If you think that local racing is filled with politics, try going NASCAR like I did in 2004.  I had a few partners on this Craftsman Truck.  We inteded to rent the seat at various races.

 While NASCAR says they are a sport, it didn't take us long to find out that racing at that level is all about money, influence and the "what's in it for me" attitude.  

Here we were, sitting in the rain at Martinsville, and waiting to qualify.  Naturally, qualifying rained out, so the truck came home.

This was a Busch car that we sort of rented at Homestead.  The car was ok in practice and it looked like we would get in the field.  The driver went out to qualify on 4 sticker tires, so naturally, the RF exploded at the start of his lap.  It was a defective tire, but no one wanted to hear it.  They were just like "shut up and get out of here".  If this had happened to a "star", the outcome would have been different.

The previous week at Darlington, we qualified on TV, and were fast enough to be in the field.  Of course, the second half of qualifying rained out, but we still made the field with a provisional.   However, when the crew showed up to race Saturday morning, they were told that another car had taken our place.  That driver was Paul Menard from a larger, wealthier team than our little flyspec of a team.  

So there it was for 2004; 3 attempts and no races.  At this point, we had been ripped off by one sponsor (Martinsville Ford) and 2 drivers who didn't fufill their obligations fully.

I was the majority investor, and arranged for a few partners to join.  I was all about the paperwork and administration.  There was also another partner who oversaw the actual work and preparation.  This guy didn't hold up his end, so we called it quits in January, 2005.  From there, we rented out some of the equipment and actually made back some money.  I also made some selling off the truck, this toter and stacker trailer.

The coolest thing we had was our logo.  It was made my buddy Donna, graphicexpressions@gmail.com.    The original artwork looked much cleaner than this old copy.

This team was a long shot at best, but I gave it a whirl.  I am not 100% certain that I wouldn't do it again, but things would have to be done much differently.  Oh well, you live and learn, right? 

I actually lost remarkably little money on this adventure.  The only race I went to was the attempt to get into Homestead.  But for a day I could stroll down a NASCAR pit road and say, "yep, that is my car over there."

I have achieved status in NASCAR: I'm a historical footnote!

This is actually a much longer story, with many lessons learned about business, human nature and life in general.  

Now here is some racing that I can get into!  Electric car racing under the sanction of Electrathon, www.electrathonamerica.org.

This is my buddy Jim Robinson driving one of his many cars.  This was at a road race held at the Univ. of South Florida in Tampa on Feb. 18, 2006.  Jim went on to win and score his first Electrathon victory.  I had the pleasure of driving another of his cars and finishing second. 

There is me in another of Jim's hand-built cars.  We ran 2, one hour races that day.  

Yes, it is a tight fit in that little car!  It felt like I was laying on a skateboard, then someone wrapped a straight-jacket around me.

Here is a cool picture of me in the #14 cranking through a corner.  Note the suspension travel and flex.

We have two race days a year at an oval track in Titusville.  Each race day consists of a pair of one hour events, separated by a break to prepare the cars.

If you are interested, check out my Electrathon site, www.electrathonFL.homestead.com

These are just some cool hauler pictures I found on the internet.  None of them belong to me....too bad.   It would be so cool to have one of those old COE trucks....

Hey!  Who is that young guy standing next to my wife?

San Antonio, Texas  1988

The bad old days....This was my "racing garage" for several years in Miami: a shed with a shade tree.  Eventually I upgraded and added a concrete slab!  The whole thing was soon flattened by a ficus tree during hurricane Andrew.

This was taken at the first race held at Florida Sports Park in Naples.  Yes, it is the same track where the swamp buggys race.  Note the fine racing surface....SAND!  This race was shortened because the surface morphed into a moto cross track:: complete with jumps and holes and "whoops".

My friend's daughter Carrie drove my car in a woman's enduro.  She ended up 5'th in the 100 lapper.  Carrie married into another racing family and is now raising a family of her own.  Her husband works on the Richard Childress team.

Fresh out of high school, I was using my time in the best way possible.  The only option open to me at the time was demo derbys, so I ran a bunch of those for a year or so.  This Impala got stuck in reverse.

Recently unearthed: this shot from August 4, 2000..