SPRINTFREAK'S TRAVELS 7.26.99
Hello sprint fans, its time for another edition of sprintfreak's travels. This week we will answer last weeks poll questions and give some good info about what is going on in the world of sprintcar racing.
Let's start with the big rumor of the last
couple of weeks. Is Ted Johnson going to buy
out the All-stars and make them a support
division for the World of Outlaws. Most
people I have talked to say its a done deal
and that they are just waiting til' the end
of the year to announce it. One race
columnist said that NAPA auto parts will be
the sponsor of the new series and that the
Outlaws will be able to compete on off WoO
nights without losing any points. I like that
idea! But my main concern is this, I have
heard that Ted is going to make the main
Outlaw schedule only two day or three day
events and the NAPA Outlaws are going to be a
bunch of single day events all over the
country. What I find happening here is this,
many of the smaller teams who count on the
All-stars for regional competition will not
be able to afford to follow the series
anymore. They will be forced back into local
racing or forced to compete on an even more
limited schedule than before, this is not
good! Plus, now when they show up to a NAPA
event they never know who will be there to
compete against, it may be Steve and Sammy or
even Mark! What chance will the little guy
have of winning? None!
But I guess this is all progress in Ted's
eyes.
I have also heard that Ted is thinking about
letting Nascar buy a stake in the World of
Outlaws. Once again, this scares me a little.
With the power that Nascar has over venues
and ticket prices, the sprint fan can kiss
the days of seeing a top quality sprint show
for $25-$30 goodbye forever! If Nascar gets
their hands on the Outlaws, look for ticket
prices in the range of $50-$60, and events to
be held on the same weekends as Nascar races
only!
Most of midwest fans don't want to go
down south just to catch an Outlaw race!
Anyway, we will have to wait and see how this
plays out, should be interesting!
On to this weekends results,
In Central Pa. on Friday at the Grove it was
Todd Shaffer who then turned around and won
at the Port the very next night! Great job
Todd!
Then on Sunday at Selinsgrove it
was Jeff "the jet" Shepard putting an end to
Fast Freddie's win steak at the big half
mile.
In Western Pa. and Ohio it was Racin' Ralphie Spithaler winning at Lernerville on Friday. On Saturday it was Joe McEwen at Mercer, Ed Lynch Jr. at Challenger, Chad Kemenah at K-C, and Jamie McKinney picking up career win number one at Sportsman's. Way to go Jamie! On Sunday it was Crankin' Craig Rankin at Tri-city and Chad Kemenah taking the honors at Sharon.
On the All-star tour it was Kenny Jacobs picking up the win at I-96 on Friday, then after a rain out on Saturday, Frankie Kerr picked up the victory on Sunday at I-96. Good to see Frankie back in victory lane!
As for the Outlaws it was Danny "the dude" Lasoski picking up the victory at the State Fair Speedway in Missouri and The Wild Child climbing back to victory lane with an impressive win at I-55 Speedway. The real story here was Daryn Pitman in the #47. The past couple of weeks the #47 team has been flyin'. At I-55 Daryn started 12th and was actually leading for a while before Jac got by him for the win. It is only a matter of time before this kid gets his first win. Also an interesting sidenote to the #47 team. From what I hear a couple of weeks ago the crew of the #47 went to team owner Gil Sonner and said "you need to get rid of this kid!" Gil said he was going to stick with Daryn and so the crew gave Gil a choice, "its either him or us?" Well you know how this ends already, Gil fired the entire crew and hired a new one and now Daryn is on a tear! Way to go Gil! Not enough owners stick behind the driver anymore, the crew complains and the driver is history, but not in this case and Gil Sonner needs to be applauded!
Well the answers to last weeks poll questions are:
Who has the best looking car in the country? The results may surprise you, they sure surprised me!
1) Ed Lynch Jr.'s 2L was the top vote getter
with more than 75% of the votes.
2) Danny Lasoski's #83 Beef Packers car was
second with a little less than 15%
3) The Chesson brother's #76 & #22 were third
at about 5%
No other car recieved more than 2%
Who is the most disliked driver in the country?
1) Sammy Swindell with 80% of the vote.
2) Steve Kinser with 10%
3) Fred Rahmer with 7%
4) Frankie Kerr with 2%
No other driver had more than 1%
This weeks questions:
Who would you vote for if the National Rookie of the year was decided as of right now?
Which track has the "raciest surface in the country"?
Well thats it for this week. I will be going to the Freedom 40 at K-C Raceway next weekend and then to Sharon Speedway on Sunday evening. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend of sprintcar racing and we will see you next week. Until then, happy sprintcar racing!
You can e-mail your answers to sprintfreak@hotmail.com
