Am I Surprised?

As I sit here reminiscing about my many trips to Lima, I took a look at my expenses, and using the new fuel prices, guess what I found? That's right, a huge increase. A trip to Anderson you say? At 12 to 13 miles per gallon it would cost over $600 in fuel alone. So is anyone surprised that car counts are down and people are getting out or not racing? The big topic on the web site is the "big money race". When you are spending double plus just to get to work and back plus costs rising everywhere else, how can you justify the expense? Now, we are not alone. When I speak to friends in other forms of motorsports, I hear the same thing. My point to this is that now is the time to get divisional racing started. This would go a long way to keep people racing and help keep expenses down. While this is not a new idea, it just might be the one thing that keeps mud racing viable in these harsh economic times.

On another note, I have been watching how the MRA has dealt with the first few events, and while some mistakes have been made, some simple communication could keep the naysayers at bay. With so many people watching, it is very important to do what you say and say what you mean.

The last thing I want to address concerns rules enforcement. I have heard rumors that both the NMRO as well as the MRA have not really been enforcing the rules at the first couple of races, and I am concerned for the future. While I fully realize that the MRA is a new deal, the one thing it cannot afford is any missteps here. As of right now there are no regulations on what constitutes cheating, what the penalties are for these infractions, will there be a protest procedure, and who will be responsible for tech inspection. I would be happy to help in the tech inspection at the races I go to, but if the inspector finds things wrong and his authority is underminded by promotors, then how is this gonna work? Any legitimate racing organization has its own police to keep things fair. If the MRA is really serious about legitimacy then this must happen, and fast. With so many racers being willing to help, having divisional tech inspectors would take the load off promoters and reps and allow them to do their jobs more effectively. No mud racing will ever be taken seriously until this organization has some very serious teeth and the willingness to use them! My fear is that since the rules were written to try to please everyone, rules enforcement will go the same way. Time as always will be the judge, but you can bet I will be watching.

That's all for now.