ITP BlOG SPOT

It’s Bodee’s Auction & Trade Show time again!  For the drivers it is time to acquire all the needed parts and accessories for their race programs and of course bidding for these items.  The 12^th Annual event is more than just an auction though; it is a trade show and social networking event as well. 

Race enthusiasts can find just about anything they need at the event, today and Sunday (January 30/31).  Bidding starts at 9 a.m. each day for the drivers.  Race enthusiasts can visit the many vendor booths available to purchase race-related items and apparel.  Race tracks and series will be on hand with schedules, flyers, and information about their season and to register drivers.  It is a chance to break out of the house and cure your cabin fever, plus, you never know who you will see from the racing family to catch up on old times and plans for 2010. 

Deals have been made at the auction on more than one occasion and I am not just talking about auction deals.  Race events are secured, drivers are locked into rides, track announcements, you name it, it happens at this event.  It is more than “just” an auction!  It is a social networking event for the race community. 

I hope to see many members of the race family this weekend at the event, drive safely! 

Last week’s trivia answer was, The Rossington Collins Band, they scored a minor hit in 1980 with “Don’t Misunderstand Me.”

 Be Safe,

SOTM

Nearly a week has gone by since breaking the ice into the ITP blog world, at least that’s what my calendar pop-up reminder tells me anyway.  I live by pop-up calendar reminders and little yellow stickies!

 Even though it is technically the racing “off season,” it has been anything but an off-season, at least for me.  After getting a call from Jason ‘Bodee’ Bodenhamer to join the Missouri State Fair Speedway (MSFS) team, everything has been full-steam ahead.  Rules and regulations drafted, meetings set up, accounts created, forms designed, scheduling, etc.  I really enjoyed the administrative portion of the setup process for preparing for the speedway reopening.  All of our hard work will be put to the test at the MSFS rules and registration meeting on February 6^th and of course when the track reopens in mid April. 

Speaking of rules and registration meetings, the CMS annual meeting takes place this Saturday the 23^rd, time sure has gone by quickly since the last CMS checkers fell.  It’s always great to see old friends and to see who all is registering and in what classes.  Hopefully the CMS street stock community can get their stuff together this year; the rules meeting will definitely paint a vivid picture!  A lot of behind the scenes work has been going on in the CMS camp as well and some not-so-behind the scenes work.  The next time you’re in or around the ‘Burg, drive by the track and get a glimpse of the new admission and concessions building going up!  Earl is at it again, he just keeps making the place better every year!  

This time of year actually has some excitement to it … the late model races out west (my man Billy Moyer won 3 of them!), the rules meetings, Bodee’s Auction on January 30/31, and great late model racing at Golden Isle, Volusia, and East Bay is fast-approaching and of course the registration meetings.  After that, the lull sets in until Snake Saturday and opening night at all the tracks in March and April. 

I hope to see some of you at the upcoming meetings and certainly at Bodee’s Auction.  Next week’s blog will feature a little bit about the auction.  Hopefully, I will have the new CMS website up and running by next week too; I’m taking the plunge as a first-time Webmaster to add to my crazy racing life!

 The answer to the trivia from last week was the movie “Heathers” staring Wynona Ryder.  The line, “Greetings & Salutations” was frequently used by Christian Slater as Jason Dean in the movie.  If you’ve never seen it and you like odd-ball eighties comedy, be sure to track it down!

 I’ll end with another little bit of trivia.  What band did the surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd form after the tragic plane crash ended the Skynyrd band?

Until next time take care,

SOTM

Several have asked how the Border War rules came about for the Stock Car/Factory Stock Class. Hopefully, this will answer some questions.

In March 2009 the infamous Modified Cut Frame Rail was the talk of the racing community. What happened during this discovery created communication between the tech officials. Tech Officials from several race tracks began talking and working together. What one tech would find, discover, or create was shared with other techs and sanctioning bodies creating a loose association of tech officials.

In the street stock/factory stock classes a few racers decided to travel. Michael Mullins came to Lakeside with a car outside the rules for the Factory Stocks. He raced with the Grand National class and it was an obvious mismatch. His car more closely matched a Factory Stock than a Grand National. Valley Speedway established a rule allowing other competitors to come race at their track for four weeks following their home track rules. When Jason Ryun competed at Valley Speedway on June 20, 2009 and won with his Lakeside Factory Stock, he was asked not to bring his car back in that configuration after one race. Jason also raced at I-35 Speedway and State Fair Speedway simply removing his quadrajet carburetor and replacing it with a 4412 Holley carburetor. He finished fifth at I-35 and eighth at State Fair. The previous October at Lakeside we witnessed a Lakeside Factory Stock and the IMCA Stock Car Champion compete in one of the best races of the year with Brett Heeter pulling out a late win over Mike Nichols. So how different are these cars?

