Iam thankfull to God our freedom and wings on sprint cars.

I was able to get out of bed this morning. But I am happy when I am hired to: work harder,think smarter,and out enginer,the team next to me in the pits

I agree with all of the above, especially:Bill Gardner, smell of methanol, dad taking me to the race track as a kid, promoters, owners, drivers, friends and living in central Indiana.

I would also specifically add Team 53, the picturesque beauty of Bloomington, Indiana Midget Week and of course Indiana Sprint Week.

To me the ultimate is watching two evenly matched nonwing sprints cars pull slide job after slide job, lap after lap or running side by side only inches apart lap after lap. Especially when the two drivers get out after the race and acknowledge each other for their skill and clean racing.

I am thankfull that there are people that pay to come watch drivers like me live a dream every weekend! I grew up at the races, and im still growing up there...at 20 years old....Im thankfull that on July 31st I will be spending my 21st birthday racing at the Eldora Speedway where it all began for me watching my Dad drive his sprintcars....most of all im thankfull for God and the opportunities he has given me!!!

At the risk of blowing this great thread off course, I have three words for you: Clutch, transmission, starter.

---------- Post added at 06:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:15 AM ----------

Wow Danny, you're quite the salesman there:2:.

For my money, one of racing's best moments is when we get to see two racers battle wheel to wheel, lap after lap, hammer down, elbows up, all the way to the checker, and the 2nd place driver gives the feature winner a thumbs up as they drive back to the pits.

lol I thought I was the only one that did that

:2:

---------- Post added at 03:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:39 PM ----------

Well, I've been told that my Dad took my mom to the races at Lake Hill Speedway when she was pregnant with me. So for me it is prior. Could we call that Fetal Methanol Syndrome?

Wow! Lake Hill Speedway. Now there is a place that is long gone as well. Brings back memories from days gone by.

I'm thankful for all the track promoters that have to put up will all the crap and complaining that some people do, and yet still keep plugging along giving us great racetracks to attend. I'm thankful for my dad who started taking my brother and I to races when I was still too small to even walk, he carried me on his shoulders. I'm thankful to still live in a country where you are free to travel to any race in any state at any time. I'm thankful for drivers, past and present , who lay it on the line every time they strap it up. I'm thankful for past heroes like Vogler, Opperman, Gaines, Sutcliffe, badasses like Bob Kinser, Jack Hewitt, Doug Wolfgang, and present-day living legends like Steve Kinser, Dave Darland, Sammy Swindell, and Jon Stanbrough.

What I enjoy about racing is it helped save my life. In the early 80's, a drug counseler told me to find a positive addiction to supplant the negative drug addiction. I went to the Lawrenceburg speedway and was hooked. The smells, the sounds, and the excitement. Instead of concerts and nightclubs, my Saturday nights were spent at the burg. I still spend as many nights at the burg and other tracks as I can for I'm a methonal junkie.:2: And I thank God for giving me the grace to enjoy racing and not drugs.

Mike Tekulve