Gary Tomkins tells me what he has planned for the new year as well as a new Friday night home.
Kevin Root talked about his second season in a Sportsman and his plans to do some traveling.
Tony Veneziano reports on the first three races of the All Stars Sprints at Bubba Raceway Park.

Happy Valentine’s day to all of who are in relationships. I hope you and your significant other have a great day and enjoy each other’s company and hopefully get to do something fun together.

My wife and I are going to wait to go to dinner as I figure the usual places will be pretty packed tonight with young lovers going to their favorite spots. So we’ll wait for tomorrow or Thursday to do out Valentine’s Day dinner.

All of us at the house are sick except for Allie as we all have a cough and a general feeling of malaise. My wife and youngest daughter are on medication and if I don’t start getting better soon I may have to do the same.

Now let’s talk more about what is on the Audio Page for you as we hopefully won’t have any snow to dig out from today. Gary Tomkins tells me what he has planned for the new year, explains why they are switching to a new Friday night home his hopes to find something for Canandaigua on Saturdays.  

Kevin Root talked about his second season in a Sportsman, his plans to do some traveling with the series going to a regional points format and how he met his well known racing wife.  

Tony Veneziano reports on the first three races of the All Stars Sprints at Bubba Raceway Park, talks about the trends he noticed early on and offered his thoughts on the NHRA opener from California.  

New on the Audio Page for today:

Matt Sheppard talked about building his team for 2016 and looks ahead to racing in Florida.
Tyler Siri describes some of the changes at Outlaw Speedway and gets ready for some big shows.
Eric Giguere explains why he did not run much last year as well as his hopes to race more in 2017.

The kids are all excited hoping that today is a snow day! We did get a decent amount of snow, enough for the snowblower to be used, and it sounds like we could get a lot more early Monday and into the afternoon. Of course remember the big storm we were supposed to get a week ago did not materialize so we’ll see how this one goes.

Speaking of how things go, things did not go well for me on the lanes at the Post Standard Masters. I knew qualifying would be a tall order but I forgot how particular the shot can be at this prestigious event. I had one good game and was a lot more nervous that I thought I would be. But I had fun, met some really good people and I’m sure the experience will help me in my weekly league so it’s all good.

It’s all good n the Audio Page as I was able to get a much requested interview and that is the one we’ll start out with today. Matt Sheppard talked about building his championship team for 2016, looks ahead to racing in Florida and tells me what he can about where he will be racing weekly this season.  

Tyler Siri describes some of the changes at Outlaw Speedway for the coming season and gets ready for some big shows that include some first time ever events at the track.  

Eric Giguere explains why he did not run much last year with his Sportsman, how much he enjoyed his trip down south as well as his hopes to race more in 2017.  

Alan Johnson told me about his upcoming trip to Florida and how well he is looking right now.
Paul Guererri spoke about the new car he just picked up and ran down his 2017 race plans.
Joe Marotta talks about his plans for the 2017 season and his upcoming HOF induction.

Allie and I had a ball at the Guererri Racing Party in Seneca Falls last night. We saw so many people we had not seen in months and Allie even won a free race at Pole Position Raceway so you know she is excited about that. The food was great and so was the company!

As always I don’t just go to these types of events to have fun I also go to work for you guys and get lots of interviews. I got 11 of them and you’ll be hearing those over the next few days so be sure to come back for some drivers you know and some you may not.

Big day for me today as I will attempt to qualify for the Post Standard Masters bowling tournament. I have never made the cut before and from what I saw as I checked out the first day, the shot is tough. I saw really good bowlers bowl under 100! Yeah, I know right? So I will hope to do my best and maybe, just maybe I can make it into match play. Wish me well!

Now let’s chat more about what we have for you on the Audio Page with one from the studio and two from last night’s event. Alan Johnson told me about his upcoming trip to Florida, what his goals are for the races at Volusia and how well things are looking for his 2017 season.  

Paul Guererri spoke about the new car he just picked up, explained how his family al pitched in together to make their racing party happen and ran down his 2017 race plans.  

Joe Marotta talks about his plans for the 2017 season, describes what it is he likes most about each of his weekly homes and his upcoming HOF induction.

Jimmy Phelps talks about his goals for Volusia in two weeks and how things look in Weedsport.
Mike Welch runs down his plans for 2017, talks about his race party and remembers his 1^st race.

The weekend is here and I will be very busy today as I have some studio work to do and I need to head over the Strike N’ Spare Lanes in Mattydale to see how the first day of qualifying is going for the Post Standard Masters bowling tournament.

