Cue The Beach Boys-Heroes And Villains

Most late model promoters would love to have an A Main that included the likes of Randy Korte, Wendell Wallace, Brad Neat, Eddie Carrier Jr., Tim Dohm, Austin Hubbard, Chub Frank, and Kyle Berck.  However, those drivers were unable to make the feature last night at Volusia County Speedway.  Don’t feel sorry for the Florida promoter though-the first seven finishers in the feature were Darrell Lanigan, Jimmy Owens, Brian Birkhofer, Billy Moyer, Dan Schlieper, Earl Pearson Jr., and Tim McCreadie. 

Iowan Brian Birkhofer took to the track for the first time this season.  Despite some of his competition already racing a dozen times this season, Birkhofer showed he plans no let down from last year’s outstanding season.  The Hawkeye state fan favorite finished third in the feature after winning his heat race.

Nebraskan Kyle Berck may have surprised some people, being fastest in the second group of drivers to time trial, but he also burned a piston during his qualifying run and had to go to his back-up car.  67 late models took to the track.  Jared Landers won the UMP modified feature.

Californian Damion Gardner won the USAC sprint race at the Winternationals in Tampa.  Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe Gardner was the driver who suffered some legs burns during the Topless TNT Bandit show at I-80 Speedway last August.

Action continues at both Florida tracks tonight.

The first article in bleacherreport.com after the Danica article of course, talked of a hero, a villain, and an underdog for the 2010 Sprint Cup season.  While fans of the 88 driver may believe the sun rises first in the U.S. over his yard, I am afraid that Earnhardt Jr. does not come off as heroic, as least to me.  I would say the one hero figure NASCAR has is Mark Martin.

As far as villains, how about Jimmy Johnson and Kyle Busch?  I have watched only one episode of the HBO show Jimmy Johnson 24/7, but more than ever I am rooting for someone else, anyone else to win this year’s Sprint Cup.  My wife happened to watch that same episode and while she thought Johnson came off as arrogant, his crew chief Chad Knaus went right off the arrogance scales.  Or to quote Jane, “what an arrogant _ _ _.” Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski-Cause-A-Wreckski as some call him-both figure the other as a villain.  I suspect they will go on NASCAR probation early enough that they can’t become true villains in 2010.

NASCAR has no shortage of non-driving villains.  Brian France and all the NASCAR officials could fall into that category, as would most of the promoters.  Several tracks could fall into that category, and I don’t mean Darlington.  An old definition of pornography was “no redeeming social value.”  In that case, the tracks in Fontana and Chicago are pornographic.

My friend Tony Anville would probably like me to list Paul Menard as an underdog, but he is so far down the list of contenders that he could not begin to be called an underdog.  I would call Jeff Burton an underdog.  Though he drives for one of NASCAR’s top teams, he is the number 3 driver on the team.  I can see him qualifying for this season’s version of The Chase. Maybe Marcus Ambrose will race to the front this year in honor of sponsor Little Debbie’s 50^th anniversary.  

So, my hero-Mark Martin.  Maybe this will be his year.  My villain-Jimmy Johnsons, with his crew chief Chad Knaus as 1.A. on the villain list.  Does anyone really want this pair to win another championship?  Although I have bought a lot of Little Debbie snacks over the years, I will be rooting for Jeff Burton as an underdog.

Thanks for stopping by.

No Danica Disaster, Harvick Heals Saturday, Martin on 500 Pole, Jr. Nation Ecstatic, And A Little Dirt Too.

Despite a spin out, there was no Danica disaster in last Saturday’s ARCA race at Daytona.  Patrick recovered from her spin and finished a solid sixth in the race, good enough for her to make plans to qualify for next Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race. With many Sprint Cup drivers scheduled for this race, Patrick will find the competition much tougher.

Veteran Bobby Gerhart won the ARCA race for the sixth time.  Young dirt whiz Josh Richards finished 42^nd, after being involved in an eight car wreck on the sixth lap.  Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa finished 31^st, wrecking her car on lap 25.

Kevin Harvick won the Bud Shoot-Out Saturday night. Harvick had been bothered with flu like symptoms earlier in the week, but there were no bugs in car or driver Saturday.  I don’t know if anything can be read into his victory as he won the Shoot-Out last year and had a dismal season.  Still, the RCR cars came on strong in the final weeks of 2009, so maybe Harvick is on the path to challenge for the Sprint Cup in 2010.

