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Topic: My first trip to Williams Grove Email this topic to a friend | Subscribe to this TopicReport this Topic to Moderator
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Hawker
October 03, 2011 at 01:05:36 AM
Joined: 11/23/2004
Posts: 2809
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It took me over 45 years to finally make it to the hallowed grounds of Williams Grove Speedway. Though my visit was cut short to just the preliminary for the National Open, it was WELL worth the 1900+ mile round trip. I don't know where to begin, when I first pulled into the rear lot, the place just bleeds history. The campgrounds were completely full and the atmosphere was awesome. Knowing the history of the track, just walking into the track was worth the trip alone. I went to take pictures and visit with friends and I want to thank the hospitality of "Smitty", "Q-Man", "BigRightRear" and Clint. When hotlaps started, I was in awe of the speed that they carried into turn 3, it was truely insane and after spending the past few weeks shooting 360's out here in the Midwest, it took a shot or two to get my panning right!!! This is one track that I will DEFINITELY be returning to! Below are a few shots from Friday night, go to www.openwheel.org to see a lot more photos of the cars and the track.

 

 

 

 

 

 


Member of this message board since 1997


singlefile
October 03, 2011 at 01:37:48 AM
Joined: 04/24/2005
Posts: 1341
Reply

Glad you enjoyed yourself, but an obvious Photoshop of any picture that shows Todd Shaffer going fast enough right now kick up some clay. LOL.

It's too bad that the overwhelming majority of people that bash the place so much on this board never check it out for themselves.



harddrive
October 03, 2011 at 07:58:49 AM
Joined: 11/30/2004
Posts: 278
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Reply to:
Posted By: singlefile on October 03 2011 at 01:37:48 AM

Glad you enjoyed yourself, but an obvious Photoshop of any picture that shows Todd Shaffer going fast enough right now kick up some clay. LOL.

It's too bad that the overwhelming majority of people that bash the place so much on this board never check it out for themselves.



thinking ... would you be referring to the Canduck & joint-less followers ...


dttfowtm ...  
Proud Member of Sprntlover's Babysitting Service
Pa Posse Says Race or Shut Your Pie Hole!
Work hard & become a leader. Be lazy & end up a slave.
I Challenge anyone to give an example of a program that
the government has managed efficiently and/or cheaper
than the private sector. Please no enactments, laws or
statutes.


harddrive
October 03, 2011 at 08:03:20 AM
Joined: 11/30/2004
Posts: 278
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This message was edited on October 03, 2011 at 08:09:28 AM by harddrive

Hawker ... please don't use "Smitty", "Q-Man", "BigRightRear" and Clint as examples of "Grove Ambassadors" ... they are just plain good as$ people




sorry I missed the chance to meet you ... what did you think of Smitty's new dew?


dttfowtm ...  
Proud Member of Sprntlover's Babysitting Service
Pa Posse Says Race or Shut Your Pie Hole!
Work hard & become a leader. Be lazy & end up a slave.
I Challenge anyone to give an example of a program that
the government has managed efficiently and/or cheaper
than the private sector. Please no enactments, laws or
statutes.

71fan
October 03, 2011 at 10:43:08 AM
Joined: 12/02/2004
Posts: 82
Reply

Great post Hawker and a great story too! Its a shame that many of the people who bash the Grove are the same ones who have never attended a race there. We get to live out the experience all over again this Friday night for the National Open! Glad to see too Hawker that you don't hold a grudge for travelling 1900+ miles and getting screwed on the rain date. We look forward to your return trip, hope it will be soon! Go Leppo!



BigRightRear
October 03, 2011 at 12:02:28 PM
Joined: 11/27/2004
Posts: 3751
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likewise...glad you were able to make the trip and check it out.


Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May


L.O.G
MyWebsite
October 03, 2011 at 03:10:13 PM
Joined: 11/16/2010
Posts: 276
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If the races were as good as the pics you defiantly had a good time ,GREAT shots !!! pat yourself on the back hawker

MSPN
October 03, 2011 at 03:10:14 PM
Joined: 11/23/2004
Posts: 3943
Reply

hardrive, I've said mostly positive things about the place for years. I've seen about 20 shows there over the years and had a good time at almost every one of them and seen decent racing at most of 'em. There's a big difference between the actual people there and some of the idiots who post in this forum save the occasional cheerleader blurb or bs that rears its ugly head. Those guys you mentioned are racefans who don't care a whole bunch about who wins as long as it's a decent race. At the same time you can find a bunch of yahoos cheering blown motors and crashes a lot easier there than most other places but that's just part of the anti-Outlaw deal that comes about with them having the success they have had over the years. Home team fans are like that at most sporting events and certainly in abundance when the Outlaws show-up, often they are not the regulars who show up every week for the racing but the type who show-up specifically to cheer against the Outlaws, whatever.....



sprintcarfanatic
October 03, 2011 at 04:53:06 PM
Joined: 11/30/2004
Posts: 1065
Reply

Hard to believe it's been 13 yrs since I've been there. If memory serves right I believe that the Michael brothers won the features that night. 1 held off Rahmer & the other held off Williamson in thier respected divisoins. I too hope to make it back at some point in life. BTW Hawker did they raise the left front off the ground ?? I thought that was pretty cool.




