First a video of our granddaughter one year ago.
And now a word from our sponsor.
Are you feeling run down, out of sorts, not in sync with the rest of the world? Then I have just the thing that you're looking for. A post on Stan's MDTR blog, the place where nonsense rules and conversation centers around absolutely nothing.
My windows reinstall went better than expected. XP and sp3 installed seamlessly and with the help of my trusty backup drive I was up and running by 2pm on Saturday in time to do some visiting. There are a few minor tweaks and passwords left to plug in but we're almost up-to-speed. As has been the case since 1996 I would have liked to have done some upgrades to the computer but I decided that I'll stick with what I've got for a while. We're moving along plenty fast so this will have to do for a while.
I'm good to go now.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Windows reinstall this weekend
I have been busy lately so I haven't posted much on the blog. A few days ago I started a post and saved it as a draft but changed my mind and deleted it.
I got the cars both done, the plugs and wires in the Olds and a new radiator in my truck. I've been pretty busy doing the cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, cleaning the sh*t out of the litter boxes and all that other stuff the wife usually does. She's sitting back with her arm still in a sling watching American Idol, The Biggest Loser, Dancing with the Stars, Hell's Kitchen, Desperate Housewives, ER, The Amazing Race, and a bunch of other stuff. As a matter of fact, she maxes out the dual channel DVR so I can't switch the second tuner into the other room and watch television. My wife loves her shows. I get the TV for a few minutes on the weekends if there's sports on but that's about it.
I spent the entire night downloading and saving the latest versions of programs that I'm using to my firewire storage drive. I'm backing everything up tonight so that I can come home from work tomorrow and start reinstalling Windows from the recovery discs. My computer is overdue for a system restore and I really should have done it sooner but all this other stuff came up with the car repairs and surgery. I'm glad that I've got a couple weekends left before the season starts because it takes a good two weeks before everything is configured properly. I'll get the OS up and running probably by late Friday night but what takes time is installing all the individual programs, looking up and entering passwords, configuring everything and all that tedious stuff. A lot of programs require reboots so you end up sitting there restarting over and over each time a program is installed.
My restore partition got corrupted so I'm going to have to reinstall from my recovery discs. My computer allowed me to burn one copy of the recovery discs but I have never used them so we'll see how that goes. If somehow they got corrupted then I would be forced to purchase a copy of Windows so I hope they work. I'd go with Linux as an alternative but I've got some essential Windows software that I have to run so I'd be stuck spending the money if that were the case. I buy all my computer parts at General Nano, they have a pretty good price on XP with SP3 so that's where I'd go. It's an OEM copy so you have to buy a piece of hardware with XP, hard drive screws are 5 cents. LOL But I'm hoping for the best with my install discs because I don't want to put anymore money in this box.
On my next PC I'm going back to a home build and will run a dual boot system with Windows and Linux on an Intel processor with the maximum amount of ram I can use. I want a good TV tuner card that doubles as a DVR, a large 2nd drive and a good CD/DVD RW. A P4 would do me just fine as I'm not so much interested in speed as I am reliability and a work horse machine that keeps plugging away.
I'll type to you when I'm done with the reinstall.
I got the cars both done, the plugs and wires in the Olds and a new radiator in my truck. I've been pretty busy doing the cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, cleaning the sh*t out of the litter boxes and all that other stuff the wife usually does. She's sitting back with her arm still in a sling watching American Idol, The Biggest Loser, Dancing with the Stars, Hell's Kitchen, Desperate Housewives, ER, The Amazing Race, and a bunch of other stuff. As a matter of fact, she maxes out the dual channel DVR so I can't switch the second tuner into the other room and watch television. My wife loves her shows. I get the TV for a few minutes on the weekends if there's sports on but that's about it.
I spent the entire night downloading and saving the latest versions of programs that I'm using to my firewire storage drive. I'm backing everything up tonight so that I can come home from work tomorrow and start reinstalling Windows from the recovery discs. My computer is overdue for a system restore and I really should have done it sooner but all this other stuff came up with the car repairs and surgery. I'm glad that I've got a couple weekends left before the season starts because it takes a good two weeks before everything is configured properly. I'll get the OS up and running probably by late Friday night but what takes time is installing all the individual programs, looking up and entering passwords, configuring everything and all that tedious stuff. A lot of programs require reboots so you end up sitting there restarting over and over each time a program is installed.
My restore partition got corrupted so I'm going to have to reinstall from my recovery discs. My computer allowed me to burn one copy of the recovery discs but I have never used them so we'll see how that goes. If somehow they got corrupted then I would be forced to purchase a copy of Windows so I hope they work. I'd go with Linux as an alternative but I've got some essential Windows software that I have to run so I'd be stuck spending the money if that were the case. I buy all my computer parts at General Nano, they have a pretty good price on XP with SP3 so that's where I'd go. It's an OEM copy so you have to buy a piece of hardware with XP, hard drive screws are 5 cents. LOL But I'm hoping for the best with my install discs because I don't want to put anymore money in this box.
