in time for their weekly Saturday night show. When we walked up to the gate, the sign readSuper Modified racing and boy were they right. A blazing fast 5/8^th mile blacktop track with radical and scary fast cars. Many of these cars looked like shortened and caged front engine Indy Car roadsters. I had never seen anything like it but this 13 year old boy was a fan for life. Oswego was and still is the legendary main track for these kinds of cars. Through the years the likes of radical innovator Jimmy Shampine, Nolan Swift and Doug Heveron

There is (or used to be) some similar forms of supers running in Colorado (ERA), Utah and Idaho.

The ISMA is where paved track super modified racing will come visit a track near you…at least if you live from Michigan to the Atlantic Ocean. You will find the IMSA schedule (below) to be short but it covers a beautiful mixture of short tracks. From high banked to flat and from ¼ (really 1/5 ) to 5/8^th mile in length.

This style of racing is fast and competitive.  It would be worth traveling to a non-racing show of these vehicles, just to look at them.

2012 Schedule International Super Modified Association


Saturday, May 26 Five Weekly Classes plus ISMA Waterford Speedbowl Waterford, Conn. 50

Saturday, June 30 CARQUEST Super Saturday Stafford Motor Speedway Stafford Springs, Conn. 50


Saturday, July 7 King of Wings Oswego Speedway Oswego, N.Y. 50



Friday, July 27 Hy-Miler Fast 40 Sandusky Speedway Sandusky, Ohio 40



Saturday, July 28 Hy-Miler Nationals Sandusky Speedway Sandusky, Ohio 100



Friday, Aug. 3 Supermodified Weekend Delaware Speedway Delaware, Ontario, Canada 30



Saturday, Aug. 4 Supermodified Weekend Delaware Speedway Delaware, Ontario, Canada 75

Friday, Aug. 10 Ollie Silva Memorial Lee USA Speedway Lee, N.H. 50

Saturday, Aug. 11 5th Annual Wings & Wheels Waterford Speedbowl Waterford, Conn. 50

Friday, Aug. 24 Sandusky Speedway Sandusky, Ohio 50

Saturday, Aug. 25 Weekend of Speed Berlin Raceway Marne, Mich. 50

Saturday, Sept. 1 International Classic Weekend Oswego Speedway Oswego, N.Y. 60

Saturday, Sept. 8 Star Classic Star Speedway Epping, N.H. 150


Saturday, Sept. 29 Racing Against Cancer 100 Seekonk Speedway Seekonk, Mass. 100

Saturday, Oct. 13 World Series of Racing Thompson Int'l Speedway Thompson, Conn. Heats Sunday,

Oct. 14 World Series of Racing Thompson Int'l Speedway Thompson, Conn. 50

Saturday, Nov. 3 ISMA Banquet Turning Stone Casino Vernon, N.Y.

The pictures below are not mine. They are borrowed from the World Wide Web.
Excuse the small image size of all but ISMA’s logo shot, but I felt it necessary to only use thumbnails.

World of Outlaws

When you think dirt track racing….you think WoO!

I was about 3 years old when my father took me to see a dirt modified race. I was hooked on the sideways action of dirt/clay, forever. When I was still a youngster my parents took me to Terra Haute, Indiana to see the USAC Twin 30s. Jim Hurtibise was in this race. Both features came down to Greg Weld and Bobby Unser Sr., with Unser winning both times. Sprint cars not only did not carry wings at the time, but they also lacked roll cages. They were terrifying death traps, but the danger was strangely intoxicating.

My first races covered as a teenage racing photographer, were a form of dirt modified/super modifieds. In the late 1970s I was covering a sprint car race at Colorado National Speedway in Erie, CO. A new sanctioning body was involved. They called themselves The World of Outlaws. I wondered how you could call a structured series with a point schedule and championship, OUTLAWS. That seemed to be flawed by its very nature. It was great racing none the less and the WoOs were born. That race at the ½ mile high banked dirt track was run minus wings. A veteran sprint car racer named Rick Ferkel, and a youngster named Doug Wolfgang put on a great show but a teenager named Steve Kinser went on the steal the win. Many legends were born in the first two years of the WoOs. Many of those legends are still winning today.

