Well a week without racing. I bet I’m not the only one that’s starting to think about withdrawl!
Big L, Lonnie Hastings, texted me and I texted him back and asked if he’d got plenty of turkey and football. He said the turkey was interesting but he had not interest in the football. He also texted me that the turkey day race at Boot Hill Speedway in Louisiana got rained out.
This weekend we had 15 people at the house. They were interested in shopping at Michaels, beer, and football games. LarrE traveled to family in Ohio so he didn’t get any racing in either. Lee Hardie drove 4 hours to a race he thought was going to be on Friday -- turned out it was going to be on Saturday. He already had other arrangements for Saturday. I once drove 242 miles to a sp car race with my brother Dan. We had a flyer in the car for the sprint car race. We got there and nobody was there except the guy mowing the grass. We asked about the race, and he said it had been called off two days before. What’s the farthest you’ve gone to see a race that wasn’t?
My Miss Sharyl flew 1248 miles to go the races with me and we got rained out for three days. But it was a pretty nice three days…and that was before we got married. Anybody got any good rain out stories? I had 9 rain checks in my billfold at one time. I think I caught all the races except 2. This writing stuff’s kinda hard when you don’t have races to write on… perhaps I’ll drudge up some kind of story. A real racer wouldn’t have to drudge up a story he could make up one.
Thought you might be interested in this correspondence. We requested credentials to the IMIS show in Indianapolis. We received the following response from Joe Crowly and Ron Green:
Thank you for your interest in the 2011 International Motorsports Industry Show. Your request for med credentials has been denied. Media credentials are assigned to working news media providing coverage of the show and its participants. If you have received this email either you are not a working member of the news media or IMIS did not feel your outlet met its requirements of a news media outlet.
We responded:
Dear Joe or Ron,
We have over 50,000 pages of racing info and reporters that cover from all 50 states this year. Could you please let me know why we did not qualify as media. Thank you in advance.
Roger Bathe, Editor
www.luvracin.com
Their most recent response:
Thank you for your interest in the IMIS Show. To uphold the integrity of the IMIS Show, we must be very stringent in the access provided. Only media truly on assignment are granted permission to have access to the show. We thank you for your understanding.
Ron Green True Speed Communications.
We’ve been covering the PRI show in Orlando Florida since the inception of the site, and this will be our 11th year. They’ve treated us the same when we had 100 people on our site as they do now that we have a million. Tomorrow I’m leaving for the PRI Show with three reporters covering it for YOU! Check out our coverage next week.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Mountain Creek Speedway Opening!
Mountain Creek Speedway in Grand Prairie Texas.
I wonder if I can count this as a new race track. I think I will just for my own ego! Grand Prairie opened this weekend under the guidance of Charlie Upchurch and J.C. Howell. Lots of people loved that old place, and it’s had trouble getting consistency in the last couple of years. But if this weekend was any indication - they’ve got the right people in there. They ran 18 races including the SST Sprints. The Sprint feature was over at a quarter ‘til 10pm. Smiley always puts on a great show. Ryan Beechler took the win. They flipped a car less than 6 minutes ‘til the restart. Now that’s a real well run open wheel place any where you go.
I like Grand Prairie because the dirt’s black. This is the closest thing to Illinois and Indiana dirt in Texas. I know 25 or 30 people that ran at Grand Prairie that didn’t run anywhere else after Grand Prairie closed…and their cars are still in their garage.
The place looked really good: it had new paint, cleaned up, and the restrooms were clean and nice. Food was reasonable! Got a hot link, bag of chips, and a coke for $3.50! Usually at the race track if the food’s good the race will be good too. They sold outta everything so people liked the food. I think they’re gonna be a Fri. night track…Dallas Bcould use another Friday night track. It’s half way between Boyd and Rpm. I had some people that had called and asked if it was safe to go there because they heard it was in a rough part of town. It’s less than ¾ mile from the Interstate. When’s the last time you’ve heard of anyone getting mugged at the races??? (Unless you were driving a car!) Track lighting was great and so was the pit lighting. Check out the photos because they had a good crowd, too.
Lonnie Hastings got a new camera. Everybody knows Lonnie as “Big L”. He and Sherry catch as many races as I do. It’ll be interesting to see how Lonnie’s new camera works. Mike Scattaglia, outta New York, sent me a little email. It said: “The final night of racing action at Paradise Speedway 11/12/11. Now for the next few months as the snow will fly this photographer will settle in for a long winter of boredom...can't wait for spring...” Man I feel sorry for you guys in the North!!!! Mike’s about as far North as you can get in New York.
