ron.brown11

I forgot to post that Chris Davidson finished 8th at Irwindale. I didn't see the race, so not sure how Chris ran other than the finishing position. That's a long haul to LA, good job Chris.

Yeah some of the favorites got wrecked, but that happens every All Star race. When you have team owners saying "Just bring me back the steering wheel", that's going to happen. I was actually surprised that more cars weren't destroyed, especially after that last restart. I didn't see the Sunday night interview with the Comp Director, but I was shocked/impressed that NASCAR admitted their mistake that quickly. For me, I haven't truly enjoyed the All Star race since they left the original format. I liked that you actually had to win a race in the prior 12 months to qualify. I was ok when the added the Open, but only the winner transferred to the big race. Now it's like the NBA & NHL, if you are still alive, you too can make the All Star race it seems. Kind of takes the "All Star" out of it, as it's no longer special. Thankfully this year's format was a lot less convoluted. I'm pretty good at math, but trying to keep count of how many cars passed, with over 20 cars, should not be involved. At least that's why I hope they stopped using last year's format. It's the number 1 reason that NASCAR stopped using the Latford system for the points championship. The second or third place finishing car, shouldn't be able to score as many points as the winner. As far as to where they move the All Star race to, that track has to be able to pack the house, and put on a good show. Both on & off the track. Nobody can say that TMS doesn't bring it, when talking about the off track show. The racing isn't great, but it's good most of the time. But if they move it to the LA Coliseum, I promise you I won't be watching. Anybody that's read any of my posts on here, know that I love short track racing. That ain't racing! A few years ago, there was a show called Madhouse, about modified racing at Bowman Gray. I'm an old modified driver, so I had to watch. Yes there was some racing, but it more closely resembled bumper cars at an amusement park, and children with really bad tempers. I didn't watch the Clash because I was pretty certain what would follow, from watching Madhouse. I looked at the highlights the next day, and to my surprise they only tore up about 50% of the amount of cars that I expected, but it still resembled bumper cars. But I'd bet a chunk of money that team owners were warning their drivers, that if they wanted to have a car to race the next race, they better not destroy that one. It seems that teams are finally getting their car inventory built up. I predict that if they run it again at the Coliseum, double the car crash count. I do think that Nashville could host the All Star race. I don't think the pushback is as bad as some in the media make it. Most of the pushback seems to be coming from the folks that don't really like racing, but are afraid of having to foot the bill for all the upgrades needed to bring back Cup there. Hey, I get it. If it's something I don't like, I don't want to pay for it either. So the trick will be two fold. First SMI will need to figure out all of those money issues, without the public tax dollars accounting for most of it. Second NASCAR is going to have to run a very tight/short weekend. No other support series', and limit on track times. Remember, the Fairgrounds is in a very densely populated area. I think that SMI can do their part. I don't know if NASCAR & SMI think they can make enough money to make it worth while. That's a great track, and think it would be a great race. If they do it during the fair, it would definitely be a show off the track. And if by chance SMI couldn't have all tickets sold out before hand, I'd be willing to bet that they could get a good amount of walk up traffic from the fair attendees. As long as they don't go into sticker shock from the ticket prices..

Yeah, the race director stepped on their stuff last night. NASCAR's Comp Director was on video last night saying that they screwed up. As I was really intensely watching the gap between Blaney and Hamlin, I don't remember what the running order was before the yellow. Therefore I can't comment on the final finishing order compared to that. I did notice that NASCAR ran several more yellow laps after the track crew had left the racing surface. So NASCAR was already trying to "fix" their screw up. Thus giving Blaney a lot more time to try and fix his window net. I found it very interesting that when the green was thrown, Fox's cameras were doing an up close of his window net. That lasted for about 3 seconds, and was not repeated for the remainder of the race. I'd bet money that NASCAR told them to stop showing the window net, because Stevie Wonder could see that window net was not attached. To me, that yellow flag carried that same smell that comes when it's blatant that NASCAR is trying to do the 1 thing they say they most hate. Artificially altering the outcome of the race (team orders; blatant blocking to protect a team mate etc). I honestly hope that I'm wrong. There are 2 things I am very happy about. The guy that should have won it, still won it. Blaney was by far the best car in the last segment. The other thing is, there wasn't a 20 car pile up in the ensuing restart/finish. Thankfully all drivers got to go home last night, and only 4-5 cars were badly damaged. Hey Rodney, for a Sunday night race, with Monday not being a holiday, they did have a pretty good crowd. I've never heard Banda MS play in person, but they're pretty good. I, like Nick, have been immersed in the Hispanic culture for a while. Sat. was our 45th anniversary. Unfortunately I can't cumbia like I used to. Too much titanium in my back. That sucks..

