In this, the final column of the year, here are some of my random thoughts from the season:
P Tracks should start their programs on time. Otherwise, just tell the people to show up and you'll race when you're ready. Would you go to the movies if you could never count on them starting when they are scheduled to?
P Chris Borich, Chuck Paige and Elvin Diller were the best new sprint talents at Selinsgrove Speedway this year along with Gary Beward in late models.
P Infants do not belong at the races. What do you suppose it's like to be in a womb for nine months and then listen to a field of racecars thunder by?
P You know Donnie Kreitz has given up racing seriously when he doesn't compete in his forte on the daytime surface that the Port Royal Labor Day Classic provides.
P Selinsgrove Speedway still has the best run of all area track Web sites and its food is still second to none.
P Message boards and live updates on computers are detrimental to speedways. They spread misinformation and keep fans at home on race nights.
P The maximum price of a general admission ticket to the races in this region, considering today's economy, should not exceed $15. To a promoter, what's more expensive than empty seats?
P In general, people pay more attention to negativity than they do praise.
P The positive contributions and resulting effects that the brotherly team of Scott, Keith and Brian Harro have brought to Selinsgrove Speedway the last few years should not be overlooked.
P Saturday night racing programs should include no more than three divisions.
P Sprint teams that should have performed better than they did in 2008 include those of Phil Walter, Greg Hodnett and Keith Kauffman.
P Colby Womer and Billy Johns deserve to get their first sprint wins.
P Newspaper columns like this one can be and often are opinionated. That's why they are columns and not feature stories or race reports.
SHEPARD ENDS CAREER: Those close to Jeff Shepard confirmed Friday that he has called an end to his 20-plus year career as a sprint car driver. According to openwheeltimes.com, Shepard rolled up 97 A Main wins in his storied career while competing in 1,178 races. He won his first race, at Port Royal Speedway, on Sept. 3, 1988 and took his last in the Pa Speedweek main at Hagerstown Speedway this July. Shepard endured critical head injuries in August while racing in the Knoxville Nationals in Iowa. The showman that was Jeff Shepard, both on and off the track, will be greatly missed.
LAST HURRAH: Fred Rahmer ended the Lincoln Speedway season Saturday with his seventh win of the year. The final 410 sprint races in the region are this weekend at Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland during the two-day Octoberfest.
See you next year!
n Shawn Brouse writes a weekly motorsports column for The Daily Item.
