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There are
certain people that you associate with a sprint series-
even though they may not have the official title as
President. When I think of the ESS, I think of Dean
Reynolds even though the organization is lead with great
competence by Chuck Miller. When a lot of us think about
the ASCS Patriots, although it is passionately lead by
Mike Emhof, we think of Rich Vleck, due to his long
standing and high profile within the Series. He bleeds
Patriot blue- a slightly different shade of blue than
the ESS blue that Dean Reynolds bleeds. Rich is young,
ambitious and has a bright future in the sport - here's
his take...
Pete Turford
President
Southern Ontario Sprints |
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| Tell
us about your personal racing history/involvement and
how your current involvement with the sport came about. |
Ya know it’s funny to compare
my racing history to basically everyone else.
Other than a race or two at Canandaigua when I was
real young, my racing involvement started when I got
into NASCAR in 1999. It was about 2001 when my
dad and I were watching the World of Outlaws at
Bristol
and he said, “This dirt racing stuff is going to
take over, if NASCAR keeps screwing around.”
After announcing at a little go-kart track that year,
Mike Paz (Now my co-announcer at
Genesee
) brought me down to Black Rock in 2002 for sort of
like an internship with the mini stocks. The next year
I joined the Central New York Mini Sprints along with
the same guy that organized the go-kart deal. At
the end of that year, we were at Black Rock and they
were impressed with my improvement and felt I would
fit in on their move to Saturday sprint cars.
It’s been full throttle since.
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| Where do you see the Patriots in 2008? |
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I see the Patriots running some of the best races in the history of the series. To be able to make the Insinger NY Nationals at Black Rock a full-point Patriot Race on Watkins Glen weekend is outstanding. Running our championship on Friday Night of Super DIRT Week at Cayuga County is something I knew could happen and am thrilled it did. Top it off with a new weekend at Sharon, including a show with the Outlaws, and a huge weekend at Ohsweken on the absolute perfect weekend to travel there and you can see why we are thrilled for this year, and I haven’t even gotten into the dozen other races at our favorite tracks.
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| Where do you see car counts in 2008? |
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Believe it or not with the economy and gas prices I see it improving. We have always prided ourselves on limited travel and this year we have made a schedule that allows a number of teams to run more races, or in many cases, following the entire tour. Guys like Kyle Moffit, John Schuyler and Scott Bonnell are now able to become familiar faces while the staple teams of the series are still positioned in the heart of the tour. We have new rookies like Robbie Shuttleworth and Jimmy Broderick coming to the tour full time and I expect the Southern Ontario contingent around plenty as well. For a fan, a quality B-Main is very exciting; I think we can bring that back this year.
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| How would you describe the relationship between the Patriots and the other 360 sprint
organizations?
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| Weak. I think the only thing everyone agrees on is the rules. Growing up I had an affinity for politics, even though I never aspired to get involved in it when I grew up. With some of these organizations though, all it is is politics. Our policy is that the best interest for 360-sprint racing is always priority No. 1. That is definitely not the case for every organization. We have a great relationship with Ohsweken and Humberstone though and I think it’s necessary. We worked with both to produce schedules that try not to conflict and allow teams to race more without forcing them to race more for points.
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| Where do you see 360 Sprint car racing in 10 years? |
Wow, no clue. Locally, if Ohsweken and Humberstone pick up steam, maybe it will really spread into New York. One track recently told me they wouldn’t mind making it a regular part of their program, so it’s possible. The most important thing is to somehow lower the cost of the engines, and get rid of the illegal heads. Nationally, ASCS President Emmett Hahn is a wonderful man and has a great vision of covering the continent. We have already found benefits from being part of ASCS, by running co-sanctioned events at facilities that would otherwise struggle with cars. Everyone has to work together though, and right now I’m afraid that is not happening, if it did though I think this division is in line for a serious boost.
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What are the biggest challenges to the Patriots in particular:
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If you look at our schedule you will notice that no track has us booked more than twice. Black Rock in 2004 is the only time that ASCS Patriots ran at a track more than twice in a season, and that’s due primarily to promoters around here preferring only one race. If we want to keep our travel minimal, we have to work with about 15 tracks to produce are standard 18-20 full point races.
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Are you happy with the current state of the Patriots?
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You are never happy, because it could always be more. I would love to see more competitors run every race, but the key thing is that we have a solid field every race out, and the bottom line for fans is seeing good racing. We have great teams that have supported the series for years and who we wouldn’t trade for any teams. Guys like Don Adamczyk, Gary Troutman, Chris Muhleisen, Ray Preston and Jared Zimbardi have been around since day one and who are what the Patriots are all about. The thing I am happy about is that we have a great 2008 schedule and 2009 has a lot of potential for more major money races, some major sponsorship, and the expansion of races down south before and after the Patriot season. The key thing is that Mike Emhof is at the helm though. When Tom and Sandie Taber stepped down, the series had to have a strong leader; I think the Tabers would agree we got the right guy. Mike is a professional with promoters, sponsors, race teams, and during the night, you couldn’t ask for much more. |
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I used to absolutely love Hot Wings TV how come it is no longer?
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Pete, you were one of our best fans. Unfortunately, the time it took to produce it to our standards was surreal. By the end of the year, Mickey Ellis and I agreed that what we had done was great for a resume but tough to continue on without serious financial help. I have something else in the works that I hope can still benefit 360-sprint racing coming this year.
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If travel/geography was a non-issue, what is the one track in all of North America that you would love to see the Patriots sanction or co-sanction a race at, that you are not currently competing at? |
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There are a ton of tracks that ASCS is already at in some form or fashion, so I feel places like Knoxville, Eldora, East Bay and Devil’s Bowl we are already at because the rules and format is the same, that is the beauty of ASCS. With that said, I would love to see a race at Virginia Motor Speedway. It’s one of those facilities that redefine “dirt track” and are just a fantastic overall experience.
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What are your personal ambitions for the future? |
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Growing up, all I ever wanted to do was be a professional announcer; and I’ve been that for the last five years. Of course I would love to get to the point where I can do this for a true living. So many people consider me a “sprint guy”, which I do love, but I feel I can cover a broader horizon. I love being able to announce at Black Rock, Genesee and occasionally at Cayuga County with the mods. Doing pit road for Super DIRT Week is always a thrill. I enjoyed writing a few stories for Gater and Flat Out and marketing is always an experience. So anything in the racing industry would be excellent. If that doesn’t happen though, that’s ok, as long as I could still announce on the weekends I’m still living a dream.
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