Yeah, I heard that. from the spotter. So I watched the replays again, and Larson was correct. Kurt gave hime room, but as Kyle's nose got about to Kurt's door, you could see the nose of Kyle's push right. At that point there was at least 2-3' between them. So either Kyle flinched and tried to take a little arc out (and I absolutely doubt that), or the air simply pushed Kyle's nose to the right. I've watched Larson race gets, sprints, asphalt and dirt late models, Xfinity & Cup cars. He's the ballyist driver I've ever seen, that wasn't also reckless/dangerous. I don't know if he is the best driver ever, as a lot of retired racers have said. But he absolutely belongs in that group, and that group is very small. What a pure talent..

Now those closing laps between Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson was real racing!! As best as I could tell, neither touched the other. And if they did, it didn't effect the other. Larson got a push coming off turn 4 I believe, and grazed the wall. He said right after the race that Kurt gave him enough room, but the car just got tight. That was fun! I'll tell you who should be pissed, and that's Joe Gibbs & FedEx. In approximately a 2 minute interview, Hamlin only mentioned his team (23XL), and sponsors. Even during the race, when Bubba had pit road trouble, Hamlin was asking his crew chief what happened to Bubba. His crew chief told him to stop worrying about him, and concentrate on his own car/race. That should be an interesting competition meeting this week. I'm not sure when FedEx's contract ends, but I'm certain that Hamlin's contract has an out clause if they lose their sponsor..

Hey, Sr did more than his fair share of taking people out, and it was on purpose. Also, if you take points/$$ away for that stuff, I think there have been 3 races at the Cup level this season where that would apply. My point to my previous post was exactly that. Joey could have easily have just nudged him, and Joey still wins, and Byron finishes second. These examples are exactly why most Sat. night racers do what they do in like situations. There seems to be no respect for fellow racers like there used to be. Too bad too. And I'm not saying that a driver should just take losing, I'm just saying there should be some respect. Rubbing, hey I'm good with that. That wasn't racing for the win, that was wrecking someone for the win, and I'm not ok with that. As long as NASCAR keeps allowing it, it won't stop. But they have to be consistent with the calls. That's something that NASCAR has never been good at. And as much as I hated the way Logano did that yesterday, what Chastain did at COTA was much worse. Worse because he didn't just involve the driver he was trying to beat. He involved a 3rd car that had nothing to do with the battle between himself and Almindinger. Bowman got a second that I doubt he would have gotten, if Chastain hadn't dumped Almindinger. Heck, Bowman might have even won, but there was chance after Chastain dumped AJ.

Yeah, that really was a CS move. One would think that Joey would remember Martinsville about 5 years ago, after Kenseth cost him a championship. I won't defend that move, but also notice that Byron didn't mention him sticking Joey into the turn 1-2 wall on the restart leading up to the final lap. If Logano wanted payback for that, he could have easily just nudged Byron lightly, until Byron had to lift. The pass would have been accomplished, and no pissed off driver or fans. At the end of a 30 lap stint at Darlington, everybody's tires are shot. It would not require a hit like that. Not Good Joey!

I read that Chris is headed to CA. to race at Irwindale on the 21st. Good Luck Chris!

I didn't watch all of the race, as I actually forgot that it was a Sunday evening race. It was a much better race than I thought it would, but those expectations were pretty low to begin with. I was very surprised they didn't have many issues with the belly pan, and the tires held up really well. But a new issue showed up. I don't think they anticipated engines getting plugged up with dirt, via the air inlet. Although this was most definitely a better race than last year, I sure hope they stop doing this. Bristol is a great track in its normal configuration. If they want to race dirt, go to a real dirt track. The place didn't look even half full, and that was before the first rain red flag. After the second red flag, it just looked empty. Heading to Talladega next, praying for all the drivers' wellbeing.

Thanks Nick!!

