Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Chicken sh!t move by usac and especially Stewart if he thru his weight around to get this done after all the bitching he's done. 

Ballou is just trying to Make Tracks Great Again but needs to practice his presentation kinda like the potus. 

     The golden rule: Those that have the gold make the rules. Right or wrong, the racers that racers that compete with USAC-or WoO, All-Stars, ASCS, NASCAR, IndyCar etc..- have to agree to follow the organization's rules. Do something the powers that be don't like, get whacked with a stick. USAC seems to be trying to send Ballou some sort of message. According to the news release, it looks like they've been trying to get that message accross for a couple of years.

I'm a fan of Stewart and Ballou but didn't USAC's decision stem from multiple events, not a single one? I follow both on Twitter, and Ballou does complain alot, almost as much as racer's name that rhymes with sshhmendells, however in my opinion, if you truly have good ideas to make something better, why bitch about it on twitter? Go talk, email, call the sanctioning bodies, promoters, track owners, car owners, and be more constructive than posting a knee jerk tweet. 

Keep It Real

If you read the actual release, it appears the suspension is not from this specific event. USAC did not see the the twitter exchange between Ballou & Stewart and simply say ok you are suspended for these comments based on this 1 incident. As per the release it states that they have had mulitiple discussion with Ballou about this in 2016 & 2017 where he had done similar actions. There are ways to do things and ways to not do them.

From the release: On September 24th, the United States Auto Club Competition Committee held a comprehensive review regarding numerous actions conducted by Robert Ballou, a USAC National Sprint Car competitor. These actions follow several discussions between USAC and Ballou during the 2016 and 2017 USAC racing season, in which similar actions were repeated. All of Ballou's actions reviewed were deemed detrimental to the sport of auto racing.

On September 25th, a meeting was held with Mr. Ballou, along with key industry track partners, to discuss the repeated concerns.

I know during the eastern swing Ballou badmouthed just about every track ..... Grandview, New Egypt, Williams Grove to name a  few off the top of my Head.   

Pretty dangerous precedent set by USAC here, but not sure what else you could expect from that bunch of morons. 

Cool it's like 1976 USAC and Robert is Jan Opperman. 

... key industry track partners... < There's a clue. Bite the hand that feeds you, get smacked with a newspaper.

I can guarantee that this decision was not done lightly.  Clearly, USAC has tried to be patient with Ballou.  You can only call someone's bluff so many times before you say enough is enough.  It's easy to sit back and point the finger at USAC and accuse them of all sorts of things.  Here is my take:  finding tracks to host USAC races is no small task.  It's why they are limited on when and where they race.  He is being paid tow money so he does have some obligation to rules and expectations of the circuit.  If his remarks are costing the entire organization race dates, sponsors, etc., then his remarks towards track promotors is affecting all of the drivers that race for USAC.  This action was the result of a multitude of and a pattern of behavior detrimental to the entire USAC organization.   

So basically it's more of this new-found attitude of "I want to run a for-profit entity and never ever be criticized for how I do it".

He absolutely has obligations to the rules put in place by USAC, don't get me wrong - I have no problem with their ability to suspend him, but putting in a blanket catchall rule with a phrase like "behavior detrimental to USAC" and then using it on petty shit like this is crazy. I can understand the need for a overarcing punishment because you can never, ever predict what is going to happen, but employing that rule on something so minor is just absurd. 

I guess it's fitting though, we'll just keep watching USAC drive itself into the ground. 

     I'd say using the phrase 'behavior detrimental to USAC" is used to mean that it's between USAC and Ballou. How do you know this is just "petty shit"? According to the press release, it's been going on fo 3 seasons. 

     If you made life miserable for your boss in his dealings with business partners over a 3 year period how do you think they would react?

I know enough people who don't like a lot of the stupid shit that USAC does who admit that they simply suck it up and deal with it because their livlihood depends on it. I am also smart enough not to name names but it's a significant number of people and I'm certain there are more out there then just the ones I know of. This is the organization that got kicked to the curb by the IMS as the sanctioning body of the Indy 500 and you don't hear any regrets from them with that decision. Robert is guilty of not keeping his feelings and opinions to himself in order to protect his income which takes balls the size I would expect of a badass like him. If more people stood up for shit USAC might have to actually change some of their bullshit or someone with even bigger balls and resources might come up with something to replace them. One can only hope. No matter what I am confident Robert will be just fine.

Deja vu! Isn't this the path that lead to the WoO?

I'm fully aware that the legal concept of freedom of speech applies to the government & not employers. I'm not arguing that USAC doesn't have the legal right to suspend him. I'm saying its a shitty thing to do & they're assholes for doing it. Non wing racing is what he does for a living, & he's damn good at it, puts fans in the seats & risks his life doing it. Do you think he'll be willing to swallow his pride & crawl back next year? He may not be any good at winged cars, & USAC is the big cheese for nonwing. Let the punishment fit the crime.... this was way too much IMHO 

Soda cookies.

Not sure if he will be able to swallow his pride or crawl back for next year as that is up to the individual. From the looks of things though I would say in my opinion he put himself in this position. Per USAC's statement they have had multiple conversations with him about this throughout the years. It would seem as if he had been warned prior and given his last statement on Twitter which is basically apologizing for his comments, even he knew that he was out of line.

I do see where USAC is coming from though when you have an employee/representative (however you want to call it) constantly going on social media trashing you and partner tracks to the public. There are other ways to go about that and those ways allow you to speak your mind as well. All drivers rish their lives and many drivers are able to put buts in the seat, just not all of them bash tracks and sanctioning bodies. The punishment fitting the crime is debatable and a matter of opinion in which I respect yours. Not sure if I would do the same thing myself either but then again, none of us know the full details.

I like Tony and like what he's doing, but who's being a pissy baby now? What a childish move. This is Guy Webb levels of amateur hour.

Also, way to actually sign the letter. Lucida Sans looks real smooth as a signature. Real professional organization being ran there. What a bunch of children.

I'm not taking sides here, but I just want to add this:

In the mid 90s, I attended nearly every indoor outlaw kart race in Red Bluff, CA. Three of the kids that raced the smaller cc class (can't remember if it was 125 or 250s) were Kyle Larson, Brad Sweet, and Robert Ballou. Look at where they are now. One is in the NASCAR playoffs, one is a top WoO driver on a great team with NASCAR experience, and one just got suspended by USAC and the All Stars.

I realize that Tony is the boss and he can do what he wants, but this seems very petty.

I kind of get what you're saying but you're still throwing some shade at Robert (which as an aside is perfectly fine to do, just pointing it out).  What about all the others kids who raced karts during those days with those three?  All 3 of those you mention have created successful racing careers at different levels, but they each "made it" one way or another.  Kyle, as we all pretty much agree, is a supreme talent. Brad has NASCAR experience and is a top WoO driver. Robert is able to race successfully and hold down a FT job as well.  Different level of percevied and monetary success, sure, but all successes.  Just like I bet outside of racing other kids that raced karts with them have created successful lives for themselves.  But since we're focused on racing I still think these 3 you mention "made it" in their own way.