A good friend of mine was advised four weeks ago he had cancer throughout his body and wasn’t going to live very long and making it to christmas was going to be a bonus he lasted just four weeks and died on Monday at the young age of just 41.  He has two children and a loving wife who are now left without a father or husband.

I mention this as I do this for the love of the sport and the people in it, and sometimes I know I have put Speedway first and my family second especially when it comes to time management.  One thing that has happened this week for me is put things in perspective. The time you have on this earth is precious so spend most of it with the ones most precious to you.

Firstly I’m intending to have some fun I hope, as that is what Speedway should be about.  This season I will be working in a number of areas but scaled back and concentrating on those customers I have.  I will still be writing for a number of magazines both nationally and internationally.

We will certainly be selling photos like we did, bigger and better this season including some special camera angles now I have more cameras. I have discussed my plans with a number of drivers who would like my services and the fit seems perfect so that is the way we are doing things.  Websites can still be built and maintained, and of course the new race team is shaping up well so far. So it’s  now full steam ahead as the season isn’t that far away.

speak soon

regards

darren

This time of year is certainly the time where people change teams/sponsors owners chassis/engines. This year certainly hasn’t been any different.

Several Sprintcar teams have changed crew chiefs and chassis packages. One team has bought six cars and I don’t mean six chassis, I mean six complete jump in and race cars complete over $300k now that is some serious sh*t.

It’s great to see even more drivers getting into Late Models including Jamie Oldfield now that is going to one fella to watch.

Speedcars have certainly changed both on track and off, a new committee with Ernie George Jnr heading up the team, with a couple of old, some new and some that have been around for a while. It looks like it might be a good mix only time will tell and I hope we have a great season. My role as promotions is currently only intereim and I will touch on that a bit later. On track we se several new drivers to the division, some that intend on racing the full season this year taking it up to the top runners. So all in all things are looking good for Speedcars this year so hopefully the drivers support it.

F500’s well what can you say about those guys, amazingly the car count continues to grow every week and this season the club and Motorplex may have to look at qualifying heats!!.

I believe Junior sedans may need to look at boosting numbers to make them viable at the M/Plex and also look at only running them on some meetings not all.

The biggest news I heard is that Keven Theyer has resigned from the WASCF/ASCF NASR WA and WA Speedway Commission. It is a big blow to all those areas that have had his services but after speaking with him he will hopefully be back sooner rather than later. Congratulations to John Purser for taking on the role as WASCF president.

My next blog will have a full rundown on my plans for the coming season which is looking quite exciting and will reflect significantly on the divisions here in Australia getting some good exposure in the USA.

regards

darren

Well I have a fair way to go but it’s time to start living a bit and getting on with a few things and looking forward hopefully to some good times without too much pain. Only time will tell.

Things are looking good so far with the new Midget team, we have bought a few more bits and pieces and have learnt a few tricks from a couple of sources that should prove very interesting come the start of the season. What you see is not always what you get so we will see how things pan out. We have looked at our colour scheme and graphics and it will look pretty spectacular, you won’t miss it on track and you certainly won’t be able to miss it in the pit area.

regards

darren

Over the next couple of weeks I will be taking things easy due to a health related hosital stay and then back home getting better.   Any emails will still be answered but orders will not be sent out for a couple of weeks.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

regards

darren

I received an SMS on saturday night from a person at the Speedcar presentation night saying that I had won the Bob Farmer award for best club person, to say I was humbled by this is a slight understatement. Feeling that throughout the year I was getting nowhere and was always on the receiving end of the negativity it was great to finally see that there were a substantial amount of people that do appreciate what you do. I don’t do this work to get awards and have never expected to get anything for the work I do but to win an award like this has shown me and I would say quite a few others that the silent have finally spoken out in a very loud voice.

Maybe the direction I was heading was right after all, it does seem that way, and it’s nice to be appreciated for what you do. I wasn’t at the presentation night myself as my wife was turning 40 and it was a milestone I wasn’t going to miss as over the past 20 odd years sometimes my family have played second fiddle to Speedway. Not anymore you know it’s time to take a step back when your 5year old says to you “daddy can you stay home and stop going to all the meetings as I hardly see you anymore”.  My family, my health, work and business come in that order  and being on committees will have to wait a while. Thankyou to all the people that voted for me and supported me, also thankyou to Karen Farmer and the Farmer family who present this award.

Tonight could see the changing of the guard from old to new or things could stay the same who knows. What I am talking about is the election for office bearers at my Club. I have been asked by so many people to put my hand up and take on the presidents role, while I am flattered to be considered for the position I cannot take on the role for a numbeer or reasons which aren’t really a part of this blog.  What I will say wil be that there are alot of younger people in the Club and it’s time for the new breed to step up and take the bull by the horns and start to run with it.  We shouldn’t change for change sake but change for the betterment or urselves and our sport of Speedway. Speedcars need a change and not just in this state the whole national system needs a good shake up. Speedcars are not moving forward in any great strength but with change maybe things can start to move again.  If the right people are voted into the right positions I may think about sitting on the committee again.  Fresh ideas, enthusiasm, professionalism and fun is what we need and we will only get it with a fresh injection of new blood on the committee.  So boys & girls stand up and be counted tonight or otherwise shut up and don’t complain if you get the same as what you have got. CHANGE IT’S YOUR POTENTIAL.

Darren

Well things have changed a fair bit in my neck of the woods over the past few weeks. I have become a Speedcar team owner. So I am sorry for not putting pen to paper but lining all the ducks up have taken a bit of time but we are now heading in a very positive direction and this coming season will be a beauty.  We are hoping the package will be strong and be very competitive and we are currently working with our advertising partners making sure our media strategy is different and will give them all maximum exposure for their investment.

Here’s hoping for a good 2008/09 racing season bring it on.

Why is it that over the years of attending trophy nights that I have never sold a photo from one. I have asked most of the Perth photographers and they have said the same thing. I don’t quite understand why nobody want them. Think about it, giving a sponsor/advertising partner a collage of photos of your car and receiving  your trophy. It looks great especially when your putting together a sponsor/advertising proposal using those type of photos sure gets the interest.  Another angle that most people never think of is putting together a short article on yourself or getting someone like me or whoever to do it and using a trophy night shot with it and send it to your local newspaper.  A good chance it will get used and then the article can be used to enhance your portfolio.

Remember it’s the one percenters that sometimes make all the difference.

regards

darren

Thinking about the past season we just had (Summer) I was looking for the highlights for me although there was some great racing I could only pick a few that I saw as standouts for me.

The Magic Man 34 was undoubtedly my season highlight, being involved with it and seeing how big the crowd was and such a good atmosphere.

The Late Model Nationals I thought was there best by far and it was a great final with Brad and Ben Ludlow running one & two.

The Sprintcar feature race on the last night whe Luch Monte Ryan Farrell and Jamie Maiolo battled for ten odd laps that was fantastic.

Also the late Model Feature race on the final night was a beauty as well with Brad Ludlow and Warren Oldfield duking it out till the end with Warren coming out on top and deservedly so with a great pass in the dying laps of the race.

All season the Formulas put on great racing a real testament to their Club and how things have been managed and how the drivers have responded.

There were some good races from all divisions but that’s how I saw it I maybe missed some stuff but those above have stuck in my mind.  If you have a good moment write a comment and it will be posted.

regards

darren