I have a friend named Paul Banghart, in Tucson. He owns GAT Racing, and has won a few super late model track championships. He also maintains several racers' cars throughout the season. The 4th season I was running my mod, there was a guy that was starting his 2nd season in the mods. His mom & dad owned a sizable tow truck operation, and they had "disposable" income. He ran a used mod his 1st season, after a couple of seasons in a factory stock. That car had been owned by at least 3 different drivers, and it had had it's fair share of crashes. So mom & dad weren't real happy with how Jr. did as a rookie, and thought he needed a new car. They bought 2 complete Lefthander chassis'. Those Lefthander chassis' were winning everything in the mods & super late models for 2-3 years. I was talking to the kid before the first pre-season open practice. I knew that old car had some serious handling issues. It wouldn't turn for shit, no matter what they tried. I told him that he really needed to take that 1st hot lap session really easy, because that new car would be dramatically different. He agreed, and said he wasn't going to push it at all that day. Well, unfortunately he's one of those drivers, that once he puts his helmet on, his brain never managed to find itself inside said helmet. I followed him out for the first practice, and as usual the track gave us 3 laps at a quick pace, before going green. The green came out as he exited turn 2. When he got to turn 3, he drove it straight in to the concrete. Paul had to clip that car for opening night in 2 weeks. We typically drew for heat race starting spots, which set the main lineups. As luck would have it, he started on the pole. Coming to the initial green, he had the backend step out. He jumped completely out of the throttle, and the car responded in kind. It turned dead right into the front stretch wall, and 22 cars ended up in turn 1 in a pile. I think only 9 or 10 cars were able to actually run the main after that. This time Paul had to clip both ends, which took a little longer than the first time. So they swapped the driveline into the other new chassis. Three weeks later, it too needed a new front clip. Thank God Paul had gotten that first chassis back together. After we completed our 23 race schedule, each of this cars had had the front clips replaced 3 times each, and 2 rear clips on the first chassis. A couple of months after the season ended, I went to Paul's to pick up some new nerf bars and front bumper, that he built for me. I saw one of that guy's modified sitting in Paul's shop, getting another front clip. Paul said that he went to LA to run a race there. Paul said he made 6 laps in practice before fencing it. I off handedly wondered aloud , wondering how much his parents might have spent that season. Paul walked over to the file cabinet by his desk, and pulled out his account folder.After about 5 minutes with the calculator, he said $103K, give or take a grand or two. I had just completed my 4th season. I literally started from scratch, buying circle track needed tools, a roller chassis, complete engine, a tow vehicle and a trailer. Plus I had raced for 4 seasons. I hadn't spent 40% of that money. This went on for 2 more seasons before mom & dad ran out of money. He lasted another year on his own, before being gone. It bankrupted his parents unfortunately. He wasn't a bad driver, as that he didn't know how to drive. He just didn't know use any common sense when he would get into close quarters with others. Over his time in the modified division, I spent more money fixing my car because of him, than I did for all the other expenses for all my years of racing. There were a couple of other drivers that finally got fed up with fixing their cars, that they started taking him out a few times. So what do you think he did after sitting out a season? He bought a used super late model. He went from pricey, to stupid pricey. Let's just say it didn't end well. He crashed 2 of the 3 latest champions within about 6 weeks of racing. One of them didn't take real kindly to it. That kid's super late model career ended, when the former champ never lifted behind him going into turn 3. It was very intentional. It took 2 wreckers and almost an hour, to get that car into the trailer. Thankfully he didn't need to go to the hospital. The funny thing is, he was never a driver that I thought would wreck someone that hard, on purpose. I really thought that the track was going to suspend him for it, but they didn't. I was friends with the track's Comp Director, about a month after that crash. He told me that he gave it very serious consideration. But because of this guy's record of causing crashes over the last 5 years, he decided not to. Like it has been said before in this tread, racers can be their own worst enemy, both on and off track.

I agree, a 14 car main can put on a great show, some of the time, and especially if you've gotten used to watching 10-12 car mains. Good tracks, with a consistent Competition Director, can help shape how drivers race. A driver that spins out 2-3 times in a race, park them. A driver that tends to be the cause of accidents on a regular basis, give them a race or two, off to think about they race others. In those cases, it's addition by subtraction. Having the crash causer sit, can increase weekly car count because maybe those crashes don't happen. Then they don't miss 1 or more shows while fixing what crashmatic caused. There used to be a very good fix for those persistent crash causing drivers, and didn't require the comp director pissing anyone off. How drivers used to handle it was simple. A handful a drivers, that had been wrecked by said driver, would take turns putting said driver into the wall, over several weekends. Each week, said driver would need to fix their car. Then as a group, they'd go to said driver and ask, have you had enough of getting crashed yet? I've seen more than 1 of those conversations. Not 1 single time did I hear that driver no, please keep wrecking me! Guess what Mr Crash stopped wrecking others, more cars were there to race weekly, and the fans got a better show. It's like the rules. If a racer wants to run a class, they must build and race with those rules, period. Nobody has forced them to race any class, so by entering a car into a class, they have agreed to follow those rules. And tracks have to enforce them equally, and without ambiguity, period. Have you ever wondered why the Snowball & Snowflake races pulls so many cars from around the country? Because it pays well of course, but also teams expect to have a level playing field. By all accounts, tech inspector Ricky Brooks is a tough SOB, and nobody gets away without abiding by the rules. But everybody knows and expects that from him. If you go back 15 years, there were a lot more DQs then there are now. Why? Because he's made them understand that he will enforce said rules, regardless of who the driver is. Two years ago, Steven Nasse won the Snowball Derby. He was DQ'd for having a titanium component in his PFC brakes, which were not permitted in the rules. People got pissed, because Nasse is a very popular driver. Plus, another team protested Nasse's brakes. The team that protested the brakes had a crew member that worked at one time for PFC. He knew that they had some titanium pieces in them. Apparently, brakes wasn't something that normally got torn down, but it was in the rules. Do you think Nasse showed up this year with brakes that didn't meet the rules? PFC was a sponsor on Nasse's car for that race. I'm betting that PFC either changed their calipers, or Nasse change brake brands. But what was really conveyed was this. The rules will rule the day, break them and it could cost you more than you think. That's fair for all.

