Say What !!!!

It's finally happened. A Toyo winning the Bud Pole?? Surprise!! It's Dave Blaney. The #22 Cat has been the strongest Toyo all season, but Blaney has Tommy Baldwin and BDR, a strong combination. Kudos to Dave and Company.

Then there are the other 3 in the top 5 qualifying order that bring fresh blood to the front rows... Reed Sorensen, Johnny Sauter and Monty.

So how long will it take for the front lines to be plowed over?? My guess will be within the first 20 laps. But since Hell has frozen over it's anybody's guess.

I only live 3 hours from NHIS and if I wasn't so tied up with life I'd hop in my gas guzzler and hit the Loudon area. The local classifieds has a pair of weekend tickets for sale too... I almost bought them yesterday but Pattyjo reminded me of those nagging priorities looming in the shadows. We plan on the Sept. race there. That's helping to keep me grounded!!

All in Favor.....

So maybe NASCAR is trying to send a message where the CoT is concerned, but apparently they are still lacking the fair play in other areas. Take for example the recent parking of Ted Musgrave. He pulled a similar stunt as Kurt Busch did by ramming into the side of another race car [truck], but not on pit road. He has been suspended from competition until July 3, penalized 50 championship driver points, fined $10,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31. He is missing one race. Busch got a wrist slap in comparison.

The fans, the media and us blogater's were for the most part pleased with NASCAR's recent consistency with the CoT, but balance still eludes and the message sent out was more of a power stroke than anything.

Hamilton Honor

AP and Scene Daily have posted a story about Bobby Hamilton's upcoming honor at Memphis Motorsports Park. Hamilton to be honored in Memphis. I found another interesting story about his fight for the rare cancer he had. This story posted by Momentum/ The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center is worth the read. I am still not good at posting links in this blog, so I hope it works. www.vicc.org/momentum/autumn06/rare_cancer.html

Certainly the media is abuzz about the penalties handed out to the #24 and #48... I have no real take either way on this as it has no effect, other than NASCAR sending out a message not to mess with the COT. I'm not defending Knaus or Latarte, but those fenders were not part of the original template... but you can bet the templates will be changed and the credit for that goes out to Chad and Steve. NASCAR should just build a mould!!

Check out this latest NASCAR blogater Nascar from the Bleachers

Back at the Cottage... "Chase", the new pup has fit in well. We also have a 6 mo. old Min Pin, "Coco", that is a fiesty little guy, but the 8 week old Golden Retriever has put him right in his place. Maybe Chase will teach Coco some manners!!

Crazy 8's

I am always open to learning new things and I just learned that NASCAR controls the numbers that are assigned to teams and their cars. DEI cannot sell the 8, but NASCAR can allow another team to borrow it. But wait a minute!!! Don't the teams and the driver's earn big bucks from endorsement contracts using the numbers? So in many ways the numbers pay owners and driver's but NASCAR controls the destiny. It looks like if HMS and Jr. want the #8 they'll need to "borrow" it.

Monty Looking Forward to The Glen

Juan Montoya's win was hardly a big surprise He did a great job and his fans [above] are jumping for joy!! I gotta hand to Jamie McMurray for his awesome run and his attempts to keep Monty behind him.

What was a surprise was seeing both Jeffy and JJ work their way up front with pit and fuel strategy. Especially Gordon getting up there so early on. As far as road races go, this one held my interest. The fuel wizards were in charge!!

Things in the point standings should be interesting later this week.

Now on to New Hampshire!! We only live 3 hours from there and I'm trying to get tickets for September's race. We feel like we got robbed at Pocono so have decided to do two races this season and Loudon makes the most sense.

Denny needs a Chronograph!!

Denny did his best to get there on time, but....once they arrived at the Milwaukee Mile they could not land the hele and had to go back to the airport to get a very fast golf cart...something Cousin Carl could've used...giving Aric Almirola the chance to start the race and lead a good portion of it. Some "Power that Be" ousted Aric and put Denny in the seat. Aric was none too happy but even after going a lap down Denny brought the #20 to Victory Lane and gave Aric and JGR a win by proxy. Denny was running on EST. as he missed the Pacific Noon time practice at Sonoma thinking it was noon alright...but in Milwaukee [almost, Milwaukee is Central time] not Sonoma!! Ultimately stupid but he is the come back kid!!

First Day

"Chase"

Trouble in Paradise

So nobody is perfect!! Hendrick boys included.