On my next PC I'm going back to a home build and will run a dual boot system with Windows and Linux on an Intel processor with the maximum amount of ram I can use. I want a good TV tuner card that doubles as a DVR, a large 2nd drive and a good CD/DVD RW. A P4 would do me just fine as I'm not so much interested in speed as I am reliability and a work horse machine that keeps plugging away.
I'll type to you when I'm done with the reinstall.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Fixing cars, musings about vinyl wall graphics, Sprints excluded from interviews and various other thoughts...
Howdy, it's Monday night. I'm going through the nightly process of charging and reloading my MP3 player. I've got a huge selection of podcasts that I record on a weekly basis covering just about every subject from A-Z. But more on that later.
I finally got the Olds finished on Saturday afternoon. Number 3 cylinder was missing and it turned out to be a loose injector wire. The intake gaskets had been replaced recently and even though the plug appeared to be securely fastened it wasn't. I pushed down on it and it made a "click" sound when it locked into place. As a result of the misfire I replaced all the plugs and wires so it's probably a good thing that this happened otherwise I might not have taken the time to do a tuneup. The plugs and wires were pretty rough looking so it worked out for the best. My next task before the start of the racing season, replace the radiator on the pickup. It's a four cylinder standard transmission, no cruise or air so there's only a few bolts, a couple hoses and a few fastener screws holding a plastic shroud over the top of the fan. Shouldn't be too bad of a job...key word "shouldn't." LOL anybody that works on their tired iron knows why I'm laughing about that one...
I heard a commercial for the company that sells vinyl images of race cars where you send them a photo of your favorite car and they make a wall vinyl out of it. After hearing about it I decided to check out their website to see what they're doing to protect the photographer's copyright. They mentioned copyright but how do I as a photographer know that they're not going to gain access to one of my images without my knowledge? Fans and race teams can send them photos that they'll create a wall sticky out of and they can put their images up for sale and make commission on them. How do I know that I didn't sell somebody a photo and they in turn are making money from my work through this wall sticker company? I don't. There's no way that I'll ever know. For that reason I don't like it because I don't want somebody telling them it's their photo but actually they're making money off my work. There's not much I can do about it, it's a lot bigger than me and my limited influence, but I'm sure the other photographers would agree with me. It appears to me that it would be easy to pull the wool over their eyes and use photos that you don't have authorization to use. Aside from my concerns about my work they look pretty cool.
Speaking of using photographer's photos it bugs me when people post things like this on message boards: "I'm (fill in the project), send me photos". Now I don't mind contributing photos for advertising, t-shirt design, etc., but the thing that rubs me the wrong way is when people demand that we send them photos. Stop and consider, previous season's photos are stored on CD by event. If someone requests for example all the Cedar Lake Late Model or Mod photos of a particular driver I'm supposed to volunteer hours of my time to go through my files and send some stranger that I don't even know free photos? Get a clue!!! It's time consuming, I have an investment in time, work and equipment and I don't give photos away to strangers. That doesn't mean that I never contribute a photo to a specific person for a specific purpose but I won't send pics to people I don't even know because they made some reference to their "project" on some message board. People that make those kinds of demands are clueless because if they knew how much work it is they'd offer to pay for the pics as a courtesy.
I was pretty excited when they started doing those driver interview podcasts and I have downloaded and listened to just about every one of them. There are two associated websites doing the interviews, one nationally which I really like because they do high profile Sprint and Late Model driver interviews and another one concentrating on our local area. Unfortunately, the local one has gone in a direction that I'm not crazy about and I should have known was coming. Only two Sprint Car drivers have been interviewed so far and both divide their time between Modifieds and Sprints so they're not exclusively Sprint Car drivers. In fact, the interviewer put the emphasis on the Modified and only mentioned the Sprint Car in passing. These guys are so clueless about Sprint Car racing that they don't even know what kind of questions to ask a Sprint driver.
Also, the podcasts have an obvious "big W" agenda and that is no surprise considering that the one doing the interviews is a "big W" writer. Don't take what I'm saying the wrong way, the podcast interviews are well done but they're ignoring Sprint Car racing and putting the emphasis on the "big W." There's a lot of other racing around here, Sprints of various sanctions, NASCAR tracks, USRA Mods, IMCA at some of the Minnesota tracks, two World of Outlaws Sprint Car drivers live in Minnesota as well as a former IRA Champion. Matter of fact, one of the interviewers asked me for contact information for Sprint Car drivers and I send them email addresses and phone numbers over a month ago but still no Sprint interviews. That's bullsh*t when they go ga, ga over some 16 y/o Street Stock driver but ignore Craig Dollansky, Brooke Tatnell, Travis Whitney, Jerry Richert Jr., and a host of other talented drivers. It's a shame that they're ignoring Sprint Car racing.
