The ‘Coolest’ Stipulation To Have Your Car In The KingFish Car Show
Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – NASSAU, NY – Right about now last Sunday, race fans from around the Capital Region of New York State were converging on the Stewart’s Shop in Nassau, NY for the first ever KingFish Car Show…an event put together by Lebanon Valley fan-favorite Mike King. It was show that was well received by the all who attended, be it the oldest or youngest of fans. However, one stipulation from the show organizer was what made things extra special.
When King was developing the event, he wanted to make sure the fans knew exactly who the drivers were. What’s the best way to do that? Put them in their driving uniforms, of course.
“I know, most times, fans don’t know who exactly drive the cars when they are at these types of shows,” King said. “Yea, most know Brett (Hearn) or Kenny (Tremont), but how many know me, or (Paul) Gilardi or (Brian) Berger without our firesuits on.”
His plan was a great success. Everyone loved it, especially the kids.
“The whole day has been pretty overwhelming, but I know the kids loved seeing the drivers in their suits,” he said. “There’s been a lot of people here…lots of autographs given out, photos taken and hopefully fans made.”
The key to the show, however, wasn’t just the suits. It was the effort King put into it. As a driver that is respected by everyone in the pit area, the amount of cars that showed up to support the inaugural event was great, and fan turnout was amazing as well.
“Everyone loves Mike King,” Brian Berger said. “He loves everything about racing and this is what he loves the most about this sport…the family aspect and all of the people. He didn’t discriminate about class when it came to the show. Whoever wanted to bring a car here today was welcome. He knows we’re all in this together and that’s why there’s this many people here. Everyone appreciates what Mike does for our sport.”
Other News From The Event…
With the amount of cars in attendance, several changes have been put into place for 2017.
Chad Jeseo is running a PMC Race Car as his primary vehicle for the new season. This marks the first time the Averill Park, NY driver won’t be strapped into a Teo chassis since he joined the open wheel ranks in 2013.
“It’s just time to try something new,” Jeseo said. “Pete’s (Chuckta) quality of work is 100% and we’re just trying to get an advantage. He’s helped us out a ton over the years so we felt it was time to give him our help as well.”
Jeseo still has two older Teo’s at his disposal. The team sold a pair of the cars over the winter months with Orange County Modified racer Chris Shultz being the most recent to purchase one.
Having new cars was the name of the game at the show. Paul Gilardi had his new Hig Fab Chassis on display while King had a brand new PMC at the show as well, John Ruchel has his new 2017 Bicknell and Jason Meltz had his new Stone Motorsports EMS Pro Stock.
Gilardi decided to forgo his annual trip to Eastern States at Orange County last October in exchange for the new HFC Chassis. Preliminary reports have to car’s builder, Jerry Higbie, working closely with the team to get the car up to speed and build notes.
“We are real excited to get going with one of Jerry’s cars,” Gilardi said. “This is the first new car we’ve put together since 2006 so we’re hoping for good things this year.”
Ruchel’s car is a brand new chassis and body that was purchased late last year from Bicknell. It has many of the same components on it from last year’s car and will have a freshened Bedell Racing Engine between the frame rails.
Same goes for King’s #55 as his team took delivery of their new chassis the day of the 2016 Lebanon Valley Banquet in March. Both rides look amazing.
Jay Corbin had the Pro Stock he’s run for several years on the Valley high banks at the show, but did report his brand new full-fendered machine will be ready to go for the first DIRTcar Tour event of the season. His goal is to have the ride at the Valley’s open test session on April 15th to shake it down.
Brian Berger had his two-year old Bicknell on display and reports that even though his team didn’t qualify for the big event at Super DIRT Week, they learned a great deal about tire prep. He feels that will go a long way in helping to get his team up to speed faster early this season at the Valley.
“Oswego taught us so much about how to get our tires ready because it was so slick up there,” Berger said. “Randy (Williamson) from Bicknell was telling us what we needed to do, and we thought we were doing it right but and we weren’t even close. He showed us how to take care of the tires and Joe Matthews showed us some of the equipment we needed for that, so I’m excited that it may help us get off to a better start at Lebanon.”
Tim Hartman Jr. had his #22 Parillo Services Troyer on display at the show. Tim reports that this car will be in service at Albany-Saratoga on Friday’s while he has the Kollar #10% for Saturday’s at Fonda. The Parillo team has another Troyer at the ready which may see the young driver make a visit to the Valley on occasion.
Brian Sanstedt had his #12 358-Modified on display at the show. It is the same chassis and engine combination he ran at Lebanon last season, and Brian says he’s ready to get the season going.
“It’s been a long winter and we’re all ready to get back to racing,” he said with a smile.
Dave Stickles had his Pure Stock at the show as well. The car is new to him for 2017 as it was the Street Stock that Jason Meltz ran at Albany-Saratoga the last two seasons. The #55 has a newer engine it will run with the car this year and Dave can’t wait to see what he can do with it this season.
Harold Robitalle will graduate from the Pure Stock ranks to the Budget Sportsman for this season. The #03 car is a combination of two PMC’s that his team purchased over the off-season. In a combined effort between he and car owner Karl Ruquist, Robitalle couldn’t stop smiling as he looked over his new ride for 2017.
