Fan Thoughts

A Racing World Perspective...Dwight Allen - Host/Founder
I started Racing World on WFIN over ten years ago. Many people ask me why I took on such an adventure and the answer is really quite simple. I had a "part time" job in high school in the Clinton Auto Supply store in my home town of Clinton, Illinois and consequently met many of the local race car drivers running at such places as the Farmer City Speedway in Farmer City, Illinois and at the Macon County Speedway just outside Decatur, Illinois. I soon got to know the popular drivers '"Rosie" Roteman and "Tiger" Snow and I was hooked ON DIRT TRACK RACING! I eventually got to know every "shade tree" mechanic in central Illinois who played around with these race cares which became some of my best friends. I, from that time on, really developed a love for the sport and the guys who "strapped into these race cars".

So when I first became a part of WFIN Radio Sports Staff in Findlay, Ohio... the first thing I asked General Manager Sandy Kozlevcar (sp) and her staff was..."Do you have a racing show"? I found out that they had never even thought about having such a show so I knew I had to develop the resources to make such a program a reality. During the next ten years the show has grown to one of the most highly rated shows on local radio. It starts at ten and ends at noon each Saturday.

The thing that has made it go is the cooperation of people like promoter Rex Le June of Attica Raceway Park. Yet, I still remember sitting down with Attica Promoter Gene Frankert many years ago at a restaurant in Tiffin where he gave me the encouragement to give Racing World it a try. Gene has always been a special friend ever since and believe he is one the best "racing minds" in the area....particularly as it pertains to preparing the race track for competition. Then Racing World hooked with Fremont Speedway and Bryan Liski when the Fords owned the race track. Bryan is the knowledgeable voice for both Attica Raceway Park and Fremont and was a welcome addition to the program. Then came Larry Kemp of the Eldora Speedway prefaced by the legendary figure of the "Big E" Larry Boos and suddenly we were having dialogue with one of the most exciting tracks in America owned by the one and only Tony Stewart. Other race tracks have cooperated to play a part on Racing World like Mansfield, Limaland, Waynesfield and many others all which contribute the show. We are so thankful for the cooperation of so many people which allows Racing World to produce two solid hours of racing news from NASCAR to ARCA to USAC. to the world of sprint cars, late models and Indy Cars.

Some of our special guests have been Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Joe Gibbs, Chris Economaki, Donnie Moran, Steve Francis, Red Farmer, Sam Hornish, Kyle Petty, writer Dave Augabright plus local drivers like Byron Reed, Craig Wilson and Lee Jacobs... and we thank them all, once again, for their cooperation!

So we invite you to join us each Saturday to take an exciting trip around the world of racing in a rather "smorgasbord approach" It Is, informative, enlightening and entertaining with knowledgeable "bench racers" like John Wells, Larry Reece, Lisa Hammer and Tim Clegg to make it the fastest two hours on radio.

One of the bye lines of the show has always been, "Hey keep turning left...and stay out of trouble.... and Hey Craig Wilson hasn't quit...so don't you quit Ok...at least not today!...climaxed by "God's Speed Everybody"!

The Pit Stop - Dwight Allen

The Pit Stop, under the leadership of Jeff Beck, is another arm of Racing World. Its design is to give an opportunity for race fans to get better acquainted with local race drivers each Thursday at the South Side Restaurant located at 3050 South Main Street, Findlay. The South Side Restaurant provides a great menu featuring some of the best hamburger sandwiches in the area. After eating I interview the drivers with the intent of replaying the interviews on Racing World. Race fans are encouraged to come early to the Pit Stop on Thursdays to enjoy the laid back conversations with the various racing stars of the area...which is so unique. Come join other "bench racers" as they meet the race drivers that set the pace for racing at Attica Raceway Park, Fremont Speedway, Waynesfield Speedway and Eldora Speedway. It is a unique time that you don't want to miss! So why not "hang out" with us this Thursday for the PIT STOP!

A Fan's Perspective - John Wells

Ever since the word came out that the great open-wheel civil war was over, we've heard analysis from all over the TV, newspapers, and magazines. But Racing World has always been more about the fan, so Dwight asked me to give you the fan's perspective on the recent unification of Indy-style racing. It sounded like a pretty easy assignment for such a dedicated fan of open-wheel racing as I.
Here's the problem – WHICH fans?

