GRP Trivia Contest & Part 1 of UMSS 360 Sprint awards posted

It's that time of the year again.  Time to wave the green flag on the annual GRP Dirt Track Racing Trivia Contest.  This year the Trivia Contest will start this evening Friday January 25 and run for the entire week until midnight of Friday February 1st.  GRP has pared down the contest to two divisions, the Sprint Cars and Late Models (with a few Supers and Mods sprinkled in among the Late Models for good measure).

Tonight will mark the 14th running of the GRP Trivia Contest at the Mythical MDTR Speedway which if one stops and thinks about it has out lasted several real events.  Since the Trivia Contest began it's run we have seen events like the Princeton National, the NCS WoO Sprint Race, and CLS's Badger (can't recall the full title of that one) come and go.  There have probably been many others but those were the few that I could recall off the top of my head.  Several tracks that have produced memorable nights of racing and much of our contest material have also come and gone.  Places like Grove Creek, Fox Ridge and Owatonna are now silent but they live on in the GRP Trivia Contest. 

I first met GRP and Track Rate Vinster at an NCRA 410 Sprint Car race at the Arlington Raceway on June 2nd, 1999.  I was going through some of my pit photos from that event recently and found the Forbrook 5 (beats me who was in it at that time), the Trop Arctic 66 (I believe that Brooke Tatnell ran his own 7 that night and I don't remember who proceeded him in the 66 car) and several others that are no longer around.  One that I noted in my stack of photos was the Comp USA sponsored car.  CompUSA stores, the NCRA and probably that car carrying the CompUSA sponsorship are no longer around.  The thing I remember most about that night was Greg Bakker about tearing down the front stretch fence, scaring the daylights out of the flagman (glad it wasn't the Mythical MDTR Speedway or it would have been me he ###ing my jeans) and nearly making the leap over the fence.  Since then Vinster and GRP have become life long friends so it was one of the best nights of racing I have ever experienced.  Good shows are a dime a dozen, we see many of those each season.  Life long friends are priceless.

 Greg Bakker's 11x prior to the start of the races on June 2, 1999

Several people have contacted me via email and Facebook asking when I was going to get the first half of the UMSS Sprint Car (w-360) awards presentation posted.  First I want to thank everyone who has given me feedback about my Banquet blog post.  I didn't know what to expect when I came up with the idea to put these posts out there.  If my print column ever got any feedback I never heard about it so I have never felt very confident about my writing (my insecurity motivates me).  I often wondered all those years if anybody actually paid attention or if I was simply indulging my own writer's fantasy.  You see, I became a huge fan of writers and photographers during the days of Open Wheel magazine.  I used to read articles by guys like John Sawyer and Dick Berggren and romanticize what it would be like to be able to communicate my passion to others through photos and the printed word.  I have since found out that the reality of what it's like to actually do the writing falls somewhat short of what I envisioned paging through those magazines.  Hanging around the infield of a dirt track isn't exactly a chick magnet or fast track to fame and fortune.  You've got to love it and by the way, don't quit your day job.

Actually I had the opportunity to not only meet Dick Berggren but to spend a night in the infield with him.  It wasn't hard to tell that Mr. Berggren is a regular guy like the rest of us, old sweatshirt, hat on backwards fumbling around with a camera in a dusty old infield.  His down-to-earth easy going attitude and enthusiasm for everything on wheels was an eye opener in a lot of ways.  I think it's safe to say that if Dick Berggren had never become a publisher, writer, or NASCAR television reporter he'd be hanging around some dirt track hawking 8x10's.  The most important lesson that I took away from that night was that no matter what status a writer/photographer might reach a dusty infield, porta johns and hot dogs are humbling equalizers.

 No matter what status a racing writer/photographer attains they're still down-to-earth fans of the sport.

By popular demand, UMSS Sprint Car awards part 1

Well, here's the UMSS Banquet video I promised you.  This is going to about wrap it up for this week's blog post.  Check back later this evening and watch the MDTR and 20/20 message boards and my Facebook posts for the start of the contest.  I estimate that the green flag is going to drop around 10pm.

See you at the Mythical MDTR Speedway!

