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Hammmerdown USA website - January 17,2006
http://www.hammerdownusa.com
Positivity -Overdose That's what the Chili Bowl is. by Bobby Gerould - Four
nights of midget racing at the 1/5-mile dirt oval inside the Tulsa Expo Center is
exciting, long, thrilling, and exhausting all at the same time. I feel worn out. I can
only imagine what the people associated with the teams are feeling. Probably like
"junk parts" as my friend Brian Sperry likes to say. …The
best part of the deal for me is getting a chance to see racers from all over in a
competitive situation where a driver really has to be up on his or her game to perform
well. I saw potential in so many drivers. Where to begin? Brian Gard is a
good place. The Kelseyville, CA pilot of his own #57 was exciting in moving through
several early events. He rode the rim in his own express lane and showed me more than I
had previously known he possessed. …Trey Robb is a kid that the
locals in Tulsa know all about. Just 13 years-old - he could barley see over the dash in
his midget #12. But that didn't seem to matter. It was his throttle control and ability to
look very much in command of his car that impressed me. He has been racing winged 360's in
the Southwest. …Obviously - the winner Tim McCreadie is a fast dude.
Once in front of the A-main he ran away. …Damion Gardner was really
getting the hang of running a midget, the more laps he ran. He threw slide jobs at all in
front of him and he cleared darn near every one. …Johnny Rodriguez
made the Saturday 50-lap finale. J-Rod (Ponch) was steering for Mark Priestly in the sweet
#7 ride. …Wally Pankratz called it a career after a stirring
high-side run to advance from the C-Main to the B-main. The 60 year old Pankratz threw
caution aside to bounce back from being bounced out of a transfer spot. …For only
racing one dirt event a year, P.J. Jones was spectacular. He drove to a podium finish on
his preliminary night. …Josh Wise had me all excited with his run
from 21st into the top four in Saturday's A-Main. The winner of the 2003 Belleville Midget
Nationals is back with MOPAR in 2006. …Cole Whitt from Alpine, CA
looked like he had been running a midget his entire life. Never mind that Whitt was a raw
rookie at the Chili Bowl. …Brady Bacon was another kid that I
enjoyed watching. …Veteran driver Wayne Johnson was the show. The
driver who is usually exciting fans at Knoxville Raceway in a winged sprint car was a
Chili Bowl Rookie. He dazzled with a ridiculous drive from the 2nd F-main all the way to
the feature event. …Steve Buckwalter, an East Coast gasser out of
the ARDC midget ranks showed his obvious skills in the little cars. …The racing got
done too late almost each night. I understand. There are 260 freaking cars there - so it
is going to take some time to get the shows in. But maybe they should look at adding a
fifth night of racing so that there is less racing each night. I firmly believe each track
should shoot for getting done by 9:30 PM. Start earlier if you have to. Tommy
Estes Jr. does a great job from "Race Control". I know this because I
sat next him each night. We (Johnny Gibson and I) were working on Greg
Stephens' DVD coverage of the 20th annual event so we shared the press box with
Estes, Steve Sinclair and super PR ace Lonnie Wheatley .
It is easy to see why Sinclair is so highly thought of. He works with the drivers rather
than against them. Plus - he brought me a hamburger on Saturday. : ))) Wheatley's work is
always excellent. His pre-race work on the Chili Bowl was the base for all the homework I
did for the race. ...Travel Guide for the Chili Bowl (January 10-15, 2006) …Racing
got in the way of my fun time, leaving only Wednesday's opening night as a chance for me
to hit the infamous Elephant Run which is attached to the local Best Western motel. The
joint's lobby was raging at 3:30 am when I left that morning. ...
I FLEW Southwest Airlines from Sac to Las Vegas - then Vegas to Tulsa. I had the pleasure
of chatting with Kyle Larson and
his parents at the LV airport. Kyle is a young racer that we will all be blessed to see
race midgets, or sprints someday in the near future. The kid ran 80-plus races in 2005 and
won over 30 of his features. The way I understand it, Larson runs Outlaw Karts, and
Mini-Sprints. …Once in Tulsa, or "T-town" as they called it
on the local hip-hop radio station, I checked in to the Days Inn which was pre-arranged
for me. Okay - it wasn't that bad. But I would be lying to you if I said I was totally
comfy at this old motel. I did have a mini-fridge, and a microwave. It also got some
respect from me because of the soda machine that dispensed cold Mountain Dew for 65 cents
a can! The soda machine was mere steps from my door. I did not care for the yellow stained
caulking in the bathroom, or the mushy mattress, and pillows. (Comfort is a big deal to
your boy when he is away from his own casa). Because we got done so late each night - I
ate Denny's. Lots of Denny's. The 24 hour restaurant sits alongside the Days Inn. Upon
arrival Tuesday night near midnight I had a club sandwich. I gave the girl at the register
a $10 dollar bill and she gave me change like I had given her a $20. Let's hear it for
honesty. I told her of her mistake - hoping to get some good karma going. …At the
track Wednesday - I ate a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich from the Tulsa Expo Center
concession stand. It was okay. After the races - I had time to venture elsewhere - but I
ate at Denny's so I could hitch a ride to the "ER" with Gibson. This night it
was a Super Bird. That is a Turkey sandwich with cheese on grilled sourdough bread. Again
- it was okay - like most stuff from Denny's is. The Elephant Run was quite an experience.
