Forum Activity for @dave-fulton

Many have heard me say here before that to this date, the best major league race I've ever seen was one I attended at Beltsville, Maryland on June 15, 1966 when Tiny Lund beat James Hylton for his third career Grand National win.

The distance was 100 miles and the track was a half-mile. The race was run on Friday night under the lights and the stands were full.

Of course, there was no television. If that race had been televised, they'd have had to at least double the seating capacity at Greenville, SC for the next race and I'm sure the TV audience would have doubled.

It wasn't the Cup series, but I think NASCAR/ISC let a really good thing slip away when the made for television "off season" Winter Heat Series from Tucson, AZ was cancelled.

Chase, I don't disagree with one single point you make and concur with most.

I should have added that many of us at this site are old enough to remember when we DID have weeknight races. It was called Grand National, pre-Winston.

Brad would have loved the 1964 schedule. He could have have raced weeknights and weekends in the same week.

For instance, check this week in April 1964:

April 11 - Weaverville

April 12 - Hillsboro

April 14 - Spartanburg

April 16 - Columbia

April 19 - North Wilkesboro

Wonder how Danica or some other of today's "Tiny Tims" would have fared that week with no wave around, no lucky dog and no power steering?

For all those screaming for NASCAR to leave Saturday night to the weekly tracks, here's an option. Personally, I'd expect better television ratings, but even more empty seats at the track. But, you've got to keep the TV networks happy so they'll continue to shell out the kind of bucks that let a back marker driver like David Gilliland own a $5 Million Lake Norman Estate.

Also, it's pretty scary when you have Brad Keselowski and Darrell Waltrip agreeing on something. I really don't like the idea of running all the races in a region one behind the other or all the short tracks together or all the superspeedways together. Part of the vast appeal that grew NASCAR was watching a driver on a big track one weekend and on a half-mile the next.

When you put all the races in a region close together, you get dying attendance such as was experienced at Rockingham and Darlington competing near Charlotte's dates. I do agree, of course, with the concept of returning Darlington's Southern 500 to Labor Day weekend.

Having worked at a track for a decade promoting Cup and Nationwide and Truck and Modified and Late Model Stock Car events, I can assure you there's a lot more to successful scheduling than Darrell Waltrip or "Wreck 'em Brad" could ever conceive.

Are you ready for some Monday Night NASCAR?
May 8, 2014
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star

Tinkering with the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule is underway.

While Kansas Speedways swap of dates with Darlington Raceway for Saturday nights Sprint Cup race was the only switch on the 2014 calendar, NASCAR might be making significant changes next year.

With new television partners NBC and NBC Sports coming on board for the second half of the season for the next 10 years, Monday Night Racing may be one of the new wrinkles, depending if a track is interested in making such a move.

Stronger than expected television ratings when the rain-delayed 2012 Daytona 500 was pushed into a Monday night could be an impetus for prime-time racing on either Fox or NBC.

I wouldnt necessarily be opposed to do one here, Kansas Speedway president Pat Warren said of a Monday night race, particularly in June or July. That would be a television-driven issue.

NASCAR expects to receive requests for schedule changes from tracks over the next few weeks and will see if it can make changes for a track such as Kansas, which was able to move its April date to early May for its first night Sprint Cup race with the hope of eventually moving to June or July.

Everybody would love that June, July summer date. Unfortunately were not able to deliver 36 of those, said Steve ODonnell, NASCAR executive vice president/racing operations. We do our best to really manage all expectations with tracks, particularly with Kansas.

We were well aware a night race was in high demand. We werent able to get them all the way to where they wanted to be in terms of June or July, but with some working through (International Speedway Corp., which also owns Darlington) we were able to get them that night race. As we go forward, well look to continue to see if we can do to get further in the summer window.

The 5-hour Energy 400 will be the first Saturday Sprint Cup event at Kansas Speedway since it opened in 2001 and the third springtime race since the facility was awarded a second Cup date in 2011. Warren is aware moving to a Monday night would cause problems for fans who travel great distances for a weekend race when they are off work.

Fans from 49 states (all but Rhode Island) and eight foreign countries Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Croatia, Germany, Mexico, Zealand and Switzerland have tickets for this weekend.