Shrub's Demise

Not many will admit to caring what will become of Kyle "Shrub" Busch, but I for one find it amusing. Jeff Owens of Fox Sports wrote a rather Silly article, Will Busch regret leaving Hendrick?. Silly because he seems to be defending Busch and stating that he would have become a Superstar had he stayed with Hendrick. First of all , Shrub was on thin ice at Hendrick to begin with and secondly, unless he has a complete makeover including plastic surgery and a brain transplant, a status of "Superstar" will never be in Shrub's bio. There are some funny comments left by readers.

I think it's awesome that Jr. has signed an endorsement deal with Sony Electronics. It's a far cry from Wrangler and the TV commercials should be cool. It's more mainstream and Jr. deserves to "upscale" his image a notch or two. It's apparent that this seems to go hand in hand with Hendrick.

I forgot to mention that on Father's Day I received a very nice gift from Pattyjo and the kids. It is the #01 Army diecast, Mark Martin's ride. It is the new Team Caliber which is now Checker Flag Sports. A bit more detailed than Motorsports Authentics.

Back at the Cottage... Today is the day that "Chase" arrives. Pattyjo and I are driving south into the Catskill Mt.'s later this morning to pick up the new addition to our family. She is a 9 week old Golden Retriever of the English/Belgian bloodline which is a much lighter color than the American breed. She will be with me on job sites a lot. I used to have a Yellow Lab that went to work with me daily, but she passed away some 9 years ago [stomach tumor] and I have not had a desire to replace her until this year. "Sable" the Lab, would climb step ladders!!

Wine Country

I am not a big road course fan but this weeks race at Infineon reminds of a trip I made to Napa Valley. I have friends in the S.F. Bay area and on one trip out to visit them I borrowed their SUV and drove north into this beautiful valley. The town of Sonoma itself is way cool. I stopped there and walked the streets with awe of the architecture and cleanliness. I ate lunch at one of the finer diners and the food was delish. It's just a great place all around and would recommend the trip to anyone.

Ella Gordon has joined the world. Congrats to Jeff and Ingrid and this means we won't have to watch Mark Martin drive the #24!!

We do have some short track racing to watch with both the NCTS and NBS at The Milwaukee Mile.

I want to thank you all for your comments concerning Meg. I also thank those of you who took the time to read the post but did not comment because sometimes there really are no words for such a tragedy. 4EVER3 from Ranting and Raving said what I say so often, it is unnatural to out live one's children.

Meg, as I called her, was a very gifted child. Her gift was compassion and her magnetic persona. She had love for everyone and if there were a stray animal in the neighborhood it would end up at our house. The Wake took in thousands of dollars in donations and every penny went to the SPCA. Her funeral proceedings were all given to us by the funeral home. She was loved by many and is and always will be missed.

My heart always goes out to parents who have lost or suddenly lose a child. There is NO greater pain. I have been given the opportunity to help a few people cope. This can only come from someone who knows. This has helped me in return.

Again, thank you all. I'll be posting NASCAR stuff again tomorrow.

In Memorial

Yesterday I mentioned "school's out" and today I'm reminded of the dangers that accompany that. This post is not NASCAR related but that is where the "Eclectic" part of my blog title comes in. It is in relation to cars, teenagers and the danger.

Last week our community suffered a terrible loss. 5 young people were together in a 2004 Monte Carlo that the young man who owned had just gotten. This car full of innocent lives driving down a back road careened around a corner at a high speed. The driver lost control and the car sheered a telephone pole then flipped several times killing all 3 passengers in the back seat. The 2 front seat passengers survived and were later found near the site. The investigation continues, as the driver has yet to be determined and toxicology reports could find this young man guilty on 3 counts of vehicular manslaughter.

The 3 that were lost were very popular local kids. It has had devastating effects on many of their peers as well as parents and teachers, etc. This is not the first time that this has happened here nor I'm certain it will not be the last. This kind of tragedy happens across our country every day and somewhere today a community will mourn. At times these accidents are just that.. purely accidental, but generally they are caused by alcohol, drugs, high speed and/or inexperienced drivers. We do our best as a nation to educate our kids on these dangers, but kids will be kids and boys will be boys.

