Van Horn & Hineline back at BDR 2010

While the brutal cold weather starting to settle in here in Pa, a couple of drivers have announced some of their plans for the 2010 season, warming our racing thoughts up a bit, lol.

In a recent interview by Doug Elkins on Doug's Dirt Diary, David Van Horn announced that he'll be back at Big Diamond Raceway every Friday night next season, also announcing that his Saturday night plans are still up in the air a bit, but it could be back to OCFS on Saturdays, but he wasn't ready to confirm that....DVH also mentioned that he'll be back in the same cars he ran last year, as all of them have only around 20 races on them or so....I'd look for DVH to pick up career win #2 in "God's Country" next season, backing up his first win from last year.


In a pretty recent phone conversation with Dan Hineline, he mentioned that he will be back at BDR in 2010 in his #15X sbm....Dan really impressed many last year at BDR, and almost picked off his first win at the track twice....The one Friday night Dan was GONE, CHECKED OUT, and was leading the race till around lap 19, when a mechanical failure seen him come to a stop in between turns one and two....Then a few weeks after that, Dan DUSTED the field again, this time though he took the checkered flag, the celebration was on, but a post race inspection found an issue with the carburetor on the Bicknell #15X, and it was deemed illegal, taking the win away and Dan getting the 'ole DQ....But there is no doubt in many peoples minds that Dan will get back to victory lane at BDR in 2010, with the same Bicknell chassis he ran last year, and this time it will count for good, and Hineline will add his name to the prestigeous BDR record books.

WOW....Questions on the Pa Mod Scene

As the holiday season is upon us, seems there are many questions surrounding on what drivers will be racing what cars, at what race tracks for 2010....It's still pretty early yet in the off season, but no doubt questions are abound as to what's going to all go down when spring time rolls around, as even some of the "top dogs" haven't offically announced plans yet....Two of the "Big 3" here in Pa, Craig Von Dohren and Jeff Strunk have yet to offcially announce plans or the race teams they will be driving for next year, but SPECULATION (that's all it is) has it both COULD return to their deals for '09, with CVD back with Mike Harvey, and Strunk back with the Gagliardo racing team for next year, but nothing has been offically announced....The other part of the "Big 3", Duane Howard, has announced plans for next season, as Howard will be back with BPG Racing, and their main focus will be winning the title at Grandview Speedway, with many big block specials planned during the season, as there has been no mention of definite Friday night plans as of now....Many qustions and rumors going around about Ryan Godown for 2010, as Ryan won some BIG races at both BDR and Gview last year while driving for JR Motorsports, but that combo has split, and Ryan is exploring all his options for 2010, maybe even leaving the Pa sbm scene and returning to NES next year, stay tuned on that one....Billy Pauch Jr is another who is out there putting together plans for next season, as PPB Racing has decided to take a year off from the sport, and word has it he's close to announcing them, at least for one of the 2 nights of weekly racing next year....With Norm Hansell wanting one driver that will run both nights next year, which can't happen with Rick Laubach as Rick runs NES on Sat, who'll be in the seat of the #357 is a "hot" topic right now....Talk has several teams are cutting back or are waiting to see what kind of sponsorship can be is found to see if they will be racing next year, as Brett Deyo reported in this weeks AARN that Shawn Reimert and Kyle Weiss are two of them....Brad Missimer's owner Don Schaeffer has announced he'll be stepping away this year, leaving Missimer looking at options for racing at Gview next season....Guys like Rick Laubach and Ryan Watt have made it known they are looking for deals for BDR next year as of now.

With the tough economy and the times being really tough right now for so many, it's going to be interesting, to say the least, as to what the local 2010 racing scene is going to look like once April comes along, and right now, just seems there are way more questions then there are answers, I guess we'll find out what some of those answers are as the winter rolls along.

Mastrocola Racing Announced New Driver

Mastrocola Racing has announced who will take over in the team's second modified for the 2010. Jeff Richardson, the 2009 Accord Speedway crate sportsman champion, will take over for Tom DeMarmels in Mastrocola Racing car, and will run as a teammate to Mike Ricci weekly at Accord Speedway. DeMarmels, as previously reported, had to leave the team to focus on his business, and will not be racing in 2010.

Finally, Some Good News!!

After seeing a few teams already fold, and some driver retiring, finally, we racefans get some good news. As previously reported, HP Motorsports can't afford to field a car in 2010, and also previously reported, Troy Wink can't afford to field his own operation for 2010. The solution; Wink and HP Motorsports will be teaming up for 2010, combining Troy Wink's team and the HP Motorsports team. The team will compete at Big Diamond Raceway on Fridays, and will run Saturdays at Grandview Speedway. Also, look for the team to travel to some select small block races at tracks like Hagerstown and Delaware, and possibly Selinsgrove.

Also, as for HP Motorsports former driver Ryan Watt, who also lost his Saturday night BPG Motorsports ride, look for Watt to team up with Ron Roberts Racing in a second team car (the first, of course, driven by Roberts) for weekly competition at Bridgeport Speedway.Nothing is official yet.

Also, rumors are swirling that Tom Cullen Racing, who ran part-time this past season with Matt Sheppard behind the wheel of the #1WBG small block modified, will be replacing Sheppard with Stewart Friesen in 2010. Cullen is interested in running weekly again, as opposed to specials-only, which is all Matt Sheppard's schedule allows him to do. Once again, nothnig is official yet.

