Central PA news 96-05-10

Sprints: News from Central PA/NJ/Beyond 96-05-10 CENTRAL PA NEWS #59 Sal Scarpitta

For those of you who have seen the #59 sprinter owned by Sal Scarpitta you would have noticed that on the top wing the sponsor is Destiny, a Steve Staso film to be released in 1996. Ever wonder what it is all about? Dave Reininger got to the Grove early Friday night and was in the pits and spoke with the #59 team.

Destiny is a movie about, well, what else is there other than sprint cars? That's right the movie is about sprint car racing and was filmed at Williams Grove, Lincoln Speedway and on location in New York City. The plot is that a talented driver gets injured and goes to NYC to become a mechanic. Sal Scarpitta goes to NYC and finds him and brings him back to racing. This is Steve Staso's first feature film, stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

This week the team had a fresh motor in the car, however the car is two years old. Look out though, next week the team will have a new car ready.

#77t Jess Thomas

The team had a brand new car at the grove Friday night. However, they did experience numerous problems causing the car to scratch from their heat and then finishing one spot away in the consolation race.

#1 Billy Pauch

As soon as the feature was over the team started to remove the engine from the car. This is the engine the team is going to have freshened prior to the Word of Outlaws coming to town in two weeks.

#92 Kevin Gobrecht

Friday night Kevin became the first repeat winner at the Grove in 1996. Last week when he flipped in turn four, which was caught and shown on ESPN 2 during Wednesday nights edition of RPM tonight, it was with a brand new car.

358's #a18 Becca Anderson

During the 358 feature Becca Anderson proved that she is "a racer". Almost everyone watched the battle between her #a18 and the #8X of Danny Jones. Becca got passed but then passed the #8X of Jones and then held off his hard charging attempt to get back by her. She drove one heck of a race. After the race I asked her how long she has been driving. Her reply was "I raced seven times here last year." Watch out for this young lady who is a 17 year old high school junior. She is one talented racer and if she sticks with it will become a bright shinning star in Central PA.

World of Outlaw Commentary

Funny thing happened at East Windsor Speedway in New Jersey on Wednesday night, May 1, 1996. There was sprint car racing involving a national touring sanctioning body! The Expressline All Star Circuit of Champions actually held a race in New Jersey. There were only 21 sprinters of which thirteen were All Stars. Why is this important?

Earlier this year the World of Outlaws canceled a scheduled show at Bridgeport, New Jersey, scheduled for August 5th. According to Richard Day, a WoO official, it would cost $1,000 to meet the safety requirements of the New Jersey State Police who oversee motorsport racing in NJ. WoO officials have stated that the promotor would have to double the purse to cover the teams expenses.

Why is it that the All Star's who were racing for a purse of $4,000 could race but the mighty Outlaws can not? I doubt we the fans, who are the ones that support the Outlaws by attending the races and paying the steep ticket prices will ever know the real answer.

I have stopped attending the WoO shows. I no longer find it enjoyable to watch the "show". Maybe if they decided to invert the top qualifiers and stop using the headup starts it would add excitement and I might return. I doubt it, but I might. Think about it. The WoO dictates to the track just about everything associate with the "show" from track preparation to the concession sales.

The real problem I have with the WoO is the ticket price. If I want to take my 10 year old son to the show and sit anywhere in the reserved seating, which is about everyting except the bottom three rows of the grandstands and the grass at the Grove, I have to pay full adult price for his ticket. Last week at the Grove for the All Stars I paid $14 and he got in for free since he is under 12. To attend all the WoO sanctioned shows at the Grove this year would cost me in the neighborhood of $420.00, which would get my son and I into 35 regular shows at the Grove!

Somebody in the WoO organization should wake up and realize that the future of racing is the youth of America, and with the ticket prices they charge their long term future is bleak. Sure if I want to take my son to see a NASCAR race the big show ticket, Sunday, is full price but I see 400 - 500 laps of action with a full field. If I take my son to Dover Downs on Saturday he gets in for $5.00 and we see second round qualifying and a 200 lap race!

Wolfgang Returns I have received a couple of notes from Tim Larson regarding Doug Wolfgang racing sprints again in North Dakota at the Red River Valley Speedway. Tim reported that he won his heat and started in the second row in the feature and did not get better than fourth place the whole night. Tim thought that his showing was not very impressive, especially since there was minimum competition (not knocking the local drivers). He was also suprised that Wolfgang did not win the feature. Tim believes that he possibly was affected a great deal more by that accident than we all originally were lead to believe. Thanks Tim for the information.

As always questions, comments or information will reach me at: rgould@oehs.upenn.edu