Februry 7, 2010

By Ken Wagner

Here I sit in Las Vegas listening to a real rainstorm, complete with loud thunder and lightning and I guess I was just thinking about another version of Thunder & Lightning that I like better. Even though Sponsorship is dwindling around the country in all forms of racing, I can see a patch of blue up ahead. Why? I guess it’s my love of sprint car racing and those involved that I know are resilient and strong in their quest to race and have fun. When times are tough and the money’s low, it must be hard to think positive, but I know you are out there ready for another year of great racing and I will be there to watch.

So many teams have lost sponsorship money in recent times and even some can add their jobs to that scenario. Everyone is hustling to make their racing fun happen like normal. Even though the Little blue bugger is searching for dollars, they still plan to run as much as they can, and hopefully they get some help. They are not alone, but I expect racers to do what they always do, go forward with the best they can. It’s always been that way, except now that our economy is in the toilet, it will be a tad harder.

One such struggling low buck racer, “Joey Franklin AKA “Elvis”, has been out of racing for a year. He ran with us last at Las Vegas in 2008 and has won a wing race or two in his driving history, but not without a wing. Since then, he has been on the sidelines doing his Elvis thing on special gigs around the country. He even sold his trailer last year when he felt he didn’t need it, but not his racecar. Now, he wants to go racing again. Since Elvis is on a tight budget, He is looking for a crewman who knows how to set up a car and can have some fun with him. He plans to run Victorville and Perris at least. No you don’t have to dress up. He will be going to races and walking the pits to see who he can find to help out.

The rain over the weekend stopped any practice that was planned, but there is always next week. The CRA opener is but two weeks away and I know everyone is anxious, but I don’t know how many race teams will travel to Tucson to kick it off. I hope to be there, but we’ll see how Mrs Wags gets along. She is home and getting used to having one good leg to get around on and it’s a learning curve.