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By Greg Billing
| Tuesday, September 30, 2008, 02:24 PM
A scheduling quirk gave West Carrollton High School’s football team a night off for Friday, Oct. 3. West Carrollton was scheduled play this weekend at Indianapolis Arlington in Indiana.
Here’s what happened: When the teams played in 2007, Indiana started its season a week earlier than Ohio. That meant West Carrollton had the game listed for its Week 7. Indiana had it scheduled for its Week 8. In 2008, Indiana and Ohio started the season the same week. That meant the two teams were a week apart on this year’s schedule: West Carrollton listing the game for Week 7 (Oct. 3) and Arlington for Week 8 (Oct. 10).
West Carrollton athletic director Jon Payne said the problem was discovered before the season started, but he couldn’t find a suitable replacement. Payne said his best option wasn’t an option at all: Indianapolis Cathedral, Indiana’s 4A state champion in 2007. Payne said Cin. Aiken will take Arlington’s place in Week 7 for both 2009 and 2010.
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By John Bombatch
| Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 07:27 PM
Beavercreek junior dragster driver EDMOND ELLISON was officially named the overall champion of the inaugural JEG’S OHIO JUNIOR DRAGSTER SUPER SERIES on Monday, Sept. 22.
Ellison, who raced in the 10-12 year old division, had to defeat Trenton driver KENNY CARSON JR. to earn the right to represent the division in the overall championship run-offs. Ellison defeated 13-14 division winner MIKE MORRIS, of Dayton, in the final, and won a $1,000 savings bond. Morris took home a $500 bond for his efforts.
The first-ever series held a total of six Junior Dragster events at Ross Township’s Tri-State Dragway, just outside Hamilton; Kil-Kare Dragway in Xenia; National Trail Raceway in Columbus; Pacemaker’s Dragway in Mount Vernon and Edgewater Sports Park in Cleves, just outside Cincinnati.
More than 80 cars were entered in the JEG’s Ohio Jr. Dragster Super Series this season.
Overall Points Series winners for their respective age groups were:
8-9 Year Olds: Marissa Babb, Xenia
10-12 Year Olds: Ellison, Beavercreek
13-14 Year Olds: Morris, Dayton
15-17 Year Olds: Olivia Voges, Erlanger, Ky.
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By John Bombatch
| Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 11:25 PM
In recognition of Shandon, Ohio driver Steve Engel, who recently succumbed to injuries he sustained in a drag racing accident at a ProMod Challenge event during the 54th U.S. Nationals, held at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, an annual award has been created in his honor.
According to a Wednesday, Sept. 17 press release sent out by sponsor JEG’s automotive, the ‘Steve Engel Big Man, Big Heart Award’ will be given each year to the Pro Modified drag racing driver “who best exemplifies Engel’s gregarious spirit and generous nature.”
Engel, 49, of Shandon was critically injured during the U.S. Nationals when his Corvette drag racer went out of control after a run and hit nearly head-on into a retaining wall. While doctors originally gave Engel a full prognosis for recovery, Engel passed away
Sunday after complications from a second surgery he underwent on Friday, Sept. 12th.
Renowned artist and Rahal-Letterman Racing team fabricator Dan Dreisbach has been asked to create the Engel Trophy. A $10,000 cash prize will given to the recipient each year starting with the 2008 National Hot Rod Association Pro Modified division season.
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By John Bombatch
| Saturday, September 13, 2008, 02:38 AM
Miamisburg stock car driver (and high school senior) Megan Reitenour learned on Friday that she’s been accepted to participate in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Program Combine which will be held in October at South Boston Speedway in South Boston, Va.
An exact date wasn’t provided in the press release.
The program is designed to bring more diversity to the sport of NASCAR racing, and is geared toward minorities and females who are interested in being a part of the sport.
Reitenour and 23 other drivers were selected from a field of 200. Ten drivers will then be selected to be in the program after the combine.
“I’m so excited and feel fortunate in being given this opportunity,” Reitenour said. “It was news that I have been waiting for some time and it was sure worth the wait. I will do the best I can and hopefully something comes from it. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I think it will be a great experience for me and is certainly a step in the right direction for my career.”
