Kathy Bell's In Lapped Traffic, Part Two
Wednesday, June 8, 2005
The HoF ceremony was really nice. I'm not a big, banquet loving type of person. Just give me my blue jeans and a race to go to and I'm happy. But, this is one event that's really pretty cool. This year's inductees were: Steve Butler, driver, Don Brown, owner/mechanic, Elmer George, driver, Ray Tilley, driver, Norm Witte, official/columnist, Robbie Stanley, driver, Bob Carey, driver, Bill Holland, driver, Dick Simonek, mechanic, John Mahoney, media, Jim Raper, promoter, and two men most sprint car fans of this century will know, Kenny Woodruff and Steve Kinser. Steve didn't make it to the banquet because he was racing at Eldora. If you know Steve, you know where his head is - it's at the race track.
After the banquet, I had the opportunity for a one-on-one interview with Tony George, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president, IRL promoter and car owner. We talked for about 30 minutes. Tony was in Knoxville to accept the award for his father, Elmer George. Elmer was a racer of roadsters, midgets and sprint cars. He married his car owner, Mari Hulman, the daughter of Tony Hulman, the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Elmer became the VP at the Speedway after retiring as a driver.
Tony said he was pretty young when his dad retired, so he actually missed Elmer's racing career. I was pretty impressed throughout my conversation with Tony. You know how you'd like to meet someone, yet, at the same time you don't want to be disappointed? Well, having never met Tony George, I didn't know if he was really a racer or a suit, you know, a corporate guy. He's a racer and we had a nice discussion. I did anyway.
He and I agree the Indianapolis 500 is still the single, greatest sporting event to date. I asked Tony about all the attention and hype brought to this year's race due to Danica Patrick. He agreed that she certainly warranted attention with her efforts. He said, "She caused a lot of excitement and had a lot of attention for her fourth place finish. I can't even fathom what might have been, if she had won the race."
Since Tony is an IRL car owner, I asked him what chance a sprint car driver really has to get to the big leagues, IRL and NASCAR? He said, "It's my hope that short track drivers will view the IRL as an opportunity for a future career. I believe aspiring drivers can gain the attention and catch the eye of IRL car owners."
I asked Tony why so many sprint car and USAC drivers were heading towards NASCAR and less towards the IRL? He said, "Given the popularity of NASCAR, drivers feel there are more opportunities in that series. IRL car owners do cater more towards foreign drivers and NASCAR drivers are generally American drivers. It is my hope the Menard's Infinity Pro Series will give short track drivers more opportunities to excel. Part of the vision for my own race team, is to give American drivers an opportunity."
"My stepson Ed Carpenter wanted to race Indy cars. He ran USAC and did a lot of racing on different types of surfaces and at different tracks. The transition is not as simple as going from a midget to a sprint car to the Infinity series. Drivers gain experience from different forms of racing and competing on different track surfaces at different types of tracks, short, narrow, road courses. You have to develop a feel for the car and how to
handle it, learn to race other forms and learn to apply what you have learned in new environments," he said.
Tony is considering having both a two car Indy car team and a two car Menard's Infinity Pro Series team which would give him the opportunity to help a driver transition from an open wheel series like USAC sprints and/or midgets. He said most car owners can pick out a driver who really wants to race.
"I watch for those drivers who are focused on where they want their careers to go. They concentrate on what they're doing. They have focus, commitment and they're not afraid to pound the pavement pursuing their passion. That is the most challenging part, dealing with the frustration. Some days the path appears to look easy then there are the days when you go through nothing but frustration. If you really want to excel, those are the days you pick it up and work that much harder. That is the type of racer a car owner looks for," he said.
Tony used racer P. J. Chesson as an example. "Once a racer commits himself and demonstrates his persistence and focus on the job at hand, a lot can happen. I give a kid like P. J. Chesson a lot of credit. He has shown he can win. He has adapted to discipline and he is focused. You will find him at every race and every test. He is that determined to make it. He's shown his commitment and he's one driver I'd like to give an opportunity to for all of his hard work. Jay Drake is another racer I'd like to try to help out," he stated.
Tony's comments at the end of our interview were very perceptive. "Any racer can sit at home watching the Indy 500 wanting and wishing he could race there. You have to commit yourself to wanting that dream. You have to put everything into it, discipline, hard work and determination. It takes more than a lot of thought to pursue your dreams and take that fork in the road that will lead you to a career in IRL or NASCAR racing. Once you have made that deep commitment, that moment then becomes the defining point in your career," he said.
"Tony ended, "Everyone will tell you, a car owner will hire the tenacious driver with the hungriest look in his eye. He wants to win above all else. Everything else is second."
For those of you at the Knoxville Raceway Saturday night, you know the tornado sirens blew and everyone left the track for a while. As I was pulling my car out of the pits, I gave fellow reporter, Ken Simon a ride to his vehicle and we picked up Knoxville Chaplain, Troy Miller. Funny, but once Troy got in my car, I felt pretty safe.
Until next time, stay safe, stay cool and stay out of the rain and keep on turning left. I can be reached for comments at my new e-mail address, kbel@iowatelecom.net.
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