With the rise of smartphone and their ability to provide location-based applications using this information have become widespread. One of the original applications of this information was the Layar application which is available on a variety of Apple, Android and Nokia hand held devices.

Layar Logo

The Layar application is available in the relevant “app stores” and has 1500 active Layars available. A Layar is a set of interactive points that can be viewed through their Augmented Reality Browser. When the hand held device is held up the points can be clearly seen together with any relevant information such as distance etc.

In the top right-hand corner you can see mini radar that shows all the events and club-meets that are happening within the distance that you specified when the layar was started. If you want to find events in a different range than this can be changed at any point by pressing the menu button and selecting Layar settings.

The Just Customz Event Layar

At Just Customz we are always looking for new ways to bring cutting edge technology to the Hot Rod, Lowrider and Modified car scene and have now published our own interactive Layar. We have added the most popular modified car events that are available in US, UK, Canada and Australia to our events system which instantly make them available through the Layar application.

If you have an iPhone, Android or Nokia smart phone then simply viisit the relevant “app-store” and download the Layar application. Once it has downloaded and has been installed you are ready to go! Next click on the search icon at the top of the screen and type “justcustomz” and click on the magnifying glass button. Next you will see the Just Customz Layar returned and you are ready to use it.

Layar displaying events that are near you

To fire it up click on the arrow button and you will be shown a slider control that allows you to set the distance that you are willing to travel to go to an event. You can just click the “Apply” button here and accept the default value.

So that is it! You can now see the events that are happening new you by scanning the horizon you will see gray and red circle that indicate the direction of the event from where you are standing.

In the top-right corner you can see a mini radar that shows all of the events and club meetings that are happening within your chosen distance. As you turn around you’ll see that the radar display changes and as points come into view they are at the top of the radar. If you wish to change the distance that you are willing to travel this can be done at any point by pressing the menu button and selecting “settings”.

Layar Application showing extra buttons

The power of the Layar application comes with the contextual features that are available. If you tap on one of the points that appear you will see the menus shown in the image.

More Details

If you now tap on the “More Details” button at the bottom of the screen you will be shown a page with all the information for that event such as address, cost, contact numbers etc.

Take Me There

Most phones have Google Maps installed as standard which offers a myriad location-based features such as getting directions etc. If you now tap the take me there button you’ll be instantly taken to the location in the Google Maps application on your phone where you can then get directions to the event.

Important: Although we take care to ensure the accuracy of the event information we do urge you to confirm that it is the correct address before setting off though as we cannot accept responsibility for any inaccuracies.

Missing Events?

We have taken great care in trying to ensure that we have covered the majority of events around the world but I am sure we have missed some. If you know of a fantastic event that isn’t shown then please let us know through the main Just Customz website and we’ll add it straight away!

Integrate with us

If you have a website and would like access to the event data then we’re always looking for ways to serve the modified car community and would love to make the data freely available to third-parties. If you would like to integrate with us then please get in touch!

Fred DeSarro

Frederick DeSarro was born on the 3rd July 1937 in Connecticut.  He grew up with a love of racing, starting a youngster racing bikes and later moving on to racing boats but when he reached the age of sixteen he turned to stock cars.

He started his career in stock car racing at the New London/Waterford Speedbowl and once he had established himself he moved to the Norwood Arena.  He made a name for himself in the 1970’s NASCAR Modified ranks by driving to win.  It was in 1970 that Fred took the NASCAR National Modified Championship title, driving the “Woodchopper” special #15 which was owned by Sonny Kozella.  In the dash for the championship Fred finished an amazing 808 points ahead of Jerry Cook, he did this by gaining twenty five victories and fifty four Top Fives in seventy eight  starts.  Fred finished in the Top Ten in the National Championship for five consecutive years, from 1968 through to 1972 and finished second in the points race twice, in 1968 and 1971.

The following year, in 1971 Fred and his good friend, Bugs Stevens made headlines off the track when Fred swapped to Len Boehler’s #3 from Sonny Kozella’s #15 and Bugs Stevens changed to the “Woodchopper” #15 from the “Ole Blue” coupe #3.  This became known as the “infamous ride swap.

In 1972 whilst piloting Len Boehler’s #3 coupe, DeSarro won the inaugural Spring Sizzler, the only Sizzler to ever be won driving a coupe. DeSarro went on to win the Stafford Motor Speedway Championship that year, and he became a repeat champion at Stafford Motor Speedway in 1976.

