First, let me start off with an apology, because I am about to step up onto my soapbox. Some of this will be to get a point across and some will be to vent some anger that has been building inside of me and my therapist says that I need to find a way to let it go.

With today’s technology, we are seeing more voices being heard in the local racing scene. I know you are now going…huh? Seeing voices being heard…what? Yes, that is exactly what I mean. In today’s local racing world we are seeing more people sounding off about different topics they see in local racing via message boards and let me tell you, it is doing more harm than good.

We all live in a wired world, we all have cell phones, we all know what text messaging is, and all wonder why we should pay $0.41 (soon to be $0.42) for a sticker to send a letter when we can just go online and send an e-mail and get it there at a much faster pace. Heck, if I forget my cell phone at home, I feel lost throughout the day.

But, the local racing community has really grasped on to posting messages on message boards. It’s an avenue of where we can go and state an opinion, not sign our name, and hide behind it, especially if we are bringing up a risqué topic or complaining about something.

You notice that as well? If it’s a positive comment, we are leaving our name, birth date and social security # right in the post, but if it’s a complaint, you will not even see a fingerprint, let alone come up with some cheesy ID name that no one can figure out or don’t have a clue, but are idiotic enough to put your favorite car # in it and leave a hint of who it is, i.e. clutchpedelpitcrew69.

When message boards first started, its sole purpose was to give the racing community another way to communicate to each other, to a point to where distance didn’t matter but friendships could be developed out of the simple love of the sport.

Instead, it’s turned into a complaint haven where a high percentage of the complaints have no merit, based on assumption or hearsay, and false speculation. And all of a sudden everyone is in uproar, a racetrack, series, or driver gets a scarlet letter on their forehead and local racing takes two steps back and two steps forward.

The bottom line is that if you are one of these individuals going on message boards and posting these messages, let me ask you this reason…was it worth it?

I mean, c’mon I love the ones who will post that the series sucks, they say one thing and do the other and then end the posting with stating that you love the series and hope it lasts a long time. Huh? What? You are going to slam the series and then hope it hangs around? And on top of it, what you posted has no merit and was totally based on speculation or hearsay?

C’mon how many times have you posted something that you overheard from someone else and then find out later on that you were totally wrong and got fed the wrong information? Do I really need to remind you of a game you played as a kid where you were told one message and had to go down the line and the person at the end of the line had to say what the first person said? And how many times was that last person right?

I don’t have a problem if someone has a concern or a complaint, as long as they can back it up. And if you have the bones to post it on a message board, have bigger bones to put your name behind it. Hey, here is an original idea, why not talk to the track promoter, series director, etc. directly? Wow, what a novel concept that is. But no, we rather complain on a message board and hide.

But, Kevin, wait, I can say whatever I want because of the first amendment? Baloney!!!!

Have you ever looked up why the forefathers wrote that amendment in our constitution? It wasn’t designed to protect you from saying anything that could merit a libel, slander, or defamation of character lawsuit on you. It was designed to allow you to say whatever you want about the government and not be arrested for saying it and allowing you the freedom to choose your religious belief if you choose so.

Now, I am going to do something that many of you are not and cannot do on a message board, I am going to back up what I just wrote above with proof. The link is: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?item=about_firstamd.

Here is a simple rule, and I use this, if I cannot back up what I am posting, I don’t post it. If you are complaining about someone cheating, well you better be able to back it up with proof, because if you can’t, it’s going to be a pretty embarrassing moment when someone can and prove you wrong.

Message boards can really be a great way to share ideas, positively promote local racing, and help us grow overall. But, we tend to take more steps backwards by whining, complaining, making false accusations, etc.

If you love this sport as much as I do, I hope you turn that frown upside down and start acting more positive and start helping all of us grow. And if you don’t want to participate in this manner, you know what; we are not going to miss you if you leave. Because you can easily be replaced by someone who wants to help and not just sit and complain.

I am not complaining I am showing a problem we are having in this sport now that needs to be addressed and resolved very quickly. I know that this is a minority of people doing this, but it’s affecting the majority in the long run.

Stepping down and heading to the track, let’s all do what we can to make local racing grow in a positive direction. Thank you.