Western NY Preview (Better Late than Never)

by Thomas Champion

There were plenty of stories spreading around the western drill team circuit this offseason. Sheriden Park, from out near Amherst, were coming back to racing and the Albion Fireflies purchased the Oceanside Eggnoggers trucks. From what I hear now, Oceanside’s trucks won’t be making their return back to the track in Albion. The first scheduled truck inspection only had two teams attend which leads me to believe a few teams had a late start on their offseason maintenance. Here’s short breakdown of what to expect this season from the Western area:

It’s going to be a big rebuilding year for the Spencerport Red Onions. I have heard that most of their seasoned members have retired from racing, which included their entire ladder team. But who’s to say we won’t see their old-timers come back for the state drill in C.I.? I’ve seen it done a couple times before.

Main Transit has been coming around the past couple years with their youth. They will be looking for their first Western title in 15 years but I’m not sure how much practice time they have gotten in. A Western title would be especially nice considering that this year marks 75 years of service for the Main Transit Fire Department. The Indians will also have an anniversary this year, celebrating 75 years of racing.

Henrietta is another team that has been putting up some good times the past couple of years. I hear that their old-time nozzle-man has decided to retire. They are one of two teams currently running that have yet to win a Western title, the other being North Greece. 2011 could be the year for either team to change that.

The 2010 Western title was only decided by one point and I think this year could be another close one. Sea Breeze has been busy this offseason with working on and dealing trucks. They have taken back possession of the old Oyster Bay rig after one year in Albion but they had to do a lot of work on it to get it track ready. I haven’t seen it on the track yet so we’ll see if it will be ready in time for their drill. They did some remodeling to their C-Truck as well, adding a couple of inches in the middle.

The Pea Pickers did some offseason work as well. They did some body work to the C-Truck and had it re-painted. Unfortunately, some misfortune struck and the new body will not be making its scheduled debut this year. The Pea Pickers purchased the Syosset Night Raiders C-Truck and everything has gone well with it. They are looking forward to its return as a Pea Picker at the Sea Breeze drill and the team is ready for a return to the top of the Western standings. (Get well soon, Charlie!)

The Western racing season is scheduled to start on June 18th at 1:00 PM. Sea Breeze will be hosting the drill at the Point Pleasant track. Teams will be excited to get the season underway and are looking to beating some of the best times from last season.

Here’s a list of the best times of 2010:

3-Man Ladder – 6.66

B-Ladder – 5.10

C-Ladder – 8.88

C-Hose – 12.98

B-Hose – 8.00

Efficiency – 10.10

Motor Pump – 6.27

Buckets – 21.15