tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72476500932776735562024-03-07T02:58:34.665-06:00Southeast Nebraska ramblingsgeneral subjects including but not limited to dirt track racing, IMCA, NASCAR, motorcycle touring, Blue Knights Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club and law enforcement in general.Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-14774215929853000362020-04-02T23:28:00.000-05:002020-04-17T13:08:59.033-05:00Front Sight Firearms Training and the ride home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
Once we got checked into our room, we had to go to the grocery store for a few things for the next few days. We could have ordered sack lunches from Front Sight but for what they cost and consist of, we decided to take our own. We made sandwiches and took fruit, vegetables and yogurt as well as water for our lunches.</div>
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When I was there in 2018, the temperature was over 100 degrees every day. I'd never been in southern Nevada the 2nd &3rd week of September and had no idea it was that warm that time of the year. </div>
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Beautiful sunset at Pahrump. </div>
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We were in a time zone two hours earlier than home, so it wasn't a big problem getting up in time. The weather ended up being about 100 degrees the first day, then 95 the last 3 days. However, there's no shade in the desert except for the shelters they use to shield everyone from the sun. Use a lot of suntan lotion and hydrate every chance we get. Each range (Front Sight currently has 50 ranges) with students has ice water in 5 gallon coolers brought in several times a day.</div>
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The first morning there was quite a line of vehicles at the gate. Everyone who was starting a class that day had to get checked in and have their weapon and ammunition checked. We were then directed to the range where our class would begin. Classes started at 8 AM. </div>
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Our instructors came from all walks of life. One of our instructors was a lady who was a retired doctor. We had about 24 people in our class; several were women who were taking the class with their husbands. One of the women was from Mesa, Arizona who was a leader in an organization called The Well Armed Woman. </div>
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There were enough instructors on each range to be able to give extra attention to anyone having problems. Of course, it's ALWAYS SAFETY FIRST!!</div>
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At the end of the first day Jan threatened to not go back. Her hands hurt and she had a hard time performing some of the drills. I continued to encourage her and told her each day would get a little easier. Not sure that she believed me, but she did return each day. The other women in the class also encouraged her. Jan even got to shoot a couple of the other womens' weapons to compare them to her Smith & Wesson Shield. </div>
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At the end of the four days, the instructors set up a competition between students. There were two firing lines with three targets on each firing line. The first target was closest, but it was a hostage taker. If you hit the hostage you automatically lost. You shoot until you hit the hostage taker, then you go to the 2nd and 3rd targets, shooting until you hit each one. The person with the best time without hitting the hostage moves to the next round. A woman won the overall competition. I told Jan that we should return in 2020 and with enough practice she would have a chance to win. </div>
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The last two pictures above were of the area on the Front Sight property. This has been developing for over 20 years and will eventually be a resort type of place with a hotel, grocery, etc. It's a long, gradual process. In the near future, Front Sight will have trained 1 million people!!</div>
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Going into Pahrump on the last day, I got these pictures of the sun going down as well as the street to where we stayed.</div>
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Leaving Pahrump on Tuesday morning, we rode into bright sunlight. We had the slowdown for construction from just west of Mountain Springs to a couple of miles west of Blue Diamond road. We also saw the signs warning motorists to watch out for wild horses and burros on the road. That's something we didn't see. Traffic through and around Las Vegas wasn't too bad. I just needed to be sure to be in the correct lane to go where I wanted to go. Wasn't lost, just a little bewildered.</div>
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Going back to the east, we would be losing an hour when we crossed from Nevada into Arizona. One huge improvement over the first time I travelled that highway is that the highway now bypasses the Hoover Dam. Traffic on Hwy 93 to Kingman has always been light when I've gone that way and this time was no different. It's a bit of a boring ride; not a lot to see except a lot of sagebrush and sand. </div>
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Made our gas stop and lunch break at Kingman, then kept on heading east. Weather was decent and not much wind to fight. Gas mileage was a surprise as it was better than I had anticipated. From east of Seligman to Flagstaff the scenery is awesome. The grass was still green, and in several areas there were signs warning of elk on or near the highway. We made our next stop at Flagstaff for gas then back on the road. Hadn't decided yet where we wanted to stay for the night but had an idea of when we wanted to get off the road. If I can help it, I try not to ride unfamiliar roads in the dark.</div>
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We stopped for gas at Winslow and checked to see how much farther it was to Gallup. We decided that we could make it there at a fairly decent time; next was to find somewhere to stay. Expedia.com showed a list of places and I found the El Rancho on Rt 66 in Gallup still had vacancies. Got our reservations online and headed out.</div>
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What a surprise when we got to Gallup! The El Rancho is a historic hotel where the movie stars stayed in the 1920-1950's era of westerns being made. The rooms are small and appear to be much like they were during the heydays of movie making in that region. Each room has the name of a star that stayed in that particular room. Our room had Robert Mitchum's name over the door. I just hoped he would not show up and want his room while we were there.</div>
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We were greeted by John Wayne on the left side of the lobby and the check-in counter was on the right. The rooms actually had REAL keys!! After getting our luggage to our room, we ate in the hotel restaurant, then made the short walk to the bar and had a quick beer before turning in for the night.</div>
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It rained a little overnight so the morning started off a bit cooler, I put the chaps and leather jacket on and Jan wore her leather jacket. Topped off with gas a block from where we stayed, then continued for another mile or so on Rt 66 before we had to get back onto I-40. As we rode east I thought about how travel had changed since I went to California with Dad & Mom in 1960. No cell phones, no GPS, no interstate highways. You always made sure you had change for the pay phones - you remember those?? No booking hotels ahead of time on the internet. When you were tired you looked for a motel with a "Vacancy" sign. </div>
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Stopped for gas at the Rt 66 Travel Center just west of Albuquerque. The weather was great and I packed the chaps and leather jacket away. Bathroom break and cold water out of the cooler and we were on our way. Got through Albuquerque during noon hour and made a stop at Santa Rosa's Love's Travel Center. I wanted to stop in Tucumcari at a little restaurant I'd eaten at before so after filling up, it was less than an hour to Tucumcari. </div>
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Something of note along I-40 east of Santa Rosa is a ghost town called Cuervo. Part of it is on the north side of the highway and part is on the south. I googled it and found it is one of the "most haunted" ghost towns in New Mexico. The last official count showed 58 residents. </div>
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How many of you have watched "Rawhide?" The first episodes of this series were filmed in the Tucumcari area. Riding along Rt 66 in Tucumcari, one hotel has a sign proclaiming "Clint Eastwood slept here." </div>
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The place I wanted to eat at closed at 2 PM, so we snacked out of the cooler and headed out. Once again we took that long, boring Hwy 54 to Dalhart, stopping there for gas. Stayed at Guymon, Oklahoma that night, then made it home about 6 PM Thursday evening. Round trip - 3,200 miles.</div>
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I forgot, on the way to Dalhart the first day, we were starting to think we shouldn't have tried to go that far. If we had not already made a reservation at Dalhart, maybe we could have stayed here.</div>
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Then again, maybe not......<br />
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Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-24973833461471138722020-03-28T00:33:00.001-05:002020-04-17T13:08:59.125-05:00Sept 2019 motorcycle ride to Pahrump, Nevada<div>
I'm opening this evening with these pictures. Back in September, we got on the Gold Wing the day after Labor Day and rode to Pahrump, Nevada. Almost 2 years ago, I got a membership to the Front Sight Firearms Training Institute, located near Pahrump. As part of my membership, there are several courses I can take for free as many times I want to. After attending in 2018, I got Jan a membership and after a lot of coaxing, I convinced her to take the 4 day defensive handgun course with me.</div>
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Part of the adventure of attending is getting there. We try to take at least one trip every summer on the Gold Wing and this was our 2nd trip. The first was when we went to the St Louis area in June for a Blue Knights Conference. </div>
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I like to get an early start so we can get to our overnight stop before it's too late. By early, I'm talking 7 to 7:30 AM. For us that's early. Kind of hard to imagine being on vacation and starting out that early, but c'mon, we're burnin' daylight, boys!! We try for about 500 miles a day, but after this trip we decided we are going to try to cat back to about 450 miles a day.</div>
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Our goal that Tuesday was Dalhart, Texas. In 2018 I got to Dalhart about 6 PM after riding through rain until after I was past Hutchison, Kansas. I figured that even though we were doubled up we'd be at Dalhart by 6 PM.</div>
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I had looked at the forecast in advance, but it ended up being a lot warmer than what the forecast called for. We made a couple of extra stops and took more time than usual. We ended up stopping for supper about 75 miles from Dalhart and by the time we were on the road again it was close to sundown. Temperature cooled down to under 90 and except for killing a lot of bugs with the windshield, it was more pleasant than the earlier heat. </div>
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Getting started in the morning, it had cooled off enough to put on the leather jackets. Topped off with gas and headed out. People say I-80 in Nebraska is boring; so is Hwy 54 from Dalhart to Tucumcari, New Mexico. The Flying J was our first stop where we topped off with gas and grabbed some coffee. Jan also tried on a new hat....</div>
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Back on the road with a goal of stopping in Tucumcari for lunch. Daniel Herrerra, who was a catcher with the Lincoln Salt Dogs, is from Albuquerque. While traveling with the Salt Dogs during the summer I talked to Daniel quite a bit. I told him we would be going through Albuquerque about lunch time and asked him for his recommendations for lunch. He told me about a Mexican place called Annie's, so that was our lunchtime destination. </div>
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We stopped at Cline's Corner to top off with gas and look around the huge souvenir shop but didn't buy anything. After a cold drink from our cooler we were back on the road. I liked this but didn't buy it....</div>
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We got to Annie's in time for the noon rush. The place was almost full but we didn't have long to wait. Daniel was right, the food there is great. I recommend it if you're in Albuquerque looking for somewhere to eat.</div>
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Back on the road, we topped off with gas at the new Love's Travel Stop on the west edge of Albuquerque. Every time we go through Albuquerque there's new stuff being built on that side of town. I didn't mention it, but I-40 roughly follows the path of the old Route 66, the Mother Road. It's sad because all the little souvenir places, cafes, motels, etc are all gone now, victims of the interstate highway system. There are places that some of the ruins are still visible, and there are places you can still get off I-40 and ride/drive parts of Route 66.</div>
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Before getting to Albuquerque, we stopped to take a break at the Continental divide. Some great scenery there, I made sure I got a couple of pictures. If you look closely at the pictures, the altitude is over 7,000 feet; higher than the "Mile High City," Denver, Colorado.</div>
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Got to Holbrook, Arizona in good time, having made a reservation at the Days Inn earlier in the day. Got the Gold Wing parked and suitcases out of the trailer. Hot shower sure felt great after 499 miles this day. After showering, we walked around the parking lot and got a few pictures. Also saw a pickup that was pulling an enclosed trailer in the parking lot. Had license plates from Wahoo, Nebraska. At breakfast the next morning we talked to the couple that it belonged to. The 3rd day would be a bit shorter, just 397 miles. The only heavy traffic we should hit would be around Las Vegas.</div>
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Got a decent start on Thursday morning and stopped at Flagstaff for gas and coffee. It wasn't real hot yet what with we were in a higher elevation. I was sure that we wouldn't stop for gas before we got to Kingman. I stopped at the Shell on the north side of I-40 at Seligman in 2018 and both gas and diesel were $4 a gallon. No different this year; We used the restrooms and grabbed drinks out of the cooler on the trailer and away we went.<br />
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Before we got to Kingman, the DOT road signs were saying that our exit was closed due to an accident. Sure enough, the exit was shut down, and that was the way we wanted to go without going 75 miles out of our way. I got to the next exit and turned around, going back to the exit I wanted. It was open to eastbound traffic. However, northbound traffic on Hwy 93 out of Kingman was closed due to a bad accident on the north edge of Kingman. The trooper we talked to didn't know for sure when the highway would open up again.</div>
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Being lunchtime, we decided to look around for food. We started south into town but stopped at a small shop that had motorcycle paraphernalia. Looked around there for a while and ended up buying a big furry seat cover that covered the entire seat of the bike, both driver and passenger. By the time we were done there, traffic was moving slowly. We topped off with gas and grabbed Subway at the same place. Once we got back on the highway, traffic was moving almost normally, except near the crash sight. Wreckers were getting ready to move the involved vehicles away. As we went by, we could see that an ambulance ran into the back of a flatbed trailer. Always makes a person think about how it may have happened - the highway there is 2 lanes in each direction....</div>
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No more incidents and we made it into Las Vegas through what they call "normal" traffic. Topped off with gas and headed for Pahrump, 50 miles away on Hwy 160. There had been road construction in 2018 and this was still going on now. We got to our room just outside of Pahrump, unloaded the luggage and showered, then off to look for supper. The next day we were supposed to be at Front Sight at 6:30 AM to check in and have our weapons inspected. The next 4 days would be pretty intense as we would shoot 700 rounds in that time. </div>
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Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-58150304659979676042020-03-23T00:25:00.001-05:002020-04-17T13:08:18.782-05:00Censorship????<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I can look at Facebook but was put in Facebook jail for 7 days because I shared the election comment!! Facebook said this was hate speech and goes against "Community Standards." I can't post, like posts, make comments or use Messenger!! I don't think Facebook has anything to do with these blog posts, so I hope I don't get censored here, too!</div>
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I am sure everybody is getting real tired of only hearing or seeing this coronavirus on every news outlet they turn to. I know I am. I am limiting myself to not watching any news. I spent a good part of today watching Roy Rogers movies on YouTube.</div>
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I grew up watching Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, Gene Aurty, Audie Murphy, John Wayne and other cowboy stars. If only my kids and grandkids could have grown up watching them. Roy Rogers was a mainstay for me. Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Pat Brady, Roy's horse Trigger and German Shepard Bullet came to the Nebraska State Fair in 1958 and my family got to go! The old wooden grandstands were packed and I got to see my hero up close!</div>
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My parents took us to California on vacation in August 1960, We left Crete, Nebraska on Sunday evening & Dad & Mom drove all night to get to Dalhart, Texas where we stopped at a café for breakfast. I remember having pancakes. Dad's Studebaker didn't have air conditioning so we rode with the windows down as the day warmed up When we got to Tucumcari, New Mexico, we turned west and followed the Mother Road, Route 66.</div>
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I remember that Mom packed a picnic basket and we stopped near Santa Rosa for lunch. There was a rest area near a lake and I remember there being small lizards running around. Keep in mind this was before there was an interstate so we were on a two lane highway the entire trip. We went through the painted desert and the petrified forest. Today the interstate bypasses these and unless a traveler specifically wants to go there, they will never see these places. I also remember all of the little souviner shops, cafes and motels along the way. Most of these died after the interstate was finished.</div>
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After a week of driving we ended up in San Diego where Dad had a cousin and an aunt. We went to the beach the evening we got there and again at least once during the day. Dad took my brother and I to the Belmont Park amusement park where we took a ride on a huge wooden roller coaster called the Giant Dipper. We were there at night and when the roller coaster came out of a dark tunnel, it climbed and climbed. As it reached the top, I could see the Pacific Ocean on my right and Mission Bay on my left.</div>
