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SUNY Canton Automotive Technology program

Thursday, March 21st 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

Ryan Godown talks about his runner up finish at Selinsgrove and his hopes for New Egypt.
Andy Kieffer gets ready to show off his car this weekend in Auburn at Fingerlakes Speedworld.

Spring is officially here but you wouldn’t know it from looking outside. Snow and cold have taken hold here in Central New York and from what the people who know these things are saying, it is not going to leave anytime soon.

Of course things look better to our south as New Egypt will run a pair of ROC races this weekend. Also Big Diamond is set for Sunday as well as Hagerstown which is running the completion of last November’s Brawl in the Fall. There is a lot going on for race fans so let’s keep our fingers crossed that Mother Nature is going to be a fan too.

I did four interviews on Wednesday in an effort to get ahead as I have a lot of non-racing things to take care of today. And anyone with aging parents knows what I am doing so wish me well and let’s hope my hand doesn’t cramp up from signing to many documents.

Don’t forget also that Southern Tier Speedworld is taking place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Fingerlakes Mall in Auburn. I spent alot of time in that mall when my wife and I were first dating so it will be fun to get back there and see how it has changed. And for hunters and fishermen, Bass Pro is there too so let’s make it a big one.

Now let’s chat more about what is new for today on the Audio Page. I begin with a man who just got out his racecar for the first time last weekend. Ryan Godown talks about his runner up finish at Selinsgrove and his hopes for New Egypt this Saturday. He told me how he was compared to Friday’s race winner, how his big block felt in the hot laps and runs down where we will see him race in the next few weeks as well as the 2013 season.

Andy Kieffer gets ready to show off his car this weekend in Auburn at Fingerlakes Speedworld. He told me how much he enjoys chatting with people at these mall shows, described a big change he made to his IMCA Modified and why there will be an additional #2 on his car this season in memory of a friend we recently lost.

Wednesday, March 20th 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

Bobby Varin talks abouthis fifth place at Selinsgrove and runs down the cars he’ll drive this season.
Jeremy Pitcher told me about his plans to run weekly at Oswego as well as occasional dirt starts.

Winter was back for a lot of us on Tuesday as Mother Nature got in ne more day of snow before the official start of spring today. Well it sure doesn’t look like spring but rest assured that it is coming soon.

We are back with a pair of studio interviews for today on the site and both of them are real good. One of these drivers has been out while the other is yet to make it to the track for that first run.

I’ll be back in today as well and have a few people that I didn’t get to yesterday that I should be able to get to today. Things have been a little crazy around here but we’re getting more on top of things every day and should be back in fourth gear (or high for you Mod/Sportsman guys) again real soon.

Now let’s chat more about what we have for you to listen to today on the Audio Page. I start with a guy who may need a planner just to see which top notch car he will be driving. Bobby Varin talks abouthis fifth place at Selinsgrove and runs down the cars he’ll drive this season. He also looked ahead to racing twice this coming weekend, getting the 00 out for the Utica Rome opener and remembered a confusing moment at the start of Friday’s race.

Jeremy Pitcher told me about his plans to run weekly at Oswego as well as occasional dirt starts. He talked about how he did in his two starts last season, how surprised he was at how well things went and how much he is looking forward to a new challenge.

Tuesday, March 19th 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

Chad Brachmann talked about his6^th place at Selinsgrove and his plans to travel on Saturdays.
Mike Mahaney ran down how he finished 10^th at Selinsgrove and looks ahead to New Egypt.
Joey Colsten offered his thoughts to Jeremiah Fish as he got ready to suit up on Friday night.

We have more for you today from Friday night’s show at Selinsgrove. Two are from the studio and the other was done by Jeremiah Fish as he walked the cold pit area on Friday.

Today we’ll be back in the studio and looking for more from last weekend, more about this coming weekend’s race at New Egypt and more from folks who are still working hard in the shop to get ready for their first race.

It’s an exciting time of the year and maybe one of my favorite times of the season. There is something about seeing a racecar that has been made to look so good just going on the track and having the driver just beat it up so hard. There is something about it that appeals to me. Work to make it look good and then beat the crap out of it. Yeah!