Goose went to Phoenix to cover the Carl and Tony Show. Saw some idiot somewhere said they outta change the point system because Tony had won four races but Carl’s run three places in front of Tony. I like the point system…don’t change the point system! It’s real easy to know what Tony’s gotta do… he’s gotta get three more points than Carl gets.
Carl thinks he’s gonna win the race! And Rog and Miss Sharyl are flying down there Friday to be at the final.
LuvRacinRog
I wonder if I can count this as a new race track. I think I will just for my own ego! Grand Prairie opened this weekend under the guidance of Charlie Upchurch and J.C. Howell. Lots of people loved that old place, and it’s had trouble getting consistency in the last couple of years. But if this weekend was any indication - they’ve got the right people in there. They ran 18 races including the SST Sprints. The Sprint feature was over at a quarter ‘til 10pm. Smiley always puts on a great show. Ryan Beechler took the win. They flipped a car less than 6 minutes ‘til the restart. Now that’s a real well run open wheel place any where you go.
I like Grand Prairie because the dirt’s black. This is the closest thing to Illinois and Indiana dirt in Texas. I know 25 or 30 people that ran at Grand Prairie that didn’t run anywhere else after Grand Prairie closed…and their cars are still in their garage.
The place looked really good: it had new paint, cleaned up, and the restrooms were clean and nice. Food was reasonable! Got a hot link, bag of chips, and a coke for $3.50! Usually at the race track if the food’s good the race will be good too. They sold outta everything so people liked the food. I think they’re gonna be a Fri. night track…Dallas Bcould use another Friday night track. It’s half way between Boyd and Rpm. I had some people that had called and asked if it was safe to go there because they heard it was in a rough part of town. It’s less than ¾ mile from the Interstate. When’s the last time you’ve heard of anyone getting mugged at the races??? (Unless you were driving a car!) Track lighting was great and so was the pit lighting. Check out the photos because they had a good crowd, too.
Lonnie Hastings got a new camera. Everybody knows Lonnie as “Big L”. He and Sherry catch as many races as I do. It’ll be interesting to see how Lonnie’s new camera works. Mike Scattaglia, outta New York, sent me a little email. It said: “The final night of racing action at Paradise Speedway 11/12/11. Now for the next few months as the snow will fly this photographer will settle in for a long winter of boredom...can't wait for spring...” Man I feel sorry for you guys in the North!!!! Mike’s about as far North as you can get in New York.
Goose went to Phoenix to cover the Carl and Tony Show. Saw some idiot somewhere said they outta change the point system because Tony had won four races but Carl’s run three places in front of Tony. I like the point system…don’t change the point system! It’s real easy to know what Tony’s gotta do… he’s gotta get three more points than Carl gets.
Carl thinks he’s gonna win the race! And Rog and Miss Sharyl are flying down there Friday to be at the final.
LuvRacinRog
Monday, November 7, 2011
Sweet in the Suite!
11-7-11
They misspelled it when they spelled it “suite”…they should have spelled it "sweet".
Pampered!!
But for the sponsors it was an absolutely great opportunity to interact with potential customers. Everybody had a scanner. They had three different TVs. They had the cowboy game on so you didn’t miss out.
Carl came up for about 15 minutes and talked to everybody. I asked Carl if he was going to do anymore dirt track racing because that’s where he came from. He said if he wins the championship he’ll definitely be back at the dirt track. He said he got hurt in Omaha in the Modifieds – he dislocated his thumb. He said he’s got 250 people who depend on him plus the sponsors. “I wanna win a championship like you wouldn’t imagine. I should devout every ounce of my strength I’ve got to win a championship. If I went out and got a concussion or something ….it just wouldn’t be the right move for everybody. But that said, if I win this champ, ill be at the dirt track next year. The only think I’ve been doing is Tony Stewart’s deal in the Late Model at Eldora.
On Saturday when I went to the Nationwide Race. As we started pulling up my heart was beating - I though just like when I was a little kid. God, do I love the races: the interaction, the fair atmosphere, the people, everybody flying their colors, flags, jackets, and a great crowd to see the Nationwide Race. Anybody that thinks Nascar is not healthy isn’t at the races. Twenty year old Trevor Bayne showed them all the way home. This deal’s not rocket science, you can either do it or you can’t. The fact that a 20-year-old can win at Daytona and win at Texas proves that.