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I thought sure that somewhere along the way I would catch a glimpse of Roy Rogers but if he was around I never saw him. Through my 8 year old eyes, California had to be the coolest place on earth. Unfortunately, I returned about 16 months ago and my view and opinion has changed. Enough said.</div>
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We still have no idea when our dirt track racing season will start. Since the weather is either too cold or too wet or both, I've been spending a few hours a day trying to get everything organized so when we finally get to go racing we will be ready. We have a little ceramic heater that I put in the trailer. I can close the trailer door and plug it in and the heater will keep it pleasant enough that I can work in there. Slowly getting things organized in there.<br />
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Really hate all the delays in getting this race season started. We just hope that when things start to return to normal we will have time to go racing. I found this picture from Beatrice Speedway last season.<br />
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Tyler also has a sport mod that he wants to sell It's IMCA legal, a 2001 Larkins with a 602 crate motor with about 10 nights on it, has a 1973-1977 front stub under it, underslung rear, complete turn key less rear gear for $4,500 firm. This is the only picture I have of it. This would make somebody a good starter car.<br />
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Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-43545425270012609992020-03-20T14:23:00.000-05:002020-04-17T13:08:59.288-05:00How do you run a (successful) race track?I've thought about putting this on the Beatrice Speedway portion of dirtdrivers.com but it would probably be deleted. I'll put it here first so if it is deleted it won't be lost.<br />
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I know there are a lot of other entertainment venues available these days than race tracks. Real racers and fans are very loyal to racing. When I first started going to the dirt track in the early 1970's, you had to get to the track an hour before hot laps to even get a seat in the grandstands. As race fans, we went to a race at the Adams County fairgrounds on Hastings, Nebraska on a Sunday afternoon, then drove to Omaha's Sunset Speedway to see a race that evening.<br />
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After I started helping Al Humphrey on his late model in 1975, we went racing on Friday evening at either Red Cloud, Nebraska's Speed Bowl or Hastings, Nebraska on Friday, Mid-Continent Raceway on Saturday and either Lexington, Nebraska or Midwest Speedway in Lincoln, Nebraska on Sunday, Later on, we would go to Eagle, Nebraska on Friday and Sunset Speedway on Sunday.<br />
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I moved away from Grand Island late in the summer of 1988 and ended up in Beatrice in November of 1989. As long as I stayed away from the race track it did not bother me too much. However, Beatrice Speedway had a large following at that time and I couldn't stay away. On my days off and when I worked day shift, I hung out with a local late model racer, Johnny Saathoff. He raced at Eagle on Friday, Mid-Continent on Saturday and Sunset on Sunday. He also raced the NASCAR Busch All-Star Tour. Everywhere we went, there were good car counts and the grandstands were packed. When I wasn't able to go with Johnny, I would go to Beatrice Speedway. Once again, you had to get there an hour before hot laps to get a seat as the grandstands were always full.<br />
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Fast forward to 1998. My stepson, Jason Rosenthal and I bought a used "factory stock" and began racing at Beatrice. The grandstands were still full and the car counts were great. A whild back I found an old program and saw there were 52 factory stocks that year. I know that not all were always at the track at the same time, but I also remember when there was a C Feature, B Feature and A Feature in the factory stocks. Races at Beatrice at that time were on Saturdays. Al Langdale was the track promoter. You could like him or hate him but we had a good car count and grandstands were full. Record numbers of the famous Beatrice Speedway gizzards were sold and it was said that thousands of dollars worth of beer was sold every race night.<br />
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Nobody can control the weather, no matter what the climate change zealots say. I remember times we got to the track and part way into the show it rained. Sometimes we could wait it out and the track could be re-worked and the show was finished. Other times we loaded up and had to get pulled out of the pits by a tractor.<br />
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There started to be a big push to get the races over by 10 PM. I understand people being tired of sitting in the grandstands, but if you have large car counts the races will take longer to finish. If you buy or rent a home near a race track that has been there for over 50 years, you should expect that things could get noisy on race nights. If you don't like it, don't buy or rent across the street from a race track. Al Langdale left his position as promoter and since then there have been several promoters, but in my opinion none as successful as Al Langdale was in terms of putting cars on the track and butts in the grandstand. Of course, as time has gone on, the cost of admission and concessions has gone up. Pit passes have gone up and the cost of putting a race car on the track has gone up drastically. Purses paid out to the drivers have not gone up for years, and car owners that don't have sponsors putting up a lot of money are leaving the sport.<br />
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Beatrice Speedway is actually run by the Gage County Fair Board. In addition to having had a seemingly revolving door of promoters, a few years ago they hired Toby Kruse to be promoter. However, Toby is also promoter for some Iowa tracks and he was only at Beatrice for Spring Nationals, the Gage County Fair and Octoberfest. I am not sure what his current official capacity is, but his name was still on the registration form for Spring Nationals this year.<br />
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Moving right along, late in 2019, Beatrice Speedway advertised for a Marketing Director. This person was to solicit track sponsorships as well as help put people in the grandstands and increase car counts. Beatrice Speedway posted this opening on their website as well as their Facebook page. In early January they announced that Chris Brown was hired to fill this position. Within a short time, the Facebook page was filling up with questions posed to fans with many replies. It looked to most people that were following the Beatrice Speedway Facebook page that there was some new enthusiasm coming to the races. There were more posts in less than 2 months than there had been in 3 years prior to Chris coming on board.<br />
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However, this didn't last long. Even though the Fair Board, and ultimately Beatrice Speedway, tried to not let the public know, Chris Brown was released from his position as Marketing Director. Going to both the Beatrice Speedway website and the Facebook page, there has been no mention of this. As a matter of fact, all mention of a marketing director and the hiring of Chris Brown has been deleted from the website as well as the Speedway's web page. Chris made a statement on his own Facebook page that I am quoting here:<br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I just wanted to say a few things;</span><br />
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I was so excited about the interactions I had online and in person. The passion is strong and that makes me happy. Together we accomplished a spark capable of turning into a healthy fire.</div>
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I was NOT hired as a consultant, even though some of the tasks on my plate would also fall on the plate of a consulting role, that was not my position.</div>
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I was critical of the board in an attempt to create a bridge between the hard feelings I encountered and the speedway. This was a strategy we didn't discuss beforehand, I simply acted on instinct. I operated our social media platform under my vision, with each and every post by design, no matter how random they may have seemed. I communicated as my own voice and not as the voice of the board.</div>
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The board did what they needed to do when visions and communication styles do not mesh, and that is to part ways. I appreciate the opportunity as I learned a lot in a very short period of time. It only makes me more hungry to give back to the sport I love so much.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">You should go to the races, it's what we love and you still have a great place to do it. Although we were really going to have some fun together this year, that'll just have to wait for another time or another place. I'll be looking for other ways to help the racing community and my shop door is always open, Chris - 763-226-0725" </span><br />
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For many years I have heard people say that the Fair Board does not want the track to succeed. If that is true, they need to be replaced. If it is not true, the people on the Fair Board need to step up and either do the work to keep Beatrice Speedway successful or turn the reins over to someone who will.<br />
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Many of us are waiting for all this crazy Corona virus crap to get over with so we can get back to racing. For myself, it's either Busch Light or Fireball, depending on what the weather is. Most race tracks have decided to close for a while. However, the last I checked, Marshalltown, Iowa is still planning to go ahead with their $5,000 to win King of the Hill on April 9th & 10th. If I can figure out a way to spirit Tyler away from the shop for that time, maybe we will venture out if it does not cancel.<br />
<br />Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-74361111618071253852020-03-17T23:05:00.000-05:002020-04-17T13:08:59.394-05:00Ready to race but nowhere to race at; Beatrice Spring Nationals, Nebraska Dirt Crown; coronavirus scam???Sure has been a long time since I've been on here. Too long, as I almost completely forgot about it. Maybe I will be able to keep up a bit more.<br />
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A lot has happened in the five years since I retired. I've driven a charter bus for Windstar Lines as far west as San Diego and Pismo Beach, California to Marquez, Texas; New Orleans, Orlando and Washington, D.C. Last summer I took the Lincoln Salt Dogs baseball team to most of their away games including a trip to Winnipeg for a 3-game series. People talk about how boring it is to drive across Nebraska on I-80. They need to drive I-29 north to Winnipeg. Don't forget that when you cross into Canada you are driving in KPH, not MPH.<br />
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My calendar for this spring was starting to get filled up, but now my bus trips in the immediate future have cancelled. The entire country is going ape-shit crazy about the coronavirus. Old people are supposed to stay at home; no gatherings anywhere of over 10 people, and stay at least 6 feet away from other people. <br />
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If this weather would warm up and consistently stay that way I would do some serious traveling on 2 wheels. Watching the forecast right now, it's will be in the 60's on Thursday but winter will return on Friday. Winter storm warning for the western part of Nebraska and we could get thunderstorms tomorrow, then 60 next day and 30 the day after that.<br />
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The dirt track racing season was scheduled to kick off last weekend with the Beatrice Spring Nationals, Mother Nature won that race. With a threatening forecast for Friday and Saturday, track officials decided to move everything to Thursday and Friday in order to try to get the show in. However, Mother Nature wouldn't have anything to do with that and the races were off as the forecast got even worse. Thursday was cold and windy and Friday afternoon the snow came. The track announced the races would be this weekend, March 19th - 21st. However, with a return to winter and the nationwide coronavirus panic, the races have been cancelled/postponed indefinitely.<br />
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There was also a new 4-night, 4-track series, the Nebraska Dirt Crown, scheduled to kick off March 26th. The series was to start at U.S. 30 near Columbus on Thursday, March 26th. The next evening the tour was to go the I-80 Speedway off I-80 at the 420 Exit; Saturday evening was to be at Beatrice and Sunday afternoon at Thayer County Speedway at Deshler. Classes running would be IMCA modifieds, sport mods, stock cars and hobby stocks. Yesterday, the series was cancelled with a note that they may try to put the series on later in the season. With the coronavirus panic spreading, the promoters had no choice but to cancel for the time being.<br />
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I guess in our neck of the woods this isn't all bad since the weather looks like it would have been less than favorable.<br />
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NASCAR cancelled the races at Atlanta last weekend and Homestead, Florida this weekend as well as Texas next week. Who knows when things will get back to normal??<br />
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When the local race season finally starts, we should be ready to go. We got a different open trailer at the end of last season and I am still trying to get it organized. This extra time should help us be more prepared when the season finally starts.<br />
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In the meantime, we scheduled a motorcycle trip to Williamsburg in July. Even though it's a few months away, I have been making plans and looking at routes and places to stay on the way there and back. Our Blue Knights chapter is also co-hosting the Fall Midwest Regional Conference at Hot Springs, South Dakota in September.<br />
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We rode to Pahrump, Nevada in September to take a 4-day Defensive Handgun Course at the Frontsight Firearms Training Institute. Pahrump is about 50 miles southwest of Las Vegas. We rode as far as Dalhart, Texas the first day out and Holbrook, Arizona the second day. We both agreed that 500 miles a day on the Gold Wing is a little on the "too far" side for us and we will try to cut back to 450 miles a day in the future. Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com1505 S 9th St, Beatrice, NE 68310, USA40.2610468 -96.778263714.739012300000002 -138.0868577 65.7830813 -55.4696697tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-13522573924999501162015-11-09T09:20:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:59.009-05:00Wow, I can't believe it has been 4 years since I posted on here!! A lot has happened in that time, including my retirement on December 31, 2014 after spending 31 years in law enforcement. Of that time, 25 years was spent with the Beatrice Police Department.<br />
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Looking back, I've made countless friends in the law enforcement community. I can probably drive all the way across Nebraska and no matter where I turn, run across somebody I know or that knows somebody I know. <br />
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I often joked with Jan that I would get a CDL when I retired so I could see the country and get paid for it. However, I didn't think that driving a truck over the road was what I wanted to do. When Jan & I went to San Antonio with Dad & Mom for Dad's WWII reunion, we rode a charter bus to do some sightseeing, and I decided that wouold be a great way to see the country and meet people.<br />
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In August of 2014 I was able to obtain my CDL to operate a motorcoach. Prior to retiring, I drove on my days off from the Police Department. After retiring, I went to Des Moines the first week of January for a week long safety school. Even though I am part time, as of October 24th, I had made 102 trips in 298 days. I can usually work my work schedule around things at home, and if I turn down a trip nobody gets mad and I don't get in trouble for turning it down.<br />
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Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-79834302105889844042011-05-21T15:56:00.000-05:002020-04-17T13:08:59.475-05:00Rain, rain, go away!! Second-guessing the police; more trip planningThe scheduled opening of Beatrice Speedway on May 22nd did not happen due to weather. We had rain over the first and middle part of the week. Of course, when Friday came, the sun came out and the weather ended up being absolutely beautiful racing weather. Beatrice Speedway posted on the rainout report on DirtDrivers.com on Thursday that it was too wet to get the track in shape to race for Friday. The first regular season race ended up being Friday May 6th.<br />
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When the cancellation was posted, Brandon Johnson made the comment about “all the rain we haven’t gotten.” I don’t approve of spreading rumors, but I’d heard several stories about the road grader the track had been using. The bottom line was that it was no longer at the track! I have to agree with Brandon’s reply “Having a race track without a grader is kinda like having a Hotdog stand with no hotdog buns. It just don’t work.“ There wasn’t anything else said about this until Wednesday morning when John Meyer posted a question about the comment. The road grader issue has since been addressed, and a HUGE THANK YOU goes out to Katz Farms of Jansen, Nebraska. <br />
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I spent an hour Tuesday evening, April 19th, talking to a fellow racer about what we feel are problems at Beatrice Speedway. We both agreed that the top priority for the track should be communication. Years ago there was always an information & rules meeting held in November. At that time, any rules changes were discussed and actually voted on by the drivers in attendance. The schedule for the upcoming season was released and car registrations were taken.<br />
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I guess with classes being IMCA sanctioned, the powers that be decided they did not need to have these meetings. They neglected to realize that just because IMCA dictated the rules, the drivers still want other information passed on! <br />
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I heard about a driver from Sioux City who had been at the 2010 Octoberfest. He really enjoyed racing at Beatrice and wanted to come back for the Beatrice Spring Nationals. However, as the date neared, there was nothing posted on the Beatrice Speedway website or DirtDrivers.com. In order to get information, he called a Beatrice racer to see if Spring Nationals were even going to happen. This sort of thing can not continue!! <br />
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Beatrice Speedway now has a great looking website, but the webmaster can’t post information that she doesn’t have. The track will have to continue to feed that information to her on a timely basis. That does not mean in a few days, but as soon as the races are over!<br />
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Greg Soukup has done an EXCELLENT job with the Eagle Raceway website as far as posting results. He is an example of how it should be done. When I get home at 6 AM, I check the website and complete results are posted, including heat race and B Features, from 1st to last place. All tracks should have a Greg Soukup! I hope that Beatrice Speedway officials can follow suit and provide information to the webmaster quickly so it can be posted.<br />
