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Last night I received an email from a gentleman who took his son to the USAC shows in Pennsylvania. The comments speak for themselves. Let's do our part in the future to remember we are in the entertainment business and each night we make impressions on hundreds of young fans that represent our future.
Dear Kevin and Jason,
Last week my son and I followed the sprints on their swing through PA.
Grandview was shaping up to be a great show until Mother Nature intervened. We lost Williamsgrove completely to rain. Big Diamond had some great racing despite a poor surface.
We purchased pit passes at all events to mingle with the teams and shoot some pictures.
Something I did pay particular attention to was how quickly the USAC teams loaded up and left Big Diamond.
There were a number parents walking their children through the pits afterwards looking for drivers to meet and get pictures and autographs.Unfortunately,there weren't any to be found except one team. The last team to leave the property was that of Josh Spencer. He and his team stayed to meet fans and socialize.
Dave Darland was a gentleman as usual.
Friday was an off day for the teams so what was the big rush to lock up the trailers and leave Big "D" Thurs. nite?
It's the little things that will help build a solid fan base for the future of USAC.
The World of Outlaws drivers stick around for about an hour after the races for autographs and pictures with the younger fans and sell a ton of T-shirts just by this simple act. They have a solid following and a fan base for the future.
On a more positive note, on Friday we were camped out at Williamsgrove for their winged 410 and 360 show. During the afternoon we noticed the team of Josh Spencer on the property. They ,along with other USAC teams, were at the 'Grove to take in the nites activities.
The Spencers rolled their car out of the trailer to perform some maintenence and get prepped for Hagerstown the next nite.
We walked over to observe their routine and right away a crewmember looked up and greeted us. Right after that Josh looked up from what he was doing ,stood up, extended his hand and introduced himself. Same with his Dad and Josh's brother.
We chatted a bit and told them we would leave so they could continue with their work uninterrupted. All of them said we could hang around and chat. Wow!! Mr. Spencer and I talked about many things not related to racing which he said was a pleasant change from the usual "race talk".
While talking to Josh's father I had the chance to observe Josh while he worked on the car. I must say I was impressed with what I observed. Every time someone new arrived in the area of the car Josh stopped what he was doing and stood to shake hands and introduce himself. Many of the established teams would do well to emulate how this young driver treats others.
The entire Spencer team treated us as if we were longtime friends even to the point of charging my cell phone for me in their trailer!!
USAC needs more young drivers like this and incentive to remain in USAC rather than heading off to race fendered cars.
I have been around race tracks since the age of 6. I am now 52. I have been active in the sport as both a driver and an official. At last count I have been to over 52 tracks so far.
What we witnessed in the lot at Williamsgrove should occur more often,especially with a series that comes East but once a year.
Josh has a bright future in racing. Hopefully he chooses to stay with your group.
I wish USAC nothing but good things in the future.
Please try to impress on the teams how important the little things are when they travel away from their home turf.
Looking forward to another Eastern swing in '09.
Thank you for your time
Josh...Thanks for being an ambassador for our sport. Your actions truly touched a father and his son.
Kevin
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