Chaz.Monster.com.dude 😉
Thatch had that little ‘go-round’ with Brad Fleming at Grand Junction which damaged a few things on the kart, including really dinging his ribs, actually a minor seperation. With that, previous missed races, the damage to the kart, pre-planned vacations the rest of the summer and the amount of money he sunk at GJMS due to breakage and general cost to get there (somethng that scared the snot outta a 4-digit number, before the decimal place) he gave up on the season.
The first time he’d even gotten back in the kart after GJ was up at IMI when we were out there to test my 125 engine and you guys had that charity race and we wasted some rubber in the parking lot. Even then his ribs were in sorry shape. He was planning to go to SB, but at the last minute (like last Tuesday), Jeppesen decided he needed to go to Frankfurt, Germany this coming Saturday for a week. Since he’d just gotten back from a 2-weeker in Vermont last monday, he didn’t think trying to get to the race was wise.
Everyone else (and Chaz)…
As for people being seriously commited to the Series to get the purse, I agree. Hence the suggestion to have already made ‘x-number’ of races to be eligible to win it. That’s what was meant, not that they couldn’t come race.
To He who mentioned that the addition of top drivers to roseters ‘drawing crowds’. No offense, but the only people who are going to know about (or give a rat’s tail) the ‘top drivers’ in the karting world are the karters, their tuners and their families. Unless of course, Speedvision, Speed Channel, or whatever, start plastering races around and giving them airtime. Otherwise, it’s just another kart race to the average Joe.
Do they add to the competition? You bet. Do they make the race more fun? Hell yes. My Dad and I were just amazed at Bobby pulling away from Sam on the last 100′ of the back straight at SB…. every….single….lap, at the same spot! Then rooting for Sam to pull a magic Rabbit, or something, outta his hat to get around Bobby in the two turns before the front straight…. Great Race Sam and AJ!! That plastic sucked, didn’t it? I had a sheet wrapped around my front wheel for a half a lap or so…. Yuck. No more plastic around haybales!!
Wife’s expecting a call, I’ll be back at this tommorow.
-S