AdSense

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Can someone please pass the salt???

Does anyone have some salt I can use? I need it for the big plate of crow that I'm about to eat. Last November I penned this article http://boogermac.blogspot.com/2013/11/lance-dewease-is-new-driver-of-dietz-14.html and now its time for me to admit I was wrong, way wrong.

This past Saturday night at Williams Grove Speedway Lance Dewease not only took home the Summer Nationals against the best in the business the World Of Outlaws, scoring the $20,000 first prize check, winning his 3rd race of the season, scoring his 300th career feature win, he did it in a car I said he was going to need a lot of luck in just finishing races in. BOY WAS I WRONG.

Lance has shown me that not only is he one of the best drivers in our area, but he is one of the best drivers in the country. Now when I wrote the article back in November Lance was coming off one of his worst season ever in a sprint car, winning just 2 features in 2013 in one of the best cars in Central PA , the Heffner 27. But history should have shown me that you can never count out a driver like Lance Dewease. A sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer. After Lance and the 27 team did not  click last season, Lance decided to try his luck with a team that had not had much success in the Dietz 14 car. Lance has struggled at times in the 14 car, and that was to be expected when jumping into a new ride with a new team, but not only has Lance proven he is still capable of winning races, 1 at Susquehanna Speedway (which was the 1st win for the race team) he backed that up 2 weeks ago with his 2nd win of the season at Lincoln Speedway. Those win while not a surprise as he is Lance Freaking Dewease, the team has struggled big time on the big half miles. Lance was a DNQ at Port during Speed Week. Which leads us to this past weekends WOO invasion. Thursday night at Lincoln Lance was a DNQ at the track which had won at just 5 days earlier. Friday night Lance put it in the show but could only manage a 16th place finish. Not a bad finish when your racing against the best in the country, but this is Lance Dewease. You know the guy who has won 9 career features at Williams Grove Speedway against the Outlaws, with 3 of those wins coming in the National Open. Saturday night Lance showed that he still has what it takes to win at the Grove and proved all the naysayers wrong and made sure we would all be asking the same thing this week....Please pass the salt.
Saturday night proved that all it takes is the right driver at the right time, in the right car, to make any team a winner. I should have known from the start Lance Dewease was that driver, hell we all should have. Never again will I ever question Lance or the Dietz team. Lance has earned that with his HoF career, and the Dietz team has earned it by becoming one of the best teams in Central PA.

Congratulations to everyone involved with the Dietz 14 team. You guys and Gals deserve it.

Now does anyone have any A1 I could use? This Crow sort of taste like steak.





Saturday, July 19, 2014

Fast start for Hoff in first 410 ride

 Hoff at Lincoln Speedway last Saturday. Photo courtesy of Barry Skelly & Allan Yeager Photography.


After a two-year stretch running a 358 sprint car, Shane Hoff, 18, of New Oxford, PA has moved up to the 410 sprint division and if last Saturday’s Icebreaker 30 was any indication, he’ll be a rookie to keep an eye on.
Hoff led five out of the 10 laps in his qualifying heat race and managed to not only make the feature, which he said was his goal for the day, but also to make the top 10 board, crossing under the checkers tenth.
Hoff began racing go-karts at Hunterstown and Shippensburg speedways when he was 11-years-old. After picking up 28 total kart wins, he then graduated to the 270cc micro sprints, where he ran for a year-and-a-half. The next year-and-a-half he spent racing a 600cc micro sprint and claimed four wins. The past two years, Hoff has been racing a 358 sprint car at Trail-way and Lincoln speedways. He has accrued three total wins in the division and said that it just seemed like the right time to move up to the next division.
Hoff’s car is owned by his parents, Tracey and Tammy Hoff, along with his uncle. He also receives help from his sponsors, Granite Hill Camping Resort and Color Wheel Decorating Center. “We also get help on the car from family friends, Eric Tomecek, Cris Eash, Cory Groft, and Scotty Myers,” Hoff said.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

A few words of wisdom from my Grandfather

Standings ta work tonight I go to thinking about the 2 most important things my grandfather William A. McIntyre Sr. has ever told me.
1. You have to pay to play, which he told me while I was pissed off I had no money for gas after I drove around town for 3 days doing nothing but driving around wasting gas.
and...
2. Opinions are like Assholes, everyone has one and they all stink.

Now think about that last one for a second. I'll give you a few seconds to let that sink in.....

Yes we all have opinions on just about everything and in this day and age of social media we can share them at any time no matter what we are doing. Those of you that follow me on twitter or are friends with me on Face Book know I share just about everything a man can share, but then again my life has always been an open book. Ive always lived with the thought that if you don't hide anything then no one can spread lies about you. For some reason that never stops people from trying.

