Forum: SCRAFAN.COM Forum (go)
Moderators: ljennings

OK Kenny I.m sorry i missed the copper on dirt I WILL be there this year I also missed the western after last year I couldn't stand the thought of listening to that ol phart Windy selling his book all weekend (guess I'll have to get some ear plugs) however I don't see how the western could have been much better than this years Ovals.

ROB

BTW those AZ wimps stay home cause they can't take the heat lol

Yeah there's no way they had a nude guy on a bike, Sammy gouging eyes & kicking heads, Robin Miller interviewing the winner for Speed, and getting to party with the world's tallest midgets!

Hey Rob, a couple of old sprint car and midget racers named Ron and Lealand might take umbrage about those Arizona comments. Casey didn't look so bad either.

And then their is that other guy named Billy that did pretty well also. One of the last of the sprint and midget drivers that actually did travel the road to Indy.

Casey has an excuse.he moved to Indy and I never heard of those other guys or are you talking about Ron Didenato and Billy felts

ROB

Come on Rob... you're old enough to know the Tempe Tornado & Billy Boat!

McSpadden is one of my all time favorites.... winged or not he can flat wheel a sprinter... watched in awe @ a CRA race he won from the back after junking a car years ago @ Chico. Also watched him @ Baylands for the Bailey Bros. & in a midget there too....

I'll never forget Billy Boat turning the first & last 15 sec. lap @ Ascot without a wing in the Zarounian 67... if he could have only stayed away from the cushion in Turn 3

Shu was one of my favorites as well because back in the day @ a Baylands WoO show when I was 12 I asked him if I could sit in his car, The Ofixco 21, & he said" Hell ya... you can jump in my car!" He the pulled out an xs Tshirt, signed it & sent me on my way. All that happened after he had just LOST when his car wouldn't re-fire after a red flag in a race he was DOMINATING! Fan for life!!!!

Billy Boat was in the Bromme car for the track record, and to answer an ealier post, PAS has more seats than Ascot by at least 20%...Happy Holidays to everyone, hope to see everyone bring a new fan in 2008 and thanks again to everyone that helped with the Glenn Howard trophy dash at the Kindoll Classic.

Ooops... thanks Chris At least I had the right color car

I thought this might be a good read for Midget fans. I guess old Jack was looking for a little edge..

Instant Replay: 18th Annual Belleville Midget Nationals - 1995

BELLEVILLE, Kan. -- Sometimes it seems Mother Nature has a different idea about racing. This year she thought the 18th Annual Belleville Midget Nationals should be run in the sun. That was okay. But she got the beach atmosphere mixed into the thought. At least on Saturday she did because the only thing you could keep on the track that night was a boat.

This year's event didn't get off on a very good start from the beginning. Earlier in the summer it was found out that a Wisconsin group was going to run a triple points show against Belleville. That ended up costing in the car count area.

Maybe the count was down but it became obvious right from the start that the ones that counted were here. Wally Pankratz assured that when he qualified just a hair under the track record.

With the track in near-perfect shape the racing was fast and tight. Three-abreast racing was the rule for most of the night. Despite the close racing there was only one little mishap when Jack Hewitt got into the fence after thinking the race was starting on a parade lap during one of the heats.

Keith Rauch, Steve Knepper, Randy Roberts and Australian Mike Figliomeni won the heats with defending champion Keven Doty taking the semi.

Dave Strickland Jr. took the preliminary feature with Richard Griffin, Cory Kruseman and Robby Flock trying their hardest to take it from him, without success.

On Friday Donnie Beechler and Danny Drinan arrived along with last year's midget sensation Billy Boat.

Boat decided that he needed to show everyone that he was for real and could run anywhere. He started off by breaking the track record on his first qualifying attempt and then just to make sure he had it, lowered it even more on his second go. To add to his sensation role he started dead last in his heat and won.

Heat winners for Friday night were Boat, Roberts, Doty and Ron ‘Sleepy’ Tripp. Flock had problems during the heats but got the problem repaired and took the semi.