Mark Martin is certainly on the path to repeat last season’s great run.  The 50-ish Batesville, Arkansas native qualified on the pole for next Sunday’s Daytona 500.  Close behind Martin was teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Were those qualifying laps the beginning of the end of funky finishes for the 88?  Maybe-Earnhardt has a history of following poor seasons with a better effort the following year. The two Hendrick drivers are the only drivers to automatically qualify for the 500.

Winternational super late model action at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Florida wound up with two shows on Saturday.  Friday night races were rained out, so the track ran a day-night double-header.  Scott Bloomquist took home first place in the afternoon program, and the Real Deal, Don O’Neal won the evening A feature.  The supers move on to Volusia County Speedway starting tonight.

The Winternationals turn to open wheel competition this week.  USAC Sprints are on tap tonight thru Wednesday, and the All-Star 410 Sprints take to the track for shows on Thursday-Saturday.

I would much rather be in Florida today, than Nebraska.  It isn’t snowing, but the wind is blowing, and it is icy cold.  Though I would prefer to be about 150 miles north of Tampa watching the late models and big block modifieds in action, if I had the chance to be where it is warm, I would even watch the winged sprint cars and not complain.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sad Day For Midwest Late Model Fans And Drivers

If it seems like Jim Wilson has been a part of Midwest Late Model racing forever, well, he has.  From highly successful car owner (a car he owned won the World 100) to NASCAR representative for the area (the region produced several national champions during his tenure, plus he founded the Busch All-Star tour) to owner of the World Dirt Racing League, Wilson has seen it all, and been an important cog in the development of the sport we love.

I consider Jim a friend, and have always enjoyed the opportunities I had to talk with him when the WDRL rolled into town.  Even though he was busy preparing for an evening of races, Wilson always took a few minutes to chat.  He was-is a walking encyclopedia of racing, and I always learned something new from him. 

That Wilson’s efforts greatly enhanced the success of many a late model driver in the region seemed to have been forgotten by some who benefited the most. Though Wilson’s WDRL was what I would call a mid-range regional tour, many promoters saw it as pricey, despite the organization and professionalism the series brought to the track-professionalism that few tours even attempt to match. For several seasons the WDRL has been under attack from the very high priced national tours and from the cheap regional tours and unfortunately many promoters listened to the siren song sung by those tours.

Too many promoters don’t understand the word ‘loyalty.’ It does not register that being a promoter means to actively advocate the sport, and that takes more action than opening the gates and putting an ad in the Hawkeye Racing News.  If promoters promoted, the WDRL would not have seemed a pricey option.  That a winner’s share of $5,000 seems too expensive to pay-and big races 30 years ago paid that much to win-says something about our sport that is not good. 

I was saddened today to learn of Wilson’s announcement that the WDRL will no longer be a part of the Midwest racing scene.  Late model racers and late model fans will miss Jim and his tour. I hope that another regional tour will step up to fill the racing void of losing the WDRL, but that is probably just wishful thinking on my part.

I looked at the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame website and found that Jim Wilson is not a member.  I hope this will be rectified by the group when it makes its selections for 2011, as Wilson was most definitely a major contributor to the sport.

Thanks for stopping by.  Below is the press release that was just issued.

Jim and Nancy Wilson Close Touring Series

Gilman City Missouri

For Immediate Release:

The WORLD Dirt Racing League (WDRL) is sorry to announce that it will no longer have the Touring Series WDRL and is discontinuing business as such immediately.

We hated to have to make this announcement because of the loyalty of the race fans, race teams, and several racetracks that we have been fortunate to have races at each year.

We have a lot of friends out there that will be missed tremendously and we wish them all the best of luck. For all of these reasons it was a very hard decision to make said Jim Wilson (President of WDRL)

The WDRL was formed and started by Jim Wilson after NASCAR made the decision to discontinue the All-Star Tour after 17 years of operation. “I had so many drivers and a lot of promoters come to me after the word was out that the All-Star Tour would no longer be in existence and asked me to start my own Touring Series and keep the Dirt Late Model Tour going in the Mid-West. I decided to resign from NASCAR at that time and do it. “

“After working for NASCAR for 20 years the only way that I knew or even wanted to run a race program, was to run it professionally and with professionally trained officials.

