Hmm, where do I start? First off it is good to have you back Spd, and there is probably a few people out there that would rather see the Monahan brothers parking cars then out on the track (j/k MFR team). 

All joking aside do I blame MFR for parking there cars? No not one bit. Consistency in calls by the officials has been a problem for as long as I can remember at the Bowl dating back to "BE"....... before Eames.

 The thing that I think sour's people's opinions on Shawn however, (besides his actions during these "meltdowns") is he Jekyll or Hyde? You have the Shawn that is great with the fans, sponsor's and press and has aspirations of moving further up the racing ladder, then you have the other Shawn. Now trust me I know it's frustrating not from a driver or owner's standpoint, but it can be close to as frustrating from the team member's stanpoint as well. I've cursed the track, the official's, even TE a few times vowing to never return but of course I always came back.

Unfortunatley, the only people who really get hurt out of this are MFR's SK team's fans who wont get to watch or root for them. The team if they choose to go to another track to compete will be competitive, and it isn't good for the track's paltry SK car count either but maybe they should have thought of that before not being consistent in there officiating.

This is my first year really following the late models, so I don't know really about how they ran in the past. It does seem however that most the cars that do chose to show up are fairly fast, so it is pretty even, like the SK's. So it is hard to pass when everyone is so equal, also with the lack of an outside groove lately, it makes it even harder. That is where rough driving comes into play. A lot of drivers seem to have the attitude that if i can't pass him I have to move him, which isn't always the good thing. Now, I have to say I am not completely unbiased as I have worked on both SK's and Late Model's the past few years, but what has happened lately has not been acceptable and a few drivers have been to blame.

As far as Last Saturday night's wreck goes, it was pretty bad. I did not see how it started as I was spotting for a car who was near the back of the pack, but the general consensus is that the 42 drove the 42 straight into the wall. Now, so far this year when we have run I have always wondered if the 42 would move us or not, because he hasn't been afraid to use his bumper, then let everyone know that he doesn't care one bit about it. If he truly did what everyone says, he probably should be parked for a few races, and if not, someone will take it into their own hands and wreck him. I do not think I saw a single team in the paddock that was not against the 42. What happened was unnacceptable, and something should be done about it. That was definetly the worst wreck I have seen happen locally, and it shouldn't have happened. The best thing to come out of this is that Jay was able to climb out of the car without a scratch and only a little shaken up despite the severity of the accident. But he lost a car, done, no more. I do not think much could be saved off of the car, the carb was broke in half with the butterfly's still stuck wide open. I really feel for him because he isn't going to race the rest of the year unless something drastic happens.

Now lets move onto the SK's. First and foremost I want to offer congratulations to Wendall Dailey on his heat win and Top 5 finish in a brand new car. He is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, and is always willing to help you out without asking for anything in return. As far as the Shawn deal goes, that seems to be Shawn. Thats how he is. He is a great wheelman with a one of a kind personality. He felt like he was wronged, so he let everyone know. As far as John's situation goes, he obviously stands for what he believes in, which is great. It is too bad Shawn, Diego, and the other MFR guys will not be running but if that what John wants to do, he should do it.

The 3 has been using the outside and the 31 was out there and moving up this past week. Still most would rather go to the bottom. I really don't care if you move someone with the bumper, that's part of racing. Spinning them by just driving it in and bouncing your right front off their left rear nerf bar or just sailing it in to hit someone to spin them is another.

Now, Steve Harraka wants to promote this two groove racetrack. He's had plenty of chances to promote that by making calls. How many roughriding calls been made this year? Do you want me to believe that's all there really was or someone is just turning a blind eye to the problems here? When it boils over you get displays like Saturday night, more will be coming, even one of the mildest mannered guys racing got 4 weeks for a "stupid" move because he got fed up with the no calls at the bowl.

WhelenModifiedTour wrote:

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"Ok, I wanted to express my own OPINION on this whole scenario. To begin with, from my days as a little kid in the early 70's to my last visit to the Speedbowl in 2005, officiating has ALWAYS been terrible at Waterford. It is one the biggest problems the track has now that the whole foreclosure problem seems to be resolved. There is a VERY fine line between "hard racing" and "rough driving".

 

WMT that is an interesting point you make.  It seems for many years there has been this same train of thought about Waterford.  Let me ask all this question:  There has been numerous owners; numerous officials (some of which went on to important roles at other local facilities over the years); and numerous regimes in place over the years.  Do you feel the track layout has anything to do with why several ownerships and officials have never been able to please?