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.

What? DO, you're almost 60?


Steve

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

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

PJ,

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

Thanks for the clarification.

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.

Well worded first post Gloria, welcome to the board.

Patti

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.

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.