We hired the best officials we could find to run the race programs at the WDRL races. I thank Mark Ludwig, Ron Streger, Art Daufeldt, Rusty Daufeldt, Phil Roberts, Chris Hansen, Dean and Shirley Howe, Mable McCuen, Eldon Wilson, Tom Lathan, Steve Pauley, Cheryl Huchinson, and Bucky Doren for their part of making the WDRL a professionally ran series. These officials didn’t all work with us at the same time, but were all instrumental in making the WDRL the best run short track series in the United States. In the 8 years that we ran the WDRL we never had one complaint of unfair treatment and never had one injury that was bad enough to turn in for insurance. That tells me that the officials were doing their jobs treating all teams the same and making sure the race cars were as safe as possible.

We lost our title sponsor, PolyDome in 2008 due to circumstances beyond their control and we were never able to pick up another. I thank Dick and Karla and Dan and Pam Johanneck of PolyDome for their 6 years of sponsorship and for all they have done for us and for short track racing through their sponsorship.

I thank Jim Groves of Iowa Illinois Taylor Insulation for his sponsorship for each year of the WDRL. They supported the WDRL from day one and Jim and Julie are great friends as well as being great supporting sponsors.

I want to say thanks to Lee Havlik and Josh Anderson of Chase Signs and Graphics for their sponsorship from the beginning of the WORLD Dirt Racing League and for all they have done for us and for racing. They are the ones that designed the WDRL logo for us.

I thank Hoosier Racing Tires for their continued sponsorship. I realize that our guys are spending money with them, but they have been willing to put something back. They have also been with us from the beginning.

We thank all of the sponsors of the WDRL. They have all been generous to our race teams and we appreciate that.

I want to thank the fans of the WDRL. We have received a lot of supportive emails and letters written to us and a lot of nice things said to us after races and we appreciate each and every one of those. We have some great fans.

We want to thank the race teams that have supported the WDRL and have run all over the Mid-West with us for the last 8 years. These guys have all been a pleasure to work with and have been willing to work with us in any way we asked them too.

Last but not least I want to thank the promoters and the race tracks that have supported the WDRL and have promoted WDRL races. We have been able to meet some new faces as well as work with some we’ve known for years and it has been quite a ride. 

What Nancy and I are going to do is up in the air right now. I am too young to retire and am not even thinking about doing that.  We have some irons in the fire and we will keep everyone posted.

Again thanks to everyone that has been involved in the WDRL.  We hope you enjoyed this series as much as we enjoyed doing it.

Old Batesville Drivers, Kid Rocket, Sprints, ARCA, and 29 Days To Racing In Nebraska

Old drivers from Batesville, Arkansas don’t fade away, they just keep winning races.  We all know how well Mark Martin did last year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and 52 year old dirt track ace Billy Moyer continues to pile up victories in his hall of fame career.  Moyer’s latest A feature checkered came last night at the Winternationals in Tampa. Young Josh Richards finished second to Moyer, with Shannon Babb finishing third and Don O’Neal fourth at East Bay Raceway. Nebraskan Kyle Berck finished sixth in his heat and did not race in a consolation.  Iowan Mike Collins finished 12^th in the same heat as Berck, and also did not run a consolation.  49 cars competed.

Moyer remains one of the drivers I most enjoy.  I had the good fortune of talking with him for a Dirt Late Model article and can attest to him being a nice guy.  I have also watched him make jaw dropping moves time after time, wondering how he did what he did.  Eating pizza before watching some basketball last night, Matt commented on how he watched highlights of the previous night’s races and how everyone but Kyle Berck and Moyer seemed to be beating and banging, while those two touched no one but made it to the front of their heat. I hope Moyer is at least a few years from retiring, but who knows, with Billy Jr. starting to come on as he is.

Josh Richards is heading to Daytona to run the ARCA series race on Saturday.  I suspect he has done some testing of an ARCA car, and it will be interesting to see how he does transitioning from a late model dirt car to a much heavier, less horsepower car on the huge Daytona tri-oval.  I would think that drivers such as Tony Stewart would be giving ‘Kid Rocket’ asphalt advice. This may be politically incorrect, but I hope he does better than Danica Patrick and her hype machine.

There is also some sprint car racing going on in Florida.  The All-Star Circuit of Champions is racing at Volusia County Speedway.  Last night was the opening night of the 410’s run at VCS, and Craig Dollanksy took home first.  Dollansky was followed by a few of the “usual suspects,” with Joey Saldana finishing second, Donny Schatz coming home third, and Steve Kinser following Schatz in fourth place.  40 cars time trialed.

Coming back from lunch today, looking at the mounds of dirty snow that remain from our December blizzards, it is hard to believe that the 7^th Annual Spring Thaw is scheduled for Junction Motor Speedway south of York, Nebraska in just 29 days.  This race is always a gamble-Nebraska weather in early March can be 70 or near zero on any given day.  Cross your fingers for good weather. I would like to catch the USMTS modifieds in one of their few shows in this area.

