This thread reminds me of another similar one on IOW a while back. I was dead set against giving a driver an opportunity to compete in USAC after his multiple drug issues. Then Scott Baue authored a great post in which he questioned us about our ever having driven while drunk. I sat at my computer and reflected upon 2 such occasions that happened in France while I was in the USAF. Only 20, carefree, brash, and far from the good ol' USA, I drove my A-H Sprite twice while I was so drunk that the next day I could not remember where I had left the car, etc. I did not get caught, so I did not "screw up" a first or second chance. It is said that the Lord watches over children and fools. He had to have been watching me those 2 occasions!
Scott was so right, and while thinking about "glass houses", I put away my disgust about the actions of the driver in question.

I did watch the interview on the JackSlash Show and Shane Hmiel has THREE new fans in PA. I'll be getting a new shirt my next trip west .

Good post Mr.Turner

Wow ..where to start

As one of Shane's sponsors and supporters I am very moved by the support he has earned from fellow racers and many USAC fans and he has earned it!!!! He is a racer through and through. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

For those of you who choose to throw rocks at him for his past, he would be the first to admit he earned that too! He is one of the most self effacing, honest , down to earth and humble people I have ever met and not just in racing. He completely "owns" his past and is not afraid to admit it,talk about it and is sorry for it. He is quick to help any young person with advice and counsel who might be going down the wrong path. His humble ways and demeanor have endeared him to me and inspired me personally and professionally.

As to other accusations they just aren"t true. He gets no financial support from family, lives frugally and takes all money he earns to race and put rides together. He is resourceful, hard working a having fun racing anything he can get in.

I was the person in our organization who decided to put Shane on TV,work with him and support his racing financially Shane has given back to me by living up to every promise he has made and on occasion making me laugh with his understated , down home mannerisms and simple approach to racing, very old school in many ways ... a real racer.

Most important to me is that he was the only person who could ignite an interest in racing for me after Alex died after ten years of racing with Alex and many years for myself I could not face going to another racetrack and thought I was out of racing forever except to keep Three Wide Life going in Alex's memory. Then we did the Chili Bowl with Shane as a tribute to Alex to run the car he built especially for Chili Bowl. Shane took an oddball car that Alex designed and built with his own money that nobody wanted to buy and came one spot from the A main in the Chili Bowl with virtually no dirt midget experience.

Anything Shane has taken from us as sponsorship he has put directly back into his racing. He takes whatever he is given and makes it more and better and makes the most of each and every opportunity.

As to rich guys and rich kids, without them there would only be about half the midgets running in the national series that we have . A lot of "rich dads" have paid for rides for many USAC veterans as well as their own kids (me included) as well as bought a lot of racecars, parts, paid crew chiefs , car builders , fabricators, track rental, entry fees, ad nauseum etc top dollar which they in turn used to keep their businesses and race teams going! SO VIVA RICH GUYS IN RACING !!!! LETS GET SOME MORE!

I know one thing for a fact, Josh showed him his nose and Shane did not stick him in the fence. Josh went on to win and Shane ran him clean the entire race.

Jerry #66j
www.joshspencer.com

Just because he failed the drug test at the track doenst mean that he was under the influence at the track. Drugs can stay in your system for days or weeks.

Has anyone heard from Mr. Cowin?! Maybe he's still looking at Wikipedia?!

When I read the beginnings of this post earlier today, I was pretty fired up. I've waited all day trying to decide what I wanted to say & I still am not sure where to go with this.

I don't know whether somebody was just spouting off & got called out on it, then it went bad? Is it somebody with a chip on their shoulder about Shane or someone else? Who knows?

I can only say that I've been lucky enough to help out on the Truckers team at every race beginning with the April 24th race at Bloomington. I've got to work with Shane at the track and hang out some away from the track. While I can't say I know him as well as some, I have grown to think he's a pretty good guy and am glad to know him. I have to admit that going in, my uninformed opinion was negative. I only vaguely knew of his past, and I heard he tore some stuff up.

When you only have a "snapshot" of someone or read a headline, that is no way to form an opinion.

To those who've had his back on here, I know he'd appreciate that. Those posts have been pretty spot on, and they come from people who would know.

Good luck to Shane this weekend in Richmond. I look forward to working with him when he gets back next week.

1. Shu you are the man, I commend you for taking a stand for one of your fellow racers
2. buckwild that was a great interveiw
3. Who amoung us has not done stupid things in our lives... many of them multiple times... addictions of any form are a sickness can you cast judgment on a man for fighting and dieses.. shane hmiel is one hell of a race car driver, i got to meet him a couple of years ago when i was living in charlotte and seemed like one hell of a guy as well... so for all the na sayers i say this, try to get to know the man before you cast your stones... id love to have the chance to sit down and speak with shane, i believe we can all learn from him... he's living alot of peoples dreams, id kill to do what hes doing...

He said he was never coming back to this thread. So essentially he has made his mind up and will not listen to anyone else. Close-minded people suck....

I work as a car chief with the Marc and the DMS Team in California. Early last year Marc told me that he and Tim Clauson had put a deal together to run Shane in our car for a couple of races. I knew the name and the history, but I trusted their judgement. Marc and Tim believed in Shane and were willing to take a chance on him.

As a twenty five year veteran police officer who works in one of the most drug infested cities in Northern California, I was cautious, but I trusted Tim and Marc. I would guess that I have put more drug offenders in prision over my twenty five years than most readers on IOW. I'm used to lies, tails and every type of BS by "tweeks" to convince you of their innocence. I did not get any of that from Shane. When I arrived at Shasta that weekend I was more than surprised with Shane and his bare bones honesty. I was totally impressed with Shane and his acceptance of his past mistakes. Believe me when I say that is a big step for someone in that lifestyle. Then he hit the race track and I was really impressed.

I am proud to call Shane a friend. I wish him all the best in life and racing. It is not easy being in recovery for the rest of your life and he needs support. And when we have certain people that believe you should be shipped off to GITMO for life it makes things even harder. I know, I too was a really big skeptic of rehab, until I met Shane.

GOOD LUCK BUD