Auto Locator Racing.com This, That and the other...

Television dictates how a lot of sporting events are presented. It is TV money that keeps a lot of sports alive. With that in mind, auto racing fans may just be facing the prospect of seeing 500-mile races going the way of the Edsel.

When asked if the impact would be good or bad on the sport if the distance was cut on some races, Kyle Petty responded with, “I think one of the reasons we’ve had so much success with NASCAR racing is that NASCAR looks hard at the fans first. Sure, they make the racing as good as they can, and make the ‘playing field’ as level as they can. But what the people watching on television and what the people sitting in the grandstands think is the main thing.

“The question isn’t distance as much as it is time. Five-hundred miles at Talladega (SuperSpeedway) takes about three hours (it is the fastest track on the Cup circuit), but if you tried running 500 miles at Martinsville Speedway (a half-mile track), you would be there all day. That would be way too long.”

There are many that feel some of the Nextel Cup races are way too long. And anytime there is a discussion on races that are too long, Pocono Raceway’s two 500-mile events comes up.

Dr. Joe Mattioli, CEO at Pocono Raceway, is adamant about not wanting to change the distance of his races. However it might come to a point where it is out of his hands.

“We should probably look at making our races fit into a time window. I’m not talking about timed races so much as having the chance to finish the race in, say, two-and-a-half or three hours. It that means cutting the distance on some, well, maybe we need to look at cutting the distance on some.

“Look at Formula One. There has to be a reason they draw so much interest over the world (not so much in the United States) and, while I don’t think it’s everything, it’s a lot of it – the races go about two hours. They come on TV at 7 o’clock in the morning and they are off by 9:30 a.m. – and that’s pre-race, post-race and everything in between.”

With a new TV contract coming up for negotiations and interest from ABC and ESPN along with the current NASCAR TV partners NBC and Fox, NASCAR just may have to make changes in the way they present their races for the TV audiences. That could mean cutting some distance off the races. No more 500 milers. In fact there are some in the industry that feel there should be no races that run longer than 300 miles.

And before you get all excited, if the races are made shorter, don’t look for ticket prices to go down. And that would mean more commercials squeezed into the race coverage because the rights fees would not go down so the networks would have to sell more commercial spots to pay NASCAR their fee.

Television is in charge when it comes to sports on TV and that could very well mean shorter races in the near future.

CLINTON COUNTY GETS RAINED ON. A storm front that moved in from the West soaked the grounds of the Clinton County Speedway forcing speedway officials to cancel the show at 3 p.m. on Friday, June 11th. The rain began to fall at noon on Friday and continued throughout the afternoon and was expected to lapse into the evening hours.

The cancellation was the second of the year due to rain. So far this season, both the Sprint Car and 358 Late Model divisions have yet to have a repeat winner. In sprint car competition, Blane Heimbach of Selinsgrove, Joe Diehl of Mifflintown, Alan Cole of Berwick, Shawn Howe of McVeytown and Vince Snyder of Lewistown have all visited victory lane.

In 358 Late Model competition, Eric Hons of Benton, AY Schilling of Jersey Shore, Dale Schweikart of Linden, Jake Shady of Beech Creek, Justin Cann of Heston and Jeremy Ohl of Jersey Shore are the six different winners in six separate events.

The Clinton County Speedway will return this Friday, June 18th with the running of the Nittany 40 for sprint cars. The 358 Late Models, Pro Stocks, Four Cylinder Enduros and Kids Power-wheel races will comprise the program. Gates will open at 5:15 and racing begins at 7:30. The Pro Stock Summer Championship that was scheduled for June 11th will now take place on Friday June 25th.

For more speedway information, visit the speedway website at clintoncountyspeedway.com

BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY was forced to cancel their Friday night show that included a special appearance for the KARS 358/360 Sprint Car Challenge. No information was released on rescheduling the show.

Friday night, June 18th, it is Hot Tamales Night at Big Diamond Raceway with the NASCAR Modifieds, Sportsman Modifieds and Roadrunners featured in a tripleheader show that starts at 8 p.m.

WILLIAMS GROVE SPEEDWAY was also hit by rain on Friday night and have rescheduled the rained out Twin 20s program for 410 sprint cars to Friday, June 18th at 8 p.m.

The 358s had been scheduled for the 18th but they have been reset for July 9th.

Four time track champion Fred Rahmer, enjoying a great season, is just 50 points behind current point leader Greg Hodnett who is seeking his first title.