The UMSS Banquet and other random thoughts (with video clips)

In my January 13 post where I talked about making some changes going into the 2013 season that are going to affect my ability to attend as many races have in the past I mentioned that I'd be posting in this blog.  This is my first post about racing with that promise in mind and I hope you enjoy it.  During the past 14 years of writing I got some positive feedback about my columns so I decided to continue writing about events I attend.  Of course as a photographer who happens to do a little bit of video it didn't take long to decide what direction I was going to take this idea in.  I'll continue to do a "column" of sorts in this blog on a regular basis with the added benefit over print publications of being able to add photos and video clips to illustrate my points.  The intent of this blog is not to solicit photo or video sales, the quality of my videos isn't fit for sale but are for illustration purposes only.  As always, all photos that I take will be added to the gotomn.com website photo gallery and select photos and clips will be displayed in this blog.  If you see something you absolutely have to have I can make it available at the going rate.  The main idea this season is to get back to the basics, have fun and maybe entertain and enlighten in the process.  With that having been said let's get on with it!

On Saturday night January 19, 2013, I attended the fourth annual Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series Banquet at the Hampton Inn located in Arden Hills.  This makes the fourth year in a row that I have attended the UMSS Banquet so I've been there for all of them.  The first year the banquet took place at Pro Kart Indoors south of the Cities near 35w and Hwy 13.  The Kart racing was a hit and I think everyone had a great time but, unfortunately, the venue was quickly outgrown.  The next year we gathered at Running Aces which worked out great for me because it's just a couple miles down the road.  Those first two years I took Banquet photos but I gave up that gig on account of not being able to commit to the entire UMSS season and all of their races.

Last year the banquet was held at the Mermaid over on Highway 10.  I didn't take photos last year but attended as a writer representing the paper and covered it in my column.  This year I bought a ticket and attended as a fan and Sprint Car enthusiast.  At this point I should repeat the disclaimer that I am not representing any publications with this blog so don't hold my feet to the fire.  I'm going to try to describe a few things I heard as I recall them but I did not bring a digital recorder or note pad so if I got some of the details wrong please forgive me.  You can correct me via email or in person, I take no offense as I recognize that I don't always hear or have a great memory.

One thing that caught my attention was the combined JSTS/UMSS shows with backing from the Minnesota Mafia.  One of the Mafia members addressed the crowd (forgive me for not catching his name) and talked about a series of races down in SW MN and NW IA.  I gathered from his description that the Minnesota Mafia has several members involved and is giving back to Sprint Car racing much the same way as Fan's Fund does with the Late Models up in our area.  I was a bit surprised that the UMSS is branching out that far but I guess when the opportunity presented itself to add cars, fans and interest to the series they jumped at it.  When I was involved a few years ago if memory serves me the emphasis was more on keeping the series local to the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin but now they're seeing a need to travel a little more than they did in 2010.

Other items of interest that I picked up at the Banquet was that the high car count for the Traditonal Sprints was something like 14.  Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought they said that 17 cars are in the process of being built so that their number could likely double this season.  The UMSS Traditional Sprints, especially on the Saint Croix Valley Raceway, are one of the coolest classes of race cars that have come along in many years.  Take a walk through the pits and you'll see that these guys are fun, friendly and appear to be having a blast.  With a family lake home five minutes from SCVR I plan on getting out there whenever possible.  

The Micros were mentioned in conjunction with Cedar Lake Speedway's purchase of the former Sandbox Arena.  There is going to be a weekend of Midget racing to kick things off out there then a weekend of Micro Sprint racing.  Ron Bernhagen mentioned something about the CLS Arena hosting Micros every Saturday afternoon during the racing season.  If that is the case the class is sure to grow if they are able to race both Friday night and Saturday afternoons.  

Ron also mentioned another 4 or 5 cars joining the winged ranks.  **MY OBSERVATION WARNING** and I hope nobody gets their undies in a bundle on account of me saying this.  The UMSS winged cars have held their own, great in this day and age when other classes numbers are dwindling, but they haven't been growing much either.  Seems like every year they lose a few and gain a few.  The big thing about the winged cars is the cost of motors, tires, wangs and thangs.  Dump a winged car and you just spent $1000 even if you don't hurt the chassis or motor.  The class is doing well so don't take what I'm saying the wrong way, I'd just like to see more growth so they can catch up to some of the established classes (Mods, Lates, etc.).  Joe Kouba mentioned the challenge of finding an affordable engine package.  My take on that, it's probably not a good idea to deviate too far from what other 360 motor rules.  Some of the UMSS guys want to go run Jackson or Knoxville or maybe some ASCS shows.  If the UMSS motors get too far from what's standard in 360's across the country they'd put themselves on an island.  It's good when the UMSS drivers can get out there and run in different places as it adds interest and fans.  I think the sleeves, tire rule and that sort of thing is the way to keep going with the 360's.  Let's face it, winged 360 and 410 Sprints are an expensive high profile type of racing not for the timid or faint of heart.  Only big boys and big girls need apply.

