A bad night at Barrie June 23

[Pinecrest]

 Starting an hour earlier then normal (6pm) in order to run five divisions (too many) and two LLM 40 lap features the promotors tried to get the show done at a decent time but that would have required a little cooperation from the drivers in the top two classes and unfortunately there was very little and the show dragged out until almost midnight.

 The night started with the first LLM 40 lapper and the race ran green for about 30 laps before the one and only caution . With allot of side by side racing induced by crate engines and most drivers having the set up down it was pretty much a punt to pass affair . I know the upside of the crate engine (cost) but the downside is an average to below average driver in a car of the same caliber can pretty much hold up the top guys by just taking the good line or running side by side lap after lap causing grid lock . Perhaps a more powerful crate like they use at Flamboro would help but it would seem that a 300 hp crate is so easy to drive even a caveman can do it (Gieco reference) . In this case the caveman was Dave Lewis in the #8 who held off the faster cars of McLeod McWhirter Baker etc.

  On with a bevy of heat races for the 5 divisions that offered some good racing and for the most part had few cautions the only problem being in Thunder Car and LLM I noticed a disturbing trend of guys that spun out mostly by their own doing playing dead on the track to get a caution so they could get caught back up to the pack and resume racing. This drags out the show and was one of the reasons we were there until almost midnight . Black flag these idiots and they will get the message they cant play that game .  The funny thing is I didn't see the Mini Stock guys pulling this crap and all their races ran off quickly and were good to watch , kudos to them . (see I am not always negative)

  As long as I am being positive let me mention the Mini Trucks . This was the first time I had seen them run and they put on a great show . They had around 18 trucks and were turning times in the mid 16s with really fast corner speeds . All the trucks were professional looking and well prepared and they ran all their races with only one caution in one of their heats . I was very impressed by one driver in particular , Corey Mosker #39 (sp) This kid can drive like H___ . He started in the back of the feature and drove through traffic like a hot knife through butter never laying a bumper on anyone and ran second only because he ran out of laps . Yes he had a fast truck but this guy is a wheel man and will do well in what ever he gets in next. For the record I don't know this guy at all and have never met him.

 Now that I have the positive stuff out of the way the Thunder car 40 lap feature was a mess . I think it was 40 laps but it may have been 400 it took so long. Caution after caution  for spins and wrecks and guys playing dead to get cautions made this a forgettable experience . The promoters brother won this in a car that was about 4/10 quicker then anything else on the track . I am not alleging anything but when your that much faster then everyone else and the promoters brother and the tech guys are congratulating and shaking your hand when pull in the optics are bad to say the least.

 LLM final feature another 40 lap race this time with allot of spins more guys playing dead for cautions and another time killer favorite of mine the guy in 12th place refusing to get in 13th place where the starter has told him to get causing lap after lap trying to sort the field for the restart , just like playing dead this can be cured with a black flag. One high light of the race was Baker getting spun half way down the back chute and in an incredible piece of driving keeping it off the wall by working the throttle , brake and steering and doing a 360 . I don't care if you like Baker or not he maybe the most talented driver at Barrie and that move reminded me of something you would see Tony Stewart do .  Heres where things go from bad to worst Garry Reynolds had led pretty much the whole race after starting up front and at times had a pretty big lead aided by crate engine grid lock only to have it reduced by cautions. Barrie has that wacky restart rule where the second place car can chose to line up on the outside of the leader if they want and Dave Lewis #8 decides to avail him self of said rule .  The green flies with 5 to go and Reynolds makes short work of getting away from Lewis and resuming the lead . On the very next circut with 4 to go Lewis runs in 3 lengths deeper then he had all night and drills Reynolds sending him spinning into the wall and taking out 80 % of the field . 14 of the 19 cars are now piled up in the first turn like cord wood and I mean that literally . cars on top of each other backed into the wall drove into the wall , what a mess . I have been going to Barrie on and off since the joint opened and I cant remember a wreck of that magnitude . To give you an idea how bad it was they had to sawzall the  passenger side A pillar roll cage bar off of Walters car just to get it untangled from another car so they could start towing all the wrecked cars into the pits  . Several drivers McWhirter being the most vocal informed the promoter they would not be coming back if they did not throw Lewis out for the rest of the year , and I don't blame them a bit . The race is called at that point and it takes about a half hour to clean up the carnage. I think Reynolds was given the win but I am not sure.

 So there you go and as I said it was a bad night in Barrie.

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[team27]

Lewis really is a wanker, week after week the same old crap ,he is what we call in racing terms a weapon. But the other drivers and Promoters put up with it week in week out and they are as much to blame, letting an idiot like that start near the front is like letting a Pit Bull of the leash in a  crowded park.

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[TnTracing]

Pinecrest, in response to your posted article about Barrie Speedway, very well said.  Our race team was there last night with the mini truck travel series.  Our driver's do put on a great show when we are travelling to host tracks and we pride ourselves in such.  But what sticks out the most is your comments about the #39 driver of Corey Moesker.  Corey and his whole team are one of the best on the track and in the pits, they are willing to lend a hand and help anyone they can.  I think Corey is one of the most respected drivers we have on the track and he has earned it.  He can drive but lets not forget that behind every good driver there is a good pit crew to go along for the ride.  We look forward to our stop at Barrie Speedway the end of September.

