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SUNY Canton Automotive Technology program

Wednesday, February 20th 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

Alan Johnson talks about racing this week in Florida and his plans to race at two weekly homes.
Jim Bogett talks about the Mod Lite business he just bought and who will make the new chassis.

Today will be a fun day for us here as my youngest is celebrating her 6^th birthday. She has been counting down the days for over a month now and we have an action packed day planned for her.

It will be interrupted though for a few studio interviews and a wake for a friend who lost his mom this past weekend. Talk about an up & down day huh? But we’ll take the highs with the lows and make the best of it.

And I also cleared up a rumor that I had seen on DTD for a while and when I asked Alan Johnson about it he helped squelch it. It didn’t make much sense to me when I saw it and as Judge Judy says, “If it doesn’t make sense, it isn’t true!” In this case she was right.

Now let’s talk more about what is on the Audio Page for today. I begin with a man who won last year in Volusia and is hoping to do so again. Alan Johnson talks about racing this week in Florida and his plans to race at two weekly homes. He told me what he has heard about the track in Volusia the last few nights, the importance of Tuesday night’s practice and shared some memories of his dad’s career as well as his own early days as a driver.

Jim Bogett talks about the Mod Lite business he just bought and who will make the new chassis. He explained when the deal happened to buy Pro Race Cars, why he chose Pete Bicknell as the manufacturer and where these types of racecars are getting more popular. Check him out at www.jandkmotorsports.com.

Tuesday, February 19th 2013

Neal Williams talks about his trip to Florida and runs down his plans for the 2013 race season.
Jack Patrick updates me on the work he is doing to his Small Block Super for the Oswego Speedway.
Gary Roberts tells me what is doing in his race shop as he gets ready for Southern Tier Speedworld.

It was a nice start to the work week as the sun shined in Liverpool after some late effect snow the night before. It wasn’t much to deal with and my daughter got to shovel the driveway for the first time. Thanks Allie for saving my knees some wear and tear.

As you can see we are back with three today as we get ready for our own DIRTcar Modifieds to join the fray in Volusia. I have several things set up for today so I know I will have some good stuff for you tomorrow so be sure to come back for that.

And after an injury plagued season in my bowling league, I came back last night for just the second time in about 2 and a 1/2 months and rolled a nice 617 series. It was my first 600 of the season and it was totally unexpected. I will tell you this though, I could not have bolwed one more frame if my life depended on it. Time to ice down the knees for a good 24hours. Thanks to Stu Sheppard for the equipment as am rolling stiff he rolled last year. Thanks bud!

Now let’s chat more about what is new for today on the Audio Page. And it is a very diverse line up to say the least. Neal Williams talks about his trip to Florida and runs down his plans for the 2013 race season. He told me when they decided to make the run south, what would make for a successful trip and why we may see him at more Super DIRTcar Series races this year.

Jack Patrick updates me on the work he is doing to his Small Block Super for the Oswego Speedway. He explained why he’ll start the season with an un-freshened motor, where he feels his Mopar engine is stronger and why the pistons he needs to have are so hard to find. Interesting!

Gary Roberts tells me what is doing in his race shop as he gets ready for Southern Tier Speedworld. He hinted at a change in the appearance of his IMCA Modified, remembers a rough crash he had last year at I-88 Speedway and ran down his early season schedule.

Monday, February 18th 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

Danny O’Brien talks about his four win season, his new chassis and a car show in March.
Nick Petrilak remembers his Sportsman championship at Five Mile Point and his hopes to repeat.

I got busy on Sunday after a night out on Saturday and recorded five new interviews. Two of those are up today and I’ll be giving you the other three tomorrow if all goes well and if as dad says, “the creek don’t rise”.

It will be a fun week for us here as the kids are off for a mid winter break so it will be nice to have some extra time with them. I have to make sure we do something special this week.

Daytona and Volusia are now the main tracks of focus now as the 4/10 mile track will be used today and tomorrow for the K&N Series and the NASCAR Modifieds as well. The Battle at the Beach will be live on Speed so don’t miss it.

