Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Recently the Knoxville Nationals has been the target of negative statements by reporter Chris Hassel. Mr. Hassel is apparently a sports reporter for WHO TV 13 in Des Moines, Iowa. He also has a column in a publication called Juice which is produced by the Des Moines Register.

Specifically Mr. Hassel's recent column is on sporting events he would like to wish away. Below is what he wrote about the Knoxville Nationals.

Knoxville Nationals: Talk about being out of place. I feel like a fish in the desert at this event. It is the biggest dirt track race in the entire world, which isn't exactly a compliment. I was interviewing a fan in 2010 that didn't own a cell phone. Worse yet, it was clear to me that he didn't own any deodorant either. Published Juice April 13, 2011

The Knoxville Nationals has been in existence for 51 years and attracts all types of fans from around the world. The economic impact on the state of Iowa is in the tens of millions of dollars each year. Like all motorsports events, the Knoxville Nationals draws a diverse crowd from many different backgrounds in a celebration of humanity and cultural sharing.

On a hot summer day in August the gentleman Mr. Hassel was speaking to could be the CEO of a major company, the pastor at the local church, a mechanic on a race team or a homeless person spending some time with new found friends. For Knoxville Raceway, and for most dirt tracks around the nation it doesn't matter who he was, if he had a cell phone or if he had some grit and grime on his brow. He would always be welcome.

Often times when we are critical of other people it is because we see parts of ourselves in them. This is probably all too true with Mr. Hassel and his rant. I truly feel sorry for someone who can't see past their own self importance to see the beauty in people doing what they enjoy. For someone who can't see the importance of this type of economic driver that provides jobs and income for so many throughout the state. For someone who chooses the negative over the positive and by doing so tries to bring others down to suffer on his level.

Through his comments it is clear to me that Mr. Hassel is clearly not a fan of dirt tracks or dirt racing. It is also clear in his article that he is not a fan of women's football, high school bowling, AHL Hockey, Roller Derby, High School Swimming and NCAA Wrestling. In a country and state that is thought to embrace such a wide range diversity and individuality, Mr. Hassel's comments seem prejudicial or even worse.

Knoxville Raceway cannot support any business that would freely allow an employee to disperse such negative propaganda in such a way that could undermine the prosperity of our business with such an open prejudice attitude to our loyal fans.

Knoxville Raceway hosts 34 events each year drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators from across the nation and around the world. Premier events include the 51^st Goodyear Knoxville Nationals August 10-13, the 21^st Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals August 4-6, the USAC Non-Winged Knoxville Nationals August 7^th, the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Series September 9-10 and the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.

To express your thoughts on Mr. Hassel's comments you can direct them to:

Juice – Editor Tim Paluch (515)286-2564 [email protected]

Des Moines Register – Assistant Managing Editor Vicki Ashwell (515)284-8139

WHO TV – (515)242-3500 Station Manager Dale Woods http://tinyurl.com/6zcfk74

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My email to Tim Paluch:

Hello,

My name is Taylor Howell, I am 21 from Oklahoma City, OK. I have been going to the Knoxville Nationals every year since 1994, when I was 5. Ever since my first time at Knoxville, I have counted the days until the next year until it is time to go again. Some kids look forward to the World Series, NBA Finals etc. etc. I looked forward to that 1 week in Knoxville where I was surrounded by nothing but sprint cars and sprint car fans. There is nothing better in my eyes.

Every year we go up on Monday, the week before the 410 Nationals, we get there in time to setup camp and head to Oskaloosa, IA for races before the Nationals. But when we pull in we always purchase a Des Moines Register to read up on what coverage the Knoxville Nationals is getting. In Oklahoma we do not get much coverage on sprint cars so I always thought it was cool when you could see sprint cars in the newspaper and not to mention my favorite drivers.

In the last few years I have noticed a steady decline in coverage of the Nationals, even so I still purchased a newspaper. After reading Mr. Hassel's article about the Knoxville Nationals I can assure you that I will no longer purchase your newspaper when we come up this year. You maybe thinking that "big deal, its 6-7 newspapers." But I have found this article on several sprint car websites and will began to spread the word my self. Sprint car fans are a close knit group and we can usually get things going if we want to. I hope that you have a decline in sold newspapers this year during the Nationals.

Mr. Hassel's is not a sprint car fan I can tell, which is fine. But someone like this has no room to judge or belittle anyone choosing to support what they love.


Thank you for your time,

Taylor Howell

I would assume Knoxville Raceway has pulled ALL advertising with any business Hassel has a relationship with.

On a positive note .... the Register (Iowa's Best 'Red' Newspaper) has one foot in the grave ...and the other foot on a bannna peel.

S.H.S.

Very well wrote.. cuddo's

Good job Taylor. I will also be writing a letter to the Register and the WHO-TV. As a journalist you should approach each story with an open mind, this clown should be fired.

It wasn't that i didn't HAVE a cell phone, i just didn't have it WITH ME. Also, i did have deodorant, I just didn't see a point in using it when it was 102 degree out last year. Pointless.

Just Kidding, that guy needs to find someone else's parade to piss on!!

