What A Season...
by Andy Belmont-Staff Writer and ARCA Series Driver
10/22/2003

Only once or twice in my career have I been in a situation where I just couldn't wait for the season to be over. This has been one of those years. Broken motors in a bunch of races while running pretty good, fueled that passion for being overbearing and pressing. We've talked about it before. Most racers are their own worst critic and we put the pressure on ourselves. Pressure and lot's of things that you just couldn't possibly predict, made this a season to forget. It was like there was a full moon over our pit all season long. Correct that, house, marriage, shop, employees. blah. blah. blah. Somehow we've got to rebound and forget about all that we can't learn from.

I suppose that in all reality, we should still be pretty thankful. We have our health. With Verizon, we have a pretty great company sponsoring our efforts and life will go on. Pinpointing the problems and trying to address them is paramount.

There really were lot's of great things that happened this season. Really, there were! My kids got to go to more races. Pastor Bill Krick and his wife Dianna have helped my wife and I find things out about ourselves that will set a great tone for the rest of our lives. We found, out for real, who our friends are. Grandmom always said "the Lord works in mysterious ways" and this has never been more true.

So much for the personal psycho babble.

We went to a fight at South Boston and a race broke out. I also got a chance to see the USAC midgets in action. The high from the methanol and the fun and excitement quickly went away as the evening dew set in. Umpteen heat race restarts when it was already a late night, with hardly enough cars to fill the field, wore on everyone's patience. Don't get me wrong, the midgets, in my opinion, are one of the greatest shows around. Just the flagger needs to have his head examined. It was cold, damp and late. The fans shouldn't have to put up with that garbage. Get on with the show, period. A five car heat race with five to qualify doesn't need several restarts. Just my opinion, mind you. Guess my credential request for Indy will get trashed? Oh well.

ARCA President, Mr. Ron Drager, spoke at the driver's meeting about the last race and kindly asked all the one hit wonders to have a little respect for the guys who chase the points all year. Some of the regulars, no, one of the regulars apparently didn't hear. So he took out us on the first lap, got Venturini twice and went on to brag about it. Not real smart in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong, I have been in the wrong place at the wrong time on more than one occasion. I'm no angel either, I am a firm believer in taking care of business when the officials wont. Maybe it's me. Probably is. I do believe that when the equipment you bring to the track is an embarrassment to the entire series and a black mark on all of us who take pride in bringing good looking well prepared stuff to the track, that the last thing you ought to be doing is going out and asking for more trouble. There are several cars in the series who may not have the resources that others have, but the stuff always, always looks nice. Not this one. Bottom line on this case: The best is yet to come.

This is going to be a busy offseason. We have moved for what I sincerely hope is the last time. HOME.

We have relocated in an 8,000 foot shop in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. My kids can come to the shop right after homework everyday. All of my great supporting group from years pased are planning on coming back. No offense to Race City USA, but this company just can't compete with the pay scale, the thieves who steal your good help after you get them trained and so on. I am telling you, the Technical Institute down there is turning out pupil after pupil. Race car mechanics among the graduates are few and far between. You can spend all the money you want getting the fancy T-shirt and diploma, but you can't buy experience. All you young kids need to go to your local short track and learn how to work. Burn the midnight oil. Go three or four days with no sleep or meals. Race on coffee and adrenaline. They can't teach you that in any school. You have got to want it. We saw about 200 resumes from the school. Maybe two of them have a chance at making it in the big time.

The biggest thing is the scale is way out of hand. The multicar super teams have sucked most of the talent pool dry. All the wannabe's who are left over demand the pay scale they wished they were worth. Not trying to sound real pessimistic, just stating the facts. There is no honor among thieves. There is no sense of loyalty to anything except money in Winston Cup land. When a guy will roll his tool box across the street for ten bucks a week, something is wrong.

Pretty soon, there will only be about 6 car owners in the Cup garage area. And they own or have influence on a majority of the Busch garage. It's all about money.

Hopefully we can get back to enjoying what we do. I am tired of fighting the fight. We ran better when the cars and all were here. Step one, go back to what we know works. Step two, get back to enjoying what we have worked for our whole lives.