And of course everyone in the mainstream media must be doing handstands today with Danica winning the pole for the Daytona 500. Maybe that will shut down all the romance talk, but the one thing it could do is put more eyes on next week’s race. And that’s a good thing.

I just hope they focus on the other 42 drivers who have a chance to win the race and don’t turn it into a sideshow. But with Go Daddy in the mix, anything tasteless can and probably will happen. Obviously the people at Go Daddy don’t have kids or more specifically daughters or they wouldn’t be turning them into pieces of meat like they do in almost every one of their ads. Shame on you! And yes, I have two daughters.

Now let’s chat more about what is new for today on the Audio Page. I begin with a man who is getting something new ready for this coming season. Danny O’Brien talks about his four win season, his new chassis and a car show in March. He told me about the work he is doing right now in the race shop, a change they made at mid season and how some tough luck on Saturdays hurt him in the points.

Nick Petrilak remembers his Sportsman championship at Five Mile Point and his hopes to repeat. He spoke about getting ready for Southern Tier Speedworld in two weeks, New Egypt for the ROC opener in late March and wonders if he may run as a regular o Fridays as well.

Sunday, February 17th 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

Jim Gabriel Jr. describes the struggles he had with his Modified in 2012 and what he is doing now.
Ernie Saxton updates us on some NASCAR news from Florida and talks about the Gen 6 car.

It was a real nice day on Saturday as I got my sports fill in for sure with two races from Daytona and some college basketball. Yep, it’s a great time to be a fan of both those sports and especially at this time of the year.

We’re back today with two more nice interviews for you. One of for you dirt fans while the other of for NASCAR fans. Even I am big time into what is happening on both surfaces in Florida as I am so optimistic about the new Gen 6 car and after watching some practice laps, I think it is going to race much better than the COT.

Of course more action is taking place in Florida this week as Volusia really starts to get busy. Our DIRTcar Modifieds will be there for four straight nights and if the teams are not there yet, they are probably on their way.

Now let’s chat more about what is new for today on the Audio Page. I begin with a man who would like to forget about last year for the most part. Jim Gabriel Jr. describes the struggles he had with his Modified in 2012 and what he is doing now to get ready for the coming season. He talked about when his car would start to lose side bite, explained how the surfaces were at his two weekly homes and looks forward to having his car ready for Southern Tier Speedworld.

Ernie Saxton updates us on some NASCAR news from Florida and talks about the Gen 6 car. He tells me what he likes about the new car, why he is concerned about car counts for the 2013 season and explains why the number of “start and park” cars may fall off.

Saturday, February 16th 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

Tony Steiner talks about his move to a Super Modified and what his dirt cars will do this year.
In the latest Doug’s Thoughts, I share why I am so excited and why I don’t watch many movies.

Well it is finally time to remind the rest of the world that racing is back today! With a pair of big races on TV from Daytona, the non-racing public will once again be exposed to our product. The ARCA race is today and the Sprint Unlimited is tonight. Although it is three segments of 30, 25 and 20 laps so maybe “unlimited” is not the perfect word.

But still it will be fun to watch and see how the new Gen 6 car races. It can’t be worse that the COT as far as side by side racing goes so we’ll see. And yes, Daytona is not really my bag as I liked the two car pod racing much more than the 43 car draft, but I am so race starved that I know I will be into it.

I also have a Doug’s Thoughts on the site today talking about why I am so excited. And of course over the next few weeks, mall shows and Motorsports 2013 will happen and the start of racing in our neck of the woods will get closer and closer.

Now let’s chat more about what is new for today on the Audio Page. I begin with a man who is making a big change for this season and moving into a super slick, super competitive form of racing. Tony Steiner talks about his move to a Super Modified and what his dirt cars will do this year. He explained why the asphalt world gets along so well with him, the importance of aerodynamics at Oswego and compares racing on asphalt to racing at Syracuse.

In the latest Doug’s Thoughts, I share why I am so excited about today and why I don’t rent many movies. I also talk about what I like to follow in the NASCAR world, wonder if the racing in the top series was better twenty-five years ago and explain how classic childhood stories are now the “it thing” in Hollywood.

