Where/How Did You Atttend:  Went to New Egypt - Modifieds, Crates, NEW Wingless Sprints, 4 Cylinder & Vintage  (Attended as a fan in the stands - $23)

Liked:  Very good show.  Racing very good (Modified feature winning pass made on the last lap), Track very good/racey/smooth (little bit of dust, but unusually, there was no wind to help it drift toward the backstretch so I had my clear glasses for the modified feature), Show started right on time (a little before 7pm) which is definitely the norm at New Egypt.  Show moved along well.  I left after the 2nd yellow in the last feature of the night (crates) and was in my car by 10:15.  Definitely felt like I saw a good night of racing in just over a 3 hour period, which is perfect for me.

Dislikes: (Almost none...  It's that good of a show.... but here's one that I  think would improve the show....)  Like other tracks, the PA volume during intermission is set at the same level as when the cars are racing....  which means, IT'S TOO LOUD.  Intermission is an important part of the show, and New Egypt does a very good job with their giveaways, and other activities that keep most folks engaged.  But intermission is also a good time to talk to the friends that you are sitting with and it is absolutely impossible to do so with the PA volume still set at "11" when there are no cars on the track.  Hopefully somebody can do a sound check during intermission, so that the level can be adjusted down some, so folks can hear what's going on with the giveaways and stuff, without causing everyone else in the stands to have to scream over it, just to have a conversation with the person their sitting next to.

Suggestions:  Victory Lane Cermonies, as currently offered, is kind of a wasted opportunity to create a stonger bond between drivers and specators.  It should be moved closure to the crowd.  For two weeks in a row, Justin Grosso won the modified feature, but I'll bet 90% of the folks in the stands still don't know what he looks like because Victory Lane is located way over on the inside of the frontstretch, and very few can see the winning driver during their VL interview because it's pretty far away from the seating area, and because the view is blocked by photographers and well wishers standing between the winner and the paying spectators. 

(Pretty sure Justin Grosso and his race car are in there somewhere....)

Here's how it looked a few weeks back when Danny Bouc won (same situation... fans can't see the winner):

Fans watch a driver run their guts out for 30 laps... The race is over...  The excitement is still in the air....  There's a natural curiosity right then to want to see who was that behind the wheel, and to see their reaction.  Is there a more important time to actually see a driver?  It's definitely a more impactful moment if you can see the driver while they're being interviewed, instead of just hearing a voice on the PA. 

ALL NJ TRACKS need to realize that if fans just wanted to see cars go in circles and crash on occasion, we'd all just park at the Pennington or Whitehorse/Mercerville Circle... and wait for the next wreck. 

Short track racing is about having favorite drivers, (and maybe some not so favorite)... and I'll bet folks wouldn't be in such a big rush to leave the track as soon as the checkered flag waved on the modified feature if the victory lane interviews were conducted closer to the paying spectators where they could hear and see them.  A lot more would stay even for the last feature, if they knew they could see the winning driver right from their seating area, and equally important, a lot more would make plans to be in attendence again next week..... Better than just moving VL closer and moving folks out of the way, set up a small (moveable) platform, and interview the top 3 right in front of the main bleachers, right by the starter's stand.  More folks would choose to sit closer to the tower/flagger which I think would add to the atmosphere even more if they knew that was a good seat to see victory lane up close. (It's not my idea...  I just watch Flo and learn, and I hope NJ tracks would do the same, and watch how victory lane is handled at tracks like Kings Speedway in Hanford CA, or Thunderbowl Speedway in Tulare CA.  The interaction with the fans at these tracks is so engaging that I know more about the drivers that run there (Dominic Scelzi, Corey Day, Shane Golobic, Justin Sanders, etc.,) than I do about drivers from my local NJ tracks.)

Going back this month?  Yes.  As mentioned before, if you're a dirt track modified fan and live in the area, head over to New Egypt and enjoy a well run show at a first class facility.

Went to Nostalgia Night at Middletown.

Likes, fair field of big blocks (35ish) and nice field of small blocks (55).  A few racing grooves so there was a lot of good racing.  The autograph session was excellent, many greats there and a lot of neat cars.  There were a number of improvements since I was there last which was early 90's.  Kept the show running pretty good.

Dislikes, DUST.  It was dusty in the 60's, 70's & 80's and is still extremely dusty.  Wery hard to ID the cars on the backstretch (in the old days, you could ID by body styles and colors, not so much now).  Also thought the food prices were somewhat high compared to the other local tracks we go to (although I did eat track food).

Yes, I will go back & hopefully things will work out that there is another nostalgia night next year.

A few pics.  Took about 50 total.  Also met Lenny Swider (that was cool) and ran into long tome race friend, photographer & HS buddy, Danny DeMarco with his lovely wife plus my neighbor from across the street, Joe Carter & his wife.....

Thanks for sharing, Kat... OCFS was always one of your favorite haunts...!!

Went to New Egypt Speedway as a fan in the stands. Enjoyed the Modified and Crate Features. Both were very competitive. Someone showed up for the first time this season with a 4-cylinder truck to compete in the 4-cylinder class. The truck must have ran elsewhere at one time. It still had a windshield and did not look like it was modified for dirt. He ended up crashing hard and ended up on his side. After making contact with Everett Taylor in the heat race. I doubt that he will return.  New Egypt has been enjoyable each week. The only real negative was bringing out the Bus filled with kids between the first and second Modified Heat races. Causing a delay, instead of bringing them out between the Crate and Mod heats.