I'll leave it at that. It was fun to chat with the Eckert Brothers, and
Gibby's friend Wendy of Ron's Transmissions fame. My homey Paul
McMahan, and his bride Jan, Bud Kaeding, Damion
Gardner, Dean Mills, Casey Shuman, J.T.
Imperial, Michael Trimble, Chucky Cypert, (Big)
Tommy, Steve Gomez, and Gary Taylor
were just some of the people I enjoyed rapping with. …Thursday included some deep
slumber before hitting the track. I ate a slice of Dominoes Pizza at the track - and then
had a Turkey Leg (not as good as Knoxville). Denny's Chicken Fried Steak was the dining
choice after the event. Another trip to Elephant Run was on-hold because of a relatively
early crew call the next morning. …Friday I sat and B.S.ed with Bill Woodside
of Sprint Car & Midget Magazine. Woodside is a good cat that that tells me all kinds
of cool stuff about what is going on back in his home state of Pennsylvania. That
afternoon I dined at some random Chinese place called the Egg Roll (Station?). I should
have known better. For some reason - fried rice in Oklahoma comes out yellow. Do they use
Saffron rice? The cashew chicken was equally so-so. Do I ever eat something great?
…Again I knew we had a 12-hour day at the track Saturday - with hot laps starting
before noon. Bottom line - no fun after the races Friday night. When I was younger - like
a year ago - maybe I would have said screw it. But I didn't. I got some decent sleep after
another bout of Denny's - this time I did Chicken Fried Chicken. …Saturday I ate a
burger that Sinclair brought me from a guy who Ques it up just outside the building in
turn two. Drop $5 in the guy's donation jar and he'll hook you up with a plate. He served
pork ribs which were tasty. I also had my first taste of Elk meat. The guy said it would
be good - and it was. …The last night of Denny's preceded a quick two hour nap before
a 4:30 am alarm - and off to the airport. I had a crummy middle seat from Tulsa to
Phoenix, and a better deal - but not much better from Phoenix to Sac. Airline travel is
only good in getting you to your destination faster than an automobile. The rest of the
experience generally sucks. ...The USAC Western banquet was held January 7th, 2006 in
Buena Park, CA. The Southern California event was positioned to accommodate the many
USAC/CRA teams that are based in the Los Angeles area. Highlights of the affair included a
spirited acceptance speech from Midget champ - Jerome Rodela. He joked
that he almost didn't want to win the title because he knew he would have to speak at the
banquet. …Audra Sasselli took home the Hard Charger Award in the
Ford Focus class as well as the Most Improved Driver trophy. Upon receiving the M.I.D.
award - Sasselli joked "I guess this means I was really slow last year".
…Focus dirt champion Chase Barber drove a car in 2005 that was
wrenched by his 15 year-old little brother. …Kody Swanson showed
further proof of why he is a special talent when he took the podium to accept his USAC
Western Sprint Car Championship. The 17 year-old, without the benefit of note cards, was
gracious and professional in thanking all the right people. He can think on his feet -
which as we all know - is a part of the deal these days. …I was proud of
Damion Gardner who had a short speech written that thanked all of his many
helpers. Gardner and his Nor-Cal followers from Concord travel 16 and a half hours round
trip each time they run at Perris. Kevin Urton was given a nod by Gardner
for being the guy who first convinced DG to head south sans wing. By the way - we also
learned that Gardner is no longer associated with the Cruz Pedregon
midget team. Chad Kemenah drove the car at the Chili Bowl. …R.J.
Johnson was honored with the USAC/CRA Rookie of the Year award. The 18 year-old
is already a two-time champion in the Arizona Midget Racing Association. …Brad
Galedrige took Rookie of the Year in the Western Midgets. …Tim
Barber from the Western Sprint Car ranks tipped that he still hasn't seen his Ken
Pierson owned new generation Silver Crown car. Barber is a talented pilot from
San Francisco that should do well in the series once they take delivery of their car. …Danny
Sheridan earned the USAC/CRA Hard Charger award for passing the most cars in
A-Main action in the `05 season. …Guests at the USAC Western banquet included J.C.
Agajanian Jr., Don Kazarian, and Floyd Alvis.
…The venue was good in my opinion. It was held at the Knott's Berry Farm Radisson. …Travel
Guide for the trip: I hopped a Southwest flight from Sacramento to Burbank which
was actually the wrong airport to choose in this instance. I should have flown into the
O.C. since the banquet location was in the Northern part of Orange County. Whatever. It
worked out okay - but traffic was bad on Sunday trying to get from Buena Park to Burbank.
I stayed at the Radisson which was a nice place. Since banquet food is often foo-fooish
and unpredictable I ate a late, late Saturday lunch at So-Cal Japanese fast food spot
Yoshinoya. A Beef Bowl was predictably excellent. I didn't care much for the chicken
dinner at the banquet - although the cheesecake dessert was really tasty. Post banquet I
took a spin in my rented Impala from National Rental Car. Thankfully I never sampled the
wine at the banquet because I ran into an LAPD sobriety checkpoint on Olympic. Mr.
Policeman shined a flashlight into the car and waved me through. I drove around for a bit
and decided to head back but there was a crash on the freeway - and I sat in traffic
stopped for like 45 minutes. Even at 2 am there is traffic in L.A. …I had Mountain
Dew issues with the rip-off vending machine that wanted $2.50 for a 20 oz. soda at the
hotel. The vending machine was old and did not like my dollar bills.
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