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[Statsman]

A couple of highlights that you missed were Keith's new track record qualifying run of 14.299 sec with Baker in the high 14.3s, Walters in the 14.4s and the rest of the field in the 14.5s and above. This in less than half a season after a two year layoff with the new track configuration, a crate motor in a car quite different than the one raced in 2004. I've heard Johnny ran some laps in the 14.2s last year off stop watches but it was still a highlight for us.

Then there was getting taken all the way to the marbles in 1-2 in the first feature and keeping the car going the right direction and not causing one of those countless cautions, only losing 3 spots on the deal and then coming back up from 8th to just getting pipped by Lewis at the line for second.

On the rest of it though, I am pretty much in agreement. I don't have a solution to the crate racing (other than getting the broken Dodge moter back in the car:) )

 I think that the bunch-up restart rule has to go and we've seen both sides of it from a good/bad impact standpoint. It is gimmicky and artificial and it has several negative impacts. Personally I think it helps the fast cars too much and that passes should be made under race conditions not under yellows.

It also bunches the field way too much on restarts.  That last melee could well have been avoided if there was a single file or 3 up and cars doubled like most tracks.

Another thing is the administration of it during the restarts. There were cases of guys making the move to double-up too late then they just go back in position in line. Not only does this delay the race program but shouldn't there be a penalty for that? Better to just eliminate the whole rule and keep the restarts more simple.

The lapped cars were also in the mix again this week and that needs to get sorted out.

I don't know what the deal was in that Thunder car feature. Those guys usually run with a lot less trouble than that.

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[25_JLM_13hp]

Excellent words about Corey and his team. I do have some issues though with the races at Barrie last night. We were scheduled to run two 10 lap heats and a 35 lap feature. When we showed up, we were told we would get 8, 8, and 25, which is fine. However, they threw the checkered on a caution free feature at 15 laps. Afterwards, we were told that they were cutting everyone short by 5 laps. We were cut short 10, and nobody told us. As far as I could tell, everybody's trucks were really starting to come in when they threw the white flag. We don't mind running short races, just tell us beforehand. A possible solution for the extremely long races is to have a time limit. Grand Bend has time limits on all races, which prevents boring races. I just don't think its right that the Late Models/Thunder Cars can have almost an hour to run 30-35 laps and we get cut short when it takes us 10 minutes.

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[hellothere]

The mini trucks did a great race not much straight speed but man do they go through the corners. I dont think there were enough trucks to have any more laps than there was. Question they do put on a descent show how many trucks do they usually have?? A full field could make for some very interesting racing. Pinecrest this is probably the best post you have ever done there was positive in it cudos to you. The only thing wrong with your post is that the thunders that stopped on the track for a caution were blackflagged, hopefully this will stop the trend and keep the races going because that was crap holding up the races like that. 

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[Pinecrest]

 All very good points Statsman . Keith was a rocket last night and was another of the fast cars that was trapped in crate motor gridlock. A couple things I missed that I should mention , since I extolled the virtues of the Sr Bakers great move keeping it off the wall when he spun let me also mention the Jr Baker . In the first Thunder car heat Lil Baker ran into the #44 of Doucette about 6 times by my count before Doucette stuffed him . Hey Lil Baker I know you are still learning to race but you have to pick one lane and stay in it , you had to know he was going to park you when you ran into him twice going through 1 and 2 after you had already hit him 3 or 4 times.

  In the class less move of the night when they had finally cut out part of Walters roll cage to untangle the cars and were towing  Walters badly wrecked car back through the pits past Dave Lewis's car someone remarked "look at the mess of that car " to which one of Lewis's crew (the older guy with the grey hair and beard)" Like we care" and laughed . Dude your driver just single handedly caused one of the biggist wrecks in the history of the speedway and caused thousands of dollars of damage to over a dozen race cars . Your very lucky Walters and his crew were not with in ear shot because I have no doubt one of them would have laid you out .

  I don't know what penalty will be assessed against Lewis but it should be a very stiff one

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[25_JLM_13hp]

Last year we had between 17-21 trucks at every race. With Grand Bend being repaved and resized, many trucks are staying there this year. When we go to Grand Bend and race with the home series, there are about 20 trucks. The trucks only have about 17 horsepower, so they don't go down the straights very fast, but they do fly through the corners, because we rarely brake.

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[MoeskerRacing]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone.  We had a great day, but we were a little let down when we realized that the feature was cut so short.  If you think about it this way, my team and I put 19 hours into yesterday's event.  4 hours driving each way, and about 11 hours at the track.  We got quite a bit of practice time, which was nice, but not needed.  We had two 8 lap heats, one caution between the two.  16 seconds a lap x 8 = about 2 1/4 minutes each heat race, plus an extra 2-3 mins for that one caution.  Our feature was 15 laps, no cautions.  15 x 16 = 4 minutes.  So, in total, that's 8 1/2 mins of racing + 2-3 mins of caution laps.  Less than 10 minutes for a 19 hour day.. ??  An extra 10 laps, which the guys including myself who started at the back needed in order to win the race, would've taken an extra 3 mins.  This is what we race.  We usually put on a great show, and you'd think that we might deserve a little more respect from the track officials.

