I would like to say that sometimes you wish you could do something for someone who means so much to you but you have no idea or concept on how to do it.....
My admiration for Lou Blaney began back in 1980 primarily when I saw his red #10 take the May 4 1980 season opener at Expo...I asked my mother who that was and she told me who and went to buy a picture from Jim Smith track photographer and thats how it all started...
When I began photographing in 1984 never did I realize what I would see ,document on film, or even begin to think that 1 day I would be the one to honor the very man who I witnessed every Fri at Sharon,Sat at Speedway 7 or Sunday at Expo and then Tri city....
I have watched Lou win probably 1/2 of his Mod wins..I missed the one at hagerstown, never saw him win at PPMS, and saw quite a few at Lernerville and Tri city....I saw him flip only once and that was at Sharon in 1984 and crash hard there again in 1998 in hot laps....
My on track interviews with him in victory lane at Hickory and then the Sharon nationals were at the time the highlight of my racing career....
When Lou's brother Bob passed away last year I could not attend the calling hours and I was heartbroken...After a rough split from Sharon after the 2004 season I thought that I was on the outside looking in...but I took the initiative and walked up to the office that following Saturday and had a heart to heart talk with Kate which made me realize that friendship is stronger that employment and we once again were "family".
I thought to myself that here was Bob Blaney..a great Late Model driver until his accident at Mansfield and he never did get the recognition that he so deserved and Lou's other brother Gary was on the rise in his racing career until he a killed coming home from a race.
Even though I feel Lou is immortal..we all go sometime and I wanted to show him just how much this soft spoken driver from Hartford Ohio meant not just to me...but to fellow drivers and fans....
Lou won 45 Modified features at 7 and that record will stand ...and I approached Ron and Pam about possibly doing something for Lou up there last year....but time and westher did not allow it so we tabled it for 2008.....
so in March I called Pam and we talked about a Modified show on a night that Lernerville wasnt running them and Ron told me to try to find a sponsor backer but would run a modified show regardless...
So on the evening of our Promoters night I called Kate and told her that we wanted to honor Lou with the return of the big block Mods to raceway 7 and she allowed us to do the show...Karl Brest told me that night he would do everything in his power to help us....
So it began.........
I thought..lets get some of Lous former competitors involved and have them come up...so I made calls thanks to Tom Sutch and EVERY driver told me that they would be HONORED and PRIVLIDGED to be there .....
Then I started announcing lap sponsors for $10 a lap for Lou's number..that very night people came up to me without asking and donated money....soon more people wanted to sponsor laps so I had double lap sponsors ..imagine 25 laps @ $20 a lap just for this...then more people wanted to add money to the race....$50 here $50 there $25 there and eventually I had close to $1,000 in lap money and contingency money...
I had 7 retired drivers and lap money and we were ready to go....$1 off if you wore a Lou Blaney shirt or a red shirt to honor him....
The night was here....
could I sleep for 3 days??? noooo...would it rain? a rain date??? Would cars come? would people come?
Well as they say..if you build it they will come...Modified by Modified pulled up to the gate to sign in...people were lining up to buy tickets and more people were there early than have been in awhile...a tear formed in my eye...I thought this may work after all....eventually a huge crowd was on hand
Pam Ron and I made the event line up for the night and wanted to get the Mod feature in in case it rained so we had 3 back up scenarios just in case...
Then the retired drivers started arriving ....Bob Stanford, Tom Miller, Jack Andrew, Bob Komisarski, Scott Gurdak, even STEVE WISER came ...boy what memories they bring back....Bob Kraus came later and he apologized...
Then dad radioed to me that Lou was here so I went down to greet them..like old times..Lou,Kate, Rudy and Diane, Jerry and Bobby Morell, Carl and Diane, and I saw more haulers and more people in Blaney shirts come in...another tear in my eye
The Red #10 pulled into the track and was put behind the stands ...then we walked Lou up into the stands and they held court next to the car...seeing the retired drivers hugging Lou and sharing memories was incredible,,,then the autograph session began and there were TONS of people all congregating down in that 1 area.....another tear to the eye
Ron then stopped me and said that if 30 cars show up we will RUN THEM ALL!!!!! He said they came for Lou and I will race all of them!!!! that brought a tear to my eye..
drivers meeting began at 6:45 and when I was thanking the Mods for coming I saw Lou and Rudy walking by and I asked Rudy to being Lou up and I introduced Lou and ALL the Modified guys went over to him and shook his hand and hugged him...Tom Anderson asked for applause for me for putting this together....Thank Tom...alot of tears to the eye...I asked the drivers to do a 4 wide salute and to come out after the race to be there with Lou...
