March 2010

Citrus County Saturday February 6, 2010.

Because the 3X would not be at Citrus County, (Robert & Bo have had extremely bad luck there at the season opener) Bo ran Bill Pettijohn’s 44 to establish a point base so he would not have to start dead last at New Smyrna. A wheel or hub broke on the first lap of the heat race putting the 44 into the wall and ending Bo’s night.

DJ Racing team mate Jeff Banyas was down from Ohio to run the DJ Racing 07, re-numbered 87 as 07 was already taken, in the first 3 Speed Weeks races. He and I were in same heat, starting 5th and 7th, respectively. Jeff finished 4th and I 5th. The car would not come up off the corner, so we made a spring, panhard bar, and wedge adjustment for the feature. Jeff was in the top 12 mix, so he drew for position – 12th. By finishing 5th in the second heat, I lined up 14th, right behind him. On the 1st green, I gassed ‘er up and promptly spun coming off 4. Wendy had nowhere to go and bumped into the bumper (is that why they call them bumpers?) doing no damage to either car. After 2 more aborted starts, we finally got the race underway. My car was still loose, so I ‘spirmented with the wing. About halfway through the feature, maybe 70 laps or so due to NUMEROUS yellows, I found something that would work on the outside and passed 4 cars moving from 12th to 8th at the finish. Jeff dropped out at the halfway point with no brakes while running 10th.

 

New Smyrna Sunday February 7, 2010.

New Smyrna started early to try to get racin’ done prior to the Super Bowl telecast, so it was early arise and head for the track. President Shotsberger took a pragmatic approach to the horrible parking situation at NSB and brokered a deal to have an area blocked off in the parking lot outside turns 1 &2. The concept was great; the implementation was not. By the time the sprints started arriving, the lot was half full of passenger cars. It eventually all worked out and all three cars made the first hot lap session at 12:15. Our car felt really good, so we skipped the second session. Bo and Jeff both made adjustments and went back on the track out to check ‘em out. Bo and Jeff were in heat 1 starting 1st and 5th respectively. They both fell one position and qualified for the top 12 inversion as only 2 heats were run. I started 5th in the second heat and moved to 3rd. For the feature, Bo was on the pole, Jeff as 5th and I rolled off 8th. After a crash on the original green, the race went green to checkers. Bo won! Jeff was 10th and I wound up 8th, still on the lead lap so the car was definitely faster than the last time I raced there and it was definitely more comfortable to drive. Thanks to Don Heckman for the shock package and setup advice.

 

New Smyrna Sunday February 8, 2010. Again, all three cars were there and ready for action. The heat races were uneventful with Bo winning his, Jeff coming home 6th and I nailed down a 3rd. Bo was running near the front in the feature when the pumps came from connected to the firewall, leaving the Robert Stephenson 3X without power. This also happened last year and a fix was initiated; apparently, that did not work. I’m sure Robert, the Rear Penguin, and Bo are working on a re-design. Between the heat and feature, Jeff’s Daddy and chief mechanic, Ray Banyas, made major changes to the 87 which apparently worked as Jeff ran much faster and came home 10th. My car was not as good on this night as it was the previous night and I wound up 9th, not on the lead lap. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

 

DeSoto Speedway, Bradenton, FL Saturday, February 13, Valentine’s Day eve. The Banyas bunch returned to Cleveland the morning after the New Smyrna races (to get warm?) so only Bo and I were at this event. My car felt good, stable, and smooth in hot laps with old tires. We bolted on the new tires for the heat and the car became a totally different animal. The stagger vibration was worse than it had ever been at DeSoto and the handling was not great. We finished 5th in the heat and did not make the top 12 transfer. Bo started on the outside of the front row and easily won his heat race giving him 2nd row outside for the feature while I started 13th. We broke out of traffic in about 13th spot and raced with a pack of about 5 other cars for 15 laps, when the flagman started giving us some kind of signals which I assumed was a move-over signal. I ran the no higher than the middle of the straightaway to insure I did not get in the leader’s way. The cars with which I was racing continued using the fast line and they quickly pulled away. SIX laps later the leaders passed. DJ Hoezle was leading with Bo a close 2nd. A couple of laps later, DJ slipped coming off a turn and Bo snuck by on the inside and went on to WIN, collecting an additional $400 for the Steele Performance Clean Sweep Award. Meanwhile, I moved up into the fast groove and ran down Dakotah and passed him giving me 11th. Dakotah had obeyed the flag as I had and had also lost positions and fell back from the pack.

 

TBARA 2010 TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

 

MARCH

19                    FIVE FLAGS SPEEDWAY
20                    MOBILE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
27                    DESOTO SUPER SPEEDWAY             

APRIL

17                    DESOTO SUPER SPEEDWAY

MAY

15                    COLUMBIA MOTORSPORTS PARK (Lake City)

JUNE

5                      NEW SYMRNA SPEEDWAY
19                    DESOTO SUPER SPEEDWAY

JULY

 

30                    ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD
31                    NEW SYMRNA SPEEDWAY

AUGUST

14                    COLUMBIA MOTORSPORTS PARK (Lake City)

27                    FIVE FLAGS SPEEDWAY
28                    MOBILE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

SEPTEMBER

 

18                    DESOTO SUPER SPEEDWAY

 

 

OCTOBER

1                      ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD
2                      NEW SYMRNA SPEEDWAY
30                    DESOTO SUPER SPEEDWAY

 

NOVEMBER

6                      CITRUS COUNTY SPEEDWAY

 

 

 

BITS AND PIECES

Those celebrating birthdays in March are:

                Brian Crews                                           March 3

                Rick Eads                                               March 15

                Jerry Stuckey                                        March 15

                Renee Crocker Nunez`                         March 20

                Billy Siewert                                          March 22

                Robert Stephenson                              March 25

               

TRIVIA.  What is “A BIG JELONEY”? See answer in the “LAST PARAGRAPH”. And remember, a correct answer entitles to a free 1 year subscription to the MONTHLY MULLET WRAPPER.

