Live Updates from Thunderhill Raceway, 4/11/09

[wheelchair49]

WAY TO GO NICK!! Yes I am shouting! Excellent job Nick! Some of us really appreciate the job you do. Some of you people quit picking on Nick (you know who you are) I don't see you up there doing anything. Keep on and he will go somewhere else and we will have no one to report! Who reported anything the race before this one. I believe enough has been said on this subject. I say again excellent job Mr. Nick Holt.

[ChuckLicata]

I concur with Wheelchair49 above - good job Nick..

 

I too was out of town this past weekend and couldn't get to the races, so it was nice to get home late Saturday/early Sunday and be able to read through the happening and results at THR.

 

Thanks, Nick-ster...and good luck to all this weekend at Corpus Christi...

[sprintsrule]

Driver B needs to "man up"!!!!!!!

 

I sold a truck to a man that used to fight in the cage fighting. He quit because he doesn't have the heart any longer to bend a guys arm until it snaps. Now he trains other fighters. He likes race cars and wants to drive. How about you and Nick get together and "man up" so you can explain to him how he needs to drive?

[NickHolt]

Driver B needs to "man up"!!!!!!!

 

I sold a truck to a man that used to fight in the cage fighting. He quit because he doesn't have the heart any longer to bend a guys arm until it snaps. Now he trains other fighters. He likes race cars and wants to drive. How about you and Nick get together and "man up" so you can explain to him how he needs to drive?

 

If I were still driving and if your arm-breaking buddy was dirty driving in my class, I'd "man up" and he'd whip my 65 year-old ass. No doubt about it, he'd leave me a pile of stinking broken bones in a heap. But at least I'd go down standing up for something that needed to be stood up for....

 

Nick

[champ1796]

The flag man could "man up" with the black flag a few times and park his ass in the infield. Physical violence is unacceptable period.

Edited April 14, 2009 by champ1796

[sprintsrule]

Driver B needs to "man up"!!!!!!!

 

I sold a truck to a man that used to fight in the cage fighting. He quit because he doesn't have the heart any longer to bend a guys arm until it snaps. Now he trains other fighters. He likes race cars and wants to drive. How about you and Nick get together and "man up" so you can explain to him how he needs to drive?

 

If I were still driving and if your arm-breaking buddy was dirty driving in my class, I'd "man up" and he'd whip my 65 year-old ass. No doubt about it, he'd leave me a pile of stinking broken bones in a heap. But at least I'd go down standing up for something that needed to be stood up for....

 

Nick

 

Good for you. I am not sure you would accomplish anything but as long as you would feel better about yourself that would be great.

 

Now we can just turn the races into a fighting match. Everybody that races has somebody in their class that they think drives dirty. Before you reply with you were not promoting fighting at the track, that is where it would originate. How about we promote the idea of the officials "officiating" the races so everybdoy knows what is allowed and what is not allowed?

Edited April 14, 2009 by sprintsrule

[chevyfan]

if driver [ b ] gets tired enough of trying to drive hard but clean and is getting beat up on the track time and time again, this is when we have problems .

 

this is racing , not a boxing ring ! leave that somewhere else . i will drive someone the way they they will drive me . if you cant take that then maybe this is not the sport for you .

 

a very well know veteran that has been around awhile said in our extra meeting sat night . if something happens on the track and you did not like it , or thought you received a bad call . as hard as it is at the time try to calm down . THINK about what you say or do after the fact . most of the time it will not change the outcome , most of the time just makes it worse for all.

 

i think there is more than one way to win a race or gain a spot rather than putting yourself and the other drivers in a bad situation . bad driving habits starts in the drivers seat , after that i think its up to the flag man or track officials to make sure it dont get out of hand to more problems they have alot better vision of the whole situation. you know if you cant make the pass without trying to drive thru the other car or if you know that you will probaly slide up if you go in to hard in a corner then dont do it. RESPECT and control or that car is better than a bunch of torn up race cars that are not cheap to fix and the fans have sit again thru another long caution. thats the last thing we want is for them to leave because there bored .

 

bottom line no fans / no track to do what we love .listen to the track owners . they OWN it , not us . they make the rules we need to do our best to follow them even if we dont agree with it. if we still want to race.... i know i want to

[NickHolt]

The flag man could "man up" with the black flag a few times and park his ass in the infield. Physical violence is unacceptable period.

