In Loving Memory







John Blewett III
1973-2007
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Garden State
Quarter Midget Racing Club
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1803-A State Route 34
Wall, NJ 07719-9109
Hotline: 609-242-8880

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The 2008 Eastern Grands Notes
Once again, I will try to bring everyone the "play by play" on the Eastern Grands this year for those of you who cannot make it out here. With the cost of fuel, and the cost of everything else too, who can blame you? I'm sure this will be my last Grands, and really I'm here just trying to sell my last car and the last of my QM parts. I have a money-hungry Legend car to feed. Next year, it will be Kim Page bringing you the Grands notes.

Sunday, 6/29/08: I am absolutely exhausted. The Grands is always a long week, with late nights and early mornings, running around all over the place chasing cars and kids, and of course, taking a long ride on the emotional rollercoaster. Then there's the long drive home. Got home after 2am, slept a while, but had to get up to mow the lawn, unhitch the motorhome, unpack, etc. Tomorrow I go back to work so I can rest.

By the way, Lou Keraitis and Jeremy Doll both timed into the C main for Sr Honda and that seems like a pretty good achievement when there's over 80 cars in that class. Also Christian Bock ran the Jr Novice Grands exhibition race and won it!!! "

During the Light B A-main, our friend Joe Ryan Osborn was hurt when he hit the wall head-on exiting the corner after getting hit on his inside while in the middle of the corner. He suffered serious head trauma and he is currently in a neck brace. Well wishers can contact the Osborn family at Onefatday@aol.com.

I am proud to be a part of the Garden State club, and I can tell you first-hand that during the Eastern Grands, our members in attendance definitely stuck together and showed a strong sense of team. I don't know of any other kids' sport has an event as grand or as special as the QMA Grands, and it is much more than a sporting event. It is an invaluable learning experience that I would recommend to anyone that can afford to make the committment.
I'm going back to bed now.

Friday, 6/27/08: (11:00pm) Congratulations to our Garden State members who have made the 2008 Eastern Grands A-mains.
Sammy Piazza, Light Mod
Sammy Piazza, Light B
Glenn Slocum, Light B
Miranda Carr, Junior Half
Sammy Piazza, Light A
Jeremy Doll is the X-car for the Light B A-main
Brendon Bock is the X-car for the Light A A-main.
The racing was frenetic and desperate, and at the end, a handful of our members have managed to break into the show. Regardless, all of our members should stand proud for the effort and determination and the teamwork that we have demonstrated.
Go Garden State!
Miranda Carr got into the A-main in fine style, winning both the C-main, and the B-main to get into tomorrow's race. I was approached by a few people who were in the A-main who told me they would be watching both Miranda and Sebi very closely in that B-main. If I were them, I would be worried.
On a more personal note, I would like to thank John and Chris Delaney for loaning us their F&M Half motor for the Eastern Grands this year. We are elated to be here one last time, and it would not be possible if it were not for the Delaneys' thoughtful and selfless gesture. Thank you John and Chris!
The racing is supposed to start promptly tomorrow at 9am. Hot and humid weather, possible showers.

(2:30pm) Our first real rain delay, and it looks like we may be a while. We started with the tail end of C-mains this morning.
First let me update you on the other Garden State members that transferred yesterday:
- Brendon Bock transferred twice in Light Mod.
- Brandon Grosso transferred three times times in Light Mod.
- Joey Jarowicz transferred in his Junior Stock, and is the X-car for the B-main.
- Louis Keraitis transferred  twice in Light 160, and is in the Light 160 B-main.
- Sammy Piazza transferred out of his Light Mod in the B-main.
- Glenn Slocum transferred twice in Senior Stock to the E-main.
The novices raced this morning from 8am to 9:30am or so. They put on a nice show, and there was a nice photo shoot for the novices on the infield.
This morning's C-mains:
- Glenn Slocum transferred out of the Light B C-main, and is in the B-main. It was scary, though, because Glenn was up to third, and going for second place, and got into trouble. He had to start from the back with not a lot of laps left, but he made it.
- Miranda Carr won the Junior Half C-main! But before winning she dealt with a broken engine gear, a flat right rear tire, a second flat right rear, then rolled the car, and then won it.
- Sebastian Font transferred out of the Junior Half C-main, and into the B-main. That was an adventure too, dealing with carburetor issues, a flat left rear, then a broken snap ring on the left rear, then a bad kill switch. But was still able to finish third.
As of 3:00pm, they have the track almost dry, and are scrambling to get more races in. More later...



