https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/ CanadianRacingOnline.com Discussion Board en-US Sun, 03 May 2026 12:43:18 +0000 wpForo 60 https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/delaware-flam-grr-boards-down-and-gone/ Wed, 27 May 2009 16:09:22 +0000 So, as some of you may know, the powers that be over at the "unofficial" official Delaware boards at GRR online have told us that our boards will cease to exist within the next 5 days. That's pretty shabby to wait till the last minute to inform us.

If you are a GRR user and have net contact with other GRR users, please let them know they can come here until we get something else sorted out. (It is in the works)

I apologize to anyone I directed to GRR in my Delaware Program column. 

And, to make it even better, it looks like the GRR boards are down as of now.

They sure didn't leave us much tme did they?

>:(]]> Shadow's Page Shadowracer https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/delaware-flam-grr-boards-down-and-gone/ https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/shadow-report-may-22-otools-rent-or-buy-night-w-pic-link/ Sat, 23 May 2009 02:15:09 +0000 Pic Links Added Courtesy of JWO Racing.


Howdy all!

Well ring the bells and bang the drums...we actually got a full night's racing in tonight, with nary a raindrop in sight.

Now, this won't be my usual report. Sometimes life happens, and as a result I didn't make it out until past the halfway point in the race. That's the bad news. The good news is I had my lovely 9 yr old assistant reporter with me helping out. (Thanks Em!) Now she's never been to a race before, and we walked in halfway through the second truck feature. We walked the the edge of the hill and looked down at the speedway, all lit up, as the pack of trucks came screaming down the fronstretch. Em's jaw dropped and she said "whoa..this is cool!" � Something about the enthusiasm of a kid just primes me even more for some good old racing action, and we were not to be disappointed!

Also joining us on Richmond Row this week, after a long absence was the lovely Anne Perkins, who celebrated her 29th birthday today! � ;D

So...the racing. � Firstly, had to ask around to see what we'd missed, and so here's a partial:

First Superstock Feature had gone to 11-Lidster. Word was the Superstock race was full of shenanigans. I heard 77-Lake, 98-Morneau, 28-Lawrence, 3-Perkins and others all suffered a little bit of trouble.

First Demar Truck feature had gone to 56-Showler.

First Powerade Modified Feature had gone to 1-Newman.

So we take up our report as the second Damar Aggregates Truck Feature comes to a close. 33-McDonald takes it, followed by 82-Demelo in 2nd, 88-Fothergill in 3rd, 56-SHowler in 4th and 00-Johns in 5th.

2nd SuperStock Feature

Next up are the Superstocks, and we start with 51-Rabideau on the point with 52-Clark alongside. 24-Richmond has trouble before the race even starts, sitting on the end of pit row trying to get the car fired. He gets it fired, but can't muster up much more than a limp, so heads it back to the pits before the green flies.

20 cars start the SS main, and Rabideau takes the early lead, followed by Clark, 67-Hewitt, 2-Prudhomme, and 76-Reid. Doesn't take long before Rabideau's got it well in hand and starts building an impressive lead on Clark. The battle is for 3rd between Prudhomme and Reid. But then disaster struck right around halfway, with a turn 3 mess that left 06-Ott sitting there. Admittedly I was away from my seat and didn't see what happened...but apparently whatever it was was "catastrophic". The announcer said so. I believe it also collected the 55 car of Yeo.

Now after the restart, we get a few more laps in, not much change in the order up front. 7-Sheilds goes around on lap 16 to bring out the caution. Now its time for a little drama. Rabideau, who had built up a nice lead and not looked back yet, comes around under yellow with a flat right rear. Its a 20 lap race, so he needs to go 4 more racing laps. Goes around for a couple yellow flag curcuits, and apparently decides he's going to go for broke and try for the win anyway. The green flag flies, and he manages to hang onto the lead around 1 and 2, but then slows up badly, boxing Clark in and allowing Prudhomme, Lidster, Hewitt and 84-Smith to scoot past the both of them. And thats the way it ended.

Prudhomme gets the win, Lidster in 2nd (a good night for the 11 team!), Hewitt in 3rd, Smith in 4th and Reid in 5th.

After the race and the victory lane stuff, Prudhomme can't get the car fired again and has to get towed off the speedway. Once again, it was apparently "Catastrophic". At this, a brief discussion on the exact meaning of the word catastrophic between myself and Crazylady...right about the time the 2 car is getting the hook.

Her "I don't think that's exactly a "catastrophe"
Me: Well, it could be for him
Her: Well, its not like he's dead or anything.
Me: car's dead.

(I think I won that one.)
;)


2nd Powerade Modified Feature.

Right off the get go, its 88-Shipway out in front, and he has a good chance to gain a few lengths while the rest of the field jockeys for position.

