Let me start with an apology — I gave you a bad start time for the “Crashes” episode of History Channel’s Modern Marvels, featuring the Atlantic Championship race team of Mukilteo’s Carl Skerlong. I used the wrong Web site, and told you it would be on a 6 p.m. Thursday … in fact it was on at 9 p.m. and then repeated at 1 a.m. Friday.
I’ve checked and have not found when it will repeat. All I can say beyond “sorry” is keep checking those local listings if you’re interested in seeing this episode.
Joliet, Ill. is just up the road a piece from where I was born and raised. Of course they built Chicagoland a long time after I’d moved away, but had it not been for that pesky globe-spanning career in the Navy, I might be in the stands for this weekend’s races.
Joliet is also the home of the Illinois Department of Corrections’ Stateville Correctional Center, a maximum-security facility that houses approximately 2,800 male felons, and the minimum-security Stateville Farm.
Suffice to say all my previous trips to Joliet have been of a personal, rather than business, nature. What does that mean? I’ll let you decide for yourselves.
On to the picks, already
As part of NASCAR’s Race to the Chase Media Challenge, I’m locked in with my picks for the Sprint Cup races. That’s kind of a shame, because I’m not sure I’d normally have picked Kyle Busch to win his third straight race in the LifeLock 400 this Saturday.
With qualifying rained out Thursday (see above photo; and I could tell you some sea stories about summer storms in the Prairie State … not for nothing is “Twister” one of our favorite movies) Rowdy sits on the pole with Junior beside him.
Oh, and there are more storms in the forecast for Saturday afternoon — some severe. That means running up front early should be everyone’s strategy.
Although bad weather is also in the forecast for later tonight, the Nationwide race should not be affected.
I saw just a few snippets of footage from Thursday’s Cup practice, but one driver I did see the pit reporters talking to was Clint Bowyer.
Bowyer seemed more intense to me than usual — due to the poor average starting position of his Richard Childress Racing car in Cup races so far. I think Bowyer will take some of that frustration out on the Nationwide Dollar General 300 on Friday night.
The open-wheelers are also in the Great Midwest this week, with the Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn.
A driver I haven’t picked out to win yet is the Dancing Man, Helio Castroneves, who is trailing No.1 Scott Dixon by 52 points on the points list and needs the win.
Last but not least, let’s turn our attention to the local racing scene. We’ve had a week off and there is a full slate on tap at the Monroe, Wash., speedway.
I confess it is getting harder and harder to pick the local winners. And it doesn’t help that some of them feel I’m a jinx if I pick them. Another factor that makes it tough to guess — especially in the Super Stocks — has been the infrequent appearance of strong drop-ins like Jason Faser and Shane Harding.
He may curse me on Saturday for jinxing him, but I’m going to pick defending champion John Zaretzke — again — to win the Super Stock main. I’ve only been doing this for a year and a half now, but I just can’t believe the Fourth of July has passed without seeing the No. 51 win a main.
The Bomber division is just as hard — if not harder — to pick. I put the top 12 drivers’ names on little scaps of paper, put the papers in my Cubs hat and drew out: Russ Hales.
Those lovable Mini-Stock drivers will also be back at in on Saturday. I’ve decided to go with another defending champion who is winless so far this year(and who I’ve picked a few times in the past): Chuck Richarrd.
The men and women of the figure-eight divisions are also a lot of fun to hang out with. Most of them would rather race through the X than go roundy-round, too. I’ll make it a JZ Motorsports/Coleman Motorsports sweep by picking Troy Seminar to win the Super Figure Eight feature, and I’ll take Seth Funden in the Stinger Eight feature.
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