Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

I've spent a lot of time around John the past couple of years and I'm sorry tos ay his actions as appalling as they were didn't surprise me much. I have witnessed other outbursts by him. I like John and most of the time he is a likable guy, but he has some issues. I will also add that the behavior of his dad didn't surprise either. An accurate description in this case would be "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." I've gotten upset through the years and even as much as I respect and appreciate the workers and scorers, I have to say MSCS scoring has been pitiful for years, but it is absolutely not justification for his actions. As someone said earlier when you get screwed by scoring get your elbows up and show them,..........then tell them they screwed up and leave it at that. I hope john learns from this, but I ............don't know

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

What he did was totally wrong and with the internet , the reprecussions will last a lifetime.The kid had a chance at a great future, but he pretty much killed that, at least sponsor wise. We all know potential sponsors know what YOUTUBE is.

These kids today have to realize that it isn't only they're driving ability they're trying to sell, they're also trying to sell themselves. If I was a person looking to sponsor him, he is now damaged goods. I couldn't risk the damage to my product I would have on the side of his car.

To some on this site it is funny, others sad, but in the end the person who will pay the price is the person who did the deed. I just wonder how much this will cost Jon in the future.

Chris Pedersen

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

If you can't take getting miss scored in a sprint car race you better quit now. It happens all the time we as driver face it a few times each year. It is a mistake but mistakes happen. As a driver you protest it a couple of laps by driving beside the other car. If they don't change it you fall behind the car and go racing next time it may fall in your favor it is just part of short track racing. What John did swerving at an official is uncalled for. That is total disrespect for human life. If you can't take a scoring error what are you going to do when you get a dirty slider drive straight through the guy the next lap because your mad. John you have to control your temper or you need to quit racing. That is how you kill someone. Every time I see one of the front bumpers on sprint car like John has on the front of his car it just gives me a bad taste in my mouth, it just shows that kind of attitude to me. John I consider you a friend but you screwed up this time. You need to sit back and really think about this and figure out a way to control the temper and use it to your advantage on the track not against you and other people. John you are a good kid just a little problem like we all have just get it under control apologize and go racing.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

What's the beef? Looks like Memmer should have been lined up third. Correct?

Looks like that black car passed him for third at the flag stand, then the car in front of them both spun.

This puts Memmer third??

Were the scorers trying to put him in fourth? If so, that looks like a mistake.

I'm sure he'll be interviewd...You get wound up drivin' these things....I'm so passionate about this sport...

You try so hard..yada yada yada....I didn't MEAN to swerve at the guy.....I apologize if anyone is offended

You fight for every position...yad yada yada

You know why knuckleheads keep doing crap like this? Because, REALLY, what is VCS gonna do? What is MSCS gonna do? NOTHING NADA ZIP

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

I'm surprised that the Simpson Company is still associated with this kid. Or maybe they are not anymore! I would buy that suit back if it were my company. They do not need that type of advertising.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

:5::5:yank the crank! haha now thats funny

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

... I'm thankful that no one was physically injured.

... I'm thankful that nothing was actually pulled : no pp, no gun, etc.

... I hope that all competitors, young and old (including my kid and nephew) take heed to this unfortunate incident.

... I believe the foreseeable future will tell if anything has been learned from this occurance.

... I suppose we all have our "My name is Earl" lists to some degree.

... I hope you all have a blessed week!

Chris Simon

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

Everybody's got an opinion on this deal,here's mine. Tracks need to use the raceciever radio's and keep the officials OFF the track. At the same time they could have told Memmer where to line up in his ear.........USE RACECIEVERS

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

Were you at the race? I was watching the race. The official but him back 2 spots for rough driving. Memmer tried to spin out the #2 car & refused to go back 2 spots for the rough driving call.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

I wasn't there, but from what I am told; VCS announces at the drivers meeting the penalty for what they feel is rough driving. If they accessed it, take it and move on. Talk to the officials afterwards. I doubt swerving at one is going to change their mind.

I don't know them(Memmers) and they may be great people, but there are alot of people sitting in jails and laying in graveyards because they or someone else had just one lapse of judgement out of an entire lifetime.

