Hey gang! We had a great time up in Stafford Springs this weekend. Thanks for looking us up on the Live Updates section of the MSS Message Forum. Sit back and enjoy this week’s missive as I think I have put last week’s rage to bed.

Early last week, I had planned to travel to New England with the T.S. Haulers team. That would have included a stop at Thompson on Thursday night were they field two Sunoco Modifieds for the Blewett brothers. Wednesday it became apparent that those arrangements weren’t going to work out.

I shoulda, woulda, coulda. I should have booked ferry reservations as soon as I made that decision. I would have probably found out that the race had been postponed when I got off of the boat at New London. Then again, I could have listened to ThE sHaDoW and I would have missed out on all of the fun we had Thursday night and Friday.

Allow me to tell the tale of two hotels. Thursday night I stayed at the place where you’re supposed to be smarter for staying there. It’s a relatively new hotel in Vernon. It is obvious to me that the management of this hotel is forward thinking. There have been numerous improvements and a much-needed elevator is a part of this renovation.

Friday night I stayed with our team down the street at what I will refer to as the Country Club Q. This hotel is a long-time favorite of the racing community and has been under nearly constant renovation for many years although it never seems to change much. The restaurant, banquet and conference center for this place seems to be the focus of their latest efforts.

The Thursday night room was awesome. I actually stayed in a handicapped room. That was the only non-smoking room with a king sized bed available. It had wireless Internet access and I didn’t even have to don my hockey helmet to get it.

Friday morning as the rain fell and the race was postponed we all were looking for something to do. I ran into a bunch of the guys from the #06 team at the Buckland Mall. Other than seeing the plastic fist that extends its middle finger and insults everyone in unmentionable language that passes it at Spencer Gifts, that trip was sad.

I witnessed why many of America’s youths might feel so disenchanted. If the most exciting thing in these kid’s lives is going to a mall like this, I now know why their suicide rate is so high. Let’s get these young folks to a racetrack soon. The only thing that I felt was lamer than the mall was me for being there.

Friday, I shared a room with Roy. Immediately upon entering our room, Roy had problems. He said, “(expletive deleted!) This room is cold.” With that he shut off the air conditioner, which didn’t work properly for the rest of our stay. Where’s the (expletive deleted) light switch for the bathroom light? Oh joy.

An employee was summoned to show us the switch. In the meantime, Roy dialed up the switch for the heat lamp which had been removed. In my assessment of the lighting situation, I stuck my finger in a vacant light socket that was once occupied by a heat lamp bulb and nearly became crispy. The only thing that saved me was probably the duct tape bathroom threshold that separated bath tile from the carpet.

I never pulled back the covers at the CCQ. Why would anyone need a blanket in a place like this? I don’t think the temperature dropped below eighty after Roy turned the AC off.

Friday we ate lunch and dinner at a restaurant across the street from CCQ. This joint is named after the little red Muppet from Sesame Street. It’s a nice place with a friendly bar.

At lunch I had chicken fingers that had been in the deep fryer since the Carter administration. Actually, the food there is quite good but my dish had been a little over-cooked. At least they were served hot.

Back at the hotel, Roy checked the stock market on his laptop and went to sleep. There was no Internet access in the room but Roy has a wireless card. Once Poulan Stihl started at it, I played a John Wayne movie on my computer. Later, after I started playing some of the audio tracks, Roy’s cell phone rang waking my roommate.

Roy had slept until it was time to go back for dinner. We walked over there with Ed. Dinner was great and they serve awesome seafood. The calamari was really good.

On our walk back to the hotel, we chatted with a fellow who was fishing. He was standing in a stream which I always thought was some kind of runoff from a sewage treatment plant that passes under the driveway to the hotel. He was catching and releasing brown fish from the brown water that were about the size of those we use for bait on the Island.

Roy had enjoyed a couple of the things I had played for him on my laptop before we left for the restaurant. At dinner, he asked if I had any George Carlin on there and indeed I do. I played George’s special “You’re All Diseased” and his album “A Place for My Stuff” for Roy and he went to sleep, kind of. He’d snore for five minutes and then roll over and laugh hysterically and go back to snoring. This went on for several hours.

6:39 AM Saturday, the phone rings. What the (expletive deleted)? It’s Stanley. “Let’s go!” We don’t have to be at the track until eleven. Roy went back to sleep but I couldn’t. I went down for a hotel breakfast. Roy left with the guys about an hour later and they all went to eat at a restaurant somewhere. About then I left for the track. At least I got a good parking spot.

