Wavelink 2010 Schedule Released

Despite the track being for sale, racing is scheduled for the entire 2010
season.

Announcement:

http://www.wavelinkracewaypark.com/news/topicsview.asp?mid=427

Schedule:

http://www.wavelinkracewaypark.com/schedule/scheduleview.asp

JMS ASCS Opener Rescheduled

From Jessica Goldfuss, JMS Manager:

The Junction Motor Speedway ASCS opener originally scheduled for May 21 has
been moved to May 28 (Memorial Day weekend).  

SLMR Schedule Released

I-80 Speedway released the Super (formerly Spec) Late Model Racing series
schedule today. A healthy 17-show slate is on tap:

4/17 I-80 Speedway

5/1 Junction Motor Speedway

5/14 Boone County Speedway

5/16 I-80 Speedway

5/29 Junction Motor Speedway

6/11 Park Jefferson Speedway

6/12 Shelby County Speedway

6/13 I-80 Speedway

6/18 Butler County Motorplex

7/11 I-80 Speedway

7/24 Junction Motor Speedway

7/25 I-80 Speedway

8/2 Butler County Motorplex

8/6 Boone County Raceway

8/7 Junction Motor Speedway

8/15 I-80 Speedway

9/26 I-80 Speedway

My Favorite Photos of 2009, Pt. IV

I'm not done yet. Here's a few more that I liked from 2009.

Tige Jensen, Eagle Raceway, July 25, 2009


This is my favorite of the "driver in car" shots this year. Compositionally speaking, I'd like to have the wing strut removed from the top, but I don't work like that. But, I liked Tige's concentrated look (it was before a heat race). Aesthetically what I liked is that it's essentially a blue/orange contrast photo.

Late Model, I-80 Speedway July 2, 2009

I like Black & White photography a lot. I don't do so much of it because it takes practice, and a different way of seeing. I see color hues - the trick to B&W is seeing in the tones - shades of gray. Two colors such as red and green may contrast in color, but just be a muddy mess in grayscale. Anyway, I like this photo because it has the human element, without anybody in it. There are car photos and people photos, and car and people. I like an implied subject, one that tells a story without having to be so obvious. I like this in B&W because it boils the subject down to what it is, not confused by the red and orange of the car and lights.

USMTS Spring Thaw Postponed

From Junction Motor Speedway

The USMTS Spring Thaw is postponed until March 26-27 because of snow and
cold conditions.

Please check www.junctionmotorspeedway.com for further updates. 
 

Casey's General Stores extends title sponsorship of USMTS National Tour through 2012

ANKENY, Iowa (Feb. 9) – Officials from the United States Modified Touring
Series officials announced today that Casey's General Stores will continue
as the title sponsor of the USMTS National Tour through the end of 2012.

As part of their ongoing partnership, Casey's General Stores will remain the
title sponsor of the USMTS National Tour and the Hunt for the USMTS National
Championship for at least the next three seasons. Furthermore, Casey's
General Stores will be continue as the Official Convenience Store of the
USMTS, with marketing objectives to drive incremental sales at Casey's
General Store retail locations and execute brand reinforcement.

"The past partnership with the USMTS has been a very positive and enjoyable
relationship." said Mike Richardson, VP of Marketing for Casey's General
Stores. "Casey's is looking forward to our continued partnership for the
next three years to promote racing throughout our nine-state area."

Thanks to the support from Casey's, fans will also be able to pick up
$2-off-admission coupons at their local Casey's General Store for most USMTS
Casey's General Stores National Tour events. And during the Hunt for the
USMTS Casey's General Stores National Championship, fans will once again be
able to meet and chat with some of the USMTS drivers during pre-race
appearances at local Casey's locations.

"The folks at Casey's General Stores have been great to work with these last
few years," said USMTS President Todd Staley. "Our association with Casey's
is our honor, and their dedication to the USMTS and local short track racing
in general is truly admirable."

