|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| June's Southwest Report by June Lowitz |
|
|
|
Midseason Recap |
|
July 9, 2005...Here it is already the middle of the racing season and I'm still
saying where did this year go. It seems like just
yesterday I was upset over missing the New Years race at Tucson
where Josh Pelkey won over Jeremy Sherman. Now, it's past July
4th, it's definitely summer here and time just keeps flying by.
What can we say about the Shermanator? 2005 is turning out
to be the Year of the Shermanator. Jeremy didn't seem to
lose any momentum over the off season and picked up where he
left off in 2004. Jeremy has won 8 races to date this year
driving the #77 Fred Bryan owned, F & E Development, Dream
Office Solutions, Impact and Arizona Race Mart sponsored car.
Even with his one race suspension earlier this year, that has
just added to his determination, in my opinion. Jeremy is
an awesome driver and Fred Bryan seems to know exactly how
Jeremy wants the car set up and gives Jeremy one great car to do
his job in. After watching Jeremy for years, it's nice to
see that he has some great equipment under him and is able to
show how good his talent is. It can only be a matter of
time before he goes to USAC/CRA or the USAC regional series.
Jeremy doesn't just win with ASCA either. Memorial Day
weekend he went down to Tucson to race with the USAC Vs Hawaii
deal and he won that show over Johnny Herrera and Ricky Hood and
Rick Ziehl. Week in and week out, Jeremy is a strong
contender. Jeremy is a very gracious winner and never
seems to mind talking to his fans. He is one driver who
seems easy to find and talk to and most always has a big smile
on his face after the races. Jeremy has a nice sized point
lead right now over second place in points Josh Pelkey.
Josh Pelkey is one who has really come on strong this year.
Josh is the 1997 ASCA champion who is really showing his
champion ways. Josh is driving the #52 Total Seal Piston
Rings car. Josh is really on a roll. Josh has only
finished out of the top 10 in the main event once this year and
that was the first race of the season when he finished 13th.
Josh has yet to win a main event this year, but the season isn't
over yet and the longer the season goes on, the stronger Josh
is.
There has been a first time main event winner in the first half
of the 2005 season. Matt Rossi won the Firecracker 50 at
Manzanita on 7/2/05. The track was dry, slick and took
rubber and Matt really seemed to not use up his tire until the
right time and he won the race. Watching a first time
winner cross the line is exciting but you never know what they
will do on the cool down lap. Matt ended up blowing his
tire after his win so he wasn't able to do much but the look on
his face said it all. The excitement and exhilaration
showed for him. Matt drives the #02 Apache Scapes, Paint
by Steve; BRT Signs, Advance Engine Components sponsored car.
Matt has been a strong contender this year and his win proves
it.
Bob Ream, Jr., a driver who seems to be having an on again off
again type of season. He started the year out great by
getting a win and being in the top 10 most of the time.
Then it seems like he's had problems. He did have one
scare and that was when his steering broke in the main event and
his car made an abrupt right turn and took him straight into the
front stretch wall. It looked and sounded worse than it
was thankfully. Bob took a couple of weeks off to rebuild
the car and when he brought it back out it was one of those
"OH MY GOSH!!!" Bob has completely repainted the
car a school bus yellow with black stripes and it looks
beautiful. Bob went back to Pennsylvania to help out a
friend back there during PA's sprint week so he didn't make the
7/4 race. He said he will be back racing with ASCA on
7/16.
A driver who continues to improve each week that is now being
looked at as a contender to get his first win and that is Bernie
"The Berndog" Smith. Bernie drives the #14
Favorite Trucking Systems; Kary Cherry Inc., ABC Body Shop,
Advanced Engines sponsored car. Bernie Smith is one of
those drivers who does it all himself, who would gladly welcome
another sponsor on board and he's a driver who will well
represent someone's company. Bernie is one of those
drivers that I've been watching since I moved here and started
going to the ASCA races in late 2002. He is a driver who is very
critical of himself but always has a big smile on his face after
the races and is an easy driver to talk to. Bernie has
great looking T-shirts too so be sure to go by his pit and buy
one. I don't remember what he's asking for, but just tell
him I sent you down to get one and you want the "June"
discount. Bernie will also have cards for everyone soon so
be sure to check with him to get his merchandise.
Jeff Henry is a driver who is starting to come on strong as the
year goes by. Jeff drives the #12 Robbie Allen owned, ABC
Body Shop, Maxima Oils, Arizona Towman, Larry's Carpets, www.abcmotorsports.com
Sponsored car. Jeff was able to catch his second win this
year and I think that helped to turn things around for the ABC
Motorsports team. Ever since that win, they seem to be
doing so much better. After a disappointing season last
year, this team is really showing what they are capable of.
Jeff Henry is one of the nicest people to meet in the pits.
He and his wife Cindy are always nice and pleasant and rarely
seem angry or upset over what happens on the track. Jeff
and Cindy have introduced me to so many people I can't ever say
thank you enough. Of course, I can't say anything about
Jeff and Cindy without mentioning their 2 sons, Devon and Chase.
Both boys are very into Dad racing and are big supporters. It's
been great seeing Robbie Allen's family at the track too.
Here's another team who is turning the sprint car racing into a
family affair. This team is all about family as well as
winning. It's great to see the whole family get involved
in what used to be just a "dad's" sport.
We can't forget to mention our two "celebrity" racers,
Scott Pasmore and Bruce St. James. Scott Pasmore is the
news anchor for Channel 3 TV here in the Phoenix area.
Scott really does a great job at mentioning ASCA and the racing.
Scott drives the #10 Checker Auto, Outback Steakhouse, Purcell's
Tires, Brown Family Communities, Desert Valley Auto Parts car.