Wake up people!!! It's not a sin to not pledge one's allegiance to the "big W" and it's OK to like Sprint Cars. There, I said it...whew, I feel better already.
Well, that's probably enough venting for the time being.
Questions? Comments? Cat Calls? I respond to criticism at mndirt@hotmail.com
I finally got the Olds finished on Saturday afternoon. Number 3 cylinder was missing and it turned out to be a loose injector wire. The intake gaskets had been replaced recently and even though the plug appeared to be securely fastened it wasn't. I pushed down on it and it made a "click" sound when it locked into place. As a result of the misfire I replaced all the plugs and wires so it's probably a good thing that this happened otherwise I might not have taken the time to do a tuneup. The plugs and wires were pretty rough looking so it worked out for the best. My next task before the start of the racing season, replace the radiator on the pickup. It's a four cylinder standard transmission, no cruise or air so there's only a few bolts, a couple hoses and a few fastener screws holding a plastic shroud over the top of the fan. Shouldn't be too bad of a job...key word "shouldn't." LOL anybody that works on their tired iron knows why I'm laughing about that one...
I heard a commercial for the company that sells vinyl images of race cars where you send them a photo of your favorite car and they make a wall vinyl out of it. After hearing about it I decided to check out their website to see what they're doing to protect the photographer's copyright. They mentioned copyright but how do I as a photographer know that they're not going to gain access to one of my images without my knowledge? Fans and race teams can send them photos that they'll create a wall sticky out of and they can put their images up for sale and make commission on them. How do I know that I didn't sell somebody a photo and they in turn are making money from my work through this wall sticker company? I don't. There's no way that I'll ever know. For that reason I don't like it because I don't want somebody telling them it's their photo but actually they're making money off my work. There's not much I can do about it, it's a lot bigger than me and my limited influence, but I'm sure the other photographers would agree with me. It appears to me that it would be easy to pull the wool over their eyes and use photos that you don't have authorization to use. Aside from my concerns about my work they look pretty cool.
Speaking of using photographer's photos it bugs me when people post things like this on message boards: "I'm (fill in the project), send me photos". Now I don't mind contributing photos for advertising, t-shirt design, etc., but the thing that rubs me the wrong way is when people demand that we send them photos. Stop and consider, previous season's photos are stored on CD by event. If someone requests for example all the Cedar Lake Late Model or Mod photos of a particular driver I'm supposed to volunteer hours of my time to go through my files and send some stranger that I don't even know free photos? Get a clue!!! It's time consuming, I have an investment in time, work and equipment and I don't give photos away to strangers. That doesn't mean that I never contribute a photo to a specific person for a specific purpose but I won't send pics to people I don't even know because they made some reference to their "project" on some message board. People that make those kinds of demands are clueless because if they knew how much work it is they'd offer to pay for the pics as a courtesy.
I was pretty excited when they started doing those driver interview podcasts and I have downloaded and listened to just about every one of them. There are two associated websites doing the interviews, one nationally which I really like because they do high profile Sprint and Late Model driver interviews and another one concentrating on our local area. Unfortunately, the local one has gone in a direction that I'm not crazy about and I should have known was coming. Only two Sprint Car drivers have been interviewed so far and both divide their time between Modifieds and Sprints so they're not exclusively Sprint Car drivers. In fact, the interviewer put the emphasis on the Modified and only mentioned the Sprint Car in passing. These guys are so clueless about Sprint Car racing that they don't even know what kind of questions to ask a Sprint driver.
Also, the podcasts have an obvious "big W" agenda and that is no surprise considering that the one doing the interviews is a "big W" writer. Don't take what I'm saying the wrong way, the podcast interviews are well done but they're ignoring Sprint Car racing and putting the emphasis on the "big W." There's a lot of other racing around here, Sprints of various sanctions, NASCAR tracks, USRA Mods, IMCA at some of the Minnesota tracks, two World of Outlaws Sprint Car drivers live in Minnesota as well as a former IRA Champion. Matter of fact, one of the interviewers asked me for contact information for Sprint Car drivers and I send them email addresses and phone numbers over a month ago but still no Sprint interviews. That's bullsh*t when they go ga, ga over some 16 y/o Street Stock driver but ignore Craig Dollansky, Brooke Tatnell, Travis Whitney, Jerry Richert Jr., and a host of other talented drivers. It's a shame that they're ignoring Sprint Car racing.
