To the organizers of the Rock Island GP

Jeff Franz · Joined: 16 Jul 2001 Posts: 524

I just wanted to publicly thank the entire staff of the Rock Island Grand Prix. From Roger Ruthhart, to Tom Argy, Jr., to Tom Thelen, to Marshall Martin, to every volunteer who was out there, you really made us Ekartingnews folks feel welcome. You answered every question with a smile and went out of your way to help us with all of our niggling requests.

Thanks so much, we'll certainly see you again next year.

Jeff Franz

Marshall Martin

Jeff,

I was only there as a racer and participant. But I will second your praise of the entire RIGP staff. As an orgainizer and worker in other events of this type I appreciate the efforts of this group. The event is second to none in the country and the entire Rock Island community should be proud of this event. As a racer I found the quality of the track staff as good as any I have ever seen. On the track when there was a problem they were on the ball to tell us what to do and to a racer this is a BIG deal. Congratualtions to Roger, Tom and the entire crew for a great, SAFE weekend. Looking forward to next year.

Mark Dismore Jr · Advertiser Joined: 21 Jul 2001 Posts: 1096

I've been to lots of poorly planned and run street races and Rock Island wasn't one of them. We got a ton of practice and the races were all very smoothly ran (except for the haybale fire during the SuperPro race!). Great event, wish all street races were this nice! Lots of local news media as well and there was a lot of spectators!

Mike McKnight

I too have been to many races around the country and must say a big hats off to the entire group of city officials to all the volunteers. A very fine event and one which I would highly recommend any racer attend. Also a big plus is that you can bring your family and loved ones and be assured that there are plenty of things to do until racing begins.

Darren Swisher

Roger and Marshall, Please get together and put on a Street Race here in INDY, Possibly the town of Speedway, They would love the idea.

Darren

Charlie Tackett

Look on the bright side...at least it was only a hay bale fire this time and not Tim Blaney's favorite bar, too!

Roger Ruthhart · Joined: 24 Jul 2001 Posts: 1298

OK Charlie and Mark ... have your fun. At least this time it was just one bale, quickly doused with a big hsoe and a handy fire extinguisher, and not half a city block!

Mark, you'd appreciate the fact that several years ago, a visiting racer asked some of the locals where the local strip clubs were ... and the locals pointed him right to JR's !!! Wish I'd been there when they went in !!

For those who haven't been to Rock Island, the "flaming" that Mark is referring to is JR's Lounge -- the gay bar at Turn One. I must quickly add that they are great people and among our biggest supporters !! (One patron once told me, no lie, that it was because we had a big purse).

I will, with great reluctance, not tell the story about Tom Argy's conversation with two lesbians walking hand in hand to the bar during Friday night setup. But it's no wonder the town loves him so !! I thought he actually had them talked into buying him a drink !! What an ambassador for karting !

My biggest disappointment of the weekend is that I didn't get to meet Mark D., Chuck Courter and Phil Weeks (although I did meet Courtney) face to face after these years. Where were you guys?? Now you have to come back next year!!

And Charlie, with Courtney Weeks, Mishael Abbott and Gina Codalata here (among others -- we had 8 females racing this year), we finally had folks in the pit with hair longer than yours !! I think it's time for you and Ted to give up on Gateway and make a return trip to organize some Ekarting bench racing in 2002!

It was also great to finally meet Jeff, Glenn and the guys from Ekartingnews.com and Sean Burr from Go Racing. For those who don't know them, they really are great people to work with and real pros .... as is Rob Howden, but he's been here before and is quickly become a fixture at our event.

Thanks to all who came, and for those who couldn't, read about it here and mark your calendar for Labor Day Weekend 2002 !!

Roger Ruthhart · Joined: 24 Jul 2001 Posts: 1298

By the way, Darren, did you make it here? Did I miss you too?

quote:
Originally posted by Darren Swisher:
Roger and Marshall, Please get together and put on a Street Race here in INDY, Possibly the town of Speedway, They would love the idea.

Darren

Darren Swisher

Roger, I did not make it, 2 friends of mine that I was going to ride with pooped out when I said it was a 4 hr trip. I did not want to drive alone, also my son's 2nd b-day was monday and I could not miss that for the world. I will definatly be sponsoring with you next year.

