At last - The 44th Governor's Cup weekend report.

[Snowball]

I'm dissapointed that Tim Russell won't be gunning for the $10,000 bonus at the Snowball! I saw that he had the Derby on his schedule, but now it's gone. I sure did figure that he would take a shot at winning $30,000.

[carolwicks]

Andy.....

AMAZING coverage. Keep up the great work. I really appreciate what you do. Makes it seem like I didnt miss the race. Most detailed short track racing coverage yet!
carolwicks aka OZ (just my opinion)

[Edm]

Andy, hope you don't mind this or take it the wrong way but when you write especially on the internet, you need to shorten some of your paragraphs. It just works better and I am always having to do that when I get reports to post. Smaller paragraphs work better but don't ask me why. Jack taught me that a long time ago. Here is what I mean if you don't mind:

A field of 34 cars, of which 31 would take the green flag to start the race, had spent a whole weekend testing, tweaking and tuning their cars, and if qualifying was anything to go by this was going to be one heck of a race. The evening qualifying session had seen one of the pre-race favorites, Jeff Choquette in the #33, firmly plant himself in pole position with a fast time of 17.551, but with barely 0.4s between pole position and 20th place the competition would be fierce. Just a look at the starting line-up showed what Choquette would face if he wanted to convert that qualifying performance into a win, and seeing #11 David Rogers, #88 Justin Larson, #36 Tim Russell, #9 Rich Clouser and #73 Sam Watts all qualifying less than 1/10th of a second behind him meant that any one of these drivers would be sitting and waiting for the slightest opportunity. That was just the tip of the iceberg for any would-be winner of the Governor’s Cup as it didn’t even include the #84 of Wayne Anderson, qualifying in 7th starting spot, or the #05 of Jeremy Colangelo, who had fought his car to pull off a creditable 10th starting place.

How I would fix it and post it: Like I said, hope you don't mind the hint but it was something taught to me by Jack:

A field of 34 cars, of which 31 would take the green flag to start the race, had spent a whole weekend testing, tweaking and tuning their cars, and if qualifying was anything to go by this was going to be one heck of a race

The evening qualifying session had seen one of the pre-race favorites, Jeff Choquette in the #33, firmly plant himself in pole position with a fast time of 17.551, but with barely 0.4s between pole position and 20th place the competition would be fierce.

Just a look at the starting line-up showed what Choquette would face if he wanted to convert that qualifying performance into a win, and seeing #11 David Rogers, #88 Justin Larson, #36 Tim Russell, #9 Rich Clouser and #73 Sam Watts all qualifying less than 1/10th of a second behind him meant that any one of these drivers would be sitting and waiting for the slightest opportunity.

That was just the tip of the iceberg for any would-be winner of the Governor’s Cup as it didn’t even include the #84 of Wayne Anderson, qualifying in 7th starting spot, or the #05 of Jeremy Colangelo, who had fought his car to pull off a creditable 10th starting place.

Alot of time I will skip over the long drawn out paragraphs but I tend to read all of Andys report.

[Andy S]

Thanks for all the kind comments and suggestions - they really are appreciated, and I hope the racers on here feel I'm doing them justice in describing their exploits and the risks they're taking just to give us fans some enjoyment.

The Saturday report was an interesting one to write and I was 90% happy with it but agree with Jane that it needs some work in places too. Writing up a 200 lap race featuring over 30 cars is something a bit different to the normal 25 to 50 lappers where there's usually two or three highlights to be included and you can add a little more color and description. With 200 laps there are so many things going on you have to edit yourself as you go, and I tried to make sure I mentioned as many drivers as possible if I could, even if it meant missing some bigger incidents out for smaller ones that were the only notable moments for some of the cars.

Like I say, it's still a work in progress but if they'll still have me I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth into this next season!

[Jane]

First, thank you Andy for not getting mad or taking it the wrong way. I have been editting stories now for many years and the one thing Jack taught me is that in internet writing, paragraphs need to be shorter. They print easier and it is easier for the reader. I do appreciate you not taking this the wrong way because in no way was I cutting down your reports, they are great. I was just trying to help you with the editting part. I had to edit one today and cut down the paragraph which was way long into smaller ones. It does not change the story at all because I would never change someone's story, just made it easier for the reader and for print.

Again, thank you for not taking this the wrong way which some may have. But like I said, I have been editting stories for a long time and it is just something I do now. Shorter paragraphs work alot better on the internet and also when you write for a newspaper which I have done twice now for News Journal and Florida today. Those editors can be killers and they taught me the same thing. So thank you for not getting mad at me.

I know what it takes to sit down and write a race story. Some thing it is only a 30 minute job and by no way is it. It can and does take hours to write a good race story and you yourself knows that. You want your reader to feel like they were there and that is not easy and you don't want to overlook anything if possible. So thank you so much for not calliing me a bitch like some do and say I am just being a bitch because I am not. I just wanted to give you a helpful hint and hoped you took it in the way it was intended.