Starting in 1974 Fred won four consecutive Modified Division track championship by claiming fourteen feature victories on the 5/8 mile track at Thompson Speedway.  He was track champion there again in 1974, 1976 and 1977.  1974 also saw Fred take the Race of Champions at Trenton, New Jersey.  His life was sadly cut short following an accident when he was critically injured during practice at the Thompson International Speedway on the 8th of October 1978.   He succumbed to his injuries several weeks later on the 1st of November 1978.  He was just 50 years old.  Phil Smith, racing columnist summed up Fred’s career by saying, “Whatever he did, he did with class.  He did it clean, and he did it with class.” Smith remembers DeSarro as a “fierce competitor…very, very intense.” Fred’s father, Alfred “Fred, Sr.” DeSarro, was involved throughout Fred’s career, as was his wife, Linda. His good friend, Bugs Stevens spoke with warmth about Fred and the times that they had by saying, “He [DeSarro] was a good buddy of mine,” Stevens said. “I had the best of times with Freddy. Everybody thought we were big competitors. After I got out of the car everybody thought we hated each other, but we had a hell of a time with each other.”  “He was an excellent driver, one of the best,” Stevens said. “He could have driven anywhere.” Fred DeSarro was an inductee in the first class New England Antique Racers Hall of Fame in 1998 and was named to the “NASCAR Modified All-Time Top 10″ list.

References:

http://hometracks.nascar.com/node/1625

http://www.vintagemodifieds.com/fred_desarro/

http://www.near1.com/HALL-OF-FAME/1999/Desarro_Fred.htm

Shorty Rollins

Lloyd George Rollins, nicknamed “Shorty” was born on the 3rd of April 1929 in Granbury, Corpus Christie, Texas, the same hometown as future NASCAR champions, brothers Terry (1984 and 1996) and Bobby (2000) Labonte. He started racing in Corpus Christie where his success led him to Fayetteville in North Carolina and to the NASCAR Grand National Series (now the Sprint Cup). NASCAR races were often held at small, dirt bullrings, in front of a few thousand fans, with purses paying just several hundred dollars to win. This was the type of track owned by co-owners Len Briggs, Lloyd Williams, Jerry Frank, and Don Frank, near Jamestown, Virginia.  The owners booked a NASCAR sanctioned race to be held at Stateline Speedway, on July 16, 1958.  They were hoping that many of the big names in Speedway would be there including the likes of two times Grand National Division champion, Buck Baker and five times NASCAR Short Track champion, Jim Reed.  Unfortunately, none of the big names appeared and according to the Jamestown Post-Journal who gave an account of the race, “Hard luck continued to dog the Stateline operators, who felt they had a complete NASCAR show signed, sealed, and delivered. Several top drivers, however, failed to show. A rain-shortened program at Raleigh, NC, which broke open an argument over pay, is said to have delayed most of the NASCAR stars who remained in the southern city to continue their efforts to collect.”  One driver that did turn up was premier driver, Lee Petty who made his presence immediately known by being the fastest in the qualifying time trial, taking the pole position.

Rookie driver, Lloyd “Shorty” Rollins qualified in third for the second row start position of the event. Lee Petty led the race for the first thirty laps until he was passed by local favourite, Squirt Johns who set the pace until he blew a tyre in lap 72.  Petty regained the lead and looked to be the winner but he lost a wheel in the 138th lap.  Shorty saw his chance and took the lead for the remaining twelve laps securing him his first victory in NASCAR’s big league division.  Shorty averaged just over forty seven mph and the 150 lap event was timed at 1:03:37.  Twenty three cars started the race with just thirteen still running when he won.

Shorty went on to win the first official title of 1958 NASCAR Rookie of the Year title. His victory at Stateline Speedway was the only career Grand National win by Shorty.

The following year, in 1959 Bill France opened his massive, two and a half mile, high-banked superspeedway at Daytona. Shorty had registered his convertible 1958 Ford for the Daytona 500 in the Grand National Division when he noticed that there was a lack of cars registered for the very first competitive event ever contested at the new facility which was a Convertible Division race taking place on February 20, 1959, Taking the roof off his car he reregistered as a Convertible. His decision to change races proved to be successful as he went on to victory beating Marvin Panch and Richard Petty to the finish line to become the first driver to win a race at the Daytona International Speedway. Shorty, Marvin Panch, Richard Petty, and the other drivers in the convertibles were also allowed to race in the inaugural Daytona 500, but the convertibles were not so competitive against the hardtop cars, Shorty’s was running at fifth when his engine blew up.   The July 16th race at Stateline was event number thirty on the fifty-one race NASCAR Grand National Division’s schedule of 1958.  Shorty Rollins, with his only win coming at Stateline in twenty-nine starts, was fourth in the championship standings in 1958.  “He would have been another Richard Petty,” said a former crew member, Mike Flannigan of Corpus Christi, Texas. “He could outrun them all and he did outrun them all.” Shorty moved his family to Pensacola in 1959 and left racing the following year after seeing some friends die in an accident at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