Having a lot of classes looks great on a flyer or web page. Just imagine the let down for the fans, when they get there and most of the classes have less that 12 cars. I watched opening night for Hickory Speedway in North Carolina, 3 weeks ago. This is in the heart of NASCAR and stock car auto racing in this country. The heat race for the Limited Late Models had 5 cars in it. But hey, the main was better, as a 6th car was able to start. The main event was 50 laps long. The one that didn't make the heat, exited on lap 2 with mechanical issues. On lap 6, two other cars managed to wreck out. I say "managed" because the first car spun & hit the wall. The second car wasn't even close to the wreck, but managed to drive into it. The one that hit the was was completely stopped. There was no oil on the track. That left 3 cars to run 44 laps on a half mile track. By lap 15, there was nearly a straightaway between each of the 3 cars. My first thought was ok, some couldn't quite get their cars finished for opening night. Thankfully that group was off for 2 weeks, so teams could get caught up. The next race there were 4 cars, as the 2 that wrecked didn't make it back. The problem there was pretty evident there. The Limiteds are the third late model class. The also have Pro Late Models, and Super Late Models. Neither of the 2 more Premere classes had more than 15 cars start the mains. The rules for the Pro & Limiteds are nearly identical, and should be added together. As I saw no age limits listed in either series' rules, have the limiteds make no sense. The track that I grew up going to, had a total of 3 classes. Late Models (nobody had started calling them Supers yet), with typically 20-24 cars. Factory Stocks, which consisted of Cameros/Firebirds, Mustangs/Falcons, Darts/Barracudas, with 6 cylinders, typically would have 21-28 cars. With the exception of the 6 cylinders, they were like a limited LM. Bombers, which were junkyard mid/full sized cars, that were striped of virtually everything. They had a basic roll cage, a v8, street tires on street wheels, and a screen with braces for a windshield. All of the classes had full fields, and the bombers usually had a b-main because it was normal to have 30+ cars a night. They didn't run all 3 classes every weekend either. The track would either run longer mains for the LMs & FSs when the bombers didn't run. Or they would would bring in a special show, sprints, midgets, UASC & ARCA stock cars, when the late models didn't run. The only times I saw a weak front gate was if the weather in the area was iffy. Florence Speedway a (KY dirt track) was about 30 miles south of the track I went to. Three or four times a season, Florence would get rained out, and we'd get even more fans show up. Since Tri-County Speedway started life as a dirt track, most of the Florence fans knew how to get to TCS. Fans are ok with a limited amount of classes, but there had better be full (or at least close to) fields, and have competitive racing. As I've said before, racers want rules that help them, and them only. I understand, we all want to win, and rules in my favor helps my chances. But Boy is that shorted sited, if you plan on racing for many years. There's where all these extra classes come from, and like Rodney said above, and eventually fail. Remember, at the end of the day, if the fans don't come, racing will stop. The fan is what stirs the drink..

If everybody hates last year's dirt race, don't watch this one. With how low these cars sits, then add in the full belly pan, you are going to see cars get destroyed and probably get airborne when that belly pan catches piles/clumps of dirt. Although, as bad as visibilitywas for that race in the daylight, you might not see anything. And that's on tv. Can you imagine what the drivers can't/won't see?? It's really hard to believe that someone (probably Ben Kennedy) thought covering Bristol was a good idea.

