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Wednesday, May 16, 2007
by Kathy Bell - Last Friday I hitched a ride to US 36 Raceway with Bill McCroskey, Melissa McLeod and the “trophy man” himself, Duane Davis for the World of Outlaws show. If you saw the awesome trophy Jason Meyers won that night, give credit to Duane as he supplied the six-footer to the racetrack. It’s fun to go places with Bill and Melissa because when Bill’s not promoting races he’s selling cars like my very own Pontiac G6 as he owns a car dealership in Chariton. I never know what we’re going to travel in. But I do know since he’s a former racer, we will get there quickly.
I enjoyed watching the races at US 36 partly due to the track having some banking on the turns. You never know where the guys who ride it high are going to land when they drift back down. The weather was great and track promoters, SLS must have been pleased with the packed house. For those of you who may want to venture down there for the next sprint car show, Osborn, Mo. is only 2 ½ hours from Knoxville. That’s a great little drive for die-hard Knoxville fans who want to take in a one-night show somewhere and still get back in time for hot laps at the Knoxville Raceway the following night.
I had an opportunity to talk with Tim Shaffer in Mo. For those of you who don’t know, Tim drives the Casey’s General Stores #6 sprinter for Lonny Parsons and Don Lamberti with the World of Outlaws series. I was wondering how he was doing since his nasty accident last year in June, which cut his season short and left him recuperating for several months from a broken neck. Tim re-injured himself again this year in February, in Phoenix.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said. “I worked pretty hard in rehab and I did extra rehab to get my body back into shape. I think I’m in better shape now then I’ve been in for a long time.”
Tim said he taped weights to his helmet, to help rebuild his neck strength. He said when he began he could barely wear the helmet for five minutes. By the time he was able to wear it for four hours he said he knew he was ready to get back into the race car.
“I’ve always ridden on a moto-cross track in the off season to stay in shape,” he said. “You not only stay in shape physically but also mentally as you’re totally focused which keeps your mind sharp. You can talk all you want and say that you’re ready to get back out there and race. But you never really know what’s going to happen until that first time back on the track. I was very relieved by the time I raced in Florida. I felt good physically and mentally and like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Now I don’t even feel like I’ve been gone.”
When you’re in Mo. you know you’re bound to run into Scotty Cook. Scotty helps with the WOW, Winged Outlaw Warriors 360 series. He’s trying to help get the sprint car word out in new arenas. Check out his website at www.sprintcarplanet.com and watch for more to come with a possible radio show and live web-casts.
I talked a little while to Sam Hafertepe Jr. who is vying for World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year points. Sam is a 21 year old from Sunnyvale, TX. I have a friend with a 16-year-old daughter, Lindsay, who thinks Sam is a “hottie.” I think he’s definitely got talent. He came up through go-karts, IMCA sprint and ASCS sprints before going on the road with the Outlaws in the family owned #15H sprinter this season.
Sam said he’s out on the road to sharpen his driving skills. “I wanted to improve my driving skills. I thought if I can race with these guys (WoO) out here on the road I can race with anyone,” Sam said.
He said he has found the most difficult part of being on the road is, having to do more with less help. He said his team doesn’t have the budget some of the more established WoO teams have so he, his dad Sam Sr. and crewman, Kirk Reinert are doing the best they can with what they have. Sam feels they have already learned a lot about car setups over the last three weeks.
I stopped by the pit of new teammates, Dusty Zomer #1z and his new mechanic, Lenard McCarl. I asked if I could get there picture and Lenard said ok but hurry up we have things to do. I took their picture and Lenard went over and sat on a tire. He must have been meditating on what he was going to do to win the feature the following night at Knoxville. It must have worked because they did win Saturday night’s 410 A-Main at Knoxville the next night. Maybe I’m Lenard’s good luck. For all of you dying to correct my spelling, there is no O in Lenard McCarl’s first name.
Tim Kaeding is filling the cockpit of the #2 Volcano Joe’s car for Brooke Tatnell. Brooke went home to Australia to be with his father George who has been very ill. George passed away recently so be sure to let the #2 team know you’re thinking about them. Brooke and his dad were very close and Brooke has credited his dad for his success in many stories I have done over the years. George is a former well-known racer in Australia and beyond.
