MOROSO TO ALLOW 11 OF DIRTY DOZEN TO RACE 5-DAY
From Sue Moroso
Several weeks ago one of the racers banned from IHRA called me and
asked if he and the other eleven men will be allowed to run Moroso Motorsports
Park's 20th Anniversary Five-Day event November 14-18, 2001. Rich Matty
is still banned indefinitely from Moroso. However, the other eleven
I felt, deserved some consideration. I set out to contact as many racers
on my Five-Day mailing list as possible. As of August 27, 2001, I have
spoken with 199 people and left messages for 83 others. I was unable
to locate 36 more racers.
Due to time constraints, I feel I must make a decision now. After changing
my mind frequently, my team and I have decided to let the eleven Midwest
racers who are banned from the IHRA race at the 5-Day event. Although
not an easy decision, we feel it is the right one. While no one but
the people involved will ever know the whole truth, we had to base our
decision not only on fact but on what we feel is fair. There is no room
for cheaters in our sport and especially not at our track. However,
we cannot in good conscience condemn people who may be innocent. While
we don't know for certain that anyone is innocent of cheating, we also
don't know if they are guilty.
In the end, I kept coming back to one thought - I would rather see
a guilty person go free than an innocent one go to jail. That is neither
a judgment nor a defense. I don't know that these eleven people are
blameless of what they have been accused, but none of them was ever
caught violating any rules. I have spoken to Bill Bader from IHRA and
I fully support his decision to ban these twelve racers, but I am not
privy to all of his reasons. I also had several conversations with Bill
Holt from NHRA. He pointed out that we are not an IHRA-sanctioned track
and cannot, or should not, condemn someone for being under suspicion.
The fact that NHRA has never supported them being banned or the rumors
of their illegal activities also contributes to our decision to allow
them to run at Moroso Motorsports Park.
To ensure everyone abides by the rules and is safe we are taking extra
precautions this year at the 5-Day. Bill Holt, NHRA Division 2 Director,
Jerry Hallman, Moroso's new Drag Strip Manager who was an NHRA Tech
Director and manager of the B&M Series, and NHRA/Moroso tech inspector
Rich Schreck will be on hand along with our local NHRA certified tech
inspectors Jim Sherry and Al Pope to assist with inspections and tear
down. We will not tolerate any threats of violence, and anyone who exhibits
threatening behavior will be arrested immediately.
In addition, any attending racers banned from IHRA will have to submit
to a full tear down upon arrival and at any time thereafter at our discretion.
Each daily 5-Day winner and runner-up will be torn down immediately
in the maintenance building after the final round.
Speaking with 199 racers has certainly been an education. Regardless
of our decision, it was time well spent. I made contact with many great
people. I talked to people who have excellent ideas and suggestions
to improve our races and our track. I thank everyone I spoke to for
their time and effort and I can't wait to put faces with names this
November. With the added bonus of the "JEGS Race of Champions" and the
Friday night Casino Party this year's 20th anniversary event promises
to be a great show for everyone. We look forward to seeing you there.
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