January 24, 2004
by: Paul Pittman

Greetings and welcome to the year 2004. I guess many of you are thinking that I must have went into hibernation. Although the actual thought of that is very appealing, I really can't and here's my reasoning. After the IRA Awards banquet, I told IRA President Steve Sinclair that I was planing on taking some time off, at least until after the holidays and to my delight, I went unscathed (pretty much) through the whole season. With that, (I'll say it now), I hope everyone had a great holiday season. There! It's said and now it's time to move on. The problem with taking that time off, no one bothered to switch off the world of sprint car racing this year. Since the first of the month, it seems all I've been doing is playing catch up and those that know me know just how much I hate being behind on projects. Especially when it's my own doing, which this was. But we're (the family) better off for it and it was time to get back to work. One of the things to get done was re-teaching myself how to type (like I ever knew how anyway). One note of importance before we begin. There will be a benefit for Midget driver Quinn McCabe on February 22, 2004 at the Eagles Club, 3829 11th Street, Rockford Illinios, between 1:00pm-6:00pm. There will be a $5.00 donation at the door, which will include food and a chance to win a door prize. A DJ, Auction, Raffles, Door Prizes, and the Gotham City Band will guarantee all a good time and help to raise funds for Quinn who was injured in a midget race September 20, 2003. If you can't attend the benefit, donations can be made in care of the National City Bank, 5411 Harrison Ave, Rockford, IL 6110. This is a good chance for the racing community to come to the aid of one of their own.

Where to start? Well, first and foremost. It seems the Wilmot Speedway situation has taken another turn. I do not intend to say much about it and only mention it as it appears Darrell Dodd has taken the bull by the horns and is spearheading the movement to try and stage something for the dislocated 410 racers that frequented the Wilmot Speedway for so long. With the MSA 360s moving into Wilmot, many teams were faced with a decision. Revamp their programs to meet the 360s or do something else. Time will tell just what impact this will have on area sprint car racing and I'm sure I speak for many when I say that I hope it is positive, but we'll all have to watch what happens in the coming months. No formal press release of information has been released from the group as yet so until then, I am just as much in the dark as the rest.

On to the subject of teams running with the IRA in 2004. Returning in 2004 will be the Osborn/Mock team of Kim Mock and Mike Kertscher. Champion Joe Roe is also said to be working diligently on upgrades to his potent championship team of 2003, (sorry everyone else). Matt Wasmund has built a new shop in the Jackson (MN) area and switched to NyGard chassis. A brand new Tronsdon powerplant will also be available to the team in 2004. In Matt's words, you have to be willing to try something different every now and then. And what's this? An enclosed trailer for Smokin' Joe Symoens? Believe it! Joe is back for another round. Speaking of internal team appearance changes, how many remember the old brown Winnebago that pulled the #4B from show to show? Well, that's all it will be. A memory as the team has upgraded to a new tow rig to pull their new Avengers around. The team spent much of the latter part of 2003 working on their 2004 program so look out. Could this be Biertzer's year to visit victory lane? I think I'll take that bet. Another pair of teams that have been knocking on the door recently are the Snapper Motorsports and ELKS Racing teams. Both teams are based out of the same general area (Sheboygan) which seems to be having a run on talent in the past years. Bartz's fast time award for the Filskov Championship race certainly gave the team something to smile about to finish off a long season and Ender's strong runs, including his 2nd place finish at the “Cheesetown Showdown” gives them plenty to look forward to. Don't be surprised if one or both of these teams don't decide to kick down a door or to in order to get to victory lane.

Not much coming out of the Eastern Minnesota area but that is not unusual either. John Sernett spent most of 2003 sponsorship hunting and hopefully was able to attain something in the off season. Definitely a prospect to latch on to is the #91. The last word from the Whitney camp was status quo. Expect to see a duplication of the 2003 season for the family owned #9. Does that mean recording the number of wins again? Whitney and Todd Hepfner tied in 2003 with the most wins with 3 apiece. No word yet from the Hepfner Racing stable, but with the recent move of some of their shops in December, one can only imagine that “Mr Sheboygan” will be back in full force. Wilmot standout Rick Kelsey has thrown his hat into the ring for 2004. Kelsey had some very strong runs in the handful of events that the #11K competed in 2003 with the IRA.

With the 2004 IRA Schedule very close to completion, Steve Sinclair decided to release a preview with the knowledge and understanding that some dates were still awaiting finalization and confirmation. I pose to you, what schedule ISN'T subject to change? Anyway, the announcement of the 4 televised World of Outlaw events in the IRA's backyard has given all of the teams a reason to be proud. After years of basic dismissal, a definite glimmer of pride can be seen shining through and nowhere is it more prominent that the IRA's schedule. Supporting those four Saturday night shows is a no-brainer, but for fans from Princeton (MN), Beaver Dam (WI) and Sheboygan (WI), it's more like an opportunity to shine. Other schedule highlights include returns to Danville (IL) and Farley (IA). Initial visits to Arcadia (WI) and Davenport (IA) also dot the schedule along with the traditional stops in Knoxville, Superior, Lancaster and Wilmot. (Is anyone still wondering why Joe Symoens and Scott Biertzer upgraded yet?)

Internally, there will be a few changes for the IRA as well this season. The most noticeable will be a different look for the souvenir trailer. Look for more team shirts and items to be available throughout the season. The “programs” will also be getting a face lift, departing from the yearbook format to a weekly program featuring current points and stories from previous shows and many other fresh ideas along with the same items that kept fans involved for years. The new programs are currently in the design stage and those wishing to get their ads in on the ground floor can contact ARPPix at 715-254-0512. You can also keep up with all that is going on at the IRA's website at irasprints.com. You can also check out the new archives area along with current news including 2004 memberships, which are now due.

Well, that will just about do it for now. Thinking about going back and seeing if it's still warm beside that rock I was lying beside and going back to sleep until it warms up a bit. With so many heading down under and south, there's a lot more room in the cave these days. Until next time, stay warm and think fast thoughts!