HUMP DAY, ABOUT GONE!

"HUMP DAY, ALMOST THERE HEADED TOWARD RACING AT "THE BURG"

If everyone is ready, well so are we, as racing has been taking a while to get here again. I know that some of you were racing at West Georgia Speedway on Sunday, but hey that was Sunday when it was cold and no crowd, and really not much to cheer about.

The modified mini feature was won by #6 Richard Bagby, who really had no challenges, and the race was good , it was so good that he was able to load his car back on his trailer and collect some extra cash.
Like they say when you can load your car back without a problem, you have made your life a litter easier.

No where was Frank Long who has won every modified mini race at "The Burg", he must have decided to wait until a warmer day, to bring his #07 car back down to see if anyone could catch him.

The weekend looks great for racing, and I believe this week will give me a chance to get the Canon GL-2 my new camcorder- pro style ready and for some great action. I hope that I can learn all the bells and whistles that this camera has on it, it sure is different, and that is good in a way. So while all the drivers are getting their cars ready for Saturday night to try and win on a track that is known to take cars apart, I will be test all my camera gear, I hope for the best for all of you drivers and families.

Terry Finnell, who drives the #32 yellow Enduro car, could have won Sunday if he and is car were working on the same page. I call Terry "Sunshine" and it is because his car is a bright yellow, that can be seen everywhere. It also helps having those bright red letters on the side of his car that says "Carters Wrecker Service", add those two things and you can't miss "Sunshine" when he is on the track. I was thinking if he would have been there at West Georgia Speedway Sunday he would have started with 1 Enduro car and some Street Stock cars, and since every one was dropping out like flies he could have WON, trouble is he would not won as much money as he could have if there had been a full fill of Enduro cars racing. Oh, well maybe he will get back down to the track once his car is ready again.

The hobby race was looking like a dandy of a real show, except #3 of Jeff Carter never came out on the track after he found out he busted a rocker arm stud in the hot laps session.

I was working along in the booth high above the track, and I never noticed till I fired my camer up that in the starting line-up Jeff's car was not in line. I mean you had #01 of Blant Duke, #47 of Jason Causey, and #92 of Joe Hillman, so I knew I would see some real ation, but without the #3 car I knew the race would not be to my liking. Then again, there was some hard fought racing, between the Hillman car and Blant Duke and Jason Causey, so there was some real action, I just wondered what Carter would have had to show, well I guess we will have to wait till next race night to find out.

The Crates, ran, all 3 of them, and of course Tony Kemp ran like a lion and purred like a kitten around the old historic race track. He was in the grove all the way, and never let off. He was being chased by #19 of Jeremy Hall, and #89 of Carey Smith, who was trying to keep his car under him, it seemed he would drive to hard into the turns and get up in the loose dirt where he was forced to back out of the throttle.

Tony went on to win, with ease and who knows what this Saturday night will bring. Someone eles that did not make the Crate car show was the #K77 of Mark Knight, who had his car their but something was really missing in that engine. There has never been a time I have seen Mark at a race and that he did not come out, but I knew when he was not racing it was for a reason. Mark can be one of the most dangerous Crate Car drivers to take the track at any speedway, including West Georgia Speedway.

They called for a intermisstion, I guess that was to sell some more HOT COFFEE, because it was too cold for anything else.
Once that was over, and all the officicials back in place they started the Sportsman race, in which again #99 of Rucker Orr was locked and loaded and on a mission. He was there to win and 2nd place was not in his asignment for this overcast afternoon of Sunday racing.

Mark Sims was there to run his #22M in the Sportsman car divition, and he ran like a champ until bad luck struck and he broke a axle, in the rear end of his car. That was the sad part because earlier in the race, Mark dodged a major pile up, by lets say a fender. I know he could see cars sliding down inside toward his car, and like magic Mark hit the gas and drove past the mess never getting touched, now this is the sign of a good driver, one that has confidence that he can and will make the right moves at the right time. All I can say is when Mark seen the cars sliding toward him, it was time to GO and that is what he did, never getting a lick from any car that was involved in the wreck.

So, I know that Sammy Duke will be happy to see the sun shining on West Georgia Speedway on Saturday, because it is going to rain again on Sunday, so hey lets go racing on Saturday night and get the fans back in the stands. Sunday he was kind enough to give two good looking girls a ride on his Historic Tractor, that he uses on racing nights to pull wrecked cars on and off the track, Sammy is good as gold in his heart, and loves people. Many a night, Sammy will board the blue tractor and slowly ride around the track, waving at the fans, and they are cheering him back, you have to love Sammy Duke.

I hope that we will also see a great Hobby car battle, between Blant Duke, Joe Hillman, Jason Causey and Jeff Carter, and who ever else wants to try their luck at beating Blant Duke.


So with all that said, see you at "Historic" West Georgia Speedway! located in Whitesburg, Georgia, bring you families, friends and children to watch then brave mean tackle the track they say is to hard to tame.

Thanks,

Tino Patti
a Freelance Photographer/Video Journalist