I have photographed more dirt sprint cars and late models than I can remember. I have also photographed a wide variety of types of dirt and asphalt modifieds and super modifieds but I was never fortunate enough to cover the legendary DIRT (mud bus) Modifieds of the eastern U.S. I was fortunate to see these guys race at Volusia County Speedway in Florida and it was worth the price of admission. This has been a series of legends the likes of Gary (Hot Shoe) Balough, A.J. (Slideways) Johnson and (Barefoot) Bob McCreadie and is now a part of the WoOs and that is where it belongs.

Below you will find the current ( or nearly) top 20 in all three WoO divisions. The three photos you see were not made by me. They are recent images from each division and came from their respective websites.

Sprint Cars

Through Tri-State Speedway, April 21

Pos.	Driver	Total	Diff	Wins	T5	T10	QT
1	Sammy Swindell	1547	0	2	7	9	2
2	Donny Schatz	1511	-36	2	5	9	0
3	Joey Saldana	1494	-53	2	6	8	1
4	Kraig Kinser	1490	-57	0	3	9	2

5	Steve Kinser	1485	-62	0	5	8	0
6	Jason Sides	1478	-69	0	5	8	0
7	Craig Dollansky	1446	-101	2	4	6	1
8	Cody Darrah	1366	-181	0	2	4	0
9	Chad Kemenah	1338	-209	0	1	3	2
10	Lucas Wolfe	1336	-211	0	0	3	0
11	Kerry Madsen	1297	-250	0	2	3	0
12	Bill Rose	1185	-362	0	0	1	0
13	Terry McCarl	1106	-441	0	1	2	0
14	Jason Meyers	1054	-493	0	3	4	1
15	Jac Haudenschild	853	-694	0	0	1	0
16	Austen Wheatley	816	-731	0	0	1	0
17	David Gravel	770	-777	0	1	3	0
18	Sam Hafertepe Jr.	743	-804	0	0	3	0
19	Danny Smith	721	-826	0	1	2	0
20	Tim Kaeding	714	-833	2	3	4	0

Late Models

Points standings as of March 31, 2012 (7 A-Mains completed)

Pos.	Car	Driver	Residence	Entered	Races	A-Mns	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	F/T	Ht Wins	B Wins	Earnings	Points	Trail By
1	29	Darrell Lanigan	Union, KY	7	7	7	2	6	7	3	5	0	$54,400	1010	0
2	1	Josh Richards	Shinnston, WV	7	7	7	1	4	6	1	3	0	$33,250	974	36
3	24	Rick Eckert	York, PA	7	7	7	1	3	5	0	1	0	$30,750	956	54
4	25	Shane Clanton	Fayetteville, GA	7	7	7	0	4	5	1	4	0	$19,120	934	76
5	1*	Chub Frank	Bear Lake, PA	7	7	7	0	1	4	0	1	0	$13,880	892	118
6	32c	Vic Coffey	Caledonia, NY	7	7	7	0	0	2	0	1	0	$8,520	854	156
	44	Clint Smith	Senoia, GA	7	7	7	0	0	1	0	0	1	$9,970	854	156
	39	Tim McCreadie	Watertown, NY	7	7	7	0	0	3	0	0	2	$12,240	854	156
9	57J	Bub McCool	Vicksburg, MS	7	7	7	0	1	2	0	1	2	$10,660	846	164
10	11d	Pat Doar	New Richmond, WI	7	7	7	0	1	1	0	0	0	$7,940	806	204
11	5b	Mike Marlar	Winfield, TN	7	7	6	0	2	2	0	2	0	$10,700	782	228
	b5	Brandon Sheppard	New Berlin, WI	7	7	6	0	0	1	0	0	1	$7,835	782	228
13	21	Billy Moyer	Batesville, AR	7	7	6	1	2	2	1	4	0	$17,000	766	244
14	25	Jason Feger	Bloomington, IL	6	6	6	0	0	2	0	2	1	$8,520	738	272
15	19	Tim Fuller	Watertown, NY	7	7	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	$4,300	722	288
	7R	Kent Robinson	Bloomington, IN	7	7	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	$5,810	722	288
17	28	John Lobb	Frewsburg, NY	7	7	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	$970	704	306
18	1	Jack Sullivan	Greenbrier, AR	7	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	$4,100	684	326
19	21Jr	Billy Moyer Jr.	Batesville, AR	7	7	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	$2,880	682	328
20	37	Jared Hawkins	Fairmont, WV	6	6	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	$5,420	654	356