Luckily neither happened after this one.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

Where is this rough driving on the video? Looks like he might have run into the back of the white car, just off camera. Is this what he was being put back 2 spots for?

No, I wasn't there, had to work. I was hoping someone on here to make me better this situation.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

Alright I have to put my $0.02 in. I travel to tracks across the country. I believe I attended probably 90% of all 3 national USAC schedules last year. Plus many many local shows. I am engaged to someone who races for a living and has been racing since the age of 5 and am a mother to a son, who if I can help it will NOT drive race cars, but we'll see how that works for me. For those of you that say "if you really know John Memmer he's great" or "this is funny" or "he let his emotions get the best of him", actions speak much louder than words. Do you think I will EVER have to explain to my son why his father made a crude gesture to an official in front of a crowdful of fans? Never. Or what about the people we race with regularly? Dave Darland, Tracy Hines, okay, so I've heard someone say these are "old guys"...how about Chad Boat, Brad Sweet? Notice where these drivers are, and how they present themselves. Do you think these guys have been screwed by officials at some point....you can count on it. Do these drivers lose their cool at times? definitely. But have they deliberately swerved at track officials? no. Have they done something that would make me embarassed to have my son at a racetrack? no. Mr. Memmer is definitely not the first driver to get mad or fired up at a race track. You get pissed, you go where they put you, and you race harder. If you still have a problem, you talk, or if you so choose, yell at an official. Official's hear it from drivers, that's pretty common, but to swerve your car at an official is absolutely intolerable (and in my opinion should have repercussions). What you say to an official off the race track is your business, that way me and my kid and all the other families don't have to watch it, but if you're big enough to race these cars, show it. And you can bet if my kid ever races (still hoping not) and he even STARTED to act like this, whether he was 5 or 25, his father would yank him off the track by his chin strap....it is not acceptable.

This was posted earlier... I just turned 23 years old. Never in my life would I have thought this action to be funny or 'just someone getting upset'. ESPECIALLY the action of swerving at an official. And it was a yellow flag, you cannot say "he shouldn't have been standing there" did anyone else almost hit him? It was intentional. And no, "most people that are under that age of 30" would never act like this.

I am not picking on that post in particular, it was just something I could identify with being fairly young myself and being around many other drivers close to my age.


AMY CLEARWATERS

(this opinion is my OWN, not Jerry's, Jerry's team's, my father's, just mine)

(Yes, I know my son just turned 6 months old, but he won't always be, and he's been to over 20 races in at least 8 states in his first 6 months, so it doesn't look as though he'll be slowing down anytime soon, I was simply speaking of him in GENERAL in this context)

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

Chris, great post! While I don't know John Memmer and wasn't at the race, reading through this thread I was a little surprised that it took until Mike Padfield's post for anyone to even bring up the fact that John may have hurt himself more than anyone with his actions. That certainly was the opinion I was drawing out of everything I was reading. All young racers aspirer to move to the next level, John's actions on and off the race track will prevent that from happening for him more than anything in my opinion.

This thread is the second thread recently talking about police having to be called to a race track to break up pit altercations after events on the race track. Friday I witnessed something on pit road at Richmond that took me back to Winchester years ago. In the Winchester event Gene Lee Gibson was invovled in a supermodified accident with Pat Abold, Gene Lee climbed from his car and started pounding Pat in the helmet while he was strapped in the cockpit of his car. Gene Lee's actions were televised on national TV, it has always been my personal opinion that moment of frustration ruined Gene Lee's chances of ever advancing his career. Friday while standing on pit road during SC practice I heard all of these obscenities coming from a pit to the right of me. When I turned my head to see what was happening I witnessed a pit crew member reaching into the cockpit pounding his driver in the helmet. Witnessing that was like relieving the Winchester incident all over again for me. I had never seen this SC team race before and no names need be mentioned. My point of bringing this up is that John Memmer's actions were video taped and have been widely discussed on here, John has probably done more harm to his own career than any punishment than can be handed out.

That being said, I do feel John should be suspended for trying to hit the official. An anger management class may also be in John' s best interest.

As I said I do not know John or his family, so I will not add to the name calling that has taken place on here. From what I have read on here I do feel John's actions were directed towards the scorers more than the fans. I may be in the minority here but I feel John did more damage to himself and his racing career than anyone sitting in the stands.