Now getting back to opinions and social media. Those that follow me know I am one of if not the MOST opinionated person they will ever meet. Want to know how I feel about a race? Just ask me. Want to know how I feel about the Steelers ? Just ask. Hell ask me about music, movies, TV Shows, books anything and I'll share my thoughts on them. But Ive always been a guy who liked conversations good or bad. My wife hates talking to me about anything because she says I love to debate EVERYTHING.

Now on Twitter I have tried to keep my opinions from making personal attacks on drivers. Don't get me wrong, I will call a driver out for being an idiot and making a boneheaded move, or I will call my own cousin a moving billboard on occasion, but I always try and keep it to that. Only driver who I have not been able to do this with is Tyler Walker but that is a whole different story. I do the same for race tracks. There is a reason I can complain about Port Royals lack of wins from farther back then the 2nd row, and then show up at the track and have Mr. Oneal walk up to me and shake my hand, welcome me back to the track, and then ask me how me and my family have been. Its the same reason I can sit in the stands at Williams Grove and complain about how bad the racing was on a particular night and have Justin Loh walk up to me after the races and shake my hand and ask me " How the hell are ya Bill?" Its because I don't attack them or the track personally. Can some of you say the same thing? I doubt it.

Remember folks I am the ONLY "media" person that will give you my honest feelings on anything. I can promise you Jason Bly or Jeremy Elliot do not give you theirs. Wanna know why? They need to be liked by everyone so you all check their websites and listen to their podcast. Myself, I could care less to be honest. I dont play favorites and treat every driver, race team, race track, and media person the exact same way that I treat the next. I'm honest and that's all there is to it.  

Anyway the reason I decided to write this morning is because of everything I have read last night about one Mr. John Westbrook and his lawsuit against Williams Grove Speedway. Now I don't know the whole story as to why he is suing him, and I'm pretty sure non of you do either, but that hasn't stopped people from making personal attacks on the man for doing what he is doing. Why? Because he dares sue the most Historic race track on the east coast because HE thinks they are somehow negligent in his accident? I don't see how that really is anyone's business, yet I have seen him called everything from an asshole to nothing more then a greedy bastard.  Well I'm going to throw my opinion out there just like everyone else but I'm going to do it from another standpoint.

First off I'm going to start this by saying I Love John Westbrook. I think he is a great man who is an inspiration to not only people who have suffered the type of accident he did, but also to people like me, and here is why...If a man like John can wake up everyday with a smile on his face even though he may never walk again, how the hell can I sit and bitch because I cant do something? I had the pleasure of interviewing John not once but twice on Central PA Live a few years back and the very last thing John said to me was "I always wanted to be a stand up comedian, so I might give that a try". Think about that, here is a man who is confined to a wheel chair the rest of his life cracking jokes about being a STAND up comedian. That right there told me everything I ever needed to know about him.

Now as far as his lawsuit goes. Do I think it's right? NO, I think it should not have happened. The thing that bothers me the most is John says the track is unsafe and helped cause his injuries yet he continues to field a race car at the very same track that he is suing. That to me is just plain stupid.

Ive also read about how he thinks a catch fence should be installed in turns 1 & 2 instead of the sharp drop off that played a part in his injuries. I happen to agree with him and have said that for years. There is absolutely no reason the track cant put up a catch fence to try and keep the cars from going out over the guard rail. And don't give me that BS about a car hitting the fence and bouncing back into the path of another car. How many times have we ever seen that happen? Can't say I have ever seen that happen at Lincoln in either of the turns. I can remember Jeff Sheppard had his career ended by such a wreck at Knoxville but I didn't see anyone trying to tear the fence down after the wreck now did I?

Just remember folks, its all well and good to have an opinion, just try and keep it from being so damn personal all the time.

Oh and one last thing, to the people who think responding to me with "You should worry more about car counts at Trail Way" or "You just keep going to that shithole Trail Way" trying to upset me, let me fill you in on a secret....IT WON'T WORK .

Thanks for reading once again, please feel free to leave a comment on here (don't be a chicken shit and leave your real name), you can tweet me @BillMcIntyreIII or even email me at boogermac420@inbox.com. Until then have a great week folks, and I'll be sitting track side Thursday night to watch Stevie Smith kick Outlaw butt at Lincoln Speedway.

Later

Monday, July 07, 2014

Something positve for a change

Welcome back everyone  to another Central PA Racing Scene hosted by yours truly Bill McIntyre. This week I want to touch on something I think might get lost once in a while, while we are sitting in the stand, on twitter, or even a message board complaining about our local racing here in Central PA. More on that in a moment.