For a second year driver Scott continues to improve on a weekly
basis. Scott came to ASCA from mini sprints and I'm sure
that helped him but going from a small car like a mini sprint to
a sprint car takes some adjusting to and Scott's doing it well.
You can find Scott in the pits signing autographs for everyone
and talking to his fans from TV as well as racing too.
Bruce St. James is our other "celebrity" racer.
Bruce has a radio talk show on KTAR 620 radio called "Bruce
St. James Has Issues." Boy, does Bruce have some
issues. If you aren't in the Phoenix area you can go to www.ktar620.com
and follow the directions on how to listen to Bruce. Bruce
doesn't talk about racing all of the time as he talks about
current affairs, but he does manage to talk about racing
sometimes. I've been lucky enough to get through as a
caller a couple of times and I've had some fun with Bruce.
He's a very gracious talk show host and even if you don't agree
with what he's saying, he will listen to your viewpoint.
Bruce drives the beautiful self owned 7K car sponsored by Klein
Engines. This year Bruce has Whitey Owens as a crew chief
on his car and it's showing. Bruce continues to improve
each week as a driver now that Whitey is doing the wrenching.
Bruce has a heat race win under his belt and is making the
transfer to the main event on a regular basis. Bruce is
another driver who has some awesome looking shirts that are a
must for any racing fan. Many times after the races you
can find Bruce talking to his fans, both racing fans and fans
from his radio program. Bruce will tell it like it is and
he's very critical of himself often times blaming himself before
he will blame anything else if he didn't have a good night.
All in all Bruce is a fun person to talk to after the races.
Make sure you tune into his radio show as well as follow his
racing.
I've noticed this year we have 3 drivers that come into Phoenix
to race with the ASCA. Mike Martin from Yuma, Jay Ervine
from Las Vegas, Bobby Boone from Bakersfield, California and
Larry Lloyd from Lake Elsinore, California. The drivers
say they make the drive because not only do they like to race,
but they like racing with ASCA.
Larry Lloyd is Larry Lloyd, Jr., the Lloyd Family who has been
in racing since I was a child. I've known Larry Lloyd Sr
since I was a child and he used to race when my dad was a crew
chief. It's been fun getting reacquainted with the Lloyds.
I sit with Larry's Mom Mrs. Lloyd and Marci, Larry's sister in
the stands. In the pits with Larry, Jr., can find Mr.
Lloyd (AKA Larry, Sr.), and Mark, Marci's boyfriend, when Mark
can make the races. This is a family owned team where the
whole family pitches in to help get the car to the track.
Unfortunately, Larry doesn't have any sponsors yet and is
looking for any assistance that anyone can give him.
Towing from California to here is a big cost especially when you
factor in gasoline, eating out and the hotel rooms. If
anyone is interested in helping Larry out, please email me and I
can put you in contact with the family. They are a great
racing family. Mrs. Lloyd told me that Mr. Lloyd would
rather come and race with ASCA than stay home and go to one of
the Calif. tracks and race because "the people here are so
nice and friendly." Let's really show the Lloyd's how
friendly we are and see if we can help them out.
ASCA as a racing association seems to be doing great this year.
In 2005, they've been averaging 30 cars per night. Not too
many associations can make that statement. Another thing
is that they are really trying to make the racing as fan
friendly as possible. They really strive to make sure the
racing doesn't drag out for hours on end and they keep the
drivers and crews hopping in the pits. Kudos to the people
that work so hard on a weekly basis to make this happen.
It's been nice getting home from the races early rather than
stumbling in at 2 am or later.
As for me, I've been doing a bit of traveling this year to see
racing. I went to California earlier this year to watch
the USAC/CRA at Perris. I went to Tucson for the USAC Vs
Hawaii race. Tucson is a great fan friendly facility but
I'm hoping that they make some much needed improvements to the
racing surface so that there can be some 2 groove racing there.
This month I'm taking next weekend and going to Ventura to go
and watch the VRA sprints, USAC WS Midgets and Ford Focus
Midgets race. I'm also hoping to make the Bagley Memorial
race at Perris in August, the ASCA show and USAC/CRA show at
Tucson, The Wagsdash at Ventura and I think that will end my
traveling for racing this year. I'm deciding as to if I'm
going to go to the Oval Nationals this year. For once I
was able not only to get the time off of work to go to the Oval
Nationals but the time off for the Western World Championship
race as well. Decisions, decisions.
I want to take this time to thank a few people for keeping me
going these past 6 months. First off to my roommate and
racing bud Sandra. I've turned her into a fan of the races
and I really enjoy having a friend to share the races with.
Special thanks go out to Bruce St. James for his emails and
thoughts and encouragement to me. Thanks Bruce!!
Thanks to Robbie Allen for putting my column on his website.
Robbie is another one when I think I don't want to write or just
am not in the mood to do it, he's one who can change my mood and
get me writing again.
Jeff and Cindy Henry... Thanks for just being there and talking
with me. Jeff, thanks for the encouragement and your
thoughts and opinions when I need them. Cindy, thanks for
being such a good friend and "baby-sitter" when I
needed one. Devon .. don't give your Dad too hard of a
time now. Chase, my Tony Stewart buddy...I'm working on
something for ya.
Bullet.. thanks for your emails and great directions to tracks
when I need them. It's fun emailing you and thanks for
letting me in on the secret. See.. I told ya I could keep
one. I can't wait to see the new car on the track again.
Thanks to all my friends who put up with me when I need to write
and when I ignore you. I don't mean to be rude but there
are times when I need to get some things down.
I'll see you either at Ventura on 7/16 or Manzy on 7/23.
Keep the faith and email me if you have any thoughts, ideas or
criticisms... ASCAJune@aol.com
|
