Memory Lane Event, Dinger, Product Testing & Miscellaneous Stuff

Circle This on Your Calendar


On Sunday October 14^th all race fans visiting Memory Lane Motorsports & Historical Automotive Museum will have the opportunity to meet with some of racings greatest stars! A special event is being held to honor legendary car owner Bud Moore, and will be a great time for all in attendance! Memory Lane Museum features on display Bud Moore’s original 1982 Dale Earnhardt Wrangler T-Bird that won the 1982 CRC Darlington 500! Also, the museum features many original items used by Bud Moore during his successful racing career. Bud Moore along with many of his racing comrades will be in attendance to meet with fans as they get to see the cars that made these drivers and personalities famous, items only featured on display at Memory Lane Museum.
Other racing personalities expected to be at the event, in addition to Bud Moore, are Bobby Allison (1983 NASCAR Champion), Donnie Allison, Neil “Soapy” Castles, Greg Moore (Bud’s son), Ted Musgrave (Craftsman Truck Champion), Dick Trickle, Rex White (1960 NASCAR Champion), and possibly other racing greats!


Admission to the event is $10.00 for adults, children ages 6-12yrs $6.00, and children 6-under free with adult. Admission covers the cost of museum entry and the meet and greet with the personalities in attendance.


Holy Smokes Mission & Ministry of Lake Norman Fellowship will be serving barbeque and other concession items, proceeds benefit their ministry as they serve the local community in need. Old Timers Racing Club will be selling 50-50 raffle tickets and have drawings for door prizes.

　
Dinger Released, Is that Bad?


By now most folks know that Dinger was released by Penske because of his false positive test results. Is that such a bad thing for him? Not really. The 2^nd greatest driver of the 20^th century and team owner AJ Foyt has stated that he’ll hire Dinger for the 2013 season in IndyCar. Foyt’s been a good judge of character over his many years of racing and being involved in the racing industry. He’s also been involved with NA$CAR over the years and knows all too well how NA$CAR and the France family work. So for Foyt to be willing to hire Dinger tells me just how much he thinks of what both NA$CAR and Penske have done.


Michael Shank, co-owner of the IndyCar team that Dinger co-owns, has said that he’s looking for sponsors for a car to put Dinger back on the track next season. So it looks like Dinger has a couple of options for his future.


Dinger & Adderall


It appears that in an interview with BSPN, Dinger admitted he took one pill of Adderall that a “friend” gave him. So that tells me that the “stimulant” that Dinger came up positive for was amphetamine and methamphetamine based on the results that Mayfield got when he was taking Adderall which was prescribed to him and tested by “wonderful” Aegis Labs.


And you have to wonder about the timing on this too. Dinger’s contract was coming up for renewal. Dinger has been going through a pretty rough divorce with his wife. His “friend” gives him Adderall and then 2 days later he’s tested by NA$CAR? Coincidence? Sure. Or his supposed “friend” dropped a dime on him after he took the Adderall. Makes me think of an old story that’s moral is “People who crap on you aren’t always your enemy and people who pull you out of crap aren’t always your friend”.


More on the “Active Ingredient” in Energy Drink


Long time race fan Terry happens to have worked as a chemist for a number of years for a rather large company and here’s what he had to say on the “smoking gun” I found in regards to Dinger’s false positive:


Phenylalanine (also sometimes as l-phenylalanine, where the l-signifies as I recall the ability of the pure isomer form to refract light (a symbol of the purity or activity of the pure form), or the chirality around one of the predominant carbon compounds) is a sweetener and here are a few links. It is also a derivative of aspartame:


http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/healthy_eating/artificial_sweeteners.htm
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/phenylalanine-000318.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame



Sorry to get so technical, but that is what happens when one studies darn near 4 or 5 years of chemistry. (I have a Masters in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from W&M).


But then again, with NA$CRAP and the others referring many times to classes of compounds, it can be difficult to be sure we are talking about the same thing. One sure way: get the CASRN (Chemical Abstracts Services Registry Number: like a social security card for a chemical) or the DEA registration number for it. Of course when there is overlap between FDA & DEA, we can surely expect nothing is done correctly. Some drugs are controlled by DEA, and others are regulated; some are by FDA where a health benefit (risk) is also available. DEA usually assigns a registration # (different than a CASRN and depends upon the class of regulation or restriction, based on its potency or ability to do harm (or again benefit) but where substance abuse is also likely to arise).



