ON SITE: Running at about half-throttle

I feel like a man that's been singled out.

Everywhere I turn there's another can, another flavor of Full Throttle -- the Coca-Cola Company's cheap imitation of an energy drink. They're giving away free samples to fans today, but let's be very clear here. I'm not getting any, OK.

I'm a Monster guy. OK? I'm not looking for soda with extra sugar and caffeine. I'm looking for a bunch of ingredients I can't pronounce, ones that I have no idea at all what they do for me, ones that will probably knock a good 12-15 years off my expected life span.

Now that we've gotten past that....

There are just 24 Super Late Models in the pits for the PASS North Series' Ray Haskell Ford 125 here at Wiscasset Raceway today. That's surprising. Most of the weekly Wiscasset competitors, it appears, have opted to sit this one out.

One theory I heard in the pits was that a bunch of the guys who stayed home were "chicken." Interesting. I hope I got that right, you know -- I hope what I put in between the quotation marks was an accurate depiction of what was said.

Some people are picky about this stuff.

I saw Jay Cushman on the grounds today. He asked that I didn't write anything bad about him.

OK, I won't. Ummm....

Qualifying is set to start on what is a light schedule. Might actually make it home before dark tonight for a change. Or, better yet, might make it home before sun-up. Even that would be a welcome change.

Dying division watch -- just 11 PASS Modifieds on hand. I can't figure why this division hasn't caught on. I really can't.

Comments

[Maine ACT Fan]

I'm not really surprised by the 24 car count. The locals just don't seem to support PASS in large numbers. This is always a problem at Speedway 95. I wouldn't call them "chickens". It's more likely that most of them don't feel that they can be competitive. Also the fact that no Wiscasset points are at stake probably limits the incentive for some. As far as the Modifieds, 11 seems to be about par for them. It's too bad, really. They usually put on a pretty good show.

[Andy B]

So, are PASS modifieds "Deadman Walking"?

They've been given more years to get their numbers up and haven't. Those type of cars really haven't caught on any where in New England and I think part of the problem is that they are so crash prone. It's not unusual to see those cars have as many caution flags as # of cars starting the race - and it really doesn't matter if it's an asphalt track or dirt track.

The IMCA type car is fading out in NY state as well.

[Anonymous]

The PASS modifieds are a support division and will be fine as long as around dozen show up each week, it seems like dissapointing numbers but it needs to be understood that this division was started from scratch just 4 years ago. If all 25 or so cars would show up at once it would be a hell of a race.

This is meant to be a low budget deal and the teams with the low budgets are usually the ones that are most susceptible to having something like $3.67 for a gallon of gas to get to the track be the difference between racing and having to sit out.

Tom Mayberry made a commitment to this division and I think it has helped the tour. The super late models, modifieds, and sportsman make PASS the best show in New England.