Some people might think I am harsh on hotels. At least this wasn’t as bad as the experience some of the guys who went to Riverhead dealt with. They stayed at a motel that has a name that includes the words “Budget” and “Host”. Just a tip from your Uncle Walt, avoid this Motel at all cost. That place is horrible and has been horribly infested at times according to others who have stayed there.

The deadbolt in door of the guys who had stayed there last week had been installed in four separate locations. Each different from where it had been broken out previously. I bet that made them feel special and really safe. Does anyone think there is a reason the State Trooper barracks is across the street?

Apparently there are people who have no concept of what it is when a writer, like me, really dishes it out. Last week’s article included a rant where I vented and was quite harsh about the person who was responsible for terminating Mark Mockovak. I don’t really feel I disrespected anyone else.

Wayne O’Kula got several phone calls to the effect that I had “thrown him under the bus” last week. Once he read the article, he realized that I hadn’t done so. He told me, “You can’t argue with the truth”, which earns O’Kula this week’s quote of the week.

Wayne joined the media ranks this year. He has been providing a weekly radio race report for 103.9 FM / WRCN in Riverhead. I haven’t gotten a chance to listen in. Those who have heard it have told me that he does an awesome job in support of both Riverhead Raceway and the Whelen Modified Tour.

Donny Lia has been on the kind of roll that dreams are made of. The Bob Garbarino team’s performance is finally matching up to the way his team looks in their matching shirts. However, when it comes to this year’s fashion statement, Don King’s guys look the sharpest in those Ramar Hall shirts.

I got to speak with Phil Kurze at Stafford and the 3rd Annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge is on for the first weekend in January at Lake Placid, NY. The champions of the Whelen Modified and Southern Modified Tours and the National champion of the Whelen All-American Series will all be invited to participate in this event. Stay tuned to Mod Series Scene for further updates.

Another thing that was on hand at Stafford for the New England Dodge Dealers 150 was the Whelen demonstration car. It is a Dodge Charger presented as a high-performance black and white Police cruiser. Under the large Whelen logo emblazoned on the car’s sides it reads “Protecting Those Who Serve”. It was used as the pace vehicle for the WMT race and the car and its’ lights looked awesome.

The race was a caution-filled affair. Despite that, the racing was really great. It was good to see Doug Coby back behind the wheel and racing competitively right off the bat. Doug brought Curt Chase’s #77 home fourth. Bobby Grigas started up near the front and ran well while he was there.

Grigas led several laps after a mid-race restart. It appeared as though Lia tried to snooker the rookie on that restart. Bobby left Donny waiting at the re-start cone. Grigas later was a retiree due to electrical issues. Based on a few reports I don’t think they’ll have an on-board camera wired into that car again anytime soon. Although I don’t know whether that is true or whether it had anything to do with their misfortune.

Ted Christopher pulled down his first WMT victory in nearly a year. The #36 car has been really fast for the past several shows and it was a nice day in the end for car owner Ed Whelan. Whelan’s hand had swollen like a balloon earlier in the day after he was stung by a bee. Ed told me that was the first time he had ever been stung. I bet he’d take a sting every week if the results were the same at the end of the night.

Todd Szegedy was quite quick all night and wound up in second. Mike Stefanik finished third followed by the aforementioned Coby and WMT point leader, Donny Lia. It’s going to be difficult for anyone to catch the #4 car for the championship if Lia continues to rack up these top-five finishes. By my count that’s five wins and seven top-five finishes in nine races.

Now it was time for the trip home. I stopped at a popular truck stop just south of New Haven to fuel up and get a bite to eat. I ran into the Sammons there.

While on line at the fast food joint, I wound up behind a piercing addict. This guy had more hardware in his face than a Craftsman tool catalog. He also had what appeared to be chrome rings, not hanging from but, installed into his earlobes that looked about the size of a cam bearing. Is anyone looking for a 250 lb. shower curtain? I wonder if a guy like this ran whether his nose would jingle and his ears would whistle.

It’s a short week and the Whelen Modified Tour will be back at it. We meet again on Thursday up at Thompson for the Bud Racing WMT 150 presented by New England Dodge Dealers. I look forward to seeing everyone there.