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, if that can not be accomplished, the track will not survive and the place a lot of us have called home over the years will be gone. Management has changed for the better; that I will assure you all. Not that I did a poor job its just that two of us tried too hard to do it alone. But when you accept help you also take the risk of later on, losing that friend if that person races at the track as well as helping out. It is a no-win situation to employ a racer no matter how dedicated an employee he or she is, when things go wrong on the track, everyone involved loses. 
For me it was hard as hell to shake hands with someone early in the day knowing that later on I may be called the scum of the earth for an on track judgment by that same person. And thats why we distanced ourselves from asking for too much help. It was also why it became the most isolated job I have ever had. But I did it with my son and we had it worked out to a pretty good operation of procedures. But both of us became so isolated that even blood couldn’t hold it together the way it needed to.
Between 2002 & 2003 things were really happening at the track. Jason and I were also about to go through some major personal changes as were about to be laid off after being with the contractor for over 12 years. It was a realization that we were faced with. I had been in construction for over 30 years, been project manager over multi-million dollar projects and still in the faces of some, we were still just peons, in fact looking back, you’re never more than a peon in that field. Jason had proved himself in most all forms of contracting, he could do most anything from welding, to concrete, to drywall, to framing, and even to being a superintendent on his own job. I was fed up with contracting, and all its ignorant ways of approaching the dealing with individuals who did the work. But in the end, we lost to cheaper labor and the influx of unskilled labor under bidding us all. Jason was building a family and I was getting older. I was headed for a change and so was Jason. He did well, I didn’t, but that’s another story. Enough of my dwelling over a change in employment.
Bottom line though, we had one thing in common, our love for the track, and our love and dedication in the preparation week in and week out to wards yet another race. At the start of 2003 we had finished the scoring tower, I had the privilege to be able to go to Atlanta to the AMB home office and attend a two day school in electronic scoring and was ready to take that big step in adding more technology to our growing operation.
You can go look at the Weekly Results pages at the website for any year and see the kart count. I wont dwell on numbers but they were good for a while. But numbers sometimes is not good enough. In 2005 we had a night of vandalism that changed everything. A disgruntled employee had been caught stealing and was let go. He was a very young person and for whatever reason he and a few of his friends decided to trash the place and do some damage. It was after dark and they managed to start up the work truck, which was a piece of crap anyways, but never the less it was a working piece of crap. They managed to drive on a deeply muddy track a few times and stopped it right in front of the scoring stand. Why they had to set it on fire I’ll never know but it was destroyed before anyone could get to it. They had also applied graffiti throughout the complex, breaking a few windows and spraying some very rude comments. And they managed to steal the two biggest of my PA speakers, which were not the tracks they were mine but in a thief’s eye personal ownership is the furthermost thing in his idiot mind at the moment. Bottom line is it was a wake up call of sorts. That the place was not invincible and could be harmed. It could have been a lot worse if the idiots started the fire last but the fire brought attention to the place and they scattered as the officials came up, along with my two 150 dollar speakers, which they ditched in the woods, dumb asses. It may not have been easy to see but behind the scenes it had cut us to the core; especially the owner. It was like someone had turned off a switch that made him believe in the track and made him want to be there at the track, but in my mind, it was that incident that changed his dedicated involvement in the operations. 
I will only say that there was a lack of support that showed its ugly head right after the vandalism and only grew proportionally over the next couple of years. From 2005 through 2007 it became harder and harder to feel good about the effort Jason & I were putting into the preparations and work at the track. I had never felt so burdened down with a weight I could not describe in a way without getting a flash of recourse slammed back in my face. I did all I could do and it broke me, mentally, physically, and monetarily. The damage to Jason’s truck from all the years of work on the track was getting to be very hurtful to him and the repair expense was overwhelming both of us; wheel bearings, fuel computers, etc… Maybe I was burnt out, I know I felt ignored and left out and it took its final toll on me after the 07 season ended. I had had enough of the non support, lack of interest in the track by the owners to which all the track monies were directed. It was not in my goals or needs to beg for anything. Ownership knew what our needs were. Maybe I was just too proud to beg, maybe I was just as wrong as they were. My pocket book was emptied out over the last few years and it was hurting me bad not to be able to buy what we needed and what would help us to survive on my own, and I took a leap of faith and stepped down and walked away. I learned one lesson tho, being bull headed and proud, would not pay the bills nor get you out of being hungry. I failed a lot more than just the track by stepping down. I failed my family, and that hurts far worse than losing the things I have lost.
The 07 season was so full of anger. You could see it in the eyes of the staff and the racers. And if you complained about something, the results were, you’d be bashed in the shadows of anonymous cell phone calls in the night to the very people who were ignoring the problems we were all facing as staff. The concessions went down hill fast. Personnel kept changing and were not dedicated at all. I made some deep rooted mistakes as an administrator. I was dissed and I dissed back. The war of accusing words is doomed before it ever begins. I think it comes from those years in construction in a way. I could count on one hand the compliments you would get from all the hard work. You could take an empty field and in a matter of months, you’d turn it into a huge completed project and still the powers at be could care less your dedication or effort, all they care about was their bottom line, and too often that bottom line was one they could not even define. The ownership no longer had any focus for our track; their focus was elsewhere, but what they did have was what we needed, the tracks money!!, But it was theirs to have and use as they wish, but as the tracks management I felt left out , ignored, and generally crapped upon when it came to any form of support. At the end of 07 I had hoped I could bear with it one more season so I could brag about I was there for my tenth year, but it was not to be. I felt crapped on, not by the racers, but by others, and I was ready to say good bye to all.
Changes were needed and were taken over by Roger Wilson. New blood was needed top to bottom. There was going to be a rebuilding period. We all knew it and there was a group of dedicated racers who would stand by the track no matter how hard this rebuilding period was to last. The sad thing was, a group of racers said goodbye for some reason. They refused to give Roger a chance. And perhaps they did not know Roger well enough. He has the credentials more than anyone knows. I’ve watched his spirit and dedication over the years and yet some racers just did not return the support for the 08 season. I wish I could snap my fingers and they would come back and help us keep the dreams alive. After working at the track for Roger, I do realize what all this means to him. But he needs numbers to keep it going or someday soon it may be just a memory of times that were good and bad and filled with blood, sweat and tears but cemented all together with the very best racing and fans anywhere in our area for sure. 
I’m tired of looking back. I’m working for Roger now in my eleventh year. We all know the track’s survival will be determined in the immediate future. The economy is bad, and kart count is awful. A few races into the 09 season will decide this tracks future. We need all of your help, and a little divine help would be nice as well. If this track shuts down, in my opinion it will never open back up. It will never have the organization to open back up. No one out there could spend the pocket money Roger has done and that surely will include the owners. We cant let this place fail. If it does because of lack of support, a lot of people will be hurt over it. Most of those people will be racers and most of them will have been the future of racers in this area. So now let’s look forward and plan for a good future of our home track, Atoka Raceway Park!!; if for no other reason, it has to be kept going for the kids!! It’s up to all of us!!
