Steve Hatley Reunion UCAP
by Jerry "Tinadog" Kyte

The weekend started off way too early with a 5:45am flight. We were flying from Pacific Time to Eastern Time so we lost three extra hours of our life in addition to the actual time of the flight. We made it to Greensboro at 5:00pm, snagged a Mercury Sable rent-a-car (which vaguely resembled the car that the Ford WC drivers will use next year ;-)), made a quick call to the Ward's to let them know we were getting close, and hit the road. Kathy Ward said that there were only two turns I needed to take in order to make it all the way to their house. She was right... and I actually got one of the turns correct. No matter, the next exit worked just as well and we were soon pulling up to the Ward estate. A small crowd was there on the front porch consisting of "locals" along with Paul (and son Jason) Spegal. Introductions were made, faces put to internet names, and soon the discussion turned to who had qualified in the first round. Later on Lou Lauer and Cheryl Thompson showed up. Still later jEff Oswald and Karen Jensen arrived. That rounded out the overnight guests arrival. I have to give the Ward's a lot of credit here: they opened up their house to a whole bunch of nut cases from the internet. They fed us, they gave us a place to sleep, and they generally opened up and shared their world with us. True southern hospitality...good people. :-)

Socializing continued on late into the evening. Some time before midnight Greg Ward finally got the call he had been waiting for: the engine was back from the shop and ready to go in the car. Greg and Lou were off to the shop as the rest of us wished them luck and a smooth installation. The good news was that the engine showed more horsepower now, on the dyno. The bad news was that the race was tomorrow night so time was getting short. It was somewhere around 2:30am when Greg returned home. The engine was in the car and he seemed pleased and much more relaxed...good to see. The last of us stragglers turned in for bed around 3:00am.

Saturday picked up right where Friday left off. Greg was off to the shop early to work on the car and the rest of us were back to sitting on the porch and talking about everything from racing to computers to food to pets. We half-heartedly watched the BGN race...no one (except for the incendiary - jEff) rooting for Mark Martin, but everyone fearing that it was just a matter of time until he found victory lane. The crowd seemed genuinely happy to see a BGN regular in victory lane, but the fact that the race turned into a fuel strategy event didn't bode well for Sunday.

Some time around 3:00pm we loaded up the caravan of rasn'er cars and headed out to Orange County Speedway. The drive to the speedway was beautiful. Trees and fields and rural communities everywhere. Susan fell in love with the place. "God's country", as jEff called it. Vastly different from the visual world here in Phoenix. The Hatley estate is surrounded by tall trees and lots of grass. Four cows (all pregnant) work as lawnmowers in the back. Both the front and the back of the house have large porches for sitting and enjoying the world. There are more birds and insects making noise in the trees within a hundred yards of the house than in all of Arizona. Chevy and Levi (the Ward dogs) are always nearby looking for a pat on the head or a scrap of food to hit the floor. I don't know how I am going to get it out of Susan's mind...and get her to see the Arizona desert in the same light.

So, as we are driving through paradise we round a corner and out of nowhere pops up a 3/8ths mile racetrack: Orange County Speedway. It is still many hours before racing gets under way, but there are already lots of people at the track watching practice. The track owner/manager was there to meet the RASN contingent. He was amazed to see people from Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Maryland there to watch a race. They had even roped off an area in the grandstands for the rasn'ers to gather: truly first class treatment.

About this time rasn'er Scott Lamb showed up with his entourage. After a brief look at the track we all headed back out to the parking area to find shade in the trees and start up the barbecue. Paul Spegal brought a ton of food and set to work feeding the crowd as many hamburgers and hot dogs as they could eat. It was amazing just how much food he was able to cook in such a short period of time, but those of us who where there know why. His son, Jason, can eat with the best of them. Jason not only downed more food at the barbecue than anyone else, he continued eating the whole time we were at the track. In fact, my guess is that he sampled at least one of everything on the track menu. I would hate to have to pay Paul's grocery bill. However, all that cooking practice Paul has had over the years paid off with plenty of good food for the rest of us...thanks Paul.

Around this time rasn'er Steve McCollom arrived with a travel horror story. It seems his car dumped out a very recently rebuilt transmission on the way to the track. Being the dedicated rasn'er he is, he dumped the dead car, rented a new one, and continued on to the track. An award of excellence goes out to Steve for overcoming all obstacles and making it to Orange County Speedway.

At this point the crowd of rasn'ers headed in to the racetrack to watch qualifying and get ready for the evenings racing. I don't know what the seating capacity is at Orange County Speedway, but the grandstands stretch half way around the racetrack and look to hold quite a few fans. As the dropping of the first green flag approached the grandstands filled up close to capacity; Surprising considering just how hot and humid it was at the track. The infield area was packed with haulers and racecars: there was to be Legend cars and ministocks racing in addition to the main event of Late Model racing. The track had also put up some extra money to draw in Late Model drivers from other tracks in an effort to break up the streak of wins that Late Model driver Barry Beggarly was enjoying.

Around this point in time another Scott (who's last name I can't remember) arrived. He has no web access so he hadn't had the chance to see the Steve Hatley, r.a.s.n sponsored, #41, Pontiac Grand Prix.