So unless we can look at the actual report, methods used, limits of detection, purity etc. darn difficult to make any sense of any of it. And that is what gives everyone room for cover.



Hilarious Iowa Stat


Darrell Wallace Jr, Brett Moffitt, and Ryan Blaney collectively have 8 starts in the Busch Series. All finished ahead of NA$CAR’s new "messiah", the Queen of Hype, who has 44 starts in the Busch Series. And who gets the hype? It sure isn’t Darrell, Brett, or Ryan.


Hyped Road Course “Expert” Versus Real Road Course Expert


Watkins Glen saw the media really hyping the Queen of Hype as being a road course expert and yet even with her spotter yelling in her ear to “go wide”, the Queen of Hype plowed into Ryan Truex as his car came rolling back towards Turn 1. Sam Hornish Jr, who’s not exactly a road course specialist finished 3^rd. Cousin Carl, who’s known more for winning on ovals than road courses, won the Busch Series race at Watkins Glen. Underfunded Mike Bliss finished 14^th. So how can these non-experts miss wrecks and actually finish a road course race and the so-called “road course expert” not? That’s the million dollar question.


Some have offered up the excuse that the Queen of Hype had nowhere to go. I’ve seen several drivers in the past cut across grassy areas on road courses to avoid wrecks on both road courses and oval tracks. Apparently driving through the grass is something that is beyond the Queen’s capabilities as she’s wrecked numerous cars on ovals which could’ve been avoided simply by going down through the infield grass on the ovals tracks. Instead she prefers to run head-on into other cars on the track or the retaining walls. I’ve seen Robby Gordon go airborne through the “bus stop” and through the grass to avoid an accident and keep on going. Ron Fellows, a road course ringer, didn’t have any problems making it through that first turn on the first lap and he got beat by drivers who aren’t road course ringers. The Queen’s rookie teammate made it through the first turn and managed to finish 24^th despite tearing up his car going into the “bus stop” later in the race.


It’s high time the media stopped making up excuses for the Queen of Hype and call it like it is. She is, at best, a mediocre mid-pack driver out of the 15 competitive cars that run every weekend in the Busch Series.



Product Testing: Harco Brands Cleaning Wipes


I don’t do product testing very often but when I do I like to put things through their paces. I had never heard of Harco Brands cleaning products until a box of them showed up on my doorstep. Each one came in a plastic container and contained 30 wipes. So I put them through some home-style testing. The first one I tested out was the HarcoHome household cleaner. My grandson left us a bit of a surprise when he got into some maple syrup and left it on the cabinet doors and kitchen floor. The wipes did a great job of removing the sticky mess. So I decided to try them on the range hood above the stove. They did an excellent job of taking care of the sticky grease that had accumulated on it. Nice not having to keep using and rinsing a cleaning rag or sponge repeatedly to remove the mess. I also used the wipes on the refrigerator where my grandson had left an assortment of fingerprints and also on his high chair after he had eaten lunch and made a mess.


One product called HarcoMarine Miracle Wipes were originally designed for use on boats but as I don’t own a boat, I put them to use on some other things. They’re designed to be used on decks, galleys (kitchens for you landlubbers), plastic, fiberglass, vinyl, and other materials. Since we have a fiberglass tub and shower, I used them on that and they did an excellent job of cleaning them up. As I have a fiberglass cover on the bed of my truck, I decided to give them a try on that as they’re designed to remove bird droppings and they worked as advertised. Since the car washes tend to miss a spot between the cab and bed cover, I had an slight accumulation of mold and the wipes did a great job of removing the mold. I also had an old printer in my office and used the wipes to remove the accumulation of sticky fingerprints my grandson had left on it when he was trying to help me print out some paperwork. The lemon scent makes them pleasant to smell.


Since my disability I’m somewhat limited on the mechanical work I can do so I got my son to lend me a hand on testing out the HarcoAuto Miracle Wipes. He put them through their paces on several repair jobs involving his truck, lawnmower, and weed-eater. They did an fantastic job of removing the grease and oil that were on the equipment and they removed the dirty grease and oil that my son accumulated on his tools and hands during the repair jobs. He said that the HarcoAuto wipes worked better than Gojo and other hand cleaners on cleaning his hands and because they were in the form of a wipe they made cleaning up his tools particularly easy.