Once it shakes out, it's Shipway with a good lead and looking like he's on rails, while 39-McCullough and 3-Cox battling for the 2nd spot - a battle that would continue throughout the race. The real fight was for 4th, between, 72-Thompson, 57-Brooks, 54-Limon and 1-Newman. � This battle is eventually won by Newman who gets by and begins to reel in the leaders. Meanwhile, McCullogh and Cox are still duking it out for 2nd. �

In the latter end of the field, there's a great side by side "rookie" race between 38-Hendricks and 24-Richmond. Richmond is still trying to get his feet under him in the mod division, but its paying off. Those 2 ran a lot of laps side by side, and both kept their cars straight and away from one another. Richmond seemed to be a natural running the outside groove. (Nice job after such a crummy SuperStock outing.)

So, in the end (and I believe they went caution free) it was Shipway by a mile, followed by McCullogh in 2nd, Cox in 3rd, Newman in 4th, (these three in a tight group) and Limon a distant 5th.


Transmission Direct Enduro Challenge.

This race started about 30 cars, with the usual enduro top dawgs at the back. I don't have a long report for this race. I got nothing against enduro...but I always have a devil of a time following along with these guys. The 06 car got in the lead and looked like he was going to run away with it, while Book, the Goertzes, and Coward cut their way through the feild. At one point, just after halfway, the 06 (Ferguson?) had something let go in a huge plume of smoke and left the lead, I think, to 39-McCullough. Eventually, the usual gang caught up, and in the end it was 15-Goertz with the win, 64-Book in 2nd, 39-McCullough in 3rd, 11-Coward in 4th and 16-Goetrz in 5th.

It was an entertaining race for sure, and a great capper to a full evening of racing....and under dry skies for a change!

Doesn't get any better than that.

Shadow out.]]> Shadow's Page Shadowracer https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/shadow-report-may-22-otools-rent-or-buy-night-w-pic-link/ https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/internet-find-old-schoolers-check-this-out-hanley-beiderman/ Thu, 21 May 2009 11:31:21 +0000
These guys were Delaware heroes, so I'm putting it here, but the clip is actually from Mt Clemens circa approx 1982. Not a "classic" Hanley Beiderman dustup, but still not bad. Might remember a few of the other names too.

PS, note the car count in the feature...then tell me again about how huge the fields were in the old days.  ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfJDzCKmRaE#lq-lq2-hq]Pursuit race

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da8HATuHLPY#lq-lq2-hq]Feature Pt 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoWffgiddJs#lq-lq2-hq]Feature Pt 2


]]> Shadow's Page Shadowracer https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/internet-find-old-schoolers-check-this-out-hanley-beiderman/ https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/del-shadow-report-may-15-pic-links-added/ Sat, 16 May 2009 05:14:50 +0000 Caveat - For those that are new here. I am not a real reporter, I only play one on the internet. I do not work for Delaware. I'm simply a fan who's a little bit nuts about his chosen pastime. Everything you read here is my take on the evening's events from a fan-in-the-stands perspective, cobbled together and translated from a little notebook I keep with me while the races are going on. Sometimes I get it wrong. Please feel free to correct me. The whole idea behind the Shadow Report is to A) stimulate message board discussion, and B) Shout out to and report to folks who may be fans, but couldn't make it out tonight for whatever reason.

UPDATE: Pic link, courtesy of JWO Racing.

May 15 pics


Shadow Report JBM Autoleasing 50 lapper...finally in. Barely

So, under steadily darkening clouds and the odd sprinkle, we begin our program wondering if, after 3 weeks, Mother Nature might at least throw us a bone. She did...but it was a small one. (Well, maybe medium sized) A number of races didnt transpire. We go the first LM race in, as well as the Mod feature from last week. Then on to some Street Stock heats and a Throne Kings King of the Hill, then the rain.

JBM Autoleasing 50 lapper part 2 - the Final 46

When we last left our intrepid Late Model field, London's Rob Clarke was in first place and hanging on for dear life, with Jesse Kennedy, Steve Robblee and Ron Sheridan hot on his bumper. Pete Vanderwyst had also been in contention, but due to being spun out in turn 3, had been forced to the back of the field for a restart that never came because of the rain. Unfortunately, due to another commitment this week, Pete Vanderwyst was not on hand. For that matter, neither was Jason Shaw, who'd had a bad end to a rough day last week. We hope both will return in the near future!

We continue the race with 4 laps down.

The top starters tonight were thus: 49-Clarke on the point, then 10-Kennedy, 52-Sheridan, 02-Watson, and 77-Verhoeven.

Right off the get-go it looks like Kennedy is hot to get into the front spot now. He's all over Clarke, and makes the pass very early on. Once the order shakes out, its Kennedy, Sheridan, Robblee in the top 3, and the three are beginning to open up a bit of a lead. On lap 8, 3-Rijnen goes around in Turn 4 to bring out the first caution. Now it starts getting ugly, and we're only 8 laps in.