It was time to announce..HOW IN THE WORLD CAN I DO THIS??? I was an emotional wreck already and didnt know how long I could last...I walked down front for opening ceremonies and saw a sea of Lou Blaney and RED tshirts...another tear to the eye...
My friend Laura sang the national anthem ..she has sung in church, weddings ,and other parties and was nervous about the crowd...She has to restart twice but the crowd cheered her on and sang along with her and she NEVER WENT OUT OF TUNE and did it PERFECTLY!!!! Thanks Laura..another tear to the eye..I have the best friends in the world who came out to support me and Lou Blaney...thanks Laura, Melissa and dad, Renee, Sue and kids, Donna and kids, and Amanda you are my friends until the end...
Heats began..I was getting back in my groove..then here come the MODS and who do I see down by the flagstand....Lou Blaney himself...watching intently just like he used to when he ran..I lost track of the heats as I was watching him watch his own car out there...another tear to the eye...
I heard about the threat of rain...so we ran the FASTRAK LM feature and went into the fireworks and we were going to run the MOD feature right after then honor Lou...while the lights were coming up I asked former announce Jim Pollock to be part of this since he was there then and he helped me in this announcing game...He asked for a round of applause for the kid who wanted to honor his hero and all the hard work he did mostly himself to do this...ALOT of tears to the eye....Jim..you have always supported me and helped me so much and I cherish you as a friend ...
I was losing control of my emotions ......
Then the Mods came out...and we had the MERCER, TRI CITY and SHARON pace cars out front. followed by the Lou Blaney Mod..for 1 night all bickering or disputes (if there are any) went aside as they ALL wanted to be a part of this event and led the field..I want to thank Carl Brest, Mike Graham, and Vicki Emig for supporting me and Lou for this race...all 3 of u mean so much to me...another tear in my eye
the cars went 4 abreast to honor Dick Rankin and waved to the crowd..what a sight that was..another tear in my eye
Then it came time green comes out ...REX KING WINS FLAG TO FLAG winning $1,500 plus $500 in lap money...Rex pulls into victory lane and I announce for all guests to come down for the celebration..I talked to Rex then turned around and saw close to a MILLION people on the track...
the ceremony after that is all a blur and thanks to Renee for filming it so I can watch it over ...all the retired drivers were there next to Lou..Pollock was in his prime interviewing the drivers and ALL of then told a great story about Lou..alot of them had a quivering lip as well... all the drivers were on the track and I wish I could have organized it better but at that time I dont think I even knew where I was...I then went up to Lou and over the Pa told him he was the greatest driver in the history of the area and I lost it as I hugged my hero in front of everyone ...I DID IT!!!!!!
FOR 1 NIGHT THE DRIVERS RACED NOT FOR POINTS..BUT FOR FUN AND CAME TO HONOR THEIR PATRIARCH AND I THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM ....WHOMEVER I DID NOT THANK IN PERSON LAST NIGHT I WILL AT TRI CITY IN JULY
I hugged Kate for an eternity tears in my eyes and told her I hope I did even a little bit to honor Lou the way he should have been...
RON YOU DESERVED EVERY BIT OF APPLAUSE YOU GOT FROM THE CROWD
Earlier I wrote this..."I would like to say that sometimes you wish you could do something for someone who means so much to you but you have no idea or concept on how to do it..."
well....somehow I DID IT and with ALOT OF HELP and I mean ALOT OF HELP..If I forget anyone Im sorry..
THANKS TO:
*MY MOM FOR BEING IN THE STANDS WITH ME ALL THOSE YEARS AND PUTTING UP WITH THIS GARBAGE EVERY SUMMER!!!!!
*MY DAD WHO GOT CLEAN CRISP $10 BILLS FOR ALL THE ENVELOPES THAT WENT OUT THAT NIGHT
*RON,PAM AND MEL-FOR ALLOWING THIS TO TAKE PLACE AND BEING WHO YOU ARE-REAL PEOPLE
*ED MILLER-WHO LETTERED THE CAR AND THE LAP BOARD AND THE CHECK---YOU ARE A REAL FRIEND
*MERCER, TRI CITY, AND SHARON FOR BEING THERE
*ALL THE DRIVERS WHO MADE THE LONG TOW..
