Friday, April 13, 2007
Daily Pooch Punt: 4/13/2007
OK, even thought they are (once again) calling for rain this weekend (rain that, for that matter, has already postponed the Augusta County Track and Field Invitational for Saturday) we are going to give our Eastside Pick’em another try.
That’s right. Saturday the Eastside stock season starts up and we, the venerable writers her at TNV Sports, will try to guess the winners of each week’s late-model feature race.
I, for one, am at a disadvantage. I’m a Yankee, never paid any attention to auto racing until I moved to Virginia and my job made it imperative that I, at the very least, have a working knowledge of the sports. (And that means I can identify some of the top drivers and know that Jeff Gordon is treated by fans with all the
reverence of Osama bin Laden on the track.
So, what I’m saying is that this was Eastside beat writer Robert Sisk’s idea. You know, he told me one night whilst working on pages, it’s a good way to drive people to your blog. (Drive. Racing. I get it.)
And you know me, always willing to do what it takes to get the peeps involved.
So, anywho, here’s how it’s going to work:
Every Friday, right here on UponFurtherReview.com, auto racing, baseball and soccer writer Rob Sisk along with tennis and softball writer Court Wills will join your’s truly, Sports Editor Jim Sacco and choose a late-model driver at Eastside.
Not only will we give tell you who we picked, but why we picked them. Then, after they race over the weekend, we get the same number of points the driver gets in the chase for the Eastside title. (Twenty-five for first place, 24 for third and so on.)
We’re going to split it up into segments with the hopes that some of you folks want to join the fun.
So, with out further BS from me, here’s this weeks picks. Hmmm, let’s call it the Eastside Pick’em.
Robert Sisk, office NASCAR dude: I am going with Kristian Looney in the 90.
In the last three practices he showed a lot of improvement not to mention he gave some of the Super Late Models that showed up a run for their money. While many of the drivers are running Rocket Chassis, Looney has a Laser. As long as he can stay down low where his car is running the best, and keep the front turning, he should give some of the more experienced drivers a fit.
Depending on the weather, the upper groove in the turns has just started to form and I don’t think anyone is gutsy enough to try to pass on it through the corners. If Looney keeps his nose down and keeps the car clean, he should walk away with a top 3. Not to mention he finally is going to put decals on the car.
APSE winning Court Wills: David ‘The Flying Hippie of Lexington” Sibold.
Even with a tough blow at Natural Bridge Speedway last Saturday, Sibold got off to a roaring start controlling the first nine laps of the Lee Auto Repair Sportsman feature. Sibold’s machine blew the competition out of the water with the fastest qualifying lap. I expect him to calm down and get a better grip on his machine this week, allowing him to set the tone for the rest of the race.
Jim Sacco, the bossman: I got to go with Danny Brown in the No. 10. He’s new to this late-model series but there’s something about the new kid on the block who always seems to surprise. Plus, Danny is a local guy who probably knows this track, new surface or not, like the back of his hand. I look forward to strong finish by Danny this weekend.
In case your didn’t realize, all the racing stuff was just a copy and paste of last week’s attempt. So, that was the easiest first part of the Daily Pooch Punt I have ever written (or not written, for that matter). Oh, and have a good weekend, see you Monday.