Coloradoseen 02 2017

Colorado Seen 02/2017

YOU GO GRRRL! ALSO: CHARIOTEERS n ROCKIES OPENING DAY

Colorado... as seen by SONY

From the Editor

T

is the season for summer sports in Colorado. So in this issue we visit the scene as the Rockies celebrate their home opening baseball game.

And we head out onto the Great Plains to Colorado’s dirt racing tracks, where drivers from all walks of life (and all ages, and all genders) hurl themselves around quartermile tracks of dusty earth, for a trophy and a winner’s snapshot.

Photography is supposed to depend more on a photographer’s vision than on their equipment, but I want to give a shout-out to the camera used for our series of portraits of racers starting on page 42. These were made with a 1956 Agfa Super-Isolette roll-film camera. 60 years old, and still able to produce pictures as modern as 2017.

Colorado Seen

Put Colorado on your wall Prints of pictures appearing in ColoradoSeen are available for purchase.

Just click this ad.

An internet image magazine Editor & Publisher Andrew Piper

We welcome comments and letters. Submit them to: coloradoseen@comcast.net To submit work or story ideas for consideration, send an e-mail to: coloradoseen@comcast.net If you would like to advertise in ColoradoSeen, send an e-mail to coloradoseen@comcast.net for information on rates and interactive links.

Copyright © 2017 ColoradoSeen

On the cover: Colorado dirt track driver Shalanda Smith can afford to twinkle her eyelashes at the competition. She is leading her class (Sport Compact) at several tracks around the state. Page 14

Colorado Seen

At the main gate to Denver’s Coors Field, a statue of The Player greets fans to the stadium.

THE OPENER I

TEXT & PHOTOS

BY ANDY PIPER

n a season when Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey have closed, there is still a “Greatest Show on Earth” — every Spring, at every baseball park, on the day of the Home Opening Game.

Friday, April 7 in Denver was no exception.

The fans were out, street theater abounded, the bars

4

overflowed, the buskers trotted their stuff. And the commerce — Oooo, the commerce!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game and Queen’s We Are the Champions rang out from the stadium and down Blake St. The organ ground.

And so we start a new summer of America’s Game, in Denver’s own distinctive fashion. n

Above, a Colorado dude ranch promoted itself using baseballs branded on-site with a Rockies logo. Opposite, Josh Pugh celebrated with a distinctive hairstyle.

5

At left, the ever-present scalpers bought and sold tickets for blocks around Coors Field (this one at the corner of Blake St. and 20th Ave.).

Below, Linda Koitman beats a fierce tattoo on the round belly of Sean O’Grady, who was posing as a Colorado Lottery ball to promote the state-run fund raiser.

Ar right, Heather Klein sells gewgaws and trinkets in a time-honored style that could have been found in any decade of the past 100 years.

6

7

8

At left, fans party in, around, and on top of bars and other establishments lining 20th Ave. (and every other street within a mile of the stadium.

Above and right, Shane Borrillo, covered with bronze paint, poses on Blake St. as yet another statue of The Player, in the style of a century ago, for tips and compliments.

Quite successfully, too. A tip of the hat.

9

Ahh, the ticket to a Magic Kingdom.

A deep dark tunnel leads on and on, opening into — the Stadium, which was filled with over 49,000 fans for the game.

10

11

At left, fans react to game play from a front-balcony seat overlooking left field.

Below, fans looking for a quiet, private moment recreate something like an Escher drawing as they stare into space from the layered balconies.

At right, Seen from the Rock Pile, the scoreboard towers over the outfield crowds. By the fifth inning the Colorado Rockies had established their lead of 2-1 over the Los Angeles Dodgers, which held until the final out.

12

13

CATCH HER IF YOU CAN Shalanda Smith is kicking up the dust on the dirt racetracks of eastern Colorado

Doors welded shut for safety, Shalanda Smith climbs through a window to enter her 2002 Sunfire Sports Compact Class racing car in the pits of the Phillips County Raceway in Holyoke, Colorado.

16

T

WORDS & PHOTOS

BY ANDY PIPER

he old saying goes, “Dirt is for racing; asphalt’s just for getting there.”

And on dirt, Shalanda “Shay” Smith is on a roll.

In July, 2017 she’s running neck and neck for first place in the IMCA (International Motor Contest Association) Sport Compact Division in Colorado, with 566 points. Just 2 points behind her racing (and otherwise) partner, Chad Mann.

Smith, a restaurant

chef from Hudson, Colorado, races on tracks in the small Great Plains towns of eastern Colorado: Fort Morgan, Holyoke and Calhan.

Most Saturday (and sometimes Friday) afternoons will find her leaving work and trailering her car 80 to 150 miles to the east.

In 2017, there are quite a few female dirt track drivers across the various classes in Colorado (see following portrait series starting on page 42), but it is Flip to page 18

Shalanda Smith in her protective racing helmet, left. Above, a notice on her rear trunk lid plays head games with competitors she has overtaken.

17

still a bit rare for one to be consistently in the top finishers in almost every race.

Smith chides her competition with a label on the back of her car - “You’ve just been passed . . . by a GIRL!”

