Wing Side Up

By Bob Gangwer

(Reprinted from MARC Times Racing News)

Goshen, IN 07/21/02…..Silver is a precious thing, rare, colorful, and valuable. It’s especially so when it involves an anniversary. Nowadays, not much lasts twenty-five years to make it old enough to qualify for having a “Silver Anniversary”.

In today’s society, we all know the state of married bliss, statistically speaking, rarely makes it past 5 years, let alone 25. The life expectancy of today’s automobiles seldom stretches past ten years.

However, occasionally something is so special, touches so many people, and leaves a lasting impression so deep, that it just never goes away. It goes on. Sometimes there are rough years, other times the events seem stellar. Through the good and bad, it makes it to the 25^th or Silver Anniversary.

Sandusky Speedway’s Hy-Miler Supermodified Nationals has made it to that hallowed ground. This coming weekend marks the 25^th edition of this prestigious supermodified contest. It’s a hard race to win. Few have ever repeated over the course of those 25 years, and of those that have, most haven’t made it past two wins. It is considered by the majority, one of the hardest events to finish, let alone excel at, and it never fails to produce electrifying and capricious endings.

Right now, we have an outstanding list of entries, topping over 40 cars. Last year the count was as high as 35 and never fell below 33 all weekend. Again this year Randy Wynne and company have put together what is expected to be the best Old Timers Reunion to date, with many supermod and Sandusky greats in attendance. VARC will be putting on exhibition races that will include a couple of the Michiana Vintage Racers Club members.

This year’s race comes at the half waypoint of the ISMA season and it traditionally sets the tone for the rest of the year. If you can come out of Nationals with good momentum, chances are you are headed for a top ten in points.

Right now Russ Wood is hoping to pad his 17-point lead over Lou Cicconi with a good finish when the weekend gets underway with the traditional 40-lap Friday night “tune up” race. The gates open at 2pm and the supers take to the track at 4pm for hot laps. Qualifying begins at 6pm and the Friday night free for all 40 lapper goes for broke at 7:30pm. Stick around afterwards for a party in the pits with the DJ. General Admission for 13 and over is $20, Seniors get in for $18, kids 6-12 are only $5, (what, not $11 like a certain MI track recently charged?), and 5 and under are free. If you are an ISMA member, it will cost you $20 to get in the pits. If you are not add $5.

Friday has traditionally been the bane of the ISMA regulars, while it has proven to be the blessing for the Ohio and MSAregulars. Last year Mike Ordway stepped in and stole the show but just barely over the hard charging Ohio veteran Gene Lee Gibson.

Joining the supers on Friday night will be the “limited modifieds” for a 30-lap feature. Think emods or I-Car here.

When the gates open at 10am Saturday morning, everyone will be loaded for bear. They will have until 1pm when practice starts to unload and set up. Hot laps will go until 4pm when time trials get underway. Racing will kick off at 7pm and will feature the always-exciting 305 sprinters in addition to the supers.

Prices go up on Saturday, but only $5 across the board, except for toddlers, which stay the same. Camping is available all weekend for only $20 and campsites can be reserved by calling the track office at (419) 625-4084. They will also be offering a two-day pass at the pit gate and main gate on Friday.

What kind of a Nationals Preview column would it be if we didn’t pull out the legendary Wing Side Up Crystal Rocks Glass and give you our predictions of who we think will go home happy? Therefore, after some digging through the cluttered cupboard of crystal we pulled out the mythical beast.

After searching for the favored flavor of Bourbon that helps us to predict the outcome of supermodified races so easily, we were horribly and unbearably stricken with the realization that we had no Jim Beam on hand. Now we all know that the magic does not work right without the precise potion, so the future is foggy with the addition of Amaretto to the receptacle. This means that as always and now more than ever, we are not responsible for any bets placed based upon this banter, and we highly suggest that you keep the wife at home, the wallet in hand, and the options open!

Peering perniciously into an uncooperative crystal we find Gene Lee Gibson, “The Jersey Jet”-Joey Payne, Timmy Jedrzejek, Mike Ordway, and Pat Shullick all pulling top five finishes for the Friday night fights. Of course this is the bottoms up version which we all know is only acceptable before or after the races, but never during.

