Forum Activity for @dennis-schalm

From Baseball Park to Stock Car Track

Stock Car Racing History

I took care of the wedding to race track problem, easily. My wife and I were married on the race track, during intermission before the feature events.

Speedway Report for April 30, 2018; Remembering James Hylton and concern over NASCAR/ARCA acquisition

Radio & TV Shows

Hasn't been fun, but managing. Hard to say how much the heart problem messed everything else that held me back. But that's time everything went downhill. Nobody expects to have to retire at 50, especially someone self employed.

The biggest problem for me is when I was just so close to being satisfied with my life, something screwed up, and I have to go in a different direction. Been involved with so much, it's hard to watch any racing without being critical of something I see.

Thanks for asking, and I hope to vent a little more on my blog again.

Speedway Report for April 30, 2018; Remembering James Hylton and concern over NASCAR/ARCA acquisition

Radio & TV Shows

What some people who think that NASCAR's "acquisition" of ARCA is a good thing because now they are a part of the "big leagues" don't seem to understand is that ARCA was a good place to stay. NASCAR isn't the be all, end all in stock car racing for a lot of people. After my local track closed after the '85 season I started to go with a friend to Flat Rock Speedway and help him. My car wasn't legal for any other track. Flat Rock and Toledo Speedways are like what ISC  is to NASCAR. Owned by the same people but two seperate companies.

Then in 1990, I started helping another friend in the ARCA Series.Went to all the races from '91 to 2001. From '95 as an official, which included back then working a few Cup races. They helped us, we helped them. Hated every minute of working with them. Almost every minute.  I could at least talk to Doyle Ford, Rodney Wise and Jimmy Howell, as I had worked my way up to one of ARCA's flagmen. For someone 6' 3" , I never felt so talked down to. Their were a couple other officials who helped work our races who knew what I was capable of and tried to get me to think it was the same as working for ARCA.

The people in ARCA for the long haul. Most of them didn't have a personal agenda. A few were there for the power trip, a few were there to see what they could get out of the NASCAR teams just to turn around and sell it online. I was right where I wanted to be. The right mix of "professional ism and realism". This was all until I had a heart attack in 2001, on the flagstand, about 20 laps after Dean Roper (Tony Roper's dad) died in his car from a heart attack. My health became long-term and multiple problems, so after trying a few more times up until about 2003 or 2004, but there was now too much wrong that appeared was going to remain cronic. I'm know on 100% disability, so any dreams of ever going back now are just dreams, just like it looks like ARCA itself is going to be. I see a little glimmer of hope that NASCAR will let it run as a separate entity like IMSA is to the corporate structure. Ron Drager did use I, us, our, and we a lot like he may be the one to continue having a big role in it, and the references to "these two will be stronger working together."

Sorry for the length, but I'm pretty passionate over helping, even a little bit, to bring ARCA where it is today

From Baseball Park to Stock Car Track

Stock Car Racing History

I wonder how many more there were like this? If I remember correctly, the 16th Street Speedway in Indy was a baseball field turned race track. The old CNE Park in Toronto, Ontario . . .

The Mich. State Fairgrounds went from a race track to a multi-field softball complex.

Hall of Shame

Stock Car Racing History

I think Kulwicki should be in. I'd hate to see so much time go by that his accomplishments become forgotten because he didn't live long enough to build on them and receive the accolades he deserved. It's like Tim Richmond, Lord knows what he would had done with a longer career.

As far as Bruton Smith goes, I lean a bit towards in. While I agree, he didn't do some tracks any favors for the sake of Speedway Motorsports stock holders. He was there when they CREATED Charlotte Motor Speedway too. He did introduce to big-time stock-car racing innovations we now take for granted. He rolled the dice and risked a lot in hopes things like lighting a speedway, or building condos at a race track, could work.

Don't get me wrong, I agree there are those in "The Family" pushed some into the Hall too soon in order to relate the "newer" fans, and get them to go to the Hall. But that's there M.O. I think they have some questionable nominees in order to get the ones voted in that they want. Opening up to a fan vote helps that too. Those of us who recognize the real pioneers of NASCAR can't out vote the "fans" who can still spend the outrageous amounts of money "The Family" is sucking in. There are a lot of very, very good people in the sport's history that will be forgotten because they weren't NASCAR's people.

As long as I'm on this rant, I may as well express my disgust over the "carpet bombing" branding of NASCAR to get people to refer to NASCAR as the sport, instead of Stock Car Racing. They are but one (albeit the largest) part of that sport. I've raced more than a few stock cars, but the only time I raced anything close to a "NASCAR" is when our local track was sanctioned by them for a year. One year was all it took to find out that that association came with a high price. It ended up taking money OUT of the pockets of the racers. Not to mention insurance not as good as the track had on it's own.