H

er ride is a bumblebee-yellow 2002 Pontiac Sunfire (number 1B) with a factorystock engine, but otherwise heavily modified for racing — the interior gutted and filled with a protective roll cage and formfitting wraparound aluminum seat, the glass removed and the doors welded shut for safety, the controls and gauges reduced to a bare minimum of switches and levers. And a detachable steering wheel to ease entry and exit through the windows - especially if a rapid escape is needed on the track.

Oh, and eyelashes Flip to page 23 In the blue dusk of a summer evening, the grain elevators of rural Holyoke on Colorado’s far eastern plains rise behind Smith’s Sunfire as she waits in position for the start of a race.

18

19

Lined up to enter the race track at I-76 Speedway for a “Feature Race” — the main event for her class — Shay Smith is surrounded by a network of roll bars and reinforcements to protect her in case of a crash.

22

attached above the empty headlight sockets.

Her partner, Mann, says, “She got lucky. We found one with just 50,000 miles on it for $300.

And that year of Sunfires and (Chevrolet) Cavaliers has higher factory horsepower than any other year.”

Mann himself drives a blue Cavalier of the same era.

Shalanda’s car is sponsored by two local Colorado bussinesses: Platte Valley Pharmacy, of Brighton, and DeFoe Roofing in Fort Lupton.

I

n addition to skillful driving, the strong factory horsepower is part of what gives Smith and Mann their edge, and their high standings. As a hobby class for beginning drivers, Flip to page 28

Smith enters the third corner on the quarter-mile oval track at I-76 Speedway in Fort Morgan, Colorado.

Unlike larger rearwheel drive cars which “steer right to turn left” when sliding through turns on dirt, the front-wheel-drive Compacts steer normally.

23

t Shalanda Smith holds a sign designating her the winner of a Feature Race for Sport Compact cars at Phillips County Raceway in Holyoke, Colorado on June 30, 2017.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BRANDON LEWIS

A TALE OF THREE RACETRACKS Shalanda Smith races at three different racetracks in Colorado, all on the Great Plains.

I-76 Speedway is the only one dedicated fulltime to car

racing — the other two, Phillips County Raceway and El Paso County Raceway, are located on county fairgrounds in the towns of Holyoke and

Calhan.

The Fort Morgan track has 1/4 mile laps, the Calhan Track a bit less, and the Holyoke track runs about 3/8 mile.

I-76 speedway

Holyoke

Denver

Fort Morgan CALHAN

tN

FORT MORGAN, Colorado

Pits

Pits Grandstands

100 feet

t

PHILLIPS COUNTY RACEWAY HOLYOKE, Colorado

N

Pits

Pits

Pits

Grandstands

EL PASO COUNTY RACEWAY CALHAN, Colorado

tN Pits Pits

Pits

Grandstands

Racing is a family affair for Smith.

At right, she helps her partner, Chad Mann, attach tearaway visor covers to his racing helmet, and he returns the favor by helping her install the plastic eyelashes on her car hood, below. Smith’s three children

26

attend many of the races: at right, sons Tanner, 12, and Conner, 7, join their mom in a conversation with a friend. At bottom right, Smith gives daughter Kenzie, 11, a ride on a hydraulic car jack, standard equipment in most racers’ pit areas.

27

Sport Compacts are not allowed to have expensively-modified engines (and in this era, digital engine control electronics). After every IMCA scoring race, the winning cars are briefly inspected and tested to make sure they conform to standards for tire size and alignment, and especially for upgraded engine chips that might give them an unfair advantage.

B

ut the basic car is just one factor.

Smith and Mann gameplan every track differently, changing tire sizes (Mann’s truck bed always holds a dozen or so) according to track conditions, or strategizing driving techniques (some tracks are best raced always in third gear, others in second for more revs and torque).

On longer tracks, a larger tire diameter allows a higher speed on the Flip to page 33

On the bed of Chad’s car trailer, Shay slips into her fire-resistant racing suit at the El Paso County Raceway in Calhan.

28

29

Early in the race day, the track is moist and muddy. As Shay digs away mud collected in her wheel wells during a

30

practice lap, she says “I think I brought half the track off with me — I don’t know what we’re going to race on!”

31

32

straightaways with lower engine revs, which are limited by the engine chip. On smaller tracks with less need for raw speed, smaller tires allow increased engine revs and power, right to the limit, at slower speeds.

Sometimes, the “hot laps” -— practice runs before the racing begins — bring about a quick tire change in the pits, if a track is found to be running faster or slower than usual.

O

f course, tactical skill on the track is the final factor.

The nerve to stand her ground when a competitor tries to pass (and pass when a competitor won’t give way easily). Being able to maintain control as the hours of racing turn the track surface into a hard, slick, leathery mix of water, dust, oil and burnt rubber.

Flip to page 41 Jerry Smith, right is Shay’s father. A racer himself, he is always ready with helpful observations or advice, or just his presence. Shay is fueling her Sunbird between races.

33

Shalanda Smith and her father Jerry watch a race together from behind the fence protecting the pits from wayward cars.

