April 3, 2011

By Ken Wagner

I was at a wedding this weekend that was deemed very important by my family so I couldn’t shame myself to go to Perris. Why don’t they understand racer types get married on Sundays, not race days! Missing 21 cars at the PAS probably isn’t catastrophic, but it was still a race of my preference, and I hate them racing without me. I didn’t really see anything this weekend that you can relate to, but my mind went off when I read the message board last week!

Doug Allens work is here as usual click here to view.

Question, does Mike Spencer drive a radio controlled car that runs on a rail, or does it just seem that way so far this year? Is everybody else having a bad year or is the little red sucker head and shoulders above the rest now? It was his 21st win in his career, tying him with Billy Wilkerson. Blake Miller got his third top five in a row, so he must have been good running 2nd. David Cardey had his second podium in a row with his 3rd place finish. I hope it was an entertaining race.

I rarely read the SCRAFAN message board for one reason, and forgive me as I know some of you regulars, but it is only opinions personified, and often misleading or misquoted, so I stay away from there. The regulars on there don’t always ”know” the real details of the story, but we are expected to believe what they post there as gold. So it’s hard to weed thru the real news and the “he said, she said” trivia. Oh I know some of the banter is fun to see and most are just trying to stir the pot a little. Some actually think they know the real truth in areas where they have “heard” the word, but unfortunately the real racing knowledge base doesn’t post on the boards except to do press releases and upcoming events for information purposes only to let the fans and racers know important announcements. So let’s just say it is another form of communication that I do not get involved with just like Twitter and facebook. I am not totally ignorant of the different communication venues, but I chose to have a phone you can leave a message on, send a text to, or heaven forbid, talk to me and my e-mail is easily attainable, so we can communicate. And, I expect that all to be, private and personal.

That said, I admit I was on the message board looking for info on a friend who passed away recently and couldn’t avoid or ignore the Victorville line right next to it. I do have some inside info on the matters discussed, but will keep it to myself. I am just amazed that “our” CRA business is being laid out for everyone to view and, better yet, comment on, and yes even ridicule. My heart goes out to the “players” in this scenario, but nothing about this makes me happy that we are getting some press this way. This is not good! What we need is positive press and personal business is just that, private and person to person, and certainly not for publication! It’s not bad enough we are short of cars and fans, but do we have to draw attention to our shortcomings in a public improper place. It is not what we need!

I did like the Victorville event and was hoping it could lead to more events in the future up there as it is a racy place! It looks close enough to the LA basin fan base, and with Perris only running once a month, we could utilize that and build up a following there. So why would a promoter who had a pretty good event last weekend for his opener, why go off on the message board and air his dirty laundry? Why not call the appropriate USAC person who did the deal in the first place? Everybody gets on USAC. The quick and pointed reply from the USAC official was to the point and should keep the innuendo’s out of the real world. Well I always remember it ain’t over till it’s over, but I hope everything that’s wrong gets fixed and we go forward and enjoy this season’s racing! This behind the scene stuff belongs to the car owners, drivers, the crews and the promoters and associations involved, not the fans. Let’s find something else to banter about like what color is Rickie Gaunt’s shorts anyway?

As for that friend who passed away, sadly it was Chris Fischer, brother to Biker Bruce and co-owner of one of the best sprint cars in our CRA past. The blue and white # 29 has been missed since the brothers retired the car. Unfortunately Chris got sick a few weeks ago and he quickly passed away. Our prayers go out to the family and In lieu of flowers, the family ask any donations be made in Chris' name to: Hearts of Hope S.E.Michigan, 3343Vardon Dr., Rochester Hills, MI 48307. Rest in peace Chris.

Keep in mind the Jack Kraemer Memorial Award is to be presented at Terre Haute Speedway during the Indiana Sprint week in July to the hard charger that night. Mike Clark, his longtime friend, is spearheading that effort to collect money for this award. A nice plaque will accompany the cash and Jack will be remembered and honored by his friends with this special night in Terre Haute. Jack passed away in December and will be remembered on that racing night at his home track with some creative cash payouts. Depending on how much money is collected, a couple more hard luck racers will be honored in his name. If you wish to get involved you can call Mike at 562-619-6335, or talk to me as I support this award. A press release will be coming to let you know the names of Jack's friends in the Midwest who will be collecting for this event also. Plan to attend to honor Jack, a very long time sprint car fan who helped a lot of racers over the years.

No racing until May means I guess I’ll have to “go on the road” if I want to see any. What’s new as I have been there before and it won’t be the last time. What to do, what to do? My grandson is on a local high school baseball team and they play several times a week, so I’ll do some of that. Start planning for a trip to Hanford and remember, no sprint car races at the PAS until May 28, doesn’t that seems like forever! Let’s get it together and go watch some sprint car racing!