Orange Blossom 100: Thoughts

  1. Fix the scoreboard.

  2. THREE freakin’ Bandeleros for 12 laps? Really? Pay 'em all first-place points, and don’t run the class (any class for that matter) if there’s fewer than five cars. Tell 'em if they wanna run (again, any class) to bring their friends over and run.

  3. The vintage cars were pretty “neat-o”. My two faves were the two full-bodied Late Model cars, the green 00 'Cuda-bodied car, and the green #93 Howe Camaro. Brought back memories of seeing Detjens and The Green Hornet (that’d be Ed Howe for all you newbies) going at it at New Smyrna and Palm Beach years ago. Good to see that them guys don’t just ride around (although, I thought that what’s the Sprint Car guys were doing…LOL), and they put their foot in it.

  4. Fix the scoreboard.

  5. Cleanup from some of the cautions took too long, I thought.

  6. A LOT of tore-up race cars last night, and some good cars at that. I thought maybe a couple of ‘em were driving in over their heads (the yellow 75 on that one restart really could’ve messed things up…), and then a few guys got a lil’ heated up. Jimmy Crowe and David Green both took some hard hits (Crowe took the hardest, looked like it bent the frame pretty good on the 89), and again, that wreck seemed to be caused by the same two guys.

  7. My brother, Scott (in the black #12), hung in there all night :wink: He was joking that it took the leaders over 82 laps to put him a lap down. He started dead-last on the field, got out of the way when the leaders were coming, stayed out of trouble, dropped out with just a few laps to go, and still ended up with a top-ten finish against a great field of cars. At least they could put the car on the OPEN-AIR trailer at the end of the night; they did end up with a busted nose after all was said and done after getting into the back of the 22 early on. Their goal was just to finish the race, as this was Scott’s very first 100-lapper.

  8. Bonehead :wink: What can I say? For only just a few cars, that was a great RACE. No one pulled away and dominated that feature; Boner led most of the way and held off a couple of fast cars. They worked him inside and outside, and he held his own. Russell even got him sideways a few times, let him save it, and then the 15 got a run on both of ‘em. Then that last caution when the black 15 blew up (literally) in a ball of flame after dumping the bottom end of his motor all over turn one really hurt Rex, as on the restart, Russell got his momentum up on the outside and grabbed the win coming down to the flag. Good run, buddy! We was cheerin’ for ya! :wink:

  9. Fix the scoreboard. Here’s an idea: why not partner with an electrical contractor to fix the scoreboard, then give them a billboard at the track and maybe some passes for the employees and families good for any one race night the rest of the season?

  10. No outside groove? Don’t tell Rogers. He put a helluva power move on Winchell down the backstretch and into three. Timmy put an outside move on Larson there, too.

  11. Some of these kids/guys need to learn to pass some cars, and not drive over 'em. Sam Watts…I’ve known the guy and seen him race a few years, but think last night was any indication of his usually good driving. He got heated up pretty good there with Vail when he went over the top of him, but again, I think that was caused by the yellow 75.

  12. Oh yeah, did I mention, FIX THE SCOREBOARD? There were some first-time, out-of-state fans sitting in front of us, and they were asking how do you tell who’s in what position.

  13. I take back my comments about the quality of the field that showed up :wink: That was by far the best field of cars I’ve seen in a long time at Speed World, and a good quantity as well. Hated to see all them cars get tore up, though.

  14. Man, Ed, we was pullin’ for ya in that Sportsman race, bud. That’s a sharp-looking car…it didn’t look like it was that bad from the grandstand side.

  15. FIX THE SCOREBOARD :wink:

Hey Jimmy, did you want us to fix the scoreboard ? haha

I have been trying to find a new scoreboard sponsor, that one is totally fried and can not be fixed, there are no parts available for it. So it will have to be all new and that is a $12-15,000 bill. It is on my list just so you know. It is easy to want one, but hard to get the money for it, or even trade out large enough. Thanks for the comments and not being too harsh on us…haha.

