Status Unsure for Lorain Legends Event

Given my current teaching obligations, and semester-end obligations for classes I am taking at Kent State, our status is unsure for the Northern Ohio Legends event at Lorain County Speedway this weekend.

Watch this spot for the latest news regarding our status for this event.

R.I.P. David Poole

As I listened to Sirius Speedway this afternoon, I noticed that Mike Bagley and Dave Moody were speaking of David Poole in past tense. The first thing that crossed my mind was that he either quit or was let go from Sirius. As the conversation went on, it became obvious that this was much more serious. I was saddened to hear that David Poole, host of the Morning Drive on Sirius, had passed away this afternoon.

I listened to David Poole every morning on the way to work, literally since NASCAR moved to Sirius. I admired his "tell-it-like-it-is" style, and he wasn't afraid to ruffle some feathers, yet he was also known as a very caring and generous person. He made us laugh; he made us mad at times, too, but he was the best NASCAR writer around.

I will miss hearing Mike Bagley ask David Poole how he was doing, and most mornings the reply would be "living the dream". Our thoughts and prayers go out to our entire NASCAR family over this sad loss.

Good Time at Barberton Speedway

Barberton, OH After struggling with arthritis the last couple of weeks, I was feeling much better this week. Combine that with a new driver's suit made of new "breathable" Nomex, and I haven't been this comfortable in a car in quite a while.

The night began with Barberton Speedway's annual autograph session. My wife, Rebecca, our daughters Hannah and Lauren, and Rebecca's mom were in attendance and had a great time. I gave each kid (and some adults, too) who stopped by one of our 2009 baseball cards.

I just have not had enough seat time at the track to rum competitively, so I treated the event like a giant hot lap session, and I was picking up speed as the night went on. I finished 7th in the Heat Race and 12th in the Feature. The best part is that I am getting some much-needed seat time there, and I brought the car home in one piece.

Special thanks to Dave Spotton, normally the driver of the #41 Legends car, for all his help last night.

Up next: Lorain County Speedway - May 2nd.

Up Next: Barberton Speedway

Barberton, OH This Saturday, April 25, we will race in the Northern Ohio Legends event at Berberton Speedway in Barberton, OH. It is also the speedway's Autograph Night. Get your 2009 CSR Autograph Card (pictured at right) during the autograph session. Hope to see you there!

Pain Continues at Lorain

South Amherst, OH Due to continuing frustrating issues with arthritis, we did not run in the Lorain Northern Ohio Legends race on April 11. I am taking steps to minimize the effects and am planning to race in the Northern Ohio Legends event at Barberton Speedway on April 25.

Up Next: Lorain County Speedway

South Amherst, OH This Saturday, April 18, we will race in the Northern Ohio Legends Series event at Lorain County Speedway's Opening Night. We had a great run there at the Cavalcade last fall.

Happy Easter

Here's wishing all of you a very Happy Easter.

Painful Start to Our 2009 Season at Barberton

Barberton, OH An extremely busy winter slowed our preparations for the 2009 season, but that didn't keep us from racing in the first Northern Ohio Legends event at Barberton Speedway. The car was completed just in time to head to the speedway, but it would prove to be the least of our worries Saturday night.

I periodically suffer from bouts of arthritis, but have been extremely fortunate in the last 13 years as I have not had it interfere with racing... until Saturday night. From the moment I got into the car for hot laps, I was in serious pain. My ankles. knees and back were giving me fits all evening long.

I practiced the car once, and it was a lot better than I was. I decided to sit out the heat, as I was in no shape to drive the car at that point. I climbed into the car about 30 minutes before our feature, and tried to get as comfortable as possible. I then proceeded to run the first 11 laps of the feature until the pain became too much.

So, even though the driver wasn't up to par, we ended up passing a couple of cars, earned enough to pay our pit pass and brought the car home in one piece. It could have been a lot worse.

(Photo by Chris Nicastro)

#85 on Display at Cleveland AutoRama

Cleveland, OH We are pleased to announce that our #85 Legends car will be on display at the Cleveland AutoRama, from March 20-22, 2009. We will be sharing a space with fellow Legends racer Dave Spotton, who will also have his completely rebuilt #41 Legends car on display. Hope to see you there!

