BLOG: Border Patrol – A weekly look at racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands
Craig Revelle – November 13, 2011 — The final racing related event of 2011 for me in terms of racing will come this weekend at the annual Parts Peddler trade show at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. Many local race teams check out the show for the latest and greatest in racing from all different types of manufacturers and product vendors. I plan to go on Saturday to promote Finish Line Web Design, and will talk to drivers, other race fans, and people from the racing industry. It is always nice to keep in touch with the racing circle, and this will be the final time to be able to see many racing friends until next season.
While the 2012 season seems like an eternity away, I am still able to get my racing fix with racing events over the past couple week on television. The race from Super DIRT Week in Syracuse was shown tape-delayed on Speed TV at the end of October, and just a week later Speed also covered the events from the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway as the Big Block Modified Super DIRTcar Series and World of Outlaw Sprint Cars and Late Models all wrapped up the 2011 season. It was great to see the coverage of our local racing, but my only complaint was that they didn’t show the events live. The Modified feature, which happened to be one of the best races of the entire weekend was long over before it finally hit the TV. However, with that being said, I will take later coverage over no coverage any day, and was very happy that the race was on, and also happy with the information and knowledge from the entire Speed TV broadcasting crew.
Of course, as a race fan, I follow along with the drama in the world of NASCAR. You would had to have been hiding under a rock the last two weeks if you are not yet aware of the incidents surrounding Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Hornaday was battling for a championship, and after an on track racing incident between the two drivers, Busch blatantly came up to the Hornaday truck under caution and proceeded to wreck him despite several pleas from his spotter over the radio not to do it. NASCAR made a statement by suspending Busch for the remainder of the weekend, and later fined him $50,000. The repercussions didn’t end there, as Kyle’s primary sponsor M&M’s withdrew their sponsorship for the final two races, and his Nationwide Series sponsor made it clear they did not want Kyle in their car the rest of this season.
In the past, I have given Kyle the benefit of the doubt. He shows passion and emotion when he is on the track, and is certainly a colorful character off the track, and a valuable asset in a sport where many of its drivers seem rather bland. The punishment he received from NASCAR, telling him that he can’t race was definitely justified, and no doubt hurt him more then any other monetary fine, or discipline that they could dish out. Telling a racer that he can’t race is tough to take, and I’m sure that the younger of the two Busch siblings learned a very valuable lesson and will move on.
I spent this past Sunday watching the second last race of the NASCAR season, in hopes that my driver, Matt Kenseth would be able to work his way back into contention for the championship. Unfortunately it didn’t work out, and for the second time in the last few weeks he got taken out by Brian Vickers. Vickers is looking for a ride in 2012, and will be watching from the sidelines if he continues to make an ass of himself on the track.
Getting back to our local racing, Luke Whitteker has been part of the Race 101 program in North Carolina this year, learning all aspects of racing from chassis setup and other technical sides to the sport as well as off track skills like marketing and communication. Luke is currently in a Social Networking contest amongst his peers and would love to have your help. Simply go to the Whitteker Motorsports Facebook page at www.facebook.com/lukewhittekermotorsports and click on the “like” button. Whitteker just recently took part in the final week of the program, and had the opportunity to test a Race 101 prepared Late Model at the famed Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, North Carolina.
I look forward to seeing many of you at the Parts Peddler show this coming weekend. I will be back with another report before the Holiday Season. Until next time, I wish you all the very best.
I hope you continue to enjoy my weekly column, as always, any comments or suggestions can be sent to crevelle@ripnet.com. Please feel free to check out my website, www.finishlinewebdesign.ca. You can also follow my live up to the minute racing coverage via twitter right on the main page of my website, through Facebook at www.facebook.com/crevelle or by following the link on the main page of www.dirttrackdigest.com for full coverage of racing events throughout the DIRTcar racing community. If you would like a website for your race team or small business, send me a message and I will get back to you.
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