Now for the videos I promised you.  Forgive me for the shaky video, I was sitting in my chair and holding my pocket video camera over my head.  I'll be using the tripod and monopod at the tracks so the quality will be better than this first night out.  The winged division only consists of part 2, I had some issues with my editing software that I'll have to work through.  Mostly like I said the videos will be to supplement the writing and aren't for sale. 

First one is a clip from the Micro awards:

Next up is the Traditional Sprint Car awards presentation:

And finally this is part 2 of the UMSS winged 360 Sprint Car awards presentation:

 

Hopefully you enjoyed this post and it will be the first of many during the course of the 2013 racing season.  How often I do these posts is going to be in proportion to how many races I am able to attend.  I'll certainly make an effort to post at least every other week to parallel the frequency of the popular racing papers.  In other words, I'll post enough to keep it interesting but not so much as to become a pain in the butt.  

As I mentioned in my January 13 post I stepped down from writing a column on account of not being able to commit to the necessary number of races to do a print column justice.  I've certainly got the time to attend more than the 6 races I set as a goal but probably not the funds unless of course I can get the support of some tracks.  What I'm doing here is fun, I enjoy the creative process including the photos, video clips and writing.  On the other hand I'm not sure how sustainable this will be now that I'm doing it on my own.  We'll see what happens and hopefully six months from now things will come together where I'll be looking at 16 or 18 events.  That would be great if that were to happen but my expectations this season are modest and not presuming on what happened in the past.

I value your comments and input about what I'm trying to do here.  Please feel free to give me feedback about this blog.   mndirt@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Time to dust off the blog and do some writing...

After a 14 year run starting with Minnesota's Racing Connection and now known as the Midwest Racing Connection I recently came to a crossroads.  The confluence of looming camera upgrades and coming up with sufficient funds to cover both the photo gear purchases and the coming racing season proved to be two much for my 2013 budget.  Oh, I could have limped along and kept writing attending a minimum of races but I didn't think that would be fair to MRC to hold my spot if they were only going to be getting a reduced effort.  They need somebody younger with a pocket full of money who thinks dirt track racing is the best thing next to sliced bread so my stepping aside will allow them to find someone who fits that criteria.  A dirt track writer's "payment" for the work they do for the publications is free access to the races in the form of a media pass.  Consequently, the more races one attends as a representative of the publication the more "pay" one receives.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the disconnect in that logic, more races cost more money for gas, meals, and motels in effect making media passes a smaller piece of the big picture when one adds everything else up.  Don't get me wrong, they certainly did help me to get to enough shows to fulfill my obligations but when one is attending a couple dozen more races than they would have if they were doing it on their own dime the savings becomes a wash.  I had an offer to put together a reduced schedule and contribute a photo essay using pics from my archives.  That didn't make sense to me, not only would I be out of touch with what I was attempting to write about but what would be my incentive?  The business model for racing papers presumes on volunteers who are so into racing that there isn't anyplace they'd rather be than at a dirt track.  Any advertising sold goes entirely to the publications and is no benefit to the writers or photographers aside from the media passes.  In other words, if the publication's volunteers work hard and do a good job the publication becomes more successful and garners more advertiser support for the publisher.  I didn't have a problem with that business model when I was in my 40's and 50's all hot to trot to chase races but my outlook changed when I got north of 60.

After weighing all my options and taking into consideration that I was feeling burnt out on the gig after 14 seasons not to mention that I had no idea how to come up with the money needed to make a commitment I decided to resign from writing the column.  This left me in a unique situation in that I'll be paying for pit passes for the first time since 1999.  My math went something like this.  I consider an adequate number of races to do the column justice and keep my finger on the pulse of the sport at around 30.  On average figuring gas and meals attending races at even the closets tracks costs around $25 per night with the media passes.  30 races on a media pass x $25 per night for gas and hot dogs comes to $750 on the season.  That's just a ballpark number based on two tracks that are less than 45 minutes from home.  I figured that I could pay at the gate to attend 6 of my favorite big shows for less than it would cost to attend 30 races for publication and in the process free up 24 weekend nights to do other things besides racing.  Even the most expensive pit pass at say a WoO race or USA Nationals would be about $40, add on the $20 for gas and food and I'm at around $60.  A half a dozen of my favorite shows x $60 comes to approximately $360 with no deadlines or obligations.  That 6 shows isn't etched in stone and might vary according to circumstances or future developments.  I'll discuss an idea I have been mulling around in my head at the end of this article.  If you're a racer or involved in a racing team make sure you check out the last item I talk about in this blog post.