On the first lap after the restart, there's a huge schmozzle on the backstretch toward turn 3. Looked to me like 02-Watson and 77-Verhoeven, racing side by side with Watson on the outside, came together about halfway down the backstretch. Watson hits the outside wall and almost climbs it. Then the rest of the field stacks up trying to avoid. Track is completely blocked with race cars, so they throw the red. Involved were 15-Matthews, 41-Adams, 2-Stewart, 72-Thompson, 18-Weirsma, and 55-Rankin. However the worst damages seemed to be 20-Lindsay, who went hard and straight into the turn 3 wall. He had to get towed off. 69-Rawlings looked in pretty bad shape too. Watson spent most of the rest of the race up on jackstands, although he made it out again towards the end of the race.

After one more failed restart that had 9-Elliott going around in turn 4, they got to racing again, and once again, Kennedy, Sheridan and Robblee begin to build a small lead. They're followed by the pairing of 14-Emery and 38-Hooker, then another pairing of Clarke and 4-Urlin. Sheridan really looks like hes got something for Kennedy but can't seem to close the deal.

On lap 20 there's another caution. 72-Thompson and 15-Matthews had been waging their own private battle back in the field. Matthews got into Thompson in turn 1-2, getting Thompson out of shape, but then Thompson turned left as well, leaving them both sitting sideways.

On this restart, now Sheridan's not all over Kennedy like he had been, settling into second, and still with Robblee right on his bumper. Urlin gets by Clarke for 6th and begins to work on Hooker. At the halfway point, yellow/checker flies and Kennedy has won this segment, Sheridan second and Robblee third. (This will count as a completed feature for NASCAR points.)

On this restart, now its disaster for Kennedy, who suddenly slides sideways and out of the groove allowing Sheridan to get by. Then a caution as a bunch of cars get tangled up in turn 1 and 2, and Kennedy slides onto pit road. Looks like a tire had gone down, hence the sideways lurch. Now Kennedy's at the back...and probably mad.

Once the race resumes, Kennedy wastes no time cutting thru the back markers and trying to get himself back into contention. At the front, Sheridan and Robblee are still leading the charge, followed by Emery and Urlin. Then at lap 29 another caution as Adams loops it in turn 4. Here we get into another series of failed restarts.

The first one is a big turn 4 mess that sees Urlin spun around and Clarke on the hook back to the pits. Then another as 91-MacGilvary goes around in turn 3 on his own....and then another as 89-Spicer and Gary Elliott go around on the backstretch.

Its at this point when we noticed that Watson was back out.�� 

Now Kennedy's close to being in contention, and Sheridan and Robblee are still out front. Good battle for 4th between 37-David Elliott and Emery, but it ended with Emery very suddenly slowing off the pace with mechanical trouble. Now 37-Elliott is in third, but now he's got Kennedy to deal with. Kennedy gets by into 3rd on lap 46, leaving D. Elliott in 4th, and 27-Box up into 5th. (Not bad for a guy who wrecked 4 laps into this race last week.)

Robblee, whos been sitting on 2nd spot for the whole race tries a few desperation moves around Sheridan but can't get it done.

Sheridan wins, Robblee 2nd, Kennedy 3rd, D-Elliott 4th and Mat Box 5th.�� 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Powerade Modified Feature (rained out feature from last week)

This week started a couple more cars than last, bringing the field up to 11, including some crazy old coot in that funky number 57 mod. (good to see you back dude!)

39-McCullough and 88-Shipway jump out in front early, while the second pack conssits of Cox, Limon, Newman and 70 (Saunders?) Theres an instant where Shipway seems to fall off the pace and Cox gets by him for 2nd.

Meanwhile near the back (wayyy back��  ;)) theres a brief battle where the old guy gets passed by the 18 yr old upstart. (translation: 57-Brooks gets passed by 24-Richmond)

At the halfway mark, its McCullough, Cox, Limon, Newman and Shipway. Cox looks ready to start making some moves and soon does, getting around McCullough to take 1st. Then at lap 17, caution flies for Limon as he goes around in turn 4.

Not much change at the end of the race its Cox with the win, McCullough for 2nd, Newman for 3rd, Shipway for 4th and the 70 car in 5th.

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Super Stock Heats

Heat 1 - 3-Perkins takes an early lead, followed by 99-Nagy, 77-Lake, and 11-Lidster. Looks like Perkins has things fairly well under control, until Nagy decides to skip any actual racing and go straight to using the front bumper and a quick right turn to get Perkins turned around. (In speaking with some folks down in the pits afterward, Nagy apparently felt that Perkins lifted coming out of 2. That might explain the contact, but doesn't explain the right turn.) So, at least the officials saw it and sent Nagy to the back.

