A Supposedly Great Weekend Turns Wet...Very Wet

The weekend of March 25-27 was set to be outstanding for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series with a forecast of temperatures in the 80s and sunny skies for a tripleheader weekend at Ocala (Fla.) Speedway Georgia’s Screven and Needmore speedways.

But wow…how that changed in a hurry! Ocala went off without a hitch on March 25; after I combined with track announcer Joe Linebarier to absolutely whip the capacity crowd into a frenzy for the Sunshine 50 (which was a killer race), we made an overnight drive five hours north to Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., where we pulled ‘Matilda’ into the pit area under warm and humid conditions. As we put up banners and got our computer equipment set up in the tower, we really didn’t notice the dark clouds building around Redd Griffin’s track. After a brief late-afternoon shower wet the track but stopped in time for us to hold out hope for racing (though with a delayed start), more menacing storms began to approach the area. With registration on hold, we started watching the skies with WoO staff meteorologist Bret Cantore (I mean race director Bret Emrick) and just knew we were going to get pounded with a storm. Around 8 o’clock the bottom finally fell out to postpone the show – and the scramble to get packed up began.

We got very wet at Screven on March 26.

With rain getting progressively heavier and lightning dancing in the sky, I joined with tech man Terry Watson and pit steward Mark Coglianese to quickly take down banners around the facility and load up our equipment. The last thing we had to retrieve was the VP Fuels starting-line jugs/stands on the inside of turn four. Just as I headed down the banking of the track on a four-wheeler to enter the infield and grab the jugs, wind, rain and hail hit in a huge simultaneous burst. Rain was coming at us sideways as I grabbed the jugs and headed back to the hauler, which was swaying in the wind associated with a severe thunderstorm.

When we finally got back to the hauler to get out of the downpour, we were absolutely soaked. I weighed about 10 pounds extra from the drenching I received. I had a bag of rubber bands in my jacket pocket and when I pulled it out I dumped water down the steps of ‘Matilda’ – the bag had gotten filled during the storm!

We were actually pretty close to getting struck by a tornado, which apparently touched down a few miles south of the track. We learned the next day from Brent Robinson’s mother, Elaine, that they might have been way-too-close-for-comfort to the twister after leaving the track. Elaine said that as her husband, Dean, drove their tractor-trailer rig down a back road not far from the speedway, they heard a loud noise and then got the sensation that their truck was being lifted off the ground. Moments later they passed a fallen tree covering half of the road.

After a three-hour-plus drive south to Needmore Speedway, we set up shop again – and got rained out again. The biggest storms stayed away from us, but we still got wet enough to postponed our first-ever visit to Needmore to May 8.

After we left Norman Park, Ga., we headed straight home to Phenix City, Ala., for a day before going back out to Senoia, Ga., to meet up with the ‘Cat Daddy’ Clint Smith and his crew, the Stray Cats, at Clint’s shop. We had some repair work to get done on the WoO LMS trailer and Clint allowed Tech Man Terry to use his shop and equipment to get it done.

It’s always interesting to visit with the Cat Daddy, who never fails to teach us some new “Georgianese” when we’re with him. We spent a day at Clint’s before heading home, ready to head back out on America’s highways.

There certainly is no other life than ‘Life as an Outlaw.’

My Old Stomping Grounds

COLUMBUS, Miss. - The return of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series to Columbus Speedway – aka ‘The Baddest Bullring in the South’ – for the ‘Cash Cow 100’ on March 17-19 brought back plenty of memories for me. I was able to renew old friendships with people from the Columbus area.

I'm ready for Bullring duty

It wasn’t too long ago that I lived in Columbus, Miss., for seven months. I helped open the Magnolia Motor Speedway (the newer track just across town from The Bullring) and I announced the first-ever race there.

I made plenty of friends in Mississippi during my stint there, so it was great to head back to a track I consider my old stomping grounds for the Cash Cow 100. It was fun working alongside Columbus Speedway announcer Ross (‘The Boss’) Tingle in the booth throughout the weekend. I got to see tech man Ricky Ward and other officials there, like Clint, Annette and Melvin.

The weather was perfect for the Cash Cow 100, the races went off perfectly and we had just an unbelievable time. Ross took me, my girlfriend Sandy and fellow WoO officials Terry Watson, Mary Watson and Mark Coglianese to Jack’s Steak & Fish on Friday night – that was a good time – Columbus promoter Johnny Stokes and his whole crew showed us great hospitality all weekend.

