Andy's Corner
by Andy Belmont-Staff Writer and ARCA Series Driver
08/05/2003

What a weekend...

Pocono and no rain, are you kidding me? Wednesday afternoon a bunch of our ARCA RE/MAX Series Family participated in the annual charity golf outing at Pocono Manor. This is an outing that is always a nice event and fun to play in. We would have been better served with poncho's and water ski's. Thankfully though, after getting completely drenched on the golf course, the race weekend couldn't have been any nicer!

Back to back feature events was a lot of fun. Plenty of work no doubt, but being in our home state we had lots of weekend warriors show up and are we glad they came! Mike Haggenbotham did a very respectable job in one of our cars in his very first ARCA race. It is always a blast for me to see the reaction from a dirt racer the first time they sit in one of these tanks! From 1,300 pounds to 3,400 is a heckuva step. Frankly, there was never a doubt in my mind that Mike could do it and well. I have always said that if a man can flat foot a sprinter around the Moody Mile at Syracuse, what we do isn't all that big a deal.

Brack Maggard did another great job in "car 16" at Pocono. (ABM car number 16). Brack has had limited experience and has done a great job bringing the car home in one piece. We have taken him to a ton of tests and he has many, many miles at Kansas, Daytona, Talladega, South Boston, Atlanta, Charlotte and now Pocono. For those who know us, Brack is one of my dearest friends. I have mixed emotions about him driving. It's kind of how I feel when my brother Kevin is racing. I want him to do well but spend more time worrying if he is going to get hurt. That's just me.

We had a pretty good car all weekend. A couple of folks inquired about our Tri-Star Horsepower, so undoubtedly they noticed we were getting down the straightaways! Fourth in the first one had us all pumped up! For the second one we got a little too agressive on the shock package (read that tricked ourselves out) then broke the transmission with about thirty to go. So, a top ten wasn't totally hateful, although we all thought we were on pace for another top 5. Mechanical gremlins have bit the living daylights out of us this year. It isn't for lack of preparation or lack of investment. If I could put a finger on it, I would wrap it in a box and sell it "racer net" for $999.95.

Casey Mears handily won both ARCA races with his Cup team. What a humble guy. I am glad that he and "some" others venture over. It wont hurt our marketing proposal to have the sponsor names that adorn some of these cars in our package. Mears is a class act. Some of the young talent that is around should take a good look at this kid. He has an advantage, knows it and appreciates it. A far cry from some of the others who wander over to the ARCA RE/MAX Series.

I sat down on pit road just before the second race, next to one of the other future superstars and told him point blank: "you have the best car here. Just finish with all the fenders and nobody can run with you". Ah, nobody listens to us old guys anyway... He no doubt has a stomach problem. That is where the feet and the brain become disconnected around the stomach. I should talk I suppose. When I was much younger (and still sometimes today) I am so worried about having my foot in the radiator that I forget to bring it back home in one piece. He will be alright. You can't speed up the slow ones, but you can slow the fast ones down.

Tom Carberry Sr. would always say to us young ones, "To finish first, you must first finish." Pretty simple huh? I hope I get it one of these days.

CYA.