11/21/2004

FEEL THE THRILL DAY AN OVERALL SUCCESS
by Andy Owen

           There’s a long stretch between Riverhead’s race action, so any chance to smell the burnt racing fuel and hear the engine’s roar is fine by me. A pack of 20 or so of us from Long Island Jam felt the same way yesterday as we all ventured to Thompson Speedway, up in Connecticut. Some of us drove, and some were ‘driven’ around the 5/8^th mile asphalt racetrack.

Mother Nature disqualified LongIslandJam’s own, J.A. Ackley as well as benched me, due to hail/rain late in the day’s event. Although it was gloomy outside, with ominous clouds lurking above, it was nice enough to fire up and start the action with the many assorted racecars. There was a modified, some Late Models (or Pro Stocks as they are known in New England) and some old NASCAR Nextel Cup cars (about 9 in all). The event started early, around 11:30am. It began with a quick paper session where you basically sign your health away in the event of a crash and ironically the cars have better insurance then the drivers…

Mark, the event’s “designated driver” was the professional racer who drove the ‘ride-along’ rides in the #8 NASCAR Nextel Cup Budweiser Chevrolet as well as the man who ran the show. He pointed out to all in attendance that the only way to do things was his way, and listen. Rightly so, a discussion I had with him revealed he has over 100,000 laps at this track. After a brief meeting and the figuring of who was racing what, how many laps, and who wanted a souvenir video of their ride(s), it was time to the staging area inside the infield. Each driver got a ride around in a pickup truck for a few laps to see where the braking and accelerating points are and tips for managing the 5/8-mile oval. It seemed a little unorganized in general but slowly the cars started filing off pit road to drive however many laps each participant paid for. Some drove 24 laps, some 50, and some just did just the drive-along, along with some combinations of the aforementioned options. All went smooth aside for one driver who did a 180 spin from the track into the grass in the #17 Dewalt Nextel Cup car. He and the car were ok. Another spin occurred later on, a little bit more severe.  The car apparently turned around and smacked the wall but the driver, Eric Wartley was ok, but the late model style #6 car wasn’t ok. I’m sure there’s a bit of controversy to which came first with this wreck. Besides that many drivers did a really great job on the track, getting faster each lap.

My son, 10-year old Dale did a drive-along in the #8 Budweiser car, He immediately wanted more laps, as he loved it. Dan Dombal had his way with a modified for 50 laps. Eddie “the Scorpion” Colon also ripped the track up in a modified but was red & black flagged as the rain started down. The Jam’s only, J.A. was denied due to rain, as well as myself. Maybe it was destiny that I didn’t drive the Modified, a screw was discovered in the left front tire as Eddie Colon exited the car on the start-finish line and the car was also out of gas. Maybe that screw could’ve caused me to spin out as well.

Although the day ended without driving, the smile on my son’s face was as big as the straightaway. And overall It was a good day with a lot of smiling faces.

Sources:  Andy Owen/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:  November 21, 2004