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RE: WOW!
Being a huge Cat fan and Gary Moyle fan I'm definately a little disappointed. Still, there are bigger and more important things these days in the sport than what colors a driver is wearing. I wish Gary (a fellow Yooper) and his team a great and safe season. He's a winner and he has proven he knows how to "close the deal". I hope PJ gets a decent engine this year and can be competitive again as well.
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kh550
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09/11/08 04:09pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Moving Home
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kh550
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07/08/08 03:20pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Awards
Racer of the Year: Dustin Wahl. He has the potential to be every bit as good as his dad -- and that's saying a lot.
Rookie of the Year: Brandon Johnson.
Team of the Year: Wahl Racing. If Terry were healthy and had raced, there wouldn't have been much left for everyone else.
Most Improved: Nick Dolzal. I knew he was a much better contender than he showed in the first part of the season. Racing equipment does make a difference.
Hard Luck: Gary Moyle. The broken recoil at Eagle River was unfortunate but not as bad of luck as PJ had there a few years back with the broken tether switch. Gary could have certainly won more races this year but at least he did win a couple.
Biggest Surprise: PJ. This season had to be long and agonizing for their team. He's way too competitive to be stuck in the middle and back of the pack.
King of Ice Oval Racing: JV. You are the man!
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kh550
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03/10/08 03:13pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Changing the Derby Dates to Feb in 09
Todd,
From the perspective of a racing fan I think you're right on about the cold weather and the football playoffs. If the Packers are in the playoffs you will lose a lot of spectators no matter how nice the weather. Both issues have the potential to keep crowd numbers way down and from a business decision point of view moving to mid/late February would be good just for those reasons. Moving it back would also give racers more racing and testing time so they are fully dialed in for the big weekend -- assuming they stay injury free. It might make for even more competitive racing.
I don't want to upset anyone by saying this, but it might be time to look at integrating more of the premiere vintage classes into the WC weekend. It's just not very exciting to watch a class of sleds running with only 3 or 4 people on the track. Unfortunately, we are seeing more of this as the expense of the sport has numbers continuing to struggle. It gets tough when even some die hard racing fans are questioning whether it's worth a three day weekend anymore. I 100% appreciate the effort of the racers to put on a good show and of the Derby organization to do the same but these days there are only a few classes that are high interest anymore -- IMO those with a higher number of racers.
By the way, thanks for making the changes this year to the Friday night program and making it a night of solid racing instead of all the side shows. It's too bad the weather didn't cooperate, but I still believe it was a move in the right direction.
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kh550
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03/05/08 08:07pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: JV #96 Lattest news
JV - Do you guys already have the sled rebuilt? The back of the tunnel looked pretty smashed. I hope you are feeling better -- I'm sure the recovery will take some time.
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kh550
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02/06/08 05:48pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Who is the "The King Of Ice Ovals" ?
This is a tough one. I guess to really crown a "King" we would need to agree on the various qualities that a King must have. We would never all agree on that either! I would crown Jacques "King" because of his longevity at or near the TOP of the sports premier class and his showmanship on & off the track. If you are giving a "BEST DRIVER" award J.V. would also be a contender BUT there are a few others that certainly qualify. Considering only driving talent and Huevos size, My choices would be: Mike Houle, Larry Day, Terry Wahl, Jacques and Gary Vessair. Other greats would be: Dave Wahl, Tim Bender, Brad Hulings, Guy Useldinger
One of the best ways I have found to judge a driver, is his ability to extract every bit of speed from his machine. When you have a Larry or Terry on your sled you don't really even need good comunication all you need to do is watch closely to what the machine is doing in the corners, they will drive it in deep enough to make the sled do something wrong and they will get on the gas earlier each lap until it does something wrong exiting the corner. Race drivers that have the ability to run a sled on the edge every lap are rare. A driver that drives reckless and far beyond his sleds capability is also not what you want. If you see a race sled that looks like it's handling fine but it's not out front, the driver isn't doing his job.
