Phil Allaway

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Phil Allaway, the newest addition to the Frontstretch roster, is in his final year of college at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 23, 1984, but grew up in the Upstate New York town of North Greenbush, which is a small suburb of Albany. Prior to writing for The Frontstretch, Phil Allaway has only worked at a hospital in Troy, New York as a film librarian (originally file clerk, where he still works today when he’s home from school). He is in charge of keeping all the X-rays, MRI’s, Mammograms, CT Scans and other exams in order and where they should be. This sounds like a fairly easy job, and it is, but it can be a lot of work.

However, Phil Allaway’s experience in watching NASCAR (and racing on television in general) is far more extensive. Phil discovered the series now known as the Sprint Cup Series on August 14, 1988 (got that date from racing-reference.info) while watching television with his father. He came upon the Bud at the Glen on ESPN and Phil was enthralled. Phil’s immediate family members are not fans of the sport (with the slight exception of his father, who will watch some of the big races every now and then), so they did not understand Phil’s fixation with the sport. Phil was hooked, but didn’t know the schedule, so he could only watch the races whenever he was lucky enough to come upon them. This changed in 1991, when he finally figured out the schedule and could determine when the races were run, and on what channel. He also had his first race taped for him when his mother taped the Daytona 500 for him that year while he went to New York City to go see the New York Knicks take on the Detroit Pistons (his favorite basketball team at the time, who were without Isiah Thomas that day (his favorite player at the time, who was injured)). After this point, Phil began watching NASCAR on a more regular basis. He could not watch all the races until 1996 because his cable system, for some reason, did not carry TBS for the longest time. As for favorite drivers, Phil believes that at first, beginning fans latch onto whatever driver (or driver’s car) they first see, or whoever is being talked about. This resulted in him briefly being a fan of Geoff Bodine, then Dale Earnhardt, and Ricky Craven before settling on Johnny Benson.

As for hobbies, when Phil is not talking about motorsports, watching them, or viewing them, he likes to spend time with his buddies, watch sports, play video games, play a little Golf (however, he’s not very good) and ride his road bicycle (the kind with the skinny tires). He hopes to make writing about motorsports into a full-time career. In addition, he also hopes to be able to build more endurance on his bike, while at the same time being able to ride faster. His personal long distance at the moment is 51.5 miles (in June 2005) and his typical cruise speed on flat land is between 12-17 mph.

When You Can See Phil’s Frontstretch Columns :
Sprint Cup Race Recap : Mondays (Newsletter)

Phil’s Favorite Non-Racing Sites He Recommends

ESPN’s Page 2 – Great site for sports coverage, and some humor as well. I almost wish that the Bucks don’t hire Bill Simmons as their GM because I won’t get to read his columns anymore.
Digital Press – If you’re a video game nut, this is the place to go. This can’t miss site has been around since way back in 1991. Also, they have a sweet store in Clifton, New Jersey if you’re ever there.
Deadspin –A great sports blog. The creator recently released a book that’s fairly good.
Facebook –Not as good as it once was when it still required a college e-mail address in order to be eligible to have a profile(and a lot more contained), but still a lot less annoying to use than MySpace (Regardless, I still have profiles on both).
GameFAQs –The place to go to find guides to nearly video game in your library. Everything from Super Mario Brothers to the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game (1989, on the NES, very difficult) to the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon series and beyond.
USGS -For the acquisition of topographic quadrangle maps. The maps are much easier to obtain by purchasing direct from the USGS than finding them on your own. Phil is admittedly a nut for maps in general, but also uses them to help plan routes for bike rides.

Q & A With Phil Allaway

What Is Your Favorite Sports Team? : The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (not a fan of the new name thought up by Arte [Moreno, the owner]), but I like the overall scrappiness of the team, even though this has decreased since David Eckstein went to the Cardinals. Years ago, this used to be the New York Knickerbockers, but the games have become hard to watch ever since Isiah Thomas took over the team and screwed it up royally.

What Is Your Favorite TV Show(s)? : South Park, Family Guy, The Simpsons, PTI (Pardon the Interruption, when both Mike and Tony are there)

How Many Sprint Cup Events Have You Attended? : Four; 1995 Miller Genuine Draft 500 (Pocono, July), 1998 Bud at the Glen (Watkins Glen), 1998 Farm Aid on CMT 300 (Loudon, August), 2006 AMD @ the Glen (Watkins Glen)

What Is Your Favorite Racing Memory? : I don’t have one particular memory, but here are a few I can think of (in no particular order): 1988 Bud at the Glen (when I discovered the series), 1993 Daytona 500, 1995 Goody’s 500 (Bristol, August, for obvious reasons including staying up until 1am to catch the finish), 1996 Busch Pole Qualifying, Watkins Glen (for Earnhardt winning the pole with the broken bones and his quote afterwards), 2002 Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400, Rockingham (October, when Benson got his one and only Winston Cup victory)

What Was Your Favorite Cup Series Racecar? : 1987 Buick LeSabre. Those things could have been dominant if more upper echelon teams had run them. As it stands, it was the Stavola Brothers, a mid-pack King Racing and a couple of part-time teams that ran the car.

What Is Your Favorite Food? : Tuna Casserole, made by my mother (Man, that’s good).

Past articles by Phil Allaway

October 2008

10/07: Tires at Talladega: What Caused the Failures? [10]

September 2008

09/01: Thinkin' Out Loud Like Matt McLaughlin : Pepsi 500 [11]

August 2008

08/05: Talking NASCAR TV: Cup Race Good, But ESPN Stands Alone With Poor Nationwide Coverage In Montreal [5]

June 2008

06/23: Bubble Breakdown: Waltrip Racing Shines While Road Course Ringers Struggle At Sonoma