The “Launch Party” for the still under-construction Monticello Motor Club facility, a road course and country club project in southern New York State, conducted at Cipriani in midtown Manhattan, was by far the most lavish social event in Ye Ed’s motorsport memory. The huge main room of the posh Cipriani entertainment center on 42nd Street opposite Grand Central Station was populated by an estimated 400 guests, served by several open bars, food stands and uniformed waiters and waitresses waiting to satisfy one’s every need, whether it be food or drink. This gala event was to familiarize guests, car lovers and sports fans with the upcoming arrival of a new attraction in an area once known as “The Jewish Alps.” The complex, under the direction of MMC President and CEO William McMichael, is in a mountainous section of Sullivan Country famed for such gigantic weekend hotel havens as The Concord and Grossinger’s. In the years surrounding WWII this area was very popular with Jewish visitors from New York City and its environs. Sullivan County, however, has changed in recent years and its largest city Monticello, with its sizeable airport, is no longer viewed as predominantly Jewish. The new Monticello motorsport facility and its New Jersey sidekick follow the trend of new road courses being looked at as more than auto-race tracks, but rather vehicular playgrounds for moneyed car lovers. The Monticello track itself, a road course with significant elevation changes, is located 90 minutes from New York City. The success of Virginia Int’l Raceway as a dual-purpose facility prompted its New York City-based businessman owner Harvey Siegel to embark on a similar project, New Jersey Motorsports Park, near Millville, which is convenient to the Philadelphia metropolis and is nearly complete. The grand opening of the all-new NJMP is this summer with a Grand-Am road race. With Monticello now joining the group, lovers of fine performance cars will soon have three Eastern locations to choose from.  

Back in the days when Ye Ed was learning the auto-racing trade as a helper on a racing car, there was no one lower on racing’s social scale than such a helper. “Stooge” was the degrading term used to describe we race track low-lifes. How things have changed! Crew chief is today’s term for the graduate stooge of yesterday. All one needs for a quick education on the value of such an individual to a race team today is to watch “NASCAR Performance” on TV. Watching skilled Larry McReynolds as host analyzing racing car problems and on-track tactics with crew chiefs Chad Knaus and Bootie Barker recently, one quickly recognizes the broad talents of these skilled individuals. The detailed explanation by Knaus of his efforts that led to victory by his driver Jimmie Johnson, which ended Hendrick Racing’s 2008 win drought, was a true revelation. Knaus analyzed the ongoing race in 10-lap segments as to fuel usage and, unlike rival crew chiefs, skipped a final fuel stop and wound up winning. A far cry from the days when a sledge hammer was a key item in a mechanic’s toolcase. Today’s pitsiders deserve far more credit than they currently receive.

More unification coming? Roger Edmondson, head man of NASCAR’s Daytona Motorsports Group which owns the Rolex-sponsored Grand Am sports-car road-racing series, admitted during his guest shot on Sunday night’s “Wind Tunnel” TV show that executives from both Grand-Am and its rival American LeMans sports-car road-racing series had recently met for talks and one topic discussed was a possible merger. However, no details were made known. The IMSA-sanctioned ALMS is owned by millionaire Don Panoz, long a road-racing devotee.

We got a chuckle out of the latest Western Racing Ass’n (a vintage race car club) newsletter wherein a car-owning member, seated in the grandstand on a day the club was provided a track for practice, was asked why he was not on the track with his car. Response: “With fuel at $5 a gallon, who wants to practice?” The WRA lists 20 exhibition dates at 13 tracks in California and Nevada between May 3 and Nov. 30. Details from WRA President John Lee at (818) 896-8722. Another active member organization, the Dayton Auto Racing Fan Club, has announced 34 race dates at 19 tracks in the Buckeye State at which admission is either reduced or free for club members. The club is having difficulty getting sufficient personnel to staff these member-favored events.

When Georgia short-track driver Gordon Pirkle recently broke an ankle in a fall at work, the newspaper covering the incident referred to Pirkle as, “The second most important resident of Dawsonville,” leaving one and all to speculate as to who the most important resident might be. Could it be Awesome Bill (Elliott) from Dawsonville?

Watching the resumption of racing at the reopened Rockingham, N.C., track, I wondered if new owner Andy Hillenberg was able to pay ARCA the race purse as Sunday’s spectator turnout looked so small.

Changes coming. Whereas the sports pages of the Indianapolis Star these days are packed with stories on the upcoming Indy 500, the Star’s business pages are devoted to the possibility of a proposed massive makeover of the downtown area of Speedway, that sector of greater Indianapolis that contains the famed raceway. Under review is the reworking of some 350 acres of the area, including relocating 16th Street, which currently serves as the southern border of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway property. The Speedway Development Commission recently approved 40 land parcels, which have to be altered to effect this massive plan. The project’s cost is estimated at $500 million.

The recent unification of big-league open-wheel racing in this country left the Atlantic Series homeless, now that Champ Car is no more. The Atlantic boss lady, Vickie O’Connor, is seeking a new home for the series, which served as a lead-up to Champ Car for the past 35 years. The IRL has its parallel Indy Pro Series serving the same purpose. But the Atlantic series has an 11-race schedule this year and O’Connor hopes it will not be its last.
 

From The Staff

Developers in Columbus, Ohio, would like to turn an old baseball stadium into a state-of-the-art racing facility. The Columbus Dispatch reported that an agreement is pending to sell Cooper Stadium, which has housed minor league baseball since 1931, to Arshot Investment Corp. for $3.3 million. The Dispatch estimates it could take 17 months to close and hinges on “contractual ifs,” that could easily negate the sale. Developers compared their plan to turn the site into a race track to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Already the plan has had opposition from neighbors concerned about noise. The stadium is being sold by Franklin County, as the Columbus Clippers move to a new stadium in downtown Columbus. County officials acknowledged the plan seems unlikely to come to fruition. “All the stars have to align,” James Schimmer, director of economic development and planning for the county, told the Dispatch. “But we have a really dynamic possibility with a lot of growth potential.”

It was a banner weekend for NASCAR drivers as car owners. Tony Stewart was the big winner. His newest driver, Donny Schatz, won the World of Outlaws race at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway, while Levi Jones wheeled Stewart’s USAC sprint car to victory in USAC’s first-ever race at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway. Also at Brownstown, Ronnie Combs won the UMRA three-quarter-midget race in a car owned by Stewart, while Steve Barnett drove the Indiana veteran’s crate late model to victory at Brownstown as well. Clint Bowyer, who won the Sprint Cup event at Richmond (Va.) Int’l Raceway, also won as an owner, with Shannon Babb taking the World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at I-44 Speedway in Missouri.