August 18, 2014

By Ken Wagner

Another race in CRA as the grand total is 12 now with 11 races left and only 10 if Hanford is still closed. There have been 5 single race winners and Damion Gardner has 7 wins. I guess that’s domination, but the number 5 is significant as that’s how many drivers have a chance to whip him each week as car counts are low and new drivers aren’t coming in like the old days. Only a handful of cars have sufficient backing to run up front each week and The Alexander’s have a dominating car and driver, so where will this leave us? Looking for help!

For Mr Wags pics from my office Click here to view where I create! For Steve Lafond foto's pics Click here to view! For the Doug Allen Photos click here to view.

Garrett Hansen returned to the cockpit after several years recovering from a back injury and ran 6th in his heat and the feature. He was in the Priestly yellow machine so we didn’t pick up a new car, just a returning driver. Kevin Thomas Jr flew out to run the 2nd Ford Motorsports machine in preparation for the Ovals and ran second to the silver bullet as he is a great driver from the huge Indiana bunch of good drivers.

This week’s Wags subjects are not all good, but I feel the need to let it out. Being away from the weekly racing action unlike I’ve ever been before makes some of it hard to accept. Reality is more than a Kardashian program. Reality is what happens that’s not made up or presumed. It’s like when your ship comes in and you are waiting at the airport. Losing the world’s greatest crew chief for the little red sucker is the worst possible thing that could happen in our racing world, i.e. CRA and wingless, in these tough times.

Bruce Bromme Jr was a giant of a man who gave more than most people even knew. He was a genius and all competitors knew if a red flag happened in the main event, Bruce would make his car better. He had that knack and his list of major accomplishments is very, very long, and will never be equaled! He was a man with a big heart and never accepted second best. The old saying “second is just the first loser” could have been from his playbook. If he didn’t win, it was not a good night! Yet he didn’t pout or act out, he just came back the next week loaded for bear. Bruce will be missed by all in our racing world and it’s good that he was inducted into the Knoxville Sprint Car Hall of Fame while he could enjoy it. I only hope they have some kind of gathering to celebrate his life so we can all remember him together.

THANK YOU once again to our pompous national media for making the Tony Stewart accident more famous than the Oklahoma City bombing! Watching the all-knowing reporters speculate, assume, presume and think they know anything about what Tony saw or didn’t see is in a word - preposterous! It is downright amazing as they rush to be informing to all who know nothing as well! Go back to your political BS hiding things way more dastardly, and stay out of racing! This is just one more reason I gave up watching or reading the news many years ago! I can only hope Tony can recover from this accident and come back to us with that smile and fast race car. To all who can’t keep their mouth from flapping opinions, shut the F UP and let him heal properly! That goes for the family of the young man who tragically lost his life that night, may they received our prayers and get thru this as well.

I’LL ALWAYS REMEMBER THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF WAGS STUFF!

To me the last 9 months have been like hanging on to a runaway sled down a steep mountain trail after 25 years of being in a rocket ship heading toward the stars. That said, I feel bad since you haven’t seen me much this season after years of being there at every race. It is wonderful that I have a million racing friends across this land and yet I realize that I am probably not going to see as many of you in the future, but I am not ready to take that final thrust yet, as I am still bursting for life. There is still some racing in my future, and hopefully much much more of fun in the grandstands with you!

At the end of the 2013 season, I decided to evaluate my racing lifestyle and what it meant to me. With Mrs Wags retiring in 2013, it was obvious we didn’t have the budget anymore, like in our working years, for me to do my all out, never miss a CRA race saga, so something had to change. I analyzed what I was doing each race and discovered that on purpose I never failed to make the long trips well ahead of time to get there early, put down blankets for my friends and “work” the pits for Wagsbucks whenever appropriate. Those hours in the hot afternoons of pit fun was sometimes tiring and taking all those pics was “my” own need to have stuff for the website that people could relate to. Long race days and then long drives home were the norm. Then the next couple of days I sorted thru the pics, posted them and writing the Wagsworld story took a lot of time, but I loved it and never put it off. It was a labor of love! But ……… I no longer want to go thru that scenario like in the past, and will miss the fun I had at the races and reporting on it.

I realized it was a tough job that I set for myself in the early years of Wagtimes, but suddenly I felt the need to knock it off. I am the one who set my schedule up many years ago and I never failed to do my job as I enjoyed the thunder and lightning road that was way fun. I know some of you enjoyed my results, but I have decided I didn’t want to keep on doing that any more, it is just not achievable with these ever changing times and things have certainly changed. Can you spell relief? I can, and it’s called R E T I RE D! As a result I have only been to 3 of the 12 CRA races this year because I no longer want to do the 22 hour turnaround to Perris, nor go alone on the long road to many of the other races on the schedule. Yes, I have missed it already, but I am now officially retired from working the races and will attend and sit in the grandstands at those I do make. Obviously my lifestyle now is more about my wife, myself and my 15 grandchildren in our Vegas world. Too bad it is so far from SO Cal where all the action is or I could be a little more involved. I miss race days and the fun I had, but alas, I can’t do it like I use to, so the whole closes up and life moves on.