Casey's General Stores and their associated partner vendors will once again
have a direct impact on the competitors by becoming the primary sponsor of
multiple teams during the Hunt for the USMTS Casey's General Stores National
Championship. Each driver will utilize a branded driving suit during the
Hunt, and each racecar will be professionally detailed with a bright and
bold wrap. Fans will be able to get their hands on special branded
limited-edition spin-off merchandise such as apparel, autograph cards and
more.

Al Hejna, Jason Hughes, Mark Noble, Kelly Shryock and Zack VanderBeek made
up the "Casey's Crew" in 2008 while VanderBeek was joined by Corey Dripps
and Tommy Myer as the tasty trio in 2009 with sponsorship from Cheetos,
Doritos and Snickers.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ: CASY), owns and operates more than 1,500
convenience stores in nine Midwestern states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Casey's
stores supply quality self-service gasoline, made-from-scratch pizza &
donuts, sandwiches, hot & cold beverages, grocery items, and a whole lot
more.

Most Casey's operate in towns with populations of less than 5,000, and it's
in these same communities where the majority of USMTS fans, drivers and
their families reside.

To learn more about Casey's General Stores, or to find the location nearest
you, visit them online at www.caseys.com.

For the seventh straight year, the USMTS Casey's General Stores National
Tour campaign will kick off with a doubleheader at the Junction Motor
Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., for the 7th Annual Nebraska Spring Thaw
on Friday and Saturday, March 5-6.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit
www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also follow the USMTS on
Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. 

Sprint driver Jensen launches new website

Check out the new www.tigejensen.com

Tige has a new look, with in-car videos and plans to add more content on a
regular basis.

Looks good! 

WORLD Dirt Racing League Closes Series

Gilman City Missouri
For Immediate Release:
The WORLD Dirt Racing League (WDRL) is sorry to announce that it will no
longer have the Touring Series WDRL and is discontinuing business as such
immediately.

We hated to have to make this announcement because of the loyalty of the
race fans, race teams, and several racetracks that we have been fortunate to
have races at each year.

We have a lot of friends out there that will be missed tremendously and we
wish them all the best of luck. For all of these reasons it was a very hard
decision to make said Jim Wilson (President of WDRL)

The WDRL was formed and started by Jim Wilson after NASCAR made the decision
to discontinue the All-Star Tour after 17 years of operation. "I had so many
drivers and a lot of promoters come to me after the word was out that the
All-Star Tour would no longer be in existence and asked me to start my own
Touring Series and keep the Dirt Late Model Tour going in the Mid-West. I
decided to resign from NASCAR at that time and do it. "

"After working for NASCAR for 20 years the only way that I knew or even
wanted to run a race program, was to run it professionally and with
professionally trained officials.

We hired the best officials we could find to run the race programs at the
WDRL races. I thank Mark Ludwig, Ron Streger, Art Daufeldt, Rusty Daufeldt,
Phil Roberts, Chris Hansen, Dean and Shirley Howe, Mable McCuen, Eldon
Wilson, Tom Lathan, Steve Pauley, Cheryl Huchinson, and Bucky Doren for
their part of making the WDRL a professionally ran series. These officials
didn't all work with us at the same time, but were all instrumental in
making the WDRL the best run short track series in the United States. In the
8 years that we ran the WDRL we never had one complaint of unfair treatment
and never had one injury that was bad enough to turn in for insurance. That
tells me that the officials were doing their jobs treating all teams the
same and making sure the race cars were as safe as possible.

We lost our title sponsor, PolyDome in 2008 due to circumstances beyond
their control and we were never able to pick up another. I thank Dick and
Karla and Dan and Pam Johanneck of PolyDome for their 6 years of sponsorship
and for all they have done for us and for short track racing through their
sponsorship.

I thank Jim Groves of Iowa Illinois Taylor Insulation for his sponsorship
for each year of the WDRL. They supported the WDRL from day one and Jim and
Julie are great friends as well as being great supporting sponsors.

I want to say thanks to Lee Havlik and Josh Anderson of Chase Signs and
Graphics for their sponsorship from the beginning of the WORLD Dirt Racing
League and for all they have done for us and for racing. They are the ones
that designed the WDRL logo for us.