He ran for just three seasons in the Grand National Series, making forty three starts and only won one race in the Series. He set up a company called Hurricane Fence Industries in Pensacola.  Shorty died on the 28th December 1998 and is survived by his widow, Mozelle, a daughter, Debbie Hodivsky; two sons, Tommy and Monty; a sister; two brothers; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shorty_Rollins

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/motorsports/news/1998/12/29/rollins_death/

http://www.chautauquasportshalloffame.org/NascaratStateline.php

Tom Cox was born on the 24th February 1936 in Asheboro, North Carolina.  He was a journeyman who raced in the NACSAR Sprint Cup Series in the 1962 and 1963 seasons.

In 1962 he made forty two starts, gaining three top five positions and 20 top tens, ranking 18th in the final point standings.  He had 12 DNF (did not finish).   In 1993 he made only two starts with two DNF, leaving him with a 51st rank in the final point standings.  The highlight of his career was in 1962 when he took the “Rookie of the Year” Award in the Daytona 500.  He started in 47th position and finished in 20th position, driving a 1960 Plymouth #60 owned by Ray Herlocker.

References:

http://www.race-database.com/driver/career.php?driver_id=tcox1

http://fantasyracingcheatsheet.com/nascar/races/results/1962/daytona-international-speedway/firecracker-250/764

Woodie Wilson was a NASCAR driver who made his debut in the 1949, the second year of NASCAR racing.  He was born on the 8th August 1925 in the town of Mobile in Alabama.  His Sprint Cup Series career spanned a period of thirteen years yet he only made ten starts, two of which he finished in the top ten.

His first race was on the 10th of July,  1949 taking part in the famous Daytona Beach Road Course, driving his  own #12 ’49 Mercury.  Starting in a field of twenty-eight Woodie managed to finish in a respectable seventeenth place.  Woodie left the circuit after the race only to return in August, 1955 to take part in the Mid South 250 at the LeHi track at the Memphis-Arkansas Speedway.  He started at 22nd in the field of twenty nine but was unable to finish any higher than 26th because of problem with over-heating.  There followed another interruption to his NASCAR career until Woodie returned in 1961 to take part in five races, the Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway, finished 18th,  the Festival 250 and the  Dixie 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, finished 15th and 9th respectively, the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway where he had a DNF and had a 34th place finish (the only one of his career) and lastly the National 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, finishing at 14th position, resulting in a career high of 41st in the points standings. This year (1961) Woodie received the NASCAR “Rookie of the Year” award
His career came to a finale after the 1962 season when he ran three races, starting the season at Daytona in the annual February Speedweeks events running in the Daytona 500 after qualifying in a career best of 7th position. He finished in 42nd position after axle problems.  His second race of the season saw him running in the National 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway  and his final race in his NASCAR career was at Atlanta Motor Speedway on the 28th of October 1962 when he ran in the Dixie 400, finishing in 41st  position after more axle problems.  There appears to be little of his life documented either before, during or after his NASCAR career but his death is recorded as being 13th of September 1994.

References:

http://nascarfrom1949.blogspot.com/2008/09/1949-nascar-race-2-at-daytona-beach.html

http://fantasyracingcheatsheet.com/nascar/drivers/woodie-wilson/2837

http://thirdturn.wikia.com/wiki/Woodie_Wilson

Jimmy Spencer (courtesy of Wiki Commons)

It was inevitable that Jimmy Spencer would choose race car driving for a career, being brought up surrounded by racing cars and paraphernalia.  His father, Ed Spencer Sr. (“Fast Ed”) and all of uncles were racing drivers on the short tracks in the North East, (even his aunts raced in the Powder Puff Derby). Jimmy Spencer was born on the 15th February 1957 in Nanticoke, a small town in Pennsylvania and he started his racing career in 1976 at the Port Royal Speedway, driving in the Late Model division.

Later he moved over to the Modified division at the Shangri-La Speedway in Owego, New York, winning the “Rookie of the Year” Award in 1979 and gained two victorious championships in 1982 and 1983 at the same track.  The 1984 season saw Jimmy as a strong contender for NASCAR’s National Modified Championship when all sanctioned races counted towards the final points total but after competing in over sixty races he came second to Richie Evans.

