NASCAR Day of Remembrance includes County Marine

Episode 400 (Can you believe it!!!)

May 29, 2022

Aroostook County veteran who lost his life in Afghanistan honored in NASCAR race

In this my 400th episode of UpNorth Motorsports written during this Memorial Day weekend, it is my honor to feature a story about an Aroostook County Gold Star family and their son.

While at University of Maine Orono, I got acquainted with one of my fraternity (Alpha Gamma Rho) brothers Tom Zimmerman. He was a year ahead of me in school graduating in 1973. Tom later married one of the ladies, Jane Kendrick, who was a Rho-mate, fellow university women who were supporters of our fraternity.

The Zimmerman family moved to Lille, in northern Maine, where they began homesteading. After a few years they moved to the Houlton area where Tom became a teacher and later Headmaster at Greater Houlton Christian Academy (GHCA). He retired after 30 years in 2020. They had three children, James, Christian and Meghan. This is a brief tribute to James who was killed in Afghanistan November 2010 while serving in the United States Marine Corps.

From State Senator Trey Stewart:

This Sunday during the Coca-Cola 600, the No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang car (Chris Buescher driving) will carry the name of and honor 1st Lt. James Zimmerman, a member of the United States Marines, who lost his life on Nov. 2, 2010 at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. A native of Aroostook, Maine, Zimmerman was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment of Camp Lejeune, N.C., at the time of his death.

He was a graduate of Greater Houlton Christian Academy, class of 2003, and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on March 21, 2003, the first day of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He attended boot camp at Paris Island, S.C., and later attended the University of Maine, Orono, where he graduated in 2008 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marines. While at Orono he met his bride-to-be, Lynel Winters, whom he later married June 21, 2008.

Zimmerman attended The Basic School and the Infantry Officer Course in Quantico, Virginia, after which he was assigned as platoon commander for the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In May 2010, he was promoted to first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was deployed June 13, 2010, to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Throughout his military career, he aspired to lead by example and loved his men, who in return loved him and respected his leadership and example. His lifelong ambition was to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps and dedicate his life to his country.

He loved bonfires, drawing, carving, outdoors, his backyard where he grew up, sailing and his horse, Chico. James never tired of giving his mother a hug. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, Zimmerman dearly loved his family, his God and his country. He was 25.

“When I was attending the University of Maine for my undergraduate degree,” said Senator Stewart, “I participated in the Zimmerman Challenge, a team, multi-event race spanning five miles across the UMaine campus in honor of Lt. Zimmerman. What an incredible tribute to see his name and memory shared with other fallen service members on this Memorial Day Weekend’s NASCAR 600 Miles of Remembrance event.”

Buescher was running in the top 10 most of the Coca Cola 600 when on lap 346 of 400 he got caught up in a rollover after getting tagged by a spinning Daniel Suarez. Buescher was credited with a 26th place finish.

Swede wins at Indy

My mother’s side of my family is Swedish with my great grandfather and great grandmother immigrating from Sweden. Race announcers mentioned that only one Swede has won of the 106 Indy 500, Kenny Brack in 1999. Marcus Ericsson, Kumla, Sweden, has changed that with his win today.

Kumla, Sweden is near Vastmanland County in Sweden. The town I live in is Westmanland, the English version of the Swedish County. Located nearby to Ericsson’s hometown is the capital of Sweden, Stockholm which happens to be the town next to where I live.

I say all this to say that maybe tomorrow I need to wear my Swedish shirt, yellow and blue to commemorate the Indy 500 victory. The late race red flag made for an exhibit of some gutsy driving by Ericksson to hold off second place Pato O’ Ward for four laps.

INDIANAPOLIS – Results Sunday of the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (5) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 200, Running
2. (7) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 200, Running
3. (6) Tony Kanaan, Honda, 200, Running
4. (8) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 200, Running
5. (20) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 200, Running
6. (18) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 200, Running
7. (27) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 200, Running
8. (16) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 200, Running
9. (2) Alex Palou, Honda, 200, Running
10. (15) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 200, Running
11. (30) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 200, Running
12. (17) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 200, Running
13. (14) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 200, Running
14. (21) Graham Rahal, Honda, 200, Running
15. (11) Will Power, Chevrolet, 200, Running
16. (13) David Malukas, Honda, 200, Running
17. (28) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 200, Running
18. (31) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 200, Running
19. (4) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 200, Running
20. (24) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 200, Running
21. (1) Scott Dixon, Honda, 200, Running
22. (23) Marco Andretti, Honda, 200, Running
23. (22) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 199, Running
24. (32) Jack Harvey, Honda, 199, Running
25. (10) Takuma Sato, Honda, 199, Running
26. (33) Stefan Wilson, Chevrolet, 198, Running
27. (29) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 198, Running
28. (12) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 193, Contact
29. (26) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 150, Contact
30. (25) Colton Herta, Honda, 129, Mechanical
31. (9) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 105, Contact
32. (19) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 68, Contact
33. (3) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 38, Contact