Many things on my list including new PA in pits, repaired lights in pits, rebulit bathrooms, SCOREBOARD…am trying I promise. Thanks

Thought it was funny that a couple of drivers told me they have reservations about running at Auburndale because they are afraid they’ll get their cars torn up too easily… Guess they now need to avoid OSW too… The pits looked like a junkyard after that race LOL…

[QUOTE=Jimmy McKinley;46527]
3) The vintage cars were pretty “neat-o”. My two faves were the two full-bodied Late Model cars, the green 00 'Cuda-bodied car,[/QUOTE]I love that car. The guy actually drives it too.

[QUOTE=Jimmy McKinley;46527]10) No outside groove? Don’t tell Rogers. He put a helluva power move on Winchell down the backstretch and into three. Timmy put an outside move on Larson there, too.[/QUOTE]He learned that from me.

[QUOTE=Jimmy McKinley;46527]14) Man, Ed, we was pullin’ for ya in that Sportsman race, bud. That’s a sharp-looking car…it didn’t look like it was that bad from the grandstand side.

[/QUOTE] Thank you, It wasn’t bad, would have been able to finish but it got the upper radiator hose and maybe a ball joint. Its so hard to patient knowing you’ve got a good car.

Dittos to Jimmy’s post. Sam Watts got frustrated and when that happens, he goes for the bumper. Lots of those guys need to learn patience.

Edm, again, kudos on a beautiful car.

Boneman made me proud last night. Drove clean and wouldve won without that last caution.

Those two Daara late models wouldve had a top ten finish in the SLM race.

I was really impressed by the DAARA turnout last night of 27 cars total… Again, the Sprint and Midget guys and gals run for exhibition purposes only but the stockers were really getting it on. By the way, Pat McNear’s green Camaro is an old Howe car… Saw two more that I didn’t see last night at OSW headed for NSS while I was on my way over here to Auburndale so look for another big turnout… DAARA will probably have more cars than the FASCAR classes do…

LM race was good when they actually raced… I though Crash-A-Rama was next week… Rogers looks like he can just go on forever… Nice to see the “no money guys” like Alberson, Shaw and McKinley get good finishes… Russ Shaw actually ran out of gas but a timely caution let him get back out… Great run for Joe Winchell… his car was strong from practice until the end…

Boneman just simply CHOKED… what more can you say…

I left at 11:30 after the LM race… did they ever finish?

I thought all the racing was good,even the bandeleros, but mabye cut the laps in half or more when only a few cars show up.heres my big question.how do you not have hotdogs at a race track?we did get some good boiled peanuts but no hot dogs?

Trust me, count your blessings and be thankful they didn’t have any, worst in the state. The caterer on the pit side is a different story.

To offer a little more insight on the Scoreboard… The company that manufactured it was based out of Canada (I believe) and went out of business about 7 Years Ago… People from all over have looked at it going back to when Rusty was there, even someone from NASA (no joke) and there is NO way to fix it without some original parts which, as Rick said, those parts simply don’t exist.

I had Daktronics quote us on a nice new scoreboard last year and the total with installation for a BASE model that did Lap Count and 4 Positions was $14,800.00. That’s a lot of ‘pocket change’… and that’s without any of the bells & whistles.

My personal opinion is that it would be better to try and find a sponsor you can lock into a 3-5 year contract to try and help pay it off over some time… Getting anyone to front $15k at one time in this economy would be difficult to say the least.

I did my best under Cautions last night to try and recap the top ten spots and emphasize the lap count went it was a little quieter to help and keep everyone informed.

huh? a scoreboard should be nothing but lights, wiring and relays ( to step up the voltage from the controller unit ).

can you get the exact “factory replacement” parts? probably not. but stepping from 5v or 1v to 120v isn’t exactly rocket science.

is the controller unit supposed to be fried?

even that isn’t rocket science. seven segment display drivers come on 16 pin IC packages. have for decades.

http://www.play-hookey.com/digital/experiments/seven_seg_led.html

http://www.play-hookey.com/digital/experiments/seven_seg_driver.html

I don’t know what kind of connectors, relays, etc that are in it… I know the scoreboard got struck by lightning at one point…

But since I’m lying about what everybody has said that has looked at it… and you are obviously more of a genius than the other 12-15 people that have looked at… then why not volunteer and help fix the problem! :aetsch013:

Can we expect you Monday morning?

Shouldn’t Robert Hart put up the money? It is his track. What about those 23 superlates that raced at his track last night? 15k plus for each car? These guys put up there hard earned money so Robert could put on a show. What do they get out of it? CHANGE. This guy has a ton of money. Let him take care of it!!!

