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(Editor's note: Greg Rickes is a car guy -- the guy who knows what's happening out on the racetrack and who all those guys are and what they're driving. For years now, he's been the public address announcer at every major event at Lime Rock Park, that mile and a half of racing asphalt in Connecticut. Please note that this column is reprinted with the permission of Greg Rickes/Weakly_Racing_Newz.) Updated 9/01/10 We're rushing headlong towards Labor Day weekend, and what looks like the best field ever -- in both quantity and quality -- for Lime Rock's Vintage and Historic Festival.
Read for yourself and see if you don't agree:
http://www.limerock.com/images/stories/FINAL_ENTRANT_LIST_FOR_PARTICIPANT_PACK_8-23.pdf
The Grandest of Dames
Sadly, The Road Racing Center of the East will be without one of its most beloved fixtures. Mary Moore, mother of Sam Posey, passed away on August 12th.
Mary was a wonderful character, and in a less commercial and more social era of the sport, she regularly threw open the doors of her estate to all and sundry for Saturday night soirees during Lime Rock's major race weekends.
With no background in motorsport, she gave her full attention when son Sam launched his storied racing career. Barry Tenin adds this personal recollection: "I stood near her at Riverside while she wrote Ron Grable a check for his Formula A Car. Sam had just totaled his in a fiery crash. A photo of which made LIFE magazine's story on Sam. The check, if my aging memory is correct, was $25,000. In 1969 that was a year's pay for a doctor or lawyer."
Also missing will be Art Eastman, who played a pivotal role in the formation of the original SVRA vintage racing group and helped launch Vintage Motorsport magazine, has also passed on. In Art's memory, a group of us plan to toast him at Joe Corbett's favorite spot under the Big Bend bridge after Saturday's racing. If you'll be in the neighborhood, come down and join us.
 This concrete Mary looks out at the Big Bend, close by Joe Corbett's favorite spot. (Moore Photo)
http://blog.timesunion.com/youthsports/teens-death-prompts-review-of-safety-measures-questions-about-extreme-sports/1739/
Well Said
Boris Said finally got his long-awaited NASCAR victory with the Nationwide win in Montreal. Much of the early going was a crash-fest, and the finish was the manufactured green/white/checkered -- but a win is a win. There's also been talk about how hard it is for an "outsider" to score a major series victory (not that Boris wouldn't like to be a series regular), but in this context it couldn't have been any other way -- behind Boris it was Max Papis (outsider still, or now one of the boys?) and then J.Villenueve. The Said Heads will celebrate long and hard.
Game On
The American Le Mans Series has released its preliminary 2011 schedule, and despite some rumors, the stop at Lime Rock Park is back. Interesting to note that the two talked-about street races, Oklahoma City and Baltimore, were not yet formally declared, though there are two TBA fixtures.
What may cause some consternation is Lime Rock's date, July 9th. The intention had been to make NASCAR's visit a fixture for Independence Weekend, running the Friday/Saturday before the holiday as in 2010. If that's duplicated, it would now put major events on back-to-back weekends
Lucky 13
Dave Manny became the thirteenth different winner in the modified division at Albany-Saratoga Speedway last Friday. It was the first win ever on pavement for the 59-year-old former kart racer.
The pit area revealed a bit of an upswing with 21 Mods, 13 Sportsman, 13 Street Stocks, eight four-cylinder bombers, and 15 ProStock (including two pickup trucks from the NE Tour). On the spectator side, the crowd seems to have reached a plateau, with empty spaces still evident. Just by way of contrast, the local minor league baseball team played their final home game of the season and drew 6,200 fans on a Monday night.
Cheers
Greg Rickes
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