Most tracks and/or racing organizations do not ask their flagman to make black flag decisions anyway. The Race Director usually has that job.

 

The Race Director/flagman is the solution to dirty driving only as long as it's the other driver who's doing the dirty driving. We all know that the other guy drives dirty, but my driver (while he may seem be a bit aggressive if the situation demands it) is as innocent as a baby.

 

So, if the track black flags the other guy, they're just doing their job, but if it's my driver or someone I like, then the track is obviously playing favorites, or the Race Director is a total idiot, or evil, or blind, or worse... I know about this first hand.

 

For the most of my years in motorsports I've been on the other side of the pit wall, directly involved from on the competition side of the house. And from that perspective it is ever so easy to blame the track for everything and anything that happens on the track or in the pits.

 

But as soon as any track or racing organization makes a move to control driver behavior the howls of anguish soon become a deafening roar. Certain drivers and their friends quit, throw the bird at the promoter with the all too familiar phrase, "And I ain't never coming back to this %&*(#&%$ place!" as they drive out the pit gate in a huff. Others, not wishing to seem like poor sports, quietly organize informal boycotts and put pressure on the track to get those who are trying to stop the dirty driving fired.

 

I believe that it's up to the drivers in any class to set the standards and informally enforce those standards. They are the one's with the steering wheel in their hands and the throttle and brake pedal under their feet. They know who hit who and they know why they hit and what they are likely to do in the future. Let them figure out how to set and enforce the standards for acceptable on-track behavior. It's the only way it works.

 

Have you ever noticed that at some tracks and in some racing organizations they go 75 or 100 laps without a caution? While in others it's rare to go 10 laps without someone going bananas? The organizations where clean driving is the norm have a core of driver/leaders whom the others look up to. And those driver/leaders take offending drivers aside for a chat. Somehow it all works and the bad boy calms down or he finds himself on the outside looking in...

 

Nick

[car05]

CREWS CORRECT YOUR DRIVERS, when they make a mistake or wreck someone tell them what they did. Don’t try to find a way to blame the other car. YOU ARE YOUR DRIVER’S COACH. Maybe the meeting Nick was referring to needs to take place with individual teams and the crews let the drivers know they are tired of fixing wrecks all week.

[speed demon 7]

Two weeks ago, I got wrecked by an idiot. People ask me what happened, and I tell them that I got wrecked by an IDIOT. The immediately started saying, was it this guy, or this guy, or this guy. I tell them that I saw an opening, and tried to take it early in the race and the idiot wrecked me. Finally, I told them that IDIOT was me. I run into drivers all the time that it is never there fault. We race with a guy that get sideways through the corner, and when the car gets straight, he moves down into someone trying to pass. He is always happy that he finished in the top 10, but being behind him in the past, you can't pass him because he will hit you. Not on purpose, but that is how he drives. If you tap him, he will get in your face, even if it was when he was straightening up into your car. I agree with 05, coach your drivers. I don't want someone telling me its alright, or blaming the other car when it was my fault. If I screw up, tell me, help me fix it!!! My other driver was behind me when I wrecked last week. He came up to me after the race and said"What were you thinking". It was too early to try to squeeze 3 wide, but I got over anxious and wrecked. Thankfully I didn't take anyone but myself out.

 

It is ok to take the blame when you cause a wreck. An apology does go a long way, but if you have to apologize week after week, it does lose its value!!!

[Team Hogan Racing Mom]

Did I miss the results or have they not been posted yet?

 

No, you did not miss them...I just posted them in the results section.

The only results in the results section for THR are from 3/28/2009. Where are the 4/11/2009 results?

[debwill]

Here's a link to the April 11 THR results:

 

THR Results for April 11

 

They have not been posted on the THR website yet.

[racer61]

I cant bite my tongue any longer.

Rough driving has gotten out of hand a while back and because it was not "nipped in the bud" early it has festered into this monster.

I agree with Nick that the drivers peers should have a hand in helping the situation, but waiting until 2,3,6 or 7 cars have been wrecked is too late. I also agree that the officials should resolve the issue at the track for that night. Trying to please everyone will never work in racing, there are too many sides. But drawing the line in the sand, as mentioned above, is necessary. I dont like anyone who thinks that violence on or off of the track is a good thing. It just proves that you are the "idiot" . If the rough driving cant be handled by the officials, than the other drivers handle it the only way they know how, wreck'em back. So who is at fault? Everybody. officials, drivers, crew.