This meant that Lake inherited the lead with Lidster in 2nd and 76-Reid in 3rd.��  �� Lidster starts putting the bumper to Lake, and eventually gets around him.

Finishing order is Lidster, Lake and Reid.

Heat 2 - saw Stephen Richmond lead it from flag to flag, leading 9-DeJesus and 98-Morneau. Nice win for Stephen after a somewhat disappointing Modified Feature.

Then it was on to the King of the Hill races in support of Jesse's Journey . (I was in the pits and didn't see any of it, although I understand a couple of races did see some contact)

At this point, with the rain still sprinkling down sporadically, they decided they'd "lost" the track and will reschdule the remaining races from tonight.��  I presume the SS feature will go next week. Not sure about the rest. Stay tuned.


]]> Shadow's Page Shadowracer https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/del-shadow-report-may-15-pic-links-added/ https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/delaware-reno-photo-link-friday-may-16-preview/ Tue, 12 May 2009 16:07:07 +0000
Fresh off of last weeks rained out festivities, we'll be starting off with the remaining 46 laps of the JBM Autoleasing LM 50 lapper.

When we last left our intrepid Late Model field, London's Rob Clarke was in first place and hanging on for dear life, with Jesse Kennedy, Steve Robblee and Ron Sheridan hot on his bumper. Pete Vanderwyst had also been in contention, but due to being spun out in turn 3, had been forced to the back of the field for a restart that never came because of the rain. If theres one car to watch during this race, its Vanderwyst in the 7, as he will most likely mount an agressive charge back up to the front.

Also keep an eye on the Flamboro gang, David Elliott, Gary Elliott and Jay Shaw. All 3 were beset by bad luck and equipment gremlins last week, with Shaw's evening ending particularly badly when he and Mat Box got togerther in turn 2 just as the rain flew. Fair bit of damage on both machines, but they'll have had the week to get it straightened out.

Then it will be onto the Powerade Modifieds, and they will complete the feature they qualified for last week. 9 cars showed up to do battle, and reports indicate there may be a few more on hand this week. The usual suspects looked stout, with Paul "Shippy" Shipway, Barry Newman and Jamie Cox leading the charge.

Once the races from last week are out of the way, it'll be on to the current program, starting with heats for the Peterbilt Super Stock division. Ray Morneau looks like he's back to defend his title once again, and the competition will be stout, likely coming from Andrew Perkins, Darrell Lake, and Kris Lawrence, who's expected to have a breakout year this season.

There's lots of new blood in Super Stock this year. Pee Wee Smith in the 84 looks stout, (That's Dan Monaghans old camaro, so as long as the motor's good, the car IS capable of running up front.)  Jake Ott in the 60 was a more-than-capable Flamboro runner. Jared Sheilds in the 7 car is a true greenhorn, moved up for the Jrs, and 48-Louie McColl hasn't been able to catch a break yet, suffering problems and some bent metal in practice.

Its gonna be interesting to see, and I expect a thriller of a season from the Super Stock gang.

So moving forward after some SS qualifying, we'll come back to the Powerade Modifieds. They won't run heats, presumably in the interest of time. They'll simply line up in the order they finished the first feature, with a 2 dice roll for the inversion.

Then we'll see the SS feature, and then finish off the regular part of the program with the second LM feature. It will line up in the same manner as the mods did, sans heat races, with between a 9 and 15 car inversion depending on the die roll.

Then the Throne Kings will present the first 500 dollar to win King of the Hill event in support of the Make a Wish Foundation. Be aware that if you do intend to compete, you will need a helmet. The speedway or Throne Kings will have some loaners.

Its going to be a hot nights racing, and I hope to see everyone there!

Shadow out.]]> Shadow's Page Shadowracer https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/delaware-reno-photo-link-friday-may-16-preview/ https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/delaware-a-new-old-photo-thread/ Sun, 10 May 2009 00:50:32 +0000
Well, in the spirit of being excited for the new season, but with nothing really to show for it yet but some wet clothes, its time for another old photo thread. Mother Nature won't let us race, but she can't keep us from doing the second best thing that race fans are good at, and that is reminiscing.

Now, I lay claim to none of the following photos. They've been glommed off the internet over the years and squirrelled away on my hard drive. So I wont take any credit for them. This batch is mostly old program scans.

If anyone else contributes as well, then I'll add some more. If you have no photos to share, then regale with a story or 2 from the old days.

If its one thing that racing folks know how to do well, its walking down memory lane!


^^Limited Late Models, 1973.



^^Super Late Models. Heh...so how long has it been since we've seen a Chevelle as a LM?



