Racin' Ray, Bristol And Kurt Busch

by Ira Rayser-Staff Writer
08/29/2003

Hey guys, just made it back from Bristol and all I can say is wow! It's been a few years since I've been there, live. That's one track that the television just can't do it justice.

One reason I went was to check out this handicapped driver I talked about last time. To actually see a guy drive with only his hands was, to say the least, amazing. There was only one problem. He didn't make the show. He only missed by a few tenths of a second, but, let me fill you in on the deal.

Goody's Dash had no time for practice. It was just thrown in with the Cup deal. No test sessions are allowed in Dash before the race. But, later I found out that some of the other Goody's Dash guys had snuck in a week or two earlier and tested with the Busch teams. Ray's operation doesn't have funding to do this, so, he just had to go white knuckle. Not a big deal, but, as I talked to Ray, I found out that he had never been to a high banked track of any size, much less the world's fastest half mile track. So, all in all I think Ray did really great.

I also asked him if he couldn't get a provisional by using his teammate's number? That's Danny Bagwell, a Goody's Dash regular. He's the guy that NASCAR shows flipping twenty times at Daytona whenever they do mention the Goody's Dash cars. Anyway, Ray said, "I didn't need to race that way. If I'm not fast enough to keep up with those guys, then that's just life. I'll just try it again at Atlanta."

There was media all over the place, so, I'm hoping he'll get some of that help he needs and TV time so he can obtain a sponsor. I'll keep you up to speed on "Racin' Ray's" efforts and I guess others are looking at Ray, as well. He did a show with Eli Gold that I heard on the radio. It was awesome.

Time to switch gears to something else I saw at the cup race. I'm talking about that deal with Kurt Busch. He has to be kin to the Busch family that owns the beer company, or why else would NASCAR let that pitiful excuse of a person ever be in the game. No wonder he had a nose problem. It's probably from the last real man that clocked him last time.

I can't believe NASCAR let's him get away that kind of stuff and the double standards. If you remember back to Harvick, he did the same deal on probation and he had to sit out. I was really hoping Sterling or someone would put that bumper to him.

But, alas, the only one with the guts enough to give that guy what he deserved was sitting out that race. The word is that most of the drivers were going to kick in to pay Jimmy's $25,000.00 fine, but, the way I took it was if each one of the spectators would kick in fifteen cents, there wouldn't be any problem paying that fine.

How much more can we stand with these double standards thrown around by the sanctioning body? It wouldn't have anything to do with the Sharpie sponsorship, now would it? I bet if the truth were known, Kurt probably had about 50 cubic inches more than anybody else did under the hood.

An old guy told me one time, and I think this might be in Jimmy Spencer's defense if you look at it this way, Jimmy is innocent of any wrong doing. He could claim that his fist was sticking out there and Kurt Busch's face just ran in to it.

Enough of this with that driving situation. I'm sure you've heard enough about it. I'm sure paybacks will be double. And I know if Dale or Neil were still around this "honkin' the horn" of somebody entering the turn wouldn't go unnoticed.

Thanks for your valuable time. I'll catch you next time. And remember, chicks dig scars and the glory lasts forever!

You can reach Ira Rayser at: irarayser@hotmail.com