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On Some Thoughts At The End Of The Season
By Deane Mercier

November 12, Norwalk, CT--- Let me start off by saying “thank you” to Mike Fields, the Editor/Publisher of this website for naming me to the position of Editor in Chief, whatever the hell that means. I will do my best to make sure all the words have the right amount of letters and that those letters are in the proper order and that those words make up proper sentences.  

  The extra money is nice too.                                    

  The John Blewett III Memorial North-South Shootout is an event you might want to put on your calendar for next year. C&C Racing Promotions knows how to promote an event and Dale Wolbrink and her team at Racinpr did a  great job in getting information about the event to the media. 

  The event held at Concord Motorsport Park in Concord, North Carolina, features the Supermodifieds, Tour Modifieds and SK Modifieds in some very fast racing around the half-mile tri-oval. Should you attend next year you will not be disappointed with the on track activity. 

  You might, however, be disappointed with the track concession stands and the people behind the counter. This is not the fault of C&C Racing as they only lease the track.  

  I heard many race fans complaining that food was cold, not cooked enough and that the people working the concessions were just plain rude. Maybe the record setting crowd overwhelmed them but that doesn’t excuse them.

  Watching Ronnie Silk, of Norwalk, CT. win his first Whelen Modified Series race at Thompson International Speedway was one of the highpoints of my season. I’ve followed the 1996 and ’97 National Karting champion since he started out racing Karts at Calf Pasture Beach here in Norwalk and to see the smile on his face after his first WMT win is something I’ll always remember.                                   

  The low point of the season was the night of August 16 when we lost John Blewett III during the WMT event at Thompson International Speedway. It is a loss that will be felt for a very long time. 

  I first heard the news from my buddy Charlie Mitchell early on Friday morning. Then I read Shawn Courchesne’s blog in the Hartford Courant. Then I made some calls to get as much information as I could. 

  As Courchesne said in his blog it was a tough time to be a motor sports writer.  We had to put personal feelings aside. We didn’t want to write this story but we had to. It wasn’t easy. It isn’t any easier now.    

 Working with Matt Buckler, Roland Bulduc, Linda Corliss, Ben Dodge, Lisa Pignatare, Scott Running and Tony Sutton at Stafford Motor Speedway was almost too much fun.  

  Sharing various press boxes with writers like Shawn Courchesne, Brian Danko, Denise Dupont, Ron Mentus, Dave Meredith, Charlie Mitchell and Pete Zanardi is always a learning experience and always good for a lot of laughs. 

  Watching a Nextel Cup race from the press box at New Hampshire International Speedway, well, it just doesn’t get any better than that, unless you’re watching the WMT from the same press box.                                     

   The firing of Mark Mockovak, media relations man for the Whelen Modified Tour, halfway through the season without a replacement ready to go was about as ham-handed a thing that NASCAR did all season. This did not, and to this day, does not sit well with a lot of people.  

   Mark bounced back quick enough though. The people at the True Value Modified Series knew a good thing when they saw it and hired Mark to do the same job for their series.  

  Watching Brian Danko walk out of the Thompson press box wasn’t real easy to do. After covering the Modified Tour for some 22 years for Area Auto Racing News Brian decided to put away his notepad and pen and spend his summers doing other things, like taking a few vacations. He will be missed but the up side is he promised he’d be back to cover some “selected races” next year. 

  All in all it was a pretty good season, full of great races, lots of laughs, and some tears shared with good friends. 

Deane Mercier worked in radio for 35 years as a DJ and talk show host. He is currently the Host Broadcaster for Stafford Motor Speedway and is a Motorsports correspondent for the Hour Newspaper (CT).  Deane may be contacted at DeaneMercier@aol.com.

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