These instances of other cars competing at other tracks caused the officials to join together and attempt to create a unified set of rules for the stock car/factory stock class. Officials from Valley, CMS, Lakeside, I-35, and Thunderhill met. Jerry Hoffman heard about the meetings from the Heartland Park staff and called and added his two cents. At these meetings we discovered there were several differences from track to track, no two tracks had the same rules. In fact the group expanded the search in the Midwest to 26 different tracks to determine if anyone had the same set of rules.

Mike Johnson, I-35 Speedway owner, attended the last meeting of the officials. He left the meeting with a “what can we do to allow the Stock Classes to compete with each other”. Sometimes we just need a different set of eyes looking at the issues, instead of comparing all the differences (and the “whoa is me attitude” that goes with those set of eyes), Johnson challenged the officials to come up with something to equalize the differences. His relationship with Lakeside owner Marc Olson provided the opportunity to create a challenge in these classes with the Border War. Both owners want to see the sport grow and agreed on the format for the Border War. However, the next challenge lies with the mandate not to increase the cost for the Factory Stocks, after all we are still a recovering economy.

The rules for the Border War were determined based on the disparity between a Lakeside Factory Stock and an IMCA Stock Car. The rules were developed restricting all except Lakeside regulars with the caveat that further restrictions would be implemented in efforts to level the playing field. No one is asking Lakeside regulars to compete with the IMCA Stock Car. Lakeside is requiring the Stock Car to compete with the Lakeside regulars. Comments are quick to point out the disadvantaged Lakeside Regulars, however, it’s “the other guys” that have the increased financial obligations. The cost to compete at Lakeside lies with those not conforming to the Factory Stock rules, i.e. a required rev limiter, meeting the non waiver able Lakeside safety rules, and obviously with the rpm limitation a gear. All this while knowing that further changes are imminent should existing restrictions not level the playing field. Please be assured we are committed to making prompt and appropriate adjustments to ensure a level playing field.
No one benefits if we cannot work together to find equality.

We are fortunate in the racing community to have two owners accepting the challenges created over the last several years and working to give everyone a place to race. They are working to bring us all together to allow us to race whenever and where ever we choose all while attempting to keep cost in check as much as possible. We are one racing family and hopefully everyone will embrace the changes and work together to ensure fair and equitable competition. Together we grow, divided we all lose.

My next blog is more of question to the racers – where do you see our sport in three years, five years, and ten years? Be thinking about the future as we work to grow our sport.

Guess I will steal a page out of Sams book and tell you a little about Big Phil.

I grew up in Gallatin Missouri and graduated in 2000.

I have been going to races since the late 90′s and started announcing at I-35 Speedway with Chet Querry when the late great Larry Kaster operated the track. Larry went to Bethany Speedway and Chet went with him, I stayed at I-35 Speedway which was renamed Winston Speedway. I announced there for about 5 years before taking a 2 year heiatis. When current owner Mike Johnson took over 2 years ago I came back doing lineups, by midseason I moved into turn 1 and 2 as an official. Beginning of last season I moved to turn 3-4 and in May was back announcing. I am currently the annoncer and P.R. for I-35 Speedway.

I have a 22 month old son named Jace and a fiancee named Karen. My passions are my family and im a big fan of Hendrick Motorsports and yes the Kansas City Chiefs and Missouri Tigers.

At my house if we’re not watching Spongebob its on ESPN or wherever there’s sports.

I love all types of music but my favorite band is Shinedown.

When im not at the races I work for an oxygen company and attend college in Trenton Missouri working on a degree in Crimianl Justice.

Jr asked me to do a blog and a weekly spot on the radio, I have done radio before but this is my first time blogging so please bear with me lol.

I can’t wait for the 2010 racing season to begin, hope to see you all there!!!

Greetings and Salutations and welcome to my initial blog!  Thanks to In the Pits (ITP) for asking me to blog, this is my first blog experience and I am honored to be part of the ITP community.  I will do my best to make the blogs worth reading.  Your feedback will help me!  

 I actually did a little research about blogging.  The only thing I really knew about blogging from hearing other people was, “what not to do.”  In my research, what not to do was a frequently mentioned subject regarding blogs.  I learned that BLOG is short for Web Log, so, the old saying “you learn something everyday” held true!  Did any of you know this, or am I the last one to find this out? 

I have often been told I am too serious, so I am going to attempt to stay light-hearted while blogging, please forgive me if I stray!  I will try not to write too much but I will warn you in advance, this first blog violates the keep it simple and short policy!  I absolutely love writing and this initial blog is long, 893 words according to the word counter, yikes!  Haters, stop reading here, I warned you!      ~LOL~ 

Now, a little about me; Sam Stoecklin is my name, (pretend the O is not there in my last name when pronouncing), or just make it easy and call me SamOnTheMic (SOTM).  I currently call Warrensburg, Missouri my hometown; however, I am originally from Pocahontas, Illinois, a little town off of I-70 about 45 minutes from St. Louis.  Pocahontas is home to Zach Daum, who recently made some Chili Bowl headlines, way to go Zach!  Oh yeah, Gretchen Wilson also calls Pocahontas home, not bad for population 840, SAAAALUTE!!!  Any of you remember Hee-Haw?  