As the Amaretto acclimates to the swirling action of the rocks in the crystal, Saturday’s finish starts to come into focus. We see Rookie racer Eric Shirey pulling off a great finish and coming home 10^th. The kid is coming and this car has done very well at Sandusky with his father behind the wheel. This will be Eric’s longest race to date so his ability to keep his concentration will be the key. Another sip and we see “The Hippy” Jack Smith in 9^th spot. Jack knows how to take car of a car and the car he has is a proven winner from the days that Joe Gosek won two Classics in it.

Into the top 8 and things still are a bit cloudy but we think we are catching a glimpse of the Stout #83 driven by Dave Shullick, Jr. This team hasn’t gelled as it should have, but DJ can get the job done at Dusky. If the car stays together and he stays out of trouble this is about the best he can muster.

While most would say a win is best, sometimes just finishing Nationals can be lucky. Finding himself as the lucky number 7 finisher will be our good friend Howard Page. Howie isn’t having a fantastic year, but he’s not having a horrible one either and he’s shown a few moments of greatness at Sandusky in the past.

Sixth spot was a real tough read. We stared and stared and all we could see was chunks of ice smashing into the sides of the crystal instead of the usual smooth swirling action we usually get. Finally, the ice had fallen to the bottom of the glass and we could see the bright orange #75 of “Liquid” Lou Cicconi. Second in points right now and third in theMidwest Regional points, Cicconi was close last year. Too close for several drivers comfort. Therefore, it will be up to Lou to remain calm and make calculated moves in order to pull this one off or he’ll be off the track on the back of a wrecker.

After a refill, the top five became a lot clearer. Other than Cicconi, Russ Wood is the only repeat winner this year on the ISMA circuit. He will not win on Saturday, but he will keep the point lead by finishing one spot ahead of Cicconi at a track that has not been kind on a regular basis to the master of smooth.

Just ahead of the multi time ISMA champion will be his teammate and another ISMA veteran, “Double O” Joe Gosek. Joe has had some very good runs at Sandusky and he is one of the more experienced drivers at a track that demands patience. Gosek has one win this season, but is setting 44 points behind teammate Wood in the points; this could be the race where he starts his move to the front.

Last year Dave McKnight had a banner season. Going into Sandusky, he had two wins under his belt already. After running in third and watching Gibson and Cicconi bail off turn 3 late in the race, he capitalized and took home his third win of the season. That started a string of three wins in a row and put him far enough ahead in the points lead that he would go on to win the Championship for Brad Lichty and bring home one more win late in the season at Oswego’s SuperNationals. The crazy Canadian has struggled this year. The team is trying hard, but the results just are not there. We believe that this race will be the stop or go point on McKnight’s season. A third place finish here will give him the momentum he needs to finish out the season true to his champion status.

Now, as we said before, Sandusky is a track that rewards patience familiarity, and experience. There is no other driver behind the wheel of a supermodified today, which has more of that at Sandusky than Bentley Warren does. That’s right. You read it correctly. “The King of the Supermodifieds” will make one of his limited appearances with ISMA this season at the track he used to own. He will be behind the wheel of a nearly new Paul Dunigan car and he will kick some ass!

As hard as the rest of the top ten was, it only took a small sip more to see the winner after 100 grueling laps of lust. He has nearly as much experience as Bentley at Sandusky. He has won the Nationals twice. His car and crew is as good as they come because combined his crew probably has more familiarity with the North Coast oval as any other. After struggling all day Friday last year the team made drastic changes and he came out and pulled off an amazing run to second behind Mike Ordway. He led a good portion of the race on Saturday only to become the victim of inexperience and impatience on the part of another driver. We firmly believe that this will be the year that Gene Lee Gibson wins his third Hy-Miler Supermodified Nationals. Yes, we are unabashedly huge fans of Gene. We are friends of the family. Nevertheless, when it comes to racing pools, betting bottles of Beam, and analysis of Crystal Rocks Glasses, impartiality rules. This is not just a case of favoritism this is the best reading we have and one we will have to stick with.