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Back gate – I’ve gone racing before when I felt like the racers were paying their own purse. We normally pay $20 for pit passes at Beatrice. A couple of years ago, we pulled up to the pit shack for the county fair races and found the pit passes were $25 for that day! As I recall, the purse was not increased except for the winner. Beings it was the county fair, the grandstands were packed. The track had to have made money that night. <br />
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However, I talked to a lot of people that night who did not know the pit passes were $5 more until they bought them. Even for practice days, if you look at what pit passes cost, there is a great disparity. I’ve seen pit passes for practice just this year range from $5 to $15. I understand the need to pay for insurance, utilities, etc. but why is there such a big difference?<br />
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Beatrice Speedway had a Fan Appreciation Night in 2010. Will there be another one in 2011? Judging from the packed grandstands that night, there should be. I posed the question to Jon Weichel and he said there is “talk about it.” Things like that need to be talked about and SCHEDULED before the season, and posted on the track’s website! All specials should be posted when the schedule comes out, and then those specials need to be ADVERTISED! Eagle’s website has a “special” night posted every night of the season! Why can’t Beatrice Speedway do that? <br />
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How about a “carload” night? An entire carload of fans gets into the grandstands for, say $25.… Or the same promotion for “SUV night.” How about a “pickup truck night?” Military Appreciation night for all current and past service members. How about everybody over 55 getting in free one night? Just show your driver’s license. Same with maybe letting everybody from Kansas into the grandstands for free some night. If that would not work, how about half price? Put all of these in the schedule that is on the website. Have the announcers promote the specials every chance they get!<br />
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Why didn't the Kids' Club continue? There were a lot of kids that were disappointed. Why don't we get more coverage in the Daily Sun? Will Track Talk continue on KWBE this year, and if so, when will it be broadcast? There are a lot more questions than answers right now.<br />
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I've seen and heard comments on other websites that promoters and track officials should stay off the internet, and have even heard of the same group of saying the internet is the reason their track is failing or has failed. I call BULLSHIT on that!! Use it to your advantage!! PROMOTE, PROMOTE, PROMOTE!! If the Fair Board doesn't want to spend the money on a membership to Dirt Drivers, I will pay it for you, just be sure to USE IT!! <br />
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There is a question on the Beatrice Speedway Facebook page that asks “Survey for all former racers. Please be honest here. Why are you no longer racing?” I know there are a lot of people on Facebook, but maybe they don’t look at Beatrice Speedway on Facebook, as there have only been 2 replies so far. Check it out and post a reply.<br />
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It seems like no matter where I look, there are things out there that get me fired up. On the PoliceOne.com website, I found a story about a fight in IHOP in Atlanta, Georgia. There has been a video posted on you tube.com of the video. I personally have no problems with people posting video of these incidents, but if they are going to do it, they need to post from the very beginning of the incident to the very end. This video shows the woman trying to scratch the officer’s eyes out and the results of that attempt. There are cries of “police brutality” in the background, but no citizens offering to help the officers. From what I saw, the officers were completely justified in their actions.<br />
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The actions of Police Officers are always being second-guessed. Officers have to make split-second decisions that will be looked at for weeks, months and even years to come. We all make a decision before our shift begins that we will be going home to our families at the end of the shift, no matter what. If the poor decision of a citizen means they are injured or, worse yet, killed, that decision is their responsibility. <br />
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There was an Officer Involved Shooting the last week of April where I grew up in Crete, Nebraska. Officers responded to a domestic disturbance. When they arrived on the scene, the male ran into the house and grabbed a handgun. The gun had a laser sight on it, and the laser was on one of the officers. The man was told to drop the gun, but he ignored commands and was shot.<br />
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The first news account I saw of this incident was when a neighbor was interviewed. She questioned what took so long for an ambulance to get on the scene. No questions were asked about officer safety. After shots were fired, the suspect retreated back inside the residence. Officers were told there were many more firearms in the residence. The suspect did not answer when officers attempted to talk to him. They had no idea where he was. It is an officer safety issue that the officers do not rush in to find the suspect.<br />
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It’s fortunate that the suspect will live, but the officers involved will be scrutinized for their actions for a long time, even though they did not do anything wrong. So far in 2011, there have been 63 Line of Duty Deaths in the United States. Of those, 30 have been by gunfire. The next highest number of officers killed was from vehicle crashes at 13. There have been incidents of multiple officers being killed in the same incident, so there’s no guarantee in “safety in numbers.” For the civilians reading this, when you are contacted by a law enforcement officer, PLEASE do what you are told!! You can ask questions later. <br />
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Mother Nature continues to tease us with nice weather one day and not-so-nice weather the next. With the cost of gas may have peaked here at $3.949. Since then it has dropped to $3.799, but who knows where it will be a month from now? If there is any way I can ride the Gold Wing to work instead of taking the pickup, I will. I am sure driving habits will once again change everywhere as the price of gas continues to change. We’ve already decided that the trip to Chesapeake will more than likely be our only “big” outing this season. With gas already being $1.30 more than last season, we’re all feeling the crunch. However, the trip to Chesapeake is still a “go.” We intend to get a lot of sightseeing done while we are there.Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-42713986886882532662011-04-20T14:10:00.000-05:002020-04-17T13:08:59.265-05:0060 Years of Marriage; Beatrice Speedway Factory Stock rules are (FINALLY) postedAfter making plans since late January, family and friends of my parents gathered in Crete, Nebraska Sunday, April 3rd, to celebrate their upcoming 60th wedding anniversary. After Mom decided on a date, my brother’s wife Anita and my wife Jan did a lot of planning. We took a Saturday to go to Lincoln with Dave & Anita to get table decorations and some other items. We split up a grocery list for the day of the party, and at our house Jan spent all of Saturday making a pasta and fruit salad called “Frog eye salad.” We ended up with 3 buckets full of the stuff - and now there are a lot of blind frogs out there!<br />
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With the weather being nice one day and not so nice the next, we hit upon a nice day. Sunday was pleasant but windy. Mom’s brothers, one from California and one from Arizona, were able to come. Dad’s brother Francis & sister Janice were both able to be there. Dad’s cousin Donald, who was Dad’s best man, was able to make it from Omaha. Janice had been Mom’s bridesmaid. <br />
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I never really looked at the guestbook, so I’m not sure of what the final count for the afternoon was, but there were still people coming in while we were packing things up getting ready to go. I think that in itself says a lot about the last 60 years that Dad & Mom have shared, not only with each other, but with family, friends and even the surrounding community. Even though they have both been long retired, they stay active by helping with the community Food Net and the Maples, which is a local historical society.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The 2011 racing season is supposed to start at Beatrice Speedway this Friday, April 22nd. However, looking at the forecast, I’m not so sure that will happen. We had a lot of rain last night, and the forecast shows that it will more than likely rain on Friday. If the opener does not happen on Friday, it will be pushed back to May 6th. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The practice at Beatrice Speedway was cancelled because of rain earlier in the week. Practices at Junction Motor Speedway and US 30 Speedway as well as Jefferson County were all cancelled because of rain. The season openers at Thunderhill at Mayetta, Kansas was also cancelled because of wet weather. Heartland Park at Topeka was able to get their opener in on Saturday, April 16th.</div><br />
The rules for the factory stock class at Beatrice Speedway have FINALLY been posted! There is really no excuse for waiting until the last minute, but the rules were not released until the week of practice. I know the webmaster can’t post the rules until they are released, so it’s not her fault. In past years, we always had a meeting in November outlining the upcoming season and everybody knew the plans in advance.<br />
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The rules this year will allow the pro-am type cars to race with us, which is what some of us were hoping would happen. However, it looks like in 2012 we will once again be IMCA sanctioned and the pro-am cars won’t be allowed to race with us.<br />
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I like standardized rules such as IMCA provides, but I don’t especially like having to buy the license. My experience with IMCA is that when you race at one track, the money paid back from IMCA at the end of the season may cover the cost of the license. However, with IMCA sanctioning, teams will have to make a decision as to what engine package they will run in 2012. If they continue to run their current engine, they will have to buy a smaller carburetor. If they want to run their current carburetor, they will have to spend money to change their engines. Seems like every time there is a rule change to save us money, it ends up costing us money.<br />
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Before a final decision is made on IMCA sanctioning for factory stock/stock cars, I would hope the people making that decision would look at the past history of the IMCA stock car class at Beatrice Speedway. The last year that Beatrice Speedway had IMCA sanctioned stock cars, by the end of the season there were only 9 cars that raced week in and week out. In 2010, the factory stock class averaged 14 cars a night. I think that with pro-am type cars being allowed in 2011, the car count may increase a little. Of course, with the cost of fuel for the haulers, there are teams that will probably stay closer to home no matter what class they race, so it’s a toss-up as far as car count goes.<br />
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I know if drivers have to purchase a license in 2012, our car will not be able to be there every week. We have been splitting driving time between Jason, Jeremy and I, and I don’t think either of them will want to buy a license.<br />
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I know that the changing economy hurts our sport. There are other reasons that car counts decline - loss of interest, expenses, family, etc. We need to do everything possible to make it more attractive to fans as well as current and future racers. Maybe we could even attract some of the old racers to come back. Making the sport more expensive for the participants will not accomplish this.<br />
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</div>Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-77323929800418514212011-04-07T15:14:00.000-05:002020-04-17T13:08:59.428-05:00"Stolen Valor;" AKA lying about your military service, is "protected speech," Racing at I-80 SpeedwayI receive an online publication called Military.com. Last week, an article in Military.com dealt with a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concerning “Stolen Valor.”<br />
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The concept of “Stolen Valor” goes back as far as I can remember. I know of people who now claim they served in the military in Viet Nam. However, if they had, they would have been 12 years old, and I know they were discharged before ever graduating from basic combat training!<br />
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In a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Stolen Valor Act, under which former water board member Xavier Alvarez was fined and ordered to perform community service in 2007, was upheld as being unconstitutional. The Court upheld an earlier ruling determining that a law barring people from lying about their military heroics was a violation of free speech.<br />
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The earlier ruling, which was made by three of the court's members in August, invalidated the 2006 act by Congress.<br />
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Alvarez, a Pomona resident and then a member of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District board, pleaded guilty in July 2008 to falsely saying he had won the Medal of Honor. He was fined $5,000 and sentenced to three years of probation, which required community service.<br />
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Alvarez is currently at Centinela State Prison in Imperial County for defrauding the water district after being convicted of registering an ex-wife for health benefits with the district in 2007. It seems that he follows a pattern of being less than truthful.<br />
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Last week’s weather was still warm one day and cool the next. It warmed up long enough to be able to go to I-80 Speedway at Greenwood, Nebraska to raced on Friday night. Of course, before I left that day, the price of gas at the pump went up another 3 cents from 2 ½ hours earlier in the day. The manager told me, “Sinclair called and said we have to raise the price, so it got raised.” I still can’t figure out how that works. When I got to the interchange where the race track is, the price at the pump at SINCLAIR was 14 cents less than at Beatrice! Years ago, the price of gas on the interstate was always more than in town. I guess that doesn’t hold true any more!<br />
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Having never raced at I-80 before, I had no idea what to expect. On Thursday, I changed the rear end gear to the “tallest” gear I have. I even thought that may be too “deep” but in the end, I think I was about right.<br />
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I pulled into the pit area and got a pit stall right next to Al Humphrey’s late model. I figured that would at least be a good spot to park and if I needed any help all I would have to do is ask. Once the car was off the trailer, I had to register and draw for starting position. I NEVER draw a good number…. If there are 300 numbers, I’ll draw 299! This time - I drew #4, which would put me at the front of my heat race!<br />
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From there I hunted down a track official with some questions as to what I might have to change on my car. I also mentioned not having ever raced at I-80 before and made a decision to forego my draw and start at the back of the pack in my heat race. The only change I had to make to the car was to remove the rear spoiler. There were a couple of other things pointed out to me that need changing if I were to race there on a regular basis. Until I find a major sponsor who will fill the hauler with fuel every week, that will not happen!<br />
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At least the stock cars/pro-ams weren’t the first cars to race. We were the first ones to take hot laps, and the track was still “greasy.” Coming out of turn 2 there was still water in the middle of the track, and going into the turns at the bottom of the track got me into the slippery stuff and the car wanted to slide to the top. Thankfully, the late model heat races were first, so by the time we got onto the track it was in good shape. <br />
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Having given up my starting spot, I started 8th in the heat race instead of 1st. Once we pull onto the track, we’re lined up and get a full lap before going green. The track was a little rutted coming out of turn 4, but other than that, it was in pretty good shape. At the drop of the green there was a huge shuffle ahead of me and a couple of the cars got together, but everybody kept control. There was a black #50 Camaro just ahead of me and on the 2nd lap I was able to pass him. I was able to stay close to the next car, but not close enough to be able to make a pass on him, and finished 7th. By the end of the heat race I was feeling more comfortable with the track, but since everybody was going into the A Feature I did not want to push myself too hard and make any mistakes.<br />
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When the line-ups came out, I found myself starting on the inside of the 10th row. There were 24 cars scheduled to start the A Feature. At least the leaders would have to lap me before they ran me over!<br />
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I’d been told that the first few laps could be wild, with the cars up front jockeying for position. At the drop of the green, it was hammer down from the front to the back of the pack! The track was in good shape and the racing was great. I could actually stay with the cars directly in front of me, even though we just ran the first 3 laps before a yellow came out. Once the problem was alleviated, we were green again. There were multiple racing grooves with cars going to the bottom, middle and top of the track. The car that finished just ahead of me in the heat race was now just ahead of me, and I was having a great time racing with him. He was staying on a higher line, and I would try to go below him in the corners, but never could make the pass on him. With 11 to go, there was a yellow, and as we took the green, the leader blew up his engine, causing another yellow. Once the track was cleared, we were green once more. Another lap and another engine blew up in a HUGE cloud of smoke, engulfing the track from turn 3 all the way to turn 2. Everybody was on the brake to avoid hitting anybody. The car in front of me disappeared and I could not even see the end of my hood!<br />
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Once the smoke cleared and we were lined up again, it looked like I was in about 15th place. The green came out with 7 to go and there were 4 or 5 of us all racing for position together. I passed first one, then another car. At the same time, I was passed by other cars coming from behind me. During the final laps, Brent Schlake and I were side by side with me being able to pass him on the chute, but he passed me back in the corners. When the checkers fell we were still battling for position, with him coming across the line just ahead of me. I finished 14th with no major problems. <br />
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Having never raced at I-80 before, I had no idea if I was even in the ballpark as far as gear selection. I like to run my engines close to the 6,000 RPM range, and that’s right where I was. The car felt good except for a couple of laps from the end when I drove a little over my head and almost took Brent and I both out. He was driving pretty heads up and was able to keep me from wrecking both of us out. <br />