NC Governor Breaks Promise to Rockingham Speedway

Current NASCAR

I'm going to preface this by saying, hate the truck series, always have, probably always will. What I don't understand is why now the big cry for support for the speedway now. If you wanted racing there, ANDY and ARCA stuck their dollars and there necks out to bring it back there. Andy could have just kept the trackmaintainedand ran his driving school. ARCA could have said because of the declining support of the track before it was closed the first time, to not take the risk. SPEED could have decided to not cover the race for basically the same reason. ARCA, the third longest (after IMCA and NA$CAR) continuous running stock car racingorganization in the world, offers up a modern era record of a 50 car starting field, a championship deciding event, with looking toward starting that as a tradition.In support of an ARCA champion owner and driver, an Indy 500 participant, the owner-operator of the Official Driving School of ARCA, and also at that time the closest points race in modern ARCA history. Bringing it all downtown up-close and personal, prior to the race weekend for the local fans who seemed to be begging for racing to return to the area. Low ticket prices, high excitement level racing, ended up having what looked on TV, hardly anybody showing up. The Rockingham area could have adopted the ARCA Racing Series as their own, practically. Who knows, with starting a tradition of the final race of the year there, next could have come the Awards Banquet being another yearly event bringing in dollars to the area.

This CWTS race will end up being just another race to NA$CAR. Oh, they'll use it this year, and maybe next to play the "almighty has returned" part. But then, sadly for the people of Rockingham, it will be just another race to those in the Daytona and Charlotte offices.

My race prediction, some one will appear to dominate only because their won't be enough green flag racing to pass him. A green-white-checkered (another thing ARCA did years before NA$CAR, at one time it was five consecutive green flag laps to finish to prevent my next point) where second place dumps the leader on the last lap to "earn" his win.

My apologies in advance to the people of the area. As a real member of the Stock Car Racing community, who by guilt by association has to live with the "Damn the racing, let's make some money." people who have mislead people into thinking they are the only "real" game in town. They'll take your money and leave it up to others like you from the outlying areas to bring some in. If you are Stock Car Racing fans then be Stock Car Racing fans. If you think to be a fan you have to be a NA$CAR fan, go to a souvenir trailer and pay three times the real value of a hat or t-shirt to support the ones who have already taken real racing and hard earned money from their fans. Me, I'm be spending my dollars and time at the local short track where racing is done by real people FOR real people.

New nose for 2011, what do you think?

General

And in the early 80's GM cried about the new "round" T-bird. The one Buddy Baker cried about having to race against what amounted to ASA car, as he put it. What happened? NASCAR said, sorry, complain to GM to make better cars that fit the rules. The birth of the Monte Carlo SS and the Grand Prix 2+2. Stock carsremaining "stock". The only reason there was complaining about the spoilers in the era you mentioned was because NASCAR took away the crew chief's option of adjusting the angle as a tuning device. When you have options on the angle, the height becomes less of an issue.

BTW, you started this by asking for opinions of a NASCAR mandated part. Left this sucker open to go in practically any direction it wanted.

I'm done . . . off my soap box . . .

We now return you to your regularly scheduled forum . . .

New nose for 2011, what do you think?

General

I am not a NASCAR fan. I am a stock car racing fan. NASCAR IS hurting stock car racing. And they claim to be THE National Association for STOCK CAR AUTO RACING.

Local doesn't mean dirt.

Never mentioned the Southern 500.

If done right, like Bill France Sr. did, number of fans,affordabilityto race, making a living (if you choose to try), all, like water, would find its own level. The sport, as a business, really hasn't advanced that much since Big Bill ran NASCAR. He built Talladega, and nothing has matched the scope of that achievement in actually advancing the sport as a consumer product, it has treaded water.

As far as the size of the car reference, like I said that is what Bill Sr. did at the time. Of course in this day and age thedimensionswould need to be different. But my example is still valid.

Competitiontoday is manufactured by NASCAR, not the competitors. Those are the innovators. You can't tell someone who issuccessful at their job how they should do it. They've done the job. THEY are the expert. You ask THEM how it should be done. You wouldn't want or expect someone from an office job to tell the craftsman on the floor how they should be doing their job. When NASCAR was run for the sake of the sport, if you won by fifteen laps like Ned Jarrett did once, you earned it. If you won a championship by sawing apart a perfectly good race car to get half a roll cage to get your car back in a race, like Benny Parsons team (team mind you), you earned it.There is nothing wrong with runawaysuccess if you earn it. Petty Ent. was hailed as legends, Jr. Johnson, Richard Childress, also. Why? They earned it.