Wake up people!!! It's not a sin to not pledge one's allegiance to the "big W" and it's OK to like Sprint Cars. There, I said it...whew, I feel better already.
Well, that's probably enough venting for the time being.
Questions? Comments? Cat Calls? I respond to criticism at mndirt@hotmail.com
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Enjoyed the UMSS meeting, working on the Olds, studying my successes...
I attended the Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS) meeting at the Settlement just north of Somerset yesterday, March 8, 2009. The meeting went well, it was good to see everyone after the long winter. I'll be writing more about the UMSS as the beginning of the season draws near.
Does anybody who works on cars know if I have to disconnect the motor mounts and roll the motor forward in order to replace plugs on a '98 Olds Intrigue 3800 V6? The scanner says that I've got a misfire in cylinder #3 (#3 is middle front but I might as well replace them all). I swapped the coils and the misfire is still in #3. I'm also getting a second code, open injector circuit but the injector sounds like it's working so I think that code was caused by the miss. Email me if you know if I can reach the rear bank of plugs.
Now that we're getting close to the racing season it's almost time to review my successes and failures. Pretty soon I'll be going through all my 2008 photo CD's using a program that provides camera specific information. Often times I'll get home and see that I caught a really awesome shot and I'll go through the settings in a graphics program called "Polyview" that quickly shows focal length, shutter speed, ISO and f-stop. If there are some pics that really suck I'll make note of the settings on those and see what the difference was between the good and bad ones. I'll even do this for familiar tracks because I'm never satisfied, I always want to find a way to do better every time I go out.
Most of the time I have to pretty much put the race out of my mind and concentrate on shooting photos because I can't do a good job if I'm watching the race closely. If it's a really awesome race maybe I'll skip taking a shot for a few laps so I can watch some of the action but for the most part I have to concentrate.
I'll type more later this week...
Does anybody who works on cars know if I have to disconnect the motor mounts and roll the motor forward in order to replace plugs on a '98 Olds Intrigue 3800 V6? The scanner says that I've got a misfire in cylinder #3 (#3 is middle front but I might as well replace them all). I swapped the coils and the misfire is still in #3. I'm also getting a second code, open injector circuit but the injector sounds like it's working so I think that code was caused by the miss. Email me if you know if I can reach the rear bank of plugs.
Now that we're getting close to the racing season it's almost time to review my successes and failures. Pretty soon I'll be going through all my 2008 photo CD's using a program that provides camera specific information. Often times I'll get home and see that I caught a really awesome shot and I'll go through the settings in a graphics program called "Polyview" that quickly shows focal length, shutter speed, ISO and f-stop. If there are some pics that really suck I'll make note of the settings on those and see what the difference was between the good and bad ones. I'll even do this for familiar tracks because I'm never satisfied, I always want to find a way to do better every time I go out.
Most of the time I have to pretty much put the race out of my mind and concentrate on shooting photos because I can't do a good job if I'm watching the race closely. If it's a really awesome race maybe I'll skip taking a shot for a few laps so I can watch some of the action but for the most part I have to concentrate.
I'll type more later this week...
Thursday, March 05, 2009
I like Sprint Car racing...
I like Sprint Car racing! I like Sprint Car racing! I like Sprint Car racing!
Those are probably some of the most unpopular words that any writer/photographer/webmaster that lives here in the upper Midwest could ever say. I am convinced that if I would have renounced my love of Sprint Car racing and jumped on the bandwagon with everyone else around here back in '99 when I started the gotomn.com website that it would have been 10x more popular. Not that it's too shabby as it is because the stats are pretty good for what it is, a static photo and links page. Here's some recent statistical data:
Unique visitors (number of unique visitors during the month):
January 14,273
February 12,146
Page views (total number of pages visited during the month = hits):
January 23,248
February 18,959
It's not unusual for the hits to drop off a bit after the GRP trivia contest is wrapped up but as the season draws closer they will pick up substantially. As you can see, we're still sustaining a decent number of regular visitors each month and that's what I look for. A lot of websites would salivate over that many visitors including many of the series and track websites.
