First of all, I want to take a moment and thank each and every person that participated in the Fans on Parade. This was something that started about 20 plus years ago, and over the past several, it had dwindled. This year, we saw growth for the first time in a while, and it was more than the extra people that Mike Brightman and his team brought in.
Bandalero’s, and Pure Stocks, there were more Saturday teams that participated, and it was welcome to see.
I know there are many hours that are spent putting the displays, banners, signs, shirts, costumes, powered cars, and everything else they do together. What a wonderful job everyone put on, and I am grateful.
Kenny Spencer was the chosen one to pilot the Phil’s Propane Pro Stock this past week, and the team worked their tails off to make sure Ken had the best car he could. It surely wasn’t easy though. In practice, Ken was involved in an incident on the track that ended the night for Billy Jorres. Kevin Casper was on hand to help out as much as he could. The rest of the team replaced body parts, suspension parts and got the car on point.
Kenny started deep in the field, but with only one caution, he was able to finish in the top five. Pretty good results for a first time team. It was more than just a birthday present to the former champion, it was Phil’s Propane’s night, and Phil wanted his car out there for all to see. I don’t blame him one bit. He was, after all, sponsoring the night, and it would not do him any good to have his car sitting back at the garage.
As for Kevin, we mentioned a few weeks ago that he was sidelined with an undisclosed injury, 100% unrelated to work or racing, but it is enough to keep him out from behind the wheel. He won’t be back this year, as his focus is to be back to 100% before he competes again. He has a better understanding of what’s really important, and while racing is on the list, it’s not at the top. We invited him up to the tower for the Pro Stock race, but was unable to get away from the team. We will get him up there before the season is over.
The Late Models finished the Crab Manchester Memorial on Saturday, and we watched Ryan Kuhn come of age in his Late Model. We talked over the P.A. during the first caution about how Ryan was either going to have rookie mistakes and have his possible first win go away, or he was going to show that he was ready for the challenges of racing against defending champion and one of the hardest chargers in the division.
As he did with the Legends, he showed he was up for the challenge, and through three or four restarts over the final 5 laps, he held them and everyone else off for his first win of the season, and his first in the Late Models.
Ryan in the second rookie in a row to win in the Late Models, keeping the rookie race as hot as the championship race. He and Jake Johnson have been consistently running at or near the top of the field week after week. It has been exciting to watch, and it will continue to be until the end of September.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be in the house this week. 150 laps of action along with the Late Models, Sportsman and Sport Trucks joining the schedule, while the Pro Stocks have the night off. Last year, Tim Solomito walked through the gates for the very first time and became a quick study, getting by Doug Coby just past halfway and went on to win.
This year, my prediction is that the winner of the 150 lap event will be a first time winner on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
Our final on track Meet and Greet with the Stars and Cars will be on the first Saturday in September, a week from Saturday. All of our Friday and Saturday teams are welcome to join us for this event, as they always are.
with Race Voice