Tony and Carl, two dirt track guys, battling for the championship. Tony won the race, lead the most laps, and he only gained 5 points on Carl. Carl’s still 3 points ahead…he ran second. There was opportunity for both to do dumb stuff on restarts and instead, both of them raced. I think they like racing each other.
Last week Tony said: “Carl’s not going to get much sleep in the next three weeks.” I should have asked Carl about the sleep. But it’s closer now than it was.
Two to go: Pheonix and homestead. LuvRacin has the Goose on the way to Pheonix and Rog and Miss Sharyl are heading for Homestead for the Final! Gonna miss Corky’s Parts Peddler show in Syracuse, NY. But James Brown, J Fish, and Mike Scattaglia will be there.
Next week it’s back to the dirt tracks! And reopening of the old Grand Prairie speedway, now called mountain creek speedway. That’ll probably be the last race before NE Smith world Crate Championships and Florida at the PRI show. If you see us at the shows, or see LuvRacin shirt anywhere, and you have any ideas on how we can make the site better for you, stop us and tell us.
LuvRacin.com is YOUR racing network.
They misspelled it when they spelled it “suite”…they should have spelled it "sweet".
Pampered!!
But for the sponsors it was an absolutely great opportunity to interact with potential customers. Everybody had a scanner. They had three different TVs. They had the cowboy game on so you didn’t miss out.
Carl came up for about 15 minutes and talked to everybody. I asked Carl if he was going to do anymore dirt track racing because that’s where he came from. He said if he wins the championship he’ll definitely be back at the dirt track. He said he got hurt in Omaha in the Modifieds – he dislocated his thumb. He said he’s got 250 people who depend on him plus the sponsors. “I wanna win a championship like you wouldn’t imagine. I should devout every ounce of my strength I’ve got to win a championship. If I went out and got a concussion or something ….it just wouldn’t be the right move for everybody. But that said, if I win this champ, ill be at the dirt track next year. The only think I’ve been doing is Tony Stewart’s deal in the Late Model at Eldora.
On Saturday when I went to the Nationwide Race. As we started pulling up my heart was beating - I though just like when I was a little kid. God, do I love the races: the interaction, the fair atmosphere, the people, everybody flying their colors, flags, jackets, and a great crowd to see the Nationwide Race. Anybody that thinks Nascar is not healthy isn’t at the races. Twenty year old Trevor Bayne showed them all the way home. This deal’s not rocket science, you can either do it or you can’t. The fact that a 20-year-old can win at Daytona and win at Texas proves that.
Tony and Carl, two dirt track guys, battling for the championship. Tony won the race, lead the most laps, and he only gained 5 points on Carl. Carl’s still 3 points ahead…he ran second. There was opportunity for both to do dumb stuff on restarts and instead, both of them raced. I think they like racing each other.
Last week Tony said: “Carl’s not going to get much sleep in the next three weeks.” I should have asked Carl about the sleep. But it’s closer now than it was.
Two to go: Pheonix and homestead. LuvRacin has the Goose on the way to Pheonix and Rog and Miss Sharyl are heading for Homestead for the Final! Gonna miss Corky’s Parts Peddler show in Syracuse, NY. But James Brown, J Fish, and Mike Scattaglia will be there.
Next week it’s back to the dirt tracks! And reopening of the old Grand Prairie speedway, now called mountain creek speedway. That’ll probably be the last race before NE Smith world Crate Championships and Florida at the PRI show. If you see us at the shows, or see LuvRacin shirt anywhere, and you have any ideas on how we can make the site better for you, stop us and tell us.
LuvRacin.com is YOUR racing network.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Tony, Tony, he's our Man! So is Carl!
11-2-11
First week in November! There’s nothing but the NASCAR. Everybody’s saying “Tony, Tony, he’s our man….dirt track racer….worries Carl?” I don’t think Carl’s worried because he’s got peace of mind with Aflac….they’ve got him covered. And he’s a dirt track racer, too!