As long as my site is relevant and people are still looking at it that's good. It's still fun for me, the work and expense are justified by your visits and the costs to keep it online are minimal at around $100 per year. In addition to gotomn.com I have two additional domains available with this account and over 100 gigs of website space. Even at the rate I'm slamming photos on the site each season if I were to leave them on there I'd be about 95 years old before I have to even think about running out of web space. The bandwidth is never going to be an issue because it's a static photo and links page, by that I mean there isn't any multimedia. Actually, this blog isn't a part of my hosting account (although I could bring it in house) so anything I put on here doesn't count towards my space. In other words, as long as I'm able it will be business as usual. Mostly I'm providing the site to display some of the history of racing in this area, some convenient links and of course my photos which I hope a few people will purchase because that helps a little with my expenses. I'm not asking for a stimulus package, the photos add some value to the walls of your home or shop when framed. LOL
Anyways, I love Sprint Car racing. I enjoy the other forms of dirt track racing and have made many great friends in all forms of the sport but Sprints were my first love and one always remembers their first with a special fondness. This season is going to be a great year for Sprint Car racing with the UMSS series. There are cars being built, drivers coming out of retirement, and a great deal of excitement is in the air regarding this series. In view of all the negative things we see in the news this is probably one of the biggest day brighteners of the year for me and many others. The thing that I really have to commend the 360 Sprint Car people for is that they finally took a look around them and realized what the "lay of the racing land" is around here. They made one of the wisest decisions I think anyone in the top divisions has made in a long time, they decided to limit the engines and to come in with a purse comparable to the Modifieds. That might not sound like much and some people were resistant at first but when one considers the excitement that Sprint Cars provide and that now tracks can book a UMSS show at a lower cost than a Late Model or Modified special I believe that their purse structure is going to put them at a competitive advantage. Yes, there is still a niche for the big boys like the Outlaws and IRA when they come around but week in and week out we needed something like this. It promotes interest among the fans and gives drivers a reason to want to get involved with a Sprint Car.
I look at these deals like the Rumble Series where local Late Models that we see every week were coming into the same tracks they run weekly and demanding a $10,000 to win purse and I could see that was not good economics for the promoters. I heard from several reliable sources that they lost money when they brought those races into tracks around western Wisconsin and tried to raise the ticket prices. Stop and think about it, fans see most of those drivers at places like Red Cedar, Cedar Lake, Deer Creek, and Rice Lake every Saturday night for $10 to $12. They're going to think twice about a $20 ticket and in some cases a weekday race to see the same guys they can see every weekend. Sure, it's probably a big deal when those drivers race somewhere like western Minnesota, the Dakotas or Montana but this is their home territory and we have been watching them race since they started in Street Stocks. The logistics of trying to build on that kind of a foundation just weren't making any sense and it became manifest at the gate. It takes someone like a Scott Bloomquist or Billy Moyer to get people around here excited enough to put down the extra money. And those kinds of high admission shows aren't something people can afford to do as often anymore. Wise promoters have been listening at the promoters workshops and are finding ways to build on their weekly shows and local audience. The UMSS will help them to do that.
The purse for the UMSS is very competitive and promoters have been advised not to raise the ticket price for the fans no more than a buck or two over a weekly show if they feel that they have to raise it. The organizers of the UMSS would prefer that tracks do not raise the ticket price so the weekly fans will still come to the races. After talking to one of the organizers during the past couple of days I think people are going to be surprised at how many cars they will draw. If this series does well in the first year and generates fan interest my prediction is that it's going to be hard to hold them back. Young fans who are into extreme sports and will see that Sprint Car racing offers a unique brand of excitement and action. With time people's preferences tend to swing back and forth like a pendulum and we have been on the Stock Car side of that swinging pendulum for about 25 years. I think that the time is right for Sprint Car racing to stage a strong comeback around the east Metro and western Wisconsin.
The UMSS will contest ten of their nights of racing at the new Kopellah Speedway. The reason I'm saying "new" Kopellah is that owner Marguerite Lindblom has enlisted the services of Chris Stepan of FYE Promotions to run the business and promotions end of the Kopellah Speedway. Sprint Car people might not be familiar with Chris but I can guarantee that they will come to appreciate him in short order. Chris is admittedly a fan of the Late Models and Modifieds but this is an excellent opportunity for the local Sprint people to get to know Chris and work with him to make the Kopellah UMSS races a success. I guarantee that if they give Chris their full cooperation and put on a good show for the fans that it can only lead to good things for the UMSS. As Chris said in his Kopellah press release he plans on "making Kopellah the place to be on a Friday night" and you better believe that's what's going to happen. If the UMSS puts on a good show and has good car counts it could result in opportunities to participate in other FYE events. I'm probably getting a little bit ahead of myself but I know a good promoter when I see one and Mr. Stepan is a rising star in that field.
As you can see I'm very excited about the UMSS and the new things that are taking place on the local racing scene. I'll be writing more about this in the coming weeks and months.