I just paid to have the gotomn.com website renewed for another year.  The domain costs approximately $36 per year, it was registered through my old ISP in the pre GoDaddy days so I'm paying 4x today's going rate but it's easier to manage that way.  My hosting space costs approximately $100 per year so when all is said and done I've got about $140 per year tied up in the website.  My wife has a site that piggy backs on my account too so we're going to leave the sites up and running indefinitely.  The first thing you'll see on the site since I abandoned my MRC reporter status will be the annual GRP Trivia Contest and I'm looking forward to having a part in that.  I did purchase a ticket to the UMSS banquet so that's my plan next weekend to attend the banquet.

So I'm going into the 2013 racing season with no writing gig, no obligations and more website space than I know what to do with.  I've got this blog, I've still got two camera bodies in working order that with a little care should tide me over until I can upgrade.  I still like taking photos of race cars and attending races, I'm just not interested in doing it every damn weekend all summer long and sitting here all day on Sunday sending out photos and dealing with writers block trying to beat a deadline.  Another thing about writing that I never liked is having to sugar coat things because I'm the recipient of a media pass.  I have been to plenty of shows that sucked big time but I had to restrain myself when I wrote about them so as not to cause problems for the publications I was representing or risk losing my media pass for saying the wrong thing.  Now that I'm paying my way I can skip the weekly shows I attended for the papers that were a drain on my budget and just hit my favorite specials.  My son Les and I like to take a couple of road trips to see some different tracks so that option will be open to me now that I don't have to worry about a media pass.  A little background, I always stuck to the principle that if the papers were asking me to fulfill my writing and photo obligations they had to keep up their end of the bargain and get me into the track.  All of my arrangements were always made through the papers and not my doing.  Now with that out of the way I can go anywhere I want and write anything I want as much or as little as I want without any obligations.  I don't have to play nice, if something sucks I'll take off the kid gloves and say so.

I'll still take photos but I doubt that I'll spend the entire night in the infield.  I'll buy a pit pass and shoot hot laps, time trials if applicable and probably some Heat race action before heading to the stands.  I'll have the option of seeing some Features from the stands and taking shots like the one below.  I might run down and shoot Victory Lane if I feel like it but I can take it or leave it.  Some nights I might feel like spending the whole night shooting, others I won't.  It will depend on the weather, dust conditions, how exciting the Feature looks like it's going to be and how ambitious I am on any given day.

Most photographers seem to only be in it for one thing, the money.  Oh, I'm sure they enjoy the sport and like to watch some racing but bottom line, they're out there to hawk event photos and hero cards.  I'm not saying that's a bad thing because somebody has to do it but I got stuck in the rut of spending the entire night taking pics from the infield without the benefit of the sales.  I could have gone in a different direction and pushed the sales end of it but that's a lot like the writing, too much work for a lazy guy like me.

I enjoy getting to the tracks early and taking pit photos like this one so that is something I'll continue to do when I attend a race.  Most of the photographers who are in it for the money would balk at doing something like this but I consider it an essential part of the racing experience.  Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

This shot is of Shannon Babb taken at the Gopher 50 back in 2001 when it was still being held at Owatonna.  The Late Models lined up in the infield for their qualifying runs and the drivers got of their cars and was a pretty casual setting.  I struck up a conversation with Babb and when it came time for him to get in his car I asked if I could take a pic.  Needless to say this kind of experience is one of the things I will always treasure about having been involved in the sport.  You don't get this kind of interaction with the competitors when you're sitting up in the stands.  I have been a Shannon Babb fan ever since this day and this type of experience has happened many times over during the past 14 seasons.

