Highland Honors First Inductee into the Speedway’s Hall of Fame

Highland IL (April 7, 2012) Tradition has always been a mainstay at the Highland Speedway, and this past Saturday the Speedway honored the first inductee into the Highland Speedway Hall of Fame.

It was just one year ago we lost famed driver and car owner Chris Bargetzi, the first inductee into the Highland Speedway Hall of Fame.

The night was named in his honor. Bargetzi’s last race car, the yellow 441 Late Model, sat the entire evening in the Casey’s General Stores Victory Lane, reminding all of us that Chris is keeping a watchful eye on the Speedway.

Becker Jewelers Super Late Models

Making his way down from Northern Illinois, Scott Schmitt looked to be the favorite going into the Becker Jewelers Super Late Model feature, having won his heat race and the Quick Six Dash.

The race got off to a shaky start when a first lap caution led to a complete restart of the feature event. On the second attempt the 30V of Mark Voigt was looking to avenge his last week’s misfortunes (he broke leading the feature). Voigt immediately jumped to the high side while last year’s track Champion Chad Zobrist decided to work the low groove and by lap six Zobrist took the 78 machine to the point clearing Voigt by several car lengths.

At lap ten, the 10 car of Schmitt spun as Voigt was overtaking him bringing out the yellow and sending Schmitt to the tail end of the field.

On the restart the top five cars were  Zobrist, Voigt, the 6K of Michael Kloos, Matt Weidner in the famed Circle 7,(Both the 6K and The Circle 7 are cars prepared by Gerstner and Sons Racing out of Breese Illinois), and Rick “The Salty Dog” Salter in the 1S.

The race went green for five laps when the caution came out for the 27S of Mike Schulte, making a solo spin in turns 3 and 4.

The five cars at the front stayed in the previous running order.

On the restart Voigt again started working the high side against Zobrist. Voigt was slowing gaining ground and was charging hard towards the 78 when on lap 19, just as the two lead cars were racing out of turn four, two cars spun in turn 2, Zobrist lifted seeing the yellow flag in flagman Dan Donderos hand, but Voigt had a full head of steam coming out of turn 4 looking for the lead. Seeing the slowing 78 of Zobrist, Voigt tried to make a last minute attempt to avoid a collision, he swerved to the left but clipped the left rear of Zobrist, the resulting collision ended the night for Voigt, but luckily for Zobrist, he only encountered sheet metal damage.

NHRA Pro Stock icon Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, a master of the internal combustion engine and a legend among the Chevrolet faithful, died March 29. He was 81.



Jenkins, voted No. 8 among NHRA Drag Racing's greatest racers in a 2001 experts poll, scored just 13 NHRA national event wins but earned his well-deserved spot in drag racing's top 10 because no other individual has contributed more to the advancement of normally aspirated engines for drag racing competition than the legendary "Grump."



“Everyone at NHRA is saddened by the passing of Bill ‘Grumpy’ Jenkins, not only a pioneer in the sport, but also an iconic figure in NHRA Pro Stock racing,” said Tom Compton, president, NHRA.  “He was there from the beginning, playing an integral role in the formation of Pro Stock and remained involved in NHRA for decades.  His presence and trademark gruff exterior and cigar will be missed but never forgotten at the starting line at NHRA Full Throttle events.”



Jenkins always took greater pride in his mechanical achievements than in his driving. Among his innovations are drag racing's first dry-sump oiling system, the first kickout oil pans and Pro Stock strut-style front suspension, and gas port pistons, slick-shift manual transmissions, cool cans, and the electric water-pump fan.



Jenkins earned many honors, including induction into the Don Garlits International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1993, the Motorsports Hall of Fame in Novi, Mich., in 1996, and the  International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2008. He was one of the more prolific honorees in Car Craft Magazine All-star Drag Racing Team balloting since winning three individual titles at the inaugural banquet in 1967.



On making NHRA's top 10, Jenkins briefly shed his gruff exterior in 2001 to say, "Since it seemed that the balloting was heavily weighted toward the more contemporary drivers and I haven't driven in 20 years, I was gratified to make it high on the list. Having so many of the people I've worked with show up at my [70th birthday] party in January meant a lot to me. I've always had a lot of personal satisfaction from the mechanical end of the sport."

(NHRA PRESS RELEASE)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 29, 2012) – NASCAR has issued penalties, suspensions and fines to the No. 48 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as a result of rules infractions found on Feb. 17 during opening day inspection for the Daytona 500.

The No. 48 car was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the rule book or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event); and 20-2.1E (if in the judgment of NASCAR officials, any part or component of the car not previously approved by NASCAR that has been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance will not be permitted – unapproved car body modifications).

As a result, crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec have been suspended from the next six (6) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship events, suspended from NASCAR until April 18 and placed on NASCAR probation until May 9. Additionally, Knaus has been fined $100,000.

Driver Jimmie Johnson and car owner Jeff Gordon have been penalized with the loss of 25 driver and 25 owner points, respectively.