I am so lucky!!! I get to be in the suite at Texas Motor Speedway for this weekend’s race. Check out the pictures so you can see what life in the suite is like and how much different it is that just a seat in the grandstand. Nothing local going on this weekend I know a lot of you are thinking that….but it is the beginning of November. Goose has got snow in Colorado. JFish has probably got snow in new york…I think it might have got as far south as vadirt in Virginia
World Finals for Super Dirt Modifieds, World of Outlaws Sprints, and World of Outlaws Late Models will be at THE Dirt Track in Charlotte, North Carolina. VA Dirt and Adam Daniels will be covering! I was surprised to find out that LarrE was not covering this. It will be the first time since its inception. He is going to the North South Shootout at Caraway Speedway as well as Rockingham Raceway Park. So LarrE will have good photos and always funny stuff.
We are getting ready for next year and looking for people to join the team. I’d like to find some coverage across the Mid South, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida.
If you know somebody that would like to see better coverage of their drivers and tracks, have them contact us!
First week in November! There’s nothing but the NASCAR. Everybody’s saying “Tony, Tony, he’s our man….dirt track racer….worries Carl?” I don’t think Carl’s worried because he’s got peace of mind with Aflac….they’ve got him covered. And he’s a dirt track racer, too!
I am so lucky!!! I get to be in the suite at Texas Motor Speedway for this weekend’s race. Check out the pictures so you can see what life in the suite is like and how much different it is that just a seat in the grandstand. Nothing local going on this weekend I know a lot of you are thinking that….but it is the beginning of November. Goose has got snow in Colorado. JFish has probably got snow in new york…I think it might have got as far south as vadirt in Virginia
World Finals for Super Dirt Modifieds, World of Outlaws Sprints, and World of Outlaws Late Models will be at THE Dirt Track in Charlotte, North Carolina. VA Dirt and Adam Daniels will be covering! I was surprised to find out that LarrE was not covering this. It will be the first time since its inception. He is going to the North South Shootout at Caraway Speedway as well as Rockingham Raceway Park. So LarrE will have good photos and always funny stuff.
We are getting ready for next year and looking for people to join the team. I’d like to find some coverage across the Mid South, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida.
If you know somebody that would like to see better coverage of their drivers and tracks, have them contact us!
Lonestar, Shows, and Classifieds
10-24-11
The best place to see a Sprint Car race is Lonestar Speedway in Kilgore, Texas. A good place to stay is Comfort Inn Suites. Bruce, who’s a former Flag Man for USAC said that the Lonestar Nationals is the best Sprint Show he’d ever seen. Thursday night they flipped 31 cars, Friday night they flipped 4, and on Saturday night they flipped 11! So, if it’s action you want… it’s a great place to be! They had to limit 305 Sprints to 60 and in 4 days they had 60 of them registered. 16 states and 2 cars from Canada were represented. When it was a ½ mile, I thought it had better sight lines and lighting than even The Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. They reduced it to 3/8ths in order to accommodate the local weekly racing show. Now it’s still just as beautiful. The weather is fantastic in Texas this time of year, and it’s a great chance for racers to have a final weekend and a really great time.
Shane Stewart won it! He seems to have everybody covered. Daryn Pittman was Mr. Smooth the whole weekend driving Terry McCarl’s car. And if you haven’t seen Jason Johnson run, you’re missing out. He may not have the fastest car, but he leaves everything he’s got on the track. He can make a mistake and turn a mistake into FAST. When I started raving to Goose about it, he said, ‘Now you know what we’ve been running with in the Midwest ASCS Series.’ Goose’s boy Bryan in the 6g car ran 3rd in points. Mark your calendar, and make your plans to come down and see us in Texas next year when they run this fine show.
Shows to go to across the USA! If you know of a good show, let us know and we’ll list it on our Show Time Page. We’ve got 42 shows listed. One show I love is the PRI Show. The people there treated me just as good when I had 100 people on the site as they treat me now that I’ve got a million. Most of the vendors that I talked to at the PRI show say they have less traffic than when they had the show in Indianapolis but they happen to do more business.
Everybody that’s buying new equipment: sell your old stuff on our free racing classifieds page. We have a coast-to-coast market! We have good photos and it’s easy to use. If you have any kind of racing business, you’re welcome to go ahead and stick an ad on our racing classifieds page for your business….we’d be glad to have it.
I always hate when it comes to this time of year. My nose starts running at the race track and I think ‘this is not a football game’.
The racing’s going to be over for the season… you have to make those last shows.
