With 600Scene.com quickly becoming the go to site for news and information, we have received feedback asking for some editorial content. I have been told, on occasion, that I can be slightly opinionated. For those of you who know me, this does not come as any front page news and I am sure you are saying to yourself ‘Thank You captain obvious’. Well then that being said, what better platform for me to gripe and complain about some of the issues surrounding 600cc micro sprint racing than right here in an editorial on the site?
So from time to time I will be contributing a column strictly based on my opinion called “Atop the Trailer”. It will be at times brutally honest, other times it may be very insightful and it could be pretty comical also, although you may or may not agree with what is written. However, it will always make for good conversation at the track. The first installment will be in regards to ‘The Pole’ questions thus far on 600Scene.com. It has been a very popular segment of the site and I am glad to see visitors are showing interest on some of the questions being asked surrounding our sport.
Please note the questions asked on ‘The Pole’ are by no means scientific and cannot be interpreted as such. Furthermore, there is not enough of a sample to derive any significant conclusions. Like many other polls taken by the media, they are more a source of conversation than anything else. In other words they are a way to create news when there is none or try to influence what some may believe is a popular opinion.
Pole #1 – 2005 Central PA (Pennsylvania) most underrated driver?
The names that were used in this pole were chosen through much conversation and input from many people regularly attending micro sprint racers in the Central PA area. Every one of the competitors listed did a great job all year and did not receive the publicity they rightly deserved. For ‘The Pole’ they were listed in alphabetical order by last name as follows: Drew Heistand, Donnie Hendershot, Ben Murphy, Jake Murphy and Shawn Seifert. A total of 285 voters partook. The results were as follows:
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Obviously, the overwhelmingly majority of the votes were for Drew Heistand. As I stated previously, every driver was more than deserving of being on the poll. You could pose the argument that Drew and Shawn received a majority of the vote(s) because they race at higher profile tracks. Therefore, a lot of people may have not got to see the latter guys on a regular basis or may not have recognized there accomplishments. Whatever the case may be, Drew won several races at Linda’s and was a threat there just about every Friday. If not for mechanical failures and some bad luck he probably would have been in a position to win the championship. He was also the track champion at Shippensburg. Shawn Seifert won the championship and Kevin Gobrecht Memorial at Trail-Way. Donnie Hendershot was the winner of the inaugural 600 Shootout at Hill Valley where he competed most of the season, along with Path Valley Speedway. Both Murphy Brothers competed at Path Valley on Friday and jumped around on Saturdays. I think if the polling would have been taken after Florida Speedweeks '06 the Murphy Brothers would have received a lot more votes. They both obviously made a statement in The Sunshine State during week #2.
Pole #2 – Should fuel bladders be mandatory? Yes/No
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The results of this poll just irritated the hell out of me. This should not even have been close. With the safety advances made in motorsports over the past several seasons, to think that racers would compete without installing something as basic as a fuel bladder is just asinine to me. I don’t even want to hear an argument about weight or money when every racer out there will drop a grand or more on something to make the car faster without even thinking about it. This issue should be of concern to every competitor out there, because people who chose not to run a fuel bladder are also not taking into account the safety of other competitors. What happens when the guy without a bladder stops dead in front of you and you rear end him and fuel spills all over you and your car. Huh, all of a sudden it is a major concern. I could rant on and on about this but, well just Think People!
Pole #3 – Will Jim Brookens successfully defend his ’05 Winternationals Championship at East Bay? Yes/No
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Jimmy wins a lot of races at different racetracks and I could have seen this going either way, obviously the majority of voters felt someone else was going to win in Florida this year; or there are just not many Jimmy Brookens fans out there. There could have been an influence after the first week of racing too. The poll was taken down after that weekend of competition where Jimmy had a bad outing in a few of the shows.
Pole #4 – 636? Yes/No
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I was kind of puzzled on this question. I think the consensus among visitors was the same also with how close the results were. It is hard to make a definitive conclusion here either way. It seems depending on who you talk to, the feeling toward the acceptance of the 636cc could go either way. I am not going to get into the pros and cons of this argument, because that is an article in itself which I will save for another time. One thing I will say is that here in Central PA the concept of the 636cc Kawi is not new, however, it has not really been exposed to the rest of the country yet. It has always been strictly a 600cc class with variations such as stock, multi and restricted classes. I believe if this poll were taken a year ago the results from the PA influence may have made a big difference. But we all know the old saying, IF & BUTS were candy and nuts it would be Christmas all year long.
C-YA Next Time!
