“Behind the Checkered Curtain”
March 3, 2004
By Mike Leone

I wasn’t intending on doing another column so soon, but random thoughts from a mild February weekend in central Pa. possessed me.

Hearing Wayne Harper at Lincoln and Bruce Ellis at The Grove makes you feel at home at those two tracks. Somehow it just wouldn’t be right not hearing their voices come across the p.a. systems. Nothing against Bill Meyer, who does a great a job at Lincoln, but even hearing him call the thundercar action is a little strange.

Fred Rahmer’s quote that “Only in south central Pa. can you see kids playing in a snow bank at a sprint car race” epitomizes us diehard Pennsylvania sprint car fans. Rahmer is announcer and writer’s dream with always captivating quotes. I’ve yet to see any driver as entertaining on the mic.

Greg Hodnett is one of the classiest and most intelligent sprint car drivers in the land. He speaks eloquently and always gives an excellent interview. If there was an ambassador for sprint car racing, Hodnett would definitely be the man. I think the evidence is clear when you win over the hardcore central Pa. fans even though you call Memphis, Tennessee home. You never hear a boo from the crowd when he’s introduced or in victory lane. Hodnett seems to be quite content at his place in racing and the PA Posse is happy to have Hodnett on their team.

Probably the biggest story and talk is Keith Kauffman and his induction into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum in Knoxville, Iowa. The problem is Kauffman is still active and the induction ceremony is in June while racing of course is still going on. Everyone has an opinion on the matter. Keith said in an interview Sunday that he is going to do everything in his power to be there. Car owner Dave Middleswarth isn’t thrilled about giving up a night of racing and a possible championship at Port Royal. Some have suggested The Port should not award points that night, but is that really fair to the other drivers?

I have to agree with Kevin Eckert who wrote, “The fact that Kauffman will likely maintain points at Port Royal rather than accept his Hall of Fame plaque in person is precisely why those still in the business of creating history should not get inducted ahead of those who are fading further from memory.” Can you imagine this happening in professional sports?

In the meantime, Kauffman has gotten off to a terrible start in ‘04. Opening day at Lincoln saw “The Man from Mifflintown” get upside down by no fault of his own. Saturday at Lincoln Kauffman may have had the fastest car. He had a ½-lap lead in his heat only to be unable to avoid the spinning duo of Brian Leppo and Sam Schulsberg. In the feature, he charged from his 18th starting spot to a 7th place finish. Then on Sunday, Kauffman got upside down on the opening lap of the feature for the second time in three races.

Another driver off to a miserable start is Lance Dewease. After a lackluster Florida Speedweeks, Dewease has had little success back home in the Keystone State. Opening day at Lincoln saw Dewease yield his pole position as a DNS with driveline problems. Dewease drew the highest pill for his heat forcing him to start on the tail of his heat Saturday at Lincoln. An eighth place finish forced the Hamilton #77 to lineup 15th in the feature and the Fayetteville driver was only able to advance two spots for a disappointing 13th. On Sunday, Dewease changed motors after hot laps and another bad pill draw put him on the tail of his heat again. More mechanical woes in his heat caused a DNF for the defending track champion and a spot in the B main, which he won and lined him up 19th in the feature. At the end of 25 laps, Dewease advanced up to fifth place at the checkered. I wonder how much the team misses Moon Byers?

Byers is turning the wrenches for the #22 of Darren Eash, the older brother to Grove winner, Cris Eash. Byers has been unable to spark Darren who has recorded a 17th and a 16th at Lincoln and only a 13th at The Grove.

Brian Leppo and Brian Montieth haven’t become fan or driver favorites after two weeks of racing at Lincoln. The two have been involved in numerous accidents and have resulted in the casualties of many other fellow competitors.

When Wayne Harper asked Brook Weibley during his pill draw Saturday at Lincoln what happened last week referring to his all by himself after the red flag flip, Weibley responded, “I’d tell you, but it would take too long.”

Bruce Ellis asked Todd Shaffer during his pill draw Sunday if he was glad to be here. Shaffer responded, “Yeah we’re happy to be here. They paid my medical bills so now I can go out and race.”

I got to thinking how nice it was be able to see the entire track at both Lincoln and The Grove. Up until last year, the cars at Lincoln pitted in the infield until the trucks and trailers continued to grow each year like trees. The Grove kept everyone parked outside the speedway due to the wet infield. That was the first I had ever been to The Grove and could see the entire backstretch. Of course I still heard someone complaining. This guy in front of me complained about everything under the sun. Then again, I think some people like to go to the races just to bitch.

How rare was it to see Rahmer, Dewease, and Shaffer all undergo engine changes at relatively the same time? Rahmer attributed the three’s sucked valves to the air and track conditions which leaned the motors out.

