I've got to agree with BMS.  That crash happenned right behind our pit area.  I stood there in total disbelief and watched 2 cars plow into Michael Palmgren without ever lifting off the throttle.  Where the heck were those drivers looking??

I also had a very good view of exactly how the whole thing started.  A clear case of way too little experience to be in cars of this caliber and speed.

Personally, I am glad that they have allowed the younger drivers in the 600 class.  That way, we don't have to deal with them in the 250s.  

A wise man once told me that "if you aren't a part of the solution, you're part of the problem".  So now lets take this negative and make something positive out of it.  What can we do as a club to promote more responsible driving?? 

Here are some of my thoughts.

Develop a drivers advisory board that can provide positive feedback to the Jr. Sprint drivers.  This could help them develop good driving habits instead of bad.  One thing I see constantly in the Jr Sprints is the drivers looking around to see where other cars are.  This is a very bad habit to develop, because once you get going faster, you travel a long ways in the second it takes to look side to side.  Along those lines, maybe we could have driving seminars to be taught by experienced drivers.  Or even car owner seminars taught by experienced car owners.  Somehow we need to install more respectful and more thoughtful driving patterns out of our younger drivers. 

As a second recomendation, I believe the track should consider short term (one or two week) suspensions for those committing flagrant rough driving violations.  We've seen lots of equipment torn up and a lot of the time the drivers come back the next week and do the same thing.  Maybe sitting at home a week or two would give them some more time to think about it.  This doesn't apply just to the younger drivers, but all of them. 

OK I've thrown out some ideas, if anybody else is interested in making a difference, please join in. 

Galen Turner

   

With all that said I think what would possibly be a good idea to is imput a rule maybe not this year but the following that to race a class like 600 there should be no way that drivers from jr sprints can just jump right into them. I feel that some 250 experience might be a good thing for drivers before jumping into a 600. I feel a rule or something to that affect should be placed to have atleast a season of 250 experince or certain amount of races before moving into the hgiher classes. That will also impove the size of the 250 classes as they seem to be suffering and not having very big class sizes as is.......... just a thought.

Galen,  You bring up valid points, however "the kids" aren't the only problem. You give no credit to "the kids" for what they have acomplished. D. Huson track record holder, J. Peterson former track record holder. B. Brigge former track record holder, J. Peterson fast time all classes. We have a very talented, young & upcoming driver pool! I have watched as "seasoned { I won't say old} driver's have made costly mistakes. I doubt any driver who post's on this thread can rightly say they haven't made a mistake on the track!!!!!  AGE IS NOT THE ISSUE! Driver's making split second decisions, IS the issue! It's very easy to look back at an incident and analyze all the decisions one might have made ("kid's" or seasoned drivers) and come up with a better one.

  A review board is an interesting thought, but that is what we have track officals for. Coming from 1/4 midgets I have observed  first hand what "JUDGING" is like. I have been a JUDGE and my driver has been JUDGED. There are as many views and opinions as JUDGES! A good reason to limit the # of JUDGES!  I believe, if you talked to Paul, he would tell you that all of the new drivers (regardless of age) abilities have been evaluated by himself and other track officals over the course of the season. AS far as a new rule, Section VIII par. 8.2 allows for a 5 person driver committe. We just need members to come to the winter meetings and volunteer.

As far as taking away an opportunity for track/seat time, sitting a driver out, defeats the purpose gaining experience through seat time and becoming a better driver!

   I agree that bringing a driver up through the classes is a great idea. The Lemleys have a great "Farm" system in place now. Many tracks do not run a 250 class, some have a restricted 600 class (Visalia is one) for the Jr. Sprints to move into, others have nothing. But, there is no precident for restricting anyone of any legal age or skill level, experinced or not, who has the money, time and desire to race, to jump into a car of the upper classes (600 or 1200) and enter a feature event!

  Yes, my driver is one of "The Kids", so one might say I may be bias, Oh well. Every race has at least a few "racing incidents, if it's bad enough to concern you, respectfully talk to a track offical, they interen will respectfully dicuss the issue  with the driver (it happens every week), if it is persistant, the track officals will watch the driver more closely and use that dreaded black flag more often. 

I can't believe  I've been so long winded on this issue. I also believe no view is nesessarily the right or wrong view. It's great that we have this forum to vent, dicuss, debate or what ever. Keep it up!!!!! Doug Brown 96X 600 MadMackRace@yahoo.com

As a "seasoned" driver at Deming, i have seen many racing incidents in the past few years that have shocked me.  While i disagree with those of you who say that age (and what goes along with it) has absolutely nothing to do with some of the incidents that have happened lately, i agree that everyone makes mistakes now and then.  But it is also important to not just discount it as an "accident or mistake" when we see the same recurring trends from many of the same drivers. 