According to the release, “drivers will be evaluated on their on-track performance and off-track interactions with team owners and media.”
Megan’s the best at notifying me of the various goings on in her career, I’m sure the “dealing with the media” part of her evaluation will be cinch.
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By Greg Billing
| Saturday, August 2, 2008, 11:46 AM
A few notes from the Robbie Dean/Big Bird 94 at Kil-Kare Speedway on Friday, Aug. 1.
Donnie Renner running with the big yellow No. 94 decals on his car was a nice touch. Renner said his crew surprised him with the number change.
The trophies donated by Donnie and Kelly Renner and family were great. John Vallo, winner of the Big Bird 94, said the nearly 6-foot tall trophy was probably the tallest he’s won. Smaller versions went to modified (Chad Poole), sports stock (Mike South Jr.) and compact (Bo Hoelscher) winners.
Mike Stacy piloted Robbie Dean’s No. 77. Before the late model feature, Stacy and Renner led the parade lap side-by-side and with the pace truck and rest of the field following. Very cool.
I learned Vallo’s nickname could have easily been ‘Lights Out.’ Track photographer Earl Isaacs told me the Fairborn Flash needed three tries before completing just one lap at Kil-Kare when starting out. Two of those weeks Vallo took out a pole and the lights to the entire track. “The electrician at the time was Sonny Pencil,” Vallo said. “He was looking for some punk named John Vallo that keeps putting the lights out. I kept avoiding him.”
Cars couldn’t avoid Vallo on Friday. After the first 36 laps of the 94-lap event just four cars were on the lead lap: Vallo, Mike Stacy, Tim Allensworth and Scott Drake. Only Vallo, Allenworth and Stacy finished on the lead lap.
Vallo wasn’t sure he’d make the feature after an accident at Columbus Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 26. With two laps left in the John Nuckles Memorial, Vallo was battling Renner for the lead when Vallo lost his power steering in Turn 3 and hit the wall hard. The car bent the nose more than foot, spun around and bent the rear and tore out the suspension.
“This car was in bad shape last Saturday night. I said no way they are going to fix this car in a week. They sure did,” Vallo said. “The car with all those new parts, (the crew) was worried hoping everything would stay together. Usually the first race after a big wreck you got your fingers crossed. I’m proud of those guys with the car finishing as well as it did.”
Stacy led the first three laps. Vallo led the rest. He was consistently running 1-2 mph faster than Stacy and Allensworth, but once Allensworth got past Stacy, had a challenge from the No. 24. “I watched the board on the cautions and I saw where (Stacy) stayed in second for a long, long time,” Vallo said. “Then the last couple restarts I noticed (Allensworth) got around him. You gotta worry then because I knew he was coming. All the cards are on the table. You gotta go for it.”
The win was the ninth of the season for Vallo in 19 starts. He entered the race with a 186-point lead over Renner in the Whelen All-American Series points for Ohio.
The crowd count was pretty good, but the car count was down. All nine of Kil-Kare’s regular late model drivers ran, while Russ Bobb has his car going again. Modified driver Chad Poole jumped in a late model. I can understand with gas prices and the economy, but it would have been nice to see a few more Columbus cars in the show.
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By Greg Billing
| Thursday, July 31, 2008, 11:52 PM
Okay, the rules of my profession say I’m not supposed to root for teams or people … at least not openly. But when the Big Bird 94 takes the green flag today, Aug. 1, I’ll be pulling for Donnie Renner. And I’m thinking I won’t be alone.
Nothing against guys like John Vallo, Tim Allensworth, Justin Alsip or other drivers I’ve gotten to know covering Kil-Kare Speedway, but nothing would be more special than Renner celebrating in victory lane. The Big Bird 94 (formerly the Dayton 100) is a tribute race for Robbie Dean, Renner’s best friend.
“The Dayton 100 was always a big deal at this track,” Renner said during the Wednesday race at Kil-Kare on July 23. “Robbie even drove one of my cars over here in the early ’90s and we did very good in it. He was always good at this track. He would want me to soldier on. If I didn’t he’d kick my butt. It’s been hard the past few weeks.”