If you live in central Iowa and watch the sports Sound Off show that is on WHO-TV (channel 13) on Sunday nights, Keith Murphy (sports director) and Andy Fales are the main part of the show and do a great job. Their commentary is relevant and generally entertaining. On the show, they also do "spoofs" where they poke fun of certain people or populations of people (ie, Hawkeye broadcaster Gary Dolphin in an interview segment, and Nebraska Cornhusker fans through a character that allegedly typifies Husker fans). The main person behind the spoofs is always the same guy - Chris Hassel. I'm not in any way defending him, as I read his column in Juice - and as a race fan who has been to many, many Knoxville Nationals, didn't really like what he had to say. My point is though, I think that particular column he wrote is just an extension of who he is. He is a little edgy, a lot goofy, and at times pretty politically incorrect. In essence, I think he's just trying to do something to be funny. It's one of those deals where it is funny unless he is making fun of you. Sprint car racing isn't for everybody, and apparently isn't for him. Throwing the DM Register under the bus because a subsidiary (Juice) printed something Chris Hassel wrote generalizing sprint car fans seems a little harsh to me. But if you haven't seen him on Sound Off and know what his M.O. is, I can see where he would come off as being an insensitive prick. JMO

Eh in all reality, he thinks his $#!^% doesn't stink. JMO

I don't live there and I've never heard of this guy nor read or watched his stuff. And since I've been at Knoxville since I was 4 years old, I guess everyone knows how I feel about the place and moreso the people who are also there. From my point of view, this guy sounds like another idiot who thinks he can abuse his so-called "powers" of being a "media" member. Similar to how many people who are very involved and very serious about racing have stopped coming to read this forum because posters can hide behind made-up names, people like Mr. Hassel give serious journalists and broadcasters many reasons to get out of the media business so as not to be lumped in with the people who only think they are funny and know everything there is to know. And any legitimate media outlet allowing him to do this should expect to be thrown under the bus.

One Word here: Idiot

Des Moines Register and its other publication create good articles?? Well I am not going there, because I would miss the 3 sentence blurb on dirt racing that we have each week on the newspaper stand. Every great while we get a nice internet reading article printed in ink.

If the register gets any smaller articles we might have a newspaper that only sends out ads, which btw why is shrinking by the week. When the obituaries have more print than "true" journalism, we have a problem here. Signing off, frustrated race fan that loves sprint car racing

.

I knew that guy that wasnt wearing a sprint car shirt looked suspicious !

A few observations that tie in with your post that I'd like to make. I know of one voting member of the SCHOF who runs a successful insurance agency that refuses to carry a cell phone. He has one that he uses for work but considers his time away from the office as his personal getaway and prefers to not carry a cell. Cell phones aren't a sign of success or a lack thereof.

I have a job and can afford deodorant and I'm kind of shamed to admit that sometimes after a day in that searing Iowa heat it has been known to fail me. Just ask my friends....on second thought they must have all abandoned me on account of it.

Finally my wife does not like dirt track racing or any type of dirt track machine including Sprint Cars. She considers than a fitting candidate for a flower planter out in the back yard. She does hold a small debt of gratitude that they get me out of her hair on the weekends but as far as going to any races they're icky, dirty, noisy and smelly (refer to my last point). I just take what she says with a grain of salt and enjoy the time at the races.

I'd break off all business ties with this guy if there are any and simply ignore him. If he's ragging on all those sports he's probably just stirring people up to get a rise out of them. Sometimes that will get a writer's work noticed so maybe that's all it's about. He probably feels like he can get away with it because he doesn't have anything to lose.

Stan Meissner

After you watch this, might be .050 -- or lower! Go Hawks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzY1bQEZ6TE

I choose not to own a cell phone, and am looking forward to my first Kmoxville Nationals this summer! Never felt the need to own one, and guys like this are making me get militant about it....and morons yakking while driving...

"It is the biggest dirt track race in the entire world, which isn't exactly a compliment."

Mr. Hassel's comment here is nothing more, or nothing less, than ignorance.

Any sport can be generalized down to this level, but to give this individual a clue, he needs to become more educated...especially if he's supposed to be a sports 'reporter.'

For example, I don't particularly care for boxing, so I could just generalize the sport down to saying it's two thugs beating the tar out of each other.

That comment would be ignorant, as I know there's a massive amount of training and hand-eye coordination involved; etc.

It's one thing to have an opinion, but it's a different situation if you claim to be a reporter. You have to educate yourself on the topic before you can report on it and to marginalize the sport off of an interview with one fan, regardless of who they were...that's just poor reporting.

I always thought one of the coolest things about the racing scene - Knoxville in particular - is it's one place you can go and there's a business professional sitting next to you, a biker in front of you, a farm family sitting on the other side of you and someone from Australia behind you...very few places in life you can go and share one thing in common: the love of the sport, regardless of your demographic and you actually enjoy sharing the experience with all of them.

My guess this 'reporter' is not from Iowa - because he doesn't fit the demographic!

I believe he's from Muscatine....

but if you've never seen the Stivers Ford bit, you are missing out!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Chris-Hassel/193764880664842

This guys facebook page...