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I’d love to race there on a regular basis, but by the time I get the NASCAR license, register the car, and put gas in the hauler, it can’t be done. Being able to go to a race like this is fun because there are no points on the line. It was a kind of practice run for me, shaking more of the bugs out before we get down to regular season racing at Beatrice.Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-38598545594657445372011-03-29T10:48:00.000-05:002020-04-17T13:08:59.219-05:00Officer Survival; Factory stocks/Pro-ams at Beatrice Speedway; Drunk driver sentenced to 50 years for killing 4 motorcyclistsI recently attended a 2 day Street Survival Seminar sponsored by Caliber Press. The speaker was great and the fast moving program really made everybody think. Beside the great speaker and input from attendees, we spent a lot of time watching officers being killed. Video was taken from the in-car cameras of patrol cars with the permission of the departments and families of the officers involved. By seeing mistakes made by other officers, we hope everybody can learn and avoid these same mistakes. We always need to be thinking ahead and planning our moves, no matter what kind of call we are on.<br />
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As of this writing, the ODMP.org website says 51 law enforcement officers have lost their lives in the line of duty in 2011. There is still a week left this month, making 2011 on track to be the most deadly year for officers in recent memory. PLEASE, plan ahead and be safe out there!<br />
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Our department plans to have in-service training with practical exercises on such things as traffic stops and domestic disturbances. Domestics can be one of the most deadly situations for an officer, but this year so far traffic stops and arrest warrant service are the situations in which the most officers have lost their lives. Many of the suspects were REPEAT OFFENDERS who should not have even been on the street!<br />
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Mother Nature is still very fickle. After having temperatures nearing 80 degrees last week, and 70 on Sunday, it SNOWED last night! I rode the Gold Wing to work Monday evening, and when I headed home in the morning, it was 59 degrees. However, the forecast for the next morning was rain and 40 degrees, so the Wing stayed in the garage. The forecast for the next week is for highs in the upper 30’s and lower 40’s and rain/snow. I-80 Speedway at Greenwood, Nebraska has their season opener scheduled for Friday and Saturday April 1st & 2nd. I’m not sure that will come off if the weather doesn’t change.<br />
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At the pit meeting for the Saturday portion of the Spring Nationals, it was announced that Beatrice Speedway has been in contact with other tracks to attempt to formulate rules for a factory stock/street stock/pro-am class. It sounds like in 2011 we will pretty much run the factory stock rules that have been in place the last 2 seasons. In 2012, we will be an IMCA sanctioned class, but will be “grandfathered” to run the 4412 Holley carburetor.<br />
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Details were sketchy, so I don’t understand if this will be a “new” class or will we be going back to having to buy an IMCA license and running in the IMCA stock car class. Beatrice Speedway still has not released rules to the Speedway webmaster, so there is nothing in print, just what we have by word of mouth.<br />
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The factory stock/Pro-am class had 21 cars last Saturday. Seven of those cars were Beatrice regulars. Two were regulars at Beatrice in 2009 and call Thunderhill Speedway at Mayetta, Kansas their home track. The 3rd & 5th place finishers are regulars at U.S. 30 in Columbus while the 4th place finisher doesn’t call any one track “home.” There were some cars from I-80 Speedway at Greenwood and I believe the winner came from Iowa, as I did not recognize the name. I hope our class has a good car count throughout the 2011 season. The only thing that may hurt us is the high cost of fuel to get to tracks that are very far away.<br />
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If the weather ever stabilizes to where we can ride our motorcycles for more than a day at a time, we all need to be careful as riders as well as drivers. Grand Island, Nebraska recorded a motorcycle fatality Tuesday from a crash that happened Monday afternoon. A car apparently pulled in front of the motorcycle after stopping for a stop sign. PLEASE, everybody, look both ways - twice!!<br />
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Also in the news this week was the story of a drunk driver who struck and killed 4 motorcyclists on I-29 in Iowa last August. His BAC was nearly FIVE TIMES the legal limit after the accident. He pled no contest and was sentenced in Logan County, Iowa to 50 years in prison. He was 21 years old at the time of the crash, and it was his 2nd offense. Of particular interest was the comment of his defense attorney, who said he felt he could have gotten the charges reduced or dismissed because of the crash happening in a construction zone!! If the case had gone to trail the defense was prepared to call an expert who would have laid the blame on highway construction at the crash site. Unbelievable!!!<br />
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As we venture out on two wheels this spring, please, slow down and keep aware of your surroundings. Most importantly of all, get to where you are going safely!!Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-69392491574178554322011-03-22T16:16:00.000-05:002020-04-17T13:08:59.370-05:00First race of 2011 - Beatrice Spring Nationals!After some long, late hours in the shop (and burning almost ALL of my firewood) we finally got on the track on Thursday night. While many people were drinking green beer for St Patrick’s Day, the R & R Racing Monte Carlo was making some practice laps at Beatrice Speedway in preparation for the 2011 Spring Nationals. It’s always a good think to have some practice time before the car is on the track to do some racing because it’s sure that there will be some “bugs” to work out. Our night was no different.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghm0pn8GHsuob3Pi8z9IANnEQZyM1suFQcMaFjt1gzGnJZYZ0Nc8kt1B7xjse7nHKV67E1xaS1XYeDjZhyphenhyphen4J0e9IofCCaiimmz9NfgjOYcIzrWS4chhBGUR57-6CRCE4ZNPJLHmeyHXkA/s1600/0317111931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghm0pn8GHsuob3Pi8z9IANnEQZyM1suFQcMaFjt1gzGnJZYZ0Nc8kt1B7xjse7nHKV67E1xaS1XYeDjZhyphenhyphen4J0e9IofCCaiimmz9NfgjOYcIzrWS4chhBGUR57-6CRCE4ZNPJLHmeyHXkA/s320/0317111931.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Even though the car hadn’t been scaled (getting the proper percentages for the rear, left side and cross weight) it handled fairly well. Toward the end of my first set of laps, I noticed some smoke coming out from under the hood. Once in the pits, I found that the valve cover gasket on the passenger side of the engine was leaking badly. We cleaned the oil off the firewall and put a new valve cover gasket on, and Jeremy was ready to take some laps. When he finally got out, he had a problem with the shifter not wanting to work correctly. He finally got into high gear and had some pretty decent laps, but he commented that he thought the new engine was down on power.<br />
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On my second set of laps, the track had dried out and the car seemed to want to “push” in the corners if I didn’t drive it in a certain way. By the term “push” I mean the front tires are turning left but the car still wants to go straight. I could correct the condition by working the brake and throttle together, and I wasn’t real concerned because of the fact that the car hadn’t been scaled yet.<br />
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After the practice session, I still had to work that night. I was up before noon on Friday and worked on getting the shifter and linkage right. Once that was done, I was off to borrow the scales from a racer friend. I spent the rest of Friday until it was too cold to work in the shop without having to start a fire. At that point, it was time to come inside and get some sleep.<br />
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Saturday morning started off with a breakfast at the Gage County Fairgrounds put on by the Women for Racing organization. This is one of the fundraisers these ladies put on for the racers. The profits go into the year end points fund. Good breakfast - thank you, ladies! <br />
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Back in the shop, I’d started a fire in the stove before I left, so it was warm enough to work. I got the final weight and percentages about where the set-up sheets said they should be. The work on relocating the upper control arm mounts seems to have paid off too, as I was able to set my front end alignment where I wanted it. I’ve never had that happen on a car until now. I changed the driver’s side valve cover because it looked like it was leaking, too, judging by the drops of oil on the garage floor. Aired up all the tires and both air bubbles, loaded up tools that were still in the shop, and finally got the car on the trailer shortly after 4 PM.<br />
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I pulled into the pits and started to get the car ready to unload when the announcement came over the loudspeaker - driver’s meeting at 5:00. I looked at my watch and it was 4:53. Still had to get into my fire suit, put my contact lenses in, let the air in the tires on the car down to where they needed to be, and get the RaceCeiver plugged in and the ear buds taped into my ears so they didn’t keep falling out. We were scheduled to hot lap 3rd, after the sport mods and hobby stocks.<br />
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The weather wasn’t exactly cooperating with the racing program. After fairly decent weather on Friday, the temperature stayed around 50. The wind made it feel really cold, and the crowd in the grandstand was bundled up.<br />
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The track was still a bit greasy during hot laps, making it hard to tell exactly how it would be in the heat race. It felt pretty good, but when the track changes, the handle on the car will change, too.<br />
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Our class ended up with 21 cars for this weekend. That didn’t include many of the regular factory stock racers from Beatrice Speedway. I ended up in the 2nd heat race, starting on the inside of the 3rd row. The track was in good shape and the car handled well. I didn’t make the invert, finishing in 8th, which ended up putting me on the outside of the 8th row in the A Feature.<br />
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The track held up great the entire night. All the races had 3 and 4 wide racing over the entire track and it stayed dust free, despite the cold south wind. Our A Feature started 21 cars. I was just hoping to get through the first few laps without being involved in anything. After a couple of pace laps, and the parade lap, the lights going into turn 3 flashed, signaling us that we would be going green. In the middle of turn 3 things began to get crazy with everybody on the gas. We’re down the front chute and into turn 1, then out of 2 with no problems. Out of 4 and back down the front chute to complete the 1st lap. Then, just like that, some cars up front got tangled up and there’s a red flag as there are 2 cars upside down at the bottom of the track between turn 1 and 2. Fortunately, the only injuries suffered were to the race cars and the red flag was short-lived.<br />
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We’re lined up on the front chute and the yellow is out, signaling us to start moving around the track. There’s a bit of speedy-dri on the bottom of the track where the cars had crashed, but after a couple of slow laps over that, it was blown off the track. We’re lined back up and once again we’re under green<br />
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I was happy with the way the car handled pretty much any place on the track. The track was still a bit tacky and I could drive on the bottom, in the middle or higher up on the track and seemed to have no issue with the way it handled. However, I was disappointed with the way the engine ran out. I felt there was a definite lack of power, and when the engine warmed up, I felt the oil pressure wasn’t where it should be when it idled. When the A Feature was said and done with, we ended up with a 13th place finish. Most importantly, there was no damage to the car to be fixed.<br />
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There is some tinkering to do, and until we get the low oil pressure figured out, this engine is coming back out. I can’t afford to damage it. I believe that with a better set of heads, the power will be more acceptable. In the meantime, the engine we finished the season with will go back under the hood.<br />
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If things work out and I am able to borrow a gear, I may go to I-80 Speedway at Greenwood, Nebraska on April 1st. I’ll just have to see how things go between now and then.Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-11826254608745725202011-02-17T16:13:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:58.986-05:00Daytona 500 coming up; "Diesel-mania" at Canyon Speedway; WalMart employees fired for apprehending armed shoplifter; Arizona cop killer sues for negligence in his arrestI got my weekly racing fix over the weekend by listening to the races from Canyon Speedway near Phoenix, Arizona Sunday afternoon, then following that up by watching Dirt Knights on Versus. I also caught some of the ARCA race from Daytona as well as some of the NASCAR practices and pole qualifying from Daytona. I was also able to listen to parts of the Budweiser Clash on Saturday evening. This week the NASCAR season will start its points race with the Daytona 500 on Sunday. Earlier practice speeds climbed to the 203 MPH mark and there was excellent racing in the Budweiser clash. Hendrick teammates Dale Earnhardt, Jr and Jeff Gordon will start on the pole and outside pole respectively, with the rest of the field being determined by the twin qualifying races on Thursday. Unfortunately, Earnhardt was involved in an incident on Wednesday and will be in a back-up car, which means he will have to go to the back of the field when they take the green flag.<br />
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The most famous mascot in racing - at least in Arizona - is currently from Nebraska. While Dylan Smith is in 2nd place in points in the winter series at Canyon Speedway- he trails by 4 points going into the last weekend - the team mascot, “Diesel” is getting all of the attention. Diesel is a Great Dane and he has his own “Hero” cards. For those of you not familiar with racing, Hero cards are the racers’ version of the baseball cards we had growing up. As I listened to the races from Phoenix on Sunday, I learned that during intermission Diesel was going to be in front of the grandstands, “signing” and giving away Hero cards. Diesel is a dog of few words, so I didn’t hear anything of the interview, but I heard a lot of shouting as his Hero cards were given away.<br />
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After the interview and give-aways were done, the IMCA modified A Feature took to the track. Dylan Smith of Osceola, Nebraska, who won last Sunday’s A Feature from the outside pole, started on the inside of the 3rd row. He did not have as easy of a time of it as last week, as he took the lead a few laps into the race, but lost it later as several drivers battled for the lead. In the end, Dylan scored his 2nd A Feature win of the young season. <br />
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I did a search on You Tube and found a video of the complete A Feature from February 6th. Hopefully there will be one from February 13th posted soon. <br />
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Back in Nebraska, work on my own race car seems to be going at a snail’s pace. With in-service training, then Valentines’ Day on Monday, and both Jan & I having the day off, nothing got done that day. I worked on making brackets for the drivers’ door and getting them welded on today. I hope to be able to put in a few hours on Friday, but it looks like the rest of the weekend will be taken up. The possibility of racing at McCool Junction on March 4th & 5th is looking pretty dim. I’m still trying to hang the doors and fenders. Once everything is in place, I plan to pull it back off and paint everything individually, then put it back together. <br />
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In hindsight, if I were to put up a garage again, it would be a conventional wood frame or pole barn type that could be relatively inexpensively insulated. That way, once I had the stove going, it would warm up faster and stay warm longer.<br />
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The ice is finally almost all melted out of our driveway and I was able to get the Gold Wing out yesterday. I decided to take it instead of the pickup when I had to get a blade for the band saw, which inconveniently broke in the middle of cutting my body brackets. It was a pleasant ride and I just can’t wait for the weather to warm up enough so it does not freeze overnight. When that happens, I’ll be riding to work every night again. With the price of gas 50 cents higher than it was in August, I really hate driving any more than I absolutely have to. If I am able to ride instead of drive, at least it doesn’t cost as much to do so.<br />
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I keep looking ahead to the time when I can retire. The bottom fell out of our retirement funds 2 ½ years ago, but it is slowly coming back up. I fear it may not ever be back to where it was before I finally retire. Social Security recipients have not had an increase for the last 2 years, and military retirement and disability payments have not increased due to the government claiming that the cost of living has not gone up. I think we can all dispute that.<br />
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Having defense attorneys personally attack arresting officers has become the norm. In the 27 years I’ve been a police officer, I’d never had my integrity challenged. If I do something wrong procedurally, that’s one thing and I can understand that. However, one particular defense attorney attacks the department, saying that the entire department is crooked. I have been questioned about my age and if I can see well enough to know that a car crossed the lane dividing lines. This is stress that I can do without and I will not miss when the time comes to walk away.<br />
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That’s not to say that I’ll retire and just do nothing. I’m sure I will be able to find another full time job that I will enjoy. I’ve even thought about selling and installing video surveillance systems for businesses. With today’s tough economic times, more and more businesses as well as homeowners are having surveillance installed, and setting up a great system is something that interests me. Of course, whatever I do, I will be sure to leave enough time for racing and riding. That is still a few years down the road, though.<br />
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I received an article from a friend about a WalMart in Utah firing four employees that detained a shoplifter. After taking the shoplifter into the loss prevention office, the suspect pulled out a gun and held it on the employees. The employees jumped the suspect, took the gun away and held him until the police arrived. I would call them heroes when you consider what might have happened if the suspect had gotten back in the store with a gun. Howevewr, WalMart fired the employees, saying they violated company policy by apprehending an armed violator!! An officer on our department told me he worked for WalMart a few years ago and he was fired under similar circumstances, so this is not made up! Chalk up another one for the bad guys; the people who are trying to do the right thing are now the “bad guys.”<br />