I enjoy the www.bleacherreport.com emails I receive.  The subject matter of the email is always the title of their lead article, and you gotta love seeing something like “NASCAR’s ‘Bogus’ Move to Cut Race Purses Screws Everyone.” Again, a subscription to this site it free, and once or twice a week you get up to 10 NASCAR racing stories.

Thanks for stopping by.

Where Have All The Supers Gone?

Two nights of Lucas Oil late model action in the Wintenationals at East Bay Raceway Park are now in the book.  To me the biggest surprise of the event is who is not there.  Monday night action saw just 42 cars in the East Bay pits and last night added just one more.  In 2009, the average late model count at the Winternationals was 70.  When I made the trip to Tampa in 2006, over 90 cars raced.

Even the very best drivers seldom dominate the week in Tampa.  Winning one race is a big deal.  Winning two races takes a super human effort.  In 2006, only the top two drivers in each heat advanced to the A main, and only two from each consolation race were able to tack on to the rear of the field. A poor qualifying effort, even a mediocre qualifying run would make qualifying for the A main an almost impossible task with passing on the tight, narrow 3/8ths mile oval extremely difficult and each heat full of the best dirt late model drivers in the country.

Couple the costs of driving 1,500 miles or more from northern or Midwest states with the expense of spending a week or two in Florida-not the least of which would be a tire bill-and some drivers must figure the opportunity to race in mid-winter simply does not add much if anything to their income statements. Drivers could not have known so many others would stay home. Maybe the car count will pick up this weekend for the bigger dollar events.

Mike Marlar won the opening night feature followed by Tim McCreadie.  Last night Scott Bloomquist won his second A feature of the very young 2010 season, taking home $5,000 for his efforts.  Ray Cook had solid efforts both nights, finishing third on Monday and fifth on Tuesday.  Nebraskan Kyle Berck also enjoyed the first two nights of his Florida vacation, finishing 12^th on Monday and 9^th last night, qualifying from his heat on both nights.

90 cars, 70 cars, or just 42 super late models, I would still rather be in Tampa than spending early February in Nebraska. Thanks for stopping by.

Hypothetical, Make Believe, Theoretical, Or Maybe Real

I was highly pleased with my creativity yesterday.  I was on a roll, and the words just flowed.  I even finished today’s blog nearly 24 hours ahead of when I usually do.  I should have realized that would come back to bite me.

Today’s blog was going to update you on all that the make believe committee has accomplished toward promoting a hypothetical late model special in mid-summer.  However last night I learned that our hypothetical promoter has a fairy godmother dispensing fine old wine from vintage kegs, providing counsel apparently of more value than that of the theoretical committee. I just talked with our theoretical promoter and he apparently is feeling some hypothetical chills in his lower extremities, though the problem can’t be diagnosed as cold feet yet.

So, my until our hypothetical committee exchanges a few make believe emails to set up a non-meeting with our theoretical promoter, things are at a stand still and really can’t be updated.

Tomorrow back to real racing.  I am off to the dentist to get a tooth filled for the first time in years. Thanks for stopping by.

’60’s Videos, Youthful Winners-Boy Do I Feel Old

If you have a lazy weekend afternoon, go to YouTube and look for racing videos.  I have no idea how many are online, but enough that you would not have to repeat any in slaking your racing thirst. I am not sure you would have any repeats if you spend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week looking at racing videos. Of course you could save time and just click on “Multimedia” on my website- www.therestofthedirt.com  and watch racing videos.

Actually YouTube left me feeling very old yesterday.  I was looking for rock videos vintage 60’s and 70’s and came upon concert footage of Three Dog Night from 8/1/70.  Jane and I went to three TDN shows in the early 70’s.  I am sure Omaha was one of the stops on the same tour this video came from.  The sound was a little spotty, but so was the sound on 45’s and LP’s in those days.  I also watched some footage of The Coachmen being inducted into the Iowa Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame several years ago.  Amazingly we all seemed so young and vigorous in the Three Dog Night video, but looked much different in The Coachmen concert.  Ouch.

Paul Stone took the modified A feature in the Winter Challenge ’10 at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Arizona on 1/30.  43 IMCA mods were on hand, and 46 cars in four support classes also took to the track.  Full results aren’t yet posted on 1/31 action, but after a 4^th place finish on Saturday, Nebraskan Dylan Smith finished first last night.  I have no doubt that Ivan Tracy was there and can give us details. The series resumes next weekend, with racing on both Saturday and Sunday.