There are a lot of different types of fans that like Indy cars. Some of them still remember and love the roadsters of the '50's and '60's. For them, Vukovich, Sachs and Foyt will never be replaced. Others idolized Ayerton Senna and revere Formula 1 as the pinnacle of motorsports. Some of them wouldn't walk across the street to watch a road course race, while others think ovals are for those who don't care to learn how to drive.

The differences of opinion don't stop at drivers or tracks. We have high-tech vs keep-it-simple, all-American vs international, and beer & peanuts vs wine & cheese. Everyone is passionate about his or her favorites, but all these differences slice thin an already smallish pie of fans. And all the while, NASCAR fans continue to shake their heads in bemusement and disinterest, and their empire grows mightier.

But before you pass harsh judgment on the Indy car crowd, consider this… Most of you reading this are probably short track fans. We short track fans are famous for our passion and notorious for sometimes being a bit narrow-minded about what we like to watch.
What if… this coming season the promoters and sanctioning bodies decided that, due to struggling attendance and fan interest, we'll only have one race per weekend, with alternating tracks and classes of cars. On opening weekend, we'll watch 410 winged sprints at Attica, followed the next week by USAC midgets at Waynesfield. Next up would be late models at Eldora, followed by non-winged sprints on the pavement at Mansfield. Next month, we'll start with a modified invitational at Fremont, then it's on to the big SCCA national event at Mid-Ohio.

Sure, you'll have to attend different types of tracks to watch different types of racing driven by some drivers you don't know or care for. But look at the bright side… the national media (who rarely watch, let alone report on your type of racing) all say that this is the only thing that can save short-track racing!

Now you know how I feel about “unification.” I'm a serious Indy Car Series fan, but oddly enough, I feel sorry for the Champ Car fans, too, because they're also losing a part of what they love. Despite the reports of glee and harmony by the media, many fans on both sides of the aisle see Indy-style racing moving further away from what they prefer.

Yet most of us also can't deny that we weren't doing very well on our own. CART went bankrupt and Champ Car wasn't far from it. The IRL was surviving, but the original vision was gone. With a shortage of ovals that could run their events profitably, they had to turn to road and street courses to fill out their schedule. And with short fields of cars and stars defecting to NASCAR, the future was not secure. So, while the hard cores on both sides will never accept unification, most of us realize (some grudgingly) that it needed to happen.

How to watch a sprint car race- Tim Clagg

Many people who are not racing fans have the idea that racing is just cars going around in a circle. If you have this kind of attitude about racing it's more then likely you won't enjoy it. There are many different factors that go into how to watch a race.

1. If you are a first time fan going to a sprint car race you should either go with someone who goes to the races regularly or sit next to someone in the stands who can help you with some of the common things in racing. This way if the first time fan has any questions he/she can have them answered by someone who is a regular fan of the sport

2. During qualifying watch each individual sprint car in the corners. You can tell where each driver gets on the brakes and picks up the throttle out of the corner. This is very important in qualifying. However it also transfers over to the race and you will see where each driver is good at on the race track.

3. During the heat races and actual A-main feature first time fans just tend to watch the lead car in the race and nothing else. The fan needs to watch every car throughout the field. A majority of the time fast cars get stuck in the back for heats or features and you have a mixture of fast cars in the back and slower cars in the front to start the race this makes for some very exciting racing.

4. Watch some of the lines drivers take into the corners some drivers like to drive high and some drivers like to run the bottom. During the course of the night the lines change and drivers have to guess at the right time when the “groove” is changing and adjust to the changing conditions.

5. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish lapped cars and cars on the lead lap this is another reason why you have to watch everything throughout the field to see who is on the lead lap and who is not. If you have a problem finding out who is running where in the field most tracks have a scoreboard in the infield of the top 5 running order this helps out fans of all kind immensely. Also on the scoreboard is a lap counter this helps everyone keep track of how close the race is to the end. This is a very good tool for race fans cause most of us lose track throughout the course of the race what lap they are actually on.

6. One of the most important thing also is the announcer, if you are not a new fan and don't know a lot of the drivers the announcer does a good job telling the fans who is in every car during the race so I suggest new fans try and listen to the announcer so they can start putting names with the racecars.

These are all of the things you have to focus on when watching a race. If you do all of these things I guarantee that new fans will fall in love with racing and keep coming back. To quote a friend of mine Dwight Allen “there is nothing like a sprint car coming out of turn 4 and kicking dirt up in the stands.” I couldn't agree anymore when you go to a sprint car race for the first time you then become infected with the racing disease!