In 1985 NASCAR changed the schedule of the National Modified Championship to the smaller Winston Modified Tour (now the Whelan Modified Tour) Jimmy was still looking to win the championship which he did, back-to-back in 1986 and 1987.  His aggressive style of driving earned him the nickname of “Mr Excitement” and after winning many races and championships in the highly competitive Modified Division and armed with his reputation in 1985 he ventured south to debut in the Busch Series at North Carolina Motor Speedway.  He finished nineteenth, driving the #67 Pontiac for his team, Frank Cicci Racing.  Only running twice the following year, 1987, the team finished in 36th place in the points standings but in 1988 he ran the full season and finished seventh in the points standings.

His first Busch career win came in 1989 along with two further wins for the season giving him fifteenth in the final standings.  In 1989 Jimmy ran his first races in the Winston Cup Series driving a Crisco Pontiac #88 for former Winston Cup winner,  Buddy Bakers team.  He ran seventeen of the twenty nine races and posted three top tens, finishing 34th in points.  Over the next four years he drove for various teams with some success but each teams sponsorship was hanging by a thread.  Finally, in 1994, he landed one of his most wanted rides – behind the wheel of a car fielded by the legendary Junior Johnson.  The season did not start well, his  aggressive reputation came to the fore when his car made contact with  Ken Schrader’s car, making Jimmy’s car spin out of control and as the cars slowly made their way around the track under a caution flag Jimmy’s temper got the better of him and he rammed Schrader’s car in retaliation.  Now Jimmy needed to vindicate himself and to show everyone just how good he was and he did this by winning his first Winston Cup career race at Daytona International Speedway.

It was the Pepsi 400 and it was evident that there were two strong contenders for the chequered flag,  it was between Jimmy and Ernie Irvan who, incidentally, once bore the same aggressive reputation as Jimmy.  Jimmy tried passing Ernie on the high side and the low side, leaving Ernie guessing what Jimmy’s move would be in the last lap. When this came Jimmy drove high in turn two on the 33 degree banking, running just inches from the wall.  Ernie hung low, trying to protect the lead and diving down towards the back straightway,  Jimmy pulled his Thunderbird to the inside of Ernie with the momentum propelling him next to Ernie’s Ford.  The two Thunderbirds ran side by side into turn three and maintained their position through turn four before roaring towards the finish line.  Jimmy won by inches  in one of NASCAR’s most exciting finishes. His plan had come together.  Jimmy said about that victory,  “I’ll tell you how I beat Ernie Irvan at Daytona: determination.  Junior Johnson told me that if there was anybody else in that car, he doesn’t believe they’d have  won that race.  I did unorthodox things, but I tried to win.  And I did.”   That year he won a further event, the DieHard 500, at the Talladega Speedway and he gained his first career pole at North Wilkesboro Speedway as well and finished 29th in the point’s standings.  This was to be his last win in the Winston Cup Series.

Throughout a twenty seven year NASCAR racing career covering the Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series Jimmy has achieved a total of fifteen victories,  184 Top Tens and seven poles.  His achievements have been NASCAR Modified Division track championship in 1982 and 1983 and National Modified champion in 1986 and 1987.  He was the Shangri-La, Owego, New York “Rookie of the Year” and named ninth on NASCAR’s all-time Top 10 Modified Drivers.  Since his retirement Jimmy is employed full time as a racing analyst for SPEED TV.

References:

http://www.motormint.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=568

http://home.comcast.net/~loudfast/writeweb/spencer.htm

http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/features/04/29/jspencer.1.on.1/2.html

Mike Stefanik, NASCAR Busch Series Driver of the #90 CTS in 2000 (courtesy of Wiki Commons)

In September 2003 NASCAR announced their “NASCAR Modified all-time Top 10″ drivers.  Mike was ranked at number two after Richie Evans.  Mike was born on the 20th May, 1958 in Wilbraham, Massachusetts and made his debut in the Whelen Modified Tour in 1985 capturing two top five and four top ten places in the six races that he competed in.

Between 1989 and 1998 Mike won four championships in the NASCAR Whelan Modified Tour.  He became the first driver to win two NASCAR championships in two consecutive years after winning the Busch East Series championship in 1997 and 1998, giving him both the Modified championship and the Camping World East championship.  Lee Petty is the only other driver to win two championships in one year.

