Archive for Brian Penrose
Jul
23
This weekend’s sprint car races – 07.23.10
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We hope you like Georgia because that’s where you are going this weekend if you want to see some sprint car action.
If you own a television you may have seen that there is a Tropical Storm rolling over the southern part of the state so Punta Gorda Speedway decided to go ahead and cancel everything on Thursday instead of waiting to see what will actually happen rain wise on Saturday. Go figure.
In theory the Georgia mini sprint drivers will show up for the Border War that is on their own turf this weekend. The FMSA boys and Rhea Lynn roll into Oglethorpe Speedway tonight and then move on over to Golden Isles Speedway Saturday night.
Saturday night will be a double bill as the FMSA shares the track with Otto’s Sprint Car Association. If there is one race you go to this weekend, this is it. Why?
- It’s the last night of the mini sprint Border War – trophy time!
- It’s $15 a carload to get in. FIFTEEN BUCKS!
- There is a $200 bounty up for grabs if someone can defeat Titanium Tommy Denton.
- Our Editor at Speed “The Hot Foot” Brian Penrose returns to competition.
- It’s a beautiful track.
- You’ve got nothing better to do.
Did you watch the USAC Silver Crown race last night? Holy Wow! How about Florida’s own Travelin’ Troy DeCaire? Starts 30th because his engine shut off on his qualifying lap, and then wows Indiana with why we in Florida have come to know and love watching Troy by driving through the field to come home 10th. And this was a serious field with all of the big time teams and drivers.
For Internet-only coverage, it was pretty good. The camera followed Troy quite a bit at the end, so we got to see his arms working the wheel as he made some sick passes down on the flat coming out of four. It was a thing of beauty. It occurred to me while watching the coverage that we could stream it right here on our website, so we’ll try to do that in the future.
Earlier this week it was announced that the TBARA got bounced from CMP and the CFWS are taking the August 14 date. Sign of the economic times? Most likely. CMP had a super late model race recently and six super late models showed up, five started and three of them had the last name Anderson. None of the other classes broke double digits. That’s pretty bad…but not as bad as Orlando Speed World. They had 25 cars total for their last weekly show. Hell, the FMSA brought more cars themselves to Ocala. I’m not saying worry about the OSW date, but one thing I know is that if the race goes off, I’ll have the grandstands all to myself.
This could be a long summer if you like pavement sprint cars.
On to the Friday videos!
To prep you for your Georgia trip, one of the best Jake “The Snake” Roberts interview of all time, courtesy of Georgia Championship Wrestling.
Don’t ever forget what’s cooking in Atlanta, GA!
Jul
18
FMSA Race Report – 07.16.10
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Steve Wheeler knows how to make headlines around this place.
Date: July 16, 2010
Track: Ocala Speedway
Series: Florida Mini Sprint Association
Admission Price: $30 Pit Pass.
# of Sprint Cars: 29
Who Won: Gavin Thomas
Crowd Grade: C. I was kind of let down by the size of the crowd at Ocala. The last couple of sprint car shows I’ve been to at Ocala were pretty darn packed. Perhaps it was the threat of rain that kept people away? One other pundit thought perhaps we lost some of the snowbird crowd that we saw the last time the Top Gunners were in town. It was pretty damn hot out too, but that shouldn’t have hurt the crowd because it’s always hot in the summer. You got me…
Food Ordered: This is Ocala Speedway, chili cheese dog state champ! Did I order the chili cheese dog? You’re damn right I did. Was it the best in the state, for a race track? You’re damn right it is. This thing was such a mess the gentleman working the pits concession pointed me to the forks. I politely declined.
Food Grade: A+. I see no reason to order anything but the chili cheese dog at Ocala.
Drink Ordered: N/A. I got bribed with some Orange Crush down at the Partin Racing hauler, so that pretty much sealed the deal for me for the night.
Track Grade: C-. I’m grading on a scale here for Ocala. During hot laps the track was a mess best described as gumbo. Hot laps were useless. Heat races were a little better. For the feature, the groove wasn’t bad (I’m grading for the mini sprints) but I still think something has to be done in the off season to improve the surface at Ocala.