I agree with the former promoter about giving the racers a place to play. As I said above, I understood why Mary Ann did that at THR. The first year.. Get the different classes of mods, FS etc together in the off season. Write some rules to equalize them (weight, gears etc), something to equalize the class into one. If you bore the fans, or keep them there all night, everybody loses because they won't come back. If they don't come back, nobody ends up with a place to play. If you put a bunch of drivers & crew chiefs together, they will come up with ideas on how to equalize the cars. I know, we did it in Tucson with the mods. Add in a savvy tech inspector to keep 1 group from getting the advantage over the rest, now you have a work in progress. And that's exactly what it needs to be. The on track results will tell you pretty quick if something needs to be adjusted. You're right Rodney, nobody wants to race for 15th. But racing for 15th teaches you how to drive. I know, that's how I learned. I didn't start in a FS or compact, I've only raced in an open comp modified. Worse than that, I never ran a lap in a race until I turned 42. Between a career in the military, then starting and running our own business, it wasn't until that age where I could even entertain owning/driving a race car. To this day, I can still hear my wife's reaction during a Sunday afternoon brunch at a restaurant. You Bought What??? Not quietly either! I didn't have 1 thing except hand & power tools, for trying to race a stock car. I had to borrow a trailer from a friend, just to bring it from Scottsdale to Tucson. We finished it about 5pm on a Sat. afternoon, and was at the track about 6:15. We got a quickie tech inspection, and my first laps was my heat race. We ran a hard compound Goodyear slick, so they would give the mods 2-3 laps at speed to warm the tires. My spotter called me on the second of those laps to ask if there was a problem with the car. I asked why, he replied because the pace car was about to lap me. Hell, I thought I was flying out there. The point is, you've got to start somewhere. I wasn't racing for 15th that year, but I did manage several of them. Mostly due to other drivers "having a bad night". I was just trying to get a top 20 finish, put a whole car on the trailer, while I learned. We always had 20+ mods weekly, so getting a top 15 finish, for a no shit complete rookie, was no easy task. I finished 22nd in the points my rookie year, and was happy with that. I was also lucky enough to not do any major damage to the car. I have kept only 1 trophy from my racing "career". That was my Most Improved driver trophy from my second year. They didn't give out the most improved trophy based just on positions gained from 1 season to another either. They took the top 3 most improved drivers based on stats, then poled the top 3 finishing drivers in our division. Together they decided who got the trophy. The I finished 9th in points, and was 8th to 12th weekly. I didn't get my first top 5 until my third year. But I learned to race, and I never had a driver ever say that they were nervous racing around me. Everybody wants to win their first time out, no matter what car they race. And some do, and that's great. Blessed is the driver that has those skills seem like second nature. For the rest of us, we have to learn it. As I have said before, I Love Racing!! I really want it to survive & thrive. No matter what though, that can't happen if we run the existing fans off, and can't generate new one. Hey Rodney, thanks for making me an online hit!! lol

Rebelracewriter, right now I'm just hoping racing can survive my friend..

I agree arob, I'm not trying to anger anyone either. I've been going to races, dirt and asphalt for nearly 60 years. The lower classes (Pure & Factory stock) are supposed to be for learning how to race. And the very most important rule for anyone getting into racing, is to only race in a class that you can afford. How you can easily determine that is pretty simple. If you grenade the motor heading into turn 1, and destroy the car as a result, will it financially ruin you? If the answer is yes, then you either are racing in a class too high for you, or shouldn't be racing at all. I've seen racers make their families do without basic necessities to race. Even if your family loves racing, and supports you 100%, that's wrong. As far as having 2-3-4 classes of cars, that have a relatively small variation of rules isn't the answer though. It shouldn't be any different for mods. Like I said earlier, I get the 2 mod classes, because the IMCA cars might tour with the series to other tracks. So have a class of mods for the locals, and then there's no reason for a third. Again, running at the back is how you are supposed to learn. As for theE Mod and Sport Mod, it's as simple as weight penalties for whichever chassis (E Mod vs. Sport Mod), to allow them to compete together. Again, running at the back should be expected, while learning how to race them. But here's something else to consider. If the track simply race only the IMCA rules, and enforce claims rules, when the touring teams show up, you now have locals that can race then too. If you really want to see an excited & happy local fan base, have a local beat the touring teams. That will make everybody happy at that track. The drivers get really excited that a local can beat the hotshots. The fans have pride in the same thing. And the promoter is going to have a bigger, more appreciative front gate. I've seen some very good promoters. Unfortunately I've seen some really bad ones too. Most fall somewhere in the middle. I'm not sure what makes them choose to be one honestly. Nobody is ever really happy. The fans think the tickets/food cost too much, and the shows aren't to their expectations. The drivers always feel the the track isn't paying enough, and their costs are too high. And the promoters are either breaking even, or losing money, and everybody is pissed at them. In most cases all 3 are right, and wrong, but none will acknowledge the hardships of the others. Animosity soon follows, then gets worse. Anybody that thinks that racing at the local level is anything but a money losing exercise, isn't paying attention, or writing the checks. Hell, breaking even is almost unheard of anymore. The ones that are breaking even have one of two situations. 1) They've got some really good marketing partners, and really are good at managing their costs. Very few crashes, blown engines, and no splurging for the newest, greatest next big thing. 2) They own their own business, and have enough disposable (lol) capitol left over after paying all of their bills and feeding the family. Then writing off their racing losses through the business. I had some decent sponsors, and owned my own business. We made good money but it was still a struggle. I was blessed to have a really good friend, who built really good motors. The first year I raced, I had a total of just under $2400 in that small block Chevy. The only new parts in it were: intake manifold; cam, lifters bearings; water pump; and 1 JE piston. Everything else was used, and some of the items were given to me. We ran 14 races with that engine. I never blew one of Rusty's motors up, ever, and ran the same block & crank every year that I raced. I had my share of on track crashes, but thankfully none that required that I replace the chassis. And still managing costs was a struggle. The point is, Racing Isn't Easy or Cheap! But it can still be viable. Everyone needs to understand that we all need each other (racers, promoters, marketing partners, & fans). Racing is still entertainment, and I will forever love it. Growing up I played football, baseball, basketball, and bowling. I ran track & cross country one year, so that I could add that chevron to my letter. When I turned 16, and could then get a pit pass, I stopped all of that to work on a pit crew. That's how much I love racing.