DIRT  Super Series Modifieds

Pos. No. Driver Total Series Diff Money Wins T5 T10 Starts 1 27J Danny Johnson 105 105 0 $6,000 1 1 1 1

2 3 Justin Haers 98 98 -7 $2,500 0 1 1 1

3 20 Brett Hearn 95 95 -10 $4,000 0 1 1 1

4 9s Matt Sheppard 90 90 -15 $1,800 0 1 1 1

5 98H Jimmy Phelps 81 81 -24 $1,600 0 1 1 1

6 99L Larry Wight 81 81 -24 $1,400 0 0 1 1

7 91 Billy Decker 77 77 -28 $1,200 0 0 1 1 8

8R Rob Bellinger 68 68 -37 $1,000 0 0 1 1

9 7x Steve Paine 66 66 -39 $800 0 0 1 1

10 10J Alan Johnson 62 62 -43 $700 0 0 1 1

11 21a Pete Britten 61 61 -44 $500 0 0 0 1

12 77x Dale Planck 60 60 -45 $600 0 0 0 1

13 99b Chuck Bower 59 59 -46 $400 0 0 0 1

14 21K Randy Chrysler 54 54 -51 $375 0 0 0 1

15 49 Billy Dunn 52 52 -53 $350 0 0 0 1

16 62s Tom Sears Jr. 51 51 -54 $325 0 0 0 1

17 4* Tim McCreadie 51 51 -54 $300 0 0 0 1

18 89b Todd Burley 46 46 -59 $300 0 0 0 1

19 1Jr. Mike O'Brien 45 45 -60 $300 0 0 0 1

20 48T Dave Rauscher

Thanks for stopping by.
Next?

Kansas City

After watching yesterday’s NASCAR Cup race in Kansas City, it finally occurred to me that I am seeing a season much like was the norm in the “good old days” of seasons past. Excellent racing. Drivers trying to out drive and out think their opponents. I am sure that means that many “race fans” will be leaving NASCAR. While there is much wheel to wheel racing, with cars sideways and often three abreast, they aren’t crashing every five laps. Few green/white/checkereds. It is not the driver who can find his way through the smoke and metal that is winning. It is crews that do a good job in the pits. It is drivers that show skill and endurance. It is the fastest cars that are winning. What a silly way to race. Hurry up and rebuild these tracks. 

As an aside the blown engine was a thing of the past.  It is back. They are blowing engines like the "good old days" too, except that it is all top of the engine stuff.  Valves etc.  With no cranks and rods breaking, the cars are not oiling the track.  Very strange.  Every manufacturer except Ford broke a motor or two on Sunday.

Seriously, all of us enjoy a wheel to wheel finish. It is just nice when they occur naturally and not because of “needless crashes” and at times “needless yellows”. Crashing and yellows are a part of racing, but not all of the time.

Congratulations to Denny Hamlin, and a great effort by Martin Truex.

Richmond under the lights comes next for Cup.

For The Outsider....maybe World of Outlaws....sprints and late models?

The Ballad of Ken and Kenny

Welcome to my Ken & Kenny post. Ken is Ken Schrader and Kenny is Kenny Wallace.