Hawker
October 03, 2011 at 05:05:43 PM
Joined: 11/23/2004
Posts: 2809
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Reply to:
Posted By: sprintcarfanatic on October 03 2011 at 04:53:06 PM

Hard to believe it's been 13 yrs since I've been there. If memory serves right I believe that the Michael brothers won the features that night. 1 held off Rahmer & the other held off Williamson in thier respected divisoins. I too hope to make it back at some point in life. BTW Hawker did they raise the left front off the ground ?? I thought that was pretty cool.



Several were raising the RF off the ground coming down the backstretch.
Member of this message board since 1997

darnall
October 03, 2011 at 05:59:18 PM
Joined: 09/02/2009
Posts: 454
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Reply to:
Posted By: singlefile on October 03 2011 at 01:37:48 AM

Glad you enjoyed yourself, but an obvious Photoshop of any picture that shows Todd Shaffer going fast enough right now kick up some clay. LOL.

It's too bad that the overwhelming majority of people that bash the place so much on this board never check it out for themselves.



Your post made me look at that pic again and closer....I find it absolutely amazing that even with raised rail cars (all wing cars are raised rail cars now, at least 98% of em are) they are still gettin over on the left side that hard. In the pic of Todd Shaffer you can clearly see that his left side nerfbar digging in to the track is what has caused the clay to kick up.


Nice pic Mr Grant...I wouldn't have believed you if you told me that nerfs were draggin the ground..


Loose is when you hit the wall with the rear of the
car, tight is when you hit the wall with the front of
the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and
torque is how far you move the wall.

hosehead
October 03, 2011 at 10:52:55 PM
Joined: 11/19/2004
Posts: 104
Reply

Glad you made it and liked it Pat. I've been going there since the 70's. Long before I started this internet stuff. I remember seeing Jack Gunn there watching from the big picture window in the office off turn one. I love the place. Hope you make it back.


 "We have met the enemy and he is us." 


singlefile
October 04, 2011 at 01:49:58 AM
Joined: 04/24/2005
Posts: 1341
Reply
This message was edited on October 04, 2011 at 01:52:31 AM by singlefile
Reply to:
Posted By: darnall on October 03 2011 at 05:59:18 PM

Your post made me look at that pic again and closer....I find it absolutely amazing that even with raised rail cars (all wing cars are raised rail cars now, at least 98% of em are) they are still gettin over on the left side that hard. In the pic of Todd Shaffer you can clearly see that his left side nerfbar digging in to the track is what has caused the clay to kick up.


Nice pic Mr Grant...I wouldn't have believed you if you told me that nerfs were draggin the ground..



I was joking -- 50th fast out of 53 cars on Friday night.



Paintboss
MyWebsite
October 04, 2011 at 07:58:40 AM
Joined: 12/02/2004
Posts: 2097
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Reply to:
Posted By: 71fan on October 03 2011 at 10:43:08 AM

Great post Hawker and a great story too! Its a shame that many of the people who bash the Grove are the same ones who have never attended a race there. We get to live out the experience all over again this Friday night for the National Open! Glad to see too Hawker that you don't hold a grudge for travelling 1900+ miles and getting screwed on the rain date. We look forward to your return trip, hope it will be soon! Go Leppo!



I don't think people would bash the Grove nearly as much as they do if it were not for the Arrogant Chest Thumping that goes on in here about how much greater they are than everyone else in the country. I have no doubt that the Grove would be an Awesome track to go to and I hope to get to go some day.

bt Express
October 04, 2011 at 08:51:13 AM
Joined: 12/02/2004
Posts: 237
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This message was edited on October 04, 2011 at 08:54:12 AM by bt Express
Reply to:
Posted By: Paintboss on October 04 2011 at 07:58:40 AM
I don't think people would bash the Grove nearly as much as they do if it were not for the Arrogant Chest Thumping that goes on in here about how much greater they are than everyone else in the country. I have no doubt that the Grove would be an Awesome track to go to and I hope to get to go some day.


It's funny how this entire board condems and then formulates their opinions on ALL the Posse fans based on posts from a "FEW" radical posters to this message board. I just love it when someone from a different part of the country visits Williams Grove for the very first time and walks away with the same impression as Hawker. It has happened quite a few times over the years.