I thank Hoosier Racing Tires for their continued sponsorship. I realize that
our guys are spending money with them, but they have been willing to put
something back. They have also been with us from the beginning.

We thank all of the sponsors of the WDRL. They have all been generous to our
race teams and we appreciate that.
I want to thank the fans of the WDRL. We have received a lot of supportive
emails and letters written to us and a lot of nice things said to us after
races and we appreciate each and every one of those. We have some great
fans.

We want to thank the race teams that have supported the WDRL and have run
all over the Mid-West with us for the last 8 years. These guys have all been
a pleasure to work with and have been willing to work with us in any way we
asked them too.

Last but not least I want to thank the promoters and the race tracks that
have supported the WDRL and have promoted WDRL races. We have been able to
meet some new faces as well as work with some we've known for years and it
has been quite a ride.

What Nancy and I are going to do is up in the air right now. I am too young
to retire and am not even thinking about doing that. We have some irons in
the fire and we will keep everyone posted.

Again thanks to everyone that has been involved in the WDRL. We hope you
enjoyed this series as much as we enjoyed doing it.

My favorite racing photos of 2009 pt. III

Here's two more. One a portrait, and yes...one a wreck.

Trevor Grossenbacher July 25, 2009

I want to do more of this. One thing I think is important, and I want to improve is making personal connections with the people you photograph. I'm not talking about anything deep, just at least knowing them and them knowing you. I wouldn't ever demand them to 'pose' as it were, especially before a race. If they look at me, great. If not, fine. Most of this I want to do before warm ups, when the mood is relaxed.  Before a race, I'll shoot - but from a distance or more discreetly. I also think it lends to the mood and it shows in the driver. I'll have an example of that later.

John Hampel crash, I-80 July 2, 2009

This was nasty. I shot it from a distance and this shot is heavily cropped and enlarged from a RAW file. There's just a sound - or actually - lack thereof, just before a crash. I turned my head to see this. This shot later appeared on the front of the Lincoln Journal-Star's sports page on an article about track insurance. The vertical crop they did in the paper was a lot better. Yes, the car is dramatic. But what makes this photo different is the three guys watching it happen.

My favorite racing photos of 2009 pt. II

Here's some more pics that were my favorite last year.Click on the pics for larger images.

Brian Cudly May 9, 2009

This is one of my favorite action photos from 2009. It's a classic case of "going where they ain't." Cudly tries to make the move down low as the rest take the high groove. With the exception that it's heavy, cumbersome, temperamental and 40 years old, the Norman 200b flash unit can do some neat things. What I like is not how it does at night - most on-camera flashes will work, it's what it does in the DAY. Your own portable sun. I like what it does because it shows the complex inner workings of the car, something you only see in short-track racing. A lot of daytime racing photos are all about some long, panning blur to show speed. I like this because it shows what short track racing is...sometimes you have to just root it out, jam on the brakes and make the move.

Eagle Rescue Crew July18, 2009


I like this because it shows how constantly vigilant this crew is. Normally, I'd have a beef with the shadows over the shaded eyes and would've used a flash to light under his hand, but I think the gesture just adds to the "vigilance" theme, plus I like a portrait lit with a sunset, even if it is cliche. A flash would've ruined that.

Kosiski on Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio Feb. 6

Tune in this Saturday (Feb. 6) to Sirius NASCAR Radio as NASCAR Late Model
Driver Andrew Kosiski talks it up with Pat Patterson on "Front Stretch."

"Front Stretch" airs from 8am-11am CST every Saturday. Andrew is scheduled
to be live on the air at 8:40am CST.

As the NASCAR world prepares for the Bud Shootout Saturday evening, listen
in as Andrew discusses his family's racing history and talks about the
exciting upcoming 2010 season for him and his #2x.

City Of Belleville Getting 'Hooked Up' For Belleville 100

BELLEVILLE, Kan. (Feb. 3) - As intrigue grows for the running of the
Belleville 100 this July, so does the interest from the RV community.