And on Monday night, I continued my nice streak of games on the bowling lanes with a 621 series that included a 176 in the middle. Over the last four weeks I have averaged over 206. And with all the games I missed due to a series of nagging injuries, I am truly happy to be out there and bowling well is the icing on the cake. A big thanks goes out to Philip Clauseen or "Hulk" as he likes to be called. He helped Tim McCreadie a few years back with his back injury and without his guidence, I would not be back and doing as well as I am now...thank you so much!

Now let’s chat more about what is new for today on the Audio Page. I begin with two drivers who were happy after Friday night. Chad Brachmann talked about his6^th place at Selinsgrove and his plans to travel on Saturdays. He told me how he fell back early in the feature, described a carburetor issue they had and looks forward to his next race at the Canandaigua opener. That’s right, Chad has a big block too!

Mike Mahaney ran down how he finished 10^th at Selinsgrove and looks ahead to New Egypt. He told me about his strong run in the heat race, a change he made before the feature because of the cold temperatures and wonders where he’ll race weekly on Saturday nights.

Joey Colsten offered his thoughts to Jeremiah Fish as he got ready to suit up on Friday night. He talked about how tough it was for his dad to watch the team go to this show, how confident he was coming into the show and wonders how his rebuilt motor should work on the track.

Monday, March 18th 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

Larry Wight tells me about his third place finish on Friday in the ROC race from Selinsgrove.
Tim Buckwalter talked about getting a top ten finish in his very first Modified feature race.
Dan Creeden had a new car at Selinsgrove and told Jeremiah Fish about his off season work.

As you can see we are back today with three strong interviews from the ROC opener this past weekend at Selinsgrove Speedway in Pennsylvania. One was from Jeremiah Fish on Friday while the other two are from the studio on Sunday. And we’ll be back with two more from the studio and one more from J Fish on Tuesday so be sure to come back tomorrow for those.

It is so nice to be actually talking about racing and I really enjoyed speaking with the folks I did yesterday as for many of them it was their first race of the season.

It was also nice to see the story of Tim Buckwalter. He was last year’s ARDC Midget champion and he had no laps in a Modified coming into Friday night. What a night it must have been for him as he recorded a top ten in his first race. Nice.

And like I said, be sure to come back tomorrow for chats with Chad Brachmann, Mike Mahaney and Joey Colsten. It will be a fun day to say the least.

Now let’s chat more about what is new for today on the Audio Page. I begin with a pair of drivers who had top tens on Friday night. Larry Wight tells me about his third place finish on Friday in the ROC race from Selinsgrove. He talked about his early race out front for the lead, how happy he was to be the first gasoline powered car across the line and ran down his big goals for the season.

Tim Buckwalter talked about getting a top ten finish in his very first Modified feature race. He told me what it was like getting used to the car as het got ready for his first ever laps in the car, how he did as the night went along and how much he is looking forward to getting back in again.

Dan Creeden had a new car at Selinsgrove and told Jeremiah Fish about his off season work. He talked about the work they did till 2:30 AM the night before, how tough it is to relax before that first race of the season and running in front of family & friends on Friday nights.

Sunday, March 17th 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

Andrew Harpell talks about Friday’s ROC Modified opener at Selinsgrove and Saturday’s snow out.
Paul Szmal previews Fingerlakes Speedworld and tells teams how to show off their racecars.

It was a tough day on Saturday down in Pennsylvania as the ROC big block show was snowed out. And yes, today was set as the rain date but with the snow actually accumulating at the track and temperatures predicted in the 30’s today, the raindate was scrubbed as well.

We did talk to ROC organizer Andrew Harpell and he tells you all about what happened as well as giving us all a reminder about this weekend’s race in New Jersey at New Egypt Speedway. That is sure to be another big, big show.

J-Fish did get a few interviews for us on Friday night and we may have one or two of those up for tomorrow. But today I will be in the studio hard trying to get ahold of as many people as possible. If you are available, send me a message at doug@dougsdirtdiary.com and we’ll get you on.

Now let’s chat more about what is new for today on the Audio Page. I begin with a recap if Friday’s action in Pennsylvania. Andrew Harpell talks about Friday’s ROC Modified opener at Selinsgrove and Saturday’s snow out. He told me about the racing that took place out front, how fast the track was and looks forward to this coming weekend at New Egypt Speedway.

Paul Szmal previews Fingerlakes Speedworld and tells teams how to show off their racecars. He confirmed that the entry fee for racecars has been waived, instructs teams on how they can enter and reminds everyone how beneficial these mall shows can be for the sport and the teams.