Paintboss
MyWebsite
October 04, 2011 at 09:08:18 AM
Joined: 12/02/2004
Posts: 2097
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I haven't formulated my opinion on all Posse fans. I'm just saying those few radical posters are the reason for the negativity towards Williams Grove. I don't paint the pictures, I'm just viewing the Art. I have met a lot of very cool and passionate Pa. fans over the years at the Nationals. One inparticular was a steward or official at Williams Grove Speedway that was our camp neighbor at Knoxville for a few years (until some asshole lit a bunch of fireworks above his camper in the middle of the night and they never came back). Anyhow the way he described the straight away speeds at the Grove and how they would just lift the front tire off the ground down the straight aways! I got his passion for the place by the way he talked about it and it is from talking with him that has always made me want to go see it for myself. Hopefully someday.

singlefile
October 04, 2011 at 12:13:07 PM
Joined: 04/24/2005
Posts: 1341
Reply
This message was edited on October 04, 2011 at 12:15:41 PM by singlefile
Reply to:
Posted By: bt Express on October 04 2011 at 08:51:13 AM

It's funny how this entire board condems and then formulates their opinions on ALL the Posse fans based on posts from a "FEW" radical posters to this message board. I just love it when someone from a different part of the country visits Williams Grove for the very first time and walks away with the same impression as Hawker. It has happened quite a few times over the years.



Yep, this. It's just interesting that for all the people on here that bitch about Cubic, so many people steal his "arrogant chest thumping" gimmick on this board. The last couple weeks brought the exact same over the top style of posting from West Coast fans on here.



dsc1600
October 04, 2011 at 12:31:28 PM
Joined: 05/31/2007
Posts: 4373
Reply

Eh, I don't think it's only Cube's posts.

Heckling people who are wearing Outlaw gear, cheering when Schatz gets in bad wrecks BEFORE knowing whether he was okay or not, some idiot throwing a beer can at the 15 after he got out of that bad wreck on the backstretch. All instances of PA fans being over the top. Not representative by any means, but you do have some idiots in the stands and on this board.




LatshPA
October 04, 2011 at 12:54:13 PM
Joined: 10/04/2007
Posts: 769
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Reply to:
Posted By: dsc1600 on October 04 2011 at 12:31:28 PM

Eh, I don't think it's only Cube's posts.

Heckling people who are wearing Outlaw gear, cheering when Schatz gets in bad wrecks BEFORE knowing whether he was okay or not, some idiot throwing a beer can at the 15 after he got out of that bad wreck on the backstretch. All instances of PA fans being over the top. Not representative by any means, but you do have some idiots in the stands and on this board.



What your saying has been happening in every form of motorsports everywhere in the world, forever. When you win a lot, people don't like you, and I don't care what planet you go to, ignorant people will always celebrate wrecks/misfortune before the driver's safety is known. Yes, they're idiots, but acting like it only happens in PA is insane. I'm trying to find a single post anywhere on this board where anyone who supports PA racing bad mouths anyone from any other local region. I'm coming up short. Maybe it's the name "posse", maybe that gets people too wound up? Remember, that's not a sanction, that's a "nickname" and nothing more. The fact that someone who runs here every single week has won 11 of the last 14 races with the professional traveling sanction is reason for pride, I'm not sure how losing 3 of 14 is reason to get trashed. Logan Schuhart has been called lots of names on another thread, and all he did was move up from 358s to 410s last weekend.





bt Express
October 04, 2011 at 01:11:57 PM
Joined: 12/02/2004
Posts: 237
Reply
This message was edited on October 04, 2011 at 01:17:25 PM by bt Express
Reply to:
Posted By: LatshPA on October 04 2011 at 12:54:13 PM

What your saying has been happening in every form of motorsports everywhere in the world, forever. When you win a lot, people don't like you, and I don't care what planet you go to, ignorant people will always celebrate wrecks/misfortune before the driver's safety is known. Yes, they're idiots, but acting like it only happens in PA is insane. I'm trying to find a single post anywhere on this board where anyone who supports PA racing bad mouths anyone from any other local region. I'm coming up short. Maybe it's the name "posse", maybe that gets people too wound up? Remember, that's not a sanction, that's a "nickname" and nothing more. The fact that someone who runs here every single week has won 11 of the last 14 races with the professional traveling sanction is reason for pride, I'm not sure how losing 3 of 14 is reason to get trashed. Logan Schuhart has been called lots of names on another thread, and all he did was move up from 358s to 410s last weekend.



You know Latsh, I think you are right. In all the years of following this message board, I don't every remember a Central Pa fan( Posse to most of you folks) every saying one bad thing about the rest of the country's tracks or drivers. It's usually something negative about the Outlaws after a race at Williams Grove, or defending their home turf, with the rest of the country bashing the crap out of the Posse fans for having passion about their tracks and/or drivers( yes, I know some have been adopted, but the car owner is from Pa). In my opinion, after going to the Sprint Car races for over 30 years, most Posse fans are pretty decent and knowledgable people.





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