Big Winners and Champions of 2009

Here's a list of track champions, touring series champions, mini series champions, and 5-digit race winners from the 2009 racing season.

Big Block Modified Track Champions
Delaware International Speedway- H.J. Bunting
New Egypt Speedway- Rick Laubach
Bridgeport Speedway- Wade Hendrickson
Penn Can Speedway- Jeff Rudalavage
Mahoning Valley Speedway- Randy Thomas
Sharon Speedway- Rob Curtis
Lernerville Speedway- Jeremiah Shingledecker
Tri City Speedway- Jeremiah Shingledecker
Albany Saratoga Speedway- Kenny Tremont
Devils Bowl Speedway- Kenny Tremont
Redline Raceway- Brian Malcolm
Accord Speedway- Jerry Higbie
Brewerton Speedway- Matt Sheppard
Fulton Speedway- Billy Decker
Fonda Speedway- Bobby Varin
Utica Rome Speedway- Pat Ward
Cayuga County Fair Speedway- Alan Johnson
Can Am Motorsports Park- Billy Dunn
Lebanon Valley Speedway- Andy Bachetti
Canandaigua Speedway- Matt Sheppard
Orange County Fair Speedway- (TIE) Chuck McKee/Jerry Higbie
Glen Ridge Motorsports Park- Jeff Brownell
Five Mile Point Speedway- Brian Weaver

Small Block Modified Track Champions
Grandview Speedway- Jeff Strunk
Big Diamond Raceway- Duane Howard
Mercer Raceway Park- Frank Guidance
Mohawk International Raceway- Roy Tarbell
Autodrome Edelweiss- Pierre DaGenais
Autodrome Granby- David Hebert
Autodrome Drummond- Mario Clair
Airborne Speedway- Martin Roy
Brockville Ontario Speedway- Danny O'Brien
Cornwall Motor Speedway- Kyle Dingwall
Merrittville Speedway- Larry Lampman
Ransomville Speedway- Todd Burley
Humberstone Speedway- Pete Bicknell
Woodhull Raceway- Billy Van Pelt
Lebanon Valley Speedway- Andy Bachetti
Orange County Fair Speedway- Chuck McKee
Can Am Motorsports Park- Lance Willix

Big and Small Block Modified Touring Series Champions
Super Dirt Series (Big Blocks)- Brett Hearn
RoC Dirt Tour (Big Blocks)- Pat Ward
BRP Modified Tour (Big Blocks)- Rex King
Thunder on the Tru-way Series (Big Blocks)- Bobby Varin
Tri-Track Series (Big Blocks)- Rick Laubach
358 Dirt Series (Small Blocks)- Dale Planck
Lucas Oil West Tour (Small Blocks)- Pete Bicknell
Lucas Oil North Tour (Small Blocks)- David Hebert

Big and Small Block Modified Mini-Series Champions
Florida Dirt Tour (Volusia County Speedway)- Pat Ward
Thunder on the Hill Series (Grandview Speedway)- Jeff Strunk
American Revolution Series (Mohawk Int. Speedway)- Roy Tarbell
King of the Valley Series (Lebanon Valley Speedway)- Eddie Marshall

Crown Jewel Race Winners
Rite-Aid 200 (NY State Fairgrounds)- Matt Sheppard ($50,000)
Freedom 76er (Grandview Speedway)- MeMe DeSantis ($20,000)
All-Star 100 (Cayuga County Fair Speedway)- Ryan Phelps ($20,000)
SUNY Cantun 200 (Fulton Speedway)- Billy Decker ($20,000)
Eastern States 200 (Orange County Fair Speedway)- Jerry Higbie ($20,000)
Salute to the Troops 150 (NY State Fairgrounds)- Billy Decker ($20,000)
Mr. Dirt Track USA (Lebanon Valley Speedway)- Billy Decker ($17,500)
Victoria 200 (Utica Rome Speedway)- Gary Tomkins ($10,000)
New Yorkers 200 (Utica Rome Speedway)- Steve Paine ($10,000)
Coalcracker 100 (Big Diamond Raceway)- Ryan Godown ($10,000)
Forrest Rogers Memorial (Grandview Speedway)- Ryan Godown ($10,000)
Octoberfest Big Blocks (Hagerstown Speedway)- Brett Hearn ($10,000)
Octoberfest Small Blocks (Hagerstown Speedway)- Tim McCreadie ($10,000)
Friends of Mike (New Egypt Speedway)- Billy Pauch ($10,000)
Granby 150 (Autodrome Granby)- Billy Decker ($10,000)
Drummondville 150 (Autodrome Drummond)- Jimmy Phelps ($10,000)

More Retirements

Two more drivers have announced they will be sitting out 2010 in the modified ranks. Pennsylvania small block driver Shawn Fitzpatrick is done racing modifieds. Fitzpatrick points to family and education being the reason for him hanging up his helmet. Also, New Egypt Speedway regular Mike Krachum will be retiring to focus on the driving efforts of his son.

HP Motorsports, per Brett Deyo, is done fielding a 358 modified. The team fielded a small block for driver Ryan Watt for weekly competition at Big Diamond Raceway, but financial reasons have forced the team to park the cars.

Also, Brett Deyo reports, Glenn Hyneman Motorsports may not be done as I thought. Look for the team to make some sort of announcement in the not-so-distant future.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Be safe, and enjoy your turkey!