First off I want to wish Tyler Esh a very speedy recovery from a  Fractured vertebrae in his spine suffered Saturday in a sprint car crash at Lincoln Speedway. Tyler was the leading rookie in the Central PA 358 Point Series presented by Capitol Renegade and an incredible young man. Hope to see Tyler make a full recovery and get back in the seat very soon.

Congratulations to Lucas Wolf on picking up the Central PA 2014 Speed Week Championship last night at Selinsgrove Speedway. Many of you know that Lucas missed the Saturday nights race at Lincoln Speedway to be there for the birth of his first child a daughter named Vera. Congratulations Lucas on not only being crowned Speed Week Campion but more importantly, becoming a father for the first time.


This past weekend while many of you where sitting at the track watching the 410's race fpr the Speed Week Championship I spent my normal 2 nights of racing at Trail Way and Lincoln Speedway's watching the 358 Sprint Cars in action. Something happened and it reminded my why I love going to the races and its not just to watch the man and woman who race these fire breathing machines go around in circles. 

Its to be with my family and Friends.

Friday night I stood in the pits talking to "Big" Brad McClelland and his wife and while picking on Brad for not racing Saturday night what he told me his plans where made me remember why this sport is so great. Brad decided that it was more important to take his wife out for dinner on a rare Saturday night off from racing (For those that don't know, Brad is the crew chief for Steve Owings at Lincoln) then to go run the 6r machine. That is a man who has his priorities right. After watching the 25 lap 358 feature event I watched the family of Robbie Kendall all celebrate in VL as we always do at the track, and to see how close he is with his family really made me think about all the friends I have made in this area.

Back in 2009 I started the Central PA 358 Point Series and over the past 6 years I have made numerous friends in the pits of our area dirt tracks. From the 1* gang of Timmy Wagaman who I have shared many an after race beer with to guys like Rob and Derek Sell who moved from Arizona to race sprint cars. Sitting here I can remember a young punk named Danny Dietrich running around the pits trying to learn how to drive a 358 sprint car at Trail Way Speedway while his brother Bill was cleaning up and running with Jeff Rohrbaugh. All of whom I am now proud to call my friends.

Being there and seeing some young kid roll into the pit area in the famous Bobby Allen hauler and walking over and getting my first glimpse of A future World of Outlaws driver in Logan Schuchart and a year later his Uncle Jacob Allen. Walking through the pits opening night and seeing some skinny kid and his family unload the ugliest green car I had ever seen, and take that car and park it in Victory Lane his 3rd night out. Now that kid and his family are not only the defending 2013 Central PA 358 Point Series Champions they also have won their 1st 410 race this season. That family is the Hogue Family, and that skinny kid is non other then Austin Hogue. I owe so much to that family. Their cousin  Catherine was instrumental in helping me get the sponsorship from Capitol Renegade and I owe her so much for that. I can't say I have ever met a nicer family in a sprint car pit area.

Saturday night I was reminded once again about Family and and friends. First off Saturday night was the night I was set to give out the 2014 CPA358PS Most Popular Driver trophy to Ashley Cappetta. I knew how hard Ashley worked to win that trophy and to see the smile on not only her face but her mothers as well when I walked onto the track with it made me once again glad to be just a small part of this great sport.

But the biggest highlight for me and something that might be hard to ever top happened after the awesome 25 lap 358 feature event. Doug Hammaker the son of "The Godfather" Dale Hammaker won his first career 358 feature event. I have been lucky to be friends with the family for a few years, Dale and myself are cut from the same cloth in more ways then 1, and like always I walked to victory lane to congratulate Doug like I do every driver that wins a 358 feature event, but while I was there I spotted Dale behind the car , and I cant say I have ever seen that man as happy as he was at that very moment. Dale walked over, grabbed me in a huge bear hug and with tears of joy filling his eyes he gave me a big smooch on the cheek and said "We finally did it". That right there is why I do what I do for that division. To crown the night off right Jason Loss and myself took it upon ourselves to make sure Doug would always remember his first sprint car win....

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=654327114666395&set=p.654327114666395&type=2&theater&notif_t=like

Now that is why I love this sport so damn much. It's the friends and families in the pits and the friends and family's in the stands I have made over the years that mean the most to me. This sport is not all about a bunch of cars going in circles, its about the people we share our lives with each week at Trail Way, Williams Grove, Lincoln, Port Royal, Selinsgrove or any other race track in this great country of ours.

With that I want to wish everyone a great week and thanks again for checking out my site. Don't forget you can leave a comment here (please leave your name don't be a damn chicken), you can tweet me  @BillMcIntyreIII or hit me up by email at boogermac420@inbox.com. Thanks for playing along, and I hope to see all of my friends back at the track very soon.

Bill McIntyre III