View From The Tower

My insomnia is striking again. Almost midnight on the day we lost a true personality, Michael Jackson. Dead at 50.

When I first heard about his death a few hours following the release of the news, my first thoughts were, so what? He created the hand he was dealt with. His strangeness and all that came with that placed him in a constant state of critical being. From the way he treated his body, a body he really never liked, always seeking a perfection he once had and for some reason was too blind to see it for what it really was, to the numerous trials he was put to, he never realized the dream he must have been looking for. And that makes his death more than sad. For he was, at one time, (more…)

He has been here for nine years, and put his heart and soul into what he believes, and what he loves. Can he do more?, Of course, but does he have to and what about his soul?

Think about it, Kentucky is at the top of the mountain in NCAA basketball. The state breathes, eats and shits basketball. Coach Cal deserves to be listed along side of the best there ever was cause we all know he is one of the best there ever was on any court, coaching any team.

He is revered by other coaches and players around the country and they all know its only a matter of a short time until Kentucky takes the top prize and gives coach Cal what he wants and deserves, and what he almost got here in Memphis.

He would be foolish not to take the job. There should be no thinking at all about it. He deserves a move upward. Where is it written that a move upward must take those with you along for the ride? If you build it, they will come, and when you built it, you cant take it with you no matter where you go.

In a way I know his feelings. Putting all you have into a program to see it flourish and work its way out of the good times and bad times.  At some point in time though, maybe it as time to let it all go and groom itself in someone else’s hands, and may be see if all the blood sweat and tears you put into it helped it become something you can look back on and be proud of!!

God Speed Coach Cal!!! Youre an Awesome Coach, and Human Being!!

I want to say something here that I want to make it very clear to anyone who reads this. This site, this page, these pages are not designed to slam or bash anyone. I may indicate my displeasure with individuals but in no way do I blame anyone for my situation or any situation that may have influenced the tracks operation at any one point in time. In the eleven years I have been involved with the track I certainly wish there were things i could do over, and yes there is a list of those that will lay heavily on my shoulders for a while. I think this means I accept responsibility for my short comings. The thing is now we face a rebuilding time and, (more…)

The next couple of years were a building time for us. Big changes were about to come to the Memphis Area in outdoor karting. Until then, you only had a few places to run and no where were the places devoted to full enjoyment, with as many whistles and bells as possible. Indoor plumbing; a simple enough thought to think about but to have it at an outdoor race track was unheard of. And at Atoka, we had to have the worst porta-potty’s in existence. And one we had was located by the fence between the grandstand and the grid area…what was we thinking???

But even the dreams of indoor plumbing, had to come AFTER making the track a place where the racers would look at it in a different way and all of a sudden, (more…)

Look Closely at the Fence and the Hay Bales!!

Recently someone ask me what it was all about. I mean to still be doing it and looking back now on when we first started at ARP it seems like a life time ago. I actually started working there in 1999. I will never forget the first day I went out there. What I saw made me shiver, but in a strange way it was sort of exciting as well. Here in what use to be gravel pit back in the late 70′s was cut out a bowl shaped 1/8 mile kart track.

I had been working at tracks around the area since the mid 90′s but now I felt that I had a chance to feel at “home” here at Atoka. I had some definite ideas I wanted to press for and (more…)