So here are my plans for my website and what you can expect to see on there going into the 2013 season.  I think the first thing you're going to notice is that I'll be a happier more relaxed person and I think that I'll enjoy the races more and you'll notice it in my posts.  I don't handle obligations and expectations during my days off very well and truth be told I came to resent all the work these past few years.  Give me a summer full of fun nights at the track with a little beer drinking and travel to some new places and I expect that I'll get some of the passion back.  Give me a summer full of obligations and "Stan could you do this and Stan could you do that" freebee volunteer demands and I think most people would agree that isn't a fun way to spend their weekends.  I won't bill my 2013 racing season as a "tour" because I think that's presumptuous but I expect to have a fun time doing what I enjoy at my own pace.  Which shows I attend is going to depend on photo access now that I don't represent any publications (with the exception of Flat Out but more on that later).  So far I've got the following shows and events on my schedule:   WoO Elko (tentative), CLS WoO, final night of the USA Nationals, the Triple and the Jerry Richert Sr. Memorial.  SCVR the Kouba Memorial and their IRA race and the Back to the 50's car show.  I'm not much of a bleacher creature, I'd lose interest if I had to spend all my time in the stands so I have to do something to document what I'm seeing.  I have said many times that I don't do this to draw attention to myself or as a reason for boasting.  I'm a hobbyist with a variety of interests.  I created my website as an outlet for my creativity and the racing just kind of caught on and took off back in the late 90's.  I'm not good enough at any of this stuff to make much of a living at it but it would be a waste of time doing any of these hobbies if I kept them in my closet and nobody ever saw this stuff. Some of you will like it, some of you won't but regardless of what you think I can't help myself.  I have to put it out there.

I mentioned photo access and that is going to be a big deal.  Some tracks don't seem to care and pretty much anybody who shells out money for a pit pass can bring a camera down to the infield and take some shots.  As illustrated by the 15 car CLS night shot posted above I could still do a decent job documenting races from the stands if necessary.  The single car shot of the #59 was also taken from the stands at Elko which offers some nice angles for a brief time before sundown.  If a person has the right lenses, a stout flash, and knows what they're doing they can get magazine quality photos from the stands at just about any track.  I know my angles pretty good so I wouldn't have a problem getting shots from different angles.  Actually I really enjoy taking these "think outside the box" type of shots.  It challenges my imagination and skills more than standing down in the middle of the track banging side shots all night.

Since we're on the subject of the gotomn.com site I'll give you some stats and a little background on what I'd like to accomplish with it.  As mentioned, I'll post photo galleries and do some writing in this blog.  In it's heyday the site got around 30,000 hits per month during the season but on account of my lack of promotion in recent years and sites like Facebook and Twitter pulling web traffic that number is now more like 12,000 per month.  In spite of the drop in hits the amount of traffic visting my site still brings up an interesting point.  I have never gotten a media pass based on my website but I never could think of a good reason why I shouldn't.  The advantage of my site is name recognition, people have had gotomn.com bookmarked since 1999 and name recognition is something that's hard for new sites to capture.  What promoter wouldn't salivate at the prospect of 12,000 people in the stands?  To take it a step further, I'll bet that the 12,000 people checking out my site is probably more than the circulation of some of the publications I have contributed to.  I once heard some numbers floated around in the 5,000 to 6,000 range for one of the papers.  In other words, the tracks allowed me a pass based on my contributions to papers that have a circulation less than the 30,000 people visiting my website.  I'm not lobbying for media passes, just saying that today's electronic media is capable of reaching a larger world wide following than any localized print publication.  Anyways, I won't chase media passes anymore but if a track ever offered to let me in on the basis of my website I'd be a fool to turn them down but that won't ever happen. It would be nice to find a way to up my number of races from 6 to 12 or even 18 but I draw the line at taking on a part time job nights and weekends to fund my racing interests. 

So what can I offer to you on this blog?  Well, I think it's already apparent that I can take a decent photo.  There are a few other things that I can add to the blog in addition to photos when the mood hits me.  For example I can do graphic designs when I put my mind to it.  I never chased the Hero Card business but I think my graphics are adequate considering what I have to work with.  

The thing that would take my graphics to the next level is unfortunately prevented by the same obstacle that has tied my hands behind my back in just about everything I have ever done.  A lack of money to purchase the necessary resources to make my work easier and better.  Let me make this clear, I have no desire to chase graphics business but every now and then I get the bug to design something.  The above example is something I put together a couple years ago.  What I mean by money elevating my graphics is that the guys (and gals) who do the cards purchase graphics CDs with skins, flames, fonts, etc., made specifically for that purpose.  I can't afford the CD's, the cost around $300 and the CDs are specialized so that one might have flames, another backgrounds, etc., so that a person might has to buy three or four of them.  When I do the designs I'm kind of like someone who cooks a simple meal from scratch, first I have to design the flames before I can even begin to use them on a graphic.  Doing graphics from scratch is time consuming and graphics sales are all about putting a large amount of work out as fast as possible.  Another thing they use is the industry standard Adobe Photoshop but that program retails for over $1,000 so I use low priced substitutes because that's all I can afford.  I like doing graphics for fun so one of the things I might occasionally do is computer wallpaper that incorporate my photos and graphics.  