^^1977, Earl Ross in the infamous Coke Can Car, leading Terry Kitchen in the Box Auto Body Special. In 1982, Earl would come out of semi-retirement to take over the driving duties in the 68 car and go on to win the first McKerlie Millen 200. (This photo is actually mine)



^^Tracey Leslie. How can you forget this guy? Him and Jr Hanley owned this place in the mid to late 80s. Of course, they were the only show. People talk about these being the glory days, but realistically, 1 or 2 guys winning all the time was a little dull. If I recall correctly, Leslie's son was back at Delaware a couple years ago when we had the first go around with NASCAR, and brought a car that was painted very similar to this one. Unfortunately, he hit the wall on the first lap of his heat doing some bad damage, and he hasn't been seen since.



^^Bob Merrifield in one of the most distinctive Super Late Models this place has ever seen.



^^Daytona Don. Nuff said.



^^Remember when these guys ran here? Starting in 1975, the old Modified Sportsman division dropped the aging coupe bodies, and adopted these instead. 44 is Roger Rushby, who lived 2 blocks over from me, and the 55 is Wayne Pilkey Sr. I beleive the 77 might be an Atkinson, but don't hold me to it.



^^And this one is just to keep TommySalami happy.  ;)  Warren Coniam set the Delaware track record in 1984 in this car. I don't remember the exact time, but I know it was in the REALLY low 16's, and the record held for years and years.]]> Shadow's Page Shadowracer https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/delaware-a-new-old-photo-thread/ https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/shadow-report-delaware-heats-but-no-features-may-8/ Sat, 09 May 2009 00:32:45 +0000
Well, the night started with 2 questions. One was answered immediately, and one was answered at about lap 3 of the LM feature.

Question one was "What if we gave a Late Model race, and everyone came?"  29 cars, baby. Yeah. Batten down the hatches...its gonna be like the old days!

Of course, question two was along the lines of, "will those big black clouds skirt around us and go somewhere else besides here?" That answer was , unfortunately, no.  :-[

It looked off the start like we may be able to get it all in. At 7 the sky was a bit overcast, but not too bad. It soon became steadily darker throughout the program.

One thing that didn't get rained out was the Jesse's Journey walk, which curcuited the speedway once at 7pm to raise money to help battle Duchenne muscular dystrophy. John Davidson was there. Participation was light, but so was the crowd on hand. 50/50 tix were sold and I'm sure a few bucks were raised for a good cause.

After a very brief pause and a quick go-through of the parade lap and anthems, it was time to go racing. Sort of...

...if you call time trialing racing.

Time Trials

29 cars attempted to qualify. (and no thats not a typo) I don't think any records were broken, and by a quick look over the lap times, I'd estimate the bulk of the field coming in around the 19.3 or 4 mark.

Your contestants for the evening: 38-Hooker, 15-Matthews, 52-Sheridan, 91-MacGillvary, 55-Rankin, 89-Drew Spicer, 14-Emery, 02-Watson, 29-Barlass, 72-Thompson, 41-Adams, 82-Jay Shaw, 7-Vanderwyst, 22-Ramsay, 49-Clarke, 28-S Robblee, 2-Stewart, 32-M Robblee, 4-Jon Urlin, 77-Verhoeven, 10-Kennedy, 69-Rawlings, 20-Lindsay, 27-Box, 18-Weirsma, 3-Rijnen, and 8-Jacobs. The Elliotts (cars 9 and 37) were also there, but for the life of me I forget who was driving what. Gary was in one of them, and I don't know who was in the other. The 37 is normally David Elliott, but David wasn't there tonight. (If anyone could clear that up, that would be awesome.) The 37 car seemed to be having some trouble and did not qualify thru time trail, instead starting dead last in the feature.

Nothing really too out of the ordinary as far as time trials. The usual suspects were up near the top of the pile for fast times. One nice surprise was Mark Watson, a rookie to the LM division was making some pretty good lap times and cracked the top 5. Nice work!

Fast 5 in time trials:
28-Robblee at 19.037
52-Sheridan at 19.049
02-Watson at 19.054
10-Kennedy 19.089
7-Vanderwyst at 19.160

With a sky looking more ominous than it had when time trials started, it was on to the truck heats.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DEMAR AGGREGATES TRUCKS

Heat 1 saw a pretty good 3 way battle for the lead. 33-McDonald jumps to an early lead, but is soon passed by 00-Johns and 56-Showler. The top 3 quickly distance themselves with the rest of the field. Showler goes to work on Johns, giving him the rub and trying everything to get by, but in the end its Johns, Showler and McDonald in that order.

Heat 2 had the 11 truck, who sports 3 different names on the roster, with an early lead, but is passed on the 2nd circuit by both 01-Bloemendal and 82-Demelo. The real race is for 4th between 77-Zagarodny and 88-Fothergill (in the lookalike truck to Sid's 33) Fothergill prevails after the battle, but cannot make it up front to win the war.���  Finishing order is Bloemendal, Demelo, and Fothergill.

