Forum: Minnesota Dirt Track Racing Forum (go)
Moderators: StanM

racerman123,

One side of my head is telling me to write to you and the other is not. I try not to get involved in internet debates as nothing is resolved.

Why is it that you feel the need to say something positive and in turn saying something negative? You are obviously making an indirect comment towards the UMSS. It is totally cool that you like Arlington and the IMCA sprint cars. Say positive things about them! But why must you state a negative comment about the UMSS? Seriously, what did the UMSS do to make you not like them? Have you ever talked to the officials, drivers, car owners, or anyone else involved with the UMSS? Is the UMSS perfect? No, nothing is perfect. But they sure are doing an awesome job in my book.

My experience in life has been it is much easier to tear down other people rather then to step up and do something good in this world. This world is full of people like you. I find that sad but it is the way it is.

I once was a referee for hockey. I was paid pretty good but man I hated it. You know why? Because of people like you. No matter what I did someone always had something to say about it. People would complain all the time and would get into my face. I always was hassled for offsides. You would think offisides would be an easy call to make just like the start of a race. But somehow the players, coaches, and fans also had a comment to make. Kind of like drivers, car owners, and fans have a comment to make about starts. What's the right solution? None, there will ALWAYS be a complainer. You sir, are that complainer! You obviously don't like the UMSS for your own selfish reasons but maybe for once you can keep it to yourself.

I am not an emotional guy and I am not sensitive but I take what you say about the UMSS personally. Why? Because I am a driver, car owner, former official, and fan of the UMSS! I love this group, I love racing with this group, and I don't like it when people tear it down for no good reason. There are so many good people in the UMSS and I am very proud to be a part of this group.

I wish nothing but the very best for the IMCA sprint cars, Arlington and whatever other group that you support. Feel free to reply with whatever response you choose as I will not reply back. I drive the white number 15 sprint car with the UMSS. I wear the black and orange firesuit. I always have time to talk to fans, even the ones who seem to dislike the UMSS for some unknown reason.

Respectfully,

Chad Patterson

Sprint Car 15

Racerman123,

First of all; I would like to acknowledge that this is not Dave Tabor responding, but Margaret Tabor, co-owner of the TW Motorsports sprint team. I will not get defensive; as you say, anyone can state their opinion. But, I will ask the question that so many want to know - who are you? what are your motives behind slamming the UMSS every chance you get? Why? Are you a driver that has been slighted? Are you a fan that has been thouroughly dissappointed in any UMSS show? We are sprint car fans, not only owners and work very hard (as do all of the drivers, crews and race officials to put on a SHOW FOR EVERYONE. You seem to only be able to point out what is wrong, is there anything that you really like?? Seems like a silly question because you are following each move the UMSS makes and I only see your negativity. If you are in need of any psychiatric care for your problems, I will personally start a fund for services with a donation of the price of the fuel which I will be using for the UMSS Elko races on October 14th & 15th. No offense, but anyone who is unwilling to own up to their name, has a small problem to begin with. Happy Trails to you.

 

Racerman123,

I am very happy for Tony Norem. He's a great guy. We have raced at Arlington ourselves with IMCA and had a fun time doing it. As for you, could you make it a point in the future to at least remember your third grade spelling? Important. Sprint car (two words). Don't. Requirement. Inconsistent. Surfaces. You're. Why should? Don't. That they doing? What is a IMCA Spint?

Anyway, now that all of that is clear, I do not regularly respond to any business on this website. Please don't assume that. I actually agree about some of things you have written. I have argued about starts since the beginning of the UMSS Series. Nobody likes the outcome of all the races. I am just happy to be a part of a major effort to bring Sprint car racing back to the area. I am not thin skinned about racing. It is difficult and costly to put together a team (especially a winning team).

I am a little confused. If you are so happy with your IMCA Spints (I mean Sprints, of course) then why are you so bent on criticizing the UMSS? The organizers of this series have worked long and hard to bring Sprint car racing back. I can only applaud all of their efforts. No, everything is not perfect, but what is? Changes take place regularly to make things better for the racers and the fans. The promoters have worked tiredlessly. Please try to find the good in all of this and enjoy the racing while it is still here. I do not mean anything personal. It's just racing!

Margaret Tabor TW Motorsports

(The opinions in my correspondence in no way reflect those of my husband, Dave)

I wasn't going to write anything, but after reading what is going on here. I just thought I would write something. The 2 of you are just trying to pick on each other and getting no where. Other then looking stupid.