Thursday, 6/26/08: (10:30pm) Garden State members have had a tough day, and some of our best drivers are just not getting the breaks, or getting the wrong breaks.
A special mention has to go out to Zach Haspel, who drove his Heavy Honda from the H-main all the way to the D-main. And in some of those races, Zach had to come from the back of the field more than once. The Heavy Honda D-main was a real mess of a race, and both Zach and Miranda Carr were taken out of the race by the judges. Is there such a thing as a "judging holocaust"? Because we had one today in that D-main.
The Garden State drivers that will be racing in the C-mains and B-mains tomorrow are Jeremy Doll, Louis Keraitis, Joey Jarowicz, Miranda Carr, and Sebastian Font.
We have had a film crew eavesdopping on our event all week. This is the same team that created the "Silver City; Live to Race" DVD last year. Their website is atwww.quartermidgetmovie.com. Their Live to Race DVD did a great job of capturing the magic of kids' racing.
We did have a very short rain delay, and our streak of side-stepping the rain continues. It DOES rain in Meriden, you know. I've been here to see it. But it will not rain in Meriden this week it seems.
In case you have not noticed, QuartermidgetsLive.com is not very live.
We're supposed to have good weather tomorrow. Hope that doesn't mean we're in for torrential downpurs.



(11am) Hold the phone! Somehow I missed that one of Garden State's members qualified into the A-main. Sammy Piazza saved the club from a qualifying drought at the Eastern Grands with his Light B car. Sammy's other cars qualified well also.
Weather looks very threatening today, and we have been getting some drops and near-misses, but no delays yet.
We started with Race #29 this morning, the World Formula G-main. Judging and flagging continue to be interesting this morning.
By the way, the fly-overs during yesterday's opening ceremonies were provided by Warbird Aviation. I love that stuff.

Wednesday, 6/25/08: (Midnight) The family got a break today at Lake Compounce Amusement park, about 15 minutes from the track. I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Connecticut. Great rides for all ages including the littlest ones in the family. www.lakecompounce.com.
We did get to catch the opening ceremonies for the Grands before our trip. I loved the fly-overs by the P-51 Mustang airplanes. Its about time we got fly-overs for our National Anthem.
I got back to the track late afternoon, just in time for the Heavy 160 J-main, and it didn't take long to get reminded that while the Grands attracts all of the best drivers, it certainly does not attract the best judging. Some calls (or non-calls) were simply amazing.
So with the start of the lower mains came the controversies. Joey Bailey finished 5th in his Sr Honda I-main, but was scored as the winner, but then was told by the officials he finished 8th. Meanwhile, the QuartermidgetsLive.com website still have him scored as the winner. An elaborate electronic transponder system, backed by four manual scorers, and its still not enough.
Zach Haspel won his Heavy Honda H-main, and transferred into tomorrow's race. A number of other Garden State drivers will be racing tomorrow as well.
We got through almost all of the G-mains, so tomorrow's racing starts with the World Formula G-main. Handler's meeting at 8am.

Tuesday, 6/24/08: (11pm) Qualifying is over, and it was not a great day for Garden State drivers. I guess we're all just rusty. I myself had a very UNHAPPY driver. But hey, where else can you go to buy deep fried peanut butter and spend lots of money on rubber?
A number of track records did fall today, but there were also lost chains, cars catching walls, motors blowing up, and people getting locked out of their motorhomes (no not us).
We did have a rain delay at around 5:30pm. Imagine this: you are at your home track, where you have one of the fastest Heavy 160 cars. You are the last driver to qualify in Heavy 160, and just before its your turn to go out, it rains and washes off the track. And it puts your A-main car into the H-main. Who was it that said "I'd rather be lucky than good"?
We're supposed to have great weather tomorrow for the opening ceremonies. The first race out will be the Senior Honda O-Main. Remember the Mini Indy Grands in 2003 where we had 998 cars (not including the novices) and the first race out was the Senior Honda EE-main? Yes EE-main as in 5 races away from a Z-main. They sold a lot of tires that week. 

"I'd rather be lucky than good" - Lefty Gomez,  the NY Yankees pitcher from many many years ago.

(Late afternoon) Its 5pm, and Light 160 qualifying  has just finished. After two overcast days for practice, qualifying has begun on a sunny day. The track temperature hovered at or below 100 degrees Sunday and Monday, and it's at 120 degrees today for qualifying. Fun fun fun.
There is threat for weather supposedly this afternoon or evening.
There was some drama last night and today with Miranda Carr's Jr Half car started shooting methanol from all directions. Jim Fitzpatrick and Cathe Slocum saved the day with a new carburetor delivered overnight. Get those two a cape.