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A final note on how crazy things are in today’s world, a suspect in the murder of a Phoenix Police Lieutenant in January 2010 has filed a lawsuit against the Mesa Police Department, Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department alleging negligence on the part of the officers who arrested him. <br />
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Lt. Eric Shuhandler made a traffic stop on a vehicle occupied by two males. During the contact, Lt Shuhandler was shot one time and later died. Responding officers engaged in a 50 mile pursuit with the suspects before their vehicle was stopped. Both suspects got out of their vehicle and engaged officers in a gun battle. The report of the incident said the suspects were shot in their legs and feet. The lawsuit alleges that the arresting officers were negligent when they shot the suspects multiple times in their legs and feet. The suspects had taken cover behind their vehicle and officers shot under their vehicle, striking the suspects in their legs and ending the gun battle. The suspect has been found guilty of eight felony counts, but is now looking for a big pay day! I can think of only one kind of pay day for him, and it does NOT include any money!!!<br />
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R.I.P. Lt. Shuhandler, you will not be forgotten……Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-11521667736393347562011-02-10T22:48:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:58.963-05:00"Somewhere in the pits, a Great Dane is going wild!"; "You have an understanding wife, no kids at home, and two dogs that don't care"With the cold weather over the weekend, I still did not get out to the shop to work on the race car. Due to training, I have not been home all week, but even if I had been, it would have been too cold to try to heat the garage. The weather in the next few days is starting to look a bit more promising.<br />
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Even though we’ve been in the deep freeze, I was able to get a racing fix over the weekend. The 2009 IMCA modified National Champion, Dylan Smith of Osceola, Nebraska, has been racing in the Winter Series at Canyon Speedway near Phoenix, Arizona. With today’s technology, I have been able to follow his progress and actually have listened to a couple of A Feature races. He won his first A Feature of the year on Sunday February 6th, leading the entire 25 lap race. For those who don’t know Dylan or his car owners, Mike & Lisa Gocke, their traveling companion and mascot is a Great Dane named Diesel. As the race was winding down Sunday afternoon, Dylan was in lap traffic and the 2nd place car was closing the gap. One of the announcers excitedly proclaimed “Somewhere in the pits a Great Dane is going wild!” I don’t think I’ve heard that sort of proclamation before. <br />
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Not long after the Arizona races were over, Dirt Knights came on Versus channel. This reality series chronicles the travels of several USMTS drivers at the end of the 2010 season and comes on at 5 PM Central time on Sundays. The episodes can also be viewed over the internet later in the week by going to dirt knights.com. There is some great race footage from in car cameras, as well as pit action. If you watch it over the internet, there are no commercials, either. I really enjoy watching the show, and have watched it a second time over the internet. I hope it continues to be aired.<br />
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There is now a new and, from the looks of it, greatly improved Beatrice Speedway website. It has been a long time in development and I’ve been told there will be a lot of information added to it. I’ve heard here may be some things on it later on that haven’t been tried before.<br />
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Just by the very nature of our chosen profession, law enforcement officers don’t always have the best hours, meet the nicest people, or have a stress free life. Some departments ask that their officers put in their vacation requests almost a year in advance. For many years, I have spent some of my vacation riding the Gold Wing to a Blue Knights function and this summer will be no different. My two main “stress relievers” are riding and racing. If I could somehow incorporate them, I would have the best of both worlds. Last summer I raced at Columbus, Nebraska a few times. However, with gas for the hauler currently 50 cents a gallon higher than it was last summer, I doubt that I will be making many of those 230 mile round trips at 8 miles to the gallon. Maybe I’ll be riding there to watch instead. <br />
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That’s not all bad. When I’m going to watch, our car isn’t on the track and we aren’t burning fuel to get to the track and we’re not burning fuel in the race car. When Jeremy was in High school, we rode to Eagle on Saturday night to watch the races, then rode to Columbus the next night. He thoroughly enjoyed doing that and at 30 years old, still talks about it. I hope that in a few years down the road there will still be races that he can take his son to. Maybe I’ll even be lucky enough to still be alive so I can go too.<br />
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It’s really a family effort to race in our case. One time in the pits after the races, somebody asked me how Jan puts up with my racing. I pointed out another place in the pits and told him, “That’s where we met.” That’s not to say she was a racer herself, but she was at least interested in racing. Our first date was going to watch the late models at Sunset Speedway. We would have ridden the motorcycle that night, but it was pretty windy and I didn’t want to scare her off on the first date. Now, she tells me that I do the things I do because “You have an understanding wife, no kids at home and two dogs that don’t care!” You can just bet that when we’re on a long trip on the Gold Wing, I’m looking for race tracks along the way that we may get to stop at and watch a race!<br />
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Last summer, we stopped in Rawlins, Wyoming on the way back from Blue Knights International in Billings, Montana. My then 13-yr old granddaughter was on her first motorcycle trip. We were at a downtown ice cream shop with some other Blue Knights when a couple of race cars went by on trailers. I told Kayla to hurry up and finish her ice cream because we were going to the races. She’s not as understanding as her grandmother……. That was a race we did not go to.<br />
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Once the weather warms up and we are able to take to the road on two wheels, I hope to be riding a bit more this summer. Unless you’ve taken a trip on a touring motorcycle, you don’t know what you’re missing. Late May and early June is great- the smell of spring is all around. Flowers, clover, feedlots….. well, there aren’t that many feedlots. We try to stop about every 100 miles to stretch, top off the fuel tank and grab a snack, then it’s back on the road. If we see something we want to stop and look at, we’ll stop.<br />
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We’ve never been to Nashville or Memphis. We want to spend a couple of nights in Nashville and hopefully take in the Grand Ole Opry. Another night in Memphis, then 2 days to get back home from there. Probably go across Arkansas and into Oklahoma to get back home. If there any Blue Knights from around Nashville or Memphis reading this, I would sure appreciate any information about the area I can get.Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-65125001145880387362011-02-04T15:52:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:59.347-05:00Line of Duty Deaths in 2010 - 2011 is off to a bad start; more cold weather kills work on the race carThe Officer Down Memorial Page tells us that in 2010, 162 Law Enforcement Officers lost their lives in the line of duty. Of those, 59 were killed by gunfire. Ironically, 2009 had the fewest officers killed since 2001.<br />
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Unfortunately, 2011 has started off on an unhappy note. I had a message the other day that in a 24-hour period, 11 officers had been shot. As of February 3, 2011, sixteen officers have been killed in the line of duty. Ten of them were killed by gunfire. <br />
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Fox News had a special report on the other night about this. In the online publication, PoliceOne.com, an article says the Feds will be looking into the issue by appointing a commission to study why these officers have lost their lives. There is a comments section after the news articles and it looks like the people who commented are much smarter than the Feds.<br />
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When I saw the headline, my first thought was “How many of the suspects were out on bond or had recently been released from jail? What kind of criminal histories did each of these suspects have?” The same question was posed by many of the people in the comments section.<br />
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Officers constantly train in officer safety. We need to be constantly on alert in all situations. Last weekend, a man walked into a police department and immediately opened fire, wounding 4 officers before being killed. This goes to show that officers are not even safe where they should be safest at.<br />
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I wonder what the Feds will suggest? New laws? Better officer training? One comment in the article even suggested the killings were the fault of the officers involved. Four of the officers killed were in two separate incidents in which a wanted criminal was being sought. Maybe their deaths <em><strong>WERE</strong></em> their fault - they could have been avoided if the officers had not tried to arrest these dangerous felons!<br />
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How many of the suspects were out on bond or recently released from prison? Had they been previously charged with killing somebody? Why are these people out running around? The parole boards that parole these people or the judges who release them on bond should have them as their neighbors.<br />
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Once again, the weather became a deep freeze and I was not able to even think about starting a fire in the garage so I could work on the race car. Maybe this weekend - the forecast is looking a little better. I was able to get the right side door and fender hung before having to stop. I’m still pointing toward having the car on the track at McCool Junction on March 5th, but that seems to be a pretty lofty goal at this point. March 19th at Beatrice will be a bit more realistic, IF the weather starts to cooperate a bit more.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLbQ57gXDqrUf8LPuU2cjjiia0a_A6jOA4Vy32DxpJkURRWaB6J35UIVnLG8kMrnyGsYNg1mS4zDOm62kdf9Uo-Ij3cOutV8Qk4Av3cWenHbDJEs1qIvPCE3C2ujCIhJ-iQfKF-eQ1_iI/s1600/0127111316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLbQ57gXDqrUf8LPuU2cjjiia0a_A6jOA4Vy32DxpJkURRWaB6J35UIVnLG8kMrnyGsYNg1mS4zDOm62kdf9Uo-Ij3cOutV8Qk4Av3cWenHbDJEs1qIvPCE3C2ujCIhJ-iQfKF-eQ1_iI/s320/0127111316.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPWPxiNh7UpqWrU7nh61zOjmBcejDYjBxO2F0p_wVP4I9t9yB4f_dkixw8pOgXZbOImJI1xJOvuhf0lqX-5l6tgr6Nq5Pdq_ssRZ5YzzqBRTXcUg8s0xPLPYxoJMGU4qxCX-DHwxPHUPQ/s1600/0127111318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPWPxiNh7UpqWrU7nh61zOjmBcejDYjBxO2F0p_wVP4I9t9yB4f_dkixw8pOgXZbOImJI1xJOvuhf0lqX-5l6tgr6Nq5Pdq_ssRZ5YzzqBRTXcUg8s0xPLPYxoJMGU4qxCX-DHwxPHUPQ/s320/0127111318.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With snow covering the U.S. from Texas to New York and beyond, we haven’t heard much from the global warming people lately. I saw some video from Chicago that at first glance I thought was a large car dealership. I then heard the commentator say that it was Lakeshore Drive with abandoned cars sitting bumper to bumper!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The cold days that keep me out of the garage even make it hard to think about planning motorcycle trips. We’ll be pulling our trailer behind the Gold Wing on our trip to the Blue Knights convention, and will need to pack the wheel bearings on the trailer before we go. Another rider in our chapter said he wants to pack wheel bearings, so we will probably do both trailers at the same time. I just dread the thought of the price of gas this summer - I noticed today it went up another nickel since 3 AM today. With the price of fuel going up, more people seem to “forget” to pay after filling up. The simplest solution to this problem would be to make the customer pre-pay. However, many of the businesses in our area won’t do this because they don’t want to “inconvenience” the customer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>I found out a few years ago that in Nevada it is the state law that you must pre-pay for your fuel. I think that would be a good law for Nebraska to have; then the businesses could blame the inconvenience on the state law. On the other hand, law enforcement would not be taking reports on gas drive-offs that the clerks have no license plate number or even a description of the vehicle to give to the officer. It’s a winning situation for all of us.<br />
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<div align="left"></div>Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-39358914320948305512011-01-25T16:23:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:59.242-05:00Race car progress; swap meet; IMCA modifieds at Canyon Raceway in Arizona; Schlitz, Hamms, Storz, Colt 45, Falstaff, Carling Black Label beerI was able to get a few hours worth of work on the race car Friday afternoon. The brakes are all done except for bleeding. I still have few small clamps to put on the front brake lines where they run across the firewall.<br />
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I made it to the Columbus swap meet on Saturday. With the weatherman threatening more winter weather, I get a fairly early start and was home by 4 PM. The drive there wasn’t bad; the roads were clear and the frost-covered trees were actually kind of pretty. Of course, they would have been a lot prettier if it had been about 70 degrees warmer. The trip ended up being worth the drive as I was able to buy a fire suit that was only worn one season for about 25% of what I would have had to pay for it new. I have been guilty of scrimping on fire resistant clothing since we’ve started racing. So far we’ve been lucky and I decided I do not want to push our luck any farther.<br />
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Both U.S. 30 Speedway and Junction Motor Speedway had schedules and rules available. Junction Motor Speedway was also accepting NASCAR license applications. On a related note, Beatrice Speedway still has not sent out information about car and driver registrations for 2011. There is a banner on the DirtDrivers.com website for the Beatrice Spring Nationals, but when you click on it for detailes, you get the Beatrice Speedway website that gasn’t been updated since August 24, 2010. Come on, Beatrice Speedway, GET WITH IT!<br />
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With the temperature on Sunday only being 8 degrees at noon, I decided to not even try to start a fire in the wood burner. I’m sure I could not have gotten the garage warm enough to work comfortably in. The forecast for Wednesday and Thursday looks better, so I should be able to get some serious work in on those days.<br />
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I checked on the races at Canyon Raceway in Peoria, Arizona this weekend. The track is hosting a winter series that covers 5 weekends - 10 races, the end of January and first part of February. IMCA modified driver Dylan Smith of Osceola, Nebraska, had moved into the top 5 during Saturday’s A Feature before getting caught up in a crash that happened ahead of him. He made a pit stop and got back o the track, hoping for a top 10 finish. However, he was involved in a 2nd crash and was done for the night.<br />
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Sunday’s races went better as he won his heat race and took home a 6th place A Feature finish. I plan to keep track of how he does during the rest of the series. Their latest post on Twitter says they are trying out a new car this week.<br />
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Monday warmed up enough that I was able to build a nice fire and heat the garage enough to work for about 3 hours before I had to stop and get ready for work. I think I have everything done on the brakes that needs to be done. Still have a little to do on the rear deck, then it’s on to straightening the doors so they can be mounted. I have Wednesday-Thursday off this week and the forecast looks like it will be nice enough to be able to keep the place heated so I can keep on working out there.<br />
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During a gathering the other evening, one of the guests walked in with a 12-pack of Schlitz beer! It was actually an inside joke, but it brought back memories. I hadn’t seen Schlitz around for quite a few years and only recently learned that it is still being made. I actually drank one for old times’ sake! I joked that the “born on” date was 1970.… The discussion turned to some of the “old” beers. Only three of us remembered the Hamm’s commercials with the Hamm’s bear. “From the land of sky blue waters.” It’s my understanding that Hamm’s is still sold in some parts of the country. Another beer that I remember was Storz. I almost forgot about that, but a few years ago, I saw a Storz sign hanging in a window in a bar in Falls City, Nebraska. We stopped for a burger there and when the waitress asked what we wanted to drink, I asked for a Storz. She had no idea what I was talking about, even though they had a sign in the window.<br />
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Around 1971 or 1972, Nebraska bars and liquor outlets started selling Olympia beer. It seemed popular at first, but died out quickly and I haven’t seen “Oly” for quite a few years. I also remember Colt 45 Malt Liquor and Falstaff, which was brewed in Omaha. For old time stock car racing fans in Nebraska, who remembers Bob Kosiski’s blue stock car sponsored by Falstaff? There was also a “plain label” Beer made by Falstaff. Yes, that’s what is was called, and it was in a white can with black letters that simply said “Beer.” Another one I remember is Carling Black Label, which I believe was also a malt liquor. There was a commercial that went like this “Mabel, Black Label, Carling Black Label Beer!” In the Saline County area of Nebraska, all of these beers, as well as Budweiser, were the popular ones. Of course, back then, there was no such thing as “Light” beer. We’ve sure come a long way in our “beer technology” since then. The most popular beer in the southeast Nebraska area now seems to be Bud Light and Busch Light.<br />
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While I’m mentioning Busch Light, I just have to tell about past experiences in Las Vegas. We went to Las Vegas several years in a row to go to the NASCAR weekend. When we started going, Busch was a huge NASCAR sponsor and the now Nationwide series was called the Busch series. We got into Vegas, checked into our hotel,, and the guys hit the 7-11 next door to get some beer. They had NO BUSCH BEER!! I don’t know if it’s still like that in Vegas, but at the time, we couldn’t believe that there was no Busch beer in a city that devoted an entire week to NASCAR.Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-27139709997676314412011-01-19T14:48:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:59.171-05:00Racing in other parts of the U.S; 2009 IMCA Modified Champion in a Late Model; more progress on my car; having "fun" with alcohol; more trip planningEven though we the Nebraska winter isn’t conducive to much more than hibernating, there is dirt track racing going on in other parts of the country. The annual “Ice Bowl” races were held in Alabama the 1st week in January. Street Stock racer Jeff Joldersma of McClelland, Iowa, won the A Feature both nights the street stocks raced there. Last week, USA Raceway at Tuscon, Arizona had 6 nights of racing, with the finale being on Sunday evening, January 16th.<br />