[REBELRACER]

or the guy getting wrecked every week will just take his car and race elsewhere. the rough drivers will end up chasing away all the clean drivers. then all you are left with is the dirty drivers. rubbing is racing, but if a car seems to be involved in the majority of the wrecks, maybe then it is time for the track to get rid of that driver. why let that person chase away all the other drivers. there comes a point when the driver getting wrecked every week will finally have enough and quit putting the car back together. and fighting another driver wont do anything but cause more trouble. easier for the race director to pull the rough driver aside and tell them, if they cant drive clean then they need to find another track to race at. and it shouldnt matter if the driver has been there since the track opened, or if the driver has been there a couple of years.

[tqj3]

One of the things that surprised me about short track racing is that you can buy your way in, no experience necessary. Assuming you have the money, for example, you can buy and race a late model, no apprenticeship in a slower class necessary.

In addition, no formal training of any kind is needed.

Animals are born with certain instincts and abilities, but there is a limit to how far they can go. We're born with almost no instincts and abilities, but can learn anything. The problem is, we have to learn everything.

You can be born with the talent to develop into a racing driver, but that doesn't mean you are Dale Earnhardt the first time you get into a car. Even Dale wasn't Dale the first time out, nor was Michael Jordan a basketball star the first time he stepped on a court.

We had a driver at THR a few years ago who was the most clueless would-be racer I've ever seen, but like the rest of us, he had no wat to know that. How do you judge yourself? Worse, in the United States we all seem to think we're Dale Sr. or A. J. Foyt as soon as we learn to aim the car more or less in the direction we want it to go, and our joke of a government driver licensing system tends to reinforce that.

My point is, maybe a lot of the bad drivers don't even know what they are doing wrong. Worse, some of them obviously won't listen, but we need more than a Jack Sanderur watching a driver for a few laps and deciding he or she is good to go, and some drivers don't even have that "experience."

[Scott Lewis]

Your absolutly correct Rebel! We was racing at Altus a few years ago and everytime we'd run we would get wrecked by the same folks and it didn't take long to decied to never run there again. The atmosphere at RRS is run clean or go home! Nobody can afford to do repairs every week.... well I know I can't!!!!

[FitchRacer07]

One of the things that surprised me about short track racing is that you can buy your way in, no experience necessary. Assuming you have the money, for example, you can buy and race a late model, no apprenticeship in a slower class necessary.

In addition, no formal training of any kind is needed.

Animals are born with certain instincts and abilities, but there is a limit to how far they can go. We're born with almost no instincts and abilities, but can learn anything. The problem is, we have to learn everything.

You can be born with the talent to develop into a racing driver, but that doesn't mean you are Dale Earnhardt the first time you get into a car. Even Dale wasn't Dale the first time out, nor was Michael Jordan a basketball star the first time he stepped on a court.

We had a driver at THR a few years ago who was the most clueless would-be racer I've ever seen, but like the rest of us, he had no wat to know that. How do you judge yourself? Worse, in the United States we all seem to think we're Dale Sr. or A. J. Foyt as soon as we learn to aim the car more or less in the direction we want it to go, and our joke of a government driver licensing system tends to reinforce that.

My point is, maybe a lot of the bad drivers don't even know what they are doing wrong. Worse, some of them obviously won't listen, but we need more than a Jack Sanderur watching a driver for a few laps and deciding he or she is good to go, and some drivers don't even have that "experience."

 

I agree completely. I don't care what class it is, whether it is Grand Stocks, which is supposed to be a "fun class" or a late model, you should not be able to just jump in a racecar, even if you have a driver's license. If it were that easy to drive a racecar, everyone would do it. It is dangerous out there when you have all experienced drivers, add in a handful of rookies and it is even more dangerous.

 

Just my 2 cents

Edited April 14, 2009 by FitchRacer07

[racechick]

Then what class do you expect them to get their experience in if not grandstocks or mini stocks. If you say that anyone shouldn't be able to just jump in a grandstock then I am not sure whats going to happen to the car count once the "experienced" group is gone we obviously don't have anyone else coming up because we don't want "unexprienced" drivers in the "lowest" class out there. You have to start somewhere and I thought that was the whole point of having individual classes.. you race grandstocks get used to it do good whatever move to Thunder stocks, then Street errrr Super, then late models but you have to start somewhere.

