We ain't dead yet. 
Not dead yet.. haha (Guess I could share this story on that topic, my friend)
Been healin, finally getting out and about since March, after 3 years of being down from fighting this colon cancer. A friend I helped when my shop was open with their Mini Sprints and Legends racing for his daughter, asked if I would help with their modified. Also, Joe had house issues so I took his Legend into my garage at home (all my shop equipment is there since closing shop in 2010) and perked that chassis up as well as repaired his 1250, so he could race. It had one cylinder down to 40 lbs compression from a leaking head gasket, lucky if the rest pumped 80 lbs. Bouncing back and forth between the Mods and Legends Cars at Dacotah Speedway on race nights was OK. Wanda liked it because I finally was able to have some fun for a change. Extent of my fun before that, was going to Menards for little items to do around the house as I could. LOL those walks through the store alone would leave me down for a week thereafter. Strength and stamina weren't built back up. Finally weened off the ondansetron to stop throwing up resulting from radiation treatments and addition of mebondazole, honey and cinnemon.. I was able to get out and about more and more. Finally progress on healing. Few set-ups later, Joe's Legend was out of my garage and stable for racing with his driving style. Rolled my illegal Allison chassis that I purchased from Sweringer in 2008 into the garage to strip and find a legal chassis for. Called everyone, even Dennis but nobody had a bubble coupe chassis. LRC had the old house car that Mike Patrick told me to call them for but I found they had stacked a bunch of Legends on top of each other after taking over LRC from him, videoed taking a run at the pile with a Dodge Omni and posting it on Facebook. The bubble coupe was one of them... Called Warren Ropp to see what he had. He didn't have one but said "Gimp, get a chassis together and race this Knoxville race during the big WoO Sprint car show down here". Wanda was excited about that one. Kind of an emotional pick me up after being down for 3 years. Without chassis, I am real low on funds from being down, I started stripping this bubble coupe that I have. Removed the left rear fender and seen the updated support on it.. stepped back and scratched my head "Hmm, Allison chassis ??" I thought to myself and drilled the cage to measure it... it is a legal chassis. Wanda was seriously pumped with joy so we picked up a transponder, set of dirt tires and a bunch more parts since we didn't have to buy a chassis. She wanted the ole Gimpster to make the dream come true of running Knoxville. Had the 1200 running in the garage one day after that (I had rebuilt it in 2009) and it started smoking out the breather and locked up. Baffled, I called Hank Scott to bump heads and see his thoughts on what happened. Fresh motor shouldn't have done that. He didn't have nuthin to get me back up and going that I can afford on my recent income. Called Ken Joyce and asked him what he thought.. after catching up on the latest goings on with him, he said he would send me a motor to run the race with. Meanwhile, as always, was supporting racers acorss the nation, a local legends racer picked up on a conversation I was having with Joe after he had a wreck at Dacotah, about rebuilding his steering sector. Asked if I would look at their sector. That Saturday I hopped on the Bagger (Harley) and rode up to the Underwood race to hook up with Shane Williams and check out Zac Lutz's sector. It just needed to be gone through with a shim kit. While watching the Legends feature from the opening on the outside of the track where the cars enter, while standing next to our tech man, a rock just under the size of a baseball kicked up out of the pack and hit me in the left side. I left on the Harley and rode home. Went in the two days later because of internal bleeding that started passing. Ruptured the weak part of my colon. Pretty much ended my wanting to race again. Called Ken and Warren, told Ken not to send the motor up to me and told Warren we won't be making the show. Warren said they prolly won't be doing the Knoxville show after this year. Meanwhile, after the Underwood show, I posted on a group that one of the 17 year old kids should push in his clutch when he spins all the time because he is making the Legends look like idiots. Zac Lutz chimed in calling me an ***hole and that the 17 year old kid has accomplished more than I have in my life, and so forth and so on. I told them I probably have double the plaques and trophies than the two of them have started races in their lifes.. verbal battle of witt ensued .. I ended up telling him his mama should have thrown him away and kept the afterbirth.. wiped him off the sheets instead and so forth (he couldn't top that). LOL that is when the death threats started. I told him not to come around the pits that I am in or he might end up crippled. You know this day and age... child services stepped in the next day (someone turned the arguement with the minor in). Steven Kuntz private messaging me with threats, Shane Williams messaged me saying that he had talked to our dealer and they were going to get me banned from INEX. I rode down to my dealer and he knew nothing about what was said or going on. Shane fell quiet to me. Joe had posted defending me but turned around and apologized to the group for stepping in (thanks for the help on my car, right ? lol) Cameron Soggee messaged me telling me I was the problem and he wouldn't do nothing to Zac in the group (for telling a kid to push his clutch in and defending myself ?)
And speaking of death threats Steve.. there are 3 outstanding death threats from the situation that they were going to collect on me 2 weeks ago. LMAO for telling a kid to push in his clutch when he spins all the time so him and Zac stop destroying other racers cars and the class could put on a good show.
Welcome to the 'Dakota Legends Racing Family' in less than a month you go from hero to zero !! It's all good, we will finish this chassis and race elsewhere in the future when I'm healed. Don't want no part of the local drama. (apology for the long post)..
~The Gimpster~