About the Score Board

Rick, this is from a fan and not a constant complainer and whiner, you do need to get some way of letting the stands know what lap it is and at least who is in first and second. Our group of 20 dedicated fans from the Villages enjoyed your show and will be back. Thanks for your hospitality. Glen Carter, Villages Motor Racing Fan Club.

The SLM race was outstanding while the green was out. Too bad it was punctuated by so many yellows. Here is a rule for you, and no I am not joking: if you bring out a yellow, you lose a lap. Enforce this, and you’ll find a great deal of the monkey business would go away and the show would improve.

Gotta admit to being a little disappointed in my race. I was leading at the white flag, and then a half a lap from the finish we get a yellow for something that happened behind me. We had a clear run to the end, that should have been a checkered and yellow like has happened many other times. Racing can be a b*tch sometimes.

After a few years of seeing lots of the same DAARA cars, the club must be pleased with the new group of beautiful midgets that have joined the tour. It was a shame to see Toby’s 2X modified get caught up in a vintage racing crash. Those guys had their foot in it and one went 3 wide…in an exhibition race!

Of course Todd McCreary was back in action too.

orange blossom 100?100 laps or 100 hours which ever came first. i was having a flashback to the 79 or 80 orange blossom race when buddy griffin and dick anderson got together at the drop of the green flag and all hell broke loose.

a girl in a bikini with flash cards will work for me:engel016:

That would work…

The way that SLM race looked they could have gotten a UFC girl to walk back and forth with a lap sign it would have been par for the night. That was a brutal race for many of the drivers and cars. I don’t think too many went with out a scratch.

Jimmy, did your brother have something against the 112 he seemed to get into him a few times.

[QUOTE=Voice of NSS;46553]I don’t know what kind of connectors, relays, etc that are in it… I know the scoreboard got struck by lightning at one point…

But since I’m lying about what everybody has said that has looked at it… and you are obviously more of a genius than the other 12-15 people that have looked at… then why not volunteer and help fix the problem! :aetsch013:

Can we expect you Monday morning?[/QUOTE]

L O L ! Thank for starting my Sunday right!

You mean Weaver’s car? Nothing against him; it was Scott’s first 100-lapper and first time starting with that many cars. Think he just couldn’t stop in time when all those cars got together on the first lap; he bent up the nose a little bit. I also think that Weaver was having problems; they had their car up on jackstands in the infield during qualifying. Looked like maybe they were dumping water out the exhaust. He did get around quite a few of those messes in front of him; in fact, besides getting into the back of Weaver on the original start, he didn’t touch another car. He had problems after that very last caution/red flag; he had to be push-started because they think the battery went dead :\ Then he finally just parked it because it was acting like it was missing. But, not a bad run; and at least they could drive the car up on the trailer at the end of the night. :slight_smile: Can’t say the same for a lot of other guys.

Winchell stated after the race that Marty Handshaw was working on his car. Now, I do remember that a Handshaw car won the first Orange Blossom in '69; and I wanna say Balough was driving. Maybe Westerman, or definitely Marty, for sure. Sure would be cool to see Winchell driving a orange #237 :smiley:

Going back to the scoreboard, my suggestion was to maybe partner with a local electrical contractor to either fix or replace the current one. Since Rick says the current one can’t be fixed, get it replaced. Have a local contractor come out, install it, and give them a billboard at the track, and give 'em some passes for their families and employees, good for any one race night during the season, including special events. Give 'em a three- to five-year contract on the billboard.

On another note:
We had heard mention of 2-for-1 passes for both Orlando and New Smyrna at some local Kangaroo gas stations/convenience stores. On our way over, we decided to stop at the one just east of 408 on 50. Poster in the window; OK, we’ll check. Go into the store, and the guy has no idea what I’m talking about. Head east a little ways, to the one just west of the track. Girl inside says that they used to have 'em, but that “the guy that brings them hasn’t brought us any for like two months”. So we call up another one, just west of 408 on 50, and the guy that answered the phone doesn’t speak English :fragend005: Rick, are these things only supplied at the Kangaroo’s, or will they be at other places as well? Think maybe we could get some on the WEST and SOUTH side of Orlando? :wink: