When Stevensville Mike stated that I was all the way to one side of the USAC discussion, I had to chuckle a bit. And Mike, I’m not mad. You made some valid points. But just because I believe USAC is better than many other organizations and they get blamed for many things that are not their fault, it does not mean that I don’t see their weaknesses.

Many people bring up the Silver Crown Series. And people that know me know that I love those big cars. When I was a young boy, while my friends dreamed of playing professional baseball or basketball, I was dreaming of blasting down the front stretch of the Indy Fairgrounds. A dream I still haven’t achieved.

When USAC came out with the “new” Silver Crown Cars, even though the dirt cars still existed, I was devastated. I felt this was the first step to getting rid of those cars. In my mind, obsoleting the existing cars was a big mistake. Especially with cars that nobody had.

I do like Jerry Coons idea of running the dirt cars on pavement. But I don’t agree with parking the existing cars. I think if they would do something to even the playing field, they could keep both cars active. Maybe have a ride height rule or maybe have the pavement cars run a smaller right rear. I’m sure there are other things also.

One of the reasons that I have hope for Davy Hamilton is that he is a racer. And it took a racer (Andy Hillenburg) to start bringing the Silver Crown Series back. And no, I’m not saying Davey is just like Andy or vice versa.

Another thing that has been brought up is Mr. Miller’s salary. And I agree that it seems high. But I will also say that if USAC called me today and offered me the same salary for the same job, I wouldn’t take it. I feel it is a no win job. No matter what you do, some people are going to complain. And I just can’t take that many people being pissed at me. I get enough of that at work!

And for the record, I don’t feel that the Auto Value Super Sprints/ USAC merger (or whatever you call it) will last long. In a few years, the AVSS will be back to the way it was.

I have only run in two USAC races (one dirt/ one pavement), but I been on a crew at several races, from the Silver Crown series on. I and the people I was with were always treated with respect and dignity. As you can imagine, I was always with a fairly low dollar car.

I’m sure here is where some of you are saying “he’s only run two races with them and he likes them? What does he know?” Well, let me tell you a story.

Like way too many racers, a few years ago, I was hurt in a race car. It wasn’t extremely serious, but there was an ambulance ride and a broken bone. But no overnight stay in the hospital and I’m proud to say I was at work Monday morning.

When the bills started rolling in, I found out my health insurance didn’t pay for “dangerous activities such as auto racing and sky diving.” (and I’ve done both) (and this situation has since been rectified)

I called the race track and after several months of them jerking me around, they finally admitted they didn’t have any insurance on the driver’s.

I called the sanctioning body that I was running with, and they informed me they didn’t carry insurance on the drivers and it was up to the track to have the insurance. The track had given the sanctioning body a fake insurance statement.

So all the bills were up to me to pay. At the urging of a friend, I contacted a lawyer. I found out that the track was heavily in debt and soon closed.

I have since found out that very few sanctioning bodies actually carry insurance on their drivers. It is up to the track to carry the insurance. And most tracks only have about $15,000 of coverage.

So after all of this, all I had was a stack of bills, a busted race car and a limp.

I highly recommend that anyone who straps in any race car is certain of their insurance situation. I’ve heard good things about STIDA and I was able to purchase additional insurance through where I work.

Fast forward a few years.

A very close friend of mine lives in an area where they don’t race non winged cars. USAC was coming to town and he wanted to run. He’d never run without a wing. He paid for a Temporary Permit ($50 I think). He had the car way too tight in hot laps and the car bicycled and got up in the fence. It caught his arm and basically tried to remove it from his body. He was knocked unconscious and remembers nothing. I would see his helmet later on. All I can say is “Thank you Bell.”

He had two ambulance rides (they were very close to the hospital) and two different surgeries. He is OK today and continues to race.

When the bills started rolling in, he started to turn them into his work insurance. He worked at a company you have all heard of and they basically gave him everything back. They said it was an auto accident and therefore his auto insurance should pay.

He contacted USAC. Remember he was racing on only a temporary permit. He had tens of thousands in bills. He didn’t expect much. USAC put him in contact with their insurance company. THEY PAID EVERYTHING!

He did not have to pay one dime. So when people talk about how USAC doesn’t care about their driver’s, I have to laugh. I don’t think there is any other organization that this would happen with. They could probably drop their insurance to what other series have and they would still get most of their existing drivers.

I don’t know if by running with the King of Wings or the Auto Value Super Sprints, if we will have to pay the for the full USAC license. But this is one driver that will write that check with a smile.

By the way, USAC did not kill off non-winged pavement racing. And they are not killing midget racing. I’m not saying these two are not dying, because they are. But it’s not USAC’s fault. I do have thoughts on who is responsible and I’m sure it would surprise many of you. And those of you that blame USAC for everything from Global Warming (oops, Climate Change) to the Cubs losing streak will not agree with me. And that’s OK. Some time when I get my work caught up and maybe there’s a rain out, I’ll have a few beers and lay it out for you. Until then, it’s late and I’ve got an early morning.

Tom Paterson