LuvRacinRog
The best place to see a Sprint Car race is Lonestar Speedway in Kilgore, Texas. A good place to stay is Comfort Inn Suites. Bruce, who’s a former Flag Man for USAC said that the Lonestar Nationals is the best Sprint Show he’d ever seen. Thursday night they flipped 31 cars, Friday night they flipped 4, and on Saturday night they flipped 11! So, if it’s action you want… it’s a great place to be! They had to limit 305 Sprints to 60 and in 4 days they had 60 of them registered. 16 states and 2 cars from Canada were represented. When it was a ½ mile, I thought it had better sight lines and lighting than even The Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. They reduced it to 3/8ths in order to accommodate the local weekly racing show. Now it’s still just as beautiful. The weather is fantastic in Texas this time of year, and it’s a great chance for racers to have a final weekend and a really great time.
Shane Stewart won it! He seems to have everybody covered. Daryn Pittman was Mr. Smooth the whole weekend driving Terry McCarl’s car. And if you haven’t seen Jason Johnson run, you’re missing out. He may not have the fastest car, but he leaves everything he’s got on the track. He can make a mistake and turn a mistake into FAST. When I started raving to Goose about it, he said, ‘Now you know what we’ve been running with in the Midwest ASCS Series.’ Goose’s boy Bryan in the 6g car ran 3rd in points. Mark your calendar, and make your plans to come down and see us in Texas next year when they run this fine show.
Shows to go to across the USA! If you know of a good show, let us know and we’ll list it on our Show Time Page. We’ve got 42 shows listed. One show I love is the PRI Show. The people there treated me just as good when I had 100 people on the site as they treat me now that I’ve got a million. Most of the vendors that I talked to at the PRI show say they have less traffic than when they had the show in Indianapolis but they happen to do more business.
Everybody that’s buying new equipment: sell your old stuff on our free racing classifieds page. We have a coast-to-coast market! We have good photos and it’s easy to use. If you have any kind of racing business, you’re welcome to go ahead and stick an ad on our racing classifieds page for your business….we’d be glad to have it.
I always hate when it comes to this time of year. My nose starts running at the race track and I think ‘this is not a football game’.
The racing’s going to be over for the season… you have to make those last shows.
LuvRacinRog
Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy!
October 10, 2011
TX
Jimmy Johnson wins again! All he does is win. What everybody forgets is he was second…for the last 8 years he’s been in second or the winner. So why would anybody count him out?
I’m an anybody-but-Jimmy guy at this time!
I love the point system! Even someone as simple as me can figure it out. There’s 1 point for a win, 1 point for a bonus lap, 1 for leading the most laps. It’s straight forward and pretty simple.
Thumbs up to Nascar for that.
Black and Gold sShootout at 85 Speedway in Ennis, Texas. Great facilities. It’s the big race for the year. Full pits – huge grandstand. The Sprint Feature was done at 9:43pm! SST was a realy good sprint show. Catch them when you can!
Looking forward to racing with Bruce. We haven’t been to the races together since East Bay. We’re going to Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas for the big Sprint Shootout. Bruce has been covering the races in Louisiana and Arkansas. All the Sprint guys miss him… everytime I go to the show all they say is “Where’s Bruce?” …nobody even likes me.
Jay Fish has coverage on the Syracuse mile. That place is one of the things on my bucket list for races.
I made an agreement with JM Hallas, Rebel Race Writer, to go to Belleville to the Midget Nationals next year. Neither one of us have been there. Now that place is on both of our bucket lists….and we finally decided we’re going to do it together.
I’m now starting to line up shows to go to. If you know of any early shows email me at racin@luvracin.com
C U at the races!
LuvRacinRog
TX
Jimmy Johnson wins again! All he does is win. What everybody forgets is he was second…for the last 8 years he’s been in second or the winner. So why would anybody count him out?
I’m an anybody-but-Jimmy guy at this time!
I love the point system! Even someone as simple as me can figure it out. There’s 1 point for a win, 1 point for a bonus lap, 1 for leading the most laps. It’s straight forward and pretty simple.
Thumbs up to Nascar for that.
Black and Gold sShootout at 85 Speedway in Ennis, Texas. Great facilities. It’s the big race for the year. Full pits – huge grandstand. The Sprint Feature was done at 9:43pm! SST was a realy good sprint show. Catch them when you can!
Looking forward to racing with Bruce. We haven’t been to the races together since East Bay. We’re going to Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas for the big Sprint Shootout. Bruce has been covering the races in Louisiana and Arkansas. All the Sprint guys miss him… everytime I go to the show all they say is “Where’s Bruce?” …nobody even likes me.