Darren

Rob Hogenmiller

Make the guy feel bad. That technique always works for sponsorship.

He He He,

I was wondering where you were Darren.

PWeeks · Joined: 23 Jul 2001 Posts: 95

quote:
Originally posted by Roger Ruthhart:
My biggest disappointment of the weekend is that I didn't get to meet Mark D., Chuck Courter and Phil Weeks (although I did meet Courtney) face to face after these years. Where were you guys?? Now you have to come back next year!!

And Charlie, with Courtney Weeks, Mishael Abbott and Gina Codalata here (among others -- we had 8 females racing this year), we finally had folks in the pit with hair longer than yours !!

Thanks to all who came, and for those who couldn't, read about it here and mark your calendar for Labor Day Weekend 2002 !!

Sorry we (I) missed you as well. We had a lot of fun, even with carbereutor problems all day on Saturday. Came out smoking on Sunday, and we all know what happened two laps from the end. Still had fun, and don't see any reason we won't be back next year. Well run event. The Travolta's cracked me up Saturday night, and all in all it was well worth the trip. Look forward to seeing you at the next one.
Phil

Mark Dismore Jr · Advertiser Joined: 21 Jul 2001 Posts: 1096

quote:
Originally posted by Charlie Tackett:
Look on the bright side...at least it was only a hay bale fire this time and not Tim Blaney's favorite bar, too!

Unfortunately the halebale wasn't the only thing flaming near the track! WHOA!

Steve Willis

Roger, you need to give Debbie a hell of a raise for all the work she did! She was all over the place.

Debbie, thank you for all your hard work, dedication and hospitality.

Concerning the burning hay bale? If anybody seen the Red Flag waving, please let Tom know that you say it! It would make Preston feel better.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend and the weather was great for those of you that didn't make it. All the tales you here about Street Races is not true at Rock Island. It's a first class setup with Safety being number one. Thank you Roger and Tom for allowing us to be a part of it.

Steve Willis
Willis Brothers Racing

PS Roger, just copy this year's entry form and send me a bill for next years event. I want to be one of the first entries.

Roger Ruthhart · Joined: 24 Jul 2001 Posts: 1298

Yeh Steve, I'll double her pay !! Everyone in our group works so hard out of the passion they have for the sport and the event, that I can never thank them enough ... although I tried at a party we had last night for volunteers.

But Debby Duffy (who works registration, scoring and is our treasurer when she and her husband aren't running Sprint Kart Speedway in Davenport, Iowa) and Becky Rasmussen (head corner marshal and RIGP secretary) are absolutely priceless.

The success we have in Rock Island is very unique. It involves a delicate blend of a great race organization; a city government that is very positive and helpful toward the event as opposed to throwing up roadblocks; a downtown business association (The Downtown Rock Island Arts & Entertainment District, or The District) that is used to hosting big festivals and welcoming out of town tourists; fabulous and loyal sponsors; Tom Argy and his crew; Jim Murley and Tom Thelen from SKUSA; and Don and Joe Janowski, our insurance agents, consultants, and friends. Without any one of these pieces we couldn't have the great event that we have, and it's also why it would be so difficult for anyone to duplicate.

No, we're not perfect. We are, afterall, human. Sometimes we grab the wrong flag, or say the wrong thing. But everything we do is with the best interests of the community, and the racers, in our heart.

I said several times at drivers meetings last weekend that I personally look forward to the return each year of many of you who have grown to become friends -- and I really meant that from the heart. In the last eight years, there are many that I've watch grow up from hot-shot teenagers to wonderful young men and young women. Whether it's people like Alan Rudolph, Jason Birdsell, Todd Bolton and others who have been with us from the start, or finally meeting people in person who I know only from the forum, email, phone calls, or reading about them in magazines or at ekartingnews.com, it truly is a personal thrill for me to see you each year.

Thanks to all who came and to the more than 200 volunteers who make this happen. If you haven't been here, I hope you'll mark your calendar for next year -- it's always Labor Day Weekend.

Todd Stoffer

quote:
Originally posted by Darren Swisher:
Roger and Marshall, Please get together and put on a Street Race here in INDY, Possibly the town of Speedway, They would love the idea.

How about using the F1 course at Indy Motor Speedway? Or is that just extremely wishful thinking on my part?