[jeff finley]

I dont think i am the guy to speak out but i am going to.I have seen all sides of racing and make know mistake gary fedewa did a great job bringing spartan back to life.I know everybodys bitch about car count and fan attendance and ect,ect,ect.We take tow trucks there every week and monitor fan attendance to check our giving for what we are getting.When he did what he did it whas over double what he took over.As the weeks went buy it even got better.Gary fedewa is a racer 1st a humane being 2nd and a promoter 3rd with that being said i say to all thats in the past and the future is now.Right off the bat jim and bill drop supers,that is going to turn peoples stomachs.Thats life,so be it,they must have a better plan.What ever the stakes are or whom ever feelings they hurt we are not going to change that.I have had the privlage to work with all management at the track,we all have are own ideas.I can tell you this you must 1st put the racer 1st to get results and fans will follow.Its common law.Mr Lackey needs a new attitude when he walks thru the gate to greet HIS RACERS,and Jim needs to know we care and want a place to race.You guys are back,do you want to make money the old fashion way and earn it or do you want condos and unbrellas in your drinks(by your self)in taheettee.life is short,allott of our family and friends have proved that.Best of luck.Respectfully Jeff Finley

[queenbee]

A M E N !!!!!!!!!!

Governor:

That was very well said. It's like I've heard all along. "If you're not going to help with the solution then that means you are the problem."

So, please everyone get a committee together for example "SuperLate Models" and elect a chairperson. Come up with some ideas that Jim and Paul can hear and say "hey, lets try it." Instead of bad mouthing people that are trying to keep the track open. I've never heard or seen such people on line that is so mean towards each other.

This is the time of the year for given thanks and help. Lets do that...lets help each and every class and hopefully we all can come up with a solution and not be the problem.

Good Job Governor

[silcoxb]

Well, after reading the many different opinions, and viewpoints, on the new/ old management, and the rules situation, I have come up with a few suggestions.

1. Let's all try to remember where the spell and grammer check buttons are. If you want to make a point, it helps if you spell correctly so everyone does not have to read a post three times to figure out what you're talking about.

2. I would just assume, like most folks see Spartan stay open. Personal attacks and slams are not going to make that happen. We all need to work together. I personally do not want to have to travel to go racing, whether to watch or participate.

3. Jim and Bill do a thankless job, there are always people quick to complain, but no one that will step up to the plate. It's amazing at how many monday morning accountants there are, that know exactly how much money the track took in and what the expenses were. Last I knew Spartan was a privately owned buisness. I don't discuss my financials with Jim or Paul, so why should they discuss there's with me or any of us.

4. Everyone want's something different in the rule department. We all went to the meetings and put our two cent's in. It's a comprimise. The only rule change that I wanted to see was to allow manual transmissions in the street stocks, well that turned into 3-links , 4 barrel carbs, etc. etc. etc. Funny thing is the fast guys were still fast and the slow guys were still slow. Sooo, why don't we do away with rules all together, with the transponders we could bracket race by time. So no matter how much you spend or what kind of car you build, you will only be racing amongst your peers. This would allow all the classes to run every friday night. Think about it street stocks running with supers, pony's running with pure's, and just possibly if someone is having a bad night a super running with the pony's. The affirmative action ban passed so we can not segregate or discriminate between the classes.

Well, that's probably enough satire for one post. I just hope I spelled everything right.

[schinde2]

No disrespect to any Racers, fans, crews, etc., but frankly you are only ruining your own racing experience at Spartan by complaining about the problem and not trying to help with a solution or compromise.

As it has been said in the past, the track management is a thankless job. No one, whether staff, racers, crews or fans is going to be 100% happy with the way things are run. Yes the SLM's put on a great show, but if Jim and Bill were to concentrate only on the SLM's and making them happy, somebody else is going to feel as if they are receiving the short end of the stick and start complaining about how they have been treated unfairly. The process is only going to repeat itself.

Gary made his attempt at the helm. He did make some good changes, but not everything was peachy there either. None the less, thanks to Gary for a great 2006 season.

With that said Welcome back Jim and Bill, with hopes for a great 2007 Racing Season. For everyone else, try and work together. I don't know anybody who would continue to work for someone (i.e. racers, fans, etc.) that is constantly critisized for everything they do. Remember, just as much as you contribute to racing at the track and putting on a show, Jim and Bill will be working just as hard trying to keep the gates open so you can continue to call Spartan home no matter how many times in a season you get to race there.

Just my opinion, we all have them!

Rhiannon Schindewolf

[Paul Zimmerman]

I want to let all you racers know that I am starting to get stronger and better although there is still some lingering soreness in this old body.

There will be some meetings coming up that you should be aware of and attend. I may be gone for the holiday season but I can be contacted at 239 283-4286, or e-mail at poorpaul@spartanspeedway.com. Jim Leasure can also answer your questions at 517 244-1042.

I'm looking forward to the 2007 season and seeing everyone again.

Poor Paul

[Mrs. T2]

Hey Pauly!!! Nice to see you drop by real quick! Hope you're feeling better than you were the other day when I talked to you. Stay strong and I'll talk to you soon. Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving too.

Love Ya, Cindy

PS...Happy Thanksgiving to all of the Spartan Family!
_________________
Don't Sing It, Just Bring It!

www.myspace.com/prplecindy

[lansingsportsrage.com]

This can turn into an IRL vs Champ Car pissing match where everyone is trying to get one over on everyone else... meanwhile, the entire business is going bankrupt.