I do not speak from an uneducated source. From childhood, I sold programs at the local track, worked the safety crew, flagged races there, did some PA announcing, raced my own cars and for others. Then I moved on also, full time crew member on an ARCA team that everyone still had regular jobs, became a spotter for that team, and rented myself out to others, from 1/4 milers to Talladega. Became a full time ARCA Racing Series official working my way up to be one of the starters, to be on the accident investigation team (like I said, NASCAR knows a good idea when they steal one.), member of the rules committee, did some TV color on a couple of broadcasts, and yes a part-time NASCAR official.

Having experienced it all, like the late Johnny Hayes of US Tobacco and TNT broadcasts years ago said, while comparing the haulers and equipment between the ARCA and NASCAR garages at Pocono, ". . . running the same race track, with the same type of car, at the same speeds, with the same competitiveness, makes you wonder, who got it right?"

If you experience half of this and are a student of the sport at all levels, and paying some attention to other forms of motorsports, you thenrealize the slight change of a nose piece, doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

By the way, go to Foxsports.com, to the NASCAR main page, and watch the video of Darrell Waltrip talking about his first cup race in his family's own '71 Mercury. That's my side of the equation. It still could have been like that. You could REACH your dream. Not just keep dreaming it.

Oh yeah, you ain't lived until you seen thirty-six, 850 HP, 3,400 lb., cup twins of stock cars, dive off into the first turn of a one-mile fairgrounds dirt track, like Springfield, or DuQuoin Illinois. Just ask Ken Schrader, Tony Stewart, Andy Petree, Justin Allgier, etc., etc.

New nose for 2011, what do you think?

General

"If the sport hadn't evolved I honestly don't think we would have seen the huge growth the sport has been blessed with."

What real growth? The only growth financially has been to NASCAR and some of it's owners. A mid-level team would kill for the money that Gannassi, et al, get from one of those little decals near the rear tire of there cars. They would end up being the primary sponsor on that car. There only seems to have been "competition growth"because each manufacturer has at least one "super-team".

When Jr.Johnson was approached by R.J.Reynolds to sponsor a car, and he found out how much money they had in their budget because they couldn't advertise on TV anymore, he told them they need to sponsor the whole series and sent them to NASCAR. With idea that the money would benefit more teams than just his. You won't see that today. NASCAR is even trying to get the money before teams get a chance at it.

Bill France, Sr.'s way of doing things. If your car ain't fast enough complain to themanufacturer, or change brands. As long as the wheel base was at least 115" long the way it rolled off the assembly line, as X inches high, and X inches long, and X inches wide, and an engine that was no larger than X cubic inches, Then you had a race car.

I agree with the safety advancements, but don't be too quick to give NASCAR all the credit for that. They know a good idea when they steal one.

Built for racing chassis, OK. Body, whatever one your enginemanufacturermakes that fits it (within certain parameters). Templates, of course. Bad aero, talk to the manufacturer, not to the rules maker. Then let's go racing.

Stock Car Racing didn't HAVE to get big. The "improvements" you're talking about is killing the local racing scene. It was special to see a race on TV. It made you kill to want to see one live and in person. And when you couldn't, you were at the local track knowing that if it was on TV it wasn't going to conflict with your Saturday nightpilgrimage to the local bull-ring where the guys you see on TV now, learned ALL the ropes about racing. Not just driving, but not needing an engineer to set-up your car for you. {Unless you were Alan Kulwicki, or Ryan Newman, and went to college yourself.)

Happy Holidays!

Bumpertag said:

Thats quite and rant Jim. I understand many of your points but can't let myself get that worked up. I miss the Good Ol Days but I understand that the sport had to change in order to survive and continue tp grow. I'm not happy with much of what we see in todays NASCAR, but I still love it. If the sport hadn't evolved I honestly don't think we would have seen the huge growth the sport has been blessed with. With growth comes sponsor dollars, with sponsor dollars come technology, and technology brings change. Change is a given and most of the change has been good for the sport. The safety, reliability and increased competition are a byproduct of the good things that have happened in the sport and I'm grateful for this. I don't like the looks of the COT, but I understand how we got here. I enjoy NASCAR today, but it can't measure up to my memories from the 70's. It has changed... but it still has the FLASH and EXCITEMENT that attracted me in 1972. Sure I would love to see a TRUE Chevy, Ford or Dodge be competitive on the track, but I understand that those days are long gone.

A picture without words or maybe none needed

Stock Car Racing History

Took two broken race motors and turned them into one running one on the tailgate of a pick-up once, at Pocono. About as close to the staged pic as you can get in real life.