Now the sky's looking even darker, thunderheads looming on the horizon, but teasingly, they look like theyre heading to the north, and that they might just go by us. And now its time for the modifieds.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

POWERADE MODIFIEDS

Heat 1
Starting order was 3-Cox, 39-McCullough, 38-Hendricks and 59-Finlay.
Finishing order was 3-Cox, 39-McCullough, 38-Hendricks and 59-Finlay.
Only difference was at the end of the race, the first two were half a lap ahead of the second 2.

Heat 2 saw 54-Limon take an early lead, followed closely by 1-Newman, and 88-Shipway. Newman tries everything, staying right with Limon. Shipway drops slightly back. Final order is Limon, Newman and Shipway.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

J.B.M. Autoleasing Triple Crown 50 Lapper

Now the thunderheads are right over the speedway, turning the sky a lovely shade of purple, with the odd lightning flash coming from the other side of the river. The decision was made to have the LMs go first, and you can bet the track has never gotten a big late model race under way so quickly.

They rolled the dice for the inversion and came up with a 6, so the pole went to 49-Clarke, then 7-Vanderwyst, Kennedy, Watson, Sheridan, and Robblee. 29 cars started, and despite the obvious concern for the weather, the crowd was pumped. We haven't seen this many cars for a regular Friday night LM race since the 80's, and it was apparent that a good portion of the field was actually competitive...that it wasn't just going to be 2 or 3 guys running away with it.

That was the good news.

The bad news is, unfortunately, that we got 3 laps in before the skies opened. Clarke had jumped out in front right off, with Vanderwyst and Kennedy hot behind him. The lead pack was beginning to form in the order of Clarke, Vanderwyst, Kennedy, Sheridan, Robblee and Watson all falling into line. Then on the third curcuit, something happened in turn 3. Vanderwyst went around and collected 22-Ramsay. No real damage. Someone said Kennedy tagged him but I didn't see. So Vanderwyst and Ramsay go to the back, and now we're getting a little excited because an angry Vanderwyst coming from the back can be...well...pretty exciting. But it wasn't to be.

On the restart, 82-Shaw (who'd had truly crappy luck all night anyway) and 27-Box got together in turn 3 to bring the yellow out again.

Then there was a weird moment where the skies opened over us with really huge raindrops - but only for a split second. (as if God nailed us with a single blast from some heavenly squirt gun.) Then we look over at turn 2. That corner, and ONLY that corner, are drenched. We watch this wall of rain staying just over turn 2, then it begins to move toward the grandstand. Then down it comes, full bore, and everyone scatters like rats.

Fully soaked by the time we make it back to the truck we climb in and listen, switching back and forth between the Nationwide race and Delaware's feed. And as if we weren't wet and miserable enough, we had to listen to Kyle Busch winning the Nationwide race too.

So after a half hour holed up in the truck, the rain's starting to dissapate a little, its only 930, so could we still get the race in? This intrepid reporter headed back to the pits just in time to hear the drivers meeting called so they could tell us the rainout procedure.

That was it. Game over.

But hey, there's not much else you can do when you've been deluged the way we were tonight.

The good news? Next week, its double Late Model Features.  ;D  The first order of business will be to get the remaining 47 laps in from this race done, then continue with the regular show, with Super Stock, Modified, and LM full Fri nite programs.

As far as the qualified Truck and Mod features from this week, they'll get made up at a later date.

See y'all next week!
]]> Shadow's Page Shadowracer https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/shadow-report-delaware-heats-but-no-features-may-8/ https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/delaware-this-friday-jbm-autoleasing-lm-50-lapper/ Thu, 07 May 2009 15:26:51 +0000
The field that was out last week was a stellar one, with a count of somewhere between 24-26 Late Models in the pits, and 3/4 of the field were easily competitive. There were also a number of LM newcomers on hand, so it will be interesting to see how some of them stack up against our regulars. We might just have a few wild cards tomorrow night.

Now, they will be qualifying time trail-like...because going into a race cold with no heats on the first race night is always entertaining. The first few laps will be mighty interesting to say the least!

Time trials most likely start at 7:30.

Couple this Late model action with the Demar Aggregates Trucks and the Powerade Modifieds, and we've got the makings of a great season opener.

See you at the track! (and if not, read the report right here later tomorrow evening.) 

And dont forget the Happy Hour toonie hotdog special between 6 and 7. If you haven't had one yet this year, they're amazing. Delaware really ramped up the food quality this year. So enjoy!