UPDATE: We won first- and second-place awards in our class, with Dave Spotton's car taking the top honors!

Our 2009 Race Schedule

Date	Event
March 20-22	Cleveland Auto-Rama
March 28	Barberton Speedway Test and Tune
April 4	Barberton Speedway Test and Tune
April 11	Barberton Speedway - Season Opener
April 18	Lorain County Speedway
April 25	Barberton Speedway Autograph Night
May 2	Lorain County Speedway
May 9	Barberton Speedway
May 16	Midvale Speedway
May 23	Barberton Speedway
May 30	Lorain County Speedway
June 6	Barberton Speedway
June 13	Lorain County Speedway
June 20	CSR not racing Series at Midvale Speedway
June 27	Barberton Speedway
July 4	Lorain County Speedway
July 11	CSR not racing Series at Barberton Speedway
July 18	Lorain County Speedway
July 25	Barberton Speedway Tim Boswell Championships
August 1	Open Date
August 8	Barberton Speedway
August 15	Lorain County Speedway
August 22	Barberton Speedway
August 29	Midvale Speedway
September 5	Barberton Speedway
September 12	Lorain County Speedway

Great Finish to Season at Lorain County

South Amherst, OH After finishing 13th at Barberton on September 27th, we were off to Lorain County Speedway this weekend for the Halloween Festival of Speed. We had nice finish to our 2008 season.

The car was very loose in the first set of hot laps. We made some changes, and the car ran much better in the second set. I finished 5th in the heat, just behind the battle for the lead. I started on the pole for the feature, leading the field into turn one. I lifted too soon and ended up getting turned around. On the restart, I took the lead and led the first five laps of the feature, ultimately finishing 7th.

Dave Spotton, in the #41 Legends car, also had a great night, leading laps in his heat and finshing 5th in the feature. Many thanks to Jeff Gibeault, who joined us in the pits, and also took some amazing photos I will share with you soon.

Deerfield - A Fun Time

With all I have going on it's hard to keep this blog going, but we had such a great experience at this place that I just had to take time out to write about it:

The Northern Ohio Legends Series was off a few weeks ago, so Dave Spotton and I decided to go to Deerfield Raceway, in Deerfield, OH. We had heard some good things about the place, and after all, several classes of little race cars were right up our alley.

Dave and I decided to sit in the stands and act like spectators for once. This was the first time I had sat in the stands as a spectator outside the pits since I began racing in 1996. The first thing that caught our eye was how well the place was maintained. Then, we saw kids climbing all over Little Tikes toys just inside the entrance. In fact, there were kids everywhere. It was Kids' Bike Race #3 Night, and there were bicycles everywhere as well.

The car counts were good, too. We were entertained - yes, entertained (I will get to that in a minute) by several classes of little race cars, including Mini-Sprints, Mini-Mods, Dwarfs and one of our favorites, the "Kids' Karts," which are go-karts that look like little sprint cars. The competition was amazing in that class, and because the cars were so quiet, you could hear everyone cheering the kids on. And, to see the kids walking around in those little drivers' suits, well, it was just cool. The other classes simply fly around that track, and entertained us with some great racing.

It's no coincidence that I keep using the word "entertainment." For those of you who know me, you know that I feel like racing is just as much as show as it is a race, and Deerfield "entertains." At one point Dave said, "This is like a Captains game!" For any of you who have attended a Captains game, you know what I am talking about. The announcer, Tim Phillips, of WQMX Radio, entertained the crowd. He has a great sense of humor and kept us laughing all night. And, when every feature winner pulled up to the flag stand, he was down on the track before the car stopped and made each winner sound like they were the greatest thing on wheels. Then, he handed them the mic and let them talk as long as they wanted. Tim "gets it."

The Millers were class acts as racers, and their track is a class act as well. While I'm not suggesting you pass up one of the upcoming Northern Ohio Legends races, check out Deerfield Speedway the next time we have an off week. I bet you'll have a much fun as we did.