Being an artist with a grandson and pets around, I can’t exactly use oil-based paints or paints that need to be thinned out using petroleum thinners or turpenoid products and can‘t use varnish because of the fumes and toxicity. So I use acrylic paints. My grandson likes to use markers and crayons when he creates his “masterpieces”. And there are times when my grandson and I collaborate on an art piece. Usually when he spills some paint I’m using or grabs a brush and applies some of his strokes to a canvas, floor, or table top. I used the HarcoPaint wipes to help clean up the spilled paint, marker strokes on a plastic table top, crayon marks on an oak table, and dried paint on some of my paintbrushes. Being a little more environmentally friendly than thinners and petroleum products, the paint wipes did a great job of cleaning things up. As my grandson says, “Good job Gumpy”.


I also found that they are multi-purpose. The Auto & Pro Wipes can be used in the garage. The Pro & Paint wipes can be used to clean up printing and paint messes. The Marine & Household wipes can be used in cleaning up greasy or sticky kitchen messes and can be used in the bathroom. Nice to have something that can do more than one cleaning job. Like any product, be sure to read the labels and follow the instructions. For tailgaters and campers where space can be a premium, you might be able to save some space since some of the wipes can be used for the same cleaning job.

6th Annual Legends Helping Legends Fundraiser

If you didn’t make it to the 6^th Annual Legends Helping Legends Fundraiser, you missed out on a great event. Despite the bad weather which kept some of the bike riders like Don Tilley away and caused a delay in Buddy Parrott showing up, the number of drivers, media people, and former crew chiefs was amazing.
　
The crowd of autograph seeking fans was backed up when I arrived, so I did a quick pass-through to see who all was there signing autographs. Perennials Ned Jarrett, my good friend Rex White, Rex’s former crew chief Slick Owens, writer/author Tom Higgins, Li’l Bud Moore, Jim Vandiver, Brownie King, my “neighbor” and friend Peanut Turman, Paul Lewis, Bill Mangum, along with a few others that slip my mind were there along with some returning folks like championship crew chief Waddell Wilson, Neil “Soapy” Castles, Mitzi Moody, and others.
　
For the first time, America’s winningest driver (with over 1,000 wins) & former Cup and Busch Series driver, Dick Trickle was there. Lynn Evans (widow of Richie Evans) and Richie’s crew chief were there along with the HOF ring. That’s the first time I’ve seen any sort of ring like that. The blue stone in the center definitely caught my eye.
　
I ran into a few friends I hadn’t seen recently. Don Good, who first told me about the Legends Helping Legends events 6 years ago, and race fan extraordinaire Harlow Reynolds. Don was joking with me saying I needed to write more because everything I’d been writing lately he’d agreed with. Harlow asked me how I snuck in without him noticing me. Maybe it’s good to be incognito sometimes.
　
I decided to join the line of fellow fans and make my way through the autograph tables. Waddell had the “seat of honor” I guess you’d call it being first up. My favorite Wisconsin driver, Dick Trickle, sat next to him. Dick noticed the t-shirt I was wearing. It’s my sole surviving Dick Trickle Fan Club shirt. It just so happens that the cards Dick was signing were of the artwork that were used on the shirt. I still had one of the old Schneider National Cards from when Dick drove for Jimmy Spencer, which he was surprised to see, and a die-cast of the Junie Donlavey #90 Taurus he drove. I asked Dick about the “White Knight” car that was behind him. He said it was a replica built by some fans in Chicago. I thought that was an awesome tribute to Dick.
　
As I made my way around the tables, a number of folks mistook my Dick Trickle shirt for a Carl Edwards shirt because of the #99. Francis Flock, Tim Flock’s widow, was being interviewed as I worked my way around. When I got near where my buddy Rex White had been sitting, he spotted me and rushed back over to his seat to autograph a couple of photos I had taken at a previous Legends Helping Legends event. Rex was looking pretty dapper in his turtle neck shirt and sports coat. He asked me if I had dropped off some crackers for him. Of course, I had. It’s sort of a tradition between the two of us. As we’re both diabetic, I know Rex always keeps a pack or two of crackers with him in case his blood sugar drops. He said “I was busy signing autographs, looked up, and there were all these crackers there”. I asked Rex when he’d be back home so I could call him and we could do some talking. So now that I know when, I’ll be giving him a call. He said the last time he visited his family for a week, his answering machine was so full of messages he knows he missed a bunch of calls.
