plus 4, 2 buddies die day after Thanksgiving - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

2 buddies die day after Thanksgiving - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Lodge open to snowmobile races - Concord Monitor
Daytona Int'l Speedway news ... - Motorsport.com
It was a memorable year at the race track - Spectrum
Richard and Judy - Daily Express

2 buddies die day after Thanksgiving - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 10:04 PM PST

Posted: Dec. 29, 2009 11:59 p.m.

Scott Shallcross may spend decades in prison if convicted of killing two young men while driving drunk the morning after Thanksgiving.

He may spend a lifetime burdened with the guilt of his actions: allegedly joy riding at more than 80 mph and causing an explosive crash.

It won't match the suffering Lori Williams believes he inflicted.

Her son, Jeremy Neuenfeldt, 20, was burned to death in the pickup truck that Shallcross crashed into while racing up S. Howell Ave. shortly after midnight. His friend, Thomas Ballman, 22, was thrown from the pickup and died from massive injuries, less than a block from his home on E. Plainfield St.

After rushing from their house, Ballman's mother and sisters saw the flames engulfing the familiar GMC Sonoma truck. Williams later struggled with police to gain a glimpse of her son.

"When I think of him, I mainly think of the crash," said Sharon Witek, Ballman's sister. "It makes it a lot harder, obviously, to think about him.

"It was very horrible realizing that the person in the truck is your brother."

The Ballman family has expressed their thoughts in two signs posted outside their home: The message: Your fun took my life. Thomas Ballman & Jeremy Neuenfeldt.

"I'm never going to get over it," said Williams. "Jeremy is never going to be able to walk in the house and smell his ma's cooking. His niece will never get a hug from him. His brother won't get to play Frisbee with him."

The circumstances of the crash haunt her.

Shallcross, 26, had been charged with a second offense of operating while intoxicated in September, online court records show, and has a long record of ignoring traffic laws and court orders.

He has been fined for reckless driving/endangering safety, operating a motorcycle without a valid license, operating a motor vehicle with a revoked license and speeding more than 25 mph over the posted limit.

Without a valid license, he drove with a friend to a number of bars on the night of Thanksgiving, after admittedly sharing two bottles of wine over dinner. That information is included in a criminal complaint that lists his blood-alcohol level at 0.158%, three hours after the crash.

The level considered evidence of intoxication in Wisconsin is 0.08.

"When I go down to the courthouse, I just want to shake that guy," Williams said.

According to the complaint, Shallcross and a friend left the City Lounge in Cudahy, drove west on Layton Ave., then accelerated northbound on Howell, pulling away from a police officer who had begun to follow the racing Honda Civic. The car plowed into the passenger side of Ballman's truck, which was turning east from Howell onto Plainfield and home.

The truck burst into flames, and the first officer on the scene was unable to reach Neuenfeldt, who was sprawled over the front seat.

Ballman and Neuenfeldt had been friends since their days at Greenfield High School and had been visiting friends after a Thanksgiving of food and football. Relatives described both as hard workers: Ballman hanging garage doors in the family business; and Neuenfeldt at the River Bend Shoe Center.

Witek, Ballman's sister, said the two cared about family, "they would have given us their last dime if they knew we needed it."

Such thoughts of them, memories of their laughter and devotion to their siblings, have been overshadowed by the circumstances and the mental images of their deaths.

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Lodge open to snowmobile races - Concord Monitor

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 10:19 PM PST

The Loudon speedway isn't the only place local snocross enthusiasts can get their kicks this winter.

The Belmont Planning Board has approved the use of the dog racing track at the Lodge at Belmont for two days of snowmobile racing next month that organizers say will draw at least 2,000 daily spectators.

The event, an official points race for the Derry-based snocross circuit Rock Maple Racing, is scheduled for Jan. 23 and 24. The Lodge hopes it will be the first of many year-round motorsport events at the now-unused dog track, general manager Rick Newman said.

Earlier this month, rookie racing promoter Craig Harmon of Deerfield inked a deal with Newman to hold events at the track for the next three years.

"When I heard that they weren't running live dogs anymore, I approached the owners and gave them a proposal to use the land in other ways," Harmon said. Harmon shut down a trucking company about two years ago to start a promotion company, Haulass Powersports, and January's event will be the first race he has organized.

