Picture This: Jim DuPont Photo Gallery From Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series Opener At Monadnock

Comments

1. Suitcase Jake says

   May 2, 2022 at 6:12 pm

   Great Photo’s Jim !!!! Thank you for what you do …. Wow I see grandstand seats with seat backs in your photos , Norm really has that track looking clean and new….. Great Job …
2. Doug says

   May 3, 2022 at 9:12 am

   I know what you’re thinking. Old Doug running off at the mouth again, time to click the back button. Hold on their honcho I’ve got some good stuff here no matter how much you think I’m annoying. Things you may find interesting or tick you off both of which can be good forum fodder.

   -There hasn’t been a press release I know of but I thought it was common knowledge the 16 and 79 were making their priority this year the NWMT.
   -The average of the best laps for the top 5 cars in the MMTTS feature was 12.88. The average for the top 5 cars in the Whitcomb NHSTRA modified feature again for the top 5 cars was 12.95. If I said New Hampshire tracks are leaving Connecticut tracks in the dust in controlling racing costs would that have merit? NHSTRA modifieds with the 604 crate engine and stock Holly four barrel produce plenty of HP and are cheap in relative terms. Meanwhile Stafford has the SK’s with built engines restricted with 2 barrels that I’m pretty sure are multiple times more expensive.
   Modifieds are about low center of gravity, sophisticated handling geometry and those distinctive wide tires are they not? Then why not get up to speed and put a more affordable, reliable engine in the cars starting with the SK’s? And you know what, tour mods could think about them as well. Maybe even consider what the Supers are doing by putting the big block crates in.
   -Last fall production of the 602 crate was paused due to clearance issues with the new forged crank. That must be fixed because no one is complaining about it as far as I can see. The tire shortage on the other hand is not going away any time soon but is that all bad? Tracks are getting really creative on getting the most out of every tire. If everyone has the same problem does it not save teams money on tires while causing minimal disruption to relative competition?
   -I’m in on the Whitcomb 125 series. Patnode, Rameau, Robie, Byrne and Kimball going at it was better then the MMTTS race from a competitive standpoint. A lot of cautions for sure but it was the first race and in this case made for more drama among the heavy hitters in front.
   -Dodge calling the MMTTS event and Jackie Arute a principle in the Whitcomb series. What the heck is going on? New Hampshire tracks are the best in grass roots racing they don’t need Stafford refugees although Jackie Arute is always fun to see working. After 42 years of Ben Dodge and his endless clichés and metaphors I’d prefer listening to finger nails on a chalk board but I get I’m an outlier on that.
   -see the cone, love the cone. Thought that SMART cone with the blinker looked ridiculous at first. Now it’s looking like they were trail blazers for modifieds. Might want to wait on the blinker though, at times some of the tour mods thought they were supposed to hit it and it failed to survive the day. That’s according to Jackie Arute on Sunday. The Whitcomb drivers did seem to grasp the procedure and the blue cone did fairly well. Announcers need to really be on their game to explain who is gaining and losing after decisions are made yet another challenge for the announcers in the age of streaming.
   -Dwarf cars, Legends, Bandallero’s, that whole genre are abominations as far as I’m concerned with regard to local circle track racing. The great Mike Christopher said they were some of the toughest cars to set up when he was racing Legends far and wide with Mike Jr. Still those pre packaged, fuel injected mini copies of what many of us grew up on just say we give up. We’re too lazy, we don’t have the skills nor the creativity and don’t care to learn. So instead of building a car lets just buy one and tinker with it using the owners manual.
   -on the other hand the Young Guns cars do afford young people an opportunity to express themselves while learning real trades skills building a unique racing machine. One car was a VW Beetle. No doubt some fans could root for that car based on nothing more then they owned one themselves. A connection that used to be common but is lost these days as production street car based race car divisions disappear.
   -Young Guns is a youth division with an emphasis on youth. 12 to 15 but that can go down to 10 with two years of karting experience. It’s a little weird hearing a child trying to recite racisms on the podium. Give credit once again to New Hampshire tracks for thinking outside the box and building racers from the earliest years and not just drivers. These are unique, built race cars with personality and not the pre packaged abominations like the Legends et al.
   -I’ve yet to see any meaningful number of fans in the newer turn 3 bleachers at Monadnock. A little surprising in view of the negative reactions fans have had about the front stretch seating at times. That will no doubt change June 18 when the NWMT visits Monadnock for what we’re hoping will be a banner race event in the JDV Productions three race swing at New Hampshire tracks that promises to have it’s own unique attraction.
   -negotiating lapped cars has been an issue since racing began. Yet lately it’s been mentioned numerous times in this forum because lapped cars have been the focal point of wrecks in a couple situations. Just to be clear that lapped car has as much right to be on the track as the leader. As long as the flag person is doing their job displaying the passing flag and the driver is heading it, the onus is on the cars passing to figure it out. It happens thousands of times every weekend across the country. If you do see a wreck involving a lapped car the odds strongly favor it being the passing cars fault for failing to honor the pick.
   That deal about going high sounds good and Seekonk screams for that kind off rule but that’s a driver’s meeting topic not something a driver decides. The reason why the go high rule can’t be made standard on most tracks is a space and inertia issue. Also there are the Fifield’s of racing that are one variable versus normally competitive cars being lapped under competitive conditions so a one size fits all is problematic.
   -Stafford, the NWMT and FloRacing are really spoiling the one camera, features only productions of Racing America. At one time we were just grateful to see the events on the tube. Now more sophisticated presentations are becoming an expectation.
   Be that as it may if you did not go to the race or took a pass on the Racing America subscription for the racing at Monadnock you missed not one but two days of good racing. You’re gonna want to check the racing schedule for July before you decide to take a pass again.
3. steve says

   May 3, 2022 at 1:09 pm

   I agree with crate engines to cut cost of running an sk…. I would call the sk division a crate series now because 95% of the competitors buy their engine complete – same parts, just twice the cost as a GM crate that needs a rebuild twice a year. I do not see any harm to let the crate 604 run with the sk spec engines – why would you turn away a competitor that wants to race at your track that has an engine disadvantage – this is how the small block modified came about – they ran against the big blocks and were payed a bonus for the top three.
4. DB says

   May 3, 2022 at 7:38 pm

   Cost couldn’t get better

   Also 350 supers at the bowl may 14
   Should be a awesome show