The Underdog does the Unthinkable

Posted on March 20, 2026 by Doc

It all comes down to this. An entire season of drama, controversy, and excitement has all led to this very moment. Let’s give you a full rundown of all the contenders for the championship and the ones who came up just short. First off it’s the points leader heading into today’s race Lane Moody. He has come on strong late in the season and looks to try to win his first championship in his second full time season at the top level. Then in second. He was the regular season champion and has been consistent through the post season so far it’s Will Plymouth. His consistency is undeniable and while he doesn’t win often he will certainly be a major contender today. Then it’s the young superstar who continues to ruffle feathers of his competitors. Crew Remcheck has been the star of the show in most of the races this season but not always for the best reasons. He has been known to be very aggressive and certainly has not garnered many friends from his fellow competitors but the fans absolutely love him and if he were to win it would be the biggest party anyone has ever seen. And finally the last driver in mathematical contention to win the championship today, Roger van Goshen. While still far from a potential first championship he is still in contention as we head into today’s season finale. The veteran who is planning to retire in the coming years has been oh so close so many times to a championship but circumstances each time have kept him from the biggest prize in racing. He looks today to change that narrative and win his first ever championship. Well now you know the contenders today let’s take a look at some of the other drivers that just missed out this season.

First is Jamie Knockerhill, he has had an unexpected standout season but a lackluster run last week at vegeblanc speedway leaves him out of contention for a championship but let’s not forget the impressive season he has had. Knockerhill has gone from being a backmarker driver in previous season to being a frontrunner and this season has won more races than anybody else. It will be interesting to see if he can carry this momentum into next season because nobody was expecting this kind of run from him. And last but not least of our drivers that made the chase for the championship this season is Bart Westerly. Bart is a driver that has notoriously struggled with funding his whole career and has ran with small race teams. But he has always shown to have the natural talent and abilities to outrun his equipment and run very well in cars that should be nowhere near where he is able to bring them. So when a couple seasons ago he got a once in a lifetime opportunity to drive for one of the best teams in the series in Becklestone Racing that was something he obviously couldn’t pass up. And while it took him some time to get used to running for a good team once he got the hang of things he took off and assented himself to a consistent chase caliber driver and once again made the postseason this year and while finishing last among the chase drivers is not what he wanted this is certainly a good year to build on and he hopes to have a strong run to finish out the season.

And now the venue for today’s championship race. The Jackson Mitchelton Memorial Raceway. A highly respected track named after a highly respected racer who unfortunately died at the track 30 years ago. The track is 1.5 miles in length and has many many lanes for the drivers to run which is something the drivers love. One caveat to today’s races though is that the tires are expected to wear very fast so it will be a race where the drivers that can manage their stints the best will have the best finishes today.

Practice has now gotten underway and here are some notes for today’s race. There are 32 cars that are here today which is a full field for the season finale so that is nice to see. The race will be 350 laps with stages being 80, 110, and 160 laps for the final stage. The drivers will get 1 lap of qualifying and the race will begin at 3:00 eastern time.

The one and only practice session for this weekend’s race has concluded and let’s take a look at the top 5 times. The quickest time in practice goes to Seth Gallow who had a great mock qualifying run with a 29.715 Then in second was one of the championship hopefuls Crew Remcheck who has been the star of the season so far. He put down a 29.801 Then in 3rd on the timing sheets is Keelan Remcheck the younger brother of Crew who is a rookie this year put down a solid 29.875 And one of the other championship contenders Will Plymouth the points leader heading into today’s race ran a quick lap of a 29.912 And rounding out the top 10 for practice is Jamie Knockerhill who is still frustrated to not be in contention for the championship today laid down a 29.930. Now that practice is done we head into qualifying.

As we head into qualifying let’s give you a run down of the qualifying format. 32 drivers are entered and all of them will make the race. Each driver gets one lap of qualifying and those laps will set the field for today’s 350 lap race. The drivers will go out in reverse finishing order of the last race results.

With qualifying just now wrapping up let’s take a look at where your championship contenders will start today’s race. Crew Remcheck will lead the field to green today as he had an impressive lap in qualifying of a 28.763 Then the next contender today starts 5th and it’s Will Plymouth the championship leader heading into the race today. Then in 7th it’s the surprise story of the season Lane Moody who has not shown a whole lot of speed in practice but has a solid starting spot for the season finale today. And finally the last of the 4 contenders today for the championship is Roger van Goshen who qualified all the way back in the 21st position and is going to have a lot of work today to make his way to the front but his experience today may bode well because of the tire compound that is expected to wear very fast. With qualifying over all that is left is the race.

