ChasinRacinDL

  One of my "poker buddies" - Harold - raced stock cars down here at Canyon Speedway, I think in the late sixties.  Like 1969, not the age 69. Hope he had better luck than we are!   We drew a junk pill, starting at the back of our heat race in this afternoon show.  Casey moved up from that 8th position to finish 2nd.  Good job! Began the Main in the middle of the pack, got tangled up early on, with real damage to the nose, also the right and left sides of the car.   Ugh.  We worked into the night to get as much done as possible. "Bend at your knees, not your back".  Duh.   Anyway, got a new nose on the car, and banged out body parts on both sides.  Wade and I put the car away (up in the trailer) before midnight.   Will take another look this morning, fix the rest, and race again today. D & L  -  still going.

  Sometimes when you're camping, you come to realize that it's just time to move along.  And so it is today. This has been a really nice spot, but the weather has been cool and breezy most of the time.  And in the middle of last night I had to get up twice to chase wild Burros out of our camp. So today is the day.   We decided to go further south.   About 50 yards , from space 134 to space 136.  It's much nicer down here!  Actually, the sun is out, and it is warm enough that we changed to shorts.  Took us maybe 30 minutes to move, including travel time. And the folks that just showed up at 134 acted like they owned the place.          (Or at least had a reservation!)    About a day ago we noticed that a tent trailer moved out of 136, and we were lucky enough to get a reservation ourselves for 2 more nights, before anyone else did.  (The place is full this time of year.) Real electricity for 2 more ...

  Yep.  We moved this morning from Arizona Speedway southeast of Phoenix to the " Desert Tortoise Campground" at Lake Pleasant Regional Park just north of Phoenix (Peoria, actually).   It is a little damp, raining off and on.  But it's a very nice camp on a big lake, with fun things like electricity and water, etc. It's raining, and I am bored.  So I thought I would do a random post.  Your Loss.  Sorry! We really feel like we're on vacation at the moment.  No obligation to head for the pits.  Not on standby for anything.  Nice feeling.   A year into this and we are still LOVIN' It !!  It is so much fun to work with the Skyberg Race team, and to travel around the country to make that happen.  We see a lot of stuff we otherwise would never have seen, both inside and away from race tracks.  The folks we meet are exceptional, and with a common interest it is very easy to visit with them.  Some are connect...

  They call Tony Stewart "Smoke".  Have for a long time.   Well, he "smoked" them tonight.  Not only did he set a new track record in his      qualifying run, but he won the Sprint Car main later in the evening. This being the "Wild Wing Shootout" here in Queen Creek, they present awards with bulls in tow, then the "winner" gets a couple of six-shooters to shoot into the  air.  Blanks, I hope.  Suppose you'll do anything for a $5,000 payday! As for the Casey Skyberg team, we had an OK day, with a 4th place finish in our Heat race, then came in 9th in the Main event.   We'll take it.  Given that we had dodged rain part of the day, it was good to get the show in while not having any racing issues. We race next weekend about an hour away at the Canyon Speedway in Peoria, Az (north Phoenix).  That will be the end of our Arizona swing.  Will move on to something else in February, I suppose.   Will ke...

  Our camp trailer sat in "camping parking" this past week at the Arizona Speedway, while the race rig sat in the pits.  Returned to find everything good.   It had rained a little here yesterday, but the clouds were gone by practice time.  Practice only last night. IMCA modifieds came out first, and were running lap times in the "high 18's",  around 18.8 seconds per lap.  Track in really good shape.  We didn't run, as our guys don't get here til today.   Then sprint cars come out.  Wow!  Had forgotten how quick they are, having not been to a sprint car race in a while.  Times in the upper 12's right away.  Tony Stewart had the best time for a while, then Carson Macedo ran just a bit quicker (12.60ish).   Also in the hunt:  Dominic Scelzi (age 23) and Giovanni Scelzi (19) are sons of Gary Scelzi, the Top Fuel Dragster driver; ran good times as well. Back to the trailer, where I slept quite well in spite ...

  They boys (Casey & Wade) flew back to South Dakota early this morning. Is it wrong to say that we're happy to see them go?? No offense intended, it's just that we have had a race event 12 out of the last 13 nights.  Rarely concluded by midnight.  So we are a little tired.  (It might be noted that the guys I work around are maybe half my age, and some certainly 1/3 my age.)   Ouch.      Ugh. Our camping neighbor (Ron) just knocked on the door to tell us he is leaving, and thank us for doing a couple things for him.  He travels in a big motorhome, and writes articles for Speedsport.com (formerly National Speed Sport News) as an independent contributor.  Very nice guy.  We first met him in Tucson a year ago.  Will see him next week here, and again at Canyon Speedway (north Phoenix) on the 29th.  Our neighbor on the other side is a "Champion BBQ" competitor, who has several state and national titles. While at this ...

  Last night at Arizona Speedway here in Queen Creek, we ran in the Second of six Heat races - started in the 3rd position .  Casey went almost immediately to the front, winning the race!  Yay! But the luck ran out by the A-Main, which we started in 7th position.  Early in the race we came in contact with another car, got the worst of it with some body damage on the left side, and a right rear tire flat.  In truth, we were going backwards anyway and it wasn't looking promising in the few laps that we ran. Will hit it again today. BTW:  The Late model A-Main was the absolute excitement.  Closely contested by Tyler Erb (Texas), Ricky Thornton Jr. (Iowa), and Jonathan Davenport (Georgia).  Multiple lead changes in a single lap, especially in the closing laps.  Crowd was loving it.  And the place was packed.  Don't have a link, but you might find this on Youtube, or at Dirt on Dirt website.  It's worth the watch. We race again toni...