Those are probably some of the most unpopular words that any writer/photographer/webmaster that lives here in the upper Midwest could ever say. I am convinced that if I would have renounced my love of Sprint Car racing and jumped on the bandwagon with everyone else around here back in '99 when I started the gotomn.com website that it would have been 10x more popular. Not that it's too shabby as it is because the stats are pretty good for what it is, a static photo and links page. Here's some recent statistical data:
Unique visitors (number of unique visitors during the month):
January 14,273
February 12,146
Page views (total number of pages visited during the month = hits):
January 23,248
February 18,959
It's not unusual for the hits to drop off a bit after the GRP trivia contest is wrapped up but as the season draws closer they will pick up substantially. As you can see, we're still sustaining a decent number of regular visitors each month and that's what I look for. A lot of websites would salivate over that many visitors including many of the series and track websites.
As long as my site is relevant and people are still looking at it that's good. It's still fun for me, the work and expense are justified by your visits and the costs to keep it online are minimal at around $100 per year. In addition to gotomn.com I have two additional domains available with this account and over 100 gigs of website space. Even at the rate I'm slamming photos on the site each season if I were to leave them on there I'd be about 95 years old before I have to even think about running out of web space. The bandwidth is never going to be an issue because it's a static photo and links page, by that I mean there isn't any multimedia. Actually, this blog isn't a part of my hosting account (although I could bring it in house) so anything I put on here doesn't count towards my space. In other words, as long as I'm able it will be business as usual. Mostly I'm providing the site to display some of the history of racing in this area, some convenient links and of course my photos which I hope a few people will purchase because that helps a little with my expenses. I'm not asking for a stimulus package, the photos add some value to the walls of your home or shop when framed. LOL
Anyways, I love Sprint Car racing. I enjoy the other forms of dirt track racing and have made many great friends in all forms of the sport but Sprints were my first love and one always remembers their first with a special fondness. This season is going to be a great year for Sprint Car racing with the UMSS series. There are cars being built, drivers coming out of retirement, and a great deal of excitement is in the air regarding this series. In view of all the negative things we see in the news this is probably one of the biggest day brighteners of the year for me and many others. The thing that I really have to commend the 360 Sprint Car people for is that they finally took a look around them and realized what the "lay of the racing land" is around here. They made one of the wisest decisions I think anyone in the top divisions has made in a long time, they decided to limit the engines and to come in with a purse comparable to the Modifieds. That might not sound like much and some people were resistant at first but when one considers the excitement that Sprint Cars provide and that now tracks can book a UMSS show at a lower cost than a Late Model or Modified special I believe that their purse structure is going to put them at a competitive advantage. Yes, there is still a niche for the big boys like the Outlaws and IRA when they come around but week in and week out we needed something like this. It promotes interest among the fans and gives drivers a reason to want to get involved with a Sprint Car.
I look at these deals like the Rumble Series where local Late Models that we see every week were coming into the same tracks they run weekly and demanding a $10,000 to win purse and I could see that was not good economics for the promoters. I heard from several reliable sources that they lost money when they brought those races into tracks around western Wisconsin and tried to raise the ticket prices. Stop and think about it, fans see most of those drivers at places like Red Cedar, Cedar Lake, Deer Creek, and Rice Lake every Saturday night for $10 to $12. They're going to think twice about a $20 ticket and in some cases a weekday race to see the same guys they can see every weekend. Sure, it's probably a big deal when those drivers race somewhere like western Minnesota, the Dakotas or Montana but this is their home territory and we have been watching them race since they started in Street Stocks. The logistics of trying to build on that kind of a foundation just weren't making any sense and it became manifest at the gate. It takes someone like a Scott Bloomquist or Billy Moyer to get people around here excited enough to put down the extra money. And those kinds of high admission shows aren't something people can afford to do as often anymore. Wise promoters have been listening at the promoters workshops and are finding ways to build on their weekly shows and local audience. The UMSS will help them to do that.
The purse for the UMSS is very competitive and promoters have been advised not to raise the ticket price for the fans no more than a buck or two over a weekly show if they feel that they have to raise it. The organizers of the UMSS would prefer that tracks do not raise the ticket price so the weekly fans will still come to the races. After talking to one of the organizers during the past couple of days I think people are going to be surprised at how many cars they will draw. If this series does well in the first year and generates fan interest my prediction is that it's going to be hard to hold them back. Young fans who are into extreme sports and will see that Sprint Car racing offers a unique brand of excitement and action. With time people's preferences tend to swing back and forth like a pendulum and we have been on the Stock Car side of that swinging pendulum for about 25 years. I think that the time is right for Sprint Car racing to stage a strong comeback around the east Metro and western Wisconsin.
