Oswego, NY 01.18.10…..It’s the first post of a new year and the first ‘column’ of 2010.  It’s taken me a while to get the bio rhythms back in sync after my extended Midwestern stay, and frankly, I’ve been enjoying the slacker mentality a little more than I probably should have.

I thought maybe I should pull the bootstraps tight, (hypothetically speaking because quite literally they’ve been pulled tight a whole lot since I got back to the O owing to the fact that the snow machine has kicked in here), and get back at keeping this blog and the website content fresh for all of you folks.

I have to say, even though I’ve been off duty or somewhat behind the curve, the supermodified division has been producing it’s fair share of scuttlebutt and there’s plenty of juicy rumors floating around.  Frankly, I’ve been left out of the loop on a few of them and I’ve been scooped by several other writers. 

At first I’ll admit that it kind of burned my ass that I didn’t get the info first, but then I got to thinking that in the big scheme it doesn’t matter so much who got it first as much as that it gets out there as fodder for the masses who are clamming about for as much information as they can get in the off season, and in reality, just because someone breaks the news first, doesn’t mean that I can’t go a little more in depth here and on the radio show.

Then again, there’s plenty that I could talk about but choose not too because 1) I’ve been asked to keep it under wraps and 2) There’s simply some things that don’t need to be in the general public’s pool of rumors yet.  It really is a fine line that I sometimes have to walk as I try to bring breaking and exciting news to the public while still trying to remain a trusted member of the supermodified community and sometimes I fail to get it all right before I open my mouth or start typing.

Generally though, I’d like to think that most of the teams, promoters, & players do trust me to treat them fairly and give them a venue to announce their intentions just as much as the readers and listeners rely on me to do my best to bring the facts forth from the sources that give them out.

Normally, the ‘column’ part of the blog would come out on Monday night or early Tuesday morning.  I guess that I’m still hearing Mr. Beebe in my ear telling me to make a deadline but mostly I’ve got a little more digging to do before I let a couple of cats out of the bag, and/or delve deeper into a few seedy rumors that are lingering about out there.  Instead, I thought it would be kind of cool to go back to ten years ago to a column I wrote for MARC Times and see what the hot topics of the off season were back then and see how far we’ve come while still kind of staying the same.

Wing Side Up

by Bob Gangwer

(Reprinted from MARC Times Racing News)

01/10/00 Goshen, IN…Back in the saddle again, so to speak. We figured that we might as well start out Y2K like last year, with all the intentions of writing a weekly column for this fine racing trade paper.

So much news to pass along that we may be hard pressed to get all in here.

We suppose that the most notable piece of news concerning our area would be the sale of Sandusky Speedway to Kevin Bonnema, and Don Arnold While Bonnema’s purchase of the speedway is seen by some as a new lease on life, we are sad to see Jr. and Kathy Buchanan leaving as promoters. We have always declared for all that chose to listen, how much we appreciated their dedication, long hours and honesty in making a wholehearted attempt to resurrect the ailing speedplant.

After many years of horrible mismanagement by those who came before them, the Buchanans poured their heart, soul; time and much of there own savings account into the fabled Ohio track. With their backs against the wall, they faced what seemed to be a never-ending battle with a track that had earned a reputation for not giving the fans, competitors, or corporate sponsors their monies worth. While we are sad to see them go, we wish them a cheery WSU pat on the back long with good luck tidings.

As supermodified fans, the seemingly bad news doesn’t end with the termination of the Buchannon reign at Sandusky. Sandusky will now race on Friday nights and will run the supers only once a month according to their schedule. Nationals are included as one of those dates.

On top of all of this, is the news of a newly formed group based out of Mansfield called simply “Supermodified Series”. An advisory board has been elected that includes; Brad Booth, Jeff Capretto, Chuck Jackson, Bill Kovacs, Rusty Ryan, Jim Shirey, Dave Shullick, and Sean Sauer, who will serve as an alternate.

As of now the group has only set a few rules down. Those include one that allows only big blocks weighing 1850 pounds and sporting 481 C.I. engines as the norm. Sprint cars will be allowed to run also, we presume to pad the car count. Seems that allowing small blocks would do the same thing.

A gear rule will be enforced and only two new tires per night can be put on the car.

This new series is putting together the rest of the rulebook and a schedule that will be released later on. We hope that Sandusky and Lorain County will be included on the schedule, although we have serious doubts due to the conflicts between the various parties involved.

On the other end of the country, Davey Hamilton has started a “league of his own”, so to speak. According to a press release, “The Supermodified Racing League is a vision of Indy Racing League veteran Davey Hamilton.” It is through Hamilton’s involvement in Supermodified racing for almost two decades that has now brought him to the promotional level of the sport.”

Hamilton stated in the press release that, “Our goal is to rededicate and refocus on the core of Supermodified Racing”. The newly formed SRL wishes to structure the series around the drivers and teams, as well as develop a program that is lucrative to the promoters as well.

The SRL will hold it’s first race of their inaugural season at the 23^rd annual Copper World Classic held at Phoenix International Speedway’s one-mile oval. This race is one of the most lucrative events a super driver can win and will be held February 3-6. We hope to be able to attain one of our long time goals and make it out to Arizona for this speedfest which also includes the USAC Midgets, Silver Bullet Division, and NASCAR Southwest tour.

Speaking of Davey, congratulations are due for the new addition to the Hamilton family. Hailey Shea Hamilton was born on November 6^th, 1999.

We have great news for super groupies in our immediate area. ISMA will venture to the Midwest three times this year. The first two dates will be in June. The supers will run their customary 50-lap show at Berlin on the 17^th, and a 75-lap affair will take place at Galesburg the following night. We have questioned several people about the Galesburg show for some obvious reasons. The major one being that this leaves no rain date open.

The third visit will be to M-40 Motorsports Arena for a two day show on October 7^th and 8^th. Like Galesburg the feature will be 75 laps. Again we worry about not having a rain date available, especially that late in the season, after all look at what happened at the Fall Open Nationals.

Also somewhat close to home for a few MARC Times readers are the ISMA dates at Cayuga. The Lichty brothers and Gary Evans have purchased this well liked Canadian venue and hope to rejuvenate the supers north of the border by hosting the winged warriors on July 1^st and August 6^th. Both will be 50 lap shows.

Oh we have so many more things to tell you but we are going to cut it short and put this one to bed for now. Make sure you come back next month to see if we stay true to our New Year’s Resolution. Not holding your breath are you? That’s ok because you can email us you’re your views on our lax writing to wailbag@wingsideup.com. That’s the best way to get in touch with us for now.

We have learned not to promise what is in store for the next edition, because it usually ends up jinxing us! Besides this adds a little drama and mystique to never ending quest to “Keep It Wing Side Up and Wheels to the Ground”. Joey Payne if you are reading this I stayed true to my word on this one! The Jersey Cessna will know what that means.

Funny how there’s mention of the SRL in there because that’s some of the news I have to share after Monday.  It’s just as tumultuous out west now as it was back then and yet another ’savior’  of sorts is coming to the rescue just the way Davey did back then.  So while I dig for some concrete answers to some very deep questions concerning the DIVISION we love answer this in the comment section below:

“What do you think is the hottest rumor in supermodified racing right now and how will it turn out?”

Consider it the first “Question of the Week” for 2010 because the first five comments by Monday 1/18/10 will get a brand new Wing Side Up die cut decal.  Tune in to Wailing with Wing Side Up to find out who won!

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