Tony Izzo tells his side of the story regarding the Thaw Brawl/WRG fiasco

[ffmedic42]

I've raced at La Salle, Been part of pit crews at La Salle, The Izzo's have been nothing but nice to me or who I was at the track with. When Dennis Erb's Dad passed away the Izzo's supported him. When I showed up with my poor excuse of late model the were great. Kerry Ann asked why the announcer had no information on me. They strive to put the best show on and entertain the crowd.

[NormP]

He was told what would happen if he let him race, then cries when it happened. Turn the place back into a drive in.

Why is it the promoter's job to tell the guy not to race? Isn't it the promoter's job to promote the race, get the track ready, make sure concessions are available, bathrooms are clean, etc.?

If the race is sanctioned by UMP or whoever, and the UMP (or whatever sanction) director is there, why doesn't that director go up there and tell the guy he can't race? They're calling all the on-track shots already, so they should have the balls to tell a team it can't race.

Or am I using too much common sense?

[intel8]

Good post Norm!

[WisWildManFan]

Driggers is a limp wrist boy

[ptown]

Notice Driggers pretty much hiding at the dream? I did. Sitting in his little gay buggy and sneaking between the haulers to go to the bathroom.

Wasn't he doing the scales?

[chupp n bloomer fan]

Why is it the promoter's job to tell the guy not to race? Isn't it the promoter's job to promote the race, get the track ready, make sure concessions are available, bathrooms are clean, etc.?

If the race is sanctioned by UMP or whoever, and the UMP (or whatever sanction) director is there, why doesn't that director go up there and tell the guy he can't race? They're calling all the on-track shots already, so they should have the balls to tell a team it can't race.

Or am I using too much common sense?

Wayyyy too much common sense Norm.

[TerryM]

When I first became a 4m member, I was involved in the media side of the sport. I quickly learned there were a lot of people I could trust -- drivers, promoters, officials, etc -- but also plenty you learn to not trust. One other thing I learned was, many involved with a sanctioning body were tight lipped. To the point of being untrustworthy. UMP, STARS, HAT, etc. A lot of those officials just didn't seem on the up and up.

Same with drivers. Most seem genuine. But some don't. I interviewed Tony Izzo Jr several times -- on the record, and off. He was always excitable, likeable, and believable. I trusted him. Reading his comments 20 years later, I still do. And my opinion of the sanctioning bodies hasn't changed either.

[chupp n bloomer fan]

You mean DoD? They sided with Driggers that week.

I remember them reporting his side, not sure I seen them take a stand with either one.

[Shiny Side Up 18]

I remember them reporting his side, not sure I seen them take a stand with either one.

Scroll down to "What's your reaction to the resolution of the Dream lawsuit and DIRTcar's related off-track news this week?"http://www.dirtondirt.com/story_9564.html

[Bubstr]

I think this deal started a long time ago. It has been a policy of UMP, to not liking their tracks to run races that are sanctioned by other organizations. To run a Lucas oil race, you need to be grandfathered in. Farmer city lost it's grandfather status when their promoter skipped off with the UMP money. Instead of treating Farmer City as a pardner, they pulled their sanction and started them out fresh with no grandfather status. If that worked for Farmer Citty, why wouldn't it work for LaSalle? WRG just needed a excuse and set up. A long comes Best and Richards. WRG had a problem with Izzo last year when they covered Rockford speedway with dirt and flat out took Izzo's race dates. WRG offered Izzo three SN dates for this year to make up for it. This penalty pretty much makes them a Indian giver. Not how you treat a pardner. So when Driggers, says the are friends, he is not telling the truth. How much of the rest of his statement untrue?

Izzo asked for black and white proof that Josh was not eligible to race, probably to avoid responsibility of the decision to not let them race, which they failed to produce. This sounds feasible as they put out no proof of the original infraction. Looks very much like Driggers wanted Izzo in the middle for other than stand up reasons. I'd say that, Driggers should have had the penalty, not Tony.

We have all heard the saying of, "what goes around, comes around". I have the feeling that this is going to happen to the other UMP promoters, if they don't do something.

[huskerdirt]

The race was sanctioned by UMP. Best Performance was still suspended by UMP. I hope we can all agree on that much.

How the team was even able to pull in the gate is where this gets muddy.

[Shiny Side Up 18]

I wouldn't expect LaSalle to be UMP-sanctioned ever again. Hello, IMCA! Then he can have all the Lucas and MOWA/IRA shows he wants, and maybe run weekly again.

[ptown]

The race was sanctioned by UMP. Best Performance was still suspended by UMP. I hope we can all agree on that much.

How the team was even able to pull in the gate is where this gets muddy.

Don't get much clearer than that, Best knew they weren't supposed to be there.

[cgrace]

The race was sanctioned by UMP. Best Performance was still suspended by UMP. I hope we can all agree on that much. How the team was even able to pull in the gate is where this gets muddy.

How UMP didn't go over there and tell them not to race is beyond me. What if I bought their car and hired Josh Richards left their stickers on could I race? How could the other Best Performance team race at Eldora but not this Best Performance team? How can lasalle get penalized for allowing a best performance team to run but not eldora? it is because WRG has it written in the rules everything is their discretion.

[chupp n bloomer fan]

Scroll down to "What's your reaction to the resolution of the Dream lawsuit and DIRTcar's related off-track news this week?"http://www.dirtondirt.com/story_9564.html

Ok. I read it, and they all echo most of our sentiments. Except for I think Collis, and I think Rigsby had a very good opinion.