The "Drunken Yard Apes" of In The Pits!
Over the years I have learned a ton of lessons. Some lessons were fun, some were sad and some just plain hurt the seat of my pants!
In 2000, my mom (pitsmom) came up with the idea for her two sons to start a radio program about racing.
“You have got to be kidding me!” was my reply.
It took me 11 years to figure out that she had a great idea. Over the years In The Pits has transformed itself into what it is today. The ride has been a good one. There have been ups, there have been downs and there have been concrete walls that won’t move.
No matter what happens in the future and what has transpired in the past, I will enjoy doing this until the day I die. To me, outside of my own family, it doesn’t get any better than this.
Each day I get to wake up and have fun trying to work building something that started out of an idea. By no means is ITP a Fortune 500 company. It’s just a little company that barely makes enough to sustain itself, but it has FUN. Since we started this venture years ago it baffles my mind to think of how many memories of great times ITP has given me.
The legendary college football coaches, Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant and Joe Paterno, come to mind while I am writing this one down. Each of these coaches worked until late in their lives. Their ages never seemed to matter, they came to work day in and day out and they loved what they were doing. They defied the odds. People said that don’t you want to retire? Don’t you want to enjoy your life you have left? Football was their lives. It took Joe Pa 85 days from being ousted as the football coach at Penn State before he passed away. The ‘Bear’, he didn’t last 30 days after he retired from coaching at Alabama.
I don’t really think that I am going to die if I walk away from doing In The Pits, but it would sure hurt.
Concrete doesn't move???
Friday nights aren’t the same without seeing my buddy Gary Olson at Lakeside Speedway, Saturday night’s wouldn’t be as much fun without going to HPT and seeing all the fans and racers and it just wouldn’t be right to not help the sport which has taught me more than any of the stick and ball sports I loved growing up as a kid.
I could go on and on about what racing means to me. There are more of you out there just like me and I like you. It’s what helps make this sport of auto racing the best.
So, you are probably wondering why I have been talking about the ups and downs and the things that have changed over the years? The answer is simple. In The Pits will be changing a little bit this year in 2012.
The site is going to be a little different. We are going to become more content driven in the new year. We are going to begin to archive everything a little better, going to try to ad more visual elements to the site and we are going to try to make it fun and something that everyone can enjoy.
Just like everything, it will be a work in progress. As we begin to build content things should return to normal. It’s pretty funny, I don’t even think I know what normal is anymore.
Look for new things like more picture galleries, more blogs from a variety of different authors, more video content, more coverage of our local tracks and a whole lot more. Some things that we try, people will like and there are some things that we might try that people don’t like. The fact of the matter is simple, “Things can always change!”
Don’t worry ITP will still have our forum. We will still be plugging the race tracks and their releases all year round. We will continue to do our podcasts. You will see us at the tracks. More importantly, we will continue to be the “drunken yard apes” that we were once described as.
I hope that everyone enjoys browsing through the new site. Please give us feedback. If you like something share it with us. If you have a new idea that you would like us to try, share it with us. This site has been made for you (race fans, sponsors & competitors), use it!!!
Don’t forget that we are not that far off from the Daytona 500 and you all know what that means. It’s time to head to Skinny’s Sports Bar in Topeka and check out all the action. Prizes, cash and more will be handed out just like all the years before. Check our ad on the front page for more details and I am sure that I will be reminding everyone when it gets closer to race day!
.jpg)