The following season, in 1999, he moved up to the Craftsman Truck Series and racing for Dale Phelon.  That year he finished nine times in the top ten position and achieved the “Rookie of the Year” award.  After just one year with Dave Phelan’s team they left the series and mike moved back to the Modified and Busch North Tours in 2001.  He went on to win three more NASCAR Modified Tour championships in 2001, 2002 and 2006.  The 2006 championship gave him a tie with the late Richie Evans with nine overall championships in NASCAR-sanctioned competitions.  Mike made twenty six NASCAR Nationwide Series starts from 1992 to 2000 and made twenty five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts from 1998 – 1999.  In 1997 and 1998 he became the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion.

He was voted as NASCAR  Whelen  Modified Tour Most Popular Driver in 1997, 1998 and 2001. In 1998 he was the winner of the  Coors Light Pole Award and in 2007 and 2008 season he was the winner  of the Coca-Cola Power Move of the Race Award winner .  He is a three-time Modified track champion; he has one Pro Stock track title and one Limited Sportsman track championship prior to his NASCAR touring series career.   He is the only non-Sprint Cup Series Driver in NASCAR history to reach the 70-win achievement.

Mike lives with his wife, Julie, together with their two daughters, Nicole and Christine in Coventry, Rhode Island.  Julie has been of unprecedented help to her husband during his career.  She has supported him behind the scenes in co-ordinating travel arrangements and administration whist bringing up their two children. Racing is not new to Julie, her father, Sonny Koszela, owned a racing team and racing parts business. “She understands racing,” Mike said. “She’s been around racing her entire life. She’s probably my toughest critic, too. If I have a bad race, I know it will be a long ride home. “She’s a great mother, a super partner and she’s irreplaceable in my life.”

Reference:

http://www.nascar.com/2002/kyn/women/02/02/Stefanik/

http://thirdturn.wikia.com/wiki/Mike_Stefanik

http://hometracks.nascar.com/drivers/nwmt/mike_stefanik

http://mikestefanik.com/

Tony Hirschman

Tony Hirschman was born on the 3rd of May, 1956 in Northampton, Pennsylvania. He is a former NASCAR race driver and today he races on the Whelen Modified Tour. In 2003 Tony was named as one of NASCAR’s, Modified all-time Top 10 drivers, he ranks at number six. He has an impressive list of victories to his credit. He was twice champion, in 1977 and 1978 at Mahoning Valley Speedway and twice champion, in 1978 and 1980, at Mountain Speedway, St. John’s, Pennsylvania. He has achieved wins at Lancaster Speedway, at Oswego, New York, Spencer Speedway, at Williamson, New York and at Tioga Speedway, New York including the 1990 U.S. Open Modified 90. He went into the Featherlite Modified Series in 1989 when he had a six victory season, going on to have three Featherlite Modified Series Championships in 1995, 1996 and 1999.
In 1991 at Nazareth Speedway, Pennsylvania he made his debut in the Nationwide Series (previously known as the Busch East Series) when he had four starts, and finished at 58th in the end of year points. His first race did not go too smoothly and he slipped a couple of laps, giving him a twenty eighth place finish but he managed to come back at Oxford Plains with a career best eleventh place finish. He ran in both of the races at Loudon and finished a respectable sixteenth place. In 1992 Tony was to run in a further three races but problems with the engine put him at thirty second at Richmond Speedway and two crashes early in the races took him out of his final two starts, leaving him thirty second at Nazareth Speedway and forty first at Loudon.
Tony was named the “Rookie of the Year” in the Busch East Series and had one victory in the Busch East Series in 1992. In 1996 Tony was awarded the “Richie Evans Performance” Award. He was twice winner of the Race of Champions Modified Series in 1989 and 1997 and three times champion of the New Hampshire International Speedway NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 1996, 1999 and 2001. Tony was the Thompson 300 winner in 2003 and the winner of CARQUEST Spring Sizzler in 2005. Tony was the champion of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour a massive five times, in 1995, 1996, 1999, 2004 and 2005 and four times NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion in 1999, 2003, 2005 ND 2006. In 2005 he was awarded the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour “Most Popular Driver” Award. In total he has accrued twenty nine NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins, this placing him at fourth all time. In 1999 Tony started the season without a ride but after teaming up with Gary Cretty for the opening race he went on to keep his new team at the top of the standings and won the championship along with the Series Bud Pole Award. Tony is married to Brenda and has two children, Tony 111 and Matt.

References

http://www.thethirdturn.com/w/index.php/Tony_Hirschman

http://www.poconothunder.net/driver.php?seriesId=7®ionId=7&driverId=1534&carId=920