L8models
10-06-2005, 07:49 PM
http://localracechat.smugmug.com/photos/38952468-S.jpg
Staff photo by Marc Hall
Glenn Howard of Wade has won 18 of the 20 Pure Stock races at Fayetteville Motor Speedway this season.
By Thomas Pope
Motor sports editor
WADE - Hayfield Road is little more than a quiet strip of asphalt in the northeastern corner of Cumberland County, with the silence broken only by the occasional car, tractor or radio-controlled airplane.
It's a good place for thinking. The garage behind Glenn Howard's home provides such a sanctuary and is the polar opposite of the cacophonous surroundings of the speedway where he spends his Saturday nights from April through October.
Howard has visited victory lane more than any other Cape Fear region racer this year, having won 18 of the 20 Pure Stock events held at Fayetteville Motor Speedway.
"If there's something he doesn't understand about the car, he reads up on it until he does," said Ricky Shook, Howard's engine maven. "A lot of people, I just build their motors. He comes over and we discuss everything about it."
Howard's closest competitor in the points, Fayetteville police Sgt. Rob Spatorico, is also impressed.
"Glenn's an experienced driver," Spatorico said. "He's always got his nose in the books and he's found a magic ticket. He's putting it on us pretty good."
Howard, who works in the press room at the Dunn Daily Record, said the key to his success is constant re-evaluation of how his Camaro reacts to track conditions.
"I've got a stack of books on race cars that you wouldn't believe," he said. "I really study it. I think about that car 24 hours a day.
http://localracechat.smugmug.com/photos/38952472-S.jpg
Howard
"When Fayetteville was closed last year, I ran a lot of races at Wayne County Speedway and at Clary's (Speedway). I won one at Wayne County and pretty much got schooled at Clary's. Wayne County is high-banked and Clary's is real flat, almost like a Martinsville. Learning how to set the car up to run at those places has helped me run better at Fayetteville.
"I've had a good setup under this car for the last five or six years. This was the first car I had and I tried to sell it, tried to sell it, and nobody would give me anything for it. I ran Late Model for two years and after I sold that thing, I went back to this car and hit on the setup again."
Fayetteville's 4/10ths-mile, high-banked dirt oval usually plays into the hands of the car with the most muscle under the hood. And while the powerplant Shook built is a solid piece, it's tame compared to some others Howard faces.
The true key is the superiority of how his car negotiates the corners. Last Saturday's heat race was a perfect example of that, Spatorico said. Howard started at the back of the field, had to pit to replace a flat tire on the second lap, then made a charge to the front.
"D.J. (Tyndall) and me were running pretty good and here comes Glenn," Spatorico said. "He just drove by us like we were standing still.
"The way he's got that car set up he barely gets off gas in turn one, brakes the car and gets it settled, and he's not a third of the way through one and he's back in throttle. The rest of us are getting the cars braked and back on the gas as soon as we can, but he's already gone."
Howard's performance has frustrated many of his fellow competitors. Unable to figure out how they're getting beat by a one-man team, many wonder if he's abiding by the rules.
There's a way to find out. Track regulations allow a protest within five minutes after a race for a protest fee of $600 cash. The driver being protested has to post a $300 counter fee or forfeit his earnings for the night. If the car clears inspection, the driver gets his $300 back as well as $300 of the protester's money. The track keeps the rest.
Tech director Steve Core can check the car as extensively as he wishes at any time, and he randomly inspects the top three finishers' cars in each of the five weekly divisions. Howard's car has passed every time Core has singled out his division.
"I wish they would" protest me, Howard said.
Last weekend, a group of competitors raised the $600 fee and Howard was ready to take the challenge. But a disagreement between the protesters and officials over what could be checked couldn't be settled, so the teardown didn't go forward.
Core said he'll look at everything under the hood during any protest to satisfy himself and all parties.
"I've looked under (Howard's) car, I've checked the carburetor, I've checked the intake. I've had the valve covers off of it to make sure he's got the right valve springs and that he doesn't have a roller camshaft in it," Core said of his random inspections. "I've taken spark plugs out and looked down in the cylinders with a camera to make sure he's got flat-top pistons like he's supposed to.
"If there's something wrong with the car, then it would be deeper than the postrace inspections. The only way they're going to find out is to put the money up and protest the man."
Spatorico said the protesters would be wasting their time looking for something illegal regarding Howard's engine.
"The same fellow (Shook) builds my motors, too, and he just will not build an illegal motor," Spatorico said.
Shook calls Howard "the hardest-working man I've ever seen on a race car. He's constantly checking stuff. If everybody was as dedicated as him, he'd have a lot of competition."
Or as Howard puts it, "I just eat, breathe and live it."
All on the peace and quiet of Hayfield Road.