I am set to qualify tomorrow (so good luck sleeping tonight) and need to see how the lanes are playing and gat any advice I can. I have been bowling very well since the new year and since the local pro at Flamingo Bowl changed my wrist position and drilled me a new ball. I am hoping that transfers over to tomorrow and I can make the cut in this tournament for the first time ever!

I have some good stuff up for you today including another racer who is going to Florida and that’s where we’ll start things on the Audio Page for you this Saturday. Jimmy Phelps talks about his goals for Volusia in two weeks, the need to be more consistent in 2017 despite winning alot of big races in 2016 and how things look at Weedsport Speedway.  

Mike Welch runs down his plans for 2017 that include two different cars at two different tracks, talks about his race party on April 1^st and remembers his first time in a racecar back in the year 2000 at age 34.  

Billy Pauch Sr. talks about heading to Volusia to start his season and tells me his 2017 plans.
Mark Sabatine tells me how he is doing after a stroke and his hopes to get back to racing.

The end of the work week is here and so is racing down south. They’ll be running Late Models in Georgia and Sprint Cars in Florida as the season kicks off this weekend. It’s a great time to be a racefan and we wish all of you the best in your first races of the season.

Our own DIRTcar Modifieds won’t be racing until week after next but many are working hard to get ready including the first person we hear from on the website today. I know a lot of you love our chats with Billy Pauch so I hope you enjoy this one too.

And I also visit with a face a lot of you insiders know well from both racing and bowling. Mark Sabatine is truly happy to be here today and happy to be doing as well as he is after coming as close to leaving us as anyone would want to. We are so happy you are doing well Mark and we wish you all the best. Can’t wait to see you back at the tracks this summer.

Tomorrow we’ll visit with Jimmy Phelps as he gets ready for Florida and we’ll chat with Mike Welch as he gets ready for a new Saturday ride and his race party in April with fellow racer Blane Smith. Come back tomorrow for that.

Now let’s chat more about what we have for you on the Audio Page starting with a veteran racer who is still going strong and has well over 720 wins to his credit. Billy Pauch Sr. talks about heading to Volusia to start his season, what he hopes to achieve in Florida and tells me his 2017 plans that may include some more traveling.  

Mark Sabatine tells me how he is doing after a stroke back in the fall of 2014, his hopes to get back to racing with Steve Paine as well as possibly get back on the PBA Tour oiling the lanes.  

New on the Audio Page for today:

Doug Manmiller talks about a change at the end of 2016 and how that led to a ride for 2017.
Scott Kreutter recapped his top six at Atlantic City and what slowed him down in the final laps.

I only had a small window to get website work done on Wednesday and thankfully the two people you see up here today were nice enough to give me some of their time between 6-6:45 p.m. I’ll have more time today and I need to get ahead and get four interviews done as I have another ride along set for Friday.

So racers if you are gonna have some time today make sure to give me a call and we’ll get you on. Send me a message at doug@dirtdiary.com or message me on facebook. Either way I’ll be sure to work you into the mix today.

Now let’s chat more about what I have for you today on the Audio Page starting with a veteran racer who finished the 2016 season strong. Doug Manmiller talks about a change at the end of 2016, how that change led to a ride for 2017 and how things went for him in weekly competition at Grandview.  

Scott Kreutter recapped his top six finish last Saturday at Atlantic City, explained what slowed him down in the final laps and tells me about his hopes to run more in 2017.  

Joe Trenca runs down his plan for 2017 and explains why he feels this is the year for a win.
Tony Veneziano previews this weekend’s All Star opener and gives us some more WoO news.

I was off from bowling last night as I give me knees a few extra days before Sunday’s big tournament. It’s a bit of a risk as I sure would like to practice but I am hoping being on fresh knees trumps that and I can still have a good day on Sunday.

I got a little bit ahead and the interviews you see up today were recorded on Monday. I also needed to get a little ahead as my youngest had a concert on Tuesday night. That’s right, they’re both very musical like my wife. Hey, instruments are still a heck of a lot cheaper than racecars and you can’t wreck them and be left with scrap metal. I am totally okay with this!

Now let’s chat more about what we have for you on the Audio Page as we get over the hump this Wednesday. Joe Trenca runs down his plan for 2017 that begin in March and explains why he feels this is the year for him to get his first win while remembering a night he came close last season.

Tony Veneziano previews this weekend’s All Star opener in Ocala, Florida, gives us some more WoO news and wraps up the big races from Australia as the Americans come back to the states.