I picked these two to write about because they are racers who’s NASCAR careers may not be what they once were, but they continue to race throughout America in their own dirt cars. Why? Because they are true racers. Racing is what they do, and what they will continue to do until someone pries the steering wheel out of their hands.

I have included bios from their respective websites. Schrader’s site is out of date and I am not surprised. What does surprise me is that this great “old school” racer even has a website. The pictures you see below were unfortunately not taken by me. They come from their websites.

Ken Schrader

I was attending a USAC stock car race at the Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin in the 1970s. I wanted to know who was driving the red Mustang. I had never seen anyone drive so deeply into the corners at Milwaukee. As a photographer I covered Ken Schrader races in the USAC midget, sprint car and Silvercrown divisions. One of those midget races was indoors. I also covered a World of Outlaw sprint car race at Santa Fe Speedway in Chicago, in which Ken was competing. Then came his time in NASCAR. I remember once after Ken completed the Brickyard 400 on a Saturday afternoon, he jumped in his plane and headed for Milwaukee and the Hales Corners Speedway to compete in a weekly Saturday night dirt late model event. The feature came down to a lap after lap, wheel to wheel, cushion riding duel between Ken and a local star. Unlike many big stars who appear at a track near you, just to have a little fun and pick up some money, Ken always comes to race. After 400 miles in the afternoon, and a 300 mile plane ride, the feature victory was in his pocket. At around midnight.

Ken followed childhood friend Rusty Wallace into NASCAR’s Cup division. For several years Ken was a major player. That lasted until he and Rick Hendrick parted company and NASCAR has been a hit and miss proposition ever since. He won four major NASCAR Cup races in his career. He continues to race a full time schedule of dirt modified and late model races across America and Canada. Ken still races several times a year in the NASCAR Cup #32. He owns an ARCA stock car that is driven by Tom Hessert.

Birthdate: May 29, 1955
Hometown: Fenton, Mo.
Residence: Concord, N.C.
Family: Wife; Ann
Children; Dorothy, Sheldon

Ken Schrader has been called the consummate race car driver – he can drive anything with wheels, represents his sponsors well and relates to his fans. Throughout his career, Schrader has been successful at every level of racing in which he has competed, including 27 years as a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver.  Schrader’s race records read like a who’s who – you may think you are reading about several drivers’ careers, when in fact, all the records belong to him! From USAC, ARCA and just about every series within NASCAR, and on dirt, Schrader’s accomplishments are chronicled in the record books! Schrader is quick to credit many people for his success – his family, childhood heroes, car owners, sponsors and team members. Schrader’s success as a race car driver carries over into other areas of his life. His on-track records are just part of the story. As a race team owner, Schrader has fielded cars in NASCAR, ARCA and several dirt series. As a TV commentator, Schrader has worked with SPEED and ESPN, offering his own perspective as a driver/owner. For the 2011 season, Schrader Racing is competing for the ARCA championship with driver Tom Hessert in the #52 Federated Auto Parts car. In addition to his duties as a car owner within the ARCA Series this season, Schrader will serve as a commentator for select televised ARCA races. “I’m just as excited about the 2011 racing season as I have been all the other seasons,” Schrader said from his Concord, N.C. shop. “Each new season offers potential for success and the opportunity to go out and do what I love best – race!” Dirt racing is one of Schrader’s passions and he competes whenever and wherever possible. During the 2010 season, Schrader raced his Federated Auto Parts-sponsored late model and modified cars in 29 states and one Canadian province. As a businessman and co-owner of three dirt tracks – I-55 Speedway, Pevely, Mo.; Macon Speedway, Macon, Ill. and Paducah International Raceway, Paducah, Ky. – Schrader lends his expertise and insight to the tracks, while working with his partners to maintain the uniqueness of each. Throughout the season, Schrader competes at each track to the delight of his many fans.