We stuck around to watch the feature races after ours.  They must have taken over an hour each.  And to finish the night off, all but 3 Late models wreck near the end of their feature.  Looks good on the Barrie Speedway for the way they treated us.


To answer you question about truck counts, our counts have dropped this season, because most of the guys just want to race at Grand Bend now that it's the nicest track in Ontario (believe me, I loved Barrie last year, but I gained a lot more respect for the new Grand Bend Speedway yesterday).  The GBS mini truck home series has at least 20 truck each race.  Makes sense tho, why travel 4 hours to a track that treats you like crap when you can race locally (for most of us), and get treated right.  I personally love going to different tracks, more of a challenge to set the truck up each week, and it's nice to race in front of different crowds, but come on people.  Have some respect.  You don't hear anyone complaining about our race, but there are plenty complaining about your regular show.

Sorry to go off on a big rant here.  I'm not really mad, because we our day did go very smoothly, but I'm just a little disappointed with Barrie Speedway.

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[joeyw]

  Pinecrest NOTHING will happen to Lewis .His crew are a mirror of him they represent him well, as usual it will be some one elses fault "as if we care ",the guy should quit he does not have a clue and his so called crew could not  set up a car if they tried ,he is always loose and really an embarrasement, you are right about the Vortec but the good drivers still come through the pack,but have to put up with idiots like Lewis blocking and wrecking them every week  also  the Barrie handicapping system is a joke.But its the best and most exciting place to be on Saturday if you are a fan, because when the racing sucks the side show  led by side show Bob Morin is  Always awesome.

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[team27]

Pinecrest its your finest hour lol, The only Baker that showed some class last night was Dwayne,  the kid needs a few words " before you start  beating and banging  on other cars  learn how to drive",the mother had more F words come out of  her  mouth than  a tow truck driver after the incident with 44. And the best was Dwayne;s dad screaming and cursing  like a man possesed at Mc Whirter through the fence for no reason, they had to restrain Mc Whirter from getting at him .Dwayne will HOPEFULLY win the championship at Barrie this year, he deserves it, but he better get some duct tape for his wife, dad and Shatani's mouth before they get him  D.Qed. its Barrie expect the unexpected.

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[Doherty]

In other news lol, we had 23 late models at sunset from what i remember, and about the same in thunders, only 1 caution in lm, and 2 in thunders with both 4 cylinder divisions running caution free and the pro challenege series running threw very quickly, plus we has kids bike race, and a drift show and were done at 11:15 from what i remember, and from what i remember noone threatened to leave lol.

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[flybyya8]

 Pinecrest you are right, I stiil dont know what the hell lewis was doing. There was no move there, he should land a bulldozer sponsor or pay the tow trucks fuel since he causes 75% of the wrecks every time I go to Barrie. Statsman  i was talking to Brian Malcolm whe a member of Keiths team made some good points about the whole situation. One thing he and some others agree is just stick the flopper to the back, tell the track if theres one car always causing the wrecks dont start him up front. And I think Baker is one of the best at BSW definatly a cool move by him! 

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[Pinecrest]

In other news lol, we had 23 late models at sunset from what i remember, and about the same in thunders, only 1 caution in lm, and 2 in thunders with both 4 cylinder divisions running caution free and the pro challenege series running threw very quickly, plus we has kids bike race, and a drift show and were done at 11:15 from what i remember, and from what i remember noone threatened to leave lol.

 I heard that Sunset had 23 LLMs and 6 of them were new cars or at least new to the track , that is a very good car count in this day and age . Did they pick up any of the dozen piles garbage and building materials or nail any more planks over top of the rotted ones in the grandstand ? Did they cut back the two feet high weeds that are growing up around half of the track or do you still have to look through them if you sit in any of the lower 8 rows ? Do you still need to bring hand cleaner and a rag in case you touch one of the railings in the stands ?

 I as always tell it how it is , the good bad and the ugly but the track at Barrie is in beautiful condition and everything in the joint is clean and shines like a new dime . 90 % of the time when I attend a race at Barrie the show goes off with out a hitch but last night was not one of them . On the other hand 90 % of the time when I attend a race at the Innisfil Dump aka Sunset Speedway they are caution mired marathons and if you recall one of their shows last year did not get over until after 1 am .. You also fail to mention that the previous week the LLM car count was 12 but thats par for the course when you go to any dump you don't know what you will find until you get there.

 I don't think I would gloat because they got the show over 30 minutes before Barrie once . The fact is me and many others drive right past the joint on our way to Barrie or drive further in different directions to tracks like Mosport , Flamboro etc . The fact of the matter is my wife wont go to the races with me if I say I am going to Sunset , I will attend another race or two up there this year by myself because I know allot of people that race there but I sure wish they would fix that place up since it is the closest track to the house.

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[dodgeguy14]

LMAO, Pinecrest i don't care what anyone says about you, keep posting brother. Its like i am reading my own thoughts through your posts.

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