[Kathy]

Boy, Nick. I bet you didn't know your Live Up dates where gonna cause this much trouble now did you?

[debwill]

I normally don't post an opinion, but I am going to make an exception this time. Well, it's not really an opinion, but rather an observation.

 

Has anyone noticed when a thread is controversial, it will get a ton of hits and always work its way back up to the top?

 

On the other hand, if a thread that shows something positive about racing, e.g., the drivers who displayed their cars to promote THR this past weekend at The Big Hunt, it will be lucky to get 100 hits - and it will quickly get shifted to the bottom for good. And it even includes some cool pictures from the event.

 

We've even tried to get creative on the titles to possibly entice readers to at least open the thread. But I promise, the thread won't get 50+ replies or commendations for the drivers (and staff members) who put in some time and effort to promote the sport we all enjoy.

 

And that, my friends, is my "soapbox" for the day.

[direct-flo]

Controversy draws attention, while positive stories take a back seat.

 

Just for fun, take notes on your 5, 6 and 10 o’clock news, see how many stories are about the positive things people do compared to the wrecks, shootings and superstar breakups. I believe more people are attracted to the gore and stories about things most of us will never attain. (superstar status)

 

It’s hard to say something negative about something as positive as promoting a racetrack. It is real easy to chime in on something that has taken a negative turn.

 

Good or bad, it does draw viewers to the website.

[NickHolt]

Debbie,

 

When I arrived at THR on Saturday, all I wanted to do was get some good footage of some of the more colorful THR regulars - and I do believe that Shawn Paul Lehman and Mark Chrudimsky qualify - get some timely interviews with the great folks who are involved with the 34 year-old Texas Pro Sedans series, do some live race reports and go home.

 

And I'm sure that when the vast majority of the race teams arrived, all they wanted was to have some fun, enjoy the thrill of competition and take the car/truck home in one piece with a nice big trophy and a pocket full of prize money.

 

So if this thread has contributed in a negative way to the racing program at THR, I sincerely apologize. It certainly was not my intent when I left home Saturday and headed to the track.

 

Nick

[landlord]

Driver B needs to "man up"!!!!!!!

 

I sold a truck to a man that used to fight in the cage fighting. He quit because he doesn't have the heart any longer to bend a guys arm until it snaps. Now he trains other fighters. He likes race cars and wants to drive. How about you and Nick get together and "man up" so you can explain to him how he needs to drive?

 

If I were still driving and if your arm-breaking buddy was dirty driving in my class, I'd "man up" and he'd whip my 65 year-old ass. No doubt about it, he'd leave me a pile of stinking broken bones in a heap. But at least I'd go down standing up for something that needed to be stood up for....

 

Nick

I'm with you Nick,I'd just have to take that whoopin.I'm not going to be intimidated by anyone and i'm sure not going to wait for some"official"to come rescue me from big bad driver "A".

[NickHolt]

I have had several folks ask if I was condoning physical violence as a solution to the rough driving issue.

 

No... I was suggesting peer pressure. I was suggesting that folks stop waiting for the track to come in to fix THEIR problem.

 

I posted the football story for someone who asked me to post it for him. That was not my story. It was his. When I suggested that he may be on to something, I had in mind the concept of the team (drivers in a class of cars) getting together and resolving to cure their problems without waiting for the coach (track officials) to solve it for them.

 

About the only violence I discussed was me being beaten to a bloody pulp by the "arm breaker" someone else brought into the discussion...

 

Nick

[landlord]

I have had several folks ask if I was condoning physical violence as a solution to the rough driving issue.

 

No... I was suggesting peer pressure. I was suggesting that folks stop waiting for the track to come in to fix THEIR problem.

 

I posted the football story for someone who asked me to post it for him. That was not my story. It was his. When I suggested that he may be on to something, I had in mind the concept of the team (drivers in a class of cars) getting together and resolving to cure their problems without waiting for the coach (track officials) to solve it for them.

 

About the only violence I discussed was me being beaten to a bloody pulp by the "arm breaker" someone else brought into the discussion...

 

Nick

Your "old school" and right in your thinking,Don't try to be politically correct.