Or...

We can come together and realize that the future of the track is in jepardy and old grudges need to be set aside and new attitudes and aptitudes put in place... even if you don't like it, even if you don't like the people your doing it with.

There comes a point in time where everyone needs to stop looking into the past and arguing over blame.

A decision had been made, we are all in this together.

Stop the infighting, roll up your sleeves, paint on your best happy face and lets get through the tough times with some dignity and self-respect. If we make it out to the other side, then we can fight over the spoils, otherwise it doesn't even matter.

[racingaddict]

if theres anything that Paul needs help, that any of you known of please tell me. i'm kind of busy with college but i would gladly help out where i could. i love the track and it to do well. i cried when i heard about springport, i dont want that to happen the spartan as well.

[DaytonaRacer]

I would first like to thank Paul for thinking about the fans and the community. Paul used his great wisdom when he hired the Fedewa family to run Spartan and I think they were doing a super job.
All I hear these days is money,money,money! How many of you Race Teams actually made money last year? How many have made money in the last 5 years. I understand that as a business the track has to make money but do you do that by cutting the classes. If you were going to a concert and you heard that they cut the main act would you still buy a ticket? You don't cut the main attraction to sell more tickets!
I heard that Spartan was cutting the SLM's and I think this would be a big mistake. I have been going to Spartan for years to watch the SLM's that is why I buy a ticket. Don't get me wrong I watch all the classes but the SLM's bring me to the track.
They say that 2 heads are better than 1 but this time Jim I think your on your own. You need to hire some new peple with new ideas and maybe some skills with dealing with the public.
How did Paul do it for so many years!

[MissyB77]

I'll start out with welcome back Bill.

About Jim I hear everyone saying to give him a chance, it'll be different this year... I have no problem with Jim comming back, I have a problem with the old money beggin' Jim comming back. If he's changed welcome back. If not im sorry because alot of people (racers and fans) are going to be dissapointed.

For the subect of the SLM. Tell me how many years have they been running every friday night and Spartan had 0 financial problems. In fact i think the only problem they had was with the neighbors and racing to late. Now look all the problems.
_________________
~Missy B.~

[fiestyredhead269]

if jim needs any help this year please let me know and i will be happy to help any way that i can. i am glad that bill and jim are back and cant wait til 2007 season starts. i will be there every week like i was last year and be cheering my head off loud as ever.
thanks amanda

[queenbee]

Well, I'm actually wondering where anyone got the impression that with Jim and Bill coming back that the SLM's were cut....I've looked throughout the postings and to my knowledge I've seen nothing that Jim or Bill has said "Hey, the SLM's will not be back - no matter what."

They had a meeting on Wednesday night and this is the scoop guys/everyone.....Jim is working with Lynn Place to keep the Supers around every Friday...Every effort is being done to keep the Supers at Spartan Speedway. Jim has been in connect with many racers present and past to try and get a clear direction to get the track back in the black and not in the red. No business or person could continue to run under a negative budget.

So please, everyone just calm down and lets see what the future weeks/months come up with.

As posted before if you have a few ideas run them by Jim via e-mail.

HE WANTS this to work

[queenbee]

Missy~

I'm not trying to make this personal or anything but you asked the question on what has changed from 5 years ago to now with the track. Let me ask this...and this is to any business that's still going today - do you think that your dad's business is the same as it was 5 years ago? Don't you think that he's had to make decisions on to either move with the economy or does he charge the same price as he did years ago? Has he had any trouble with having a small business since the economy has gone the direction that it has. I work at a call center and when I started in 2002 the call center was flying with inbound calls with people calling us to purchase items but look at what has happened to the call center that I started with - bankrupcy has sit in. Now, the call center that I work for now - the calls are very very low....every single business out there is suffering one way or another and the track is not any different. When the track was being ran 5 or 10 or even 20 years ago the price of everything was not like it is now. So, please everyone just lets see what 2007 season will bring to us. The wheels are being turned as I type and ideas are flying so lets wait for the meetings and go from there.

[Anonymous]

[russrace455]

The key to saving Outlaw latemodels at Pavement tracks is the tire rules. Like it or not few tracks will be on slicks every week in 07. Berlin comes to mind, but they will on 1070 bricks and only two per night. Kazoo, M40, New Paris, Plymouth will have over 20 latemodels per night but they still can't seem to get together on the same tire.

While UMP dirtlates have no problems bringing numbers, the asphalt tracks seem to "protect" their Outlaw class counts by using "track spec'ed" tires which leads to massive tire bills for those wishing to travel. We traveled in 2006 with both a UMP latemodel and a pavement Superlate. We took the UMP car from Ontario to Eldora to Kankakee with the same tires. On asphalt, we ran Kazoo-M40-New Paris-Plymouth and had a tire inventory of F25-35, 880, 950,960,1080's. And we wonder why the Outlaws are dying on asphalt? Take the promoters out of the tire business, promote the class on the same tires and you will have healthy car counts. The UMP promoters are making their asphalt counterparts look silly. The Supers started twenty years ago with open trailers, filled tire racks and "unload-race" rules. Today, those rules only exist on dirt...and they are racing for $5000-$100,000 all summer long.