*THE 7 RETIRED DRIVERS WHO CAME OUT TO BE A PART OF THIS -I HOPE YOU HAD FUN
*ANNOUNCER JIM POLLOCK.....IM SPEECHLESS WHAT MORE CAN I SAY BUT "THANK YOU"
*WALT WIMER, BRIAN SPAID AND MIKE DUTKO FOR BEING SUPPORTIVE OF THE SHOW AND HELPING ME ANNOUNCE THE RACE
*JOE SECKA FOR PHOTOGRAPHING THE ENTIRE NIGHT...YOU ARE SO TALENTED AND A GOOD FRIEND
**THE ROB CURTIS CREW FOR THE CAR ...YOU DID LOU PROUD BY WINNING AT SHARON!!!!!
*CHAD WAGNER FOR ALL YOUR HELP WITH EVERYTHING
*ALL MY FRIENDS FOR COMING UP-WHERE WOULD I BE WITH OUT YOU
*ALL THE FANS, DRIVERS AND BUSINESSES WHO DONATED LAP MONEY AND EXTRA MONEY***
**ALL THE FANS WHO WORE LOU BLANEY AND RED SHIRTS....THAT WAS AWESOME TO SEE...
AND TO MY EX WIFE TRACIE WHO LET ME GET THIS TOGETHER IN THE PAST 3 WEEKS AND HELPING OUT WITH MY SONS STEVEN AND JASON***
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TO LOU BLANEY WHO TO ALOT OF US IS THE REASON WHY WE WENT TO RACE TRACKS AND KATE AND THE CREW...YOU WILL ALWAYS BE A PART OF ME FOREVER....
THANK YOU TO ALL THE REST WHO HELPED OUT AND SUPPORTED THE SHOW
ALL THE THANK YOUS AND HUGS I GOT LAST NIGHT AT SHARON WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN..GUY GRIFFIN TOLD ME IT WAS THE MOST INCREDIBLE NIGHT IN RACING THAT HE HAS EVEN SEEN...ONE PERSON ASKED ME IF I WAS GOING TO DO IT AGAIN NEXT YEAR AND I SAID WITH A TEAR..."WELL HOW IN THE WORLD DO I TOP THAT?
I DONT THINK ANYTHING EVER CAN.....
CYA THIS WEEKEND ....
JIM BALENTINE
My admiration for Lou Blaney began back in 1980 primarily when I saw his red #10 take the May 4 1980 season opener at Expo...I asked my mother who that was and she told me who and went to buy a picture from Jim Smith track photographer and thats how it all started...
When I began photographing in 1984 never did I realize what I would see ,document on film, or even begin to think that 1 day I would be the one to honor the very man who I witnessed every Fri at Sharon,Sat at Speedway 7 or Sunday at Expo and then Tri city....
I have watched Lou win probably 1/2 of his Mod wins..I missed the one at hagerstown, never saw him win at PPMS, and saw quite a few at Lernerville and Tri city....I saw him flip only once and that was at Sharon in 1984 and crash hard there again in 1998 in hot laps....
My on track interviews with him in victory lane at Hickory and then the Sharon nationals were at the time the highlight of my racing career....
When Lou's brother Bob passed away last year I could not attend the calling hours and I was heartbroken...After a rough split from Sharon after the 2004 season I thought that I was on the outside looking in...but I took the initiative and walked up to the office that following Saturday and had a heart to heart talk with Kate which made me realize that friendship is stronger that employment and we once again were "family".
I thought to myself that here was Bob Blaney..a great Late Model driver until his accident at Mansfield and he never did get the recognition that he so deserved and Lou's other brother Gary was on the rise in his racing career until he a killed coming home from a race.
Even though I feel Lou is immortal..we all go sometime and I wanted to show him just how much this soft spoken driver from Hartford Ohio meant not just to me...but to fellow drivers and fans....
Lou won 45 Modified features at 7 and that record will stand ...and I approached Ron and Pam about possibly doing something for Lou up there last year....but time and westher did not allow it so we tabled it for 2008.....
so in March I called Pam and we talked about a Modified show on a night that Lernerville wasnt running them and Ron told me to try to find a sponsor backer but would run a modified show regardless...
So on the evening of our Promoters night I called Kate and told her that we wanted to honor Lou with the return of the big block Mods to raceway 7 and she allowed us to do the show...Karl Brest told me that night he would do everything in his power to help us....
So it began.........