All in all, it was nice to return to a small part of my life…but as you all know, there is no other life like “Life as an Outlaw!”

A Break After Volusia

PHENIX CITY, Ala. - Things are quiet for me now – at least for a couple more weeks – after a very busy February. My home base for most of the month was Florida's Volusia Speedway Park, where I worked the entire 40th annual DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH, which included the first two World of Outlaws Late Model Series shows of the 2011 season.

The 2011 DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH had to be the most fun and exciting two weeks of racing at Volusia anyone has seen in quite some time. I was full-bore the whole time, starting the first week when I took on some duties that were different from what I'm used to.

During the UMP Modified and Sprint Car week, I served as a pit steward, something I hadn't done in 10-12 years! With so many cars spread across the big Volusia pit area, it takes plenty of help to keep everything running smoothly night-after-night. I had to oversee getting the cars parked in the 'Gator Pond' pit area – located down the hill from the backstretch of the track – up to the lineup area along the backstretch so they would be ready to go for each race without delay. In addition, I monitored the transponder scoring trailer so the folks in the pits could keep up with their drivers' times on the display monitors, and I was available to replaced transponders on the UMP Modifieds whenever needed. Needless to say, I kept busy for the first week of the DCN from a different vantage point of the track than I was used to.

Week Number Two found me in more familiar territory for the Late Model and DIRTcar Big-Block Modified action: up in the tower behind the microphone with good friends Joe Linebarier and Shane Andrews. It was a lot of fun working with those two characters as we kept things lively for the fans the best of our abilities. A new wrinkle this year was throwing in Ozzie Altman and Kyle Luetters on the roving microphones to keep the fans even more informed.

Of course, after all the fun and racing, came tear-down, clean up and packing up of equipment. Sun., Feb. 19 – the day of the Daytona 500 – was hot and beautiful as I started packing up the Sprint Car sound equipment in the Volusia tower to head to Mississippi for their racing the following week. Next was to get our WoO LMS registration trailer out of the upper pit area and get it loaded up with equipment that needed to go back to the World Racing Group office in Charlotte (Concord, N.C.). After that job was completed, it was time to wash and wax the two WoO LMS four-wheeler ATVs and the golf cart. After they were cleaned and loaded into the trailer, it was Tuesday (Feb. 21) before we knew it.

Finally, with the trailer hooked up to 'Matilda' – our name for the 1996 Ford Louisville toterhome that we drive along the WoO LMS – we pulled out of the spot in Volusia's camping area that we had occupied since the beginning of the month and left sunny Florida that morning. The DIRTcar Nationals became a fond memory as we arrived at the WRG office in North Carolina that evening and made our equipment delivery. My girlfriend, Sandy Holt, and I were on our way home to Phenix City, Ala., on Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 22) for a several-week break before we'll be out there again, on the road to restart the WoO LMS campaign with the 'Cash Cow 100' weekend on March 18-19 at Columbus (Miss.) Speedway.

It's absolutely true, there's no other life than 'Life As An Outlaw!'

Parking Lot Attendant

BARBERVILLE, Fla. - One of the wildest parts of the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park doesn't even happen on the racetrack. It happens when the pit gates are opened for the first time to park haulers.

This year, that happened on Tuesday afternoon. Parking Day for the Sprint Car and DIRTcar UMP Modified teams was originally scheduled for Monday, but storms that blew through left the grounds extremely soggy and pushed the process back one day.

Tuesday saw much better conditions, which allowed us to start the move-in process. The line of haulers made its way from the parking lot outside the track, past the front of the track office and through the pit-entry gate on the outside of turn one. Everything seemed orderly. Inside the pits, however, it was a different story! Picture 100 kids on bicycles all ready to ride to where they want to go – and most of them are oblivious to where YOU want them to go. They lined up O.K., but when one hauler driver would be instructed to go, two or three more would start moving as well. Then you had the task of satisfying this driver who wanted to park next to that driver, and that driver who wanted to save a spot for his buddy who was either 20 haulers back in line who was two hours away from the track! It's always a treat on parking day.