I enjoy car shows and that will be something else I'll feature on this blog.  On a typical weekend a person could attend several car shows, many of them close to home and free of charge.  I plan on taking advantage of that opportunity more often.

As a former catapult crewman on the USS Franklin D Roosevelt 1972 Med cruise I enjoy aviation and have a keen interest in Navy jets from the Vietnam era.  I would like to shoot some air shows with my 500mm lens so that's on my list as well.

Most of you probably don't realize this but I enjoy cartooning but don't have the time to devote to it.  I've got a Wacom tablet connected to my computer and created this icon with it.  That's something I haven't had time to pursue on account of being so busy with racing.  Maybe we'll do something with that as well.

My daughter Jennifer inherited my eye for drawing which I in turn got from my grandpa on my dad's side.  Here's an example one of Jen's pencil drawings that she did back in the early 90's.  Jen and I need to plan some time to make some photo trips so that we can compare notes on our artwork.  Jen is a blogger and you if you visit her blog her design, writing and photography skills jump out at you.  Her blog can be found at:  http://www.zimmerscope.com/

Here's a sample of a flower pic I took.  I love taking flower shots with a fast lens so I can get the blur in the background and the subject tack sharp.  Jen and I need to get out on some photo trips where we drive around looking for neat subjects to photograph.  A trip to the Como Park Conservatory would be fun.

Another thing I'm interested in pursuing more is video.  Not as a business but I've got a video camera that shoots in HD and would make for some nice clips to post on this blog.  Follow this link to see an example of the resolution, sound and color balance that my camera is capable of:  http://youtu.be/1125peRFc9k

One more interest I should mention before we move onto talking a little more about racing is music.  I played electric guitar in a garage band in the late 60's then switched to acoustic for about forty years and a couple years ago got back into the electric.  I was way behind the curve on lead guitar and timing but am finally starting to get up-to-speed on lead guitar.  It's a work in progress but certainly something I'd like to pursue more now that I've got a little more time on my hands.  Here's something I put together yesterday.  I played all of the parts on the bass, rhythm and lead guitars.  The drum track is the only instrument I didn't play, that was taken from the drum machine in my multi effects pedal.  http://www.gotomn.com/misc-temp/Sack%20the%20Pack%20SF%202013.mp3

Don't laugh at my tunes.  It's harder than you think.  After practicing the electric for a couple of years I have a lot more respect for musicians.  I've got my eye on a new guitar which should improve my playing.  Right now I'm playing used cheapo guitars so I want to upgrade this spring.  That's one of the things I had been putting on the back burner so I could chase races but now it's time to upgrade.

So to wrap up this post I'll recap my plans for the season.  Take photos, take some video clips, write about the events I attend in this blog.  Do a little work with my website including the links and the history section.  Have fun.  I should probably make it clear that I have not burned any bridges with the Midwest Racing Connection or Flat Out magazine.  You might still see an occasional photo of mine in MRC and who knows, in a few years I might be getting down on my knees begging to get my writing gig back.  I have floated a few ideas for articles to Flat Out so who knows, I might still be doing an occasional story for them.  At this point I'd say that anything I do will probably be more in the history category than current racing. 

Finally I want to present an idea that I have been entertaining for several years.   This idea could specifically benefit racing teams who want to obtain content for sponsors and websites.  As we have discussed already my skill set includes photography, writing, video, graphics, and podcasting.  You might recall that I did interviews for Dirtcast and my own site that was called Midwest Racing Talk.  Specifically I was doing the UMSS show for the 2010 season so that's why I mentioned podcasting.  My idea is to combine these skills to produce media content for racing teams.  Basically how it would work is that I would attend a night of racing and follow your racing team kind of like an "imbedded reporter".  In other words I would concentrate my efforts on taking action photos and video clips of your car, package it up with whatever type of story or captions you want and you could use it as you see fit on your team's website and Facebook page.  It's a long racing season so that might be a way for me to add a few races and come in closer to a dozen.  There are plenty of photographers, writers and video guys out there but they focus on all of the competitors whereas I would concentrate specifically on your racing team.  Imagine getting a CD of every photo and video I took of your car including pit shots and on track action along with a writeup and interview clips to use as you please.  It seems like a neat idea and I will be free to do something like that so I'm going to keep thinking about it and see what I can come up with.

See you at the races!