Quote:
Originally Posted by fredjohnston
Tell us how you really feel! I don't see a thing wrong with Tanner. He is good for the class. I hope he runs the field at the next three races.
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Tanner reminds me of a guy named Eric that I raced against in 1981. He came up to Bandimere Speedway with his Nova, and proclaimed to some other racers he was going to mow down the field and take the Street Eliminator seasonal championship. a racing bud of mine came and told me that, and I approached Eric and asked him if he in fact said that, and he admitted he did. I told him that in order to be the champ he was going to have to get past me (since I was in 1st place at that time). He said "we can settle this in the first round", to which I replied "I'll be there, you make sure you're there"! We lined up, we raced, and I sent him packing afterwards! I didn't win the whole race that day, but I didn't care, I beat him, and stayed in 1st place from June to August. Sadly I had a cylinder head go bad on me, and I missed a race or two, and when I got back to racing, I lost in the first round that 1st time back. He had the psychological advantage over the rest of the field, but not me. He was arrogant (similar to how Tanner is/was against Erica and (I believe) Alex), and I get amped up to race people like that! The last race of the season all I had to do was win one round that he lost, and I'd pass him up, so I tried to line up next to him, and every time I did, he pulled his car out. After doing that a few times, the tower got wind of it, and pulled cars out of one line, and laddered us so I could only race him in the finals. Sadly I went red by -.011 to the guy that finished 3rd, and Eric ended up winning the race and the track championship after-all.
Eric may have won the battle, but the war was the Division 5 ET Finals, and he didn't do so good there, losing in the 2nd round at that race in Marion, SD. I however, ended up having the best laugh, because I won the race and became the 1981 Division Five Street Eliminator Champion, and all he could do was watch! I will also thank some of the team members of other tracks, who made the comment to one of my teammates, "what's he doing out there with that car"? I knew good and well they weren't talking about my car, they were talking about me after cutting three straight .023rt's in rnd's 1-3. That gave me even more mojo to hit a pair of .051rt's in the semi's and the final to win, and an "Elton John" "I'm Still Standing" moment on the starting line with John Bandimere Jr., and Darrell Zimmerman (Division Five Director)!
I'm hoping that Erica or Jeg or any of the others with a mathematical chance to catch him will and have such a moment as a send off to his future Nascar career, and I also hope Alex will get him back on the track as well! As one of my friends says, "he who laughs last, laughs best", and I hope when one of them passes him, and/or beats him in eliminations like Greg, Jeg, Matt, and Deric had a lucrative chance at doing last wknd., in Dallas, they will enjoy their "I'm Still Standing" moment too!