[RacingGirl10]

Just got word from Danelle Cottle that $1000 was raised and 135 toys at the event last night!! THANK YOU to everyone that came out, a lot of fun was had and a lot of generosity for a great cause.
If you weren't able to make it to the event but would still like to help, you can still bring a toy to the Cottle's at the remaining sprint week.

Oh P.S. Bob, you thought Jerry broke child labor laws last night, you should see how hard he makes Cale work at the race track!!

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[wtvwrocks]

I'm going to brag for a minute on how great Sprint car fans are (and everyone else associated)!

We pulled this together honestly in about a weeks time. We had done our own bowling thing last year and in the off season I had talked with Tim Clauson and some others about how it would be fun to turn it into an all driver thing and invite the fans and maybe do it for a charity.

Enter procrastination, I kept thinking about it and it was always there in the back of my mind, you know I should really get started on that if we're going to do it. I sent out some messages on Facebook to all the drivers and/or relatives that I was friends with just to guage response and Amy Coons wrote back immediately along with Danelle Cottle saying they were in, then Melinda Lawyer came on board to help. I didn't really know these ladies other than to just see them at the track before this, but they were a huge part of pulling this all together - and without them it wouldn't have been nearly as nice or fun. Had they not jumped in with both feet to help it probably wouldn't have been possible.

Brownsburg Bowl; who was really unsure what they were getting themselves into, agreed to give us a fantastically discounted deal to share with our fans. Terry, the manager, bent over backwards to help. In my first call to her to try to explain what we wanted to do she didn't even really know what Sprint Week was let alone non-wing sprint cars. When Kokomo rained out Saturday and scheduled the make up for Monday night (our original date) she was texting me before I even left the track saying "oh no I just heard you got rained out fans have been calling here wanting to know what you're going to do about bowling!". She immediately offered to honor the deal for us on Tuesday and thanks to mother nature and Dave Rudisell getting Lawrenceburg in everything was good to go last night. Where else can sprint car fans go spend an off night except in a bowling alley with race cars painted at the end of the lanes, tail tanks in the bar and racing memorabilia everywhere! It was the perfect atmosphere. Please thank them if you happen to go by there.

Amy happened to notice Courtland's efforts with Riley and it was the perfect match up to our efforts to include a charity. She quickly thought of including a 50/50 and took care of helping with our raffle. Melinda got us some really really awesome door prizes including 6 tickets to Bloomington that were good even this Friday, along with some awesome Fatheadz gear. Dannelle and the Cottle clan helped us with the toy part and made that long drive from Kokomo to Brownsburg and Shane somehow missed being in the drivers picture but he definitely bowled. Also - if you ever need a salesperson, you better look up Coleman Gulick's mom Jill. She's a hustler! She sold 50/50 tickets and got the pot up to over $700!

The people - what can I say - we had the Bopper, the Marvels, fans from the UK, fans from Indy - it didn't matter if you were a Stanbrough fan or a Coons fan, all you had to be was a sprint car fan. We had an awesome turn out and I couldn't guess how many people because I was too busy! Tom Hansing and the next generation of USAC flaggers were there and he was lucky enough to win the Hinchman custom embroidered bowling shirt along with another fan and the winning bowler. Then our 50/50 winner was so generous to donate his winning portion back to the cause. I personally owe Kirk Spridgeon a huge debt of thanks because I texted him begging him to emcee not realizing he was at dinner - he left dinner to come help us out! What a class act! He kept the fans entertained with trivia and complete play by play of the bowl off with the drivers. I never knew anyone could make bad bowling sound so exciting!

The drivers - good thing they can race cause they sure can't bowl! It was comic relief for all the fans and family I think. Get these guys off the track and they all know how to have a great time - I saw Shuman bowling in flip-flops, Stanbrough holding babies, and even Jackslash made an appearance. Top scoring bowler was Troy DeCaire who took home the trophy and bowling shirt, top scoring sprint week bowler was Coleman Gulick who got a free right rear courtesy of Hoosier Tire. FOX 59 made an appearance and we got some great coverage of the event as well as a plug for Sprint Week.

When all was said and done we raised $1000 and over 130 toys were donated to the cause. Definitely have to thank the great racing partners that helped us out: Hoosier Tire, Bloomington Speedway, Kokomo Speedway, Lawrenceburg Speedway, Tri-State Speedway, Simpson, Fatheadz, Goodsleeve, Hinchman Racing, Indy Race Parts, IMS, HARF and I really hope I'm not missing anyone else......

I know you're saying to yourself, 'man it sure sounds like I missed a great time I wish I had gone' don't worry we plan to do it again next year on one of the off nights of Sprint Week - hopefully bigger and better. I think I even heard Darren Hagen say something about donating a helmet to give away........

Thanks again - be sure to tell these drivers thanks for giving up their one night off when I'm sure they would have rather caught up on sleep! On the track they're all competitive and out to win but off the track they all work great together and went out of their way to thank everyone for coming and mingle with the fans (plus they all take direction from bossy women really well!) and to all the people and businesses that played a part in it a big pat on the back and huge thanks.

We'll keep you posted next year as plans develop, but be sure to make a note in your sprint week calendar! Brownsburg Bowl has already said they're more than willing to work with us next year and are looking forward to ways we can improve upon it.

[TEH]

Thanks to everyone who help put together the event last night. It was a great evening, and my two kids had a great time - they were asleep before I got to Raceway Park. Thank you to Robert Ballou for entertaining my son Robert. I have a 3 year old ready to "drive a racecar" now. Best of luck to everyone throughout the remained of ISW.

[HARFprez]

THE LADIES GET IT DONE ! and in a big way. A great party, the best part, seeing the guys that are always soooo serious having such a great time. A shout out to a wonderful young lady named Courtland Cottle, not thinking of what the world owes her, but doing something so unselfish and thoughtful and collecting toys and money for the kids at Riley Childrens Hospital. Great karma for the future Courtland.
& to "RacingGirl10" get good use out of young Cale now while he can get to all the low spots. We'll see you all tomorrow at LPS, bob