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HammerDown! Hats

BF's B.S. 09/30/01

Hello once again from a very warm (still) Mtn. View California. I have allot to cover since I have been gone for a while, but I will do my best. First of all I have to recognize the true heroes of this country, the police and the firefighters that took care of the huge mess in New York City. After hearing of the news that morning of September 11th, I was shocked, then appalled and finally grief stricken for all the families of the people that were in the twin towers of the World Trade Center. At first I didn't realize how bad it was until I got to work and everyone was talking about it and we turned the TV on and saw all the destruction and carnage that had taken place. I hope the people that were responsible for this despicable act are found and taken care of as soon as possible. I know it is hard to pin point these people but justice must be served as so many innocent and unsuspecting people were killed and mortally injured that we need to take action and quickly. I for one have contributed to the Red Cross and please do the same or give blood or anything you feel fit to do to help in the aftermath of this brutal tragedy. With all that said, I hope I didn't make anybody made but I feel we need to get on with our everyday lives like sporting event, racing, going to the mall...etc...if not they have won because that is what they wanted. Now onto the racing....

Floyd Alvis never seems to amaze me, this guy is 67 years old and is still running up front every week in a midget. Not only with BCRA, but he proved he can still run with USAC after a convincing victory at Madera last weekend over a stellar field. After passing Chuck Gurney Jr. on lap 8 he was out front the final 22 laps and held off some heavy pressure from Tony Hunt to take the victory, his first USAC win since 1985!!! After the race it was the same old Floyd as he fired up his world famous blender and fed margaritas to anybody that wanted them. You are a class act Floyd, I don't think you will be slowing down anytime soon.

Since I have written last I was able to run my dad's USAC Western States Sprint Car 3 times with mixed results. The first time was at Carson City, Nevada where I timed in poorly but was able to lead my heat race for 3 laps and eventually finished 2nd to transfer into the A-Main. In the A-Main there was allot of beating and banging going on and I was guilty as anybody as I made contact with another car and he spun. Contrary to what some people think, it isn't a good feeling when you know you are responsible for taking someone out. Later in the event I was taken out after I had gotten under another driver down the backstretch he turned down on me and that ended both of our nights. One of two things happened, either he didn't see that I was next to him or by using his radios to block he took us both out. Either way, we were both out and that is the end of the story.

The next time out it was back to Carson City for another USAC Western States race. This time we learned quite a bit from last time and we put that setup on the car and went to practice the day before. I felt pretty good in the car, but I felt better after practice when some of the guys were coming over and telling me that I looked fast. The next day we were going good again in hot laps and were set for a qualifying run. I guess I haven't gotten over the stagefright yet of qualifying because I seem to slow down every time I qualify. I was hot lapping in the 12.9 range then I went out and went 13.15. Not bad as I ended up tied for 10th but I was still frustrated as a 12.9 would have put me in the top 5.

After a spin in my heat race after the caution light was left on and then the green flag was thrown, I was able to make it back into transfer for the 50-lap main event. I started 11th and was running 10th on lap 30 when my brakes went completely away. Not a good feeling at all as I tried to keep up the pace but I couldn't as I lost a lap to the leaders and eventually finished 14th. But I FINISHED for the first time ever, I had mixed emotions as I should have done better but I did finish.

The third and final race was last weekend at Madera as once again we were able to go and practice on Friday. We made a few changes, some of which helped and some of which hurt but I am still learning and I have to take the good with the bad. We were hot lapping at 14.3, then I went out to qualify and the car did some things that I have never felt before (like picking up the left rear getting in the corner). I timed in a disappointing 14.7 and it was looking dim as USAC had scratched the heat races in favor of two last chance races. I started 8th and was in transfer with only a couple of laps to go when I got into a battle with another driver that I would eventually lose. I made the cardinal sin of racing, I started racing his race and racing defensive instead of trying to run my own race and it cost me the spot and the transfer into the A-Main. It was the first time in my short six race career that I had to watch the main event and it didn't feel good at all. But I know that is part of racing and there will be more races later this year that I will try to run and make the A-main once again.