I've never been to I-37 Speedway, but this run down confuses me a bit. Hey, I can get confused at times. Maybe there is something/connection that I'm missing. Here's my confusion. There are 2 different Factory Stock divisions, that together would give you a decent car count main event. Why 7 in one, and 14 in the other? Are the rules that different that they couldn't find a compromise? If so, why not? Running a main event for 7 cars (2 of which didn't even start), makes no sense to me, and must really frustrate the fans there that aren't family members of those 5 cars. This is a division that should be having B mains! It's gets worse in the modified division, with 3 divisions. I get that the IMCA mods could be part of a touring group. But why a limited & ECO mods? How much difference is there between the rules of a limited & ECO mod? By definition they are both "limited" type mods, giving a mod rookie, or someone without the financial ability to run an IMCA mod. I get that. If those 2 mod divisions were to combine, you now have a full field modified main event. Nick Holt can easily affirm that I love modifieds. I was a crew chief for 2 different modified teams, then raced my own team for a decade, in AZ. Upon moving back to TX, I searched for a mod team to join, and I did. The first season I worked with Greg Baber the last half of that season. It was the last year we were able to run at San Antonio. The next 3 years were at Thunderhill, before I left the team. During that 3 year period, there were several occasions where we ended up loading the car, and not run the main. Not because of being broke or crash damage, but because the show was way too long. We'd be sitting there at midnight, and there would still be 2-3 mains before our cars were scheduled to run. Plus it was a 3 hour drive back to Uvalde. Greg was a doctor, and at times he would be scheduled to man the ER on Sunday, at the hospital in Uvalde. All because there were several classes that would be nearly identical to each other (and usually having short fields too). I realize that when SA closed down unexpectedly, THR was simply trying to absorb SA"s cars, and keep the playing field equal. But there was no excuse for that the following seasons. Many a night I stood there in the spotter's section for our main, and there was almost no fans still there. I always found that troubling, still do. Fans pay to watch good racing, and having 8-12 cars in a main regularly isn't conducive to that very often. It's one to two battles for a couple of laps, then it's follow the leader. Start 20+ cars in a main, it's rarely a follow the leader event. There's enough cars to have several battles over the entire race. Fans don't mind paying to see that. They will put up with so-so food at high prices, and dirty restrooms. If they don't feel excited and entertained, they will leave. Now you are down to the front gate being just family & friends of the racer. Even that isn't bad, but what happens if 3 or 4 per division can't make it? Now the promoter can't pay the bills, and purses drop. Then drivers get pissed, accuse the promoter of screwing them, and they stop going there. In the end, Everybody loses. But it starts with the casual fan not feeling like they got their money's worth, and seek another form of entertainment. I am not for 1 second trying to diss anybody at I-37, or dirt racing. I LOVE RACING!! And I want to see it survive. I'm saying this from experience. I've taken family/friends to tracks, and the show wasn't good (different tracks & different people). I've gone to races with other die hard racers like me. There have been times where we've left because the shows were crap. And I can tell you that I will sit through a lot before I give up on a race/track. Most very successful tracks/promoters run 4 divisions a night. Those that do more divisions, usually don't run heat races, qualifying, or both. They will usually cut down laps run in the mains, and purses for short fields in a division. That's again heading for disaster like I stated above.