I thought..lets get some of Lous former competitors involved and have them come up...so I made calls thanks to Tom Sutch and EVERY driver told me that they would be HONORED and PRIVLIDGED to be there .....
Then I started announcing lap sponsors for $10 a lap for Lou's number..that very night people came up to me without asking and donated money....soon more people wanted to sponsor laps so I had double lap sponsors ..imagine 25 laps @ $20 a lap just for this...then more people wanted to add money to the race....$50 here $50 there $25 there and eventually I had close to $1,000 in lap money and contingency money...
I had 7 retired drivers and lap money and we were ready to go....$1 off if you wore a Lou Blaney shirt or a red shirt to honor him....
The night was here....
could I sleep for 3 days??? noooo...would it rain? a rain date??? Would cars come? would people come?
Well as they say..if you build it they will come...Modified by Modified pulled up to the gate to sign in...people were lining up to buy tickets and more people were there early than have been in awhile...a tear formed in my eye...I thought this may work after all....eventually a huge crowd was on hand
Pam Ron and I made the event line up for the night and wanted to get the Mod feature in in case it rained so we had 3 back up scenarios just in case...
Then the retired drivers started arriving ....Bob Stanford, Tom Miller, Jack Andrew, Bob Komisarski, Scott Gurdak, even STEVE WISER came ...boy what memories they bring back....Bob Kraus came later and he apologized...
Then dad radioed to me that Lou was here so I went down to greet them..like old times..Lou,Kate, Rudy and Diane, Jerry and Bobby Morell, Carl and Diane, and I saw more haulers and more people in Blaney shirts come in...another tear in my eye
The Red #10 pulled into the track and was put behind the stands ...then we walked Lou up into the stands and they held court next to the car...seeing the retired drivers hugging Lou and sharing memories was incredible,,,then the autograph session began and there were TONS of people all congregating down in that 1 area.....another tear to the eye
Ron then stopped me and said that if 30 cars show up we will RUN THEM ALL!!!!! He said they came for Lou and I will race all of them!!!! that brought a tear to my eye..
drivers meeting began at 6:45 and when I was thanking the Mods for coming I saw Lou and Rudy walking by and I asked Rudy to being Lou up and I introduced Lou and ALL the Modified guys went over to him and shook his hand and hugged him...Tom Anderson asked for applause for me for putting this together....Thank Tom...alot of tears to the eye...I asked the drivers to do a 4 wide salute and to come out after the race to be there with Lou...
It was time to announce..HOW IN THE WORLD CAN I DO THIS??? I was an emotional wreck already and didnt know how long I could last...I walked down front for opening ceremonies and saw a sea of Lou Blaney and RED tshirts...another tear to the eye...
My friend Laura sang the national anthem ..she has sung in church, weddings ,and other parties and was nervous about the crowd...She has to restart twice but the crowd cheered her on and sang along with her and she NEVER WENT OUT OF TUNE and did it PERFECTLY!!!! Thanks Laura..another tear to the eye..I have the best friends in the world who came out to support me and Lou Blaney...thanks Laura, Melissa and dad, Renee, Sue and kids, Donna and kids, and Amanda you are my friends until the end...
Heats began..I was getting back in my groove..then here come the MODS and who do I see down by the flagstand....Lou Blaney himself...watching intently just like he used to when he ran..I lost track of the heats as I was watching him watch his own car out there...another tear to the eye...
I heard about the threat of rain...so we ran the FASTRAK LM feature and went into the fireworks and we were going to run the MOD feature right after then honor Lou...while the lights were coming up I asked former announce Jim Pollock to be part of this since he was there then and he helped me in this announcing game...He asked for a round of applause for the kid who wanted to honor his hero and all the hard work he did mostly himself to do this...ALOT of tears to the eye....Jim..you have always supported me and helped me so much and I cherish you as a friend ...
I was losing control of my emotions ......
Then the Mods came out...and we had the MERCER, TRI CITY and SHARON pace cars out front. followed by the Lou Blaney Mod..for 1 night all bickering or disputes (if there are any) went aside as they ALL wanted to be a part of this event and led the field..I want to thank Carl Brest, Mike Graham, and Vicki Emig for supporting me and Lou for this race...all 3 of u mean so much to me...another tear in my eye
the cars went 4 abreast to honor Dick Rankin and waved to the crowd..what a sight that was..another tear in my eye
Then it came time green comes out ...REX KING WINS FLAG TO FLAG winning $1,500 plus $500 in lap money...Rex pulls into victory lane and I announce for all guests to come down for the celebration..I talked to Rex then turned around and saw close to a MILLION people on the track...
the ceremony after that is all a blur and thanks to Renee for filming it so I can watch it over ...all the retired drivers were there next to Lou..Pollock was in his prime interviewing the drivers and ALL of then told a great story about Lou..alot of them had a quivering lip as well... all the drivers were on the track and I wish I could have organized it better but at that time I dont think I even knew where I was...I then went up to Lou and over the Pa told him he was the greatest driver in the history of the area and I lost it as I hugged my hero in front of everyone ...I DID IT!!!!!!