A collision during an early “heat race” rips the front bumper (and one of the eyelashes) off Smith’s Sunfire. Her dad,

36

Jerry, gives her a hand tightening the remaining egg-crate structure by flashlight, so it won’t come off as well.

37

RAIN DELAY, AND THEN. . .

Not every race day works out as planned.

On a hot July Saturday, monsoonal thunderstorms roll down onto the town of Calhan and the El Paso County Raceway 38

from Pikes Peak and the Rampart Range to the west.

Hope springs eternal, so Shalanda Smith and Chad Mann and a hundred other racers wait out each rain band, on the chance racing

can start. A noise curfew in Calhan gives them only a narrow window.

Above, Smith checks weather radar on her smartphone to see what is coming.

At left, Smith and Mann study the track condition as gray skies darken

the horizon yet again.

Track crews try to channel or roll off the standing water to dry the dirt as rapidly as possible, but the pits still remain a swamp of mud and water as time grows shorter and shorter.

39

40

Car-to-car contact is not the aim or the norm, but it does happen almost every race. Shay comes in from one heat race with her whole front bumper (and one of her eyelashes) missing. “At least I’ve got another — same color — but they are getting hard to find!” she complains.

At the raceway in Holyoke, Smith watches racer and friend Matt Firme in the next pit try to tighten a loose piece of bodywork. “You’re gonna bend it” she warns. “If I don’t, someone else will” he responds.

And there is the advice Shalanda gets from Scott Hampton at the Calhan raceway. “Shay,” he says, “just go out there and hit the blue car (Mann’s). Spin him around and then you’ll win!” Mann, standing right there, grins widely.

Dirt racing runs in the Smith family. Shalanda drove her father Jerry’s old car, and got her first Flip to page 43 As fellow racers stare into the flooded El Paso County Raceway, Smith resigns herself to a weekend without racing.

41

42

car of her own from her brother. Most race days, her three children, Tanner, 12, Kenzie, 11, and Conner, 7, are part of the team. Tanner is already doing a little driving himself.

A

nd while Shalanda and Chad are always together, there remains a tight bond with her father, Jerry Smith.

Most race days, he is always there with observations or a word of advice: as she fuels her car, as they watch other races from the pit bleachers, or as he lends a hand patching up the loose parts by flashlight after her accident with her bumper.

But Shalanda Smith also does just fine on her own.

“The more you’re in the car, the more you learn. I’m out every week hitting every one of the tracks, and each one is completely different to drive. n

Lips kiss and bumpers kiss on a drier day at the Calhan track, as Mann and Smith wait to have their winning cars checked by race officials. n

43

KRYSTAL BREESE

CHARIOTEERS Peyton, Colorado Dwarf Car, #99r

TEXT & PHOTOS

BY ANDY PIPER

F

or close to 4000 years, humans have been putting wheels on things and going around and around in circles as fast as possible.

There’s not that

much difference between Ben Hur and today’s dirt-track car drivers — except the number of horses out in front.

Here are some of Colorado’s modern charioteers, who choose from a variety of car classes.

There are the Modifieds and Sport Mods, with wedge-

shaped hand-constructed sheet metal bodies vaguely the shape of a regular car.

There are the Sprint cars with wings on the roof and nose to push their light weight onto the ground for grip and control.

There are the Micro-Sprint and

Dwarf cars, both types powered by motorcycle engines.

And then there are the classic Stock cars (and less powerful Hobby Stocks and Hobby Compacts) — cars that once actually drove on the streets, and have now been stripped of their interiors for racing.

BRANDON ‘BUDDY’ TUBBS II Black Forest, Colorado 305 Sprint Car #95

44

45

DANNY ESTEP

Falcon, Colorado 270 Class Micro-Sprint #15e

46

DEVIN BREESE

Peyton, Colorado Dwarf Car Pro #2p

47

BECKY DECHANT Denver, Colorado Sport Modified #11

48

ERIC RICHARDSON Simla, Colorado Sport Modified #77x

49

DANNY CONCELMAN Colorado Springs, Colorado Sport Modified, #4D

50

COLE HALL, 16

Fort Morgan, Colorado Hobby Stock #55

51

BRIANNA RHOADES, 13 Ault, Colorado 270 Class Micro-Sprint #8

52

DALTON WEBB, 13

Golden, Colorado 270 Class Micro-Sprint, #29

53

JERRY HUNTER Greeley, Colorado Dwarf Car 16R “Pepé Le Pew”

54

DAKE WELLS

Thornton, Colorado 270 Class Micro-Sprint #28

55

CRAIG FURSTENAU Strasburg, Colorado Sport Compact #12c Ford Escort

56

TOM GALLAGHER Marble, Colorado Unclassified outlaw #69 Ford Pinto

57

SHALANDA SMITH Hudson, Colorado Sport Compact #1B Pontiac Sunbird

58

CHAD MANN

LaSalle, Colorado Sport Compact #27 Chevrolet Cavalier 59

ALICIA HILDER, 14 Fort Morgan, Colorado Sport Compact #8A

60

BRIAN CROSS

Brighton, Colorado Sport Modified #78 n 61

If you like what you’ve Seen here

You can be a part of it.

Just click this page to make a supporting donation to Colorado Seen