*Note from 3Wide: I hope you enjoy the first of what we hope will be a very interesting series to be featured here in The Vault from racer, owner and now "writer" Tony P. Tony provided this introductory column last week (prior to opening weekend) which offers a little personal and professional background information on Tony as a former racer, current owner, (and forever fan), along with a glimpse at the direction you can expect from his future offerings. We are glad to host Tony's column and look forward to an inside look at what's involved in preparing a car to do battle today, week after week, for the 2009 Season. Thanks for taking us along for the ride on the #175 Tony.... Good luck to you and John in 2009!
Racing 101-Week 1 April 6th, 2009
Welcome to a new corner of 3wide’s Picture Vault…Racing 101. Joe 3wide threw out the fishing line looking for some new elements to what is one of the most addictive websites dedicated to racing and he managed to reel me in to write this column.
"Hopefully, after a few reads you’ll come back week in and week out to see what’s new in the racing world of today. Plus, you'll also be able to compare racing in 2009 to what you remember from back in the day." If you’re a fan who has never gotten their hands dirty and wanted to get glimpse of what it takes to actually put a car on the track-this column will hopefully be the answers to the questions you were always afraid to ask.
Before we actually get into some “meat” so to speak, I think it would be appropriate to tell you who the hell I am so you don’t think this is some boring columnist who thinks they know racing because it is what they are paid to do and they have a communications degree from a college you never heard of. I am a real, live, born in the flesh New Jerseyite and have been from the day I came out of the factory. My name is Tony Pietrofitta. Don’t worry if you can’t say it, most people can’t-which is why I’m known as Tony P to most folks, and Mr. P to the students at the high school that I teach Social Studies at for the job that pays for this addiction I have. I currently own, but do not drive, a trio of winged money pits…err..race cars. Two are for the Pennsylvania Super Sportsman series. You could call them self starting sprint cars but don’t say that around folks from PA. The third is an injected 358 sprint car which is basically one step below your 410 Outlaw style sprinter. This will be our first year out in Central PA full time since a canceling of our class by a NJ track. My driver is good friend and killer pilot John Romano Jr. You may have remembered his father racing back in the 80’s and 90’s when East Windsor was around.
It has been a long, strange trip to get where I am. I could go blow by blow, but this isn’t a story about my life, it’s a racing column. All I’ll say is this-I’ve managed to build and drive many, many cars in just the short time I’ve been alive. I’ve wheeled 14 second crap bomb bracket Camaros, 7 second, 170MPH big block dragsters, small block sportsman modifieds, and finally, a winged car. I’ve managed to blow just about every one of them up, and put a few into the wall too. Yet, in the end, after threatening my alter ego with quitting several times-I’ve been at this for just about 20 years non-stop. Not a season has gone by that I have not been hyped up for opening day.
So why did I decided to write this column? Actually, I have lots of free time.
Anyone who has ever owned a racecar (or worked as a public school teacher) knows that line was about one of the biggest lies every told. Actually, I have a few reasons. I think there are many ex-racers out there, especially some older ones, who think that the racers of today don’t have the same skills in the garage and on the track that folks 30 to 40 years ago had. I’m here to show you what we actually do TODAY so at the very least you have some solid information before you make that call. Once you read this I think your opinion will change. I also would like to open the window up to the fans out there who have really no clue just how much goes into putting the show on every Saturday night so you can enjoy the same thing we enjoy-short track racing. Finally, if I can teach a younger fan out there that this isn’t all bad and you in fact CAN DO THIS. If I can possibly stop you from making one of the countless dumb mistakes I’ve made over the years, the hours I spend in front of the computer will be well worth it.
If you’re still with me at this point, I’m glad. This is where I’ll tell you what you will see here week in and week out. This column will be broken down into two parts. Or, at least that is the plan. First, I’m going to attempt to show you what it is like to keep the traveling circus that I call my race team on the road week in and week out. I’ll cover topics like expenses, time I spent working in the garage, what we did right and wrong, and how we run the operation in general. We’ll get into what we change at the track, how we do it, and might even throw in some weekly gossip about whose butt I almost might have sort of wanted to kick on Saturday night but didn’t because I haven’t been in a fist fight since 6th grade and I would most likely lose my job if I did. I promise it will be informative, and most of the time, humorous.
Secondly, I’m going to lean on some older friends from the racing world to help me compare the technology today to what existed 30 years ago when I was more interested in Sesame Street than Wall Street. We’ll get into what has changed drastically and what has not. I’m hoping both you the reader and yours truly the writer will learn from the experience and we’ll both walk away knowing a just a little more.
That’s it for the first installment. The season starts for TPR (Tony Pietrofitta Racing) this Friday night at Williams Grove, and heads to Lincoln Speedway on Saturday. We’re looking at rain for Friday so we might just be doing Saturday night. I could have written a book on what I’ve done in the past week but we’ll start next week with a recap and some good news, God willing.
Comments, questions, and opinions are always welcomed unless you’re a serial killer or an overzealous environmentalist. You can email me at stocker1042@hotmail.com
Until next time, take care, be good, and go see a race this weekend.