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Practice got in before the rain came
It was a cold and very windy day up on the hill where the high banks of Woodhull Raceway rest in Woodhull, NY. With a horrible looking forecast I was a bit worried about car counts and also if practice would get underway. When I arrived at the track, there were about three haulers in line waiting for the pit gates to open. I was excited and didn’t see many cars in the parking lot, but then again I was about one and half hours early. I parked my car next to the pit shack and immediately I saw Vern Wasson walking up to the door, and I thought, perfect timing! I went on over and yep you guessed it, Vern was going to open up the track and work the pit booth. I didn’t expect that he would be doing it, but then again he is still learning the ropes so to speak on running Woodhull Raceway.
Vern told me, “I’m still learning everything there is to do here; I figure if I can do every job, that if someone is not here I can fill in rather quickly.”
I asked Vern what he thought about how the practice session went and his comments on the day.
“I was fairly happy with tonight, but we were down on cars, the cold weather definitely played a part in that. I wasn’t impressed with my track in turns one and two, with the new clay (we put in over a foot of clay), we will get it dug up this week and get it a lot smoother like it normally is.”
I was able to get behind the scenes and see how everything works up in the tower and at the pit shack and also got to see how the place runs. It was really neat to be in the tower with the announcers Kenny Shupp and Morgan Colegrove, and see how they do things first hand. I’m sure on a regular race night their duties are a bit more stressed and busy. Kenny does a lot for the race track, and you can see that his love of racing is still in his blood and always will be. I’m not sure, but there wasn’t a moment that Kenny took a break; he was all over the place making sure all the things went smoothly. He is also doing the Woodhull Raceway Report for the racetrack, an audio broadcast to review the night’s action, and also anything and everything about the activities surrounding the racetrack. If you’re on the internet, be sure to check out the report right on Woodhulls website (http://www.woodhullraceway.com), it has all the news you want to hear. I had a great time meeting new people and look forward to more weeks to come to get to know the racers and staff more closely. It takes quite a few people to keep the racetrack going, the staff is very friendly, and it’s good that everyone can get the job done. I asked Vern how does he keep everyone in order here at the track?
Vern mentions, “I have got a lot of good people here, and actually I don’t have to keep anyone in order, they kind of keep me in order more than anything. From top to bottom we have a pretty good crew here. Actually tonight, we were running with about half of the crew. I am just happy to get through and get the first night under your belt. It does help cure a long winter.”
The practice session would get underway a little bit earlier as to give the teams as much time as they can to get on the track. The weather wasn’t looking too good, and throughout the whole night, sprinkles were falling. The first car out on the track was no. 87 crate sportsman of Scott Brown out of Tioga; P.A. Scott will be running the entire schedule at Woodhull this year. It was about 4:45 when the cars started to get on the track. I tell you, I was excited to see these modifieds get up to speed and kick up some dirt!
Sail Panels and more sail panels…. New this year is the Sail panels for the 358 modifieds, which helps distinguish the difference between the 358 modifieds and the crate sportsman. I think the modifieds that have the sail panels on are unique and give the driver room to put sponsors on there. I don’t think in all the time I have been going to Woodhull that I seen a car with sail panels, so this year will be interesting to see who puts them on. It is optional and not mandatory to have them, it seems they might make you go faster or at least give you more grip.
I was talking with Carl Guild; co-owner of the no. 06 358 modified with his son Tim Guild being the driver. Tim figures, “if they (sail panels helps you go faster then we have to have them.” Tim will be racing mainly at Woodhull and will be getting in some races at Black Rock Speedway and Redline Raceway.
There was a familiar numbered modified there in the pits, the no. 9 cat of Tony Harris. He will be running at Redline Raceway for the full season and might get to a few shows at Woodhull.
After running a few laps, the no. 23 crate sportsman of Cale Paul went to the pits with what looked like a broken shock tower (left front). I walked on over to see how much damage was done and he already had it together. What had happened was the mount at the top of the shock tower fell off, Cale told me (jokingly), “that was a just a lack of maintenance.” He would get back out and do some more practice laps.
The no. 1g of Art Goodier was in a new ride, as he was the mini stock Champion of last year. However, this year he has moved out of the full fendered class and into an open wheel crate sportsman. I asked him how much difference there was in racing something with a ton more horsepower than the mini stock, Art said, “wow, everything is different, just everything.”
A familiar face that you would normally see wheeling the Z8 car (358 modified) was in the pits, but not racing. That person is none other than Steve Hartman Sr. . I asked Steve where his car was at and if he would be racing this year,
“I just taking a break from racing and I still have the car; I might get it out when I feel ambitious enough to do so.”