They had no issues with the 2nd trip with the kids later on.  I will be back later this month.

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What did you watch? I watch parts of the  24 Hours of Lemans. 

The race starts at 10 am on Saturday, 4 pm French time. Coverage begins at 9 am with plenty of pre-race activities. They do a pace lap with a race car from the first race ever. It was the 100th Anniversary of the race. Ferrari put a team together for the race first time in over 50 years. Le Bron James was the honorary started, he looked like a fish out of water. Plus they really did not talk to him other than for a few seconds.  The Big issue was the rain on sections of the track. They do a preliminary lap under caution then the race begins. There is plenty of strategy throughout the race, Some cars changed to rain tires at the start, and others changed drivers after the green was waved. 

The big stories were the top cars in each class. In the Hyper Class the Ferrari # 51 upset Toyota who was looking for the 6th straight win. Being beaten by a team that was put together a few months earlier. 

In LMP2 class after the race was over the driver got down on his knees and was thanking the car for lasting, he had plenty of emotions being shown. In the GTE Am was a war of attrition, won by Corvette Racing. Earlier in the race they were 2 laps down for a broken dampener.  The Hendrick Camaro finished its race with Jimmy Johnson as one of the drivers in his class. After the race is plenty of interviews with each team. No tire burnouts, instead each driver sits on parts of the winning car and cruised around the front stretch. The race had 330,000 people on hand.  The TV coverage spends most of the time on the back stories of the event. Unlike Monoco there is plenty of side-by-side racing. It’s worth watching the beginning and the end.

Looking forward to watching Lemans next year.

Attended Marion Center as a spectator. Likes:$13 admission for seniors. $3G to win 30 laps for Crate LM tour race, plus 6 or 7 other divisions.

Ride into parking lot is similar to Big Diamond or Thunder Mtn NY, seems like a 2 mile uphill driveway into a well groomed grass lot (no racks) on top of the hill. Then another uphill walk up to the natural amphitheater type seats resulting in not having a bad seat in the house (like Wall Stadium). Jam packed crowd.

The track is a wide, full 1/4 mile from the inside hard tan clay paper clip with good banking.

Started right on time at 7. Good concession stands with the usual track items. Heats were done heats at 8:20. 20 min intermission. 1st 2 features were for quads and utv's then the main 3G to win LM race that featured a last lap pass for the win. Good racing, no bad crashes, only minor spins and a 3 car pile up that all cars drove away from.

Left 1/2 way thru the Super Late Model feature at 10pm therefore missing the LLM, Street Stock, amd 4 cyl features. Certainly saw $13 worth of races.

Dislikes: just a little dusty but I grew up at Flem and Naz so that is not a prob for me. Only 6 porta potties.

Will not return anytime due to 6 hr one way trip.

The sound is not loud enough at section 6 ..........it needs a new speaker I'm guessing. The racing at NES is about as good as it gets most nights since the Grasso regime is at the helm now. The entire experience is a drastic improvement.  The new handrails in the middle of the sections is fantastic. The food and food service is drastically better. The senior military discount is a plus. The new configuration allows for more rim riding. The general sprucing up with paint and cosmetics is another plus.  Pork Roll and bike giveaways. Ya can't ask for much more from a promotion prospect.  Next yr there will probably be more specials and touring series if I hadda guess

Regarding more specials next year at New Egypt is spot on.  Grasso did say it was too late to bring in more touring series when he took over the track.

WATCHED NASCAR FROM SONOMA --LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE JERSEY GUY !!

NICE RACE BY  TRUEX JR. ---BUSCH THOUGHT HE HAD SOMETHING FOR HIM 

AT THE END , BUT NO WAY !!

BLESSINGS !! 

BILL--------

Went to Middletown for Nostalgia Night. They always have done this right but this year they started early before the racing part of the night which allowed anyone who wanted to get home before the early hours of morning to head out. I don't believe many left though. The natural setting of the fair midway lined with vintage cars is a great setting. 

No dislikes except that this may have been the last one.

Went to New Egypt.  I'd have to say that Joe (Mr. 3Wide) basically echoed my thoughts on the show.  The only thing I can add is there are too many different classes running on the same night.  I'm not against the various classes but I think they should limit a night of racing to 3 classes.  Regarding car counts, I think a "feature only" format is appropriate for classes with small fields, pick a number.  I say 12 or under.  Scott Ely

AGREED, SCOTT---TRYING TO PUT 10LBS OF YOU-KNOW -WHAT- INTO A 2 LB. BAG-

TOO CONFUSING TO THE FANS--I REMEMBER AS A KID,WALL STADIUM ON A REG.NIGHT  HAD MODIFIED-SPORTSMAN & NOVICE ( LATER LIMITED SPORTSMAN)  !!

DURING THE YEAR , THEY WOULD HAVE SPECIAL SHOWS WITH THE A.R.D.C , ATQMRA, URC SPRINTS,FOREIGN  COMPACTS ( WOW , THAT'S A BLAST FROM THE PAST !!)

BLESSINGS !!

BILL