I am currently a short time away from finishing my degree in Organizational Management.  Being involved with the racing community has truly helped me with my degree progress.  My research papers have frequently been about the racing industry and many of my courses have gone hand-in-hand with my race experiences.  I am blessed with this and it makes writing papers much easier.  I am currently unemployed since my November retirement from the Air Force after 22 years of service.  I would love to be involved in the racing industry full time but the people in the positions I am interested in do not generally retire or move on too often so it is hard to break in!  I am an administrator, human relations, and office manager by trade.  

I grew up watching races at Highland Speedway in Highland, Illinois.  I also enjoyed attending races at Belle-Claire Speedway in Belleville, IL and I-55 Speedway in Pevely, Missouri.  Whenever I can, I make it back to the old stomping grounds to take in some action.  I enjoy following the news from back in my old stomping grounds and have also enjoyed learning about the Kansas City racing scene since moving here in 2001.  My favorite races are the World 100, the Tom Wilson CMS Races, and the UMP Summer Nationals. 

I am married, 21 years so far!  I have two beautiful teenage daughters that make me extremely nervous; have you ever heard the country song that goes something like, “come on in boy, sit on down and tell me ‘bout yourself.”  Well, while the guy is singing the song he is conveniently cleaning out the shot gun at the same time.   Life is full of surprises and these next few years will probably peg out my fun meter! 

I am passionate about dirt racing.  Besides that, I collect vinyl albums as a hobby and enjoy family life.  I am a 42-year old head banger!  My favorite bands are Iron Maiden, Slayer, and Black Sabbath but I do like a wide range of music, mostly the heavier stuff, classic, and southern rock … Skynyrd, Rush, Kansas, 70s Journey, 70s REO Speedwagon, 80s Ozzy, Thin Lizzy, Triumph, Molly Hatchet, and so on.  In future blogs we will have to talk some music stuff, I love music trivia so go ahead and challenge me! 

Why did I get selected to do a blog?  Well, I am not certain myself but my connections to racing are:  Announcer and Public Relations (PR) at Central Missouri Speedway (CMS) in Warrensburg since 2005.  I am a United Late Model Association (ULMA) board member and more recently I took on another announcing and PR gig at the soon to reopen Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, Missouri.  I also announced at Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Missouri for two years (07/08).  I have been lucky enough to have had a few articles published in racing journals and along with my CMS co-announcer, Alan ‘the Steeler’ Miller I am on KOKO AM 1450 from Warrensburg on Monday evenings at 5 p.m. during the race season with a weekly race show.   According to one “expert” in the Kansas City racing industry, “I am involved with too much,” I’m sure my wife agrees!  ~LOL~  

Well as suspected, I have already rambled on and on, see, I told you I love to write!  A little trivia for you, at CMS I always start the night out with “Greetings & Salutations,” this comes from one of my favorite movies of all time, anyone know the movie?  There are actually two movies that feature this line, think of the later one.  Until blog #2, take care! 

V/R,

SOTM

Don’t forget race fans the I-35 Speedway drivers meeting is set for January 23rd at 10am at the Smithville Legion Hall. alot of exciting news to be told so everyone come join us. Schedule up at www.i-35speedway.net. 2 practices again and then the season begins!!!

In the Central Auto Racing Boosters we have several awards which include a description known as the “Betterment of Auto Racing”. Just what is the Betterment of Auto Racing?

The betterment of auto racing means the person displays characteristics of unselfishness that everything he or she does is to promote our great sport. That they would do their special event, not to win some award not to get recognition, but because they love the sport of auto racing. The betterment of auto racing is quite simply “putting the sport before yourself.”

The opposite of “betterment of auto racing” is selfishness. There is a ton of selfishness in racing. Someone comes across the hot racing ticket they like to keep it to themselves. Someone feels they deserve an award is selfishness. Someone trying to penalize someone else that indirectly hurts another group of individuals is selfishness.

Some of the things I see as betterment of auto racing currently ongoing:
Inthepits – John and Junior providing this website, even having to make the changes they recently made they have created a site for folks to raise issues, get things off their chest, and get questions answered.
C.A.R.B. – (I know I am part of this and proud of it but don’t hold things against me for what this organization and group of volunteers have accomplished and continue to accomplish). Accomplishments – Hall of Fame, Bowlathon (17 year running), Golf Tournament (16 years and counting), donations to the American Cancer Society and $10,000 this past year to Victory Junction, Old Timers Picnic, Ride for the Victory, C.A.R.B. Nights, and of course the season ending banquet. It takes a successful team to accomplish these events. A team that works together for the Betterment of Auto Racing.

We also have owners starting to work together for the Betterment of Auto Racing. The Border War is a classic example, what if that expands to a region wide set of rules for all classes – my guess is that is for the betterment of auto racing.

My challenge to everyone is to look ahead and continue to improve our sport for the betterment of auto racing and if you see individuals fulfilling these roles for the betterment of auto racing get on this website and let us know. Positive news is so much better than “negative news”.