Don’t come looking for us if you loose your money, wife, or ride home if you make your bets based on these groggy observations by a part-time writer, but if you win, we do need a new Mustang.

RESULTS: Gary Griffith hadn’t been to Midvale Speedway in nearly 20 years. But he drove it like he raced there every weekend on Saturday, and took the MSA victory over Timmy J., rookie Randy Burch, Jack Smith and Dave Shullick, Jr. Fifteen cars made the show, which was down somewhat from normal, but probably had something to do with the scheduling of this race so close to Nationals.

Mike Ordway has been on a tear of late. He now has gone four for four at Oswego. This past weekend his fourth win was a big one, in fact it was worth 10,000 big ones, and the coveted title of Mr. Supermodified. Ordway and his car owner have been the repeated victims of charges of cheating, but when it’s all said and done, maybe it’s just a matter of a great car builder, preparation, and a driver with the testicular fortitude worthy of his nickname, “The Bull”. Heat wins went to Russ Wood, Jamie Moore, and Ordway. Keith Gilliam won the consi. Wood and Lou Cicconi made rare appearances. Wood in Bobby Magner’s car, (a former Holbrook ride), and Cicconi in one of Pat and Terry Strong’s cars. Todd Stowellwas injured in a heat race crash. He will be out for a while with three broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and a punctured lung. His wreck, according to some, was nearly identical to the one that took A.J. Michaels in the early nineties. Thank the Lord for Oswego’s foresight into supermodified safety and track safety, and a well-trained safety crew. Say what you want about “The Home of the Supermodifieds”, but that track is still one of the best in the business when it comes to these issues.

The SRL went to Cajon and had a big surprise when Jim Tartaglia won the feature in the little 360 that could. He beat the big boys in a barnburner of a race that had the fans on their feet for most of the 40 laps. Troy Regier pulled off a wild move under Jim Birges with one corner left to take second. Bob Bigiogni was fourth and Mike Baisch came home fifth. Heat wins went to Tartaglia and Birges.

SUPERSHORTS: Davey Hamilton was spotted in the pits at Cajon and he’s slated to test a champ car at IRP this week. Although still hobbling with a limp, he’s at least limping which is a miracle in itself, considering he could have just as easily been left in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. GO DAVEY GO!

Johnny Payne, a.k.a. “The Jersey Jerk” will debut his new rocket ship at Sandusky. Jerky has promised we won’t be disappointed in his new PMS pimpmobile!

Rumors are rampant about the possible appearance of a NASCAR star at Sandusky on Saturday. We could do without after a horrible fiasco at Cayuga when this very thing happened. It’s great to have these guys in a super, but not so much so when it comes to accessibility to the other ISMA regulars, or even properly applied for press credentials. We understand that some fans are overly rabid and disrespectful to these mega stars as far as wanting autographs and pictures at the most inopportune times. However, we are of the assumption that others shouldn’t have to pay the price for other’s success.

We have yet to hear anything back from Berlin management about the camping fiasco back in June. We guess that it was just not an important issue for them.

We’re looking for a lost horse at 2 Winchester Trails Goshen, IN 46526. If anyone finds a Mustang for us, let us know by dialing (574) 534-0520 or emailing us pictures at wingsideup@earthlink.net.

As we pack the sippy cups, Kodak, and camera bag, we wait in great anticipation of “Riding the Wave” with Pinner, Red, Rollo, Cap, Schaf, Chief, and the rest of the BnG gang. Look us up at Sandusky or let us know on the Wailing With Wing Side Up message board by typing http://wingsideup.tripod.com and following the links.

Happy birthdays this week to  daddy’s “Little Cobra”, Shelby Danielle Gangwer. The charter child member of the Gene Lee Gibson Fan Club becomes a teenybopper on the 25^th. Amazing to us that she still loves to be called Pumpkin Butt and loves the supers. We love you Shelby.

Also, have to say happy birthday to Michigan Mark Seiler. We think it’s on the 27^th, but after that many Beam n Cokes, and riding the Wave, we have a hard enough time remembering how to “Keep It Wing Side Up and Wheels to the Ground!” See everyone at Nationals!

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