Here is part of my take on the problem, and take it as you may (this is my opinion based upon what i have observed).  First, i will comment that I would be parked by my car owner (father) if i made such irrational decisions as many drivers have made lately, and rightfully so.  This raises a new issue that must be considered, particularly for the younger drivers.  I was once a young driver, and understand that younger drivers do not always understand the mistakes they are making, and the things that they absolutely cannot do, or must improve upon immediately.  These "mistakes" will not resolve themselves, particularly in the case of younger drivers, they often will not realize that they did something wrong.  For this reason, it is absolutely critical that the parents of the younger drivers are giving them honest and unbiased feedback on their driving, mistakes, errors (and yes, tell them when they do something wrong, or if something is their fault)  I have observed parents in the pits this year supporting their kids (who were clearly at fault) as though they never did anything wrong, time and time again.  Condoning bad driving habits does not benefit the driver at fault, or the competitors that race with him/her on a weekly basis. This not only eliminates the chance that younger drivers can understand their mistakes, and make the necessary improvements, but it also dramatically reduces their ability to develop as a driver.  Case in point, driver improvements only come from a combination of experience, and feedback.  When either element is missing, one cannot expect development of driving habits and style that will lead to future success in racing. 

One final comment that I would like to make is that I have noticed many people often fail to recognize that there is a BIG difference between being a good driver and capable, and just being able to go fast.  Anyone can put down a fast lap (given the equipment to do so), but the drivers abilities under discussion in this thread are the abilities and actions observed when there are other cars, equipment, and safety of competitors at stake. 

I am very concerned about these issues, and hope that together the members of the club and the racing families supporting deming speedway can work together to implement the necessary programs to ensure that friday night racing will be fun, fair, and safe for all.

Eric Turner

#92 250

 

-- Edited by ET92 at 20:23, 2005-06-13

DOUG,

WHAT YOU HAVE SAID, IS WELL SAID AND I MUST SAY THAT I AM IMPRESSED BY HOW PEOPLE HAVE HANDLED THERE COMMENTS ONLINE HERE.. AS ONE KNOWS I AM NOT SHY IN VOICING MY OPINION,, AND I KNOW THAT MYSELF AS A DRIVER WAS A LITTLE BIT MORE ON THE WILD SIDE HOWEVER I DID MAKE ALL THE MAIN EVENTS...I WILL SAY THAT MACK HAS DONE A PRETTY GOOD JOB DRIVING HIS CAR BLAKE HAS SAID AT LEAST WHEN HE RACES AROUND MACK HE KNOWS WHAT LINE HE IS GOING TO DRIVE..A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION PLUS MACK HAS A GREAT ATTITUDE ALWAYS WILLING TO SLIDE OVER INTO OUR PIT AND RAISE A LITTLE CAIN... THE SPEEDS THAT THESE CARS ARE GOING IS WELL LETS JUST SAY WOULD YOU LET THEM RUN A 1200???? I DONT THINK SO BUT WHATS THE TRACK RECORD TIMES BETWEEN THE 2 CLASSES 600- 10.50  AND THE 1200- 10.43 OR RIGHT THERE.. THESE CARS ARE HAULING ASS. ONE MUST BE ABLE TO THINK ONE MUST BE ABLE TO DRIVE AND MOST OF ALL ONE MUST HAVE THE RESPECT OF HIS OR HER FELLOW DRIVERS..  SO AS PEOPLE READ THIS FORUM AND HOPEFULLY THE PEOPLE THAT ARE READING THIS ARE THE DRIVERS AND THE CAR OWNERS OF THE DRIVERS THAT TEND TO HAVE ALL THE PROBLEMS THEY WILL SEE AND UNDERSTAND THAT THERE FELLOW DRIVERS THAT THEY ARE RACING AGAINST ARE GETTING TIRED OF HOW THEY DRIVE AND THAT THEY AND I WILL SAY AGAIN THAT THEY NEED TO GET THEMSELF UNDER CONTROL BEFORE THEY ARE TOUGHT HOW TO DRIVE UNDER CONTROL...SO YOU AS THE DRIVERS THAT READ WHAT HAS BEEN SAID, REALIZE THAT WE WANT YOU TO RACE WE JUST PREFER THAT YOU DONT DRIVE OVER YOUR HEADS.. SO AS I FINISH WITH WHAT I HAVE FELT AND WHAT I HAVE SHARED,..... LETS GO RACING AND HAVE SOME FUN

Most of our young drivers are clean.One accident does not make them dirty driver's .I  always see  parents talking with their  driver's.Also they have  plenty  of clean driver's to watch at the track now .And alot of the season driver's are more then happy to talk to them and try to help them get better.So  please try to talk to them [ as a fellow driver ]  instead of talking about them. 

                   MMR

As a young driver at deming i can understand why some people are upset. Some of us( young drivers) dont know all the things some of the vetrans do. If a vetran were to give us young dirvers advice i think it would help them alot.