Josh Wells led the first eight laps at Lincoln in search of his first career win before fading to sixth at the finish. Wells was the highest finishing driver at Lincoln that skipped The Grove’s opener. Eric Stambaugh, Brian Leppo, Sam Schlusberg, Bobby Weaver, Billy Dietrich, Aaron Long, Brian Montieth, and Jim Siegel were the others. Meanwhile at The Grove, Todd Hestor, Chad Layton, Mike Erdley, Len Thompson, Ron Kramer, Lucas Wolfe, Kevin Schaeffer, Daryl Becker, Rick Lafferty, and Wade Hendrickson were the 10 that opted to skip the first two weeks of Lincoln racing. Kevin Drury was the lone driver in the opening day 20-car field that was MIA on the second weekend of action.

Hendrickson was leading the meaningless B main on Sunday until he smacked the turn three wall. The New Jersey modified star joins Lafferty as the track’s two Garden State regulars. After Blaine Heimbach pulled off the track on the pace lap, just six cars remained all of which transferred to the feature. Though The Grove cut the distance from 10 laps down to 5, I question the need to run such an event. Yes it does set the lineup for positions 19-24, but the heat races do that any other time when there are 24 cars or less. I just hate to have cars possibly get tore up and put wear and tear on a car for nothing. Hendrickson is the perfect example. Had Heimbach scratched prior to the B main, the event would not have taken to the track.

The somewhat low car counts of 20 and 23 at Lincoln and 25 at The Grove aren’t as surprising to me as they are to others. What surprised me this past weekend was the fact that Ohio’s Jim Nier and western Pa’s Kevin Schaeffer were the only two out-of-towners to make an appearance on a warm and clear weekend. And Schaeffer isn’t a real invader as he has called Port Royal home the last two years. In years past when such a weekend was forecasted, several Ohio/Indiana/western Pa. drivers would come east to play.

When you think that other than the WoO race in California, there weren’t any other sprint car racing taking place in the nation. I’ve been to The Grove before for early season shows when they haven’t even had 20 cars. Looking at last year’s top 20 driver points from The Grove shows only Sean Michael and Jason Hagenbuch missing from competition. Lincoln on the other hand in the first two weeks has missed 12 of its top 25 from 2003.

I miss guys like Steve Siegel, Jesse Wentz, Todd Gracey, Dan Dietrich, Dave Haight, Bobby Fletcher, Jeff Rohrbaugh, Danny Jones, and Chuck Reinert, who were all former Lincoln 410 regulars. It just seems like something is missing without the Tanger #07 and the Cooper #25.

Not too many tracks can boast their top four all-time winners are still active at their speedway. That’s the case at The Grove. The top four reads Dewease 57, Rahmer 54, Kreitz 49, Kauffman 47. The next active driver is Steve Kinser, who is tied for eighth with Bobby Allen, with an amazing 36 wins at a track he never ran at regularly. Todd Shaffer is in the next active driver in 11th with 30 scores. Coming in 14th is Sunday’s winner, Greg Hodnett, who clicked off win #23.

Watching Doug Esh the first two weeks shows you why he’s appropriately labeled “The Hammer”. Esh was always exciting to watch in the 358s. Esh won three times at Lincoln in 2003 and is going to win some races in 2004. He’s off to a good start with a pair of thirds at Lincoln and a seventh at The Grove.

There wasn’t one open trailer Saturday or Sunday, but does that really surprise you?

Tom Schmeh tells me mall shows are “an eastern thing”. Seems like just about every track in Pa. holds one or two. Killing time Saturday evening after the races at Lincoln, I headed to the Camp Hill Mall only to find race trailers and the Silver Springs car show taking place. The Springs is located just minutes down busy Carlisle Pike in nearby Mechanicsburg.

I picked up a copy of Allan Brown’s 19th annual National Sprint Car Annual. This is probably the only yearbook-type book that hasn’t increased in price since debuting at $5 in 1986 reviewing the 1985 season. Its format and content has changed little over the years except for the expanding listing of every sprint car driver’s hometown. By the way, I’m missing only the editions that review the 1986 and 1991 seasons. If anyone has these and would like to get rid of them let me know.

Why does Trackside magazine have so much trouble getting their periodical out in a timely manner? The last issue I received was dated November 2003 and it didn’t come all that long ago! This has always been a continuing problem.

Lost in all the WoO vs. Xtreme Late Model hoopla is the former Renegade/STARS Series, which was renamed Northern Xtreme Dirtcar Series. As of March 3, they have yet to post a schedule and haven’t released any info.

Liberals fear George W. Bush more than they do Saddam Hussein. They know that Bush is more of a threat to their so-called personal freedoms and his talk of God and faith threatens them more than any evil Saddam-type could ever posses. You think about that. Deleting e-mails that promise to increase anatomy parts at mleone@infonline.net.

- posted by Deon @ 1:43 AM