Here Comes 2012: An Introduction

Hi, I'm Aaron! Since the age of five I have been an avid NASCAR fan, attending an increasing amount of races in person over the last decade. While my involvement in the sport has gradually increased in recent years, I have maintained mainly a fan/spectator perspective after pursuing an unrelated professional career and living in a region in Pennsylvania with little to no racing interest or racing facilities within a close proximity. I often call it my view from Amish Paradise. A couple years ago, I began writing about the sport I am so passionate about as a hobby and started my own personal blog. Now I am glad to be a part of the NASCAR Ranting and Raving family! I will often post my thoughts regarding recent NASCAR events as well as preview, recap and share my experiences from various races I travel to throughout the year. A majority will not be national NASCAR events, but you never know when you might be witnessing a future NASCAR star in the making. If you wish to view some of my past posts which in addition include links to photos and videos from my experiences, all of them are archived on my personal blog page: http://ajcrdstr24.blogspot.com. Looking forward to some exciting things for the 2012 season!

I had the chance to watch some of SPEED's online stream of Daytona Testing. It's a nice feature that they offer and it was a delight not to have to put up with a handful of commercials every few minutes. I believe I have reached my quota for the number of times I've heard the words Danica and Twitter already. I might have to start extra early this year listening to the races on MRN so that I know what's actually happening on the track during a race.

While many are waiting patiently for Daytona Speedweeks, I will be getting an early racing fix with a couple of events in the coming weeks. This weekend will be the Motorsports 2012 show outside of Valley Forge and Philadelphia, PA. This is an annual event I used to attend as a child in the late 80's and early 90's and featured countless NASCAR driver appearances. I have returned to the show in recent years, and while it has shifted to more of a regional/local racing show they still have featured some impressive racing personalities. This year's appearances seem to be a little sparse compared to previous years, perhaps in part due to the NASCAR Acceleration and Hall of Fame Induction taking place in Charlotte during the same weekend. Nevertheless, the show will not be short on championship talent. Scheduled to make appearances are former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth, championship winning crew chief Chad Knaus, multi-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr., Whelen Modified Tour champions George Brunnhoelzl III, Ron Silk and Todd Szegedy and 2010 Whelen All-American Series champion Keith Rocco. In addition, the show plans to offer several cars on display as well as the latest information available regarding area tracks, regional touring series, parts suppliers and much more.

NASCAR legend David Pearson and popular personality and Nationwide Series driver Kenny Wallace sign autographs during the Motorsports 2011 show.

A couple weeks after the show will be the annual Atlantic City Indoor Races. Every winter the Boardwalk Hall, which holds concerts and sporting events year round, transforms into a 1/8 mile indoor oval. Droves of competitors have signed up to compete across four different divisions: the TQ (three-quarter size open-wheel) midgets, a regional mini dirt modified/micro stock division called Slingshots, champ karts and micro sprints. Surely one of the favorites to win the Gambler's Classic main event will be former NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ted Christopher as he has won two of the last three years. My pick to win is former NASCAR Busch Series and Truck Series champion Johnny Benson, not because of his recognizable name but because of his recent open wheel experience and success in ISMA supermodifieds. The TQ midgets are not the same, but I think his proven versatility and the fact that he will be driving for 2010 winner Lou Cicconi will get him to the front. If anyone in the area is interested in finding out more information regarding either the Motorsports 2012 show or the Atlantic City Indoor Races, please go to www.aarn.com.

2011 Atlantic City Indoor Race Highlights

While I continue to pass the time through the late winter and early spring, I will be making some ambitious plans for the remainder of the year. I'm planning to make my first trip to Las Vegas this summer, and trying to coordinate the schedule so I can ride out to California for a few days and catch a SRL Southwest Tour late model race. Also, it was recently announced that the Pro All Star Series, a super late model touring series based in both the Southeast and New England areas of the country, will be sanctioning the All American 400 at the historic Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and the distance will return to its traditional 400 laps for the first time since the year 2000. Former winners of this race include Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace and Jeff Purvis. I most certainly will be planning some sort of trip around this race weekend in early October. Some other somewhat local races will be peppered in my schedule throughout the summer and in between the major trips, but many exact dates remain to be seen until more official schedules for 2012 have been released.

Stay tuned as I will have a recap with photos and video to share from both Atlantic City and the Motorsports Show. Thanks for reading!