Racers go through allot of highs and lows in the sport, I am not condoning what John did, nor do I feel he should be given a free pass because of his age. Several posters have compared John's actions to other acts of frustration shown by drivers before him. Maybe just maybe before we rehash what John did anymore we should take this thread in another direction an explore what can be done to prevent further outburst from drivers young and old in the future. Only one poster had the foresight to mention that radios could have prevented this incident, certainly if John had voiced his displeasure over the radio the impressionable young children in ths stands would have had no idea there was a problem.

Witnessing what I did in Richmond this weekend left me asking myself allot of questions, here are just a few of them. Are racers showing their frustrations more now than the generations of racers before them? The cost of racing has certainly increased over the years, how does the cost of racing play into current day racers frustrations? Is there too much pressure being put on todays young racers to advance to the big leagues? With todays racers loosing sponsorship money right and left what additional pressures are placed on the race team?

Patti

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

This guy would have never generated ten pages of thread on his talent behind the wheel. :

Fine him, ban him, whatever. I don't watch the back of the field that close anyhow

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

If DO puts the video of the heat race on here just watch Memmer in 3 & 4 his driving, then you will see why is was put back 2 positions. This was not a scoring error my MSCS.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

It's all up in the first post. Banging Hunter in turn 3 is all I saw, but the heat until he stop is posted.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

The announcement was that Memmer was being moved back two spots for rough driving. The only thing I saw was him trying to move Hunter out of the line in 3. Our rear bumper is proof of the contact.
Typically I would not expect that to have generated a rough driving call. Hunter did a great job saving it and continuing on. John could have layed the hammer to him again while he was crossed up but did not.

However, John was undoubtedly on a short leash with MSCS after previous incidents this (and past) years. I have not witnessed any of these said incidents, but previous posts indicate that he has a history with them.

To John: I have no ill will or hard feelings about the contact. That's racing. Move forward and try to do better next time when a call doesn't go your way.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

i think he got moved back 2 spots for flipping the flagman off

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

So I've known this kid for a long time. My younger brother used to race go-karts against him, and I had seen he had been racing sprints and didnt think a lot of it. But now that I've seen one of the two "**** grabs" it brings back some memories. He used to whine and cry when he raced go-karts I just assumed it was because he was young and didnt think much of it but I guess in all honesty he hasnt grown up. O well, I think he should be banned from the MSCS series and VCS(which I believe he already has been). This just another story of an over priveleged kid, once youve had everything handed to you for so long theres no chance for you to grow up and I guess its finally showing up.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

Unless SPIKER changed his mind HE IS NOT BANNED FROM VCS.The last thing I heard Spiker say to Jon and his Dad was "COME BACK ANY TIME"

Why is the crotch grab freaking everyone out?Madonna and Yacko made millions off there crotch grabs.Don't turn on A baseball game because the pitcher is probably adjusting his jock:18:

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

I was there in the stands. Not in the pits. I did see the whole show and Memmer's actions on the track. He has been severely beaten about the head and shoulders on this forum and no doubt many others. He has that coming. It was extremely juvenille and uncalled for. If he is suspended from further MSCS and VCS events, he will have earned that too. We go to unwinged sprint car events to see racing, not this kind of stuff. Having said all that, I believe Memmer has some talent and can become a good sprint car driver. First and foremost, he has to show contrition. He must use every opportunity to apologize to the fans in attendance, other drivers, and those who suppport his sport. A good place to start would be on this board as did Ballou. I'm thinking, and hoping, he'll find some understanding and forgiving fans. Who among us hasn't had to do that, whether we were 18 or 48? Then he has to back it up with more mature driving and public actions. It will take a while for many people to accept his apologies, but it will eventually be worth it if he is serious and refrains from further actions both on and off the track. There are ample opportunities for drivers to show their personalities in a positive manner. He can do this. So c'mon John, or Jon, whatever. Now's your chance to become respected as a man rather than be forever thought of as a child.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

What? DO, you're almost 60? :35:


Steve

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

I wonder what the offical that had to dodge Memmer's car thinks about that.:11:

