Thomason
Rookie
Posts: 5
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« on: January 28, 2009, 11:15:34 PM » |
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I have never posted to a forum before because I never felt the need to share my thoughts or get caught up in the bantering that normally deteriorates into name calling. This will be long winded because I have all of these pent up thoughts that need to come out. I am the president of the new Indy .25 club. My resume’ includes two years as president of Mini Indy and four out of my five years in quarter midgets have been spent as an officer or Board member of that club. I’ve had a lot of people question the way that I’ve done things in ear bending tirades, vicious e-mails, threats, etc. , but that all just kind of comes with the territory in this kid oriented sport. I got over it. The point of this post is not to initiate debate, finger pointing or name calling, but just to state how I got to this point and why. I don't intend to respond or to post again.
First, the things that are not my motivation in doing this:
Ass kissing the USAC officials to further my son’s racing career. My son is a fine driver, but he has one, maybe two years of .25 racing and then whatever he does in the way of racing won’t be in USAC events. He won’t be emancipated to run midgets or sprints. He’s a smart kid with a lot of interests.
Personal revenge against a club that refused to accept the way I wanted to do things. Over the last 5 years, the only person who has a claim to more time, sweat, effort, money and love invested in Mini Indy than me is my wife, Denise. It was never done for recognition, but only to provide a great racing experience for the kids, many times to the detriment of mine. Although things are certainly nasty and becoming personal towards us from Mini Indy, this isn’t a personal issue. I firmly believe that USAC is a better way of doing things….read on.
Quarter midget racing is a wonderful sport and, basically, racing is racing. The QMA structure is all volunteer, which, in theory, is a wonderful way to do things. But human nature, as it is, will always have 10% of the people doing 90% of the work. On a regional or national level, I’m sure every one of those individuals is a fine person with the best of intentions, putting in countless hours “for the kids”. Most people are smart enough not to get involved in the politics of the sport, but the novice families wonder why everyone is always mad. I got involved before I knew any better.
I attended four straight January Region 4 presidents meetings. Every year we sorted through 30-40 RCP’s for approval. Every year it seemed that we debated the same issues: division weights, tires, seat belts, leaning out, X car eligible. It was like the movie “Groundhog Day”. It seemed that the only changes to ever come out were things introduced on the floor at the national meeting. Look at this year’s RCP’s…déjà vu. Region 4’s vote carried the same weight as one-club Region 7 or two-club regions 1 and 13. It just never changed. People rotated in and then out, leaving their mark and moving on. How many times did I hear “I don’t care, one more year and I’m outta here”. It’s the nature of the structure of the organization. I know that it’s been here 50 years, but it’s frustrating to virtually everyone that’s experienced it. How many have left with a great racing experience, but a bittersweet personal experience?
I didn’t ask USAC to get into the quarter midget business, but I listened and saw a better way to do things. Sorry, I’m just like that. I see stability in the business end and consistency in the interpretations of rules and issues because there are paid, full time people that will be there today, tomorrow and 3 years from now. There is flexibility to race the way you want at a local level. Their stated purpose is to market and grow the sport. More importantly, I see a new beginning with a group of people that want to listen to the membership and make the tough decisions to let the sport evolve. I know that there is a definite anti-USAC sentiment, especially from some of the old racers that have raced in various forms under the USAC banner. Those impressions are hard to change, but the good-old-boy administration is gone and replaced with people that genuinely want to make this work. Call them, they'll answer the phone and return calls. There is no doubt that they will experience growing pains and that this won’t be all roses, but they will learn, adapt and make it better. They have to, because they will be there to answer for it. I’ve bought into it, I want to leave the sport better for the next generation of kids and their families, simple as that.
Rick Thomason
Indy .25 Midget Racing Club
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