I cannot judge guys that raced before 1985 and the new crop have not had enough time to prove themselves yet.
Good post -- thanks. What would this sport have been like without this list of names (and others). I think of "King" of the sport as only JV because of not only his love for racing but his longevity and fans love to watch him race. A "Best Driver" would be very very hard to pick because these guys were all so good and so professional. Tim Bender made those old Yamaha FIII sleds absolutely fly around the track. I loved to watch him drive. Brad Hulings had the whole package -- smart, detailed, great driver, and knew his sleds. He helped to raise the bar of what it took to succeed in this sport. (By the way, I noticed a couple years back the Brad was trying to get his son Aaron into Nascar. I know Aaron was a successful driver at the local and regional tracks -- has anyone heard how that is all working out????) Mike Houle was the same kinds of driver -- you almost expected him to win every time out. Still, as for the "KING" of the sport -- two guys come to mind first for me -- Dave Wahl and JV. But there can only be one king and IMO #96 you are the man! JV -- I once heard you say that you plan to race until you are 60. This could only come from the King of Ice Oval Racing.
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kh550
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02/02/08 07:32am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: PJ
It looked at Eagle River like PJ was pretty good off the line but not as good out of the corners. I was also kind of thinking that he might have been better off with some of his older stuff. I'm sure they'll get it figured out but the season's not that long to begin with.
By the way, how old are the sleds that #39 and #17 used?
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kh550
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01/27/08 02:57pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Who is the "The King Of Ice Ovals" ?
Another vote for #96
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kh550
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01/25/08 03:18pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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PJ
It's got to be killin PJ to have to be running in the middle of the pack -- especially at Eagle River. I've heard he's got a new engine builder; I've heard clutching issues... what's going on with his new sled?
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kh550
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01/22/08 08:34pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Cory's Top 10 wk #4
Good list although how about an honorary top 10 for #96 -- maybe like an ex officio or something... Anyway, I tip my hat to the 54 year old Canadian who is willing to mix it up on the track with the young guys. He is always hard charging, always entertaining, and always competitive. Here's to a full and speedy recovery.
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kh550
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01/22/08 08:31pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Friday Night Thunder Report
I'd add based on what was happening Friday night, three drivers -- Dustin, Gary, and Brian looked quite a bit stronger than the rest of the field. If Dustin hadn't had to pull off the track early on, it would have been a race between those three. Brandon Johnson, Dan Fenhaus, and Matt Schultz were in the next tier of sleds but were a step slower than the top three. It was most interesting to see that PJ's sled might very well have been one of the slower ones on the track. They don't have the speed to run in the front or even the middle right now. On another note, the accident involving #96 and #007 took place during some very close racing but it was downright scary. After that the night dragged on and on with one accident after the next. On Sunday, look for #66, #39, and #74.
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kh550
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01/19/08 07:12am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: ER World Champion Picks
1. #28 -- he lost a heartbreaker to Larry Day, now he will win WC#4 by a nose.
2. #74 -- he goes head to head with #28 throughout the race
3. #66 -- he earns the pole on Friday night
4. #22 -- he powers another Wahl sled into the top 5
5. #96 -- he is lightning fast all weekend and always fun to watch
It should be a great Derby. I wish all the drivers and teams the best of luck this weekend.
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kh550
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01/16/08 03:03pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Plymouth Top 5
1. Gary Moyle
2. Brandon Johnson
3. Dustin Wahl
4. Dale Loritz
5. Dan Fenhaus
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kh550
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01/10/08 06:07am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Make Your USSA Opener Picks
If Terry isn't running then my top five are...
1. #66
2. #74
3. #28
4. #38
5. #22
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kh550
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01/04/08 05:40am |
Ovals & Enduros
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RE: Make Your USSA Opener Picks
1. #66
2. #74
3. #47
4. #28
5. #38
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kh550
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01/02/08 03:46pm |
Ovals & Enduros
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