 

In the February 7 New Smyrna race report above, I mentioned that the feature went green to checkers after the official start and I was on the lead lap about a ½ lap back with Ben Fritz in 9th place close behind. Think about that. The first 9 cars were within a ½ lap of each other after 30 straight green flag laps with no yellow flags to bunch up the field. Assuming a lap average by the leader of 15.5 seconds, we can apply a little math and determine that the 9th place car was 7.75 seconds behind the leader, Bo Hartley. Dividing that deficit by 30 laps indicates that the 9th place car was averaging a mere 258 thousandths of a second slower than the winner. That, Mulleteers, is a very competitive field.

 

Have you checked out the TBARA website lately? New TBARA President and Mulleteer Dave Shotsberger has made it his personal mission to turn our web site into a first class operation of which we all, Mulleteers, TBARA racers, and fans can be proud. There appears to be new articles of interest almost daily and Dave has ideas for even more interesting topics. The results are posted almost as soon as they happen in the “TWITTER” section and full results and stories are posted on the Monday following the race at the latest. Usually, it’s Sunday. Points, too.

 

Saturday, February 27, Mulleteer Johnny Lee hosted a birthday party for his Mother, Annie Pearl Crocker. Yep, that’s right, Pete Crocker’s widow. Everyone, me included, calls her “Granny”. Well, Granny had a great time and I especially enjoyed talking about the good ole days with her when I drove Pete Crocker’s 3X for about 9 years. Have many more, Granny!  

 

Got a thank you note from Mulleteer Marty Little for helping him contact people with Frank Riddle information via the “CALLING ALL MULLETEERS” emails I sent out last week. Well, Mulleteers, YOU should receive the accolades as you responded with a plethora of contacts. Thanks to all!

 

Hartley Racing’s website is coming along very well. Mulleteer and nephew Randy Carson has taken over the website and is implementing changes weekly. New ideas for the site are bubbling up daily. In fact, we are adding an aircraft section with pictures and other folderol.  Check the site often. New pictures, actually they’re old, have been placed on the site in the last two weeks. Check ‘em out! And more are coming.  Visit us at www.hartleyracing.com.

 

MEET THE MULLET 

 

No new Mullets to meet this month.

 

REMEMBERING

 

EDITORIAL

 

None. Nada. Zilch. The editorial juices just are not running.

 

GUEST WRITER

As Editor Americus, I am announcing………………Don Heckman as our Guest Writer this month.

 

I called Don recently and we got to talking about the old days and who had driven his cars for him. As the memories flowed out, I thought it would be a good idea for Don to give it some serious thought and put it down on paper before it disappears into a forgotten or deceased memory bank. After reading the below, I’m sure you will see that Don spent a lot of time searching his brain (bet that was a treat!) and his written records and the result is well worth printing. I must emphasize that this is not a case of Don blowing his own horn. I had to beg and wheedle him to do this and it’s really for all the Mulleteer’s enjoyment and enlightenment. Relax and read the documentation and contemplate what a feat it was, especially considering the competition. I am going to try to get this on the TBARA web site or at least in a TBARA newsletter.

 

Editor Americus

 

Drivers consisted of Scott DeSayne, Wayne Reutimann, Sonny Hartley, Jim Childers, Larry Tyler, Stan Butler, Taylor Andrews, Gary Gimmler, Dave Pletcher, Kip Beard, and Doug Heveron.  Feature wins in the 22 came to DeSane, Reutimann, Butler, Andrews, Gimmler, and Heveron, four of which won in there first night in the car.

Feature races were won at Hialeah Speedway, Orlando Speed World, New Smyrna Speedway, Volusia County Speedway (when the 1/2 mile was paved) Saint Augustine Raceway, Charlotte County Speedway, DeSoto Speedway, Sunshine Speedway, Auburndale Speedway, Lakeland Speedway, Columbia Motorsports Park, Ocala Speedway, Citrus County Speedway, and Bronson Speedway.

Stan Butler had pole for a Florida 500 at Charlotte County.

Doug Heveron had pole for the Little 500 at Anderson.

The 22 has won the Jim Haynes Memorial on four occasions, and won the Barfield Clean Sweep on four occasion.

The 22 has won 2 Pavement Division Championships, (when TBARA ran dirt and pavement), and 3 TBARA Championships, bringing our total to 5.

I have not yet tried to compile a feature win total, but we had one Hurricane with 22 features and 3 Championships.

 

I think all of these drivers would make one hell of a trophy dash.

This is from the last 20 years with the 22 being owned by myself and Beverly. This is what I refer to as the modern era, and when I was driving was the old days.

 

Hope you enjoyed,

Don

 

 

Finally, The Last Paragraph!

 

TRIVIA answer.  “A” BIG JELONEY” was a treaded dirt tire built by Firestone, I believe, for modifieds and sprints way back in the seventies. Someone in the TBARA tried a Jeloney on the Golden Gate pavement and it worked; therefore, the Jeloney was the tire of choice until Goodyear stepped in with their 1269 compound slick right rear in the mid to late seventies. Goodbye Firestone and Jeloney, hello Goodyear and the 1269. Don’t forget the web site! www.tbara.net

 

Abba dee. Abba deeAbba dee. Th th th that’s all folks!

 

REMEMBER, RACECAR SPELLED BACKWARDS IS STILL RACECAR!

SONNY!