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Mountain Madness for May 13th. 


Here we have it. Week #4 is in the books for 2005. Once again, pretty good car and fan counts were at the speedway. Ya know it wasn’t so long ago that dirt tracks, such as Big Diamond would send home twenty mods per show. They now struggle with a full field, which seems to be the norm for almost all tracks these days.

The plan for Friday the 13th, was to dress someone up in a hockey mask, armed with a chainsaw. They would be behind victory lane, and charge the starter, Frank Mertz, before the mod feature! Hey, it was an idea & thanks to the people who supplied the saw and mask. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the guinea pig to do it.

How about Brant Quick’s intermission performance? It really doesn’t matter if you’re into football or not, but the kid does have a talent for music too. He started playing the guitar last year, and the harmonica last week! Thanks to Brant for offering to help out Mountain Speedway. Hope everyone enjoyed it!

I also want to thank everyone for handing in more driver profiles. It really helps with the announcing of not only names, but your valuable sponsors. I have to admit, Friday was a bad day as far as announcing, but hey, I finally got a press release right, LOL.

Enough of all this stuff, let’s get on with it.

The thriller feature was just that…a thriller! Talk about three wide on multiple occasions. It kind of brings back memories of the early 90’s thriller division.

Steve Hoffman seemed to have the win, and Richard Petey wasn’t far behind. That all changed when Price caught, and spun Hoffman. Ya know, if Hoffman would have sat there for the yellow, he would have been put back to the front, but instead he spun around and headed back on track. That caused confusion for many drivers, as they got on the binders. Petey lost many positions in the mayhem. It was an unfortunate situation for many drivers, but as they say, that’s racin’.

One driver who made it through the mess practically unscaved was ‘Dr. Destruction’, Howie Bott. Bott came home second, picking up his best finish so far this season. Along with his finishes this year (4th, 3rd & now 2nd, in that order), it is safe to assume that Howie is on the fast track at Mountain Speedway. Oh yeah, take a look at those finishes. Any predictions for the next race?

For the most part, the Balliet’s Country Corners modifieds had a clean feature. Brian Defebo is back in winning form, and usual front-runner, Dave Pecko had a rough night. Jim Long and Rusty Smith seem to be on a hot streak thus far, and of course there are others, such as Arthofer, Santee and Snyder who can’t seem to catch a break.

So, with all that said, Alan Decker picked up his first top five finish Friday, besting his finish of tenth two weeks ago. Alan did a great job, running with the lead pack all night, accelerating his slow start to 2005. Alan is definitely on the fast track.

While watching the late model feature, I realized that you have to finish races to win. Rodriguez seemed to have a fast machine. After all, he won the heat race. However, his stellar run ended, when he and Hoffman crashed on the backstretch.

Feature win number one on the season for Larry Fisher. Fisher always seems to have that Taurus up front, but the luck wasn’t on his side. That changed Friday as he held off a fierce charge from Barry Callivini and Earl Paules.

Jason Makarewicz started last in the feature after a not-so-well finish in his heat. J-Mac has had a good run in the past; finish a season best, third. However, this week, Jason showed patience and perseverance in the wild late model feature, finishing 4th. Look for this driver on the fast track to pick up his first feature win this season.

Current street stock point leader, Jim Yamelski picked up feature win number one of the season, while trying to impress a potential sponsor who was at the track. What better way to prove that you’re competitive in such a competitive division?

It was also good to see some three wide racing, but on the other hand, it has to be tough for the Kline bunch. While working the inside of the three wide deal, Brad got the wrong end of the deal, which ended his night. Scott Meckes was also involved, but rebounded to finish seventh.

There is one driver who finished in the top five (actually third), which was by far his best run so far this year. Even though he started on the pole, Frank Katona led eight laps before Yamelski made the outside move. Katona hung tight with the lead cars, proving that he still has what it takes to contend for wins at Mountain. In week number four, Katona is on the fast track in the street stocks.

Congrats to all the drivers who are ‘on the fast track’ to success at Mountain Speedway! You can pick up your awards at the photo booth after the drivers meeting. See you soon for more Friday night thunder. Tune in next week for more ‘Mountain Madness’, brought to you by Valley Service, J&J Contractors and CAD Visers, Inc.

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