Taylor Gray Wins!!! First ARCA win. They interviewed David Gilliland, and he was in tears. I watched David when he started running NASCAR's Southwest Series. I watched his dad Butch winning in the Winston West series. A really good west coast racing family.. What a week for David Gilliland Racing.

Well, amazingly DGR got equipment to Phoenix on time to race today. Then Taylor Gray qualified P2!!! Hopefully the race goes as well..

HiTech, I know what you mean about those crash scenes. We were driving west through eastern AZ, through Texas Canyon about 3am. Very hilly through there, and we were loaded heavy. The traffic was very light that night. A couple of class C RVs went flying past us as we were climbing a grade. There was no moon that night, and there are no lights anywhere out there. About a minute after they passed us, we saw what looked like a small fire up ahead. By the time we got there, that fire was getting bigger. There was another truck behind us, so I told him to slow down, because I still couldn't tell which side of the road the fire was on. As we came around the final bend, where we could see what it was, I told him to pull up beside me, to help block the road. It was the second of those RVs. It crashed into the rock face just off the right side of I -10. That rock face comes within 6' of the shoulder of the road. There was a couple, 3 kids & a dog inside. The wife, kids and the dog got out. The driver was still inside, and his legs were pinned. That other driver & I tried to get him out, but that fire found the propane tanks, and lit them off. We couldn't get him out. He burned to death, halfway out of the cab. Ah but the love of a dog. The dog jumped back into the rv to try and help. He died too. I can't ever drive past the 218 mile marker without seeing that again. To add to that, we thought we had blocked the freeway pretty good, with 2 big rigs. After the fire was dying down a bit, here comes a big class A motorhome, snaking between the guardrail and the other truck. The guy driving pulls just past and let his kids get out to look. First of all, what idiot would want his kids to see that? Why would you want you kids to carry that memory? What made it worse is he stopped right next to the family that just lost their husband & dad. I was talking to the driver of the rv that was traveling with the one that crashed. It was his brother & his family. So now you have 3 families with that in their minds forever. Add to that the other truck driver, Dee and me carry that. The brother told me that they had just stopped back in Wilcox to fuel up, hence the reason got so big, so fast. He even suggested that they take a break, and sleep for awhile. The one that died said no, so they drove on. Within 20 minutes, you couldn't tell it was once an rv. I have no idea where the propane tanks landed. Thankfully there is virtually nothing around that spot. When those things pop off, the fly just like a missile.

Well, I'm glad to know that all my memory hasn't succumbed to using Ambien for 20 years.. I never saw any racing at TWS unfortunately, so that explains why Johnny's name wasn't one I remembered from my days @ San Antonio. I saw both Johnny & Shane race pro stocks, both were very good. Between Tanner & Taylor, I think Taylor might be the better driver. I'm hoping that he will get a lot more seat time in the next couple years. If I remember correctly, Taylor is the younger of the brothers. Didn't he start racing circle track before Tanner? I caught an interview with Tanner after it was announced he was going circle track racing, after season's end. He said something like that his brother got him interested. Maybe I'm confused about that..

Back when Dee & I had our tractor trailer, we drove that piece of I-20 a lot. We worked out of Mesquite, TX, and made a lot of load pick ups out of the Longview area. That's a fairly straight stretch oh road. If fog wasn't a factor, he probably fell asleep. Very sad for all involved. I've seen way too many fatal crashes, and many involved big rigs. I was surprised, and very happy to hear that all survived except for the driver. May God bless him, and his family & friends. Normally, when a rig burns like that, nobody survives. After seeing the aerial picture of the crash, there was no doubt in my mind that God is the reason. Nick, I didn't know that Johnny Gray ran TIDA, I just remember him from seeing him race Pro Stocks in Phoenix. Do you know if he ever ran any of the Winter Heat races in Tucson in the late 90s? The first year there were 8-10 TIDA drivers that made the trip. I only remember 2-3 teams ever coming back over the next 3 years. I don't know what years Johnny raced in the TIDA series. I left south Texas in May of 1989, to go to England. Prior to going to England, I made a lot of trips to San Antonio to watch the late model races there. I just had to go see John Kelley run that green Ford. I just don't remember the name of Johnny Gray. The only time I ever got my wife to go to the track with me, was the night Greg Davidson ended up in the parking lot. It was cold and windy that night, and she got cold. She went to sit in our truck, and took a nap. After Greg crashed, she woke up and saw all of the lights, and people walking past our truck. She thought the races must be over, and I'd be there soon. When I got to the truck, I started telling her about the crash. He ended up 4 vehicles to the left of where we were parked. She never heard or saw any of it. I sure wish I could sleep like that. But I'd been even happier if it haden't happened to Greg.