For more than 40 years, Schrader has been part of the American motorsports scene. The 2011 season will see him compete as a part-time driver of the #32 FASNASCAR NOW program. And from his race team shop in Dittmer, Mo., Schrader plans to squeeze in as much dirt racing as possible.

Don’t look for Schrader to be slowing down any time soon. As has been documented in his book titled Gotta Race, “I want to spend my time racing,” Schrader said. “It’s not only my job, but it’s also my hobby, I love the time I get to spend behind the wheel, and as long as I can, I’m going to race whenever I can.”

Kenny Wallace

Kenny Wallace is the younger brother of Mike and the aforementioned Rusty Wallace. He has had an up and down career in NASCAR but remains one of the most popular drivers in all of racing. He still competes in NASCAR’s Nationwide series. He owns a dirt late model team and crosses America (much like Schrader) competing at a track near you.

My first memories of Kenny come from my photographer days as I covered the USAC and ASA stock car series when older brother Rusty was competing. Kenny was an active crew member until he began his own career. My first experience photographing a race in which Kenny was competing occurred in the early 1980s at Berlin raceway in Michigan. The event was sanctioned by ASA.

Kenny Wallace Fast FactsDate of Birth: August 23, 1963
Height: 5’ 11” Weight: 162
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Resides: Concord, North Carolina
Wife: Kim Wallace (high-school sweetheart) anniversary 6/23/1984
Children: Brooke (25), Brandy (22), Brittany (21)
Parents: Russ(deceased 10/30/11) and Judy Wallace
Brothers: Rusty and Mike Wallace
Favorite food: pork chops, Oriental chicken salad
Favorite sports team: St. Louis Cardinals
Favorite band(s)/music: Aerosmith, Nelly, Patsy Cline
Favorite movie: The Green Mile
Hobbies: Spending time with family, racing dirt cars
Number of years racing (professional): 26 years
Racing role-model: Dick Trickle
Track you most want to win at: the next one
Favorite track: the next one
Most memorable racing experience: 2001 Talladega race, pushing Dale Earnhardt to his final win
What do you like most about racing? Chance of winning each weekend

I specifically targeted Ken and Kenny for today’s post because they exemplify what the true racer is all about. They would both love to be Cup champions and win the Daytona 500 (Schrader almost did), but above all they want to race. They are just as fulfilled when they are running the ¼ mile dirt down the street. They genuinely love the fans and always seem happy to meet you and spend some time talking with you. Hopefully every generation of racers will produce a new group of Ken and Kennys!

Turn Left...Turn Right

No, today's post is not about politics.  I thought I would cover (briefly) some road racing. The two images you see are not mine.  They are provided by the websites for the Grand Am and American Le Mans series, with Formula 1 not being quite so generous.

Grand Am

Copyright Grand Am

The American Grand Am series started its season as usual, with the Rolex 24 Hours Of Daytona.  The Ford/Riley of Allemdinger,Negri,Pew and Wilson took top honors.  The season's second event was held in Birmingham, Alabama, with the Garcia/Westbrook Corvette coming home first.  Next on the schedule is the April 27-29 Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead Raceway.

American Le Mans Series

Copyright ALMS

The other North American sports car endurance classic, The 12 Hours Of Sebring, belongs to The American Le Mans Series.  This past March saw teammates Chris Dyson, Guy Smith and Steve Kane took top honors followed by the combination of Lucas Lunr, Klaus Graf and Simon Pagnaud. 

The streets of Long Beach, CA came next with Lunr and Graf in their HPD-ARX-03A taking top honors, followed by Dyson and Smith in the Lola B12/60 and Alex Popow and Ryan Dalzel in a Oreca FLM093. 

Monterey, CA is next on the schedule on May 10-12

Formula 1

Then of course there is the "big one", Formula 1.  Below are the race by race winners this season.

Australia   Jenson Button   McLaren Mercedes
Malaysia   Fernando Alonso   Ferrari
China        Nico Rosberg   Mercedes

Next Race   Bahran

It is obvious to see by the "shallow" information that I have given you that I have not been following road racing very closely.  These are three top notch series with many of the world's top manufacturers, drivers and car owners involved.  I did follow F1 carefully last season and do miss all of the fanfare that surrounds it.