Monday, 6/23/08: (10:30pm) So officially, the car count is at 563 not including novices; 597 with novices. We had our first rain delay this afternoon, though only for 15 minutes or so. Somehow, the track is defying the weather forecasts, and we get threatening skies, but the rain stays away. Two rounds of practice are in, and qualifying starts tomorrow at 8:30am.
Cory Wilson made it up here today, so that makes it 14 Garden State drivers by my count. I'm told that Brendon Bock took his Light A for a wild ride with a bike and roll trick. Brendon was ok, but I think his dad is still working on the car. We're glad he is ok. Most of us are running ok, just trying to dial in for a tight, sticky track. Yes, the track definitely got even tighter from yesterday, and continues to accumulate the Vega rubber. The short rain we got did not help free up the track either.
There is a good deal of discussion about the Grands trophies. They are not the traditional tall platform style trophy. Instead, they are a sort of a statuesque looking figure of a driver, sort of styled similar to a Heisman Trophy. They are only about a foot high, but the do weigh a ton. Some people love them, and some people do not. Definitely a novel approach to a trophy award...

(Morning) I forgot to mention last night that the car count was at approximately 600 as of yesterday morning's meeting. I'll get an update on that for everyone.
I would also like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Sebi Font who turns 15 today.

Sunday, 6/22/08: The Grands is formally under way, as National QMA took the reins this morning. Most of the QMA officers were the same familiar faces as prior years, so it should be a pretty smooth week. We'll see if I wind up eating those words.
During the handler's meeting, the Garden State club got a very honorable mention for donating its FM radio frequency to the Grands for its use. It was great that we were still making a contribution, and getting some good PR too.
Despite all of the weather reports calling for a complete washout for tdoay, we barely got a few drops of rain. Not a single rain delay, and we got a full round of 5 minute practices into the books. Practice ended by 7pm, and the club called it a day.
Jack Ely and Brendon Bock have made it up here, so all in we have a pretty good Garden State turnout. We're all working together trying to get one another through safety. The National safety team is being very strict about the placement of ballast weights in the car, and that has created headaches for a few of us here.
The track is pretty tight, especially compared to last year. But then again, it's not very different from any other Grands track collecting rubber from 600 or more drivers pounding away at it.
The kids on the golf-carts are getting a little out of hand up here, as usual. If you recall, at last year's Eastern Grands someone wound up in the hospital after rolling over one of those Gator mobiles. Of course, it was an adult that did that, not one of the kids. Go figure. 
The plan for tomorrow is another round of practice. Weather reports are for more rain so it will probably be pretty sunny tomorrow.

Saturday, 6/21/08: It was a beautiful day today, but the sun was beating down on us as we stood in line to get into the sign-in trailer. Still, it was a chance to catch up with friends that we haven't seen in a while. Sign-ins went smoothly, although many people were tense because the Silver City website supposedly said that both parents were required for sign-ins. And we all know its difficult enough getting just one parent out to the Grands. But that all worked itself out.
They have big tents up for safety and fueling, so we got to escape the sun for that part of the sign-in procedure. Safety went pretty smooth, no big controversies there, and the safety crew had their act together.
The Garden State drivers that have made it up here so far are Joey Bailey, Miranda Carr, Jeremy Doll, Brandon Grosso, Zach Haspel, Branden Hyer, Joey Jarowicz, Louis Keraitis, Sammy and Carly Piazza, Robert Silver, Glenn Slocum, and of course, Sebi Font.  And our favorite engine builder, Jim Fitzpatrick of F&M Motorworks is up here too. I'm told Jack Ely and Derek Krum are here, though I haven't seen them yet.
More tomorrow...

Friday, 6/20/08: Today was parking day, and I got here early expecting parking to be an adventure, but that went pretty smoothly. Got unhooked, and the motorhome went out onto the baseball field, where its level and grassy. My trailer spot is lakefront property (that means I'm IN the lake), but it's not too far from the track. Could be much worse. Not too many of us here, but it was nice to catch up with a few friends. I hear the Slocums arrived tonight at 9:30pm, but parking closed at 8pm, so they couldn't park. I guess the club is running a tight ship this week.



June 3 Update:
The club's board is still at work trying to get our track re-opened. After meeting the owners' initial demands for insurance, it appears that there may be some lingering issues. No decision has been made at this time regarding Wall, though we hope to have an answer this Friday.

In the meantime, our board of trustees is still examining options with Raceway Park officials in Old Bridge Township. Due to realities with their own schedule, it may be a few weeks before anything can come of the dialogue.

We will do our best to keep our members as informed as possible.