The UMSS will contest ten of their nights of racing at the new Kopellah Speedway. The reason I'm saying "new" Kopellah is that owner Marguerite Lindblom has enlisted the services of Chris Stepan of FYE Promotions to run the business and promotions end of the Kopellah Speedway. Sprint Car people might not be familiar with Chris but I can guarantee that they will come to appreciate him in short order. Chris is admittedly a fan of the Late Models and Modifieds but this is an excellent opportunity for the local Sprint people to get to know Chris and work with him to make the Kopellah UMSS races a success. I guarantee that if they give Chris their full cooperation and put on a good show for the fans that it can only lead to good things for the UMSS. As Chris said in his Kopellah press release he plans on "making Kopellah the place to be on a Friday night" and you better believe that's what's going to happen. If the UMSS puts on a good show and has good car counts it could result in opportunities to participate in other FYE events. I'm probably getting a little bit ahead of myself but I know a good promoter when I see one and Mr. Stepan is a rising star in that field.
As you can see I'm very excited about the UMSS and the new things that are taking place on the local racing scene. I'll be writing more about this in the coming weeks and months.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Too busy to post for a while
It's March 3rd already and I have been very busy lately so that's my excuse for not posting. My wife had rotator cuff surgery on February 24th so I had to take a couple days of vacation to help her and have been doing all the hosehold chores. She will have to wear a sling for five more weeks and it will take up to a year for the shoulder to return to normal. In the meantime she can't work or do much of anything besides her therapy in a special motorized chair designed to raise and lower her arm. Today she took an improvised shower/spounge bath and when she was done she couldn't get her arm back in her sling so she had to call someone to come over and help. She has another unrelated procedure coming up that we're anxious about so this has been a difficult winter for Deb and I.
A few weeks ago I had an intake gasket and water pump put on my wife's go. Prior to having the work done the check engine light had come on but the car was running alright. When I had it in for the repair I had my friend who did the work put it on his scanner and found out it needed a $60 MAP sensor. I fixed that and it was running great then the Sunday prior to my wife's surgery the oil pressure light came on. I took it in and had a new sensor put on for that and again it was running great. This past Sunday I was half way to the grocery store (maybe the problem is that I shouldn't be going grocery shopping) and all of a sudden it started running rough. The check engine light flashed then it stayed on so I parked it in the garage and haven't touched it since. I called my brother-in-law and he said that it sounds like a coil pack. A friend of mine is going to let me use his hand held scanner so I can get the codes and he will let me know what the problem is. He said it sounded like a coil pack so that's two people telling me the same thing. I'm going to borrow his scanner for this repaid and will have to get my own basic OBDII scanner so I can do my own diagnosis the next time this kind of thing happens. I've got a lot of "coaches" that I can call for free advice and the basic scanners are under $100 so it would be a good investment.
My truck needs a little bit of work as well but it's nothing that has to be done right away. They were known for the bushings between the tank and fin tubes leaking in cold weather but it only leaks in below zero weather and once the weather warms it doesn't leak a drop all summer. Nevertheless, I think it would be a good idea to replace it.
Speaking of placing old worn out parts I had my annual physical today after work. I had the lab work done a couple weeks in advance, my cholesterol was a little higher and I need to drop a few pounds and watch what I eat but everything else looks good. I have to go back and get it checked in six months and have been walking and trying to eat better. My neck hardware and arthritis in my back and shoulders limit me from jogging like I used to do but I'm cleared for walking long distances. I live next to a walking patch so I don't have any excuses except for the ice, snow and snowmobiles going by at 50mph. when it warms up and the path is safe to walk I'll get back out there. In the meantime I'm walking 40-60 minutes per day in the skyway and will walk down by the river during my lunch break when it warms up in a month or so. This season I'm going to make an effort to avoid the fried foods at the races and try to find something on the menu that's better for me. Good luck on that one. Cholesterol medication can affect your liver and that would mean no beer so there's some real incentive to control my cholesterol. LOL
But enough about the cares of life, let's talk some racing. Check out my "Inside Dirt" column in the latest issue of The Midwest Racing Connection as well as all the fine articles and photos. I downloaded the latest issue, saved the pdf file to my flash drive and brought it to work so I could read it during breaks.
The UMSS meeting will take place this Saturday at the Settlement in Somerset. Details about the spec engine that we built by Wheeler Racing Engines of Blaine will be revealed aw well as more information about the rules package. I plan on attending so I can keep up with what's going on as the series takes shape.
You have probably heard by now that the Sandbox races have been canceled due to not enough pre-entries. It was going to be a Karting and Legends extravaganza this year, no Midgets, so it would have been an unfamiliar form of racing for me. Those divisions put on some good races last year and it would have been nice to get out and shake out the camera equipment but now I'll have to wait another week. I'm looking forward to the outdoor season and hoping for decent weather early in the season.
