For those that missed it, I made it 'home' to Crystal Motor Speedway
last weekend. I had a lot of things to do and tried to stay low key
for as long as possible but still ended up talking to a ton of people.
A number of people asked me so I guess I am better off just spilling
things to keep the rumors down. I have colon cancer but let me assure
you that the cancer does not have me. Although I have my weaker
moments, I am very strong willed and despite the treatments and the
bad times, I am still an upbeat person. There have been many times I
wanted to give up but my friends have been there for me. I thank all
that have emailed me concerning this and for the prayers said in my
name.
I spent my time at the track last week working on fixing technical
issues and add ons for my live streaming video efforts and explaining
how to my staff how a few more things worked and what our next steps
will be. This live streaming stuff has a lot of ins and outs and no
one wants to show you exactly how to do it at no charge. The biggest
problem we have is streaming a live race at a speed fast enough to be
clear but slow enough to broaden the audience. We tried increasing the
clarity but we lost a large number of viewers because their 'broadband
connection' wasn't fast enough to stay connected. We walk a perilous
line no matter what we do until all broadband is truly fast. Jon
Huston and I have learned many tricks to make this all better and as
the season wears on, it is getting better and better.
An odd thing happens when something like this live video thing
happens. The so called 'guy at the top'... me in this instance, gets
all the credit but if you've ever peered into the 'Little Blue Bus' as
we prep for the show, you'd see a huge cast and every person involved
has a vital role to play. There are seemingly endless miles of cords
and such inside the bus and each has to be connected properly. Art
Wonnacott has been the man in charge of doing that. My nephew Jim is
the 'video production editor' who, amongst other things decides what
views the audience sees. He also makes sure the radio portion is
working properly and that the computers don't do stupid stuff. It is a
big job. Some nights it is a simple job and some nights he curses my
name. He is connected to the crew via walkie talkies and to me in
Florida via email and cell phone. It is a thankless job sometimes to
be sure.
We've finally found the 'perfect' camera man in Chris Smalley from
Lakeview. Video taping is another job everyone thinks they can do...
and maybe they can for 15 to 20 minutes but try it for four plus
hours. Your arms hurt and your attention span rivals that of a gold
fish. Chris has done a great job for us for the past two or three
weeks and we are glad to say he is with us through Great Lakes
Nationals in mid September.
The last and far from least important member of our jolly band is
Torrey Sanders. Torrey has the dreaded gopher job and most of the
night will be hearing Jim yelling at him in the walkie to go do this
or go get that. He reminds me of Gunga Din of Kipling fame, always
being hollered at but always there when we need him. Torrey has had a
rough few weeks in his personal life when he lost a close family
member and his grandfather had a major health problem but he has never
let us down. I always wanted him to remember the last line from 'Gunga
Din' so he knows my thoughts about him... "Although I've belted and
I've flayed you, by the living God that made you, you're a better man
than I am Gunga Din." Keep your chin up my friend, things will get
better.
This is getting to be long in the tooth and I don't know how much will
survive the final cut from Terry Fitzwater but I'm going to add this
anyway. I wasn't feeling well when I got to the track Saturday and by
race time, I was telling myself that I would go home by 8PM... and
then I went down to the middle of the track to relieve one of the
camera guys. They say sometimes the best medicine is coming home. I
took about 100 photos while I was down there and then ended up riding
the night in the track ambulance (I was a EMT/medic for years and then
worked as a ER nurse for a long time as well.) As I watched the racing
program unfold, I began to not remember I was sick and not recall how
much I was hurting just a short bit before that. I became enthralled
by the side by side, the three wide... the four wide, and one of the
photographers showed me a photo of Late Models FIVE wide coming out of
turn two, dirt clods just flying all over. It was a cathartic
situation and I can recall smiling and telling my announcing friend
Trevor Hollis that no live stream video could be the same as being
there. I watched as two old rivals in Jeff Kohn and Rick Stout fought
for the lead in the late stages of the Late Model feature with Kohn
developing an engine problem but still holding on for third. I
marveled at their ability to race so hard and yet stay so clean. As I
shook the hand of my old friend and feature winner, Rick Stout, I told
him with all sincerity... I can never get tired of watching him race
like that. It's true.
All too soon it was over. CMS had 133 cars that night, started at
7:30, entertained a large contingent of kids on autograph night and
the races were done at 11:45. Non stop action all night long. Ron and
Ryan Flinn and the entire CMS crew are the best people around. As I
write this, I'm trying to get a ticket home and already wistful that
I'll not be there the next time. I'll be watching and listening on the
Internet but I'll also be planning the next time I'll see you... at
the track.
V