The Hi-Banks RV Park is reporting that their location, situated directly
across from the world famous Belleville High Banks race track, is nearly
filled with reservations for the July 2-4 drama-filled racing event.

Recreational vehicle travelers to Belleville need not be dismayed. The
Belleville 100 team has arranged with the City of Belleville to have an
additional 40 electrical hook-ups available on a first-come, first-served
basis.

These additional electrical hook-ups have 30- and 50-Amp options, and will
be available at the power plant park located just one block west of the
hallowed race track grounds. The hook-up fee at "Power Plant Park" is just
$15 per day. There is access to water hydrants in this area, however, sewer
hook-ups are not.

A dump station is located at another popular Belleville camping area known
as Rocky Pond, which has eight full hook-up RV stalls and is owned by the
City of Belleville. Rocky Pond offers tent camping and non-hook-up camping
throughout the park, plus fishing and boating for small vessels. The RV
electrical hook-up sites at Rocky Pond are also on a first-come,
first-served basis.

Restroom and shower facilities are available at both locations. New showers
and restrooms will be constructed in the city park prior to the Belleville
100, according to city officials.

Should RV owners have further questions concerning city-owned RV hook-ups,
they may direct inquiries to 785-527-2288. For information concerning other
lodging options, click the 'Lodging' button at the Official Website of the
Belleville 100 at www.belleville100.com.

The Belleville High Banks is perhaps the most demanding dirt track in the
country in terms of expecting the most of driver and equipment. Certainly it
is the fastest half-mile dirt track in the country and most certainly can
boast its number one ranking in historical longevity.

While many aspects of the automobile and auto racing have changed since
Belleville's first auto race held in 1910, two things really haven't
changed: the test of the machine and the endurance of the driver.

In July 2010, machine and driver will be tested in a contest never before
witnessed at the "World's Fastest Half-Mile Dirt Track" or the Great Plains
States. The celebration of 100 years of auto racing in Belleville and the
advancement of the motor car will take place at the Belleville 100 featuring
Modifieds on the Belleville High Banks, July 2-4, 2010.

For car entry forms and ticket order forms see the 'downloads' page at
www.belleville100.com .

Tickets can be purchased by calling 402-761-3676 or by checking out the
"Downloads" section at www.belleville100.com on the World Wide Web. Entry
forms, rules and additional information can also be found on the Official
Website of the Belleville 100.

For more information about the Belleville 100, contact Wayne Dake via email
at wayne@belleville100.com or call 402-440-3977.

My favorite racing photos of 2009

I'm not going to do a Top Ten list or anything like that - or a formal countdown, just a series of what I liked and why I liked it. AND, it may not be a photo I've put online already....



A feature start May 30, 2009

It's the start of the Sprint A feature at Eagle Raceway on May 30, 2009. The track had been a dustbowl all night. I just wanted to try something different - something that would capture the environment, lend a 'historical' context to the night. It required a slow shutter speed for the ambient light. I added a flash to give each car a little definition, otherwise they would've been nothing but indiscriminate streaking blurs. The "VR" (vibration reduction) function of the lens was crucial, as I was shooting without a tripod. Click the small image for the larger pic

Hobbies at Butler County June 19, 2009


Blue and orange are complementary colors. That's enough motivation. But, despite an early day storm, the track did everything they could to get the show off. A nearby storm passed north of the track and left an orange sky in its wake. I underexposed the photo to saturate the sky more. Then, I cranked up the Norman 200b to give me the light I needed. I had a few nice shots from the place, despite one of the most miserable nights I've had shooting: muddy, humid, flash misbehaving. I was reminded why I keep spare shoes in the car. But it's all part of the game. Click the small image for the larger pic

Thoughts on the Eagle/I-80 reconciliation

Without being any part of the proceedings and reading about it as soon as everyone else did, it appears that attorney and former track owner Craig Kelley helped mediate a deal between Eagle and I-80 over what was going to be a nasty conflict in scheduling.

My thoughts:

- Obviously, as you can see the April 10 date wasn't the only bone of contention. From what I was told outside of the discussions, there were some "retaliatory" moves before the mediation stemming back from conflicts in the past.