Fans will probably not see a return of the Stacker 2 Xtreme Late Model Series to Williams Grove Speedway anytime in the near future. The Sunday, June 6th show, rescheduled from June 5th due to rain, drew a crowd estimated at about 200 people. Apparently the area fans were not that excited about seeing the Xtreme Late Models in action.

A few days earlier the same group performed at New Egypt, NJ Speedway in front of a disappointing turnout of fans. The show scheduled for Hagerstown, MD as part of the same series was rained out.

GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY returns to action on Saturday, June 19th with Zuber Realty Night featuring the NASCAR Modifieds and Late Models in at least 13 events of stock car racing. Racing starts at 7:30 p.m.

Coming up on Sunday, June 27th, 7:30 p.m. the Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek Series stops at Grandview. The 410 sprints will be featured along with the American Racing Drivers Club midgets.

            This past Saturday Kevin Welsh won the 25 lap Scott Powersports United Racing Club sprint car feature race with Ed Aikin a close second. In the 30-lapper for NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Modifieds the win went to Jeff Strunk for the second time this season. Mike Gular took home second place honors.
            SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY officials, fans and race teams will honor the memory of race car driver Joe Whitcomb on Sat., June 19, with a 30-lap tribute event for sprint cars paying $1,571 to win.
            Whitcomb, 35, of Millersburg, succumbed to injuries sustained in a sprint car crash at Selinsgrove Speedway on June 21, 2003.
            The format for the Whitcomb Memorial will include time trials, heat races and a dash to determine the starting lineup for the 30-lap feature. The purse for all 24 starting positions has been increased; the race will pay $171 to start.
            In addition, the leader of each lap will also earn $71 in honor of Whitcomb’s car number, while Dave’s Lawn Care Service is sponsoring $300 to win the dash. Combining the winner’s share and contingencies posted for the Whitcomb Memorial, one sprint car driver could win more than $4,000.
            Joining the sprint cars will be the late models, pro stocks and roadrunners on Timber Wolf Racing Night. Gates will open at 5 p.m., with time trials slated to start at 7 p.m.
            Whitcomb became a regular competitor in sprint car racing at Selinsgrove Speedway in 2001 driving his trademark blue and yellow No. 71 racer. That year Whitcomb was named Selinsgrove Speedway’s Sportsman of the Year.
            Whitcomb won his first sprint car race at Selinsgrove on June 8, 2002, ending the five-race win streak of champion Chad Layton of Harrisburg. Whitcomb followed up that victory with another one on June 22 at Selinsgrove. He also won sprint car races at Williams Grove and Bridgeport Speedways in his career.

At Selinsgrove Speedway on Saturday night Nate Snyder became the first repeat sprint car feature winner of the season taking the 25-lap feature victory. Jeff Rine was tops in the late models for the four time this season. Brad Trump won the 15-lapper for pro stocks and Keith Bissinger won the 12-lap roadrunner race. Auto Locator magazine posted bonus bucks for all the feature winners.

GARY STUHLER won the Tri-Track Shootout main event for Late Models at Hagerstown, MD Speedway on Saturday. It was his 114th career win at Hagerstown. Terry Carlyle won the 15-lap open competition pure stock feature.

On Saturday night at Hagerstown Auto Locator will sponsor the 40-lap Bonebrake Memorial for the Late Models along with features for the Late Model Sportsman and Pure Stocks. Racing starts at 7 p.m.

AT LINCOLN SPEEDWAY Fred Rahmer won his sixth 410 sprint car feature of the season and his 128th career win. Bud Witmer won the Limited Late Model feature and Doug Devilbiss won the Thundercar feature.

On Saturday night it will be Suscom Night with the 410 sprint cars, Thundercars and United Racing Club sprint cars racing with a 7:30 p.m. starting time. There will also be Kids Big Wheel Races.

RYAN RUPP won the Super Sportsman feature at Silver Spring Speedway on Saturday night. That was his first career feature victory. Rodney Clouser was the man to beat in the Street Stocks and no one could so Clouser got the victory in the feature.

Silver Spring Speedway swings back into action on Saturday at 7 p.m. It will be Kids Night with prizes for kids participating in big wheel and bicycle racing. There will be racing for the Super Sportsman, late models and street stocks.

Let us wish all the Dads a great Father’s Day on Sunday. And what could be better than to take Dad out for a local short track racing event this weekend. So many great tracks to choose from. Check out the ads in this issue of Auto Locator.

Ernie Saxton can be reached at Esaxton144@aol.com.