You're probably wondering why I write about everything under the sun here on the blog. The reason is that even though my website is dedicated to racing this blog has morphed into an informal chat with friends. Think of it as us sitting around the campfire after the races having a few beers and talking with friends about whatever comes to mind. Just because I'm a racing writer and photographer doesn't mean that I don't have other things going on in my life. I've got plenty of other concerns, worries, challenges, likes, dislikes and opinions. Jotting them down on the blog is good therapy for me and if somebody doesn't think this type of thing has anyplace on a racing website, well they don't have to read it if they don't want to.
We've got kids, in laws, outlaws, grandkids, pets, jobs, cars, trucks, homes, apartments, hobbies, cares, worries, health issues and all kinds of other things going on in our lives besides cars going in circles on dirt. Any racing writer, photographer, driver, promoter, or anyone else involved in the sport that leads you to believe otherwise is either in denial or full of sheeeet.
Type to you later!!!
A few weeks ago I had an intake gasket and water pump put on my wife's go. Prior to having the work done the check engine light had come on but the car was running alright. When I had it in for the repair I had my friend who did the work put it on his scanner and found out it needed a $60 MAP sensor. I fixed that and it was running great then the Sunday prior to my wife's surgery the oil pressure light came on. I took it in and had a new sensor put on for that and again it was running great. This past Sunday I was half way to the grocery store (maybe the problem is that I shouldn't be going grocery shopping) and all of a sudden it started running rough. The check engine light flashed then it stayed on so I parked it in the garage and haven't touched it since. I called my brother-in-law and he said that it sounds like a coil pack. A friend of mine is going to let me use his hand held scanner so I can get the codes and he will let me know what the problem is. He said it sounded like a coil pack so that's two people telling me the same thing. I'm going to borrow his scanner for this repaid and will have to get my own basic OBDII scanner so I can do my own diagnosis the next time this kind of thing happens. I've got a lot of "coaches" that I can call for free advice and the basic scanners are under $100 so it would be a good investment.
My truck needs a little bit of work as well but it's nothing that has to be done right away. They were known for the bushings between the tank and fin tubes leaking in cold weather but it only leaks in below zero weather and once the weather warms it doesn't leak a drop all summer. Nevertheless, I think it would be a good idea to replace it.
Speaking of placing old worn out parts I had my annual physical today after work. I had the lab work done a couple weeks in advance, my cholesterol was a little higher and I need to drop a few pounds and watch what I eat but everything else looks good. I have to go back and get it checked in six months and have been walking and trying to eat better. My neck hardware and arthritis in my back and shoulders limit me from jogging like I used to do but I'm cleared for walking long distances. I live next to a walking patch so I don't have any excuses except for the ice, snow and snowmobiles going by at 50mph. when it warms up and the path is safe to walk I'll get back out there. In the meantime I'm walking 40-60 minutes per day in the skyway and will walk down by the river during my lunch break when it warms up in a month or so. This season I'm going to make an effort to avoid the fried foods at the races and try to find something on the menu that's better for me. Good luck on that one. Cholesterol medication can affect your liver and that would mean no beer so there's some real incentive to control my cholesterol. LOL
But enough about the cares of life, let's talk some racing. Check out my "Inside Dirt" column in the latest issue of The Midwest Racing Connection as well as all the fine articles and photos. I downloaded the latest issue, saved the pdf file to my flash drive and brought it to work so I could read it during breaks.
The UMSS meeting will take place this Saturday at the Settlement in Somerset. Details about the spec engine that we built by Wheeler Racing Engines of Blaine will be revealed aw well as more information about the rules package. I plan on attending so I can keep up with what's going on as the series takes shape.
You have probably heard by now that the Sandbox races have been canceled due to not enough pre-entries. It was going to be a Karting and Legends extravaganza this year, no Midgets, so it would have been an unfamiliar form of racing for me. Those divisions put on some good races last year and it would have been nice to get out and shake out the camera equipment but now I'll have to wait another week. I'm looking forward to the outdoor season and hoping for decent weather early in the season.
You're probably wondering why I write about everything under the sun here on the blog. The reason is that even though my website is dedicated to racing this blog has morphed into an informal chat with friends. Think of it as us sitting around the campfire after the races having a few beers and talking with friends about whatever comes to mind. Just because I'm a racing writer and photographer doesn't mean that I don't have other things going on in my life. I've got plenty of other concerns, worries, challenges, likes, dislikes and opinions. Jotting them down on the blog is good therapy for me and if somebody doesn't think this type of thing has anyplace on a racing website, well they don't have to read it if they don't want to.
We've got kids, in laws, outlaws, grandkids, pets, jobs, cars, trucks, homes, apartments, hobbies, cares, worries, health issues and all kinds of other things going on in our lives besides cars going in circles on dirt. Any racing writer, photographer, driver, promoter, or anyone else involved in the sport that leads you to believe otherwise is either in denial or full of sheeeet.
Type to you later!!!
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