Series Grade: A. The only thing holding back this grade from an A+ is because this was billed as a Border War between Florida and Georgia. And I guess Georgia either a) didn’t get the memo or b) thought better of it knowing full well we would send them packing, tail between their legs. Hey, if this was supposed to be a war, we can surely insult the enemy by calling them pansies, right? Nonetheless, 29 cars, good field depth and a dog fight at the front in the feature between John Craddock, Gavin Thomas and eventually Brett O’Donnell. If you don’t think this is the best sprint car touring series in the state right now, you’ve got rocks in your head. I don’t care that they are smaller and have motorcycle engines. I want to see good racing and right now nobody is doing it better than the FMSA.
FSCF.com Driver of the Race: He never raced a mini sprint before. Dirt experience? Hardly. Tested much before the race? Not really. That didn’t stop TBARA driver Steve Heisler. Making his FMSA debut in the Penrose Racing #14D (normally driven by our Editor at Speed “The Hot Foot” Brian Penrose) Steve put his head down, started 25th in the feature and came home 8th. He was in 7th until the last turn when Steve Crabtree got around him on the outside, but Steve did hold off Tim O’Donnell coming to the stripe – no easy task. Steve made six nice passes for position that I counted and stayed out of trouble all night. He also had a great crew chief helping him out. Now for those of you that know I was working on Steve’s car and want to call BS on me giving this award to Steve, well, the numbers don’t lie, but hey, I’m a sport. If you don’t like my choice, Brett O’Donnell is just as deserving. He too made his way through the pack and challenged for the win, eventually coming home in second.Watching Brett come through the pack was a thing of beauty as well.
Other Notes:
- Rhea Lynn Moss took a tough lick in the feature, due to a broken shock, but was thankfully alright. Rhea Lynn has been the revelation of the season and was sitting third in points, so this was a tough hit all the way around.
- I think I heard Steve Crabtree yell out, “Banzai!” as he made that last lap, last corner pass on Steve Heisler. Holy Guacamole did Steve have a head of steam as he went around the outside of our car. Nice pass.
- Gavin Thomas took it to everyone’s dome in the #7 Jesse James Demolition/Atlantic Powder Coating Special. Gavin has a boatload of talent and we suspect he could get the job done in a full blown sprint car if given half a chance.
- Justin Kolves and Ocala just don’t mix. Justin tore his car up something fierce last time out and came back on the hook again after he got caught up in someone else’s mess, breaking his brake line. It’s been an expensive year for the Kolves family.
- Jody McKenzie had a scary looking fire that brought out the red, just after the yellow had flown.
- Sheldon Kinser made a guest appearance up in the announcing booth. He’s still trying to get a powerplant under him to get back out there.
- John Craddock looked like the man to beat early on until Gavin Thomas got around him. Craddock was strong all night.
- Our Editor at Speed had a tough night. His brand new car drew a small crowd every time it was stationary, but despite the crew’s best efforts, it wouldn’t fire for the feature. Brian would like to send a special thank you to Don Taylor of Taylor’s Garage in Ocklawaha for doing his best to try and fix the motor.
- I wonder if Paul and Dominic Lanza are related to Blackjack Lanza…
Race Reporter: Todd Michaels
Jul
14
Breaking News – TBARA driver to make FMSA debut this weekend!
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L-R: Penrose Racing for this Friday - Reserve Driver Dylan, Steve-O and The Hot Foot.
Penrose Racing today announced that TBARA veteran Hustlin’ Steve Heisler will pilot the team’s secondary car as our Editor at Speed “The Hot Foot” Brian Penrose will now move over to the team’s new primary car.
“It’s an honor to have a driver of the talent of Steve Heisler want to drive our car,” said Penrose. “Steve has been a big help to us this past year, always pitching in to help, particularly in the welding department. Whenever we needed help with motor mounts or whatever, Steve has always been there to help, so this was the least I could do for him.”
It should also be noted that 100% of the FloridaSprintCarFans.com staff will be in attendance and working on the cars fielded by Penrose Racing Friday night at Ocala Speedway.
“I suppose since I’ve got this Steve Heisler Racing crew shirt that I should really be Steve’s crew chief,” said Todd Michaels. “But the last time I tried to work on his car he told me not to check the front wheels at New Smyrna and we all know happened after that. Nonetheless, I’ll be more than happy to talk Steve out of any changes he wants done to the car.”
Steve Heisler is equally enthused.
“Thanks to Brian and family for offering to let me drive his hot rod on the dirt, I’m really looking forward to it,” said Heisler. “Driving on the dirt at Ocala should be interesting, but I know my crew chief won’t let me down.”
Josh Wichers was unavailable for comment. Something about a roller derby.
Also – check out Steve-O’s new website at www.SteveHeislerRacing.com!