The Legislature removed a provision this year that required dog tracks in the state to hold a minimum of 50 live racing days. With public interest turning in recent years to simulcast racing and table gambling, Newman said the live races were an "enormous economic burden." The legislation now allows the Lodge to essentially act as an off-track betting parlor.

After the legislation passed, the Lodge announced it would not hold live dog races in 2009 and has not scheduled any for 2010. On Monday, the town's planning board gave unanimous approval for the January snocross event.

"This will be the first time in the history of the property that anything like this will take place," Newman said. "It's really the first step in what could be looked at as a new philosophy."

Harmon said the indoor grandstand at the track would be a draw for spectators, a unique feature for a snowmobile event shared by Rockingham Park in Salem, a horse racing track that has hosted snocross in recent years.

Tara Saxton, president of Rock Maple Racing, said the race in Belmont will likely be "more technical," and possibly more competitive, since the track will not be as large as others used on the circuit.

The planning board approved the January event without needing to change the site plan for the track. But Chairman Peter Harris said the board will pay attention to see if any complaints arise before allowing future events.

"A lot of what continues to happen there is based on their performance at that time," he said.

Newman and Harmon hope to eventually host multiple snowmobile races in the winter and then become a destination for all-terrain motorcycle events in the spring and summer. Harmon said he is already working on bringing in at least three races during the summer, including a June 18 supercross event during Laconia Motorcycle Week.

The Belmont snocross race now joins the Sno Bowl, scheduled for Feb. 20 and 21 outside New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as the second major snowmobile event in the area in as many months.

The Loudon Planning Board approved the event at the speedway, which anticipates a turnout of 5,000 people per day, on Dec. 17. Residents in nearby Canterbury were concerned about the noise generated by the machines, and the board had agreed in 1999 that the track would not hold races in the winter.

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Daytona Int'l Speedway news ... - Motorsport.com

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 03:38 PM PST

Day 2 of Daytona KartWeek By Cometic Gasket: Russell, Wheldon Getting A Taste Of Daytona's Sprint Track

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Scott Russell made his mark at Daytona International Speedway winning five Daytona 200 By Honda motorcycle classics.

After retirement from motorcycle racing, he went from two wheels to four wheels with sports cars from the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and competed for the first time in the 2009 Rolex 24 At Daytona, the prestigious sports car classic.

Now, the Conyers, Ga., native is trying his hand at another form of racing at Daytona International Speedway -- karting in the annual Daytona KartWeek By Cometic Gasket.

The three-day event, which began Monday, showcases the World Karting Association on three courses -- the 3.56-mile Daytona road course, the Sprint track in turns 3 and 4 and the newly constructed quarter-mile dirt track outside turns 1 and 2.

"It's Daytona for me, it's a great place to me," said Russell, who is behind the wheel of a No. 4 kart on the Sprint track. "It's a new experience. I want to come out here and see where I stand up against some of the top guys in karting, more or less having fun with it."

Russell just took karting up a few months ago and is using it as a way to ease the transition between motorcycles and sports cars.

"What a great tool this is," Russell said. "We're learning everyday with the setup of this thing, just learning how to drive. Going from two wheels to four wheels, there wasn't a whole lot of crossover there, just the track knowledge that I had in the past. It's a whole different animal.

"This is definitely going to help me. I'm back in the GT class (in the Rolex Series) with Paul Edwards and a Corvette. I think this will apply to that. Anything that I can do to make it better on that end, that's what I'm doing."

Russell is also feeling out a new course at Daytona. He has plenty of laps on the 3.56-mile road course and the 2.9-mile motorcycle course, but he has never turned a lap on the half-mile Sprint course.

"What a neat little course that they made out here," Russell said. "It's really a lot of fun with the way it's set up. It's tough. It's slippery out here. Daytona is typically slippery in the infield and it has transferred into this as well. Getting the kart set up right and learning a new track is great experience."

Open-wheel star Wheldon in attendance:

Like Russell and NASCAR stars Jamie McMurray and AJ Allmendinger, IZOD IndyCar Series star Dan Wheldon is also competing on the half-mile Sprint track during Daytona KartWeek By Cometic Gasket.

Wheldon, who drives for Panther Racing and lives in nearby St. Petersburg, loves racing karts whenever he gets the opportunity in his schedule.