On a very snowy Sunday, February 28th, 1999 a 17 year old girl took her car against her mothers pleas to head some 20 miles to her friends house. She was inexperienced and the roads were treacherous. She was within a mile of her destination when going up a hill she lost control and slid sideways into an oncoming SUV that slammed her in the driver's side door. She was brain dead at the scene and a short time later a decision was made to have life support removed as her head injury was massive. Today that little girl would be 26 years old. She was born Meagan June, on June 19th, 1981. Happy birthday my darling. Daddy misses you so much.

DEI's Number One

Martin Truex is really stepping up his game. He made it clear during a TNT interview yesterday that he is happy for Dale Jr. but it's taken him [Truex] out of the shadow and into the limelight. Dale's decision to leave DEI has given this kid from Jersey the helm and ironically it was Dale that put Marty in a car to begin with. It was a nice Father's Day story about Martin Truex Sr.'s days as a racing hobbyist, running a family fishing business, that is known as a very hard and dangerous job, but he found time to race in the Eastern Busch Series. Martin Jr. figured out at an early age that he better learn something different because he did not want to be a fisherman all of his life so he placed himself in the garage on his spare time and dad let him race. He was seen and discovered by Dale Jr. and the rest just unfolded into a very talented Cup driver. He does have some big shoes to fill at DEI but he seems very confident and sure of his "own" identity.

Kudos to Cousin Carl!! Great job!!

NASCAR is turning up the heat against AT&T. This story will only linger for months to come...geesh!! They're only cell phones!!

Back at the Cottage... Schools out, which makes my early mornings very peaceful because as most do, our teenagers sleep well into the afternoon. Alyson has a job at our local Six Flags, but so far it's only weekends and as for Adam... he'll be 17 in 3 weeks and working is not a priority. I'm on him about it but it's a losing battle. I thought about putting him to work myself but that would only cost me more than if he just stays home and eats pizza and wings all summer. The good thing is... he is not a partier, we don't find strange girls in our house at all hours of the morning and he is a tournament paintballer, which keeps him busy. If we could just get them both to keep the house cleaner!!

(AP Photo/Bob Brodbeck)

First Timer

Stephen Leicht took his first NBS victory at Kentucky last night and as much as I like Cousin Carl, I was happy to see "Blinky" Wallace take him out to give a young Busch regular a chance to win and break the whacker's streak. Kentucky is one of, if not the only track where this can be done because the majority of Cup guys are in Michigan. Stephen is a nice kid with a bright future.

(AP Photo/James Crisp)

Travis Kvapil did an awesome job winning the NCTS race at MIS yesterday. For a few brief minutes I thought Shrub had it but his truck was too loose and Travis got by him easily on the final lap to win for the first time since Sept. 18, 2004. Mark Martin had the truck for Wood Brother's but his engine went.

(AP Photo/Luke Brodbeck)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD'S

My Dad

This photo is very reminiscent of my childhood. It is the Grand Haven Michigan harbor entrance from Lake Michigan. Just a short distance from here is where my family owned a restaurant. My dad purchased the greasy spoon diner know simply as "The Dee-Lite" in the mid 60's. It became a rather famous landmark with patrons coming from miles away to have a Sunday breakfast where they could sit at the counter and watch my dad cook eggs and bacon or choose to sit at tables or booths that my dad built in our basement at home and there was also an outdoor patio later on.

One of the menu items is a concoction my dad came up with...

The Original Farmer's Breakfast
American fries, ham, onions, green peppers, and eggs, all fried together with melted American cheese on top. Full order 7.95 Half order 7.25 Mushrooms add 1.10

These are today's prices but the thing is still on the menu and my dad sold the place 15 years ago. Only someone like a Sumo wrestler can eat a full order!!

This is todays DEE-LITE

The Grand Theater stands today just to the right of The Dee-Lite. At one time we owned the Dee-Lite to the left and the building on the right, which was also a restaurant in the 60's and 70's. As you can see the theater is now a nightclub and The Dee-Lite is far removed from it's original charm. The new owners took that away and built this new modern structure. But the menu remains almost as my dad had designed it.

I worked weekends as a dishwasher/busboy from about the age of 8 well into my teens, as did my younger siblings. My dad was so good about teaching us how to run the place and part of the charm was the fact that "John's" kid's worked there. On any given summer Sunday morning there would be a line of people out the door and down the sidewalk waiting to eat. He could get them in and out fast but the doors were in constant swing. His dedication to The Dee-Lite was unwavering, open 364 days a year, only closing on Christmas day, up at 4:00 am 7 days a week to be open for breakfast by 5:00 am. This dedication paid off as this little charmer became a pure gold mine and provided our family of 7 with a lake front home with many amenities. My mother did not have to work and our home life was awesome. My dad was later the subject of a media story written about him and the success of this old diner.

