Racin’ with the Rocket
By Chris Rhynold
“The Rocket Files”
Over the past few weeks I have been able to attend a few races in Central New York and one in Western New York.
My first stop was for the Patriot Sprint Group race in Canandaigua New York. This was the first time in 10 years I have been back to the Land of Legends, and the racing was as good as it was when I made my first trip there. The action was pretty high and you never really knew what was going to happen on the next lap. The sportsman race seen the leader get caught up in a mess when a lap car spun in front of him, the pro stocks seen Jipp Ortiz get robbed from a win and the modifieds seen Timmie McCreadie win in a dominating fashion. The Patriots was just as exciting. Kyle Drum had worked up a three quarter track lead over second place and had lapped up to fifth place before locking up the rear end on his sprinter on the white flag lap.
My second stop was to the DIRT Headquarters track, Cayuga County Fair Speedway for the opener of the Empire Sports Network series. This was my first ever visit to Cayuga County and was very impressed as I had the opportunity to see almost all of the big name DIRT stars in one place. Once again the action was high and got to see Timmie McCreadie do it all over again. The Sportsman race was just as exciting as Greg Doust picked up a win.
Finally, my third stop was for the Patriot Sprint Group race at Ransomville Speedway. This would have to be the best Patriot race I have seen to date with the club and they are showing that they are learning from their mistakes. In the feature Kyle Drum once again looked extremely strong, but a wreck on lap seven ended his night, and it was all Billy Krull from lap seven to the checkers. I had the chance to talk with the Patriot Club President Tom Taber and he is very happy with the way the club is coming together and admits that some mistakes have been made, and says that this is the way they are learning to deal with these situations and like anything, we learn from our mistakes and we don’t let them happen again. I totally agree with Mr. Taber.
In the sportsman division, we seen Scotty George make another visit to victory lane, and we seen Danny Johnson come from dead last to steal one away from 358 Modified rookie Rob Pietz.
I also got to sit and chat with injured sprint racer Billy “The Kid” Coffey. It was so good to see Billy out and about after the nasty wreck Billy had at Black Rock Speedway one week ago. Billy’s vision still isn’t 100% but is expected to heal, and his neck injury was the closest you can get to breaking your neck, without actually breaking it. Somehow, during the wreck Billy’s neck brace came off and was found on the track. Billy had told me the car was completely destroyed and was basically junk.
A few days after I had heard from a good friend of Billy’s and told me that Billy made another visit to the doctor and his neck is healing well. He no longer has to wear the hard neck brace and now only has to wear a soft neck brace.