Originally Posted by Tom:
Hi Brad,
Sorry for the delayed response but I was out getting rained on at Beaver Dam.
I was going to send you a PM, but since you have called me out publically, I'll address your
points in the same manner they were made.
Where do you get off dragging me into a post that has nothing to do with me???
You were one of several drivers that were dragged into this post not by me, but by Mr. Maniac.
My name was never mentioned until you decided to throw it out there as your depiction of why you think this person is so negative.
See above, though I do think Maniac's antagonistic remarks toward Loyet, Armstrong and Swindell are due in no small part to his feelings about you.
On a side note, just so you know how accurate your stats are, my birthday is not in October.
Sorry about that, I was responding from memory. Looking at my records, I see you're already 28. Doesn't change my opinion any though.
Back to my point.......how does this person going off on a tangent about what is or isn't true have anything to do with me?
See my answer to questions #1 and #2. Beyond that, I don't know. You'd have to ask him.
You suggest he is my biggest fan, but then go on to call me bitter........not him. Bitter about what Tom? Winning races and Championships? Bitter about driving for the best team going right now? Bitter about winning races for some of the biggest names in racing? I am not bitter Tom, I am blessed. The places I have been, the people I have met, the races I have won, the teams I have driven for.........I am truly blessed. So what if NASCAR isn't the end destination.
Actually, I said the posts (not only here but also on MM) suggested bitterness. I stand by that statement.
I'm not sure whether or not you are personally bitter (about the lack of opportunity for you to move on, not about the success you've had and are having) and will happily accept your statement that you are blessed to be where you are. Nonetheless this is the one of the points that Maniac and I agree on. There should be more opportunity for all of midget racing's best to pursue the sport at a higher level should they so choose. I'm not sure how that's going to change though.
I know I would much rather have you racing midgets because that is what I support. Should you move on to some stock car deal, I will read about your accomplishments. If you stay where you are, I will witness your accomplishments.
Selfish as it is, I am truly grateful that I have been able to enjoy the careers of guys like yourself, Steve Knepper, Jerry Coons, Rich Vogler, Kevin Olson, Robby Flock, Kevin Doty, Dan Boorse, Scott Hatton etc. etc. Skilled midget drivers have provided me with many years of enjoyment and if the sport stays afloat will undoubtedly do so for the rest of my days.
I know that you and I have never seen eye to eye in your position as assistant to the announcer/information gatherer at Angell Park, but that isn't really a reason to drag me into a disagreement you have with someone on a message board. Seriously Tom, how can you call me bitter or anything else based on some racing fans opinon about anything. If you want to call me something currently, call me pissed off. That is what I am, pissed off. At guys like you that, twist posts on message boards and drag drivers/owners/teams/crews into situations based on what a fan of theirs puts out there on some message board. 
FWIW, I don't recall doing anything to create that conflict. If you feel I did, I hope we can discuss and put that past us. From my point of view, this not seeing eye to eye is all on you. I can only speculate that you felt that I wasn't enough of an ally in your business disagreement. If that's not it, I truly am baffled.
My beef isn't with you, but with Maniac, who has come in to the two boards that I love to read and used you as a reason to trash the names of some of your fellow competitors. I certainly don't mind when he posts positive things about you, but when he takes off after some of the other guys you race against, he pisses me off. I am not in the habit of regularly offering my opinions on these boards, but will occasionally reply when I can be helpful or when someone really annoys me. Maniac has that ability. If the personal attacks aren't there, I'm with you in lurker mode.
Think about this as well. If my purpose was to use this post to attack you, I probably would have left out the part about you being a special talent. I assure you that I meant that too.
If a supporter of mine comes on this board a posts something, that is great. But that doesn't mean that we share the same opinions or views about anything.
Doesn't matter if that person is a fan/family member/spouse/whatever.
I think that depends on what they have to say and who they are. I would hope the opinions expressed by Maniac are not yours and that he is just some overzealous fan with no special insight, but since he is firing his pot shots anonymously, who knows? Do you know who he is?
Since I'm not interested in continuing the debate between you and I in a public forum, you can PM me if you want to discuss further or just look me up at the next race we are both at if there's something else that needs to be said.
---------- Post added at 12:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:09 AM ----------
The purpose of a "development deal" is to train a young driver for a successful career in the highest levels of racing.
The Penske organization is not investing that kind of $ to put a guy in ARCA, they are helping him with an ARCA deal for now as part of a long term plan to move him into Cup racing (presumably) some day. No organization is going to invest time, effort and capital into a driver who is not going to have the time to develop into a top level star. As a result, most developmental drivers will be in their late teens or early 20's. In short, ARCA is just one of many stepping stones before the ultimate prize is achieved and not an end destination for anyone.
I'm glad you're coming around to the idea that Kevin Swindell might be deserving of a shot, perhaps you remembered his charge through the field at Knoxville this year!
Bryan Clauson is another guy who is deserving of the chance to build on what he has already accomplished in limited stock car opportunities. He's young enough that he should get another chance.
I'm more of a dirt guy, so I don't know that much about Santos, but he seems almost unstoppable on pavement. I think of him as this era's Mike Bliss. Bliss wasn't that tough on dirt, but didn't have many opportunities to practice in the Pacific Northwest, much like Santos in New England.
Much as I like him, I don't see Brad Loyet as a good candidate until he loses his aversion to pavement. I think he has the ability to run well on pavement; I saw his first two midget races ever (at Tucson and Turkey Night - both paved) and both were top 10 runs, yet Saturday they had Tracy Hines running an 05 car at Columbus.
I'm worried about the shortage of pavement in Chad Boat's schedule this year as well.
Other guys who I would throw into the mix were I a development czar, are the Swanson brothers, Darren Hagen and Alex Bowman.
I'm not really anybody's #1 fan, I admire way too many drivers for that, but I can assure you that on the internet at least, no one is more supportive of Brad Kuhn (and contemptuous of his rivals) than you.
Though this whole debate , I have come from a owners point of view so when family /driver money gets involved that changes everything . My question to you is this , if it was your $ and you are in total control of your racing operation ,would you put Dakoda in your race car ahead of any of the drivers I listed? I am not coming around to ks at all ,I was just comparing him to Dakoda. My compaint with Kevin is that he has a tendency to drive over his head and in the process destroy his car or a competitors car. My complaint against BL is that some of his wins this yr have come against inferior equipment, and how many cars has he destroyed this yr.(PLEASE no one come on here mad about this.)If Brad had racked up 17 wins against tougher competition I would be his biggest advocate. I thank it is great that the Loyets travel to race as they do. In my opinion , BC victories are more impressive than BL'S. Brad has done well at times just not consistantly which I think comes with more seat time. I do like his passion and desire to win. Overall fom what I have seen , the young drivers that are coming up, it is safe to say ,
we open wheel fans are going to continue to see good racing.