Now it is time for the moment you have waited for all season. It’s the season finale from Jackson Mitchelton Memorial Raceway. Before the race starts we have to take care of the pre race festivities. First let’s send it down to the track for the pre-race prayer led by former driver Rando Litchnow. “Let us pray, God we pray today that you keep all the drivers safe on this great day that you have given us to crown a champion. I pray you keep all the drivers safe and that the fans have an amazing race to watch today, Amen”.

Now that it is closer to race time let’s send it down to the track for the most famous words in motorsports. (PA Announcer) “Here to give the command to fire engines today is Tom Holland”. “What a great day for some lovely racing here and it is such an honor to give the command to fire engines for this championship race so with that being said, DRIVERS START YOUR ENGINES!!!!” (engine noises). (Lead Announcer Lee Saylow) “Now that the engines are fired we are inching ever closer to today’s championship race I am Lee Saylow along with me are my colleagues Sam Rinshack and Jeff Hackley and on pit road today it’s Marie Sousha”, “Before we get to anything else let’s get you updated on who our championship contenders are for today’s race”. “First it is the championship leader heading into today’s race Lane Moody who is one of the favorites today. (Jeff Hackley) “The second of the four contenders today is Will Plymouth. He has been a consistent frontrunner this season but we will see if he is able to find some winning speed today. (Sam Rinshack) “And then we have Crew Remcheck. He has been the star of the show all season and while his driving antics on track has not garnered any friends for him the fans absolutely love him and he is certainly the people’s choice for the championship today”. (Lee Saylow) “And finally we have Roger van Goshen”. “The seasoned veteran of the series is still looking for his first career championship and he feels today is his best opportunity but is certainly on the back foot after a rough qualifying effort. “Now that you know who the contenders are for today’s championship we are going to go to break and when we come back we will get today’s season finale underway.

(Lee Saylow) “We have just one lap until we turn them loose and you can feel the excitement and intensity is growing as the fans cannot wait to get this race underway”. “The pace car dives in for pit road and Crew Remchek leads the field into the start zone and here we go from The Memorial Raceway green flag is in the air and we are underway for the season finale”!!! (Sam Rinshack) “As the drivers head into turn 1 you will see them fan out all over the track but the pole sitter of Remcheck is able to hold them off down the backstretch”. (Jeff Hackley) “As they come to complete number one Crew Remchek leads but he has pressure from behind as his brother Keelan is fast and is looking to battle for the lead”. [The battle for the lead between the brothers rages on for the rest of the stage but it was Keelan who was able to hold off his brother for the stage win]

(Lee Saylow)“The drivers have pitted under the stage break and now we get ready to begin stage 2. Stage 2 will have 110 laps and then it will be the final stage to determine a champion. Let’s give you an update on where the contenders run right now. Crew Remchek leads the race after his pit crew allowed him to get out of pit road first. Then in 3rd is points leader Lane Moody. In 6th is Will Plymouth and struggling today in 20th Roger van Goshen who has struggled today in today’s race and nothing seems to be going his way.” (Is he out of contention? Will he ever win that championship he has been desperate for for so many years?) It’s time to start stage 2!!!

(Jeff Hackley) “The Remchek brothers lead them back to green!!!” (Sam Rinshack) “AND THERE’S A CRASH THE REMCHEK BROTHERS GET TOGETHER, A HUGE PILEUP TO START STAGE”2!!! (Lee Saylow) “This has huge implications on the championship picture as Will Plymouth has heavy damage and looks to be getting out of his car as well as Jamie Knockerhill, both the Remcheks and Carson Bloom.” (Jeff Hackley) “This will leave only Lane Moody and the underdog Roger van Goshen left to fight it out for a championship”. (He is only one of the two left but there is no way he could actually do it could he? Surely it’s Lane Moody’s championship to lose now right?)

(Lee Saylow) “Well now we have two contenders remaining and the field has shrunk after a collision to start stage 2 and now the championship fight is between points leader Lane Moody and the veteran still looking for his first championship Roger van Goshen. It certainly looks like the favorite right now is Moody”. (Jeff Hackley) “And the race is back underway as new race leader Jackson Mitchelton Jr. leads the field into turn one and what a sight to see the son of the great Jackson Mitchelton Sr. leading at the track that was named after his father”.

