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Posted By: StanM on March 31 2018 at 08:35:42 AM
I met Ronald Laney at Superior the night Gumout ran there and we sat on the wall and had a nice chat but I don't believe that was in 2000. The Gumout race I think was a year or so later, that's the night Jerry Richert Jr. hitched a ride with me and introduced me to Banzia. I'm too lazy to go through my files and verify dates right now but I know I met Craig at an IRA race up there and am posting a link to the Feature. The IRA ran up at Superior for the Friday night portion of the Northern Nationals in September of 2000 and that is the first time I recall talking to Craig. A guy I know who lives in the Twin Ports area caught the Feature that night on camera and posted it here. https://youtu.be/yfbTlsVKGig
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To me one of the best "races" ever for Craig was in 99', for the Badger State Shootout. A three race deal, with the points winner collecting an additional $5000 I think? Dollansky was in his #7 car(before the Karavan deal), Travis Whitney was in the Bob Frost 88, and Donny Goeden was in the 27G Karavan Motorsports car... I saw the 3 races, which were Superior for night one, Shawano Speedway for the next night, and Sheybogan the last night... It was AWESOME!! Those three were amazing! Of course, Dollansky won the bonus from it.
The first time I saw Craig was earlier in 99' when he dropped off the WoO circuit, and went IRA racing. I saw him in Oshkosh, the race rained out, but I remember during "hot laps" when they were putting heat in the motors but couldnt really turn any laps. My Brother(StrangeWings-who is on here) told me about him, and knew who he was, and I couldnt believe how stout he was! Which, after that year of IRA he became my favorite driver of any racing, and then the next year in the Gumout series he won the championship... He took time out of his schedule and let my then Fiance'(now wife) and my mom tour his race shop at Karavan. He signed a wing for me(which will ALWAYS hang in my garage), and gave me a whole bunch of stuff. Him, his wife Julie, and kids always talked about stuff throughout the years. Always a great family and great people! You will be missed for sure!
The Crowd Pleaser IS THE BEST ever!
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Saw Craig multiple times in Michigan when he was racing WoO - he was the King of Michigan for a couple years when won at Butler Battle Grounds and at I-96 on a really rough track. I'd organize a tailgate with dozens of people and Larry Hillerud (an absolute customer service superstar as a WoO promoter with SLS) helped organize Craig to stop by our tailgate - he was friendly, outgoing, down-to-earth, answered a lot of questions, and signed autographs and took pictures until everyone had one. He let one of our guys get a picture of his young son sitting inhis car before the race, and he even let a couple of us come into his hauler after he won at I-96 to get some pictures taken with him and the trophy. He was without a doubt a hugely underrated driver, a top-notch ambassador that promoted the WoO series and sprint car racing with his fan engagement and aggressive driving style, and the WoO series is definitely a lesser series without him. I wish him all the best in the future and hopefully he reads this because even though we thanked him profusely, it still didn't feel like it was enough. We've been missing you since you've been gone and are sorry that its permanent. All the best in the future!
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