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Dylan Smith of Osceola, Nebraska, who won the 2009 IMCA Modified National Championship, raced a Late Model owned by Al Humphrey of Giltner. It was around Al Humphrey’s late models that I really fell in love with dirt track racing in 1974.<br />
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Dylan actually started driving Al’s late model in 2010 on a limited schedule with some success. He won an A Feature at I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska, only to lose it in the tech area when the engine was found to be over the compression limit.<br />
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I had a chance to talk to Dylan a little at Columbus one race night last year and asked him about his late model deal. I told him I’d known Al for a long time and wondered out loud if Al was giving up driving. I learned that long time engine builder Larry Danhauer of Lincoln had actually gotten the together. Dylan was enjoying his time in the late model and was on the phone to Al several times during the week.<br />
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I was mildly surprised when I read in another blog, The Rest of the Dirt, that Al & Dylan had ventured to Arizona for the Wild West Shootout at Tuscon. Al has a new Victory Circle Chassis, which is manufactured in Batesville, Arkansas by Billy Moyer. Originally from the Des Moines area, Moyer has been a threat to win at any track he shows up at since the late 1970’s. Billy Moyer’s name is included in the list of winners of the Late Model Nationals at Mid Nebraska Raceway.<br />
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Dylan struggled early in the 6 race series. On Saturday he won his B Feature, started 13th and finished 13th in the A Feature. On Sunday he won his heat race and started on the outside of the 5th row in the A Feature. On the 15th lap, he got together with another car and clipped the wall, rolling his #6 machine a couple of times. The message posted on Twitter was that the car was totaled but that Dylan was sore but OK. That is a testament to how well built the race cars of today are.<br />
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This weekend, Dylan will be back behind the wheel of his modified at Canyon Raceway, where he won that series in 2010. Here’s hoping he has better luck this weekend!<br />
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With some warmer weather last week, I got a few hours work done on the car Thursday & Friday. I got the wood burner fired up and warmer the shop enough that I was able to get the rear brake lines put on and the bottom of the rear shocks re-mounted. It got cold over the weekend and it was my weekend to work anyway, so I didn’t get a chance to do anything for those 3 days. I did get about 8 hours in on Monday, and almost completed the rear deck. When that’s done, I can start to straighten the doors to get them ready to put back on.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHD7VnRjA8UGtvwd4b4ZSuKjPiPg8rrfxsEjlWNaeCEQ_Po2gY2_EIh2T5DTyaUYabqa0zuzwsofp9PDi1KcD88EZfc5TFh-yy_Q90nK6NalpOPqXqBcFzLZrXqiLULzdZ19lMQ6Sb40/s1600/0119111320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHD7VnRjA8UGtvwd4b4ZSuKjPiPg8rrfxsEjlWNaeCEQ_Po2gY2_EIh2T5DTyaUYabqa0zuzwsofp9PDi1KcD88EZfc5TFh-yy_Q90nK6NalpOPqXqBcFzLZrXqiLULzdZ19lMQ6Sb40/s320/0119111320.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The rear deck is almost complete</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFg_0Hiw6mfk1lTyi7lbALD8DkDd86yrpzGHj-gQw_hxjq0tVbOtOJTwCrKh5MlsOH4du-geDai2M94J3Zl5McfeOVLDUpqCSL94-CmVJs9HKg7R411Swl71cvApVxmMAf5bdWvrYLjM/s1600/0119111320a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFg_0Hiw6mfk1lTyi7lbALD8DkDd86yrpzGHj-gQw_hxjq0tVbOtOJTwCrKh5MlsOH4du-geDai2M94J3Zl5McfeOVLDUpqCSL94-CmVJs9HKg7R411Swl71cvApVxmMAf5bdWvrYLjM/s320/0119111320a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPCkMRnqZlH45gntIQtzjK5qZg-i8-TNmXpRlOdqt12WwvB_wXa7kUSEeCZYxBzpsKFc0E-FH5bC-k3DxXgUttPPKavZXAuM9Od3LBIgZ0McB7Zll3RHqxkyOyWlcB8Y4eIjdakuBJa2w/s1600/0119111321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPCkMRnqZlH45gntIQtzjK5qZg-i8-TNmXpRlOdqt12WwvB_wXa7kUSEeCZYxBzpsKFc0E-FH5bC-k3DxXgUttPPKavZXAuM9Od3LBIgZ0McB7Zll3RHqxkyOyWlcB8Y4eIjdakuBJa2w/s320/0119111321.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpuIWzztdxkyyrlXCo1RvyCM3lxp_-DlFFKg-ZpnDtU-H1odysX5fcCUxqT1-ZV8NWysTjaSPu1FGr1toSWQ86V9O6bbb0cNqCU-2hGnfOZL8Z1TPcLdO9EYSaQykn66bz1GLdH9ItZw/s1600/0119111321a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpuIWzztdxkyyrlXCo1RvyCM3lxp_-DlFFKg-ZpnDtU-H1odysX5fcCUxqT1-ZV8NWysTjaSPu1FGr1toSWQ86V9O6bbb0cNqCU-2hGnfOZL8Z1TPcLdO9EYSaQykn66bz1GLdH9ItZw/s320/0119111321a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Getting closer all the time!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhanVbp6gV0_AWk4GWafGJGj8BA_MnCfSu2cGhgD0O3YXnd1PrwTcBdVuoAi84-X7N1fGoOK7dgxLDBINK4gnxPHU-E2DPumpdpZyLK7QMXOvsyqHjvHsL7JBNukOZ59tlU85fsGLBtSa8/s1600/0119111321b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhanVbp6gV0_AWk4GWafGJGj8BA_MnCfSu2cGhgD0O3YXnd1PrwTcBdVuoAi84-X7N1fGoOK7dgxLDBINK4gnxPHU-E2DPumpdpZyLK7QMXOvsyqHjvHsL7JBNukOZ59tlU85fsGLBtSa8/s320/0119111321b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The annual Columbus swap meet is this Saturday and if the weather holds out, I hope to take a look around. I want to be able to work on the car on Friday and Sunday if I don‘t have to burn the place down to keep it warm! <br />
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Our weekend at work was fairly quiet. What little activity we had could be attributed to alcohol use. While some people might think that over-indulging is funny, there comes a point when it’s revolting. It’s one thing to relax and have a drink with friends, but when it gets to the point where a person drinks so much that they pass out and wets their pants, there is a problem that they need to seriously seek help for. I doubt that having to walk home 5 blocks in 13 degree weather with wet pants cured the problem, either! That HAD to be a COLD walk!!<br />
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In another incident, we had a call from McDonald’s about some possibly intoxicated people walking in to get food. One of them carried a BEER inside with him!! We were able to locate the people involved. The only one who was drinking was the one who took the beer in with him. When asked why he thought he could do that, he said he “forgot” he had it with him! How do you “forget” that you have a beer in your hand?? Was he just going to wash his Happy Meal down with a Bud Light??<br />
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I continue to work on plans for our trip to the Blue Knights International Conference at Chesapeake, Virginia in July. I hope that we can spend a day in Washington, D.C. I know this really makes me sound old, but the top two things I want to see are the Law Enforcement Memorial and the Viet Nam wall. Neither of those had been built when I was at Ft Lee in 1971. I would actually like to attend Law Enforcement Memorial Week in D.C. before I get too old to go, but it’s not in my plans for at least two more years.Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-36275486692282235552011-01-13T12:34:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:59.195-05:00Three nights of New Years Eve; cold weather putting the brakes on working on the race car; still working on plans for Blue Knights InternationalHere we are 13 days into the new year and this is my first entry. It’s not that I don’t have anything to say, I just have to be careful of how I say it so I don’t get myself in trouble.<br />
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In some of the on-line Police publications, I see articles on law enforcement officers being reprimanded, suspended or even fired for making questionable posts on social sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Some of those postings are plain stupid and if the person stopped to think about what he/she was posting, maybe they would think better of it and not make the posting. A law enforcement officer could post a questionable picture or statement, and a defense attorney might find it and use it against the officer in court. If the item puts the officer or his/her department in a bad light, disciplinary action is very possible. For that reason, I try to shy away from making work related comments in my blog or on my Facebook page.<br />
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I must really be grabbing at straws if I’m reduced to talking about this stuff in my blog!! Enough said on that subject….<br />
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Our Christmas and New Years weekends were pretty uneventful. I was on days off the entire Christmas weekend, and Jan was off Christmas and the day after. We were fortunate that we were able to spend those two days with our families. We were even more blessed with decent weather. We had to work the three days of New Years’ Eve, and even though it was pretty cold, there was no white stuff and all in all it was a fairly quiet weekend. Our Police Department had a DWI arrest about 3:30 AM on New Years Day, and the Sheriff’s Department had two more right after that. <br />
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This last weekend brought a change in the weather and now we’re going into a “deep freeze” for a few days. I hope everybody uses good sense when they have to go outdoors or travel. We don’t see as many problems in the city, but the deputies and troopers seem to have to deal a lot with stranded motorists in cold, miserable weather. According to our local newspaper, city road crews will be out through Thursday trying to get the streets cleaned. At least we aren’t having weather patterns here like we did a year ago with a new snowstorm coming in every few days.<br />
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I had to get the snow blower out to clean the driveway yesterday. I found there was a bit of a gas leak from around the carburetor, but was able to get the snow moved. In looking for a gasket for the float bowl, the parts houses I went did not have anything. I found out that one of the local lumber yards carries parts for small engines, and as luck would have it, they had the right gasket. I should be set for the rest of the winter now. <br />
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I planned to work on the race car on my Friday-Saturday-Sunday off this last weekend. I got all my parts together so I can finish my brake lines to the rear brakes. When that’s done, I can start on making the rear deck. However, the weather started to turn a lot colder and I didn’t even attempt to start the wood burner as it looked like a fire would be futile. I’m on days off Wednesday and Thursday this week, and the last time I looked, Thursday may warm up close to 30. If there’s no wind, I should be able to heat the garage to a point where I can work out there.<br />
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I am pointing toward having the car on the track at McCool Junction on March 4th & 5th. There is a USMTS modified show that weekend and in the past the open stock cars have been the support class. It hasn’t been announced yet if that will be the case, but if it is, I hope to be able to race then. When I stand back and look at the car, it looks like there is a ton of stuff to do on it, but if I can keep the garage warm enough to work out there, there really isn’t that much to do. I plan to straighten and use the old doors. I need to straighten the left rear quarter panel. I’m afraid the front fenders can’t be re-used, so I will either have to use the new after market ones I have or find some used stock ones. I’m hoping to find some used fenders for a very reasonable price. The aftermarket ones look nice, but they are so thin they crinkle if you look hard at them.<br />
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I was able to pretty much finish my expense sheet for the racing operation for 2010 over the weekend. I have to have a copy of the bill on the engine that is at Hastings so I can itemize it on the expense sheet, and 1099 forms from Beatrice and Columbus and that task will be all done. I need to remember to keep myself caught up on this stuff so I don’t have to re-construct the entire year at the end of the year.<br />
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I’ve also spent a little more time planning our ride to Chesapeake, Virginia this summer. The Blue Knights International Convention is there the 3rd week of July. One way or another, we want to spend a couple of days in Nashville as Jan really wants to go to the Grand Ole Opry. I think a day or two in Memphis should also be in order. Right now, I kind of have a 3 day ride from here to Chesapeake planned. The return trip will be a bit more leisurely and routed through Nashville and Memphis. We’re just hoping the price of gas doesn’t go up too drastically that we can’t enjoy our time.<br />
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While we’re in the Chesapeake area there are a lot of things I want to see. I was stationed at Ft Lee for AIT in 1971 and made trips to Washington, D.C. and Williamsburg, Virginia. I hope to be able to go to both places while we are there. I also went to the Petersburg Battlefield just outside of Ft Lee and would like to go back there. There’s so much history in that area that it is impossible to see it all in an entire summer, let alone the few days we will be there.<br />
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We kind of kicked around the idea of maybe camping along the way to make the trip less expensive. However, I think I’d rather have a hot shower and a real bed after riding 450 miles each day. Irregardless of what our plans are, we will have to pack carefully and wisely in order to have everything we need for the entire trip, <br />
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I’ll have to have the Gold Wing checked over closely. We now have about 32,000 miles on it, and it should go to the dealer for a complete check-up according to the owners’ manual. The front tire has almost 20,000 miles on it, but still looks pretty good. The back tire has about 10,000 miles and still looks good. The original rear tire went about 22,000 miles and I expect this one to go that far, too. I will have to pack the wheel bearings on the trailer, but other than that, it should be ready to go.<br />
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Blue Knights just had their election for International President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. I want to pass on my congratulations to all of the new officers. I know you will do the job to the best of your abilities. <br />
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I subscribe to “Google Alerts.” This gives me an alert to other blogs about specific subjects. I came across one today by a crime analyst in Texas. He writes about a guy who, when stopped by law enforcement, gave them his cousin’s name. Turns out the cousin had a warrant for his arrest, so the guy went to jail. Now he’s suing the Sheriff’s Department for false arrest. In Nebraska, a guy like this is “Job Security.” Here’s the link to the newspaper story, in case anybody wants to read about it: <br />
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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/010811dnmetalias.a15fbd.htmlErnie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-77366602872883446742010-12-22T02:00:00.002-06:002020-04-17T13:08:59.451-05:00More 2010 Line of Duty Deaths; Blue Knights at Chesapeake, VA; Progress on the race car; Beatrice Speedway releases 2011 scheduleSince I talked about the LOD death of Weld County, Colorado Deputy, 8 more law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty in the United States. As of today, 156 officers have lost their lives in 2010. Of these, 55 have been killed by gunfire. The Officer Down Memorial Page reports that the next highest cause of death in 2010 has been from automobile accidents. That does not include motorcycle accidents, of which 5 officers died.<br />
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The latest reported death was that of Officer Andrew Rameas of the Harker Heights, Texas Police Department. Officer Rameas was killed while providing a motorcycle escort for a funeral procession through Killeen, Texas on December 20th.<br />
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Of the 5 reported LOD deaths on motorcycles, four were in Texas and one was in Louisiana. The one in Louisiana also involved an escort; however, it was a parade escort.<br />
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Texas has had 16 officer LOD deaths, while both California and the Federal Government has had 11. <br />
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The National Transportation Safety Board released figures that showed that in 2009, 4,400 people were killed in motorcycle accidents. Miles traveled by motorcycle are on the increase, and will probably keep increasing as the price of gasoline keeps going up. I know that if it weren’t for having a motorcycle, there are a lot of places we’ve been that we couldn’t have afforded to have gone to. We’ve ridden close to 150,000 miles since I got my first Gold Wing. We got our ‘06 in July 2006 and currently have 32,000 miles on it. Many of those miles have been going to and from Blue Knights events. We plan to attend the Blue Knights International Convention at Chesapeake, Virginia in July of 2011. We will be doing a lot of sightseeing on the way there, once we get there and on the way home.<br />
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Given my occupation and my off duty pursuits of motorcycle touring and stock car racing, I am statistically more likely to be killed at work or play than the average person on the street. A few years ago, Jan & I both had our wills drawn up. Three years ago, a Gage County Deputy, who was also a volunteer firefighter, lost his life in a house fire. Shortly after that, officers in my department received data sheets to fill out with all our last wishes to include pallbearers, songs and music to be played, etc. This is something I haven’t done yet, and it’s something I really need to finish. I plan to finish our my career, retire, race every week and ride a million miles, but JUST IN CASE, I really need to finish filling out that paper!<br />
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Speaking of Chesapeake, the time will be here before we know it. I need to start planning routes and how long it will take to get there and home. Jan reminded me she will have to get her calendar marked so she will know how much time off she will have to take.<br />
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I’m spending some time in the garage working on the race car on my days off. I have most of the interior fitted and spot welded into place. I’d have liked to have spent more time working on it tonight, but I’m running out of firewood for the woodburner and it was getting pretty cold so I knocked off. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnJH5LPd-H3HqM8bpr60qq8t5NgXH4ydVZepZsgVMk0p5MT1ibcoxNyqOmNS1bsPj-EDOA_zBifZw9pLoYKDdEPlzjmKpDmpsjQjUIblWdN_S4Hts4Y23_poeQ9kPgAFXyKrTuMBF3DQ/s1600/1221101837.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnJH5LPd-H3HqM8bpr60qq8t5NgXH4ydVZepZsgVMk0p5MT1ibcoxNyqOmNS1bsPj-EDOA_zBifZw9pLoYKDdEPlzjmKpDmpsjQjUIblWdN_S4Hts4Y23_poeQ9kPgAFXyKrTuMBF3DQ/s320/1221101837.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJCoxtyeSSeEKi-Oj0dgzR_NbQczMA5lZMTP5QFgqc16GtnTuLM2RCN3hxt7y0TYemf9-smHAKDVCe6QDIW7plt9-e5EJYDJ9AAadvzGoZ_L8ecfP4CdUOsj6S7KS8lAecWUn0vGaCMPE/s1600/1221101837a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJCoxtyeSSeEKi-Oj0dgzR_NbQczMA5lZMTP5QFgqc16GtnTuLM2RCN3hxt7y0TYemf9-smHAKDVCe6QDIW7plt9-e5EJYDJ9AAadvzGoZ_L8ecfP4CdUOsj6S7KS8lAecWUn0vGaCMPE/s320/1221101837a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Beatrice Speedway has put up their 2011 schedule. They still haven’t put out anything about factory stocks & pro-ams being able to run together in 2011.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>The season will kick off with Spring Nationals on Friday March 18th & Saturday March 19th. Sport compacts will be on the program on Friday and factory stocks will race on Friday. April 9th will be Test & Tune and the season will start on April 22nd. This will be the latest starting date in recent memory, but Beatrice always seems to have a lot of rain-outs the first part of the season, so maybe this will eliminate the rain-outs.<br />