My first encounter with George was actually pretty funny, several years ago. He waltzed right past the sign-in table in the pressroom during the Knoxville Nationals, went over, took a seat and started talking to some of his buddies. Well, I walked over and asked if I could help him sign in for his credentials. He said, “Not now, I’m kind of busy.” I said, “Buddy, you have two choices, you can allow me to walk you over to that table to check for your credentials or I can escort you to the door, the choice is yours.”
The guys talking with him knew me and started to laugh. They said you’d better go with her or they’ll throw you out of here. George said, “By the time you get back here with someone to throw me out, I’ll be done talking.” I leaned down on the table and said, “Does it really look like, I, need to go get help to escort you out of here? I believe I can do that by myself.” Everyone laughed and he followed me over to the table where I signed him in for the week.
The following day he came back, leaned down, picked up my hand and kissed it. He said, “We don’t have any hard feelings do we?” I said, “Nope, the rules are the rules and even Ted Johnson signs in with me.” From that day on I had to try hard not to smile every time I saw him. I will definitely miss George Tatnell at this year’s Knoxville Nationals. My heart goes out to the Tatnell family and to Troy Renfro and the rest of the Volcano Joe’s crew.
I’ve worked in healthcare for many years and with every death there seems to come a new little life. Congratulations to 360 racer, #7a sprinter, Johnny and Jenny Anderson on the birth of their new son, Jack who was born last Thursday.
Saturday night the IRA was in town for the IRA-Knoxville Challenge. One thing about the IRA group, they have some pretty nice looking cars. Leading the IRA series by one point coming into Knoxville was Travis Whitney, #9T over Steve Meyer, #85. I believe the IRA group brought about 20 cars with them giving us just over 50- 410 cars competing for the evening.
Travis was happy when he earned quick time honors. I talked to him right after time trials. He said his focus was on keeping the car under him as he only had one car and one motor with him. He said getting quick time helped his confidence at Knoxville, a track the IRA drivers have always had trouble at. He also said he had tried a new setup for Knoxville and he liked how the car felt on the track so he had high hopes for the evening. He said most drivers with the IRA series have full time jobs and they find it hard to find time during the week to work on their cars and spend time with their families before they’re off racing on the weekend.
Knoxville weekly racer Jon Corbin had trouble just getting to Knoxville, Saturday night, or should I say, getting out of Missouri. The Carrollton, Mo. native had to take blacktop to get out of town and he said the week had been pretty hectic due to all the flooding in Mo. Highways 65 S, 24 E. and 65 N were all flooded so they only had one way out of town and they had a detour that way also.
Several people have asked how Jon is related to Danny Lasoski. Well, here’s the family connection. Former racer, Tom Corbin is Jon’s grandfather. George Lasoski (Danny’s dad) is Jon’s great uncle, making Danny a cousin. Brian Brown is also a cousin since he’s Danny’s nephew and George’s grandson. Did you follow that?
Jon grew up around Tom’s shop, then he went to watch Danny race, Jon started racing go-karts and now sprint cars. He moved up to 410 after a pretty successful year last season in the 360-division. Jon said his goal is to shoot for winning everything he’s in (quick time, heat race, A-Main). “I don’t like to lose,” he said. He’d like to win the Knoxville 410 Rookie of the Year title but that’s not going to be easy as they blew the motor of the #15 sprinter on their first night out. Jon said he’d be happy and he feels they’ll be more competitive when they get their good motor back.
As to his preference in driving a 410 compared to a 360, he said the 410’s are actually easier to handle since they have more power. “We’re still trying to get the setups right but we’ve definitely had some good laps. We’ve never run a perfect race. I’m just out there trying to hit my mark. Each time I’m out there I’m smoother and I have the opportunity to be more aggressive with more experience in this car. It just takes a little time.”
The ever-retiring John Kearney won last Saturday night’s 360 A-Main at Knoxville. John is a perfect example of someone who has race fever. It is not easy to walk away from the sport, is it John? Making his debut at Knoxville in the #7S sprinter was Jordan St. Arnold, son of former racer, Tim St. Arnold.
From what I hear, Knoxville announcer, Tony Bokhoven missed a race two weekends, ago. The joke is he had to renew his Dutch card, in other words, Tony, who is from Pella, was on duty emceeing at Pella Tulip Time. He told me it was the first race night he’d missed in 14 years.
Until next time, stay safe and keep on turning left. I can be reached for comments at kbel@iowatelecom.net. Note there is only one l in kbel.
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