|
Indianapolis,IN By Tom Botos 7-12-09
Hey Racefans it was yet again another hot and steamy
weekend of racing as I went to Plymouth (IN) Speedway for the
IOFS Outlaw Figure 8 Series race on Saturday Night where Casey
White from Indianapolis won his 1st ever IOFS Outlaw Figure 8
Event. Eddie Van Meter from Indianapolis,IN competed in both the
IOFS Series event and the CRA Super Series 200 Sunday at
Plymouth.
David Stremme won the CRA Super Series 200 on Sunday at
Plymouth (IN) Speedway. Robbie Henderson won his 1st ever CRA
Street Stock Feature on Sunday night. Robbie Henderson normally
Competes at Angola (IN) Speedway.
It was almost a standing room only crowd Sunday
Afternoon at Plymouth! I was told the parking lot was near
capacity and eager fans cheered as local Michiana drivers like
David Stremme,MIchael Thayer,Donny Klotz,J..R. Roahrig,and Tyler
Roahrig all took qualifying times. This was a very racing
oriented crowd full of eager racefans. Excitement was in the air
all night long as new track records were being set in CRA Street
Stocks.
I had the honor and privelage of meeting a great man in
the world of stock car racing and his name is Ron Verash! Ron is
a columnist and writer and he has promoted a few races to save
South Bend Motor Speedway and he also has a huge racing booth
full of pictures of big name drivers from almost any era you can
imagine from all over the Michiana area. Ron Verash had his
booth set up behind the scoring tower and tons of fans eagerly
bought and looked through his massive library of "whos who"
drivers from tracks in Indiana,Michigan,and Ohio.
I also met Ron Shultz a devoted racefan,columnist,and
writer from New Paris (IN) Speedway. Ron has worked at New Paris
Speedway under the legendary promoter Joe Hamsher who had his
hand in the running of tracks like New Paris,Plymouth,South
Bend,and Mottville Speedway in Michigan. I grew up reading Ron
Verash and Ron Shultz' columns and it was awesome meeting these
guys!
I found out that the #24 of Randy Hoppes from Anderson
(IN) Speedway did sell his FWD car. By the way Randy Hoppes won
the Street Stock Feature Saturday Night at Anderson (IN)
Speedway. Congratulations on your win Randy! I hope to be able
to interview more Anderson and Mt. Lawn (IN) Speedway drivers
here very soon!
The 39th Annual Raintree 100 at Mt. Lawn Speedway will
be this Saturday July 18th. This race has been rained out the
past two weeks! I cannot wait for this race! The Late Model
drivers at Mt. Lawn Speedway have put an awesome show on all
season long for the fans and they deserve to be covered and
recognized! The Raintree 100 will have double file restarts
until the last ten laps I think which is awesome for the fans.
The 60th National Crown Race will be this Saturday at
Anderson (IN) Speedway.
The National Crown is one of the oldest continous stock
car races in the country!
If I remember correctly at one time it was a 300 lap
race. I think I read that on the legendary Bill Holloway's
website a long time ago. The National Crown is now and has been
the Premier Figure 8 race for the Immediadent Figure 8 Division
at Anderson Speedway. I Hate to miss either of these legendary
races!
I ran into the Legendary Late Model driver from Mt. Lawn
(IN) Speedway L.J. Lines and also Scott Knepley down at Salem
(IN) Speedway last week!
Lines and Knepley were spectating the Firecracker 200
for the Street Stock division. Chuck Barnes won the Firecracker
200 by the way. I wish I could sit and talk to L.J. and Scott
Knepley and chitchat about racing. Last season both of these
drivers were very cordial with me as I took there pictures and
greeted them. Scott has two or three wins and has been the
points leader in Mt. Lawn Late Models this season. I wish both
these drivers the best of luck this weekend in the Raintree 100!
I also interviewed Jeff Shackelford,Jeff Hizer,and Angie
Dickens this weekend at Plymouth Speedway. Jeff Shackelford and
Jeff Hizer are both veteran Outlaw Figure 8 Drivers from the
Indianapolis area! Angie Dickens is the wife of street stock
Figure 8 racer Richard Dickens. Richard and Angie have competed
at every IOFS Outlaw Figure 8 event this season. Richard is
leading the street stock car points in our IOFS Racing Series.
Both Richard and Angie Dickens want to help promote Figure 8
racing in the Kentuckiana area and help make the IOFS and Figure
8 racing grow in popularity with racefans all over the midwest.
Angie Dickens and myself would like to see more Figure 8
races held at tracks like Kentucky Motor Speedway in
Whitesville,KY and Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green,KY.
There is one IOFS Figure 8 at Beech Bend in September which
should be an awesome race as the infield is completely asphalt
much like the Indianapolis Speedrome allowing Figure 8 Cars to
race three and four wide sometimes through the crossover
intersection! Just imagine a four way stop with NO stoplite and
thats exactly what figure 8 racing is all about! The IOFS
International Outlaw Figure Eight Series is a legitimate racing
series and were looking for sponsors to support the IOFS in 2009
and beyond! To find out more about the IOFS go to
http://www.iofsracing.com/.
If you are a figure 8 racing fan log onto
www.race8.com or the IOFS
website and join our messageboard there. Angie Dickens is on
there as Mrs. Dickens and I am indyracefan as those are our
screennames on www.race8.com.
My friend Harold Adams is Racinhawk on
www.race8.com. Harold does an
awesome job in helping to promote the Sportsdrome (IN) Speedway
in Jeffersonville,Indiana. Harold takes pictures and interviews
drivers every week there and he covers that track better than
any columnist or writer that I know of!
Harold has a thread of posts on
www.race8.com called the The
Hawk's Nest where racefans and drivers have sent in pictures of
famous drivers like Randy Sweet,R.J.Norton Jr.,and many
legendary drivers like Larry and Rance Harmon from the
Sportsdrome Speedway area.Mark Harmon is a very good driver and
has won a few Figure Eight races at the Indianapolis Speedrome
as well.
On www.race8.com
there are also pictures of veteran drivers Mike and Doug Riddle
from the Anderson (IN) Speedway. Doug Riddle has retuned to the
Figure Eight Division at Anderson Speedway and won the
Immediadent Figure Eight Division Feature Saturday July 4th at
Anderson! If you just wanna chitchat about racing or have
news,notes or comments please email me at
indybear37@yahoo.com
. Gotta go see ya at the Races!!!
|