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With the price of gasoline already being $3 a gallon, I probably won’t be going to Columbus this summer. Of course, maybe a sponsor will step up and offer to keep my hauler full of fuel for me….. That's about as likely to happen as me winning an A Feature in 2011,<br />
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Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-2130849621564122722010-12-03T13:09:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:59.102-05:00Beatrice Speedway 2011 schedule?? Cooperation between racersIt’s December 3rd, and still no word out of Beatrice Speedway about what will be happening in 2011. I sure hope something comes out soon. I’m not the only one - there was a question posed this afternoon on the Beatrice Speedway message board on DirtDrivers.com about when the schedule would come out. The Beatrice Speedway website still hasn’t had an update - the last time that happened was August 24th.<br />
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I have heard from what I consider a reliable source that the Fair Board will make a decision on the Beatrice Speedway website in the next week. I hope this comes to fruit and changes are made SOON!!<br />
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Judging by the classifieds section on DirtDrivers.com, a lot of people are either updating equipment, selling out, or changing classes. I’ve been asked why I don’t change classes - maybe go to a Sport Mod. There are many reasons for me not to change classes.<br />
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According to a poster on the message board who calls himself Salty Dog “ ernie would run last if they gave him an unlimited budget! “ I know who “Salty Dog” is, and I wonder how he came to that conclusion. He constantly posts complaints about how long race programs last. He must turn into a pumpkin at 10 PM. I know that Salty Dog has been around racing a long time, but for the life of me I can’t remember ever seeing him drive a race car.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEjuJaZqhUWuHki3MhYy8n4Bt9zGMkUn6dq4RHRKSQ4R_O_Ed8QZR-KJaMzImyoFPW4GruK5-G7OU-FDShErqKXzGIrnm_GPbtB-FPETRkpoEEa0nj-ZjTygb3K7EgJEnDYJ_pBSb7lo/s1600/Daves+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEjuJaZqhUWuHki3MhYy8n4Bt9zGMkUn6dq4RHRKSQ4R_O_Ed8QZR-KJaMzImyoFPW4GruK5-G7OU-FDShErqKXzGIrnm_GPbtB-FPETRkpoEEa0nj-ZjTygb3K7EgJEnDYJ_pBSb7lo/s1600/Daves+pic.jpg" /></a></div>Even though I’ve been around stock car racing since 1973, I did not get behind the wheel until 2002, when I was 50 years old. For the most part, I have to fix anything that gets bent or broken. If I’d started driving these things when I was 18, like a lot of the people out there, maybe I’d have gone faster or would go faster. No matter where I finish at on the track, I do the best I can. If I see that the leaders are coming up on me, I try to stay out of their way. If I can run with somebody, I will do it, but I am also careful to not run into them in order to make a pass on them. Change to a faster class - nope!! I am going fast enough right now, and there are times I go fast enough that I scare myself!!<br />
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Ever since we started racing, we’ve been careful about how we spend money. I have always had a very hard time asking anybody for money for anything, and racing is not a money making venture. Expenses and costs go up, but purses don’t. For somebody just starting out, it will take 3 or 4 seasons before an operation such as ours starts to have spare parts. The first two seasons we raced, we did not have a spare engine.<br />
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We’ve had a lot of help along the way. We’ve been given used wheels and tires that other racers were throwing away. When we first started racing, we didn’t have a garage or a trailer to haul the car with. Tom & Lori Wolf let us use their garage in Blue Springs. Flip Bitting let us use his trailer. The garage wasn’t insulated and Guy Brollini gave us a small wood burning stove to heat the garage.<br />
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Ron’s Automotive in Beatrice allowed me to use their parts washer when I needed it. We didn’t have a welder for the first couple of years, and Jeff Shew let us use his shop and welder. Pat Wells at NAPA in Beatrice did a lot of machine work on our engines over the years and on some of it I am sure he did not charge full price.<br />
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Over the years, Blue Knights Nebraska I have given us sponsorship money. Early on, we also got a little sponsorship money from Huston Motors and Penner Insurance in Beatrice. Most recently, Fashionette Salon and Nancy Gerdes, C.P.A./ P.C. in Beatrice have been my main supporters.<br />
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While racing is a sport driven by money, it is also a lesson in cooperation between competitors. I have borrowed tools and parts from other racers, and have also loaned tools and parts. I’ve had racers want to pay me for the parts, and I simply told them to bring me the same part the next time we saw each other. I can’t think of a time when they didn’t do that, be it a fan belt or a control arm. I’ve even loaned out an engine for a few weekends after we got to the point where we had a spare available.<br />
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New tires now cost $94 each and some of the more well-funded teams have new tires every 3 or 4 weeks. I’ve been able to buy the used tires for a fraction of what new ones cost. I’ve also been given tires that were in a lot better shape than the ones I have been using. I had a guy who owns a Sport Mod team give me 11 tires, 4 of which had only one race on them. He also gave me 4 wheels that he could not use. When I asked what I owed him, he told me “Nothing. If somebody else needs some of those tires, let them have them.”<br />
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I usually go to the track by myself or with just one pit crew member. However, once our pit stall is set up, our numbers fluctuate. I’ve always had plenty of help from the teams pitted near me. I’ve pulled in with a flat, thinking I was done for the night, and just like that, a half dozen guys are changing the tire for me so I can get back out.<br />
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I’ve had pictures posted showing the work I’ve been doing on my car during the off season. Believe me, I don’t have the tools, know-how and expertise to make a firewall and floor pan for my race car. However, there are other racers who do. Rod Latta told me to get the materials and he would cut & form everything for me. All I will have to do is take it home and weld it together. <br />
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Speaking of which, I found that the sheet metal is supposed to be available in Beatrice. I called a week ago and was told that I could pick up what I needed on Wednesday. I called Rod and made arrangements to have him cut & bend everything on Thursday evening. I stopped Wednesday afternoon to get the sheet metal - they were STILL out! It MIGHT be here today…… We’ll see if it is or not. So much for “buying local?”<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">As you can see, racing year in and year out on the local scene really comes down to cooperation between all of the racers in all of the classes helping each other out. Without that cooperation, a lot of us could not afford to be involved in the sport we all love. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwBB3rtjSokVW6IpcaYkpe3TfNG_g9phbVOzwNWrVeuk-gLQq_XprHgjSEv0T3EyvM-xRi8qPyAzGDl7yohaGFktvi9s_w-dmKkQlY5Xk7Iq5cNQa0Lp5dv3uvSIns4oM1Ctv4w11idDE/s1600/latemodelhumphrey%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwBB3rtjSokVW6IpcaYkpe3TfNG_g9phbVOzwNWrVeuk-gLQq_XprHgjSEv0T3EyvM-xRi8qPyAzGDl7yohaGFktvi9s_w-dmKkQlY5Xk7Iq5cNQa0Lp5dv3uvSIns4oM1Ctv4w11idDE/s320/latemodelhumphrey%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Al Humphrey - Midwest Speedway, Lincoln, NE 1976</div>Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-26086672522962026592010-11-30T16:41:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:59.148-05:00"Hacked" on Facebook; No, I am NOT selling out and retiring - YET!! I-80 announces $25,000 to win Late Model showImagine my surprise Saturday when I logged onto my Facebook page and I saw my status: “blog update. I'm selling my race car. Any bidders? I'm quiting my job and leaving town on my motorcycle.” When the time comes, I may post something like that, but it won’t be for a couple of years, anyway. I also will not be selling my race car, unless it’s to upgrade.<br />
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I DO have a race car for sale, but it’s the SCS stock car we raced in 2009. I have advertised it on DirtDrivers.com on and off since last season but haven’t had any serious inquiries. Make me an offer, you might end up with a race car! <br />
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When I retire, that will give me more time to race. I will also be leaving town on my motorcycle a lot more than I am now.<br />
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This just goes to show that a person must ALWAYS be sure to log off any computer they are using. I am glad the AWP (Anonymous Weasel Poster) didn’t put anything bad on my status.<br />
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After working Wednesday and Thursday (Thanksgiving) nights, I got about 2 hours of sleep Friday morning before getting up and going to Lincoln for the Nebraska/Colorado game. We met Heather, Hollie & Ed on the west edge of Lincoln after having a quick cup of coffee with my brother and sister-in-law and nephew. Heather’s friends from Greeley saved us a parking place in the area where the new arena will be built and we spent almost 2 hours tailgating. Hamburgers, hot dogs and a variety of refreshments. I got about 20 winks, then we made the half mile walk to the stadium. By the time we found our seats, it was just under 30 minutes to kick-off.<br />
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I’m glad I bundled up. My only regret was that I did not have a ball cap. We were in the northeast corner of the stadium and after shading my eyes for the entire first half in order to see, I was glad when the sun dropped behind the west grandstands. It was a good game with a great crowd. I wonder what it will be like in the future, when the Big Red are in a different conference.<br />
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Once we made it back to the car, we were able to find our way to Spaghetti Works where we all enjoyed a good meal and some catching up. Once we were dropped off at our car & headed home, I slept like a rock until we pulled into the garage at home. Two hours of sleep just doesn’t cut it for me any more!<br />
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After all of the match-ups against the Oklahoma Sooners in the past, it’s only appropriate that Nebraska will be playing Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship on Saturday night. That brings back memories of Thanksgivings in the late ’60’s and early ’70’s spent at an uncle & aunt’s in Elkhorn watching Nebraska and Oklahoma battle for the Big 8 title. I sure miss those gatherings!<br />
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After spending Saturday at Jason & Emily’s for an “official” Thanksgiving, Sunday was spent removing the rest of the tin from the race car. I hope to be able to get the sheet metal cut and formed for the floor and firewall on my days off. I’ve NEVER done this much work on the car during the season!<br />
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David tells me that the engine he built for his class project at college will be going to the dyno between now and Christmas. Since it’s a class project, he says the dyno won’t cost me anything. I sure hope he’s right - I know that in Lincoln, dyno time runs at least $50 an hour.<br />
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I saw an announcement on DirtDrivers.com that I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska is holding a late model special in July. They have announced that the winner of the A Feature will take home $25,000 and it will pay $1,000 just to start. This will be the largest “to win” race ever held in the state of Nebraska and should pull in the top dirt late model drivers from across the United States. I would just love to go, but it looks like this will be at the same time that we will be on the road to Chesapeake, Virginia for the Blue Knights International Convention. Maybe the race will become an annual event and I will be able to attend in the future.<br />
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While I-80 is already announcing their late model special, we have yet to hear anything out of Beatrice Speedway in regards to the 2011 schedule and rules. I sure hope they don’t wait as long as they did before the 2010 season to make any announcements. I do know that about 30 loads of dirt have been brought in and put on the track to help make the racing surface better. Other than that, if anybody knows anything, they certainly haven’t passed it on. I sure hope something is released soon!Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-15823506890162919392010-11-24T14:46:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:59.056-05:00Deputy Sam Brownlee, Weld County, Colorado; EOW 23 Nov 2010I opened my e-mail when I got up today and found one from the Blue Knights e-mail list I am on. This concerned a Weld County, Colorado Deputy who was also a Blue Knight who was killed in the line of duty yesterday.<br />
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I have written in the past about officers losing their lives in the line of duty, and the Officer Down Memorial Page - ODMP.org - shows that so far in 2010, 147 officers have died in the line of duty. If I reported on every one, I would unfortunately be doing it full time. <br />
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The story of Deputy Sam Brownlee caught my eye for a couple of reasons. First, Deputy Brownlee was a Blue Knight. Blue Knights is the largest and best Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club in the world, with over 20,000 members world-wide. The other thing that caught my eye was the fact that it happened in Evans, Colorado, which borders Greeley on the south. My oldest daughter, Heather and her husband and son live in Greeley. Three years ago they moved from Evans to an area in Greeley which is farther west than where they were living.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVbWv6AZath6dH0bojrOvXNgbw9zX4iCz0tzDUkkeF2Yrs8UjW1-aK1nREfdKOUpZ8n8uTo8BAkh5rqGv18u5GVqdD-awKu0RL4PWZLQZTdrM8QOnSinvXzDBX-27__CPxUqVnO8gQBA/s1600/bilde%255B2%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVbWv6AZath6dH0bojrOvXNgbw9zX4iCz0tzDUkkeF2Yrs8UjW1-aK1nREfdKOUpZ8n8uTo8BAkh5rqGv18u5GVqdD-awKu0RL4PWZLQZTdrM8QOnSinvXzDBX-27__CPxUqVnO8gQBA/s1600/bilde%255B2%255D.jpg" /></a></div>There have not been a lot of details released about the actual shooting, but today it was reported that Deputy Brownlee was involved in a struggle with the suspect. The suspect eventually got Deputy Brownlee’s sidearm and shot Deputy Brownlee three times. Other officers on the scene returned fire and the suspect was also killed.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9__w9ft5BrKBOumeCxuPjicr-9hTtc5UXaLNlAv0P8I1YdCxKcSHasxLti_RxEKOgJtoXWRCjTDwhpmn-CRwEIW-xlM9qlNMwv5S_Gkf-xquFH7pxsLxB61trtMuQWvBYFm7nq29K2M/s1600/patchCA13AYMB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9__w9ft5BrKBOumeCxuPjicr-9hTtc5UXaLNlAv0P8I1YdCxKcSHasxLti_RxEKOgJtoXWRCjTDwhpmn-CRwEIW-xlM9qlNMwv5S_Gkf-xquFH7pxsLxB61trtMuQWvBYFm7nq29K2M/s1600/patchCA13AYMB.jpg" /></a></div>The incident started an hour earlier with a domestic violence call in Ft Morgan, 55 miles east of Greeley. A woman reported that her car was stolen by a man she knew. The stolen car was spotted on Hwy 34 and a Morgan County Deputy and a Wiggins officer attempted to stop it. The driver refused to stop, and a nearly hour-long chase ensued with speeds reaching over 100 MPH at times. At times the suspect drove on the wrong side of the road and at Kersey, 10 miles east of Greeley, his vehicle was clocked at 107 MPH. Stop sticks were deployed to slow the vehicle down. The driver eventually stopped in Evans in the area of Coyote Lane and Cedar Lane. The suspect ran from the car and there was a foot pursuit that ended when Deputy Brownlee and the suspect were both shot.<br />
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The Greeley Tribune had a map along with the story. I thought the area sounded familiar to me, and when I checked it, I learned why. It is just about 4 blocks from where Heather and Dana used to live.<br />
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I will not name the 20-year old suspect because he does not deserve to have his name and picture made public. I will say this - he was a gang member and was currently on probation for felony menacing in January and DUI in July. He was also arrested for assault causing serious bodily harm in March, but that charge was dismissed. According to the Greeley Tribune, Court records show that the suspect still owes $30,000 restitution in the felony menacing case.<br />
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It appears that Colorado’s judicial and probation system failed the public by letting this career criminal back out on the street.<br />