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

:22:I've read thru the posts on Mr. Memmer's itch - I've laughed, cried and gotten mad. My husband Jack has been a car owner and racer since the 1950's. Our family has 4 generations in racing. I've seen it from all sides starting as a fan, driver's wife, mother and grandmother. I've been a crew member, car owner and official. Currently we own a four car team (running 2 at this time) of 600 sidewinder and upright cars. We have raced sprints and midgets and won a few Championships. That's just for background.
As an official - yes we make mistakes. If your're old enough to run the big cars, then your're old enough to take a bad call and learn from it. The next one will probably go your way and someone else will be mad. Working in the tower now at our home track, I know that our perspective is different than that of the officials in the infield. We don't always agree on calls but the one closest with the best view makes the decision. I have been both places and also in the flagbox. Scorers do the best they can but even with computerized scoring -there can still be mistakes. If anyone wants to - let them come on and take over.
As a crew member and owner I know that it is easy to get mad and react without thinking. Jack used to have a habit of throwing steering wheels towards the trailer until our track owner started confiscating any that missed the open door. The most important thing we have always TRIED to teach all of our drivers was attitude. A good one will get you more and farther than a bad one.
As a fan - I want to watch racing!!! Not cars driving in circles under yellow while someone throws a tantrum.
Some have tried to blame his age - if that is the case then maybe we do need an age limit and keep the tantrum throwing children down in the smaller cars or even quarter-midgets until they grow up. Thanks DO for the Hewitt video - a favorite of mine (Jack and the tape). Unfortunately my brother-in-law is the official Jack is mad at on the video. Bill is family but he is not perfect either. Jack Hewitt is still a great friend and we laugh about the incident now.
I guess what it all boils down to is that the fans are paying to watch us do something that we love. We should respect them enough to give them the BEST racing show that we can. We should also respect ourselves, the other racers and crews and the officials enough to never intentionally harm one of them or the sport.
Thanks,
Gloria Shipman
#14 & 14Jr
Bakersfield Raceway Park

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

PJ,

I believe it was a MSCS official not a VCS track worker that he swerved the car towards.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

Thanks for the clarification.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

it is totally inexcusable to swerve at an official.as for him playing with himself ,i understand that all men do it ,but usually in the privacy of their own home,maybe back in the trailer but not on the front stretch.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

Well worded first post Gloria, welcome to the board.

Patti

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

WOW am i ever fixin' to get torched here but after carefully watching the video of the "race" (not the antics) I think quite a bit of blame should also fall on the MSCS for trying to impose a judgement call which has no place in racing. The only people who know exactly what goes on in a race car in any altercation are the drivers involved. What appears to an onlooker as a blatent attempt to wreck someone may only be a driver mising his line or perhaps the lead car checking up or approaching a corner differently that can cause a problem. You cannont decide intent from the flag stand nor the scoring tower. As for the call for rough driving, we miss the entry to 3 on the video but Memmer did get slightly chopped and if he was not expecting that and had to get on the brake the car could have easily picked up a push which must have been cunstrued by officials as an attempt to wreck the other car. However as the video progresses Memmer could have easily squeezed the white car coming off of 2 the following lap or for that matter taken a shot at him when they traded lines going into one yet he didn't. I did see the white car ride the red car up and over the burm which didn't look aggressive either but certainly if you asked the driver of the red car his thoughts i believe he would think the white car also should have been docked a couple of spots for his actions. My point is that you cannot make those calls ever or you'll set yourselves up for things like this to happen again.

I do not agree with John's actions and am quite disappointed in his behavior. However having been 18 once myself i must admit a time or two of stupidity in my past. The most disappointing part for me is John's dad not coming to his defense and what i mean by that is not coming to get control of his son before he lost all control. I know he may have been held up and refused entry to the track by personell but if that was my son out there i don't know if a pit steward would have been able to stop me - my feelings are that they would not have.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

The antics once he got out the car was just plain stupid, but IMO not enough to get him supended for very long. However, swerving and almost taking out an official IS enough to get his rear end suspended for quite a while. If that official had tripped or slipped, Memmer could have easily ran him over, hurting him or possibly even killing him. It was inexcusable and he deserves to be punished. I understand he is young and needs to grow up, but getting a hefty punishment for this might speed up the process.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

:31: John should be playing video games for the balance of the '09 season , IMO.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

If Memmer was out to get attention, I would say he has accomplished his goal. As one driver, I talked with in the pits afterwards, stated,"sometimes your just better off goin' to the pits." I certainly wished he would have.I am very curious to see the outcome of what may lie ahead for John the rest of the summer.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

I understand the frustration ...why was he being asked to get behind 2 cars that weren't in front of him?????? scoring error ... A lot of people would have done the same thing in this situation watch the entire heat race !!!! he should have been in 4th right???