If you race on a weeknight, its hard for people to come from out of state, Warren said. It becomes a more Kansas City-based event, which isnt necessarily a bad thing but creates different marketing challenges.

There is also something to be said for establishing equity in a race date, such as the fall race at Kansas Speedway, which has been held on the final weekend of September or early October since the track opened.

Fans make plans well in advance and travel long ways to our races, ODonnell said. If Kansas remains on Mothers Day, and it works, thats something fans will put on their calendars. If we change that every single year, it becomes a challenge.

What we want to do, especially with the new TV partners coming in, is take a real hard look at the schedule. If there are some opportunities that work for everyone, this would be a great year to put things into play. When you look at Kansas this weekend, well look at what the fans think of being there at night.

If there are some dates that make sense for the fans and are a win-win for the tracks making those requests, I think youll see us make that move.

Scheduling issues have been bubbling for a while. Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup champion, recently made a detailed proposal a Dream Schedule on his blog, calling for radical changes.

It included grouping together the West Coast races California, Phoenix and Sonoma; scheduling midweek races to create doubleheaders with nearby weekend races; moving the All-Star Race to the penultimate weekend; and shifting the season finale from Homestead-Miami to Las Vegas.

Why is the schedule so sacred? Keselowski wondered. Everything else has been cut, changed, chopped, and rebuilt. Why not that?

We all agree we could do better, but nobody knows what are all the logistical issues, why the schedule is what it is, so its not really fair to criticize it because no one really understands it.

Hall of Famer and three-time Sprint Cup champion Darrell Waltrip agrees with Keselowskis grouping of tracks, saying he would like to see a series of West Coast races, short-track races and 1.5-mile track races.

Ive been saying for a long time that NASCAR should quit focusing on changing rules for the cars, and look at something that really needs to be done, and the schedule is in dire need of revamping, Waltrip said. Its hodgepodge. They cant just move one race around and call it a new schedule.

Put the Southern 500 back at Darlington on Labor Day where it belongs.

Waltrips partner in the Fox booth, former crew chief Larry McReynolds, would like to see NASCAR experiment with a midweek, night race in Bristol, Tenn.

Move it from the middle of March to when we know well have better weather, McReynolds said. Weve been trying to race there in March, and it just doesnt work. Even if the forecast is good, there are still no butts in the seats. We go back there in August and have a great crowd. Put it in late spring or early summer.

Keselowski doesnt buy the argument that midweek races would be tough sells for tracks.

If we have great racing that you cant miss, theyll still come, Keselowski said. A million people went to Woodstock. They still played during the middle of the week, didnt they?

If its a cant-miss event, people will come.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/08/5011201/are-you-ready-for-some-monday.html#storylink=cpy

Wait... I think that's actually Bruce Jenner.

and roller skated!

An additional note from Frank regarding Latimore Valley Fairgrounds and the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing :

Might let the folks know that the Latimore
Valley Fair is June 27-29 (and I'll be involved, although that's
hardly the reason they should come) with tons of antique race cars,
and track time (cruising, not racing) on Saturday. PLUS, the restored
fairgrounds track is within half an hour of Williams Grove, Lincoln,
Susquehanna and Trail-Way Speedways, so there's lots of racing to see
if you want to do an overnight or two. See www.emmr.org for details of
the fair and the various track websites for what they're doing. The
museum itself is a must-see, too.

www.emmr.org

The 3/8th mile banked clay Silver Spring Speedway oval off Carlisle Pike near Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania once staged exciting stock car and sprint car races. I was fortunate back in the early 90s to have my old friend, Frank Buhrman in Carroll Valley, Pennsylvania (near Gettsyburg) take me to back-to-back nights of racing at the fabled Williams Grove and Silver Spring ovals . While Williams Grove continues to operate, Silver Spring is now the site of a shopping center.

Fortunately, for the still living former competitors, families, officials and fans of Silver Spring Speedway , an annual reunion and fish fry in its memory is held at the Latimore Valley Fairgrounds in York Springs, Pennsylvania, home of the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing . Our RR members JAck Redd , Wally Bell and Ray Lamm are very familiar with this site.