(Midway through the second stage) (Sam Rinshack) “Look who has made their way into the top 10!! It’s Roger van Goshen racing in hopes of his long awaited first championship”.

(Lee Saylow) “We have just 10 laps to go in the penultimate stage of the season and Mitchelton Jr. still leads, and it looks like there is a caution on the track……. OH LANE MOODY HAS BLOWN A TIRE AND IS HARD IN THE WALL, THAT LOOKS LIKE IT MAY BE A DAY ENDER and a championship ender as well”. (Jeff Hackley) “His team has chosen to run super low tire pressures all weekend and while it has allowed him to gain some speed for the finale it looks to have come back in the worst way possible to end his championship dreams”. (Sam Rinshack) “This means that Roger van Goshen, if he can survive the race, will win a long awaited first ever championship”. (Surely with all this misfortune it will catch up to Roger and one of the other contenders can steal it away, Surely after all these years he can’t finally win it, or can he? It might just be possible)
(Lee Saylow) “As the second stage comes to a close under caution Mitchelton Jr. will win the stage and that gets the crowds full support”.

The drivers get ready to start the final stage and Roger van Goshen is in the perfect position to win his first ever championship but all the doubts are still there and if he gets caught up in any incident Lane Moody still has the points advantage so van Goshen has to have a perfect final stage to seal the deal.

(Lee Saylow) “The drivers have pitted and are ready to begin the final stage. Jackson Mitchelton Jr. leads and we are green for the final stage of the season!!!”

(Jeff Hackley) “Oh there is a crash!!! Championship leader Roger van Goshen has spun and it looks like his championship aspirations may be over”.

With van Goshen now out of the race it puts Lane Moody back in the points lead but van Goshen’s team is determined to not get up and get their driver a championship and if they can get the car repaire and back up on track because there was another wreck on the restart after his spin causing 5 cars to retire from the event van Goshen could gain back enough points to win the championship over Moody by one singular points.

(Will the team be able to fix all of the damage? Can he get back on track in time? Will everythign actually work out for him?)……………….

(Lee Saylow) “When we thought it was over and all hope was lost the team never gave up and the battled adversity all season but it finally pays off for Roger van Goshen, HE COMES TO THE LINE AND IS FINALLY A CHAMPION, and Jackson Mitchelton Jr. wins the race”.

(HE HAS DONE IT!! UNDEBELIVABLE)

F1: The Movie

Posted on July 6, 2025 by Doc

I was a week late for this one, but it was not high on my too see list because I am not much of fan of auto racing in any form. However, I knew I have enjoyed other movies centered around the sport such as Rush or Ford vs. Ferrari, and I had heard a ton of positive word of mouth, so I wanted to make sure I had the chance to see this in the theater before it became available on Apple TV +.

I went to the IMAX theater at Cinemark to see this and it was definitely worth it. The film looked amazing with sensational cinematography, had its share of exciting moments and was thrilling at times.

According to IMDB, “After a nasty incident almost ended his career, Sonny Hayes has retired from Formula One and now races a Porsche, but when an opportunity comes from the owner of a struggling team, Sonny makes a return to Formula One racing, alongside a hot new rookie teammate, but soon realizes that he can’t take the road to redemption on his own.”

I thought Brad Pitt was clearly the standout, both in the acting area as well as having the most developed character. Most of the other characters of the film were not necessarily as deep as they could have been, but the main story focused on Sonny Hayes, so it is understandable why he got the most details.

Javier Bardem is always fun, and he does a decent job with what he was given here. Damson Idris is the other main driver with Sonny, playing Joshua Pearce. Kerry Condon was fine too, having some chemistry with Brad Pitt, but, again, her character was not as fully explored as she could have been.

I do think that I had some issues with understanding what was happening during the races as there were a lot of strategies that were pulled out that perhaps a more knowledgeable racing fan might understand more than I did. It wasn’t off-putting, but there were times that I had to stop and try and figure out why they were doing what they were doing.

However, the scenes of the racing were fantastic as was the scenes of the crashes. The film was able to build my own suspense during the races as I did not know what they might be doing.

I enjoyed the music of the film, as it really helped set the mood in many cases. There were some issues that I had with the sound of the film though as some of the voice over work of the announcers was difficult to hear during the racing scenes. I have had that compliant in the IMAX theater before so it may not necessarily be the film’s fault.

