Special Thank You

As the supermodified racing season winds down and some teams chase championships and other victories, the pit area for the PPG Vibrance Collection Midwest Supermodified Ass’n will forever be a little emptier without friend and competitor Terry Gibson.
Gibson lost his life in a crash earlier this year at Toledo Speedway. The Gibson family passed along this note to all of their competitors, friends and fans:
“On behalf of Linda, Ryan, Lindsay, Mom and Dad, sister and brothers, I want to thank everyone for their prayers, thoughts, phone calls flowers and donations with the loss of my brother, Terrence.
“The shock and knots in our stomach are beginning to loosen their grip on us. Now, it’s on to healing and getting on with life like we have to, and I know Terrence certainly would want us to. While to a lot of you, he wasn’t blood family, he was a brother-in-law, businessman, competitor, friend and most of all, a Christian.
“Terrence touched a lot of people. His effect hasn’t even begun to show an ounce on our day-to-day life. His Sunday phone call I miss already. His time here was short, but time will heal our hearts and souls. Terrence was all about family, so I believe that Terrence’s lesson for any and all of us is to fix any family differences you may have. Lean on each other, cry on someone’s shoulder. I know he is in heaven with our Lord and Savior and watching over our shoulders.
“Again, thank you everybody.
Yours in racing,
Gene Lee Gibson”
(Submitted by Lee Booze
Bellevue, Ohio)

IRL Blows Call

The IRL has become a joke! What kind of nitwit decision is it for a race official to penalize a driver for so-called blocking? I don’t know where the IRL gets its officials, but they need to find some that know what racing is.
I have been going to various kinds of auto races for 61 years, mostly non-wing sprint cars. I was a race official for 34 years. In all that time, I have never heard of a driver being penalized for blocking. Over the years, I have seen a lot of blocking. As far as I know, blocking is what a driver is supposed to do. It is up to the driver trying to pass to figure out how to do it — not some race official.
If I was a car owner and my driver was not blocking, he would not be my driver for long. Wake up, IRL. It is this kind of ridiculous officiating that is turning fans off.
Don Read
Santee, Calif.

Frustrated

I have been a staunch IndyCar supporter since its inception, but now I am becoming a little disgruntled. I was afraid this would happen with the recent reunification — add yet two more road and street courses and turn down the ovals.
What would be wrong with a 19- or 20-race schedule anyway? Also, why favor Milwaukee over Texas in the schedule? Who draws the most fans? Who has the best races? Who stuck with the Indy cars? The IRL started as an all-oval series with American drivers. I know Tony George can’t tell the car owners who to hire as their drivers, but he certainly has some say about scheduling.
R.C. Lehr
Bethlehem, Pa.

Show Chase Points

The NHRA U.S. Nationals report pages had an idea I wish you’d adopt for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup as well. The NHRA point standings showed current points with a column showing adjusted “Countdown” points.
So much is made of a 250-point lead or whatever it currently is between positions in NASCAR, but we all know it really means nothing more than to secure your seed in the Chase. I really hope you’ll consider a similar format for Sprint Cup.
Fred Hall
Lincoln, Neb.

Hot Over Fontana

I was slightly upset Saturday when we missed the start of NASCAR at Fontana due to a football game on ESPN. How important are we?
After watching the race, it would have been better not to have shown it — just another one-driver dominated farce. The IRL at Detroit was another street-circuit parade.
I do not have the answers, but I hope someone does.
T.L. Samantha
East St. Louis, Ill.

Drop Out, Dodge

I would hope the powers that be at Dodge would put a tourniquet on the NASCAR racing teams to cut the losses. The money could be used to bring back the K-cars and the slant-six engine.
When you think back, you can remember the Dodge in stock cars and the Ram Chargers in drag racing were feared by the competition — enough that the Camaro ran a Hemi in NHRA to win.
Without a car in The Chase, just close the doors now. I’ve had 11 Mopars — no more.
Jim Schmitt
Liberty, Mo.