He is now 83 and very much alive and well living in Grand Haven with my mother. He is a musician and is active in a Michigan based traveling band called the Scottsville Clownband that has also developed a bit of fame.

He is one of the kindest, honest and compassionate men you could ever meet. He was born and raised in The Netherlands and worked is way into the U.S. as a steward/drummer on the Holland American Lines luxury cruise ship "Queen Mary". He survived World War II and was part of the Holland Underground spy system during the war. He also had a story written on him about this.

Happy Father's Day Dad... You're the best!!!!

Pit Road Action

This is one of my favorite shots taken with my 8x zoom at Pocono. Just wanted to share it. Click to enlarge.

Have a great day!!

Red Skies At Night

I have to admit that my own sense of denial is a hindrance. I heard and read the rumors and I saw Jr. drive the #5 after Shrub ran off , yet I could not fathom the idea of him being part of the Hendrick Inn. I was stuck on JGR or Ginn or any team other than Hendrick. I received phone calls, text messages and emails today asking me "What is Jr. thinking?" I had no other answer than, he wants a championship. After some acceptance sunk in and looking at this through an open mind I now see the light! What better place for Dale than with Hendrick? Simple, because all he wants to do is win. And he will now have a better chance at beating Jeffy.

Now all the curiosity about the next things on the horizon. Will Jr. still where red? If not, will the stands be a sea of blue? But then we won't know who is who because there are several drivers with blue themes. Will it be the #5? Visa? Mastercard or American Express? Nike? And what will become of Kyle Busch? Tire changer!! Marty Jr. will become the new DEI, and that's awesome. Silly Season indeed!!

Mikey Likes It

Mikey has finally made one tiny step in the right direction. Terry Labonte will take the wheel of the #55 Toyo for the road course races at Watkins Glen and Infineon. Mikey was actually quoted as saying... "It's not an easy decision for me to remove myself from the car, but I know it is for the betterment of our whole program"... No shiitz Toucan!! What was your first clue??

With all the supposed certainty by AP, Jr. will announce later today that he will take the wheel of the #5 throwing Shrub to the mulch pile, but rumor also has it that Mother Theresa could put Shrub in the #8 or better yet Marty Jr. in the #8 and Shrub in the #1 car because Shrub isn't old enough to drink!! I feel the #5 Kelloggs deserves the likes of someone like Dale Jr. Terry Labonte has two Cup Championships and is one of NASCAR's greatest. I never liked Shrub in that car but seeing him in the #8 might be worse. Too much speculation for me... I'll be happy when it's all said and done.

Luck??

Steve Latarte's call to have Gordon top off his fuel on lap 64 was a long shot, but a gamble that paid off. As a witness I can certainly say it was by no means anything but luck, but the decision was clever. I watched as Ryan gained ground and the rain crept ever so closer to the back stretch. It was a very slow moving shower and mere seconds would have made the difference.

This is the North and the people are mostly Newman, Stewart, and of course Jr. fans. I heard everything from "It's a fixed race" to "It's because of Hendrick". What I saw was NASCAR officials throwing the caution when rooster tails were shooting up from the tires. It's only coincidence that Newman was about to blow by Gordon at that moment.

It was Ryan's race as far as I am concerned. He had the car and the skill and his performance brought him up 5 spots in the point standings. He is now sitting just outside the top 12 and if the #12 Team keeps on their current roll they'll be in contention for the Chase.

As for our Pocono experience... OK. In a word. The rain didn't help and the fact that we were told at 3:00 by a track employee it was cancelled until Mon. at noon almost caused us to miss the race. We left the track!! As did thousands of others. We took a back road and stopped at a store for coffee and were told by another fan who left to GO BACK!! It's starting in 10 minutes. We got back in time for the start of the race.

The seats are horrible unless you pay $250 plus for the suites on top. We were about as high up as you could get and right on the start finish line, but it was hard to see the track below and forget about turns 1,2 and 3 but we could see them coming out of turn 4. We will never return to Pocono Raceway unless they rebuild the stands.

The pit experience was cool. Pattyjo got up close and personal with Smoke's crew and just seeing all the pit boxes and crew members was worth it. I had several converstaions with crew members and track Officials. Pattyjo got me some used lugnuts from the # "1" tirechanger... she could get those guys to give her almost anything!! Too funny and it's a good thing I'm not the jealous type.