Earlier this week, I got the e-mail below from friend, Frank notifying that the annual Silver Spring Speedway ghost track reunion and Gary Wolford Fish Fry had been staged this past Sunday. The reunion features a "BLINDFOLD" race!

  Went to the Gary Wolford Fish Fry and Silver Spring Speedway Reunion  Sunday at Latimore Valley. It was cold, and the blindfold race wasn't  quite as raucous as last year, but it was still great fun. I took some 
 pix of the auction for them (an autographed Chris Economaki book 
 brought over $200, and Wolford donated one of his own trophies, which 
 also created some spirited bidding. Once again the race winner was 
 disqualified - he removed his blindfold - and they tore up a little 
 bit of the track fence, but everybody seemed to love the whole thing. 
 Wish you could get to one of these.

 Attached some pix and have many more. You're welcome to share them 
 with the Racers Reunion folks if you think they'd like them.
  

Below is a photo of fish fry organizer, Gary Wolford competing at Silver Spring from the SHRED Racing.com site:

Photos below were taken by Frank of the BLINDFOLD race Sunday.

This morning's Charlotte Observer editorial page carried an interesting guest column from a local radio commentator contrasting Bruton Smith's crude attempts to get taxpayer funding for Charlotte Motor Speedway versus the smooth manner in which local NFL team owner Jerry Richardson has secured taxpayer funding for his Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

The columnist concludes that the taxpayers have been flogged by the smooth talking "uptown" brigade and Bruton just wanting his share is doing nothing the politically correct set hasn't already done.

Bruton not Charlottes only emperor with no clothes
By Keith Larson
Special to the Observer
Posted: Wednesday, May. 07, 2014

Thank God for Bruton Smith.

The owner of Charlotte Motor Speedway is always looking out for Number One. Whether you respect or revile him for that, this impish bully in a china shop has an uncanny ability at times to pull back the curtain from the usually well-choreographed puppet show that is Crony Capitalism in Charlotte. Classic case in point: one week ago.

The Emperor of Brutonia had summoned Gov. Pat McCrory to the speedway for the stated purpose of declaring May Motorsports Month. As always, the crafty Mr. Smith had something else in mind.

Now that Ive got you here, Bruton said wryly, winding up for his pitch, we only want to spend $100 million, OK? Downtown Charlotte is spending $88 million on something that was built a few years ago. I built this place in 1960. That was a while back.

Smith was hinting vaguely at capital improvements and not-so-vaguely at public funding. McCrory can demur with the deftness of Ronald Reagan. Bruton pressed on.

Do you want me to come and see you and talk to you, or do you want to do it right here?

I just came back from the prayer group breakfast, McCrory deflected, forcing a smile to camouflage his reflexive seething. Why dont we do it later.

There would be no later. Later wouldnt be needed.

Anyone present, or who saw the scene as captured by WBTV, knew precisely to what Smith referred: the $88.7 million Charlotte is shelling out to spiff up another sports moguls digs Jerry Richardsons Bank of America Stadium. Wheres mine, Bruton was asking, not so shyly.

McCrory said no to Richardsons request for state money and hell decline Smiths, too, which Bruton knows full well. Thats why there were no discreet meetings over funding for the speedway like there were for the stadium; no setting the table as for the Panthers. But Smith wasnt really out for money this time, knowing it wouldnt come. He was out to put McCrory on the spot and himself in the spotlight in that trademark Bruton Smith Way. Yet, while serving his own egotistical interests, Smith was also serving a public interest well, even if secondarily.

Charlottes Uptown Crowd, most local media, and a lot of fans, treat Mister Richardson as a benevolent tycoon deserving of everlasting homage for his decision to choose Charlotte as the place to reap his rewards as an NFL owner. Bruton Smith is seen as some Big Enos (or Little Enos?) Smokey and the Bandit-type titan. Truth is, theyre both simply businessmen willing to use taxpayer money as their own.

The Emperor of Brutonia stands bare before us, wearing his financial motives nakedly. As he does, he shouts loudly that the other, more refined Emperors of Uptown are equally without clothes when it comes to flogging taxpayers.

Keith Larson is the mid-morning host on WBT-AM (1110).

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/05/07/4894193/bruton-not-charlottes-only-emperor.html#storylink=cpy

Man, they sure did take names and kick hard at SantaFe. No prisoners.