As a young boy in the 1960s I first became interested in the world of left and right hand turns.  I still suggest that for an American that decade was the best.  The Trans Am Series at it's best.  Parnelli Jones, Jerry Grant, Mark Donahue, Jerry Titus, George Follmer, Peter Revson and on.  There was the Formula A/Forumla 5000 series.  Group 6 Prototype Endurance cars here and in Europe.  Le Mans in 1967 with Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt.  Then there was the Can Am Series run throughout Canada and the U.S.  Unbelievable beasts with up to 1,000 horsepower.  F1 had Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Jimmy Clark, Dan Gurney, Richie Ginther and on and on.  For me this was road racing's golden age.

I hope to do a better job of observing at least, Formula 1 for the rest of this season.

Coming next?

Ken and Kenny.  Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace.

The Best or Not?

After watching the Texas NASCAR Cup race last Saturday night, a few questions came to my mind. 

I have always said that in the current era of NASCAR (the 2,000s), the greatest natural driving talents are without a doubt, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.  They both have however, traveled this road collecting no small amount of baggage.  Both have spent some time in anger management.  Stewart has been here longer and is without question more successful than Busch.  Three championships and his fair share of wins. There is a question that needs to be asked about both of these guys.

When things are not going well for these guys are they quitters?

Almost every driver in Cup is capable of winning. Every driver no matter how great they are is going to have some bad days.  Wrecks and car failures will happen to all of them and there will be days where the car will just not be fast and they will have to settle for a 20th place at the back of the lead lap finish.  When Stewart or Busch have cars that just aren't fast, they and this is even more a rap on Stewart, fall off the map.  For the incredible success they have had, when the car won't work they (especially Stewart) for at doing the best they can, for maybe half the race, until they slip into oblivion.  The best (not the most talented) racer of the 2,000s in NASCAR, Jimmy Johnson never ever gives up. I have never seen him drive a race where he does not compete for everything he can get until they throw the checkered flag.  I have never seen a racing superstar who finishes laps down not because of mechanical failure and wrecks, but just because the car is a bit loose or tight, than Tony Stewart.  Kyle Busch is not far behind. Does the personality flaws we have seen over and over in Stewart and Busch make them quitters? 

I don't know the answer but it is a question worth asking.

Congratulations to Gregg Biffle on his victory and also another great performance by the 53 year old part time driver Mark Martin.  In 36 years of watching Mark drive, whether he finishes 1st or 43rd he never quits.

Growing Up

I've mentioned before on this blog that I was an auto racing photojournalist beginning in 1971 and continuing on through 2006.  The mid 1990s I began to reduce the amount of races that I covered per year.   From 2002 through 2006 I only did a few local races each season. In that time span I covered pretty much every major and minor racing series.  That means of course that I also covered many of the greatest drivers.   Foyt, Andretti, Petty. Pearson, Earnhardt, B. Unser, A.Unser Sr. A. Unser Jr., Rahal, Mears, Fittapaldi, Kinser, Swindell, Trickle, Senneker, Eddy, Moyer, Norm Nelson, Ernie Derr and on and on.  One thing that many of those names have in common is they are retired.  Some are long retired or deceased.

In the late 1970s a new phenomenon began to appear.  Top drivers were getting younger and younger. That has continued until recent times but three drivers that I photographed when they were teenagers, continue to be major players today.  I cannot help but remember the first time I photographed a race with these guys competing.