The evenings racing action was a mixture of close racing and strange doings. The Legends cars reminded me much too much of the go-karts at the local mini-golf course. They put on a good show, but the fact that caution laps weren't counted made their races entirely too long. It wasn't that they were driving recklessly, just that this was short track racing...and bad stuff happens when cars are packed together. The mini-stock racing was much more interesting than the Legends cars, but the field of cars was quite strange. There were Camaro's racing with Mustangs racing with Probes racing with VW bugs...yes, Mert, there was even one Pinto in the race. This race was also extended by caution flags, including several red flags for major track cleanup. One car got over on its roof going down the backstretch and it took quite some time to roll it back over. Give credit to the Orange County Speedway cleanup crew, though. They used two tow trucks to lift the car off the ground and move it over to the grass where it could be flipped back over while minimizing the damage to the vehicle. I am sure all the drivers appreciate this kind of care from OCS. The one redeeming thing about the numerous yellow and red flags was seeing the severely modified and "tricked out" Volkeswagon Bug track cleanup car complete with oil dry dispenser, track sweeper, and track cleaning tongue. You have to see it to believe it.

The problem with lots of flags is that your backside gets sore from the extended sitting and you start to get uppity. In fact, at one point, Scott Lamb got so uppity that he took a swipe at jEff's water bottle - sending it between the crevices of the bleachers and into the rubble below. He tried to go after it, but couldn't find his way. Luckily, Lou was there to retrieve it...and the cooler lid he was after.

Finally, it was time for the Late Model Stock car race. During driver introductions the track announcers gave a nod to r.a.s.n and Steve Hatley Racing. They explained that we were an internet group and that people had traveled from Florida, Arizona, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, etc... to see Steve Hatley race that evening. Quite a nod to see that the r.a.s.n sponsorship is out there doing good in the racing world. We all gave out a big cheer to let the crowd know we were a force to be reckoned with. ;-)

Unfortunately, the actual race didn't go quite as well. Steve Hatley had qualified in 11th place...24 cars started the race. The first 6 laps were run with most of the cars side by side. Then on lap 7 Steve Hatley got in single file. Then, on the 4th turn of the 7th lap disaster struck. A car up front got loose and the resulting pileup blocked the track from the apron to the outside wall. Steve had nowhere to go, put on the brakes, and ran into the pile. Then, to make matters worse, the half of the field that was running behind Steve piled in as well. The end result was damage to the front, rear, and drivers side of the car. Damage that was severe enough that they were not able to continue in the race. :(

There was a very long red flag while the track was cleaned up and numerous cars were hauled into the pit area. Greg Ward came up to the stands and apologized to everyone. No problem Greg, that is just part of racing. From that point on Greg turned from crew chief into spectator with the rest of us and sat in the stands...although I am sure his thoughts were elsewhere.

When the race finally got going again the competition got pretty intense. As the closing laps unfolded the track dominator, Barry Beggarly in the #82, a rookie competitor in the #04, Ryan Gray, and Wayne Patterson in the #14 ran nose to tail around the track. In the end, the rookie held off the other two drivers - both former track champions. All in all, a very exciting race, but a very disappointing one for Steve Hatley Racing.

After the Late Model race ended the track ran two more Legends races while the parking lot cleared out. Then, we all headed down to the pits to see the car and meet the team. Needless to say we were all fairly subdued about getting in their way too much since they had a very hard night. However, Steve Hatley did sign a few T-shirts and Greg let us all take a look at the car and generally gawk like racing fans. Jason Spegal was ready to jump in right then and there to start rebuilding the frame...this kid takes to cars like a fish to water and is currently preparing to build his own racecar back in Florida.

We all left the track in a return caravan to the Ward estate except for the two Scott's and Steve McCollom who had to make their way back to other digs. Back at the house we sat around talking again until around 4:30am. One thing about this little racing excursion... not much time for sleeping.

The next day Greg and Kathy served up one of their famous "big breakfasts". Tons of food...we were eating well into the start of the race. The living room once again became race central as people piled around the TV set to watch the race...then wandered in and out as the action was broken up by rain delays. A few friends of the Ward's came over to watch the race as well. Paula...a big Jeff Gordon fan...who looks a lot like Brooke...and would trade places with her any day. She gives a whole new meaning to the word "swoon". Perhaps the highlight of the race was listening to Lou and Cheryl tease each other about Mark Martin's chances of winning. These two can really go at it. In the end, though, Lou prevailed and Cheryl had to resort to the Chevy whine that is heard weekly throughout r.a.s.n these days. Suck it up Cheryl. ;-)

Right after the race was over Susan and I had to cut out for the airport. Quick good-byes were said and we hit the road. Those darn rain delays meant a close call making the plane flight home but, aside from having to return the rental car without filling up with gas, no harm was done.

Miscellaneous notes from the weekend:

The lizards in North Carolina have bold, blue tails. Much more colorful than the ones in Arizona.

I watched Karen eat cookies and milk like it was a delicacy. Well, it is, but I still don't know how she can completely submerge a cookie, wait until all the bubbles come to the surface, then pull it out and eat it without making a mess.

jEff brought a broken lawn chair with him from home. He also went on quite a ride in one of the Ward's porch chairs. Lesson: watch out for jEff when he comes to visit. He may be a "laid back", but that frame of mind isn't always safe for the furniture.

Susan seemed to make a good impression on everyone. I guess the bait worked...now people will have to be nice to me. ;-)

Tinadog says: for the record...this was the most entertaining weekend of racing I have had the pleasure of enjoying. Thanks to all who helped make it that way.