If you prefer going to IMCA (which I don't) go to IMCA races. What has the promoters of the IMCA sprint cars done to advance sprint car racing in the Minnesota area other then race at Arlington and Redwood Falls.

If you prefer to race UMSS, (which I do) go to UMSS races. The UMSS has done more in 3 years then IMCA has done in 10-15 years that they have been in this area.

Racerman123, how many different tracks does IMCA run each year in the Minnesota area? How many different tracks has the UMSS run in Minnesota since they first started 3 years ago?

How much information is printed about IMCA, UMSS on the racing web sites to inform car owners, drivers and fans about what is going on in each series? I can tell you I never see anything about IMCA. But the UMSS has articules on alot of racing web sites every week and also information meetings during the off season.

How much is the IMCA purse?

Go to UMSS web site and it is printed right on their web site.

I know why the UMSS and IMCA are not co-santioning races anymore, but I am not going to print that here, if you really need to know that reason, call IMCA or the UMSS for that answer. I am behind the reason they are not being co-sanctioned anymore. I thought it was a bad idea in the first place because I knew what was going to happen.

Race where you want, but don't bad mouth other series, just go race where you want.

One other thing, racerman123, I have a pretty good idea who you are, if I could spell your last name, I would print it on here, but I don't want you to slammed for incorrect spelling.

Signed, Chuck Priefer (professional push truck driver)

Oh, by the way. Congratulations to Tony on his Arlington win.

Stan Meissner

http://winged.umsprints.com/profile/schedule/?r=9058&rt=driver

He doesn't seem to finish very often either, but man can he remodel a racecar.

Yours Truely,

Anonymity

I will start by saying beating a dead horse gets you nothing but a sore arm( typing fingers). However I need to address you concerns and opinions in a public forum.

1st. I have changed the starting rules 6 times this year. Nothing will teach a stupid man how to start a race. I believe we have no one racing these days that fits that bill but it seems when these mostly smart drivers put on a helmet it sucks their brains out. I have had a number of drivers jump and think they didn't, I wish I had vidio of it. At St Croix last time I set up the "BOX". It worked ok BUT the drivers choose to use their brains and to start where the were suppose to, inside the box. I know it can be done, I have done it myself, at the cone, inside the box, at the line or what ever In your 20 some years of racing and my 59 years this has always been and always be a JUDGEMENT call on the part of the officials. If there is anyone out there in racing board land that can fix this than PLEASE have at it. We are not perfect officials but we try to make it fair , In MY opinion.

2nd Teching is a problem when we do not have a tech man that can be there at every race. I am not going to tech cars myself on a regular basis I don't have time. I will say if at anytime someone wants a car checked ,I would make that happen. Other than hiring a full time tech man is not affordable for us at this time. This seems to be an issure for you that we can't and don't check at this time. It is what it is for now and hopefully we can resolve this in the upcoming winter.

3rd Other than St Croix Falls we have NO control over track surfaces. That would be best directed at the track owner not the UMSS. However it plays a part in your decision not to race with us and that is bad for us. Again it is what it is for now.

I am happy you have found a place that works for you. I for one will miss you personally at our races. The UMSS is not for every one nor would we make everyone happy, Everyone "IS ENTITLED TO" their opinions and race where they have the most fun with the least trouble. Facts are facts and Opinions are just that opinions. This board should serve for those to air their "opinions" anonymous if they choose and we need to be respectful of that. This is America and we have the right as Americans to respectfully disagree with one another. I see nothing here as disrespectful of the UMSS only disagreement with the way somethings are run and handled.

I have and will listen to all and will continue to make the UMSS the best it can be. The UMSS stands for US not me or Ron or any one team it is all of us working to better sprint racing here around the Twin Cities.

Joe

Where in this post was I being negative, I was just stating the facts, if you want to race IMCA or UMSS, by all means, go race there. If you want to know anything about the UMSS, go to their web site, everything is on there in print. If you want to know anything about IMCA, GOOD LUCK finding it or getting an good answer from someone. As far as the: 2nd and 3rd generation sprint car (two words) drivers running at Arlington. Where did I write anything about that?

I can just feel the love oozing off the bottom of the page.