Thank you - the BITCH Jane

[carolwicks]

Jane

You are so much NOT a bitch. You have been supporting racing for many years... your stories are great. I realize most stories stick with winners or the more popular drivers. i love hearing about some of the guys who race hard and dont win. andy does that.... i hope my post didnt hurt you. that wasnt my intention. There are ALOT of writers..some better than others. I too dont usually read long stories but Andy has a way of keeping our attention....I, of all people, would never consider you anything but an awesome woman.
luv ya
carol

[Jane]

Thanks Carol but alot of people consider me a bitch and well, I guess sometimes I can be. I was not putting Andy down in anyway or his stories, he knows that, just giving him a helpful hint on writing on the internet. I do alot of editting for karnac and that was all I was doing was giving him a hint.
But yes, Carol, I know alot of people think I am a Bitch and do alot more thing than I actually do. I seldom delete and have never banned anyone from this board but everyone thinks it is me so therefore I am the karnac bitch. But it is okay Carol, and does not bother me at all.

Every writer has his/her own style thank goodness. We are all different and should be. I have a bad habit of writing from my heart sometimes which is good and bad. I also will call the kettle black and have gotten into trouble for that but if you can't be honest, then why write at all. But thank goodness we are all different.

But don't worry Carol, I am use to being called a bitch lately. No big deal at all. It is better than some other names that I know of. But thanks for saying I am not one but really, it does not bother me at all anymore. You see, my skin has gotten very tough over the last year for many reasons so don't worry about it.

[Jimmy McKinley]

Andy, GREAT write-up. I couldn't be there due to financial issues (i.e., payin' the bills ), but your angle on the race was excellent.

Next race we'll probably be at is the Richie Evans race in February.

[Billy Cuddy]

Yeah Andy, I couldn't be there either. Awesome write up. I really like the way you write, I've read alot of racing reports you just seem to have a knack for it. I glad your writing for Fascar because I can't always make it to NSS, but with you writing the story I can save money and still enjoy the show.

[Andy S]

Thanks for the kind words, guys - it really does mean a lot!

Jimmy - let me know next time you're definitely racing at Orlando and I'll make sure that I come across to say hello and introduce myself.

Billy - it was great to finally meet you a couple of weeks back (when I was pushing Rex's #85 in and out of the tech inspection) and I hope you know that you have a bunch of fans back in England now! Those early races this season between you, Bobby, David Gould, John Bennet, Justin Reynolds and the others in the Super Stocks were the races that got us absolutely hooked on coming down every week to watch. So in a way, it's me that should be thanking you and the others for keeping me coming to the races and ultimately leading to all of this!

Of course, that means that everyone can blame you for it too...

[ocalasp76]

Thanks for the kind words, guys - it really does mean a lot!

Jimmy - let me know next time you're definitely racing at Orlando and I'll make sure that I come across to say hello and introduce myself.

Billy - it was great to finally meet you a couple of weeks back (when I was pushing Rex's #85 in and out of the tech inspection) and I hope you know that you have a bunch of fans back in England now! Those early races this season between you, Bobby, David Gould, John Bennet, Justin Reynolds and the others in the Super Stocks were the races that got us absolutely hooked on coming down every week to watch. So in a way, it's me that should be thanking you and the others for keeping me coming to the races and ultimately leading to all of this!

Of course, that means that everyone can blame you for it too...

Yup Andy.......Great write up of the race. I read stuff in there I missed and I was there,except for a few nature breaks from the BBQ.

Thought I would join the long list of blokes who are 'pissing down your leg' on the stories. Someday that too will pass.

Jane, who called you a bitch?? It sure was not ME.....Love what you do as well.
-GEM-

[Todd McCreary]

hey Ocala, i got a new nickname for you; "Toe".

[flraceguy]

Andy, hope you don't mind this or take it the wrong way but when you write especially on the internet, you need to shorten some of your paragraphs. It just works better and I am always having to do that when I get reports to post. Smaller paragraphs work better but don't ask me why. Jack taught me that a long time ago. Here is what I mean if you don't mind:

Jane... The problem with shortening everything up is that if people weren't there, they would get a very short abridged version of it... One of the reasons that people enjoy the way Andy writes these is that they can almost get the feel that they were there at the races... This isn't the newsprint where one must shorten everything to fit in a particular column or space... We are blessed with a media that we can use to fit our particular needs, and in this case it is a "miniature" replay of the race for race fans so they can understand and know what went on... I actually enjoy Andy's writings because alot of the times when I am at the races, I can't watch them because I am working with or on a car whether it be in that race or another race...

Please don't misunderstand me, I am not chastising you, I am just letting you know that many of us enjoy how he writes things up... Keep up the good work Andy we do enjoy you and your writings...

Happy Turkey day to all...

[ocalasp76]

Huh....

hey Ocala, i got a new nickname for you; "Toe".

Not sure where you get that word "Toe" from or what it means........

I do have one for you though...."TROLL".....

-GE UMM-

[Todd McCreary]

why wouldn't you feed trolls? i hear they like Toe Jee-am.