- Notice the statement about "give-and-take." THAT is my definition of "working together," not offering specials to guys already coming or doing things that are more investments than compromises. 

- For all the arguments about who got the schedule first, one forgets that Eagle dropped its huge Labor Day Shootout/free ticket special right on I-80's season points finale last year. And they didn't announce it until mid season. You can see that was a big issue as it was mentioned by name. On the other end, a pre-Eagle Nationals ASCS race was scheduled the night before at I-80 until Eagle and Tony Bruce raised objections.

- It's nice to see that after 2010, both are going to hammer out their plans in concert with each other. Calling "shotgun!" when it comes to scheduling is not the answer, and in my eyes is just as (in)valid as the high school, six-people-in-a-four-person-car version. Simply put, Eagle may still be the 800-lb gorilla in the room when it comes to fan count overall, but I-80 and others are working to make moves of their own. As they say, "it's business."

- The big winners in this are the fans in general, and sprint fans in particular. Fact is, that before the uhh...settlement, neither track was going to be hurting for sprints. Of late, ASCS races are generally only 10-15% Eagle cars, and Eagle would have its own weekly contingent. The fans would've been divided between the familiarity of their "home track" and the variety, and recently the competitiveness of the ASCS show.

- In the end, it was nice of Mr. Kelley to step up and use his positive ties with both places to work for the greater good. Props to him and props to Eagle and I-80 management for their work in making it better for the fans.

I'm (back) on Twitter

I'm back on Twitter, with a bit of a plan. I'll tweet bits of racing info, and photo stuff. Sometimes related, sometimes not at all. As you can tell, it will probably tilt toward the photo end, but I certainly don't forget my racing roots.

Either way - it's just a click.

Follow me at: www.twitter.com/jasonorthphoto

April I-80/Eagle Scheduling Conflict Resolved

From Craig Kelley:

I am happy to announce the following schedule changes for the two
Lincoln-Omaha metro-area tracks for 2010 after sit-down meetings, and great
give-and-take by both track ownership teams:

Sat., April 3: I-80 MLRA TOURING LATE MODELS, A Mods and Hobby Stocks, as
scheduled. Eagle closed

Friday, April 9: I-80 will run a newly-scheduled NASCAR weekly show PLUS
$1000 to win A Modified Show (NO rain date) leading into...

Sat., April 10: Eagle ICE BREAKER CHALLENGE (as scheduled) with Eagle
Sprints and $3K to win Modidfied Show and IMCA Sport Mods and Compacts. Rain
date, 4-11-10 and I-80 will now be closed April 10-11, 2010.

Friday, April 16: I-80 ASCS Sprints, A mods, Sport Mods, and Compacts. Eagle
closed.

Sat., April 17: I-80 ASCS Sprints, SLMR LM's, NASCAR LM's and Pro Am's.
Eagle closed, cancelling scheduled weekly show.

Sunday, April 18. I-80 will NOT run its previously scheduled NASCAR weekly
show after racing Friday and Sat.nights, and April 18 will only be a
possible rain date for either track only.

Wed., June 9 - NRP Charlie Clark Memorial will NOT run Sprint Cars and will
now feature an 'A Modified' Special plus Sport Mods, and one other possible
support class. This I-80 show is moved up one night, after previously being
scheduled on June 10.

Eagle Raceway will not run a Free-Admission or weekly points event on
Sunday, September 5, 2010 against I-80's annual Labor Day season-ending
weekly points show.

I-80 and Eagle ownership will meet immediately following the 2010 season to
make all attempts to schedule the 2011 race season with no conflicting
dates.

I-80 will move its banquet date in January 2011 to an alternative date as
they did not yet have a Banquet Hall booked, to avoid the two tracks'
banquets being on the same dates.

In addition, there are some other scheduling and promotional ideas the two
tracks are working on for 2010 and beyond that will benefits both fans AND
racers. Stay tuned!

I would like to thank and congratulate both tracks for working so hard
together on making 2010 conflict-free!