Stan Meissner

wow, this is entertaining, i think thats why i tune in . to see people voice their opinions. tell us how they feel , and then give our opinion in return.

so here is my opinion:

i've raced all over this country. been to more tracks than most folks go to the races in a life time. every area has a system , or series , or home track. for the most part we all love it. so i feel i can give an unbiased opinion about the racing in the upper midwest.

IMCA - sucks, for me at least. the cars are slow, the drivers lack talent and the money to have a fast car. which is good cause id hate to see the crashes and the injuries if they had the equipment to go fast. when anyone from the outside, or not a regular at arlington or redwood, they are atomatically the favorite to win. nuff said. PS. and curt lund is not included , he has talent in anything he sits in , it just sucks that he lives in the shadow of the IMCA

UMSS - ok , not great, but doesn't suck, the most promising growth of sprint car racing in the last several years. when i go, i see talent or promising/developing talent. take away the top 3 in the series, you still have something worth watching . tatnell, reikert and the rookie (71 car) i think, take them out of the group and u still have haun, brody , thomas , kid from brinerd ,barickman, anderson and 5 others that, at least are entertaining. i dont know the name of any IMCA regular. the equipment , for the most part is good. the show is run well. seems fair to everyone. but then so does the IMCA. the group of officials, and the professional push truck driver, and the patriarch of racing in the upper midwest IE: joe , are all really pleasant to deal with. i took my car to an IMCA race and for the most part felt like i was under a microscope from all involved, mostly because they knew they were all running for second place.

so again to sum up:

IMCA: going nowhere and sucks

UMSS : going forward, inclusive, welcoming, talentfilled , and doesn't suck

my opinion , and i do understand not giving my name , my sponsors and team needs not to have any negative issues because of MY opinion. i am a person that most everyone in sprint car racing in the upper midwest either knows , or knows my name. not that it really matters , im just sayin

excuse spelling grammar and wrong puncuation. i'm not a english major nor do i care,

We're all entitled to our opinions and I respect yours and share some of your same views although I won't go into much detail. Usually my biggest fault is that I'm too open about my own personal circumstances but I'm kind of tight lipped as far as what I really think about the racing. I prefer to use terms like "it is what it is" rather than implicate any track or series. I've seen some talent down at Arlington, Chris Graf can run with anybody, the Johnson kid (can't recall his first name) that drives the 56 won at Elko once. Brandon Allen is a hard charger and has had some good runs. A few others like John Nelson and Dustin Lindquist started at Arlington and were pretty good so I probably wouldn't be as harsh in my remarks about the place but I'll admit that overall it's not the top of the Sprint Car pecking order.

The UMSS has been pretty good but there's a few that might take a while to run up front, maybe some never will. Every track and division has their front runners but they've all got the dedicated racers who are maybe down on money, down on equipment, maybe they don't get enough seat time or own their stuff and don't want to risk tearing it up. Nevertheless, we need them all to put on a good show or there'd only be a half dozen fast cars and that would be boring to watch.

I just try to get out and have a good time and enjoy the races. That's what I always used to do before I got involved in the racing media gig. The whole media gig kind of happened by accident as did the photography. I just thought it would be cool to see if I could make a website and the whole thing snowballed into this. Same with photos, thought it would be cool to dig my old 35mm out of the closet and take a few hotlap shots to put on my site. That snowballed into "Stan could you do this and Stan could you do that" and pretty soon I'm on my feet all night in the infield year in and year out.

Now I'm just trying to step back, take a breather and put some of the fun back into it by taking it all at my own pace. As I draw back from some of this work and don't feel as obligated one of the bonuses is that I can start letting people know what I really think about some of the racing. Sucks is kind of a harsh description but truth be told some things about some of the local racing in all classes does suck but racing seems to have this unwritten rule that we're not supposed to say admit it when it does. The Vikings go 0-4 or the Twins season goes in the tank and the sports writers and fans on the call in shows are ruthless and tear them a new a-hole. On the other hand if a racing writer were to be that brutally honest I think the local racing community would black ball them. Just my take on the differences.

Stan Meissner

I can't comment on the IMCA Sprint serires as we have never raced with them.

We normally run ASCS/Jackson/Knoxville but have run with the UMSS a few times this year. We have been treated fairly and the races were run well. Any questions we had were answered promptly. Also, there was something mentioned about teching not being done regularly. Each time we raced with UMSS they teched our motor and it came out the same as when we were teched at Knoxville.

Our experience with UMSS has been a positive one.