Mark Martin was 17 the first time I was fortunate to see him race.  It was an event that including almost every top short track/asphalt late model star in North America.  The race was the (1976 I believe) second (I also did the first) World Cup 400 at I70 Speedway in Odessa, Missouri.  I had heard a little about "The Kid" already but had forgotten about him as the 400 hundred lap grind began.  Somewhere about mid race this teenager took the lead and led the likes of Trickle, Senneker, Shear, Eddy and the rest, lap after lap, after lap.  The thing I remember most is that he drove like a 35 year old veteran.  Speed, brains and class all wrapped up in the "kid".  He did not win that day but I never forgot.  I was privileged to photograph Mark in races sanctioned by ASA, Artgo, NASCAR and more.  I was also privileged to see him win at Anderson, Indiana, Slinger, WI, and The Milwaukee Mile.  I photographed him almost win his first NASCAR Cup race in Bristol, Tennessee, as he came up a few feet short to Davey Allison.  At 53 mark continues to show how to do it with class today.

Forgive me for not remembering the years of these next two meetings.

Jeff Gordon was the youngest star to ever make a name for himself when he strapped into a WoO sprint car ar 12 years of age.  Much of my first views of a young Gordon were on tv on ESPN's Thursday and Saturday Night Thunder.  Mainly USAC Midgets on the pavement at locations like Indy Raceway Park, Wincester Indiana etc.  I beleive he was 16 (I'm not sure) when he showed up for the USAC/Badger co-sanctioned Pepsi Nationals in Sun Prairie, WI one warm Sunday night.  He had just raced on tv the night before at IRP.  He was taking hot laps in his dirt track midget when he "hooked a rut" and took a violent series of flips. The tough kid walked away but his car was mangled.  His team decided to begin the process of turning his Sat. Night Thunder pavement car into a dirt car.  They needed to remove the car's asphalt aero body work, change gearing, shocks and springs. There would be no time for qualifying or competing in heat races.  They got his car "dirt ready" just in time to tag on in the back of the C Main.  From last to first it was, and on the the B Main.  From last to first it was and on the the main event.  Well he only made it to second in the feature event. Still pretty good for a kid. He made a lot of heart stopping moves on that night, but always knew when to ease up.  No more crashes after that nasty rut during hot laps.

I must admit that prior to my first time seeing Tony Stewart in action I had not heard of him.  I learned later that he was another kid making a name for himself but I had not been following USAC's Midget, Sprint Car or Silvercrown divisions that season.  The USAC 100 lap Midget race held on the Friday evening before the June Milwaukee Mile Indy (CART) race had just been reinstated at the 1/3rd mile dirt Hales Corners, WI Speedway.  100 laps on this track was like 500 laps on an asphalt track.  The track was usually hard slick and "bullet proof" before the feature started. 80 laps into the feature I still had not heard of Tony Stewart.  He quietly remained on the lead lap as one car after the other crashed out.  He was in fifth place. It was time for tough Tony to move.  One by one he eliminated the competition and took the lead with 3 or 4 laps left.  Once again I watched a young driver who would go on to become a legend, drive like a veteran.  I went on the cover Tony in races in the USAC Silvercrown series and NASCAR's Nationwide series before he moved on the the Sprint Cup series.  I never had the opportunity to cover an Indy Car (IRL) race when Tony was competing.  He is arguably the hottest driver currently racing in any major series.

I have also have been lucky enough to cover events when Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell were youngsters. 

The most exciting part of all of those years of racing photography was seeing young drivers at the beginning of their careers.  I always wondered if that one would be the next star, and was amazed at just how often it turned out that they were.

I will finish with a few pictures (again) of cars at local short tracks between 2003 and 2006.

Dirt late Models...Hales Corner Speedway, WI

IMCA Modified...Wilmot Speedway, WI

NASCAR North Division Regional Race...Lake Geneva Raceway, WI

Current NASCAR Truck Series competitor and third generation driver Eric Darnell

Second generation driver, Eddie Hoffman

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Hales Corners (1/3rd mile dirt) and Lake Geneva (1/3rd mile asphalt) are tracks that no longer exist.  Wilmot Speedway is another 1/3rd mile dirt and is still in operation.

Please join us on a regular basis for more talk about the sport of auto racing.  Non-profane comments and opinions are always welcome.