It was worth the trip, but I don't recommend Pocono as a track to travel to from any long distance.

Pocono Pics

A few pics. Our pit experience was awesome but the race sucked. I'll write more about it in another post. Overall we had a great time and my vintage Mark Martin flag is now full of autographs...pit crew guys and officials. The drivers were not around at all!!!

Now it's time to re-group and get back into work mode.

Alyson with her "tude"... she loves the scanner

On The Road

It seems I left a little confusion in my "A Girl Thing" post about being off to Pocono. Blogater sensation Vroom thought we were at the Triangle already from a comment he had left. Sorry G!! "We are headed for Pocono"... yes, but not until early tomorrow morning. It's only a little over four hours from here and we are unsure about what the track offers on Saturday night, although I'm getting on the horn today to find out. Someone told me there is an ARCA race. Anyway, we are officially on the road tomorrow morning and will be back sometime Monday afternoon. Hopefully my zoom lens will pick up some awesome photos and a non-Hendrick driver wins. Yesterday I picked up some really cool bleacher cushions for each of us. We have a "Victory Lane" store in town and Ted, the owner and friend of mine, has some great things in stock. The cushions are "driver" logo and color coordinated with a part that hangs down in front of the seat with zippers, pouches, etc. and a shoulder strap. Pattyjjo thought they were the coolest things ever...of course hers is very orange!! I got the #3. But I'm sure once the race starts the seat cushions will not be used much. I have a scanner and binoculars. Pocono does not offer the best views, but it's a track close to home... a tank of petro. Should be fun as we've never been there. Next year will be Dover.

The Eldora Conehead

If you have digital cable and felt like paying extra for the PPV HBO broadcast of "The Prelude to the Dream" then you'd know it was worth every penny. You'd also know what the "Cone" image is all about. When a caution is thrown a track official, dressed in anything but white, walks a cone out to the center of the track and while under yellow the drivers must stay to the outside of this lonely cone. The clincher is when, the green is thrown the cone is dragged back to safety by a rope tied to it's base. I actually belly laughed at the sight of this. The whole affair was just plain fun and occasionally heartwarming. D.W. was given the honor to drive Benny Parson's Talladega Torino, an actual vintage race car, during the parade. That was just too cool!! The lineup of drivers was incredible and they all did it for free as did commentator's, Mike Joy, Dick Bergren and oh damn... I forget the other guys name. Kyle Petty along with D.W. and Mike Joy were in the booth and they did an awesome job.

As for the racing... it was incredibly fun to watch. During an early heat Ryan Newman got into Bill Elliot and Wild Bill ended up doing a flip and the car stayed on it's roof. About 20 guys, including Tony, who owns the track and promoted the whole thing, righted the car by hand and the Bill got out and did a little dance on the roof. They all laughed about it and he and Ryan were all smiles instead of angry at each other.

The final heat was won by Carl Edwards, but Rowdy [Shrub] almost took it and Jeffy boy was right there too. It was a great finish.

The Victory Junction Gang Camp truly benefited by this event. The children who are fortunate enough to go there are blessed.

A Girl Thing

We are headed for Pocono!! We've had the tickets for 6 months because my birthday is in January and the tickets were a gift from Pattyjo...albeit , she is also going, as is our 15 year old daughter and Queen Jimmy lover, Alyson. Funny thing happened last night... we were riding in the van and the subject of the "almost here" Golden Retriever pup came up and Alyson asked if she had a name yet. When I told her yes, her name is "Chase", Aly's response was "Why Chase?" I had to explain in detail what the Chase is and the fact that her "Cute" driver won it last year. She has no clue and really needs NASCAR 101. It's funny that so many of the young girls today flock towards the so called "Cute" drivers. I get a kick out of it. And I can't rule out Pattyjo's reason for being a diehard Smoke fan... "Bad Boy" image. But she can't stand the likes of Monty. Women?? I gave up trying to figure them out over 40 years ago growing up with many sisters and now I have a slew of daughters from 9 years old to 30 years old, but there are 2 boys in the mix! The awesome thing is... it's the reasons of "Cute" and "Bad Boy" that got me tickets to the Pocono 500...or maybe they did it just for me...who am I to question?!

Once a Moron....