Dean, 55, passed away July 3 after a battle with cancer. Renner was with him all the way. Renner took Dean into his home after Dean was diagnosed with terminal cancer a couple days before Thanksgiving in 2007. They did doctors visits together. And, when Dean moved back to his home and then started spending more time in the hospital, Renner was there with daily visits. One of those came a month ago on June 14.
“I didn’t want to leave the hospital on a Saturday,” said Renner, who didn’t feel much like running at Columbus Motor Speedway that night. “He held his hand out and he said, ‘Here’s a helping hand. Go win me a feature.’ Just so happened I went out and with 14 laps to go I lost my power steering. The set-ups we run anymore it’s very, very hard without power steering, even though I’m a 300-pound guy.”
Renner held on to win. When Renner returned to the hospital, Dean had a racing story to tell as well.
“(Dean) said, ‘Oh by the way, the nurse had me out walking in the hallway with a walker.’ There was a wheelchair sitting in the hallway. He slammed into it and the nurse was like, ‘What are you doing, Robbie?’ He said, ‘Renner get out of my way!’ Everybody that knows him that’s just the stuff he did. Even with the situation he was in and the odds he was against, he still had that sense of humor. He’ll be missed.”
I never met Dean. But talking to drivers at Kil-Kare that Wednesday, car owner and driver Gary Estes told me a story that I get the feeling sums up Dean. Estes was leading at Columbus a few years ago and Dean was on the outside. Dean couldn’t get a run and banged Estes’ right front tire which jerked the steering wheel out of Estes’ hands. Dean claimed that wasn’t his goal. But Estes figured Dean knew exactly what he was doing with the maneuver and confronted him in the pits “grabbing him and screaming and yelling at him.”
“(Dean) said, ‘I’ll tell you what I’m going to do.’ I thought uh oh, he’s going to hit me. He said next week if I’m leading or in front of you I’ll move over and let you go. The next week he was leading and I was second. He pulled up and I dropped in front of him.”
The only thing that prevented Estes from winning was a broken part on the car.
“Anybody that knew Robbie had a Robbie Dean story,” Renner said. “No matter what track you’re at or who you are, he was always the king of the clowns. But when it come to racing he was very, very serious.”
“He was always tough. I think one year in 80 or 85 percent of the races we ran 1-2 between the both of us. We made everybody mad,” said John Vallo, who was Dean’s biggest competition during the 1980s. “A good-hearted guy, but you didn’t want to mess with him. You weren’t going to have a winning battle.”
Renner said he expects about 20 drivers from different classes to come over from Columbus today. Among other touches today, the Kil-Kare pace truck will sport Big Bird decals. Renner also hopes to have a special trophy made. Ultimately, Renner wants to have a three-race series — perhaps the Robbie Dean Cup — at Columbus, Kil-Kare and Shady Bowl Speedway. Dean often ran that trifecta on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“It’ll be special. It’ll be really special,” Renner said of today’s race. “We lived it to the fullest until the last day.”
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By Greg Billing
| Monday, July 21, 2008, 08:59 PM
Some days you just want to throw in the towel … or throw it right in someone’s face.
For Indy Racing League driver Milka Duno that someone was none other than Danica Patrick. If you have not seen the video by now go to YouTube and check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXUd6n1Vti8
You’ll see Patrick arrive at fellow Indy Racing League driver Duno’s pit, Patrick emphatically putting down her water bottle and confronting Duno about blocking her and cutting her off during a practice session.
The sad thing is Patrick was in the right … up until she confronted Duno. Duno was slower than Patrick in practice at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this past weekend and should have moved over. But Patrick’s ‘bad girl’ attitude ruined any chance at a constructive conversation.
Patrick’s act is getting tired. Again, I think Patrick had a legit gripe and I have no problem with her letting Duno know. But, please, do it with a little class. Only after Duno throws the towel in her face and walks away does Patrick take a softer approach, well, except for dropping a few expletives. It reminded me of someone standing up to a bully.
And Patrick again will be left wondering why people root against her.
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