Full Throttle

In military parlance going over the hill means being absent without leave (AWOL), or if a navy type like myself unauthorized absence (UA).

With the NASCAR Road Show rolling into New York’s Finger Lakes region it gives a few NASCAR drivers & crew members the chance to get as close as they can get to being AWOL without intervention by The Suits and a suspension.

Just over the hill from Watkins Glen is Black Rock Speedway. The 4/10-mile semi-banked clay oval will host a flock of NASCAR drivers tonight behind the wheels of the tracks 358 modifieds.

Headlined as the 2007 Black Rock NASCAR Challenge the event was organized by Jeff Miles, a gasman and hauler operator for the #36 team of Bill Davis Racing, whose granddaughter has cerebral palsy. $2 of each ticket ($12 face value) purchased will be donated to the Chemung, NY ARC and the Spalding Foundation for Injured Drivers.

Scheduled to be on hand are AJ Allmendinger, Jason Leffler, Jeremy Mayfield, Boris Said, David Reutimann, Tim Fedewa, Buzzie Reutimann (short track racing legend and father to David) and
Clint Bowyer.

Also on hand will be the following crew chiefs and media personalities to compete in a Crew Challenge: Tommy Baldwin (Crew Chief for Bill Davis Racing No. 22), Bob Dillner (NASCAR pit lane reporter for the SPEED Channel), Mike Dillon (VP of Operations for Richard Childress Racing), Jimmy Elledge (Crew Chief for Chip Ganassi Racing No. 41), Kevin Bono Manion (Crew Chief for Dale Earnhardt Inc. #1), Frank Kerr (Crew Chief for Michael Waltrip Racing #00), Speed Freak Geek, David Rutlidge, Riki Rachtman (Racing Rocks & Speed TV) and Tony Eury Jr. (Crew Chief for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.).

The track has a poll to select the winning NASCAR driver and it seems many think like I do, Buzzie Reutimann was second at the time I voted just behind Jeremy Mayfield.

On a personnel note, Buzzie Reutimann and his famous #00 coupe (pictured above) exposed me to upstate New York & Northeast modifieds via editions of Stock Car Racing Magazine. At the time Buzzie was the terror despite stiff competition from other legends of the time Will Cagle, Gary Balough, Al Tasnady, Franky Schneider, and Dick “Toby” Tobias.

Buzzie made one NASCAR start as a 22 year old in 1963 at Tampa Bay qualifying 19th and scored a tenth place with an unsponsored, self owned ‘60 Chevrolet.