Joseph Kosinski directed this film. He had directed Top Gun: Maverick and F1: The Movie shared the same kind of thrills of that movie. The film creates a wonderful world in this F1 racing film and the creative aspect of this movie is its strength. The characters are okay. The story is okay. The look is fantastic.

See this on a big screen because I think it would be the way to truly enjoy this film.

4 stars

The Worst Crash

Posted on January 17, 2025 by Doc

The Worst Crash

By. Brien Deegan.

Weewooweewoo

The siren was the last thing he remembered after that mesmerizing day. His name was Hayden Deegan and he was only 23 years old. He was a pro motocross rider. He was driving up to the gate and his handlebars felt loose. He called his mechanic to come over but he was nowhere to be found. So he started the race. I did not expect to end up in an ambulance.

The race went on he started to get anxious about his handlebars. He just got done with his first lap and was just starting his second lap out of a 100 lap race. He needed to go see if his mechanic was in the pits. But for some strange reason he wasn’t there again. So he flew out of the pits and got back in the race.

He was in last place for a bit until lap 8. He got to first place for the first time in that whole race. He was going to do a nice trick named whip when he got past by Jett Lawrence. Jett was locked in that race because, if you win, you will get 1,000,000 dollars without tax. So Hayden stopped trying to do the whip.

Lap 21 Hayden and Eli Tomac were head to head but Eli was about to land short on a jump so he went full throttle and………. He made it and the crowd went wild. Almost everyone thought that he was going to get MVP for what he just did.

Out of the corner of Haydens eye he saw his mechanic so he flew into the pit and got his handlebars fixed. And He went back into the race and he got a flat tire which he figured out pretty easily because he wasn’t getting enough psi. So he continued the race. He went to the pit to get some water when all of a sudden Donald trump showed up to the track and went back to track but he was just so happy that Donald Trump was there so he started to sing the National Anthem in his head. He locked back in and was in 2 place behind Eli Tomac. But tomac was getting a little swirly on a berm so Hayden got time to get to first place and he did it but Tomac crashed on the berm the black flag came out it means stop ASAP. So Hayden stopped and so did the other riders.

He was rushed into the ambulance instantly and all had to go to the pit and then the green flag came out and the race started once again. Jett came out of nowhere and got to first place and he was on his 60th lap Hayden on the other hand was only on his 59th. Jett was very hydrated in this race which kept him good for the first part of the race and most of the race to come. Anyway Hayden came up to Jett.

Because he got done with a lap really fast. Jett was about to hit a jump when Hayden flew past him hitting a quad on the jump. Everyone was so mad because a lot of people were not wanting him to pass Jett because Jett was the best person there at that moment. So Jett went to his pits to get some performance enhancement liquid but his crew were out because he uses so much of it not many people knew he was a cheater.

Lap 70 was when the race became the worst crash in motocross history. Jett went crazy on another berm and had to jump off the bike. He was alright but had to jump back on the bike and almost broke his throttle cable. He twisted it back so hard. He went to the pit’s to see if it broke. It wasn’t but his hand brake and foot brake did brake so he had to switch his bikes and get on his yz 250. It’s a dirt bike for those who don’t know.

And then he saw Donald Trump in Hayden’s pits sitting on a trumpet. It’s a dirt bike for those who don’t already know. He was mad because he wanted Donald Trump to come over to his pit lane. So he went back to the track to race again when he saw Eli coming back after his crash and he was scared for him because he’s still hurt. Heyden was on a jump with every one behind him and he fell off his bike and broke his arm and his bike started to leak antifreeze on some gas that fell out of Elis bike when he crashed earlier and it started a fire and all the people behind him had to swerve out the way and they all slipped on Hayden and his bike which were both on fire and the fire grew and everyone’s bikes lit up on fire and and Jett was the first to tragically passed away then Eli got 3 degree berns from the fire. Everyone got rushed to the hospital and all the people in the crowd started saying that it was the worst crash in motocross history and they were right. Heyden was the only one that lived out of 2. Him and Eli Heyden’s last words in the ambulance was (is this a dream mom) and it was not he didn’t say a thing after a while when he got to the hospital. And then later got a disease from all the fumes from the fire and he later got perlaza Eli on the other hand sadly passed away a year after the crash. Heyden 15 years later is married and has 3 kids and lived happily ever after.