First up in the next leg on our journey was the Kings Royal weekend. I had been to Eldora Speedway once in 2009 for the Royal as a part of a documentary crew so I knew what to expect. Eldora gets transformed into miles and miles of campground filled with RV’s and tents of every shape and size. As you begin to get near the track, the rows and rows of white and yellow camper tops are visible over the track. Eldora is one of my favorite tracks by far and it’s not just the racing surface that gets me. The atmosphere is second only to the Knoxville Nationals in my opinion. People make this the focal point of their vacations. They come to camp and stay here on their time away from the grind of their jobs.
The Knight Before the Royal presented an awesome opportunity to see high speed shootout. Tim Shaffer and Jason Meyers dueled throughout the feature that night in one of the more impressive driving displays I’ve seen in awhile. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for my T-shirt cannon firing abilities. Plagued by wheel packing push trucks and a rookie driver, (Boss Man Chris Dolack was behind the wheel of the golf kart) a few of the white cotton walking billboards ended up well short of making it over the steel catch fence. Arriving early the next day, Tech Man Steve Mahannah, Justin Reimers and I solved the mystery of the cannon and had it firing like a Howitzer. Sadly, the jam packed Kings Royal schedule prevented us from firing the shirts and testing our new shooting range.
The 28th edition of the Kings Royal had all of the makings of an epic race. The night started out with the news that track founder Earl Baltes would crown the king himself at the end of the night. Into the heat races we went with drivers accusing each other of this and that. With the cameras from SPEED rolling for a tape delay broadcast, all of the drama was captured on tape (or Hard Drive.)
Several cars missed the A-main including Jac Haudenschild. The “Wild Child,” sustained damage early but had nearly every free driver and crewman near his #6M hauler there helping to put a new front end on the car. The efforts were futile and eventually Haud just climbed out to watch his son, Sheldon, race.
In the A-main, it was all Sammy Swindell until the final corner of the last lap. A shredded right rear tire on Swindell’s machine was his downfall and opened the door for Tyler Walker to blast by for the biggest win of his career. Walker made it a Victory Lane to remember as he stopped right after the scales, high fiving and hugging everyone in sight. Eventually, I heard a call over the Outlaws official radio to get the winner to the stage. So I grabbed the winner by the shoulder and took off with him through the sea of race fans, drivers and teams. Eventually we made it to the stage and the rest of the pageantry took off from there.
From Eldora, we took off for Pennsylvania on Sunday. Pittsburgh was our port of call as we checked in to a Quality Inn. The next morning, I set off on an adventure to find a gym. Being out on the road is great but the lack of regular workout facilities forces you to get creative. I’ve caught many awkward glances as I have taken to jogging around motel parking lot. As crazy as it is, the running actually helps with stress levels. Drivers and crews obviously work long and strenuous days but so do the officials and being in shape helps keep you going during this record high heat we are experiencing. Anytime I can get a run or weight lifting session in is a plus.
I decided that I would find a gym nearby and take off on a hike. According to Map Quest, it was only a mile south west of my then current local. Needless to say, two and half miles later, I had found nothing and ended up in an area of town that wasn’t exactly “family friendly.” A quick exit and a trip to the motel’s weight room allowed me to get my fix. Some people enjoy wine, some enjoy good foods or cigars. For me, it’s working up a sweat and feeling a sense of accomplishment. My fellow blogger, Rick Eshelman, also wrote an article about fitness on the road. You can check it out here.
My first trip to Lernerville Speedway was truly spectacular. With help from fellow PR man, Eric Westendorf, I sampled the track’s excellent Italian dishes (Pizza and Pepperoni rolls.) This is possibly some of the best food I have ever had period. I still am on my quest for the ultimate track food and this certainly ranked high. The racing action was fast and torrid at the four-tenths mile oval. Dave Blaney and Tim Shaffer emerged as the victors with Shaffer claiming the overall Silver Cup. What a winner for a standing room only crowd! We packed up our gear and set off on a four and half hour drive to Carlise, Penn. which will be our base camp until Saturday morning when we check out before the final night of the Williams Grove Summer Nationals. It’s a 5 hour driver over night to Lebanon Valley Speedway in New York for a race Sunday night and then onto Canada! You never know where we might turn up next so stay tuned!
-Gump
No comments:
Post a Comment