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I send my condolences the family, friends and co-workers of Deputy Sam Brownlee. May God guide you through these difficult times. To Deputy Sam Brownlee, thank you for your service and rest well. Your fellow officers will take over from here.Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-11136635767276399532010-11-21T15:14:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:58.928-05:00I HATE winter and cold weather!!I have lived in Nebraska all my life, but the older I get, the more I hate the cold weather. We haven’t even had a lot of cold weather yet, and I already have one heck of a head cold! I woke up Tuesday afternoon with a scratchy throat and a bit of a runny nose. Wednesday was about the same, but got worse as the day went on. I started taking AlkaSeltzer Plus cold Wednesday evening. I stocked up on sugar free cough drops, more AlkaSeltzer and Kleenex yesterday, I don’t really look forward to going back to work tonight. Oh, well, I’m training a new officer, so I can let him do all the talking.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99WK17kyoRTWdYZjoGMB8WuCP2dgkNJ0sG96RUzFyznOyWgEGprmVVSVtWyVHOs6oZEOLqZLqP6B51G1NJ5yfJM9U3T1A0Fg7VzlRIyJrElffWhcK5cyLXV0uvHxZ2cVreh2D_B6px4s/s1600/DSC_2890_jpg%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99WK17kyoRTWdYZjoGMB8WuCP2dgkNJ0sG96RUzFyznOyWgEGprmVVSVtWyVHOs6oZEOLqZLqP6B51G1NJ5yfJM9U3T1A0Fg7VzlRIyJrElffWhcK5cyLXV0uvHxZ2cVreh2D_B6px4s/s320/DSC_2890_jpg%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>When people talk about the racing season being over, it really means there aren’t any races going on. If you know anybody who races, stop by their shop and see what they are doing to their race cars during the off season. Some are freshening old engines or building new ones. Others may put new skins on their cars, while others completely rebuild their cars over the winter. We are kind of on the end of completely rebuilding.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbXqlFWAWCE8yCXY7gDsfSqXyY8kr7mn-Wf1Md7YwgAt99CamH9-vZsV0-6uRtdlM23ll8G-q73iNIuPGws0EXQP81g7DuZCSmTfdMEwsIEiIWbpl_YexHry2ZIdQMv23VaO_RANYq7w/s1600/1013101055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbXqlFWAWCE8yCXY7gDsfSqXyY8kr7mn-Wf1Md7YwgAt99CamH9-vZsV0-6uRtdlM23ll8G-q73iNIuPGws0EXQP81g7DuZCSmTfdMEwsIEiIWbpl_YexHry2ZIdQMv23VaO_RANYq7w/s320/1013101055.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>While we ended the season with a nearly fresh engine, my nephew, David, took one to Hastings Community College, where he is taking Automotive classes. The engine has now been completely rebuilt with some new internal parts, and has actually been run a little. I think it’s been run quite a little, as he told me he needs another five gallons of fuel for when they get it on the dyno. I sure hope it gets better fuel mileage when it is in the car.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXAlchp_TTIpyaj4IeWUYGzX23kHoR7A432oPH4cWi4hCGVb4Eh9vsnJzNUQBxhZNJwuII1SE0TjXhoReZ5ARX5Y15DLu6cTGPcBdaSYbCZjoCpuXS88x9UWHFVzesgdrsVne4AuXBcG4/s1600/1110001348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXAlchp_TTIpyaj4IeWUYGzX23kHoR7A432oPH4cWi4hCGVb4Eh9vsnJzNUQBxhZNJwuII1SE0TjXhoReZ5ARX5Y15DLu6cTGPcBdaSYbCZjoCpuXS88x9UWHFVzesgdrsVne4AuXBcG4/s320/1110001348.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I am also in the process of cutting the entire firewall and floor out of the car and will have a new aftermarket floor and firewall made. This will make working on the car a lot easier by giving us a lot more room. I will be spending as much time on the car, if not more, than during the season.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWonDgTh8adYJxtUwpcNR-vsIMbhoL2Q-UsJFQlLsg_9CQcezQW0Q3y7wHgrpYthxPy-Ta0n4R4dXN0NErTDUOeUQl7vg0-9j-I93NS5kLAAOOYlfC83uOW0adiJEs_RhHQP96_5DppPY/s1600/1110001348a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWonDgTh8adYJxtUwpcNR-vsIMbhoL2Q-UsJFQlLsg_9CQcezQW0Q3y7wHgrpYthxPy-Ta0n4R4dXN0NErTDUOeUQl7vg0-9j-I93NS5kLAAOOYlfC83uOW0adiJEs_RhHQP96_5DppPY/s320/1110001348a.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHHshn_SDm5bR99jFBkwaWzpAvZVr8Ur3m5Edi7IMI5M6R6fVTVXiPi5scM4ZddkW0nDIvbT8cl-hUcHg3VKUKoIRdmZBZdC9sixjLf1zrh1uToKwZBjMnCkjn0MEiBu8ogXBcNTlDpA/s1600/1110001348b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHHshn_SDm5bR99jFBkwaWzpAvZVr8Ur3m5Edi7IMI5M6R6fVTVXiPi5scM4ZddkW0nDIvbT8cl-hUcHg3VKUKoIRdmZBZdC9sixjLf1zrh1uToKwZBjMnCkjn0MEiBu8ogXBcNTlDpA/s320/1110001348b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAWKaxBLgWB6wt_u1zJZ4r6u2CIyS5iBvUIgWS1wksubCG2M7r-wMgAVXDDh44bJPYPIExV3v5SpcvO6JEkO9mzRxJAL75JkRNJ38jaZ96JLIrnlQOYZ65DMjcBpNq65_CRLQkhoFNL4A/s1600/1110001349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAWKaxBLgWB6wt_u1zJZ4r6u2CIyS5iBvUIgWS1wksubCG2M7r-wMgAVXDDh44bJPYPIExV3v5SpcvO6JEkO9mzRxJAL75JkRNJ38jaZ96JLIrnlQOYZ65DMjcBpNq65_CRLQkhoFNL4A/s320/1110001349.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDzBbL5NXCOGTIG1-G5k3KBQ3e6CmDaJ97WOkEcVSkgEJfZPcZveLY9BUWXaqrE4OipxzIXG49h7UWUIX07V2kLcoixXD-YtyOUctWBdUeTMtoI0kWe5Cth5Hw1zHTNIMppbDSf6BPUA/s1600/1110001349a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDzBbL5NXCOGTIG1-G5k3KBQ3e6CmDaJ97WOkEcVSkgEJfZPcZveLY9BUWXaqrE4OipxzIXG49h7UWUIX07V2kLcoixXD-YtyOUctWBdUeTMtoI0kWe5Cth5Hw1zHTNIMppbDSf6BPUA/s320/1110001349a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipfvRV9HxSyBbs0hZcvN3A7k8PJD-bQda60LPoP3GvMFzBroOedxkuyBtY-2YFU9SHzPU-s9G0ayGyi94hc6LsJDZvSCi1huNm__w_ti8Bo2TiHz_USXyxz2TkjeKdF2oVrN_xn_q9B6s/s1600/1110001350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipfvRV9HxSyBbs0hZcvN3A7k8PJD-bQda60LPoP3GvMFzBroOedxkuyBtY-2YFU9SHzPU-s9G0ayGyi94hc6LsJDZvSCi1huNm__w_ti8Bo2TiHz_USXyxz2TkjeKdF2oVrN_xn_q9B6s/s320/1110001350.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>My other passion - traveling on two wheels - is also be coming to a halt with the coming cold weather. It’s already been over a week since I’ve ridden the Gold Wing to work due to rain a couple of nights and cold weather. However, in what little spare time I have, I can still sit down and try to figure out the best way to go to Virginia Beach and back next summer to attend the Blue Knights International Convention. We have a lot of sightseeing we want to do on the way there and back, as well as once we’re there. Thanks to the internet, when I get tired of working on the race car, I can come into the house, fire up the computer, and research the highways and byways between here and Virginia Beach. I already have one route planned out to get there which includes an overnight stop at Nashville. Before we are ready to leave, I’ll have several routes mapped out. There is at least one other couple that is planning to ride with us, so it will be a great, fun trip.<br />
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I took training at Ft Lee, Virginia in 1971. During my time there, I got a lot of sightseeing done in my time off. There is so much history in that area of our country, from the time of the early settlement through the civil war. I spent several weekends in Washington, D.C., visiting Ford’s Theater, Arlington Cemetery, the Smithsonian, and Washington and Lincoln Memorials. We’ll just be in the area for a week, so we will have to plan our trips accordingly so we can see as much as possible. <br />
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The off season will also bring the opportunity to schedule some maintenance on the Gold Wing. At 32,000 miles, there will be some things that should be looked at by the dealer as they are far beyond my expertise. With the price of fuel slowly creeping up we will be much more aware of issues that keep the bike running more efficiently.Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-59157391630943693142010-11-19T00:38:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:59.323-05:00Beatrice 2011 race schedule??Almost a month ago, a question was posted on the Beatrice Speedway message board of DirtDrivers.com. The question was when would the Beatrice Speedway schedule for 2011 be posted. They noted that Eagle Raceway’s schedule was already posted.<br />
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I did not check Eagle’s website to see if the 2011 schedule was indeed posted. However, I responded to the posting with the following “If they hold true to form, the schedule will come out at the end of February. That's what happened this year. <br />
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Sometimes I feel like the Fair Board is hoping we will leave them alone. If they would work with track officials and the racers, we could pack the grandstands and pits every week.<br />
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That being said, I know there won't be any rules changes in the IMCA classes. However, PLEASE, PLEASE, Fair Board and track officials, let's put our heads together and make the factory stock rules so the pro-ams can come race with us on a weekly basis if they so wish. The sooner we can do this the better.”<br />
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I got the following response from my comment “Ernie, You are very right on it. Beatrice could easily pull in the crowds if they wanted to. I am not sure who makes the decisions (if anyone), but something has to change. I don't like to knock on anyone...but really... this year was terrible. The track needs to be taken more seriously, and ran as a business. They will be lucky to keep the doors open if they keep it up. Is there anyone to talk to about possibly getting a new group to run the speedway? The main simple essentials that a track needs to do are not even done..... (example...working functional website)”<br />
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The 2010 season saw the 2nd year that Beatrice Speedway raced on Friday night. After racing forever on Saturdays, racing was moved to Friday in 2009 in the hopes that car count and grandstand attendance would increase. When Beatrice raced on Saturday, they were up against Eagle, McCool Junction, Doniphan, Minneapolis, KS and Mayetta, KS. Since most people work on Friday, the starting time was moved back to 7:30 PM.<br />
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I’ve never seen any figures as to what grandstand attendance did, but I don’t believe the car count changed much. However, just changing nights won’t make people attend the races. The races need to be PROMOTED!! Let people know that Beatrice is racing! Toward the end of the 2009 season, a racer at another track told me he didn’t even know that Beatrice was still racing!<br />
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Years ago the Beatrice Daily Sun had some pretty good articles and results from Beatrice Speedway. KWBE radio also had a half hour program each week. The Daily Sun seems to have a hard time putting results in the paper, let alone having a story. KWBE moved the Track Talk program to a different time slot, so I continually missed it this season.<br />
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Beatrice Speedway has a website, but the person who has been doing it is slow putting up results, and there has NEVER been a story on the races posted. The most recent addition to the website was August 24th, one week before the end of the season. If somebody was being paid to maintain the website, they were overpaid. <br />
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When I would get home from work at 6 AM on Sundays, I would look at the Eagle Raceway website to check for Saturday night results. I would not only see COMPLETE results from the heat races and any B Features, but a complete story on the entire evening. I have seen where several Women for Racing members offered to help with the website, but apparently they were never taken up on the offer. <br />
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I know a lot of times drivers don’t respond, but a simple questionnaire given out te the drivers at the beginning of the year would be a start. It would outline their racing career and any highlights. Each week of the racing season, a couple of these couple be printed out and put in the program. Maybe the newspaper would even put them in an article, or they could be put up on the Speedway website. That way EVERYBODY would get exposure, not just the A Feature winners. <br />
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In the past, there were rules meetings in November, which set the rules and schedules for the upcoming year. That hasn’t happened in the last couple of years. For the 2010 racing racing season, registrations were taken at the end of February.<br />
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I would certainly like to see a better flow of information coming from the track. With a lot more effort, Beatrice Speedway can once again be the place to start your racing weekend.Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-21150862086820254352010-11-16T16:10:00.000-06:002020-04-17T13:08:59.079-05:00Looking ahead to the 2011 racing seasonLooking ahead to the 2011 racing season at Beatrice Speedway, it looks like there will be some changes made for the better. At Octoberfest 2010, pro-ams were allowed to race with the factory stocks. When the announcement was made, there was a lot of discussion on the DirtDrivers message board about the rules.<br />
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Current pro-am rules at I-80 Speedway at Greenwood mandate 3,400 lbs minimum weight, 360 cubic inch engine and 11 to 1 compression with a 4412 carburetor. They also use a different tire. Factory stocks at Beatrice are similar to IMCA stock cars with the exception of having to weigh 3,100 lbs, running a 4412 carb, being able to add a spoiler and hood scoop and allowing IMCA Hoosiers or American racer tires. There is no cubic inch or compression rule. <br />
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The discussions on the message board suggested that the factory stocks would be faster because the rules would give them the advantage. A pro-am started on the pole in one of the heat races and won. He started up front in the Feature and finished 7th. We had 17 cars race in the factory stocks at Octoberfest. I don’t think we had that high of a car count during the regular season. Also consider that there were a few of the regular weekly cars that weren’t at Octoberfest. If they had showed up, we would have had over 20 cars in factory stocks that night! <br />
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I talked to one of the pro-am drivers about the difference in cars. He feels that when the newer “metric” cars started showing up on the racing scene, the front geometry of the pro-ams was a lot better than that of the metric cars. However, the metric cars have improved with being allowed weight jacks and “correcting” the upper control arm mounts for better steering geometry. He feels that the metric car currently has the upper hand in the handling department. <br />
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Beatrice had IMCA sanctioned stock cars but they were dropped when the car count became too low. IMCA touts their point fund, but unless you race multiple tracks, their point fund might come close to paying the cost of your license. When Beatrice raced pro-ams, there were rumors for several years that they would be dropped and naturally the car count dropped until they were dropped from the program. There have been rumors since about 2004 or 2005 that the factory stocks were being dropped and the car count has suffered.<br />
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There are still a few pro-ams sitting in garages in our area, and there are pro-ams currently being raced that would come to Beatrice at least on a part time schedule if they were allowed to. One of the pro-am guys I talked to is building a car for his son, so that would make 2 new cars at Beatrice Speedway at least part of the time. <br />
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I would propose that the pro-ams be allowed to race at Beatrice under the same rules that the factory stocks currently use. Let them weigh 3,100 lbs and have the engine of their choice, instead of being limited to 360 cubic inches and 11 to 1 compression. They already use the same carburetor. Let them run their pro-am tire, the Hoosier IMCA tire or the American racer. Remember, more cars in the pits mean more people in the grandstands. <br />
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I have heard that some of our local teams will be changing classes in 2011. At least one hobby stock driver is moving to a factory stock, and a modified driver is having a factory stock built. I also heard that a couple more factory stocks are being built in the Fairbury area. Hopefully everybody who raced factory stocks at Beatrice in 2010 will be back, and with the anticipated newcomers, our car count will increase.Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7247650093277673556.post-11818260516441285942010-10-20T22:13:00.000-05:002010-10-20T22:13:24.500-05:00End of summerThis time of the year always makes me wonder what happened to the summer. After the winter we had, and the late spring, we jumped right into hot weather. I heard a lot of grumbling about how hot it was, but I did not have to shovel the heat!!<br />
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We did get some riding in on the Gold Wing. Not as much as what I’d have liked to have gotten, but still a fair amount. We were able to take a short weekend trip to St Joseph, Missouri in June. We did that between thunderstorms and a flood on the Missouri at St Joseph. We made several short trips over the summer, and the big trip to Billings. A week before I left, Mikayla asked if she could go with me. She’s never been out of town on the motorcycle, and I tried to talk her out of going. I think a 13-year old doesn’t realize exactly how far 1,000 miles is, or how hot 100 degrees is when there is no air conditioning. She knows now. By the time we got home, we’d covered 2,994 miles and saw a lot of great scenery. I got to spend 12 days with Mikayla, and will always remember the time we spent together. I hope she does, too.<br />
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I missed the Blue Knights Fall Conference in Grand Forks. I took a trip to Chicago with Dad & Mom the week before for Dad’s World War II re-union. Except for some time spent in the suburbs of Chicago in the early ’80’s for automotive schools through K-Mart, I’d never been there. In addition to Dad getting together with some of his fellow surviving WWII heroes, we rode the subway into downtown Chicago and took one of the trolley tours of the city. Somehow, I neglected to take the camera, but I was able to get a lot of pictures with my cell phone. I have the pictures all posted on my Facebook page.<br />
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For the most part the weather for this trip was decent. It was breezy and cool, but tolerable. If you ever happen to be in Chicago, taking one of the trolley tours is a great thing to do. A 2 or 2 day pass can be purchased so you can spread your sightseeing out over s couple of days. Our greatest difficulty was in finding our way around downtown and finding the right subway to take back to where we started.<br />
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The racing season in this part of the country is all but over. With my work schedule, I raced at Beatrice Speedway every other week. On the Fridays that I worked, either Jeremy or Jason drove the car. At the end of the season, I finished 13th in points and Jeremy finished 14th in points, just 4 points behind me. We knew we wouldn’t be racing for a top 10 in track points, but it was fun to race against each other for track points. If it hadn’t been for an opening night mishap, Jeremy would have finished ahead of me in points.<br />
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I also made the trip to U.S. 30 Speedway at Columbus several times. The weather didn’t cooperate as it started to rain on 3 different nights before I finally got to do more than hot laps and a heat race. I really like that track and would race there more often if I could find somebody willing to pay for the fuel in the hauler.<br />
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The last trip I made to U.S. 30 Speedway was for the Abe Lincoln Memorial on a cool damp Sunday in September. With 28 street stocks on hand, I missed out on making the A Feature. I started 3rd row in my heat and finished 6th, missing out by one spot. That put me on the pole for the B Feature. I fought an inconsistent, ill handling car for the entire race and didn’t make the A Feature. When I started to load the car, I found that a brake must have locked up on me as the car wouldn’t budge. Once the car was back in the shop and on jack stands, I found the right rear caliper had almost no pad left. Apparently the caliper was hanging up once the brakes were warmed up. <br />
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Fantastic weather greeted Beatrice Speedway’s Octoberfest. What a difference from last year when we had snow! The factory stocks raced on Saturday and we had 17 cars in our class. Not all of the Beatrice regulars showed, and we had a few cars show up that hadn’t previously been at Beatrice Speedway. I hope that the track can tweek some rules for 2011 so the pro-am cars can race with us. I think it will put more cars on the track and more butts in the grandstands if that happens.<br />
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I felt like the car was pretty good and had a 10th place finish going with 2 laps left. However, I had the right rear go flat before taking the white flag and dropped out, finishing 13th.<br />
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The final race of our season is this weekend at Junction Motor Speedway at McCool Junction. Jeremy will be taking the wheel as it’s my weekend to work. He’s been looking forward to this weekend since he raced there last fall. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and Jeremy won’t have any problems with the car. <br />
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We’re already looking forward to the 2011 riding season. Blue Knights International Convention is at Chesapeake, Virginia and we’re making plans to attend. We want to stop in Nashville and hopefully attend the Grand Ole Opry. I have a rough schedule worked up, going through St Louis, then on to Nashville. From Nashville, it’s just less than 500 miles to Roanoke, Virginia, then the 4th day we’ll be at Chesapeake for the Convention. <br />
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We’ve signed up some new Blue Knights in our area and hope the new members will be enthusiastic about attending regional and national events. I sponsored a new Special Honorary member who is a local pastor, and he has already recruited 3 new members and wants to make the trip to Chesapeake.Ernie Reisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08120623738595465503noreply@blogger.com0