POSTED January 7th, 2013| EMPIRE RACING LLC
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Winter 2012-2013 Blog
Well let's give this Blog a go. I have been trying to sit down and write one of these for months, but with hurricanes and nor'easters wreaking havoc here in New York, along with hectic schedules at work, finding spare time has been somewhat difficult.
Hurricane Sandy brought so much devastation to the Northeast. Many of our school bus facilities are located on Long Island, NY and sustained a lot of damage from the storm. I spent most of the month of November moving generators to try and restore power and bringing up donated items collected in North Carolina by the NASCAR and racing communities.
The team has already begun to gear up for the 2013 season. The 2012 Daytona pole-winning super speedway car has been pulled out, dusted off and prepped for another go at the 2.5 mile Daytona International Speedway. We also have a new addition to the team - the super speedway Camping World Truck, which we will be unveiling at the Daytona Truck race, so keep your eyes peeled for both the familiar and new team members. As if the race team needed any more work, I also have my dirt car going down for some updates to the shop in Mooresville and I can’t wait to see what the team has up their sleeve for the old #8 dirt pro stock.
At work its been a very busy year. We have lost a lot of work and have had to cut a lot of buses (if you know anyone looking for a bus, we have a few for sale). I have been driving a lot of school buses lately with and without kids on board. Speaking of buses, I raced my bus in NY and ended up getting a little more wrecked then normal - 2 flat tires and a broken fiberglass hood left me towing the 1985 GMC school bus home. But it will be back in shape for next year in no time.
Around the farm its been a cold winter already. I have used the plow trucks and buses much more than last year. I was able to spend the holidays though as Santa Clause for a Montgomery County, PA fire department. I got to stand on the roof of a fire truck as big S.C., handing out candy canes and waving to all the kids as the truck drove through town in the snow on Christmas Eve, and had a blast doing it. I asked, but was denied, on driving the truck, maybe next year though? New Years was spent fixing all the plow trucks and equipment that got a little abused from the latest snowstorm, but other than that, it was a quiet evening at home.
January 18-20 I will be hanging out at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. We will have the race truck up for this event somewhere in the show, so come check it out. If all goes well maybe I will even be able to get a seat in the Atlantic City indoor go kart race on the boardwalk on February 1-2, which would be great practice and seat time before going down for SpeedWeeks at Daytona. I might need a sponsor if anyone is looking to get some exposure in New Jersey that weekend.
Hope everyone had a safe and happy Holiday and New Year!
Sean |