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CurtK
Member
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Posted: Monday May 5th, 2008 03:44 PM |
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First I would like to thank the Wittes for allowing Bill, Rabbitt and myself to come over for the Iron Nationals and play. Always a good time at ERP and this past weekend was no exception. And as always, great to visit with Mr Hart. Other than the threat of rain and about a 10-15 minute delay for a passing shower, I thought it was a good day. Now some nostalgia for ya Kelly.....
When they announced a Doug Peters in a #42 yellow sprint car from Yakima.....didn't even register. At the end of the night I'm told this old guy wants to have words with me because I black flagged him and he owes me........I'll be a son of a gun......it's Jim Peters!! I don't even remember the last time I saw him....what a surprise. During the rain delay some guy comes down out of the stands to say hi......it's "Big Ed" Matson!! He moved over to Ephrata and owns an RV parts store. I'm not sure when the last time I saw Ed was either. Rally Root and his son driving sprint cars. Rich & Rick Leighty & family......Rich still racing and competitive. I met Kirk Eklund for the first time....what a beautiful race car. Apparently the guy that painted this car does a lot of street rod stuff......it's nice. Brian McLees' son Doug now racing. Just reminds me that I have now been on the flag stand for 3 different generations of some racing families.....sheeeesh.....lol. A great friend and past supermodified official Ron Patterson showed up....with his son Jon whom I've not seen since he was still sitting on his mothers lap in the grandstands and will now be 21 on 5/19. It's no wonder we get hooked on this racing gig.....it's the people we meet and the great friends we have made over the years. Trying to walk away from it is never easy and now I understand why.......lol. And if all of this wasn't enough the race for the win between Andy Alberding and Jeff Bird is what racing is all about. These guys weaving in and out of traffic....running side by side for several laps at a time and never touching each other......was an absolute classic. From Ray Jones and Kelly Hart...."if the fans left and didn't enjoy that race they either aren't race fans or they don't have a heart beat". It was **** fun to watch!! I hope I get to see another one just like it some day.
You missed a good one Mr Nicholas.
Last edited on Monday May 5th, 2008 04:23 PM by CurtK
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SAFEWAY KELLY
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| Joined: | Wednesday Dec 13th, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 164 |
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Offline
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Posted: Monday May 5th, 2008 08:13 PM |
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Thanks Curt for the update. It's folks like yourself, Kelly Hart and Fred Rannard Jr. that keep both the fun and nostolgia in racing. Towards the late 90's I put together an Old Timer's Night at Skagit which saw Bud Morgan flag the race as fans watched a battle between Dick Wilskey and Cecil Walker. During wheel packing Jim Peter's was in the pits and jumped into Alan Munn's #42 (Yep Jim's old number) and helped pack the track. As it had probably been 15 yrs. or so since he had been in a sprint car, when he pulled into the pits I asked him how it felt. Jim couldn't believe the power in today's car but he had a ball!!
I was at Skagit's season opener and as the paying race fan was very impressed with Kaleb's announcing and he did his part of keeping the show going by playing tunes the minute there was any dead time and was very informative. He made sure to give his dad lots of credit for teaching him the announcing trade.
Kelly
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sprintmidget11
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| Joined: | Sunday Dec 18th, 2005 |
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| Posts: | 66 |
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Posted: Tuesday May 6th, 2008 07:20 AM |
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Curt,
Leighty Racing echos your thanks to the Wittes. They do a fantastic job and it was a great time. The fact that the racing was great and clean was a bonus to renewing old friendships and some great bench racing. Seems like more and more we lose track of the fun side and the family side of racing that attracted a lot of us oldtimers. By the way. Somebody was heard saying, "With Curt waving the flags up in the flagstand it makes me feel like it is 30 years ago." Now I suppose he'll be looking at going 75 years instead of 50. Thanks again to everyone. We're looking forward to returning in August for the wingless show.
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funracing
Member
| Joined: | Saturday Jul 22nd, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 60 |
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Posted: Tuesday May 6th, 2008 03:02 PM |
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FYI, the Munn’s and the Peter’s are related. The number 42 was Jim’s number when he raced, so it’s in the family with Alan having raced the number 42 and now Doug with it.
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CurtK
Member
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Posted: Tuesday May 6th, 2008 03:23 PM |
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Seems like somebody told me Saturday that Alan was Jim's nephew???
Some guy from Ephrata says to me....."hey Curt....you don't get up and down that stand as fast as you used to"....well duhhhh......lol.
____________________
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain
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Kelly Hart
Member
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Posted: Tuesday May 6th, 2008 05:14 PM |
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I think the announcer pointed that out as well. 
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CurtK
Member
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Posted: Wednesday May 7th, 2008 03:10 PM |
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yes......I'm sure HE did....lol. It's a good thing the announcer didn't have a track radio on.....
____________________
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain
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Kelly Hart
Member
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Posted: Wednesday May 7th, 2008 03:42 PM |
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| I forgot how peaceful it was to not be listening to a track radio while announcing. I wonder how long Mike, Rita and Bob will allow that to continue?
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CurtK
Member
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Posted: Wednesday May 7th, 2008 04:02 PM |
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| I think I'll call them today for you Kelly........
____________________
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain
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Kelly Hart
Member
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Posted: Wednesday May 7th, 2008 04:16 PM |
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| it's a good thing they don't read the message boards!
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