Motor sports editor Thomas Pope can be reached at popet@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3520.
Staff photo by Marc Hall
Glenn Howard of Wade has won 18 of the 20 Pure Stock races at Fayetteville Motor Speedway this season.
By Thomas Pope
Motor sports editor
WADE - Hayfield Road is little more than a quiet strip of asphalt in the northeastern corner of Cumberland County, with the silence broken only by the occasional car, tractor or radio-controlled airplane.
It's a good place for thinking. The garage behind Glenn Howard's home provides such a sanctuary and is the polar opposite of the cacophonous surroundings of the speedway where he spends his Saturday nights from April through October.
Howard has visited victory lane more than any other Cape Fear region racer this year, having won 18 of the 20 Pure Stock events held at Fayetteville Motor Speedway.
"If there's something he doesn't understand about the car, he reads up on it until he does," said Ricky Shook, Howard's engine maven. "A lot of people, I just build their motors. He comes over and we discuss everything about it."
Howard's closest competitor in the points, Fayetteville police Sgt. Rob Spatorico, is also impressed.
"Glenn's an experienced driver," Spatorico said. "He's always got his nose in the books and he's found a magic ticket. He's putting it on us pretty good."
Howard, who works in the press room at the Dunn Daily Record, said the key to his success is constant re-evaluation of how his Camaro reacts to track conditions.
"I've got a stack of books on race cars that you wouldn't believe," he said. "I really study it. I think about that car 24 hours a day.
http://localracechat.smugmug.com/photos/38952472-S.jpg
Howard
"When Fayetteville was closed last year, I ran a lot of races at Wayne County Speedway and at Clary's (Speedway). I won one at Wayne County and pretty much got schooled at Clary's. Wayne County is high-banked and Clary's is real flat, almost like a Martinsville. Learning how to set the car up to run at those places has helped me run better at Fayetteville.
"I've had a good setup under this car for the last five or six years. This was the first car I had and I tried to sell it, tried to sell it, and nobody would give me anything for it. I ran Late Model for two years and after I sold that thing, I went back to this car and hit on the setup again."
Fayetteville's 4/10ths-mile, high-banked dirt oval usually plays into the hands of the car with the most muscle under the hood. And while the powerplant Shook built is a solid piece, it's tame compared to some others Howard faces.
The true key is the superiority of how his car negotiates the corners. Last Saturday's heat race was a perfect example of that, Spatorico said. Howard started at the back of the field, had to pit to replace a flat tire on the second lap, then made a charge to the front.
"D.J. (Tyndall) and me were running pretty good and here comes Glenn," Spatorico said. "He just drove by us like we were standing still.
"The way he's got that car set up he barely gets off gas in turn one, brakes the car and gets it settled, and he's not a third of the way through one and he's back in throttle. The rest of us are getting the cars braked and back on the gas as soon as we can, but he's already gone."
Howard's performance has frustrated many of his fellow competitors. Unable to figure out how they're getting beat by a one-man team, many wonder if he's abiding by the rules.
There's a way to find out. Track regulations allow a protest within five minutes after a race for a protest fee of $600 cash. The driver being protested has to post a $300 counter fee or forfeit his earnings for the night. If the car clears inspection, the driver gets his $300 back as well as $300 of the protester's money. The track keeps the rest.
Tech director Steve Core can check the car as extensively as he wishes at any time, and he randomly inspects the top three finishers' cars in each of the five weekly divisions. Howard's car has passed every time Core has singled out his division.
"I wish they would" protest me, Howard said.
Last weekend, a group of competitors raised the $600 fee and Howard was ready to take the challenge. But a disagreement between the protesters and officials over what could be checked couldn't be settled, so the teardown didn't go forward.
Core said he'll look at everything under the hood during any protest to satisfy himself and all parties.
"I've looked under (Howard's) car, I've checked the carburetor, I've checked the intake. I've had the valve covers off of it to make sure he's got the right valve springs and that he doesn't have a roller camshaft in it," Core said of his random inspections. "I've taken spark plugs out and looked down in the cylinders with a camera to make sure he's got flat-top pistons like he's supposed to.
"If there's something wrong with the car, then it would be deeper than the postrace inspections. The only way they're going to find out is to put the money up and protest the man."
Spatorico said the protesters would be wasting their time looking for something illegal regarding Howard's engine.
"The same fellow (Shook) builds my motors, too, and he just will not build an illegal motor," Spatorico said.
Shook calls Howard "the hardest-working man I've ever seen on a race car. He's constantly checking stuff. If everybody was as dedicated as him, he'd have a lot of competition."
Or as Howard puts it, "I just eat, breathe and live it."
All on the peace and quiet of Hayfield Road.
Motor sports editor Thomas Pope can be reached at popet@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3520.