"I just love it," said Wheldon, the 2005 Indianapolis 500 champion. "Any kart race that I can do, I will try to do and when you've got one going on at Daytona, that's certainly one that you want to compete in. It's like all of these kart races, it's very competitive.

"It's very nice to spend Christmas with my wife and my son but she knows that if I sit at home too long, that I will probably drive her mad. You don't get the time to do this as much as you would like. Anytime that you do get time, you definitely want to utilize it."

Wheldon, who began karting at the age of 4, has been behind the wheel at Daytona before turning laps in both IZOD IndyCar Series testing as well as competing in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

He has a strong passion for karting and believes it's a great developmental series for anybody interested in racing.

"I think it is the only way that people start nowadays," Wheldon said. "Whether it's on a road course in a go-kart or whether they race on some dirt, I think karting is the stepping stone to any form of motorsport. It's very competitive in America. I think America is a great place to start a karting career.

"From what I've seen, there's huge competition but there's also a very nice atmosphere. I think that it's a great environment for children to grow up in but also where they can learn the fundamentals of racing and learn how to respect people and share great family time."

TICKETS

Tickets for Daytona KartWeek By Cometic Gasket can be purchased at Ticket Booth E located above the Turn 1 tunnel. Single-day passes are $15 and children under seven are $10.

-source: dis

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It was a memorable year at the race track - Spectrum

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 04:57 PM PST

With the thoroughbred racing season fading like a holiday summer tan, it's time to reflect on a terrific and memorable year of racing. And, what a year it was — a season full of sensations, setbacks and surprises.

The year 2009 left us a lot of highs and lows. Join me as we journey back through racing's rear view mirror. Hang on tight, it's a long and bumpy ride.

Everything unfolded with Kentucky Derby preps in January and culminated on that first Saturday in May. That was the first stage. It always is. It's where Run for the Roses begins. It's when immense and intense interest perks and peaks.

Spring brought with it the highs and lows. The early bird blossoms were Rachel Alexandra, Quality Road, Old Fashioned, Midshipman, Vineyard Haven, Pioneer of the Nile and I Want Revenge. Then the setbacks hit with the punch of an epidemic. All but Rachel Alexandra had triple crown aspirants sidetracked by injury.

Off Derby trail

Oldtimers have told me that they couldn't remember when so many promising horses were knocked off the Derby road by injury. Week after week from January to April these prized colts and fillies fell like 10-pins at the Virgin River bowling center.

It was a spring that left most of us shaking our heads and ripping tickets after watching an unbelieveable rail run in the Derby. The come-from-behind inside route brought instant fame for a small stable, an overlooked 50-1 shot and a nearly unknown trainer.

Mine That Bird — a colt that couldn't win against a rag-a-tag group of second rates at second rate tracks close to his stable in his sunny southwest — won at Churchill. The son of Belmont winner Birdstone had won the world's most prestigious, if not the richest, race. And he did it against the odds.

Jockey Calvin Borel, not exactly a household name, won with a perfect inside ride and a last fulong burst of jet-like speed that left us blinking in disbelief. We all watched the replay at least three times. It was that good a ride. It was perhaps the ride of the century. Lucky? The rail stayed open all the way. Good? Yes. But I'd rather be lucky than good. Calvin was both that first Saturday in May.

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Richard and Judy - Daily Express

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 03:59 PM PST

Jake Wilson had won trophies for racing four-wheeled quad bikes and was trying his first two-wheeled vehicle after being given it by his parents.

But as he practised in a deserted car park at a showground with his father Robert, he lost control and crashed at speed, suffering fatal head injuries.

Mr Wilson, a motorbike enthusiast, has been interviewed by police but officers said that they were treating the death as "a tragic accident". Investigators were examining the £2,000 orange and black KTM 50 SX bike.

The makers describe it as "the ultimate weapon for budding professional motocross racers".

Police say that Jake was wearing a crash helmet when he crashed on Sunday in a car park near the Nantyci showground in Carmarthen, West Wales.

Jake, who lived with his mother Tracey, father, older sister and nine-year-old brother Connor, was described as "a beacon of joy" by his family.

They said: "He was a loveable, affectionate and fun-loving boy who packed so much into his short life. We are struggling to come to terms with our tragic and heartbreaking loss."

Quad bike rider Jake won all three club championships in the Welsh grasstrack calendar in 2009. He was also named most improved rider of 2009 by the Bancyfelin Grasstrack Club, near Carmarthen.

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