The deer problem isn’t unique for Nebraska. I got an e-mail from the Blue Knights Yahoo Groups Sunday evening. Larry Talley, a member of Blue Knights VA XIII, hit a deer while riding his motorcycle Sunday afternoon. He was airlifted to Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina where he it was found that his right leg is broken in two places between the knee and ankle with a compound fracture.
Let’s all be careful for the next few months so we don’t end up hitting one of these critters and having the chance of being hurt ourselves.
I had to start a fire in the woodburner this afternoon so I could work in the garage. I got the engine out of the SCS car earlier in the week and took it apart yesterday while watching the Nebraska Cornhuskers on the TV. I finished doing what I wanted to get done this afternoon while watching and listening to the NASCAR race from Phoenix. As much as I’m pulling for Mark Martin to win the championship, Jimmy Johnson will take the big trophy home next week at Homestead. If Mark leads the most laps and wins, Jimmy will have to finish 26th or worse in order to not win the championship. I hate for Mark Martin to have another one slip out of his fingers. He’s finished 2nd in the standings 4 previous times in his NASCAR career.
I got the engine apart that was in the SCS car Satday afternoon, too. The head on the driver’s side has all the exhaust valves bent. The #5 piston started to melt and the #7 piston has a broken ring land. The #4 & #6 pistons also have broken ring lands. The middle cylinders on both sides look like they were running lean. I thought the carb was jetted big enough so I’m wondering if there’s a problem with the carburetor. We had to run the 350 Holley for that race, and we hadn’t run that particular carburetor in the past as it came with the car and trailer we bought at the end of the season. I’ll have to take the block in to NAPA to see if it can be saved. There weren’t any holes or cracks in it that I could see. All the bearings looked like new, even after about 30 shows on them.
Thanks to the internet, I was able to watch the Duel in the Desert races from Las Vegas, Nevada Friday and Saturday night. The races started Thursday night with heat races and qualifying A Features There were 262 IMCA modifieds signed in representing 23 states and 3 Canadian provinces. The Saturday night A Feature paid the IMCA modifieds an IMCA record $7,777.77 to win. Beatrice regulars Johnny Saathoff, Jordan Grabouski and Chris Burk made the long tow to try to take home the winner’s share of the purse. Eagle regular and 2009 IMCA National Champion, Dylan Smith and Rising City and Junction Motor Speedway regular Shane Stutzman were also there. Last year’s winner, David Murray, Jr of Oberlin, Kansas as well as Darrick Klima of Belleville, Kansas were also there. Shane Stutzman qualified for the A Feature by winning his last chance race, passing for the lead coming to the checkered flag and beating out Randy Hall, who made the trip from New York. Murray and Grabouski both missed making the A Feature. Jeremy Payne, who has two Duel in the Desert A Feature wins, drove Jet Racing’s 96p car and made the A Feature. When the green flag dropped on the A Feature, Ricky Alvarado, who has won at Beatrice Speedway in the past, jumped to the point. On the 3rd lap, Saathoff took 2nd place and began to reel Alvarado in. After a lap 36 caution, Alvarado went high in turn 4, allowing Saathoff to get under him and make the pass. Saathoff never looked back after that and took home another Duel in the Desert trophy. Shane Stutzman finished 12th, Klima 13th, Dylan Smith 20th, Jeremy Payne 23rd and Jay Steffens of North Platte finished 24th. Twenty eight cars started the A Feature. Las Vegas officials are hoping for 300 IMCA modifieds next year.
A couple of years ago, when we were in Vegas for the NASCAR weekend, we went to the races at the dirt track at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The track reminds me somewhat of I-80 but doesn’t seem as high banked. It’s a wide track and looks like it would be fun to race on. During the Duel in the Desert, they also have IMCA stock cars. Maybe some benevolent race fan out there would finance a trip for R & R Racing to next years event?? I guess not. The night we went to the dirt track, we only had to go from the Speedway to the dirt track, but no matter which way we turned, we could not get going in the right direction. That is a story for another time.
We’re going to pass on Vegas this year. Instead, we’re planning to go to Texas for the April NASCAR weekend. If I remember correctly, all three NASCAR series are racing at the track that weekend, so I hope to get my “fix” for a few days that way. Who knows, the weather might even be good enough to make a motorcycle trip out of it.
Looks like while I’m daydreaming about taking motorcycle trips on the Gold Wing next riding season, I’d better be getting my long underwear and stocking cap out. In the meanwhile, I received another link to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation site which gives you tests on road signs and collision trap tests. I’m going to bookmark it and go to it a lot!! http://www.msf-usa.org/riderperception/
Thanks, Fred, for sending it to me.
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