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 175.428 mph
Time of Race: 02:51:00.6432
Margin of victory: Under caution
Cautions: 6 for 31 laps
Lead changes: 38 among 9 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Palou, Alex 1 – 7
Dixon, Scott 8 – 9
Palou, Alex 10 – 12
Dixon, Scott 13 – 16
Palou, Alex 17 – 21
Dixon, Scott 22 – 29
Palou, Alex 30
VeeKay, Rinus 31
Ericsson, Marcus 32
O’Ward, Pato 33 – 35
Palou, Alex 36 – 47
Dixon, Scott 48 – 50
Palou, Alex 51
Dixon, Scott 52 – 53
Palou, Alex 54 – 57
Dixon, Scott 58 – 59
Palou, Alex 60 – 68
O’Ward, Pato 69 – 72
Dixon, Scott 73 – 79
Daly, Conor 80 – 81
Dixon, Scott 82 – 83
Daly, Conor 84 – 85
Dixon, Scott 86 – 108
Daly, Conor 109 – 111
Dixon, Scott 112 – 140
O’Ward, Pato 141 – 143
Kanaan, Tony 144
Ericsson, Marcus 145
Palou, Alex 146 – 147
O’Ward, Pato 148 – 157
Dixon, Scott 158 – 160
O’Ward, Pato 161 – 164
Dixon, Scott 165 – 174
O’Ward, Pato 175 – 176
Kanaan, Tony 177 – 181
Palou, Alex 182 – 184
Andretti, Marco 185 – 187
Johnson, Jimmie 188 – 189
Ericsson, Marcus 190 – 200

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Ericsson 226, O’Ward 213, Palou 212, Power 202, Newgarden 174, Dixon 166, McLaughlin 162, Pagenaud 157, Rosenqvist 154, Herta 142, Rossi 141, Daly 137, VeeKay 134, Rahal 130, Grosjean 128, Castroneves 123, Lundgaard 103, Sato 100, Malukas 90, Kanaan 78, Kirkwood 77, Harvey 73, Johnson 71, Ilott 71, Ferrucci 62, DeFrancesco 62, Hildebrand 53, Carpenter 49, Kellett 45, Montoya 44, Tatiana Calderon 41, Andretti 17, Karam 14, Wilson 10

Speedway 660 action for WAR, RYAN Motorsports and veteran Dave O’Blenis

Wyatt Alexander Racing in Saturday Riverview Ford Lincoln ProStock 100. (Rye Grizzly Chapman photo)

Crew chief/grandfather Bob Alexander explained their race in the Riverview Ford Lincoln Pro Stock 100 Saturday May 28th.

Any car that dropped out early today would have much fresher tires than those that did the full race today. I estimate that today’s race tires would have run nearly 200 laps.”

Ryan Motorsports at speed with driver Ryan Messer at the controls. (Rye Grizzly Chapman photo)

Robb Messer crew chief/father of driver Ryan summed up the weekend doubleheader, “It was a pretty up and down double header weekend for RYAN Motorsports. We had a good car on Saturday and led much of the first half of the race but fell off around mid-way. We pitted for adjustments and made it back to a second-place finish… but not one that we were content with.”

“We threw a list of changes at the car for Sunday and again felt we had a good car on old practice tires, but once we put race tires on, it went completely in the opposite direction. Drove from 7th to 4th in the first 25 laps of the feature, but then had a right rear tire go flat coming to the green on a restart. A frustrating start to the season, but it was great to see the kids out today!! Thanks to our crew, family and sponsors. We’re back at 660 in 2 weeks.”

100th victory for veteran driver Dave O’Blenis winning both ends of the Pro Stock races Saturday (100 laps) and Sunday’s (50 laps). He celebrates in Riverview Ford Lincoln Winner’s Circle with most of his family surrounding him. (Rye Grizzly Chapman photo)

USAC Silver Crown race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park

Some of the races I was following this busy motorsport weekend was USAC action at IRP Carb Day Classic Friday and the Little 500 Saturday evening. Franklin, Massachusetts native Bobby Santos achieved what Kody Swanson did in 2021, he won the USAC Midget and Silver Crown races.

In the Silver Crown race Swanson dogged Santos briefly catching him at the start finish line only to be passed immediately by Santos. It was fun to watch Flo Racing’s video recap and see two masters of Silver Crown racing duel.

Taylor Ferns, Shelby Township, Michigan, became the highest finishing female in USAC Silver Crown history with her third-place podium finish. (Barry Miles Marlow photo)

Let’s go racing,

Tom Hale

Soli Deo Gloria (Matthew 5:16)