Jay Fish has coverage on the Syracuse mile. That place is one of the things on my bucket list for races.
I made an agreement with JM Hallas, Rebel Race Writer, to go to Belleville to the Midget Nationals next year. Neither one of us have been there. Now that place is on both of our bucket lists….and we finally decided we’re going to do it together.
I’m now starting to line up shows to go to. If you know of any early shows email me at racin@luvracin.com
C U at the races!
LuvRacinRog
How do you tell a sobbing grandson that it’s going to be alright….when it’s not?
10-17-11
My 11-year-old grandson Keifer, a Sprint Car aficionado, called me on the phone Sunday afternoon crying. It was the first time that he had experienced the savagery of our sport. He’d seen probably 100 Sprint Car races and Late Model races across the country from Texas to Indiana. One time I was on the way home from the races in Texas and he called me from Haubstadt Tri State Speedway. “Grandpa I’m at a flip fest! They’ve flipped 11 cars and haven’t even started the feature yet.” His young mind was impervious to death.
Anytime somebody pulls a bell snap there’s a chance that they won’t come back. Did you ever hear about a dead baseball player unless they snorted too much cocaine? The bravery in our sport is real. It was hard to know what to say to Kiefer - because when I was young it seemed like death in the sport was a monthly situation. So many improvements have been made in equipment and cars and facilities that it leads us all to believe that perhaps it is “safe”.
But it’s not.
The threat of death and injury is real. Not only is this fact true for each driver but for the fans and the crews and the officials.
How do you tell a sobbing grandson that it’s going to be alright….when it’s not? I’m proud of my sport and proud of the fact that Kiefer reached age 11 and hadn’t suffered this before. But he knew Dan Wheldon, and he watched him win the most exciteing Indianapolis 500 there’s ever been. And he sobbed, “but he has a wife and two kids, grandpa!” As if that makes any difference to the Grim Reaper. The only thing that I could do was relate some of the experiences that I’d had and some of the experiences that his father had in the viciousness of this sport.
I was at Indy the day we lost Sachs and Macdonald - I couldn’t believe it. Eddy was so friendly to everybody - so nice to a 16-year-old kid who wanted to drive race cars. And in a flash and a fire ball…both he and Dave were gone.
So many great people have gone between that race and Earnhardt. I didn’t understand what Dale was doing with the drivers and the sport. The fact that we can go from there to Dan Wheldon is a tribute to the people who care and have influence and make decisions on the positive side. The drivers were all angry and hurt, and many are seriously considering abandoning the sport that holds their heart and their soul. Would this be because of the death of another driver? No. It’s the operational decisions that have contributed to the situation that allowed this to happen. The drivers have been complaining about safety issues all year. And their voices weren’t heard. I’ve heard interviews that said, 'we’re gonna get somebody hurt or we’re gonna get somebody killed if we don’t get his straightened out.’ And now they have.
Now, this is an old timer talking. The time for this may have passed, and if it has please forgive me, but they should’ve ran the race instead of stopping it. If they had kept running, I could have told my grandson, who was sobbing for a half an hour at the other end of the phone line, that it was about life and how you continue on no matter what happens … and not about death. By not running the race they robbed me and my grandson of that lesson.
- LuvRacinRog
My 11-year-old grandson Keifer, a Sprint Car aficionado, called me on the phone Sunday afternoon crying. It was the first time that he had experienced the savagery of our sport. He’d seen probably 100 Sprint Car races and Late Model races across the country from Texas to Indiana. One time I was on the way home from the races in Texas and he called me from Haubstadt Tri State Speedway. “Grandpa I’m at a flip fest! They’ve flipped 11 cars and haven’t even started the feature yet.” His young mind was impervious to death.
Anytime somebody pulls a bell snap there’s a chance that they won’t come back. Did you ever hear about a dead baseball player unless they snorted too much cocaine? The bravery in our sport is real. It was hard to know what to say to Kiefer - because when I was young it seemed like death in the sport was a monthly situation. So many improvements have been made in equipment and cars and facilities that it leads us all to believe that perhaps it is “safe”.
But it’s not.
The threat of death and injury is real. Not only is this fact true for each driver but for the fans and the crews and the officials.
