Once again I apologize to those who felt offended as well as our Amati Team who truly suffered in this. The intent was not to have one better car or another for Saturday, it was to get some laps and play in an unfamiliar car for chili bowl fun for a few laps. Our plan was never to truly compete for a spot and I am disappointed in myself for making that decision to stick with it past hotlaps. The speed of the car and the thought of chili bowl folklore got the best of me. Mistake made, lesson learned. If you wanna degrade me and play internet judge then go right ahead, I cant control the folks who feel that need. Im apologizing to my fans and those who know the type person I am and know this was out of character. Noone else was responsible for my actions and I had no ill intent.
Not comparing them personally, just the type of situation.. but there is a picture of Dale Earnhardt that has been floating around on the internet of him "cheating" during a ride height inspection. "What a bad ass" and "that's old school racing" the majority said. Shane tries(?) a high risk, high reward move to get an advantage on 300+ cars at the biggest race of the year that's known for "no rules" and gets crucified to the fullest. The WORST you can call it a bone-head move and in no way does this define Shane's character from what I've seen. I'm sure a lot of you will disagree, but to me rules in racing are made to be bent, tweaked, and broken. Trying to get an advantage, legal or not, has always been the nature of the beast and so is the risk of getting caught. You win some, you lose some.. but remember, in the racing world and the real world.. "fair" only comes to town once a year. Kudos to Shane for trying if thats the case and Kudos to the track officials for doing their job. Now lighten up and move on.
Shane, Apology accepted! Good luck in the future. Back in the day a driver who was out of work on workman's comp. ran the Flemington 200 modified race. He led the race for well over 100 laps and was getting something like 15 or 25 bucks for each lap. With ten to go he faded to 4th place. I was shooting the race for NSSN and the pass for the lead by eventual winner (Jimmy Horton) was on the front page of the paper with the "name" of the other driver. I think the only people who did not know what was going on that day were the people connected with Workman's Compensation.
A wise man told me that "Racing is all about the stories." Shane and the T-Shirt company gave me two this year that I will remember to my dying day. Thank you,guys!