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

that was my little sister Denise in the hewitt video. talk about a deer in the headlights look! lol

I think there's about 12 different versions of why he was moved where if you read through all the posts on this thread.and we probably won't know the truth until an official wording comes out.

I was sitting on frontstrtch by the tower and this is what I heard/observed.

There was the triplett spin. Cars started to line back up. Memmer tried for 3rd. The officials moved him to 4th and he took some time to get there. Announcers said it was because they were going back to the last lap. In plain view of entire frontstrtch memmer flips off flagman and officials. Then it is announced because of unsportsmanlike behavior he will be docked 2 spots. For flipping the bird. No mention that I heard of rough driving. When they tried to move him back 2 for the bird he refused then took a dive at the official. Then it was announced he would be dq'd for the night. Then he threw his fit. None of the announcers I heard ever said anything about rough driving or taking out hunter.

Greg
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

I agree don, that you should judge people on your own encounters with them...on that note, I stick to my guns...I have known them since john's go-kart days and even then they were arrogant and had that "I've got money, I'm better than you mentality." I'm glad you have had positive interactions with the family...hopefully this will be a chance for them to turn over a new leaf.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

The kid was way out of line, no getting around that. He knows that, we all know that.

What gets me are all the shots at his parents and the job they've done raising him. Unless you have intimate knowledge of the situation, you probably ought to keep your damn mouth shut about the job the Memmers did parenting their child. Maybe this outburst was a product of his upbringing, and maybe it wasn't. The bottom line is -- like I said -- unless you're close to the family, you have no clue. Are the parents of murderers tried in the courtroom alongside their offspring? No, and there's a reason for that: personal accountability.

It's a pretty damned big leap to take, assuming that connection. I guess it takes a smarter man than I to do it.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

Perhaps MSCS should require Memmer to help score at one of their races and to work as a corner official at another before they let him race again. Kind of an "in school" suspension, if you will.

Don't laugh, I'm serious. This way he might actually learn something from this incident. It certainly would be more productive than simply having him make some sort of contrived apology.

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

Unless someone has taken the time to get to know John Memmer then they do not truly know who or how he is. His "yank the crank" does not define who he is. Have YOU taken the time to get to know Memmer, D.O.? I highly doubt it.... or else that nonsense would have not been said. Its people judging someone by what they see in a video clip who are truly pathetic. I said it about Truckers when they were needlessly bashed and will say it here.... GET TO KNOW SOMEONE FIRST BEFORE YOU ASSUME ANYTHING ABOUT THEM OR THEIR FAMILY.


Your right I don't know who John Memmer is off the track. But I do know who he is on the track. I've watched him drive sprints since his rookie year. He trys too hard to get that first win. I've watched him at VCS get in trouble this year and read about his troubles at other tracks. What does knowing a person have to do with seeing him "Yank his Crank"? I'm sure most of the 13,567 views here on IOW know even less than I about him away from the track. So what difference does that make? Where did I say anything about him except that many more will know him. Over 3000 people have watched the video on you tube. Most have drawn the same idea after seeing it.
Ballou did close to the same, but smart enough to attempt to fix his problem quickly.

It seems a few people what the whole deal is justified because we don't know the Memmer's. But I do know that Saturday wasn't his first time at VCS and other tracks. Maybe all the drivers should walk over to the grandstands and intoduce themselves to the fans and spend some time with them before each race. ???
How many of the paying fans can id Memmer away from his car, without his suit on??? It's that way with most drivers.

Knowing a person doesn't have anything to do with this.


:26:

Re: John Memmer has an itch ? Niflis Flip
 

Don't forget to listen to Jackslash tonight.