Once the haulers all were in position, it was time to get ready for the first of 12 nights of racing. My task during this first week of Sprint Car and UMP Modified racing is to keep the cars flowing through the pits, with the Sprints in the pit area outside turns one and two and most of the UMP Modifieds parked in the 'Gator Pond' pit area down the hill from the backstretch. (And yes, there usually are two gators that frequent the pond that is surrounded by haulers.) I monitored the scoring trailer in the pits and kept the flow of race-car traffic moving safely during the night's event. All in all, everything went off without a hitch for the first couple nights of racing.
 

Where It All Begins

BARBERVILLE, Fla. - First off, let me introduce myself to those of you unfamiliar with me. I'm Rick Eshelman, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series announcer. I've been working fulltime for the series – announcing, handling driver registration and doing other jobs such as hanging banners – since July of 2004, but I've been going to races since the age of three and announcing for 33 years. I'm now 49 years old.

I'm originally from Waltz, Mich., where I got my start as a young fan and announced my first race (at the paved Flat Rock Speedway). I called my first dirt race in 1983 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D.; I spent three years announcing there while stationed in Grand Forks at the end of my four-year stint in the Air Force.

Going into the 2011 season, I've announced races at over 135 different tracks in 30 states and three Canadian provinces. I've visited many of those tracks since going to work for the WoO LMS – a job I love. As our series director Tim Christman likes to say, I'm "living the dream." When you can go to work and enjoy what you do, it's not a job.

Anyway, with the 2011 racing season right around the corner, the anticipation has been growing for your humble Outlaw announcer. The 40th annual DIRTcar Nationals presented by the University of Northwestern Ohio at Volusia Speedway Park and the WoO LMS are both ready to raise their respective curtains on '11 – and so am I.

After an off-season that began with our last WoO LMS activities (the World Finals and awards banquet) last November, the time came last Tuesday (Feb. 1) to leave our home base of Phenix City, Ala., and head to the World Racing Group headquarters in Concord, N.C., to load up our equipment in order to get this year underway. Along with my girlfriend, WoO LMS scorer Sandy Holt (who travels the tour with me), we spent a couple days at the office readying the series equipment and getting it loaded in 'Matilda,' our nickname for the tour's venerable 1996 Ford Louisville toterhome that we waltz down the road in all season. The 2011 season begins with just over 293,000 miles on 'Matilda's' odometer.

After getting everything in place and secured down in the hauler and trailer, we fired up 'Matilda' and began the journey to Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., last Thursday afternoon (Feb. 3). The trip overall was uneventful with the exception of a decent rain in Georgia and the sighting of seven deer along I-95.

The feeling you get as you cross the state line to Florida is one of happiness just knowing that the weather you left – no matter where you live – is much worse than where you are now. It was cloudy and warm on the way down U.S. Highway 40 heading to the track – and all was right with the world as 'Matilda' turned into VSP's parking lot on Friday afternoon just as the sun appeared from the clouds and the temperature hit a balmy 75 degrees!

On Saturday, we set our tech and registration trailer in position in the Volusia pit area off turn two, unloaded the series ATVs and parked 'Matilda' in her resting spot for the next two weeks of the DIRTcar Nationals – inside the go-kart track that sits outside turn four of the big half-mile. The rest of the day was beautiful as we relaxed a little and then I was able to get my two miles of running in – gotta try to stay in shape while on the road! Later, I assisted the DIRTcar UMP officials in marking off and spray-painting the parking spots for the UMP Modifieds in the 'Gator Pond' (down the hill from the backstretch) and infield pit areas.

With that completed, it was time to focus on the impending arrival of UMP Modified race teams for tonight's DIRTcar Nationals opener. On Monday, I helped put up banners on the inside wall of the track and on the speedway's outside perimeter, and the plan was to also help begin parking UMP Modified rigs. Unfortunately, late in the afternoon the skies darkened, tornado watches were posted for the area and some strong storms blew through; in a matter of minutes, the conditions went from 70 degrees and sunny to 50 degrees, windy and rainy. We took refuge in 'Matilda,' and the rain soaked the grounds enough that trailer move-in was put off until today.

So here I am on Tuesday morning, getting ready to go out and help park the trailers. Tonight we'll be racing with a full UMP Modified program and practice for the Sprint Cars.

The fun is just beginning in the Sunshine State! More to come from me later as I bring you some snapshots of traveling the WoO LMS in 2011...hopefully you'll find everything interesting. You should, because as I say, "There's no life like LIFE AS AN OUTLAW!"