Roger,
Thank you for excusing my rudeness and lack of respect on my age. I would like to excuse your undeserving sense of accomplishment with anything karting related on something, but I cant seem to find anything to excuse it on.
Like you perhaps I get frustrated with karting almost daily now, as it has become my job. I pay my bills, and have my fun thanks to karting. Financial gains, or frustrations with the sport aside, I love karting for everything it has given me in my life. If it weren’t for karting I would have not have found the path to what looks like (If I am lucky) will one day be my career. But more importantly I would not have forged the incredible relationships with all of those I have met through this sport. I announce 30 races/events a year, and while none of those other sports/events have the disfunction that karting has, none of them are near as enjoyable or as fun to be associated with. So when I see someone trying as hard as they can to give the sport a black eye, and then jet off to another form of racing I get offended. Karting is where I was raised, its where I make my living, and I pray that I am always lucky enough to be a part of it. You nor anyone else will bash this karting community a.k.a my community with out dealing with me.
While you may have been involved in motorsports longer than I have been alive, I have seen more than my fair share of Roger Millers come in, and promptly exit stage right from this sport. You ‘led’ the PPKRC for a few years, found out putting on races is a heck of a lot harder than driving around in one, and got out. So I really do wish you luck in your dealings with NASA. I hope they are ready for someone of your vast knowledge of motorsports. I am sure they will respond to you telling them what they do wrong also.
And to your point of me no longer having a kart. That is correct, I no longer race. I blew my (and my parents) money for three years only to find out that I have no business behind the wheel of a kart. Now I have found a new venture and am looking to escape my miserable past as a back-marker(perhaps not far from the exit strategy of someone else I know participating in this thread)
My original post was not intended to carry any rudeness towards you at all (but if you are inclined to take it that way, I can not help that). But rather as a defense to the good in karting, that you are so eager to ignore. You had a bad time in karting and as much as I really would like to go back and take the bad taste out of your mouth, I cant. I would just hope you’d be more mature than defaming the sport, and rather just move on.
For what its worth Roger, I thank you for your time that you put into the sport of karting. And I would also like to thank you for providing me perhaps my most embarrassing moment as an announcer, when you literally passed a hat around at podium celebrations to collect my pay for announcing one of your races in 2011. A classier act has yet to come along.
Thank you for the offer of one day possibly recommending my services for an SCCA and NASA race. Barring no conflicts with a kart race, I would love to come.
To Greg, Mike and everyone else on the Karter, I apologize for taking this three posts too far, and regret hijacking this thread.
This will be my last post on the thread.
Tony LaPorta
970-313-6775