;D

]]> Shadow's Page Shadowracer https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/delaware-this-friday-jbm-autoleasing-lm-50-lapper/ https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/delaware-shadows-rainout-report-may-1-2009/ Sat, 02 May 2009 02:32:29 +0000
Pulled in early tonight, and as of 4:30 or so, it looked like we might get the races in. Nice long line of race car trailers waiting tho get into the pits, and there was definitely excitement in the air, but it was not to last, as the skies began to darken and the odd raindrop began to fall. Still smelled like fresh cut grass though.

I had the opportunity to drop by the office while the management was still there, and of course they were hip deep in preparations. I don't know if anyone outside the small circle of full time people there have any real idea just how much work goes into running this place. But everyone looked confident and everything seems to be on track.

I sopke to John Houghton briefly and he gave me the 50 cent tour of the improvements they've made to the place. One of these improvements is the VIP lounge, completely redecorated and looking good. He also pointed out a few of the fan-visible improvements...things that, while may not at first glance SEEM that impressive, will defininitely improve the quality of service. Firstly a few new concession stands...one parked down by turn 1 and one down toward turn 4. Both will serve burgers, dogs, pop...that kind of stuff. A new debit system will be in place shortly. In the weeks coming, you'll be able to use debit at the ticket windows and most of the concessions as well. According to John, "In a couple of weeks we're going to be, bar none, the most technologically up to date track in the country."

There are improvements being made to the sound system, as well as to the scoring system. Turn 3 and turn 4 down to the start finish line will be the first phase of the resurface, and the new pit road has already been completed.

Oh...and its possible that we may see an old style weekly race program for sale once again. (for those that don't know, Delaware hasn't done these since the 80s.) I thought that was pretty exciting. I miss those and I think they were a valued part of the experience back then. So that may be in the works too. (I didn't actually get a definite on that.)

After the tour I headed down trackside, and the pits were teeming with Late Models. See, at Delaware, they don't let the guys fire the loud cars until 6 for the most part. So right around 6 I'm wandering down the rows in the Late Model end of the pits, checking out the new guys, introducing myself to a couple that I've met here, including one of the new guys named Steven Matthews, who drives all the way down from New Liskeard and is planning to race here every week. For those who don't know, New Liskeard is a stone's throw from the North Pole. (To illustrate: if you're driving from London, and you hit Barrie, you're not even halfway there yet.)

So there I am standing in a pit full of shiny new Late Models, already grinning from ear to ear, and suddenly most of them fire up. Now I'm standing in the middle of a pit full of running Late Models...and the adrenaline starts to flow, and no one's even turned a lap yet. I look up and down and realize that tonights race, if it goes, is going to be one for the ages. All the usual big guns are here, as well as a boatload of new guys. (not rookies...just guys new to Delaware) I heard an estimate of 26 LMs in the pits, and the bulk of them were competitive ones. If all these guys show every week, we're going to have some amazing races.

In the Super Stock pit, its time to make some reaquaintances and check out the new hardware. Silverthorn Jr's back (9x?). We've got some new guys, like 48-Kelly McColl, 7-Jared Sheilds, 48-Steve "Pee Wee" Smith, and 60-Jake Ott in his lime green camaro. McColl can't seem to catch a break yet. He crashed on one of the practice days, then broke an axle and crashed again during happy hour tonight. Another addition to the field is the 67 Camaro of Raymond Yeo. (That's the blue one, number 55 that made a couple phantom practice runs last year.)

Then there's a raft of older cars with new paintjobs...each and every one looking sharp. Don't know whats up with the blue and yellow though, with both 11-Jason Lidster and 9-DJ Dejesus both sporting that color combo. Jeremiah Rabidau's sporting the same paint as last year, and with the Perkins car having been blue and yellow since the beginning, it adds up to an abundance of blue and yellow liveries. Dan Bugg also sports a new look, with his smart looking red and white number 71. (Dan, who kept giving us weather updates via blackberry, was dubbed "Doppler Dan" by one of the crowd milling around the SS pits.) And of course, the 28 car is back to being its familar red, white and blue.

Unfortunately, due to trying to help with mishap on the Perkins car, I never got around to checking out the Truck pits. All I can really say is that 56-Showler looked pretty good out there.

So everyone got a couple of laps in, but the rain just kept stopping/starting, just light enough to be a teaser. The optomists thought we might just get the races in yet, and the pessimists were already throwing their tires and tools in the trailer.

So then it was off to be a fly on the wall at the driver meeting. Everyone gave Arlen Scherba, Delaware's new sole owner a big hand. Mr Scherba is the guy who (as I understand it) bought out the other three guys, and gave the go ahead for all the things that need to get done around the speedway. He addressed everyone briefly and reminded everyone that racing is a give and take between the fans, the management and the drivers, and that each is a by-product of the other....everyone plays a part in the success of the speedway.

