Font ResizeIt's easy to be spoiled.
Sure, sports writers can sit in press boxes and follow the events' progress, and we often do.
However, you can learn nearly as much -- and see a little more, perhaps -- from joining the crowd.
That happened Sunday night at Susquehanna Speedway Park, where I picked a spot at the top of the grandstand ... and nearly was in the middle of one of the biggest stories of the year.
For most of the night, things couldn't have worked out better for Gardners' Jay Galloway Jr., a 358 sprint driver at the Summer Fun Championships at the Newberrytown oval.
Galloway started third in his heat, drove to the lead and held off Aspers' Glenndon Forsythe in a stirring duel. That alone would have produced a great memory.
But when Biglerville's Danny Dietrich, who won the first heat, pulled an inversion of three, that put Galloway on the pole for the 20-lap feature -- and a race Galloway will not forget for a long time.
And neither will his family and friends, who happened to be occupying seats near mine. Over those 20 laps, we watched Galloway's wife, Jeannie, squirm, raise her arms and exhort her husband forward.
And the emotional display, indicative of the passion of many racing fans, nearly worked.
But, for the driver of the Helicopter Applicators Inc., No. 27, the car wasn't quite up to the task for its first-ever victory. York's Adrian Shaffer, who started fourth, chased down Galloway with five laps to go and muscled past the Adams
"Unfortunately for Jay, he's been waiting a long time (for a win)," Shaffer said. "He's going to get one. ... I guess he'll have to wait a little longer. I got into him getting into (turn) three there. ... He's the last guy I want to beat on, because he'll race you as clean as anybody. But it was time, and I was coming through."
But there were smiles all around in the Galloway camp. His eventual third place was a strong performance that only a fading right rear tire prevented from being better.
"She got tight at the end," Galloway said about the car to public address announcer Jeff Ahlum. "I couldn't control it. ... I was trying to hang on the best I could, but the car was really good."
So good, in fact, that Galloway got to do something rare for him.
"I about ran in one back there," Galloway said, motioning toward the backstretch, "because I had never lapped anybody before, so I had my hands full with that, you know."
But, as frustrating as the near-miss might have been for many, the 41-year-old veteran of go-karts, motocross and micro sprints didn't lose sight of the reason so many strap into race cars weekly.
"I'm just glad to be out here running with these guys. We come out here to have some fun," he said. "As long as we finish, that's all that matters."
And what mattered perhaps more was that the first people to Galloway's car on the frontstretch after the race were Jeannie and their son, Jacob.
It wasn't a win, but it was a celebration nonetheless, and that's something those of us who so often write about winners should sometimes take time to notice.
Cue the music: You couldn't help but think of the theme from "Jaws" as you watched Hanover's Jason Schuchart on Friday night at Trail-Way Speedway.
As Brad McClelland attempted to clear the lapped car of Brian Bruckner during the 358 sprint feature, Schuchart was closing -- fast -- and the Hanover rookie actually nosed his Shark chassis in front off the second turn with 21/2 laps remaining.
McClelland had a better exit to the corner and eventually won by a couple of car-lengths, but he noticed the rapid improvement of the grandson of Hanover racing legend Bobby Allen.
"I looked back, and I'd seen the Shark coming," McClelland said. "I thought I had a decent lead, and I guess I didn't."
Speedweek finish: The Appalachian Mountain Late Model Speedweek Series left the region for its finale last week at Bedford Speedway and, in the end, the points title came down to the final lap of the 40-lap event.
That's when Josh Richards passed Jason Covert for the lead, a move which gave Richards the championship by a single point, 637-636, over Gettysburg's Jeremy Miller.
The finale occurred after two straight rainouts at Lincoln and Port Royal speedways. Though the points are final, Lincoln has scheduled the resumption of its suspended Charlie Grinestaff Memorial, a Speedweek event, for Aug. 12.
Notes: It was a big weekend for Reed Salony, who posted back-to-back legends feature wins on Saturday and Sunday at Trail-Way and Susquehanna Speedway Park. ...
Do Frankie Peters and Mark Smith know each other? Both are Tower City residents. While Smith won the super sprint feature at Port Royal Speedway last weekend, Peters won the 600cc micro sprint feature at Linda's Speedway. ...
All season long, Dan Furman and Allen Cullum, the only two thundercar drivers at Trail-Way, have dueled, and Cullum has won them all. On Friday, the two drivers took out each other during the feature, conducted with the classic cars in the same race. But Furman was declared the winner because of a rough driving call against Cullum. ...
Last weekend, Hanover's Ken Dillon posted his second pure stock feature win at Hagerstown Speedway. Dillon said, "I'm not very good on a slick track, but Mark (Plessinger) did a good job on the track, and I ended up on the top, and that's where I wanted to be." ...
Chad Layton claimed his first victory in the Dave Middleswarth-owned No. 7 on Sunday when he won an All-Star Circuit of Champions super sprint feature at Central Pennsylvania Speedway. Former New Oxford resident Stevie Smith set the fastest time and won a heat race. ...
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame driver Keith Kauffman has signed to replace injured driver Sean Michael, who underwent knee surgery, in the Leland's.com No. 27 super sprint for select races. Kauffman begins his turn in the car on Saturday at Port Royal.
Chuck Curley is the sports editor at The Evening Sun
in Hanover.