Saturday, March 16th 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

Justin Haers ran down how he did in Florida and his plans to return to Canandaigua on Saturdays.
Scott Kreutter won the Patriot Tour Sprint Car Championship and talked about his consistency.
Shane Donath talks about his hopes for 2013 and told me about the deal he is putting together.
Dana Camenga learned a lot in his rookie year in a Pro Stock and talked about how he did.

Another weekend is upon us and it will be a busy weekend for a lot of folks. The Modifieds run again today at Selinsgrove and the Fonda Speedway has a car show going on at Rotterdam Square. So if you can, support both of these events today and show your support.

On the site today we have our final four conversations from last weekend’s Motorsports Expo 2013 at the New York State Fairgrounds. Today we’ll be getting more for you to listen to and then on Monday we’ll be back with some of Jeremiah Fish’s interviews from Selinsgrove.

Now let’s chat more about what is new for today on the Audio Page. I begin with a man who almost got his first win of the season a few weeks back. Justin Haers ran down how he did in Florida and his plans to return to Canandaigua on Saturdays. He told me how close he came to winning on the final night at Volusia, how the choice of tire hurt him at the end and how nice it was to get him & his crew a little mini vacation. And I meant to say “Justin’s here at…” but it came out like it did.

Scott Kreutter won the Patriot Tour Sprint Car Championship and talked about his consistency. He talked about his hopes to visit victory lane more in 2013, how tough 360 Sprint Car competition can be and looks forward to the opener at Fulton.

Shane Donath talks about his hopes for 2013 and told me about the deal he is putting together. He explained where he needs some help, what he thinks he might be able to make it out and what he needs to get taken care of with his engine.

Dana Camenga learned a lot in his rookie year in a Pro Stock and talked about how he did. He shared some of what he learned out on the track, where he needs to be better and his hopes to be better in 2013.

Friday, March 15th 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

Ryan Phelps had a new color scheme on his Modified and told me why they changed things up.
Darryl Ruggles talked about his move to a 305 Sprint Car and compared the work to a Modified.
Joe Trenca explained some of what he learned last season and how happy he was with his finish.
Mark Weaver will be back after almost 20 years off and talked about showing his car off.
Corie Locke was a rookie in the Pro Stock class and described the list of changes they made.

We are back today with five more chats from the weekend in Syracuse and we’ll be back tomorrow with our final ones from the event. Jeremiah Fish will be at Selinsgrove this weekend with one of our recorders so look for a lot from him to show up next week.

As for me, I am not sure what I am doing yet as it turns out my wife has to work on Saturday. And with no baby sitters available I may have to stay home. But we are not done yet so I guess we’ll see what happens.

Today I’ll be pulling my hair our as SU tries to beat a team that has made us look silly this year. Georgetown has handled us easily twice this year and the last time they held us to our lowest point total since the 1950’s. We’ll root them on as much as we can but at the same time reaming conscious of where we are right now as a team.

Best of luck to all of you who will root on your college teams this weekend as they try to set themselves up for a run in next week’s NCAA Tourney. But when the tourney ends, racing really gets going so the timing is perfect.

Now let’s chat more about what is new for today on the Audio Page. I begin with a man who really changed things up appearance wise for 2013. Ryan Phelps had a new color scheme on his Modified and told me why they changed things up. He talked about how happy he was to pick up a pair of new sponsors, the newer car he may bring out later on and how pleased he was with the way the end of the season went.

Darryl Ruggles talked about his move to a 305 Sprint Car and the work it took to get ready compared to a Modified. He told me what his expectations are, what the big goal is and how impressed he is with the engine tech in the division.

Joe Trenca explained some of what he learned last season and how happy he was with his finishes at the end of the year. He explained why they changed up the look on his Sprint Car a little, why they picked up a new chassis and why they will start with it instead of their back up.

Mark Weaver will be back after almost 20 years off and talked about showing his car off at Motorsports Expo 2013. He told me how close he was to being ready to race, explained what it was like to put it together and the other things he realized he needed to go racing.

Corie Locke was a rookie in the Pro Stock class and described the list of changes they made. He told me who helped get them pointed in the right direction during the off season, where he feels he needs to be better and why air is a major area of concern.


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