Friday, February 15th 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

George Cushman talks about his practice laps for the ARCA race and a problem they had.
Joe Skotnicki talks about the four Super DIRTcar Series divisions and their schedules for 2013.

It was another soggy day in Florida as the races were rained out at Volusia for the second night in a row. And of course there is always a silver lining behind every cloud so maybe some ladies got an unexpected Valentine’s Day dinner out of the deal. If so, way to go guys!

I hope you all had a nice Valentine’s Day. I did! And the homemade cards from my daughters were the best! Forget the store bought cards. My oldest is quite an artist.

On the site today we have more from Florida as we find out about a New York racer’s quest to make Saturday’s ARCA race at Daytona. He was 35^th quickest but had a problem with his left front so it will be an anxious night for the Cushman crew as they try to fix it before today’s qualifying.

Also we find out more about this year’s Super DIRTcar Series races and why more of the Modified races are during the week rather than on a weekend. And it sounds like there could be some more news concerning the Sportsman series. Joe and I will chat again when that comes out.

Now let’s chat more about what is new for today on the Audio Page. I begin with a man who is hoping for a strong run today on the big 2 ½ mile track. George Cushman talks about his practice laps for the ARCA race and a problem they had. He told me what was going on with the left front, how it limited the laps they were able to get in and what he needs to do in today’s qualifying session to make Saturday’s race.

Joe Skotnicki talks about the four Super DIRTcar Series divisions and their schedules for 2013. He told me about some new tracks in the mix this year, why they have moved most of the summer races to mid week dates and hoe Modified racers can become eligible to run in the season finale in Charlotte.

Thursday, February 14th 2013

New on the Audio Page for today:

Lance Dewease ran down how he did in his first races of the year and looks forward to Volusia.
Logan Schuchart talked about his races on Ocala and wondered where he would race next week.

Yesterday we showcased some of the Late Model drivers who are running in Florida during speedweeks and today we chat with a few Pennsylvania Sprint Car drivers as they get ready for a busy stretch. Both of these chats are very good and if you are a Sprint Car fan, I know you will love them.

Tomorrow we’ll be back with more of a local theme but you never know who we may chat with today especially with it being Valentine’s Day and all. I was trying to get a little ahead yesterday and I do have a chat lined up for this afternoon, but after that it will be all about my wife here at the house.

I also put up a note at the top of the page as a reminder as I know how busy we all can get. But take some time today to tell your loved one how you feel and how fortunate you feel you are especially if you drive a racecar. It takes an understanding person to be with a racer so be sure to let your special someone know how much you appreciate all their support. I know I will!

And for those of you who have noticed a change in my mood these last few months I apologize. My mom has not been doing well and we are finally at a crossroads as of yesterday. Decisions like we have to make now are never easy and they can turn you into a genuine pain in the ass which is what I have become of late. My most sincere apologies. And if any of you have been through a similar situation with one of your parents and have any adice for me, please email me as I am not good at dealing with these kinds of things. I watched my grandmother die as a kid and the thought of doing it again has me in a place I have never been before. I know my true friends will understand so thank you for that and sorry to burden the rest of you with my problems which as I stated...are my problems, not yours. So sorry!

Now let’s chat more about what is on the Audio Page today. I begin with a driver who is pleased with his start so far. Lance Dewease ran down how he did in his first races of the year and looks forward to Volusia. He told me what he learned in his Tuesday night practice, his new deal for the 2013 season and how his neck is feeling a year and half after the crash that injured his neck.

Logan Schuchart talked about his races on Ocala and wondered where he would race next week. He told me about his plans for the year, why he seems to do so well at Williams Grove and where he would like to be in five years.


	What was the best movie to watch if you want to see cars get wrecked? It's a mad, mad, mad world. 1963 Gone in 60 seconds. 1974 Smokey & The Bandit Part 3. 1983 The Blues Brothers. 1980 Vanishing Point. 1971 Click here for more results


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