FOR 1 NIGHT THE DRIVERS RACED NOT FOR POINTS..BUT FOR FUN AND CAME TO HONOR THEIR PATRIARCH AND I THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM ....WHOMEVER I DID NOT THANK IN PERSON LAST NIGHT I WILL AT TRI CITY IN JULY
I hugged Kate for an eternity tears in my eyes and told her I hope I did even a little bit to honor Lou the way he should have been...
RON YOU DESERVED EVERY BIT OF APPLAUSE YOU GOT FROM THE CROWD
Earlier I wrote this..."I would like to say that sometimes you wish you could do something for someone who means so much to you but you have no idea or concept on how to do it..."
well....somehow I DID IT and with ALOT OF HELP and I mean ALOT OF HELP..If I forget anyone Im sorry..
THANKS TO:
*MY MOM FOR BEING IN THE STANDS WITH ME ALL THOSE YEARS AND PUTTING UP WITH THIS GARBAGE EVERY SUMMER!!!!!
*MY DAD WHO GOT CLEAN CRISP $10 BILLS FOR ALL THE ENVELOPES THAT WENT OUT THAT NIGHT
*RON,PAM AND MEL-FOR ALLOWING THIS TO TAKE PLACE AND BEING WHO YOU ARE-REAL PEOPLE
*ED MILLER-WHO LETTERED THE CAR AND THE LAP BOARD AND THE CHECK---YOU ARE A REAL FRIEND
*MERCER, TRI CITY, AND SHARON FOR BEING THERE
*ALL THE DRIVERS WHO MADE THE LONG TOW..
*THE 7 RETIRED DRIVERS WHO CAME OUT TO BE A PART OF THIS -I HOPE YOU HAD FUN
*ANNOUNCER JIM POLLOCK.....IM SPEECHLESS WHAT MORE CAN I SAY BUT "THANK YOU"
*WALT WIMER, BRIAN SPAID AND MIKE DUTKO FOR BEING SUPPORTIVE OF THE SHOW AND HELPING ME ANNOUNCE THE RACE
*JOE SECKA FOR PHOTOGRAPHING THE ENTIRE NIGHT...YOU ARE SO TALENTED AND A GOOD FRIEND
**THE ROB CURTIS CREW FOR THE CAR ...YOU DID LOU PROUD BY WINNING AT SHARON!!!!!
*CHAD WAGNER FOR ALL YOUR HELP WITH EVERYTHING
*ALL MY FRIENDS FOR COMING UP-WHERE WOULD I BE WITH OUT YOU
*ALL THE FANS, DRIVERS AND BUSINESSES WHO DONATED LAP MONEY AND EXTRA MONEY***
**ALL THE FANS WHO WORE LOU BLANEY AND RED SHIRTS....THAT WAS AWESOME TO SEE...
AND TO MY EX WIFE TRACIE WHO LET ME GET THIS TOGETHER IN THE PAST 3 WEEKS AND HELPING OUT WITH MY SONS STEVEN AND JASON***
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TO LOU BLANEY WHO TO ALOT OF US IS THE REASON WHY WE WENT TO RACE TRACKS AND KATE AND THE CREW...YOU WILL ALWAYS BE A PART OF ME FOREVER....
THANK YOU TO ALL THE REST WHO HELPED OUT AND SUPPORTED THE SHOW
ALL THE THANK YOUS AND HUGS I GOT LAST NIGHT AT SHARON WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN..GUY GRIFFIN TOLD ME IT WAS THE MOST INCREDIBLE NIGHT IN RACING THAT HE HAS EVEN SEEN...ONE PERSON ASKED ME IF I WAS GOING TO DO IT AGAIN NEXT YEAR AND I SAID WITH A TEAR..."WELL HOW IN THE WORLD DO I TOP THAT?
I DONT THINK ANYTHING EVER CAN.....
CYA THIS WEEKEND ....
JIM BALENTINE
