December 2, Long Beach, NY--- We commented on the last Blog that Jimmy Blewett was beating and banging his way to the front of the field to win the Tour Modified race. We also mentioned that many in the crowd were not thrilled with how he did it. My view is that it is legal until they throw the black flag--- then it’s illegal.

            The parts I loved best were when he pulled into Victory Lane. The announcer said, “Here’s our winner Jimmy “Showtime” Blewett”. He’s taking off his gloves, pulling off the steering wheel, and now his helmet. He’s climbing out of his car. He can hear you now folks. Let him hear it!” At that point, the crowd certainly obliged. As the crowd was booing and cursing, the ones around me couldn’t figure out why I was sitting there, laughing my butt off…

            The interview was also good. Blewett had taken the lead from Matt Hirschman on lap 89, diving under Hirschman going into turn three, then sliding up to bang Hirschman as they ran side by side through the turn, as Hirschman got pushed up in the turn, giving the lead to Blewett. In the post-race trackside interview, Hirschman was asked if there had been a problem when he got passed.

            “We had no problem except Blewett knocking everyone out of the way,” Matt stated before Blewett was asked for his response.

            “Wish every Super Hero like Matt Hirschman, there’s always a Super Villain like me,” Jimmy said sarcastically…

            Just for the heck of it, I thought I’d mention that there was a new track record set in qualifying for the Open/Tour-type Modifieds. Matt Hirschman broke Donny Lia’s old record of 12.036, with a new time of 11.996. That’s cruising around the oval at an average speed of 99.993 milers per hour. I don’t find Hirschman’s feat of breaking the record so amazing. I find believe that he did it while the November temperature was hovering just below 40 degrees absolutely amazing!...

            Speaking of the cold weather, it was great to see well over 200 cars come out for Wall’s reopening…

            Promoter Jim Morton, when he finally stopped for a minute to take a breath, commented to me that, "I stopped smoking and put on 30 lbs. I'll take 'em all off this weekend!"...   

            The Long Island Gang showed up in force, led by Tony Ferrante Jr. Other drivers that made the trip were Check Steuer, J.R. Bertuccio, Eddie Brunnhoelzl III, Dave Sapienza, Dave Roys, Dave Brigati, Tom Rogers Jr., and Ken Darch. Rogers was the highest Long Island finisher, coming in 5^th. Ferrante, who was running 2^nd for most of the race until his tires seemed to go away, was 13^th. Steuer was 8^th; Brunnhoelzl was 19^th, Bertuccio 26^th, and Sapienza 27^th. The others didn’t make the show…

            We spoke briefly to “Radiant” Ray Minieri. We asked where he raced with Wall being shut down during the 2008 season. “I didn’t. This place closed and that was it.”…

            Dennis Freeze of Oval Speed Unlimited had the parts truck at Wall that he’s had there for years. We commented that we bet he thought he wouldn’t have his truck at Wall in November.

            “That’s why I kept my other truck here (in NJ),” Dennis commented.

            Asked if he thought that Jim Morton would be able to reopen in the spring of 2009, Freeze asserted, “There’s always hope. I’ll keep this truck here ‘till hey plow this place under!”…

            We had a chance to talk to Long Island transplant Jeff Malave, who moved up to Manchester, CT several years ago. Jeff is one of the friendliest drivers that we’ve known in racing, always making himself available to talk to the media.

            He mentioned in passing that he was just about ready to hang up his helmet and call it a career. When we pressed him on it, the 46-year old construction company owner seemed to back off a little.

            “I ran three True Value Modified Races and I’m about $1000 ahead,” he stated. “I may run the series next year before I retire.”

            Besides the money, we asked what else he liked about the series.

            “They treat you nice. They’re polite. Someone comes by every 10 minutes to tell you what’s going on.”

            “After that, who knows?” he speculated. “This was going to be my last year. But you never know.”…