Speedweeks 2004

07/30/04

 

            Well, speedweeks is over. At least our Northern New England version of speedweeks is over. Every year in the middle of July we pack up the campers and spend roughly a combined week at Oxford Plains Speedway for The biggest short track race in these parts and then at NHIS for one of our most exciting BNS weekends of the season. As much fun as the two week period is, it’s almost a relief to have it end just so we can get some rest and get back to some sort of normal lifestyle. The most important part of our whole racing endeavor is to have fun and be able to write a column that someone else can read and get some sort of enjoyment out of. Being of the mind that you can never have too much information floating around in the old cranium, I also always try to make each race weekend a learning experience. What follows are some of the important, non-important, or totally useless things I learned over the past two weeks.

            A Ford Tempo with no rear suspension and 1000 pounds of beer-filled male adults inside is not a pretty sight even if it is painted up to look like the Nextel Cup Champion’s racecar!

            If you park the same Ford Tempo next to the Matt Kenseth souvenir trailer, you will get more stares than a fat woman in Spandex.

            Just because Ted Christopher can take the pole for and win the Featherlite Modified race, and just because he can qualify and run the Cup race at NHIS doesn’t mean he can race his way into the OPS 250. That has to be frustrating.

            The new $100 camping fee at NHIS had an effect. No one stayed home because of it but the ones that did camp were more interested than usual in getting their money’s worth. Many of them stayed until Monday morning, totally changing the traffic pattern and really screwing up those of us who thought we’d miss the traffic jam by leaving early Monday morning.

            There were too many cars with duplicate numbers at the OPS 250. There were 7 or 8 cars with the number 24 on them. There were under 100 cars entered. That equals more than enough numbers to go around. Would someone please buy a roll of duct tape?!

            It is sometimes illegal to drink and drive even on private property. (I told you some of this information was important)

            If you plaster KFC decals all over the car of a certain very talented Busch driver who used to drive the “Seawatch” car, someone is going to start in with the “Chicken of the Sea” jokes.

            Matt Kobyluck is an equal opportunity driver. Matt hit the wall quite hard in the BGN race and just to balance things out he took an identical-looking BNS car and pounded the wall at the opposite end of the speedway in the very next race. This, too, had to be frustrating.

            You’ve got to look pretty darn hard to beat the “buy one, get two free” ice deal at the New Hampshire Cumby’s, I harassed the New Hampshire folks for years about their apparent lack of ice, now they appear to be making amends.

            Martin Truex Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. wear the same size driving suit and use the same size seat. Would that driver change have been as easy if Michael Waltrip had been getting out of the car and Bobby Hamilton Jr. had been getting in? That move would have caused some giggles!

            Speaking of Bobby Hamilton Jr. PPI announced that Bobby next season would replace Ricky Craven in the Tide car. One writer’s comment was that all dressed up in his new uniform, it will be hard to tell Bobby from a large-size bottle of Tide as they are both about the same size.

As always, send Questions, Comments, Hate Mail, and Indecent Proposals to, Fish c/o Busch North Scene or e-mail them to fishy@ctel.net