Across the country in Tampa, Florida, Don O’Neal took home $1,500 winning the 1/29 modified feature.  Saturday’s show was postponed because of rain and Rodney Wing of Meridian, Mississippi became a repeat winner of the rescheduled event, taking home $5,000.

I can talk about rain at East Bay Raceway Park, and believe me it is no fun to fly from Omaha to Tampa to take in some racing, and have one of the nights postponed because of rain.  East Bay is definitely “out in the boondocks.” I didn’t take advantage of my media credentials the night it rained while I was there, figuring I could get out quicker that way.  I didn’t even park in the track parking.  I parked down the road about ¼th mile from the track, along what I would call a swampy area.  Walking back to my car in the dark and rain I really worried about an alligator deciding to make me his supper.

Josh Richards won the SAS late model feature at Golden Isles Speedway in Georgia on Friday night.  No surprise there, but Saturday’s winner was a big surprise.  If you haven’t heard of 17 year old Delaware driver Austin Hubbard, plan on seeing that name a lot more in late model coverage during the 2010 season.  Hubbard led all 60 laps of the final night of the Super Bowl of Racing, holding off wily veteran Scott Bloomquist and taking home $12,000 in the process.

The East Bay Winternationals continue tonight through Saturday, with super late models filling the pits.  Picture 90-100 of the top late model drivers in the country vying for only 24 A feature starting spots on a tight track where passing is not easy.  That is East Bay.

Thanks for stopping by.

No Writing Block (Head) Today

I am trying to decide what to write about today. I could write about Fremont High School defeating Papillion/LaVista 50-42 last night, though it was a very ugly game.  The Tigers used a 19-2 run in the second and third quarter to go up 31-18 on the Monarchs, then proceeded to give away the entire lead in a little over two minutes, before a last second basket left Fremont ahead 33-30 at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter was a hodge podge of turnovers and free throw shots.

I could write about the Nebraska women’s basketball team-make that undefeated, 18-0, Big 12 leading women’s basketball team. 

I could write about four Omaha mom’s who are running the ING Marathon in Miami to help raise funds for relief efforts in Haiti.  Since Matt began running cross country as a freshman in high school I am always been impressed by the mental and physical toughness of long distance runners. I have also liked how many of the road races around the country benefit a worthy cause.

Maybe I could pen a few words about Jack Stark, a psychologist from Nebraska who has worked with the Nebraska football team and Creighton basketball team and now works with the Hendricks Motorsports teams, especially drivers Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Obviously the 88 team ought to get the lion’s share of his efforts this season.  Anyway in today’s Omaha World-Herald sports section, Stark talked of his passion for NASCAR racing, and how the drivers are indeed athletes.

Or, I could just give out some results of this week’s big races.  Scott Bloomquist won the opening night feature of the Super Bowl of Racing at Golden Isle Speedway in Georgia.  A party who wishes to remain anonymous-not me-stated Bloomquist “must have been cheating.”

Three nights of Winternational’s modified racing at East Bay Raceway Park are now in the books, though not in any book you can check out at the library.  Jeff Matthews of Dover, Florida took home the $1,000 winner’s purse on night one.  Matthews, who runs all year at East Bay bested Pennsylvanian Dave Hess Jr. Fifty-three drivers signed int.

Night two saw sprint car driver Brady Short of Bedford, Indiana take the A main checkered flags.  Short started on the pole, dropped back to 5^th, then came on midway through the race.  More impressive than Short’s win was that of Meridian, Mississippi driver Rodney Wing.  Wing started 19^th on the tight 1/3^rd mile oval and finished second only to short. Fifty-five modifieds took to the track Wednesday.

On night three, Wing improved his previous night’s effort by one spot, receiving the winner’s check of $1,500 in the process.  Local driver Roger Crouse finished second, after finishing eighth and fifth the previous nights.  Fifty-eight drivers signed in.

I can’t figure out what to write about today.  Maybe I need to give it some more thought.  Or maybe just leave this post as it is.  Now that is a good idea.  Thanks for stopping by.

A Zebra Tirade And HD Streaming For The Race Recluse

A brief basketball tirade before some auto racing.  I have loved basketball as long as I have loved racing, so I don’t feel too much guilt writing about it.  Last night I witnessed my first four overtime game ever.  My alma mater Midland College battled conference rival Hastings College.  Hastings scored a last second basket in regulation to send the game into overtime.  Twice Midland scored last second hoops to continue the game.  It was certainly the best game ever played in the Midland Events Center.  No one deserved to lose the game, finally won by Hastings 129-124.