　
Margaret Sue Wright, Curtis Turner’s daughter, was busy doing an interview so I didn’t get a chance to talk with her but Harlow filled me in that she’s planning on putting together an event on the first Martinsville race weekend involving the old bootleggers’ roads and routes. That should be interesting considering I’ve driven a few of them locally. One of the more famous ones around here is actually named after the bootlegger who used it. Daniel’s Run. So as soon as I get some info on it I’ll be putting it out there.
　
Lynn Evans told me an interesting story. Lynn had always been interested in meeting a NASCAR driver from Wisconsin. So Richie called her up and told her she needed to get down to Daytona so she could meet one. Sure enough, Lynn made the trip to meet the driver. He had been a competitor of Richie’s in some races and she’d never paid attention to him back then. The driver? None other than Dick Trickle.
　
Barry Dodson had a funny story about Dick. Barry was Dick’s crew chief and at one track Dick was driving around the circuit during the parade laps. He got on the radio and said “Barry, I think we have a problem”. Barry radioed back asking Dick what the problem was. Dick said, “I can’t find my goggles”. This was before the full-face helmet was mandated and most drivers still used the open face helmet. Barry got back on the radio telling Dick to look around. Dick got back on the radio a little bit later and said, “Barry, find me some goggles, I’ll stop in the pits next time by and grab them”. Barry had one of the guys on the crew find some goggles. Dick gets back on the radio and tells Barry, “Never mind. I found them” (meaning the goggles). Barry radios back, “Where were they?”. Dick replies, “On top of my helmet”. You’d have to know Dick to understand how hilarious that was. During his career he made some of the funniest comments on the radio and in interviews and did them all with a straight face.
　
A gaggle of old timers were discussing Jeremy Mayfield and his situation. I’m not mentioning their names in order to protect their identities. One had said he’d seen Jeremy a number of times at his home and outside while Jeremy was working. He said that most drug users he’d seen showed a definite loss of muscle and muscle definition. Jeremy didn’t show any signs of that. It seems Jeremy has some “guns” on him that the driver’s suits didn’t reveal. He also said Jeremy didn’t show any of the sores or other signs of meth use. One of the other old timers said “Jeremy messed with the powers that be and you know what happens when you do that”. Considering who stated that, I found that to be very interesting based on his years of Cup experience.
　
As things wound down, I had a chance to talk with Dick Trickle a little more. He isn’t racing now. He said he’s doing the “grandfather thing”. I know how that goes being a grandfather myself. When Dick moved to North Carolina, he bought a nice sized chunk of land and built himself his country home on it. Then his daughter decided to move down and he gave her an acre. Then his son decided to move down and he gave his son an acre. It seems that Dick’s kids all wanted to be near their dad and left Wisconsin to join him. He still makes a few public appearances as Grand Marshal for some races like the Slinger Nationals. On the weekends, he might watch a race or two during the season just to keep up with things but doesn’t spend every weekend glued to the TV keeping up on what‘s going on. Dick still has two of his old race cars. One of them was the one he built to run in the 1989 season but got called to race in the Cup Series. He’s thinking about finishing it up and maybe restoring the other one. When Dick decided to hang up his helmet, he didn’t think it was fair to his fans to keep his fan club going so he dissolved it. His daughter put a lot of work into that fan club. I had some dealings with her during the years it was active and she was a great lady to talk with. One call from her sort of changed the way my life went when she told me I had won pit and garage team credentials for the April 1999 race at TMS. It sort of lead me to where I am today. Dick said he plans to continue to appear at the Legends Helping Legends events. So for all you Dick Trickle fans who are going through withdrawals, you might want to make your plans to see him at the 7^th Annual Legends Helping Legends Fundraiser next year.
　
I’ve got to thank Alex Beam and his family for hosting this annual event and allowing fans to meet some of the racing greats of yesterday and some up & comers of tomorrow and all for a great cause. Helping out those who have medical needs who gave everything for NASCAR that NASCAR won’t help.