In the main it looked like long-time Belleville veteran Roberts was going to show everyone that this track is his. He jumped out in the lead and took a comfortable lead. But Boat had a different idea. Boat started out in the sixth position and slowly started taking positions until the white flag had him right on Roberts tail. Coming into corner four looking at the checkered flag, Roberts went high around a slower car and Boat took the low road and edged him out at the stripe.

Saturday started out with people questioning if Boat could keep up his winning style or will Roberts be able to take the low side this time and keep him from it? Will some of the other drivers get everything together for the big one? Mother nature was talking another tune though and showed who's really the boss.

With a large majority of the cars and crews in the track, the skies opened up and before everyone was able to get out, the only thing you could take around the track was a boat.

The track crew was faced with a problem few tracks are faced with. The bottom of the track had standing water but they knew the top would dry out in no time when the sun came up in the morning. They worked all night trying to get the water from the bottom while trying to keep water on the top.

The championship would be run during the daytime and crews now had to adjust their styles for a day race instead of a night race. The fears of the track crew was coming to light as the sun quickly dried the track. The scramble was on for hard compound tires. Due to the hard surface and a daytime race the main was dropped to 35 laps instead of the 40. A special rule was also added where a caution flag would be thrown for blown tires and the car able to restart at the back of the pack.

The championship saw many yellow flags for blown tires. This also caused many challengers to see the back of the pack after being up front.

For Griffin, it was these yellows that caused him the most problem. He still had tires when he was sitting in second right behind Boat but ran out of gas. This put Roberts into the second position. Roberts was gaining on Boat until with two laps to go popped a tire himself.

During the yellow flag, Boat was being followed around by John Heydenreich. Heydenreich drove up and took a look a Boats tires and signaled to Boat that they were okay. Boat returned the favor and they knew the dash was now on when the green would drop. Boat ended up winning the dash to the checkered followed by Heydenreich, Strickland and Flock.

The fact that Heydenreich was the final challenger to Boat was amazing considering that he went from last to second in the semi and started in the 22nd starting position for the championship.

Boat didn't disappoint any of his fan following as he not only broke the track record but won every event he was in, including the trophy dash, heat race, qualifying main and the championship.

18th Annual Belleville Midget Nationals - 1995
Top 5 finishers:
1. Billy Boat
2. John Heydenreich
3. Dave Strickland Jr.
4. Robby Flock
5. Cory Kruseman

The Belleville High Banks, located in Belleville, Kan., is managed by a volunteer racing committee that host 10-12 racing events annually. "The World's Fastest Half-Mile Dirt Track" allows drivers the rare opportunity to run "wide open" the entire track, and the sweeping oval is one of the most demanding test of endurance and skill for drivers. The track's mainstay is the annual Belleville Midget Nationals, held every year during the first weekend in August. As the nation's most prestigious midget car race of the year, the best equipment, owners and drivers flock to the small rural community of 3,500, which is transformed into a racing Mecca of more than 30,000 people each August.

How about a Tri-Holiday Championship? Years ago West Capitol Speedway in Sacramento ran three special races on the Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day. It worked great. A seperate point fund for each of the 3 races (also counting points for the USAC/CRA championship) and a good pay-off to the leading driver in the 3 race series. Just a thought. I enjoyed the West Capitol dirt and looked forward to this series back then. It might bring out a few more cars and fans if promoted. And if you want to start more stuff how about USAC/CRA at the famous Calistoga 1/2 mile next year? Haven't heard that rumor in awhile.

"When the green flag drops the bullshit stops" - The 
Great GP

There should have been a event like the Western World at Manzy put together for Calistoga years ago. It would have become one of the top "must see" events ever. Just sitting in those stands with all that history, heartache and joy, would be worth a part of the admission price. It could have been a mecca for drivers and fans alike.

Kenny

I agree and I am hoping that Calistoga appears on this year's USAC/CRA schedule.

"When the green flag drops the bullshit stops" - The 
Great GP

Lets keep our fingers crossed.

RADROBINLB