How do you tell a sobbing grandson that it’s going to be alright….when it’s not? I’m proud of my sport and proud of the fact that Kiefer reached age 11 and hadn’t suffered this before. But he knew Dan Wheldon, and he watched him win the most exciteing Indianapolis 500 there’s ever been. And he sobbed, “but he has a wife and two kids, grandpa!” As if that makes any difference to the Grim Reaper. The only thing that I could do was relate some of the experiences that I’d had and some of the experiences that his father had in the viciousness of this sport.
I was at Indy the day we lost Sachs and Macdonald - I couldn’t believe it. Eddy was so friendly to everybody - so nice to a 16-year-old kid who wanted to drive race cars. And in a flash and a fire ball…both he and Dave were gone.
So many great people have gone between that race and Earnhardt. I didn’t understand what Dale was doing with the drivers and the sport. The fact that we can go from there to Dan Wheldon is a tribute to the people who care and have influence and make decisions on the positive side. The drivers were all angry and hurt, and many are seriously considering abandoning the sport that holds their heart and their soul. Would this be because of the death of another driver? No. It’s the operational decisions that have contributed to the situation that allowed this to happen. The drivers have been complaining about safety issues all year. And their voices weren’t heard. I’ve heard interviews that said, 'we’re gonna get somebody hurt or we’re gonna get somebody killed if we don’t get his straightened out.’ And now they have.
Now, this is an old timer talking. The time for this may have passed, and if it has please forgive me, but they should’ve ran the race instead of stopping it. If they had kept running, I could have told my grandson, who was sobbing for a half an hour at the other end of the phone line, that it was about life and how you continue on no matter what happens … and not about death. By not running the race they robbed me and my grandson of that lesson.
- LuvRacinRog
Tony Stewart Shook Things Up
October 4, 2011
Texas
Tony Stewart put a smile on most dirt track racers faces by winning the first two races in the chase. It’s a team sport for sure but the driver has to be the leader…and in this case Tony’s not only the driver but also the owner. He shook things up! One thing about Tony is he’ll tell you the way it is. If the owner of my team said we don’t deserve to be in the chase -- I think I’d better pick it up or I’m going to be there. You also have to remember this team is only three years old, and they have a good chance of winning the Nascar Championship.
The local buzz was all about Troy Taylor’s run at the World Dirt Track Championship at Texas Motor Speedway. He went to the top, he didn’t give up, and he MADE it work. It’s fun to watch! You can see it on YouTube.
Saturday night: Super Bowl Speedway in Greenville, Texas. James had the track super tacky; it’s always fun to go there. This track is the closest thing to Illinois or Indiana track conditions in all of Texas. Three wide - but you gotta run the top…good car counts and they ask everybody to move over, so people were still coming to the races at 10:30 at night.
Wayne and James went to Paris Saturday night. Paris has one of the most beautiful facilities in the state of Texas. Donnie Shipp edged out RJ Stroman for the Track Championship up there. Battle went down to the last night. I would really like to see more promotion and more support for that track because that’s a great facility. Looking forward to great year next year cause David Hill sure runs a good track.
Scoot Bloomquist and his cars continue to dominate the Late Model Series across the country.
Texas
Tony Stewart put a smile on most dirt track racers faces by winning the first two races in the chase. It’s a team sport for sure but the driver has to be the leader…and in this case Tony’s not only the driver but also the owner. He shook things up! One thing about Tony is he’ll tell you the way it is. If the owner of my team said we don’t deserve to be in the chase -- I think I’d better pick it up or I’m going to be there. You also have to remember this team is only three years old, and they have a good chance of winning the Nascar Championship.
The local buzz was all about Troy Taylor’s run at the World Dirt Track Championship at Texas Motor Speedway. He went to the top, he didn’t give up, and he MADE it work. It’s fun to watch! You can see it on YouTube.
Saturday night: Super Bowl Speedway in Greenville, Texas. James had the track super tacky; it’s always fun to go there. This track is the closest thing to Illinois or Indiana track conditions in all of Texas. Three wide - but you gotta run the top…good car counts and they ask everybody to move over, so people were still coming to the races at 10:30 at night.
Wayne and James went to Paris Saturday night. Paris has one of the most beautiful facilities in the state of Texas. Donnie Shipp edged out RJ Stroman for the Track Championship up there. Battle went down to the last night. I would really like to see more promotion and more support for that track because that’s a great facility. Looking forward to great year next year cause David Hill sure runs a good track.
Scoot Bloomquist and his cars continue to dominate the Late Model Series across the country.
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