There was a red modified with sail panels on it supporting the no. 169, I got to thinking that this car I seen before. The car is driven by none other than Josh Pursell who used to run at Thunder Mountain speedway, and with them dropping the modifieds, Josh will be running at Woodhull full-time in 2008. He also will be running at Redline Raceway on Friday nights. There might be some more thunder mountain drivers coming up to race, but only time will tell when the opener for the 358 Modifieds on May 6th.
I also had the chance to talk to a few of the super stock drivers, or shall I say BRP 360 Late Models. Glenn Whritenour who wheels the no. 15 was busy working on his car and getting hands on doing some of the work himself with help from crewmembers. I asked him if he had any goals for the season and the only response I got was, “we don’t come here to lose.” Glenn is definitely going for the championship this year.
Mike Smith out of Arkport, N.Y. is behind the wheel again, but this time it isn’t in the same type of car he is used to. He was running an IMCA type modified for quite some time with the no. 96. Now he is behind the wheel of the no. 1*, 360 Late Model owned by Charlie McGregor.
Mike told me, “Whatever Cucky (Charlie) wants to do, and where ever he wants me to race, I will be there.” Charlie mentions to me that they most likely will hit all the shows at Woodhull and try to stay close to home, and depending on how the season goes, will try to hit most of the BRP 360 Late Model shows.
“There are two shows up in Canada and that is a long ways to drive but it depends on how the early season goes, I’m not sure we will go to those shows just yet,” Charlie pointed out to me while chatting in the pits.
Wayne Robertson was also in the pit who is the returning 2007 Champion in the Super Stock class. I did not get to see him to get an interview; he did however win the Family in Racing award from the Arnot mall Car show. I’m sure most of the competitors will be chasing him all year.
I talked with 5th place point’s finisher last year in the Street Stocks, Zach Sutton, racing the no. ZJ5. Zack told me, “I’m just having fun here, I want to finish good in points this year; but mainly I’m just having fun and if I was to quit racing, I’d still be here no matter what; this racetrack is all family oriented and I love it!”
I went over towards the pit exit and a few mini stocks were sitting there and had a chance to talk with Ed Mills, who had an interesting nickname on the front visor of his car. “Risingville Rocket”, he told me that Kenny Shupp gave him the nickname back when he started racing. He had a mini stock, raced at both Woodhull and Black Rock, and was awarded rookie of the year at each track.
Rick McDaniels was also next to him running the no.26 mini stock this year and with him being local driver from Arkport, (where I’m from), I had to go over and say hi. He brings the whole family with him and definitely having fun racing. His father in law Dennis Ellis actually owns a car this year, which will be numbered with 7b, with driver Wally Wade behind the wheel.
The returning champion in the Front Wheel Drive enduro class was also there to get his car tuned in. Ron Dailey Jr. was looking under his hood when I went over to talk to him and I heard some devastating news. He had just put a new clutch in the car and when he came off the track he lost the clutch.
“I tweaked the suspension like the others have been doing over the off season and now my clutch is all screwed up, but I’ll get it figured out and get it going again.” Charlie is going for the championship again this year, he wants to hold the crown again.
Bill Clark of Woodhull, N.Y. won the street stock that was being raffled off for the benefit to the Crooker family who lost their house and belongings in a house fire back in December.
Alan Crooker had this to say when I asked him how well this raffle has gone,
“I just have to thank ST Coots and also Coots concrete and everyone else that has helped us out, every little bit counts. We currently have some flooring, to finish up along with the deck and some new trim (around the house). Thanks everyone!”
On another note, one car that was there was the IMCA modified of Sean Lias, who brought his car down to shake it down so to speak. It was impressive seeing him lift the left front wheel off the ground coming off the corners and almost the length of the straightaway.
I have watched more races at Woodhull raceway that at any other racetrack anywhere. I have plans to attend Woodhull in 2008 on more of a regular basis, as my main goal is to get back to my local roots.
My overall view on the night of practice at Woodhull was just fantastic, it wasn’t racing but it was the next best thing. It was neat to see Vern Wasson getting right into the action at the track. As I said earlier, he was running the pit sign in booth, among many other things. He was standing down in turns one and two with flags in his hand, as the lower part of the track was a bit “mushy”, he wanted to make sure it was going to be okay. At another part in the night, he was in turn four flagging and then behind the wheel of a packer truck. I got back over to the tower and noticed that he now was on the flag stand being the head flagman. What a class act, this person is running a racetrack and it shows he isn’t there to get rich doing so and isn’t there just for himself. He is there to put on a good show for the fans and will listen to any drivers/fans/car owners concerns about the speedway. In my book, that right there deserves a trip to the track if you haven’t ever been to Woodhull Raceway. Until next time, Check out my articles right here on Dirt Track Digest and be sure to shoot me an email if you want me to get news/interviews or whatever to tomames@dirttrackdigest.com
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