I have to thank a few people for helping me go racing again. First and foremost my mom and dad, because without them I wouldn't be out there at all. To Don and Linda O'Keefe and huge thank you for taking me to Carson City the first time, I REALLY appreciated that you did that for us. To Darren Powers and "Dirt Car" Dick Barshow, it is great to have a couple of guys that will do anything to help me get back on the track. To Brian Sperry and Chuck Gurney Jr., thanks for the help at Carson City, your words helped me very much. To Brian DeRuyter and Joe Lindsey, thanks for ALL the help when we went to Carson City the 2nd time, I had a great time. Also a huge thanks to Harry and Jackie and Mr. and Mrs. Sperry for your support from the stands. Another huge THANK YOU goes out to Mark Monico and Brian Matherly for letting us use their Truck to tow us to Carson City and Madera. Also thanks to Rich Paulsen who took time out to come over my house and wire the truck to the trailer. I really appreciate you guys, you have no idea how much. ...Last and not least thanks to my Grandma, Alice Costa who went to my race in Madera and cheered me up after the races by telling me I did good and I shouldn't feel bad (even though I did). I love you Grandma and hopefully you will be able to make it to many more of my races to come.

BF's Notes: Mark Kinser won the Gold Cup, a win that has eluded him for many years, I know you wanted that one bad my friend...Lance DeWease is having a dream season that was capped off with a win at the Williams Grove National Open last night...Good to see Chris Lasoski at the Gold Cup rooting on her husband that won his 2nd Knoxville National title...Daryn Pittman looks to be on his way to a Gumout Series title...Shane Stewart would have given him a run for the money had he run the whole series...Danny Smith seems to be getting faster every year...Jeff Shepard had a huge West Coast swing winning in Yakima, Calistoga (2) and Chico without ever seeing any of the tracks before...Danny Wood has picked off a few WoO wins this year, this guy is a gasser...Randy Hannagan's injury at Calistoga was horrible but his spirits are good as he looks forward to next year...Jonathan Allard proved that he can drive a sprint car, whatever the circumstances were...Mike Wagner won his first All-Star show at Fremont, Ohio...Greg Hodnett won the Sharon Nationals after Kenny Jacobs was once again disqualified for being too light...Does anyone else think that P.J. Chesson's win at the Big One was the biggest upset in history??...Todd Shaffer has had another banner year in PA...Keith Kauffman won his 10th Port Royal title...Brent Kaeding won his 10th Golden State title...Al Peterson is retiring which will be a HUGE loss to ALL the California racers, I for one will miss you very much boss...Andy Forsberg won the Civil War Championship last night in Placerville...Dave Lindt returned to Petaluma after running with the Golden State all year and won 3 races in a row...Brian Bullard has impressed me on the pavement this year in Ken Pierson's car #14...Tim Kaeding had a season to remember until he split with Duke and Scott McMillan and will shoe the Rick Wright 35 the rest of the year...Destiny Hays won the 360 race at Gold Cup and celebrated with some fine donuts in the infield, congratulations hero...Tim Crawley got back in his own car and never missed a beat sweeping the ASCS shows a couple of weeks ago...Bud Kaeding has come alive late in the year with wins at Route 66 and at the Eldora Four Crown Nationals, I am proud of you son...Father Brent Kaeding was in attendance at Eldora to see Bud's biggest win to date...Dave Darland was injured at the Four Crown but is at home now resting after a closed head injury...J.J. Yeley won the midget and Dirt Car races at the Four Crown and finished second to Bud Kaeding in the Sprints...Cory Kruseman has showed no signs of slowing down as he has won 15 SCRA races this year... Richard Grifffin has come back from a serious injury to win a couple of races in SCRA...That is all I have, I hope it won't be that long until I write again, see you at the races......"BF" Bill Foland

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