"View From The Tower"
Season Opener
By Gary Wilcox
Hello everyone, boy, it was great to be back at AIS on Saturday evening; and what a great night of racing for the 6th Annual Season Opener at the Speedway. With 69 race teams in the pits and the American Speed Association (ASA) Challenger Late Model division sporting a car count of 24 family cars ready to do battle, there was a ton of excitement in the air on the foot of the Tug Hill. AIS hosted the first Renegade Spring Nationals Champ-101, providing a $2-Grand first place payday along with a brand new set of Dart Heads thrown into the mix for the winner. Every ASA Challenger Late Model race team was pumped up and ready to “Rock and Roll”.
Once again it was the classic battle between the Chevrolets and the Fords. AIS' three-time (ASA) Challenger Late Model Series Champion, John Papin #50, in his Chevy and relative newcomer to AIS, starting his Sophomore season, Lee Gill #7 from La Fargeville, New York, piloting a Ford put on a driving clinic for the fans. Earlier in the evening AIS hosted a time trial session; and the "Redwood Terror" John Papin and his team posted a fast time of 16.392 seconds and 106.076 MPH. Gill and the #7 team placed in position #8 with a time of 16.932 seconds at 102.693 MPH. As the Champ-101 started early in the event, Jason Herrington #37H from Troy, New York held the lead and the bottom of the race track. When Papin made his move to take the lead, he brought Gill right along with him and into second place and moving Herrington to the third spot. With less than 20 laps to go, Gill kept pressure on Papin and got the lower line open and made the pass for the lead and the win. At the checkered flag the margin of victory for Lee Gill was 1.656 seconds over Papin. Good runs for Herrington, and the #3 of Tommy Cloce from Canton, New York. Tommy finished in position #4. Invader to AIS, George Skora and his beautiful #65 race car completed the (ASA) Champ 101 in the fifth spot. This event was marred by some pretty serious accidents and a massive oil spill that completely circled the track and took over 20 minutes to clean up. High marks go out to AIS' Safety crew for their hard work in getting the racing surface back in shape. Even with the delays, this race event was a nail-biter and put you right on the edge of your seat. In my opinion, this (ASA) Champ-101 was one of the best races at AIS I've ever seen.
In other division action at AIS on Saturday evening, in the D&D Powersports Sport Compact division it was "The Veteran" from Lowville, New York; Al Brigham, piloting the car his son Jason drove in 2006 at AIS in Victory lane. Al had all the bases covered and cruised to his season opener win. It's always refreshing for me to see an Elder Statesman of racing show the young spikes the short way to get around the Speedway. Congrats to Al Brigham, and may there be many more Victory Lane ceremonies for you and the #4 team in your future at AIS. Rounding out the top five in the D&D Powersports Sport Comapct division was Tom Dubach #04, Rudy Widrick #94, Larry Costa, #03 and Scotty Shafer #67 from Oswego, N.Y.
Now to AIS's True Stock division sponsored by GotGoodCheese.com (AKA) The Lowville Dairy Producers... It was a hard run for JR Mooney # 83 all the way to the checkered flag. Unfortunately, JR was unable to meet rule requirements during the post race inspection and was disqualified. Dylan Bancroft #91 from Copenhagen, NY was presented with the win. Dylan, who started on the pole, completed the 15-lap feature go in second place. Dave Arbes #11 from Rome, NY came across the AIS scales a tad light and was also disqualified after the True Stock main. The official finishing order for the True Stocks feature was Dylan Bancroft #91, Mike Ramos #09, Duane Williamson #38, Rick Mooney #88 and Mark Rhodes #40 in fifth. There were 16 True Stock in competition at AIS on Saturday evening. The best of luck goes out to all the new True Stock teams, and we sincerely hope to see you in Victory Lane soon at AIS.
I'm telling you, the Light Truck division at AIS always manages to please. With 21 Light Trucks in the pit area, it was a real toss-up to predict who was going to be the first to see the checkered flag in the Light Truck main. At the end it was Todd McIntyre #62 in Victory lane. Steve Ellis #4 from Macedon, NY had a strong truck all evening and really showed me a lot in the Truck feature. Derek Smith #53, from New Bremen, NY, who is a third generation driver, also had a good showing for his first attempt in his second season at the Speedway, finishing in position #8. It was good to see another Veteran of the Light Trucks, Randy Mooney #316 out on the black-top using every inch of surface with his new Light Truck. AIS's light Trucks still remain this reporter's favorite division. These guys always put on a great show, just like all the AIS divisions do each and every week at the Speedway.
There are a few items of interest I want to bring to your attention on this week's effort. First of all, AIS has brand new Head and Assistant Speedway starters for this season. Tim Barone has worked in the tower assisting race director Frank Fazio for the past few seasons. Tim is AIS's new Head Starter for the 2007 season. Tim is the type of guy that you meet and instantly like. He's young and sharp and knows and understands racing as good as us old guys. I feel that Tim Barone will be a true asset to AIS for many seasons to come. My good buddy Chris Brass has manned the third turn / back stretch flagging duties and did a variety of other jobs at AIS for the past few seasons. Chris got the nod from the AIS head office to assist Tim Barone on the starter's stand in 2007. Chris is one of the most dedicated individuals at AIS that I've ever seen. Chris and wife Judy have been fixtures at the Speedway for many years. For the past couple of seasons, Chris' Dad, Dave Brass, has also become a member of the AIS staff, assisting Lynn Shaw with AIS's wrecker division in recovery. It's a real family affair for the Brass family at AIS. Tim Barone and Chris Brass will always give the fans and the competitors 110% each and every week at the Speedway. In my opinion, we are very lucky to have these two talented Speedway Starters working for AIS this season. The best of luck goes out to Tim Barone and Chris Brass for a successful season on the Starters stand at AIS.
Another hard worker at AIS that has moved to a new location at the Speedway is Cindy Shaw. Cindy has taken over the awesome task of running AIS's concession stand. Now named "Cindy's Track-Side Café," Cindy will provide some of the best race track cuisine that's ever hit the Tug Hill to all. Cindy is not new to the food business. Cindy has ran restaurants in the past years and understands the business A to Z. Cindy is also an excellent cook in her own right, and I can comment on that first hand. Cindy's Lasagna is to die for. Look for tons of fine food and some surprises along the way at "Cindy's Track-Side Cafe" all season at AIS.
In closing this weeks "View from the Tower", I'd like to thank everyone that's involved at AIS for making the season opener a huge success. Any business venture requires a team effort, and I could see the AIS team jelling all evening at the Speedway. From the Staff, to the Race Teams, to the Fans, the Adirondack International Speedway is second to none. AIS is the premiere racing facility in the North East, and it will continue to grow and prosper each week. Until next time, please be good to one another, and you can always E-Mail me at gears@twcny.rr.com.