What an embarrassment for Roger Penske. I was just beginning to think Kurt Busch was finally on the verge of becoming a solid driver with that boyhood stuff behind him but, his guided missile antics on pit road yesterday sealed the deal. He is and always will be a moron!!

The Penske Org. is a top gun in the racing world with the likes of Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves in the Indycar Series and one of my favorite drivers, Ryan Newman. These guys define Penske and yes they all have their moments and tempers do flare, but there is something in the Busch family genealogy, or maybe it's the Las Vegas water, that makes both Busch boys morons.

I hope that Mike Helton and Co. slam him against the wall and strip him of his Deputy Sheriff stripes, impound the #2 for forensics and place him on indefinite suspension and probation. As for Mr. Penske... I'm sure he is in deep thought on what the future holds for that Miller Lite Dodge.

On a good note for Penske... Ryan finally brought in an awesome race with a great 2nd place finish. Never once falling below 8th. The in car video of him showed his presence on the wheel, an image I will not forget.

Congratulations to Martin Truex Jr. on his first Cup victory. I like Marty a lot and he will keep DEI on the charts.

Rest in Peace Mr. Bill France Jr. and know that Brian can never fill your shoes, but he will carry on the legacy.

Rain Rain....

It's a soaker for sure!! It's one of those tropical depressions that slowly makes it's way up the eastern seaboard and after hanging over Dover yesterday it has now parked over our heads. That's cool with me because it gives me a good excuse to stay home and watch the race...self employment does have it's benefits and working out in the rain is never fun anyway and who wants to watch a DVR'ed version and Pattyjo has the day off.... ok, ok I've talked myself into it and I'll worry about the guilt feelings later!!

Eldora

I am a big believer of charity events and the proceeds from this weeks pay-per-view race {above} go to The Victory Junction Gang Camp. It's a small fee for an awesome cause and should be a fun race to watch. Rain could really mess it up though.

I was impressed by Scott Wimmer's run in yesterdays Busch race. With RCR one would think he'd be up there more often. Cousin Carl maintains his beeline for the Busch Crown and young Denny proved he will be in contention for today's race. I just caught the final 20 laps as life had me elsewhere for most of the day. The Yellow/Checker froze positions, otherwise I think we would've seen Wimmer and Hamlin side by side over the line.

He Did It !!

It is, but Mikey finally got the lead out of his ass and qualified on time. He and DJ both!! "00" Rudy was left out the race... I watched him slap the wall... he was probably just as shocked by that as he was seeing his boss make a race.

Ryan is back to his old tricks. Two consecutive poles and the 40th of his career. This is not hard to believe and it's likely a pattern we'll see for the rest of the season. If he could just turn these poles into victories or even top 5 finishes they'd be on to something. It's like they've got the car tweaked for qualifying but on race day they fall back. He is one of my picks to win this thing, but I fear the inevitable.

Jr. did an awesome job sitting up front with Ryan and it's cool to see Bobby in the mix. The Dodges dominate again but it's a good blend of the 3... well I always forget about the Toyo's... Rosox has it's Fords up there and RCR's Jeff Burton's Chevy along with Jeffy Boy.

Kudos to Ron Hornaday for his NCTS AAA Insurance victory.

Dark Horse's?

It's been a hectic few days with less than attractive results and my focus has been everywhere but on racing.

Could the Monster Mile bring the NASCAR Nation a non-Hendrick win? I have very good vibes about the possibility... but who could it be?? Ryan Newman has always done well at Dover with a Bud Pole last year [finished 14th] and other top tens including a win from the pole in "03". The 12 team has been doing well lately. But as much as I'd like to see Ryan win, I'm leaning towards Stewart or Hamlin. Smoke has been running very well all season but keeps coming up short [on fuel] and young Denny has seen pretty much the same. Who is the Dark Horse??

All 3 Series are running at Dover this weekend and some drivers are driving in everyone of them. They either just plain ole love it or are just plum crazy!!

Back at the Cottage... Hectic!! The city of Glens Falls NY, which is just down the road from us, is like many upstate NY towns, full of Victorian homes built in the early 1900's. I have contracted a job to duplicate a wrap-around porch on one of these homes that some craftsman in the 40's had built in custom removable screen panels. The new panels are being built in my shop out of a new age material non-wood that looks like and acts like wood except it won't ever rot and is permanently white. This process has proved very challenging, but by George!! I think I've got it!! It gives me a great appreciation for the carpenter's of yore, B.D. [Before Dewalt].