  Well, I think they must be Hawaiian.  They seem to operate on Hawaiian time. For example, they typically rise for the day around 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning.  Hawaii time.  That would be just before noon here.  And bedtime normally is around 10:00 to midnight (2 - 4 a.m. here).  At least that's the way it works. So yesterday we drove from Queen Creek to Yuma for the Cocopah race (Thursday night) as there was no race at the Arizona Speedway (Q.C.)  Windy when we got there but it settled down by race time, with the temperature in the 70's.  We started the fourth Heat in 2nd position , where we also finished.  Got us directly to the Main, where we posted an 11th place finish from the 7th starting slot, right behind Kenny Schrader (also a "Lethal" Chassis).   Casey was disappointed, but it wasn't really a bad performance out of 52 registered modifieds, and the 25 starters in the Main. Lorna and I got in the truck around 11:30 (rea...

  Yes.  Someone in the pits at Cocopah one day came by to chat.  In the course of that asked "So are you Casey's DAD?".  Well, let me settle THAT right now. Some good news to report.  Started in the 10th position in our Heat Race last night here at Queen Creek.  Basically dead last.  Facing an (only) 8 lap race.  Tough nut to crack. But Casey DID IT .  passed every car in that short time to win the thing. WOW!!   Very impressive run. Put us directly into the Main, where we started front row Pole!  Got passed eventually by Rodney Sanders and Dustin Strand,  but he held on to the 3rd spot .  Another great job. Payoff was delayed last night, we find out a little later that Strand was disqualified for a rules violation.  The top cars go through Tech Inspection at the end of the race, and they found a little something, I guess. So we're now 2nd.   We'll take that. Late night celebration.   A little slee...

  Well tonight (actually last night, as it's now past midnight) we had a 4 hour practice session here at the Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek.  Turned out to be a good thing, as we were able to try out various different set-ups on the car. We had very good lap times for the night, at or near the top most of the night. We race later today (Wednesday).  Our performance will determine whether we continue here, or head back to Cocopah tomorrow for a race later that night. Will let you know! D

  Arizona Speedway.  67 Modifieds signed in here.  57 Super Late Models.  And then 49 X-mods.   Plenty of cars to put on a good show. Lots of fans, as well.  The whole facility, including the expanded camping, is packed. In our Heat race last night we held our own, with a 6th place finish out of 11 cars. Pu t us in the B-main to try to qualify for the show.  Got knocked out early in this race due to incidental contact with another car that left us with a very bent right front wheel, and of course no tire.   We are now spectators.  Until Wednesday. Saw some of the best racing last night that we've seen in a while.  Ricky Thornton is a rocket in the Late Models, with some very good competition.  Likewise for Rodney Sanders in the modifieds.  Good show. Now, as a reward for suffering thru this, a little IQ Test:     From the Jack in the Box in Yuma.  Under the heading "What's Wrong with this Picture??"...

  Cocopah - Saturday night. Started the 3rd Heat front row outside and went on to win the thing. Straight to the A-Main, where we started again front row outside and 25 laps later (with a little nail-biting) managed a #3 finish.  Lots of good cars behind us! Great job Casey!! Driving this morning to the Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek, AZ to try our luck with the USRA car later today. 6th night in a row.  Ugh! Later . . .  D

Cocopah Speedway.  This place is ACTION all day long.  The Marine Corp Air Station is just a couple miles away.  Literally right now, as I just typed the last words, 4  F-35's flew over in a little formation.  Right overhead and quite low. We're in their landing pattern.  They fly at all times of the day and are a great diversion.   And while you sit in the stands, you watch Crop Dusters spraying the fields just across the track.  They do this most frequently at night, with bright floodlights on the leading edge of the wing.  Lots of aero maneuvers and very fun to watch.  Wouldn't want to DO that, though! Bearing in mind that there are cars from across the country at this race, and last night saw 66 entries in the A-Modified division alone;  that the A-Main event starts only 26 cars, it isn't a cakewalk to get INTO the show on any given night. Yesterday while Casey was in town and Wade was away, I took apart the front end so ...

  Just a quick note on the start of 2021.  Tuesday night was practice only. Cocopah Speedway, Yuma, AZ Car count:  64 IMCA Modifieds  (only 26 make the main each night) also 52 IMCA Sport mods, and some Stock cars and Hobby stocks. Wednesday we were in the 3rd of 8 Heat races, started 7th, finished 6th.  Good enough track but not much passing.  Put us in the 3rd B-Feature, where we started 9th and finished 7th - three positions out of the show.  Night done. Thursday started 6th in the Heat, finished up 2 places in 4th, but only the top two transfer directly to Main.  Finally got a good starting position (3rd) in our B-Main event and moved up one, which got us into the show.  Lined up 18th out of 26 cars in the Main, fought hard to move up just a few positions, then fell back to 18th at the finish. I think Casey got a little frustrated with the car and took the opportunity to try a few things on the track, since the track made passing a litt...

  Okay.  So this is gonna be another Random post.   We all made it to 2021.  That's a good thing. 2021.   Didn't they used to write songs about years in the future which we all knew only our grandkids would live to see?  What are we doin here? Anyway, ever have someone tell you that they "didn't give a hill of beans . . ."? Who has a hill of beans to give?  And what kind of beans?  Kidney?  Lima? Soybeans? And how big is a soybean, anyway. No, Really . . . How Big Is A SOYBEAN ?   Do you know?   We didn't. But we found one,  and stole it.  From a field in Iowa. You didn't think I had a Dime,  did you?   Well there you go. And a soybean.    Take quite a few of those to make a hill.  But soybeans are handy when you want to make vegetable oil, or animal feed or maybe even biodiesel.  Or maybe you want to give someone a hill of these. Which could look something like this....