NASCAR also needs one other thing to happen. They desperately need 1 or 2 more auto manufacturers. I would be surprised if Stallantes (Chrysler) were to come back. Because Toyota is already there, I think NASCAR really wants a European company. I'd love to see BMW, MB, or Audi commit, I just don't see it happening. From what I've read, all of the NASCAR Europe series are 6th gen Cup cars. So if they won't build a car for a series that runs in their backyard?? Plus, any car manufacturer that wants to run CUP, will have to design an engine (pushrod engine no less) that will only be used in CUP. Toyota was willing to run the truck series to try and eliminate some of the growing pains. NASCAR was very liberal with Toyota, when they submitted their engine for approval for Cup. Chevy was the first to redesign their engine, and Ford quickly followed. The Toyotas were making 25-50 more horses. The Toyota didn't win right away because of reliability issues and crashes. Once that was sorted, they've been winning consistently since. So any new manufacturer will have to be willing to shell out lots of money just to start, then probably suffer the humility of a couple of years of "issues". If you're talking about the Big 3 German companies, they don't like humility. They would dump enormous amounts of money into it, with the expectation of dominating the series in year 2. If that didn't work, they'd pull out, and we'd be right where we are now. Needing a new manufacturer. Nobody benefits from that. As I said above, I hate the idea of a spec race car, but I think it's the only way NASCAR is going to survive. Weekly racing is directly tied to them. I grew up in Ohio, and graduated in 1975. I still remember the first time I saw Ed Howe show up, and cleaned the clocks of a lot of very good racers, that had very good cars. Even worse, he did it with a small block Chevy, while every body else was still running big blocks. Back then you could run any size engine you wanted, because the rules of pounds per cubic inch. More cubes, the more the car had to weigh. But that wasn't the only thing. Ed knew how to make a car handle, dirt or asphalt. He's the guy responsible for the beginning of the "off the shelf" race car chassis. Within 3 years, 60% of the late models were Howe chassis. We also had 2-3 Petty kit cars. I can't think of a single team that still ran a big block 3 years after Edd showed up the first time. Does anybody still build a now called Super late model from scratch? Not many that's for sure. So in a way, we are already watching spec racing at the Pro & Super late model series'. We'll see how it goes...

Hurt feelings are going to happen. But I believe that both are respectful & responsible drivers. They'll work it out. Mr H will make sure of that. With this new car, I'm certain that it won't progress beyond last Sunday. Nobody, including Hendrick Motorsports has enough cars built. Plus, there is for the first time ever, a limit as to how many cars a team can have at one time. I believe that number is 7 per team. So in Hendrick's case that would be a total of 28 cars. Nobody is anywhere close to that yet, because not enough cars/parts have been manufactured yet. Look at Harvick's spin/crash in practice. Two things drove them to repair that car. First was the fact that they could remove the body, unbolt and replace the damaged bumper pieces. On the old car that would be 2 weeks in the chassis fab shop. They fixed that car in hours. The second reason was that SHR only had 2 spare cars, for 4 teams. I'm pretty sure that all teams don't have anywhere near enough cars yet. Several of the small teams had no spare cars. My understanding is that once a team reaches that magic number (like I said before I believe that number is 7), the team must turn in a chassis to receive another. Considering that the front & rear clips are bolt on, and a clip isn't a new car, the center cage will have to be damaged beyond the point of repair. And honestly I don't think that they are allowed to repair it. NASCAR is really trying to eliminate race team fab shops. Beyond the engines, there's not much to build anymore. That's why there are so many new teams getting started. I'm not really a fan of spec race cars, but something had to change. NASCAR's business model dictated it. By any measure it was unsustainable. Nobody is going to see much profitability for 2-3 years. Teams that had made almost all of their cars & parts before, now have to sell off that stuff for pennies on the dollar, and build a completely different inventory. Not Cheap! But long term it does have a chance to keep the cost down. Probably the most important thing about getting this new car viable is this. NASCAR desperately needs new blood, and it's coming in. Childress, Penske, Hendricks & Roush etc, can't live forever. Two of those four addressed that in the last 12 months. Gordon for Hendricks, and Keseloski for Roush. Penske has had a succession plan for 5-6 years now, involving his sons. Not sure if Childress has a plan, but I'm betting it will involve the Dillon brothers & their dad. SHR has Tony Stewart. I would not be surprised to see NASCAR have to expand the 36 car charter limit in 5 years. If these new teams can sustain themselves for a couple more seasons beyond 2022, NASCAR's starting lineups will need to expand back to 42-44 cars. They are not going to want to turn away teams if they don't have to. Whether we like it or not, weekly racing needs NASCAR, and NASCAR needs weekly racing. And we need to figure out how to bring in more spectators to both for racing to survive.