Then they intoduced the Jesses Journey people and did the 50-50 draw. The Jesse's Journey walk itself will happen next week, since A: it was raining and B: as of 7:30 there were about 30 people in the stands.

A brief talk on the use of transponders and radio frequencies ensued, and then the rain started in earnest. It was agreed that while we might still get the races in, it was probably unlikely.

One tidbit - looks like the JBM Auto Leasing 50 lappers are going to be a weird hybrid of a 50 lap race and a twin 25. At lap 25, there's a competition checker/caution, then the green flag again. Ostensibly, its so they can count it as 2 races for the sake of NASCAR points. I don't quite understand why they don't just make it twin 25s...but it should be interesting. Especailly that first 25 lap leg.

And that's the way it was left. At 8 they called it. The track was too wet and it was cold enough (and dropping fast) that it was going to take way too long to dry it. So that was it. We went home.� 

So, while we didn't get to the racing tonight, it was awesome to get out in the pits, shake some hands, and get reacquainted with lots of familiar faces.

It was good to be back.

See you next week.]]> Shadow's Page Shadowracer https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/delaware-shadows-rainout-report-may-1-2009/ https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/happy-race-season-to-all-delaware-fans-staff-drivers-and-crews/ Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:45:31 +0000
In 2 nights time, The fans will pull out those old comfy lawn chairs and blankets, seek out their favored spot on the hill, and get reacqainted with bleacher mates they haven't seen since last September. The safety crews will be loaded up, aware and prepared. The announcers, pipes warmed up and ready, will lean over their mics and start spinning their magic.  Burgers will be grilling. Popcorn will be popping. And the air will be alive with that unique racetrack smell...one part fries-n-vinegar, one part fresh mowed grass, and one part burnt rubber. The drivers will strap on their buckets, tighten their belts, flip those ignition switches, and the countryside to the west of London will rumble to life once again.

After a long winter, its time for Friday night at Delaware.

Its going to be an awesome year. I can feel it in my bones. The winds of change are blowing, and this time they're blowing the right way. The track is being upgraded. The owner is on board. (Arlen Scherba is my new hero.) Management is sound. NASCAR is finally coming back to Delaware, and it looks like the fields are going to be more stellar than they ever have.

Questions abound. Could it be the year Kris Lawrence brings the 28 home with the checkers? The year Wiersma and Clarke kick some old-school butt in the LM division? Can Hooker finally get a win? Could it be the year Paul Fothergill upsets the established balance of power in the Enduro division? And how awesome is it going to be to have the big NASCAR race back home where it belongs? Time will tell all these things, and each one of us comes the table with our own questions....but there's a few things you can be certain of.

We'll see triumph and heartbreak. We'll see thrilling victories, and frightening crashes. We'll feel the swell in our hearts that anyone, fans and competitors alike, get when a guy wins his first feature. The clenched fist and the "YES" when an old timer shows us he can still get er' done. There'll be anger when your best guy gets spun around, and there'll (hopefully not too often) be that awful moment of silence that comes between the sickening crunch of a car heading full bore into the wall, and the moment the announcer catches his breath and says something.

That's racing. That's the allure. If you get it, you get it. If you don't, you won't. You go, not just to be entertained, but to be a part of something bigger. And now its time for the community to come together once more.

I want to take this moment to wish everyone a happy race season.

To the drivers and crews, I wish you the best. I wish you safety, luck, and hopefully victory. Make sure those belts are good, firesuits solid, and those helmets are up to snuff. And help the rookie beside you if you can. I keep coming back because you're all my heroes. Even the guy who comes in last.

To the management and staff: I have faith that we have been, still are, and will be, in good hands. I wish you sunny skies, empty fridges at the end of the night, and many, many full grandstands.

To the Safety Crews: Keep our boys and girls safe...but keep yourselves safe too. Know that many of us up on the hill DO realize the magnitude of your contribution, and we appreciate it greatly.

To my buddies (Richmond Row and everyone involved) What can I say...its gonna be great to see you all again. Hoppyhugs to the ladies and handshakes to the men. (and nachos for FromtheStands...and a megaphone for that Crazylady...and to Jordan "keep your eyes on your fries" Lawrence...well, just somebody feed this kid willya?) 

To the other fans on the hill: I wish you all good times, thrilling races, and great acquaintances. I wish you fond memories, and wonderful times spent on the hill with your families - times your kids will remember when they grow older...and start bringing their kids to the races. But most of all, I wish you a sense of place. I hope that when you walk from your vehicle across the fresh mowed grass and through the main gate, that it feels a little like you're coming home.

I know I will.

Happy race season everyone.
]]> Shadow's Page Shadowracer https://canadianracingonline.com/community/shadows-page/happy-race-season-to-all-delaware-fans-staff-drivers-and-crews/