Why am I complaining about an instant classic?  Because the referees became involved in the final result, and that should never happen in any game.  With the score tied in overtime number four, a Midland player was called for a foul.  I suspect the phrase “bull shit” was uttered and the referee charged the player with a technical foul.  A second referee proceeded to call a technical foul on the Midland coach, once again because the words “bull shit” were uttered. Hastings garnered a five point lead after the two foul shots and four technical foul shots were taken, plus they got to inbound the ball.  That turned out to be a rather large play given it happened with 90 seconds left in the game.

My point is that the technical fouls should never have been called. No referee worth the spit in his whistle would have called them.  Emotions were high and players were tired.  A simple “son, you don’t want your team to lose because I hit you with a T,” would have shut up the player.  Coaches say a lot to referees, but at that time of the game all that needed to be said to the coach was “coach we got it under control, sit down.”  It was sad to see a game that was magical end almost as a farce.

Yes, I am hoarse this morning.  Yes, I very much yelled at the referees.  Yes, my remarks were disparaging.  I can’t even remember the last time I yelled like that at a game, though I have yelled often.  I guess I took my dad’s place in the stands last night.  He would have loved the basketball, and loved just as much explaining to the referees they were idiots.

I’ll behave tonight at the Fremont High School game.  Go Tigers.

If you are suffering race withdrawal, a few bucks will get you some live action from East Bay Raceway Park near Tampa.  The East Bay Nationals started with modified action on Tuesday, and will be followed by Lucas Oil super late models next week.  The All Start Sprint Cup circuit races will be shown February 11^th-13^th, and crate late models and mod lites will be shown on February 18^th-20^th.  The action doesn’t end then, as ASCS Sprint Cars will be live February 25^th-27^th, and UMP NASRA late models can be seen March 3^rd-6^th.

One hour of racing action can be purchased for $4.95, while four hours will cost you $11.95.  Advance packages are available for remaining dates.  Five days of Lucas Oil late models cost $49.95, while three days of All-Star Sprint car racing will set you back $24.95.  Three days of crate late model action cost $24.95, as does three days of ASCS sprint car action.  The UMP NASRA late model package is $34.95.  Go to

www.racecastlive.com for details.

I suspect that a computer in the Washington Heights area of Fremont will be tuned into the super late model racing, unless there is a Fremont High, Midland, or Duke basketball game to be watched. Thanks for stopping by.

They Smile In Your Face

A few of your buddies they sure look shady,

Blades are long, clenched tight in their fist,

Aimin’ straight at your back

And I don’t think they’ll miss.

What they do?

They smile in your face,

All the time they want to take your place.

The back stabbers.

-The Back Stabbers by The O’Jays 1972

I am pro-fan, not necessarily anti-promoter.  You don’t believe it?  Well, I just deleted an 800 word tirade that took me several hours to write.  Yes, it was worded strongly against actions that seem to be almost a tradition among promoters. My editor thought I could make my point in far fewer words, by eliminating all the “liars, muggers, and thieves” comments.

When promoters do not co-operate, everyone loses.  Drivers lose because they are forced to make choices they shouldn’t have to make like when to race, where to race, even what to race.  Fans lose by paying good money to watch watered down competition.  Promoters lose because they waste resources trying to stab each other in the back-it costs them time, it costs them money, and just as important, it costs them the good will of drivers and fans.

Racing loses when promoters refuse to co-operate. There are many outlets for discretionary income so why bother supporting someone who can’t seem to get his act together.  It is easier to stay home, grill hamburgers, and play video games.

Here is a word for promoters to learn-compromise.  Talk to each other; seek a solution other than rules that limit drivers to competing at one track, or schedules that pit one special race or weekly show against another at tracks only a few miles apart.

Yes, it is a promoter’s money and he can do what he wants, up to the point when his actions are detrimental to racing.  At that point every driver and fan has not just a right, but an obligation to complain. 

If everyone loses when promoters fail to co-operate, it seems logical that everyone wins when promoters opt to get along.  Drivers have more opportunities to race.  Fans get to see all of their favorites in action.  Promoters can spend their time and money on making their program better, instead of trying to hurt another promoter’s efforts.  Racing wins.

So again, talk, seek solutions, mediate if necessary, but be open to compromise.  Thanks for stopping by.