in 2006, I set out to build a World of Outlaw sprint car team capable of winning
the World of Outlaws Championship. Over the past eight years, seven seasons of
Outlaw competition, the team we created through hard work and sleepless nights
has finished in the top-five seven times with three runner up finishes and
recently two championships in succession.
Along the way, we had the opportunity to work with some of the finest
individuals in motorsports and have made friends for life that we will cherish
forever. Many of these folks worked daily within Elite Racing and many were
sponsors and supporters that made our dreams reachable through their belief in
our marketing and performance capabilities.
This offseason has been like all the rest, filled with obstacles and
challenges that force you to analyze your current position and also your short
and long term goals. As many of you may know, my wife and I started a family on
the road almost five years ago and we have been blessed with two beautiful
little girls who not only love their mom and dad, but they love the races. When
we decided to have a family, we promised ourselves that when it was time for our
children to start school the road would no longer be our home. In just eight
short months, our oldest will be starting school and life as we know it will
once again change.
Events that occurred over the winter months have given me the opportunity to
take a good hard look at where we are in life and where we want to be. In this
process, I have learned that it is time for me to be at home and although sprint
car racing has given me so much, it can never give me what attending my
daughter's sporting events and taking them camping will. It is for this reason
that I have decided to depart from my professional career on the road and embark
on a new challenge as Dad and Husband. It is time for me to build a career
outside of racing that will allow me to fulfill my commitments to my children
and wife both financially and in person.
It is my passion for this sport, our team, our sponsors, and the fans that
has made this decision very difficult and at times unimaginable. However when I
imagine my daughter winning her first game and not being there to tell her good
job, I see the reality of what life is all about. The sport of sprint car racing
is a wonderful thing and has taken my family all over the world. I look forward
to continuing my involvement when time allows whether I am driving, tuning,
coaching, or whatever I can do to give back to the sport that has given so much
to me. Companies often restructure in order to make it to the next level and
that is exactly what I am doing, restructuring my priorities so that we as a
family can reach the next level.
I cannot say thank you enough to all of those that have been a part of Elite
Racing, my teammates, our owners, our sponsors, our fans, and the World of
Outlaws. It has been a great adventure and I look forward to putting on a helmet
in three months, six months, or even a year, and participating in a sprint car
event somewhere in the world just for fun! Because at the end of the day, that
is what sprint car racing is and that is why we all love it!
With that being said, we still have business left to do. To show our
appreciation to our sponsors and fans we will be running the "Allstar
Appreciation Tour," presented by Allstar Performance. We will be racing the
first 14 races of the 2012 World of Outlaw season beginning in Volusia County on
February 15th and ending at the famed half-mile in Napa Valley Calistoga
Speedway.
One of the most exciting parts about the Allstar Appreciation Tour will be
the new car design with many new sponsors as well as the reintroduction of many
of our partners of the past that have rejoined Elite Racing for this final tour.
We will be announcing these sponsors and introducing the new car design in the
coming days so stay tuned to the Elite Racing website, facebook, and twitter
feeds for exciting news and announcements.
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