Reality checks are kind of like a stone wall sometimes and as long as we don’t let it stop us, life goes on when you have specific goals like I always had. When I first became a sprint car fan, it was part because drag racing changed so much from the smoky front motor burnouts I loved and part because I recognized what dirt track racing did for me personally. I never saw anything that turned my viewing senses on so much, so it wasn’t a hard switch for me. From then on I was dedicated to the 410’s and whatever I could do to help them. I never lost that goal, but after 911 the available discretionary money became harder to find, thus the end of the Wagsbucks and Wagsdash. I so miss those chili feed Wagsdash afternoons at Ventura and all it brought to the racers, the fans and me and my Wagtimers.

I am so blessed looking back on what we accomplished together, it is just unbelievable! Creating a special race for the little guys that went on for 20 years is beyond unbelievable! I hope all of you that were a part of it feel a little loss as I do. Collecting over $615,000 for the racers is another gold plated accomplishment that could have only happened with the support of the many Wagtimers, the supporters who believed in me and some other key racing personalities over the years. What we did makes me feel so good and I will never forget the feelings of accomplishment I had every successful event we created. I am humbled and in the Wagtimer’s debt for what you all gave me as somehow I headed straight on a path to do something important for our racing from the mid 80’s. A very good Wagtimes friend once told me a long time ago “Wags, The Wagsdash is our race, too!” And it always was, I just didn’t realize you all felt that way!

Looking back it seems like the Wagtimes was a miracle, or maybe just destined to be something special! Whatever, I didn’t plan it, it just happened! I am flattered that our work is still remembered and hope I never forget the people and racing that filled my bucket to the brim. Thank you for the good times. Now it’s up to you to keep it going and make me proud. Support the Wagtimes/Lafond Hard Charger Award that the famous Steve Lafond, AKA ace photographer, drummer in the Ded Ringer band and a close personal friend, created with a jar of change and this year’s addition will be awarded at the Oval Nationals. Even if it’s just your spare change, it will go to a CRA little guy who needs it! Send me or Steve Lafond your change!

Thank you all, I haven’t forgotten you, I just won’t see you as much. You can come to Las Vegas, I’ll be here waiting, you can call to catch up, you can keep reading my stuff or send news that I can print. I am working on the budget to get back on the road more and am even considering looking for a part time job, but then I’d have to work and it’s been a long time since I did that. Probably not too many jobs out there for an over the hill race fan who is 72 in Sin City. FYI - the last weeks retired fun included replacing the home air-conditioner and having Mrs Wags car repaired. Was that in the budget? Seems like everything should last forever, doesn't it?

Remember – when it’s Racetime – it’s still Wagtime! Until next time, do something good for racing, like supporting it!

AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE RESULTS: August 16, 2014 – Perris, California – Perris Auto Speedway – “California Racers Hall of Fame Night”

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-16.512; 2. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-16.710; 3. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-16.776; 4. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-16.794; 5. Kevin Thomas Jr., 73X, Ford-16.798; 6. Nic Faas, 73, Ford-16.815; 7. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-17.037; 8. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-17.081; 9. David Bezio, 37X, Bezio-17.180; 10. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-17.369; 11. Ronnie Gardner, 93, Gardner-17.420; 12. Logan Williams, 5, Jory-17.608; 13. Kenny Perkins, OK, Perkins-17.710; 14. Corey Ballard, 34, Ballard-17.752; 15. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-17.756; 16. Jeremy Ellertson, 98X, Ellertson-17.825; 17. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-17.875; 18. Garrett Hansen, 7, Priestley-18.121; 19. Cal Smith, 39, Smith-18.200; 20. Jon Kairot, 81, Watt- 19.104; 21. Cody Swanson, 36, Springstead-NT, 22. Austin Smith, 36J, Springstead-NT, 23. Greg Alexander, 72, Tyler-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Roa, 2. Spencer, 3. A.Williams, 4. C.Williams, 5. Ellertson, 6. Perkins, 7. C.Smith. 2:57.13

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. J.Swanson, 2. Bender, 3. Thomas, 4. Mitchell, 5. R.Gardner, 6. Ballard, 7. Kairot. 3:01.87

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. D.Gardner, 2. Faas, 3. Bezio, 4. L.Williams, 5. Hansen, 6. Gansen, 7. A.Smith. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3. Austin Williams, 4. Matt Mitchell, 5. Jake Swanson, 6. Garrett Hansen, 7. Brody Roa, 8. Ronnie Gardner, 9. A.J. Bender, 10. Corey Ballard, 11. Chris Gansen, 12. Austin Smith, 13. Jeremy Ellertson, 14. Jon Kairot, 15. Kenny Perkins, 16. Logan Williams, 17. Cody Williams, 18. Nic Faas, 19. Mike Spencer, 20. David Bezio, 21. Cal Smith. NT

**C.Swanson flipped during qualifications. Bezio & C.WIlliams flipped during the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Faas, Laps 2-13 A.Williams, Laps 14-30 D.Gardner.