Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Great commentary from Doug Auld on the happenings during the Knoxville Nationals.

I know of many people, myslef included, that are considering different plans for our sprint car vacations. Maybe they could rebrand the Nationals as a RAGBRAI event and then anything will be allowed and low enforcement will look the other way.

I agree the police are getting a little over the top. I and my wife have been coming to the nationals since the 1st one. I in the "old days" the police at the fair grounds were the county cops and they let you drink and have fun as long as you stayed on fairgrounds, no problem. I know it has got larger and they have to control the situtation,but the police have to also be sensible about it. If it is a dangerous hazard as drunk driving let them do their job, But this, tickets for minor or petty thing is crazy, all is, is a revenue booster. Giving you a break on the speed, is in my mind( which most people say is gone) is just kind of telling you pay it and WE GOT YA.

Loose is when you hit the wall with the rear of the
car, tight is when you hit the wall with the front of
the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and
torque is how far you move the wall.

I called the city offices of Knoxville and they seemed concerend about what happened during the Nationals. I feel we all need to call and voice our concerns. It was way out of control and I did not feel very welcomed there this last year.

where can i see or hear this commentary?

Doug Auld has been bashing the town of Knoxville for years. Maybe it's time to take away whatever meager reason he has for press credentials to the race.

Frankly, if you don't want to come to the Nationals and obey the law...then don't come. While I DO think some of the enforcement of certain things is over the top, I also think some things aren't as strongly enforced as they should be.

People have to realize that as an event gets to the size of the Nationals, liability also increases for the city, county, track, ect.

Maybe Doug Auld needs to quit spending his time on his knees in front of Emmett Hahn and go earn his keep in the sport by trying to promote a race or coordinate special events that keep people busy at the Nationals.

Or maybe he could continue to be a big-haired, denim-clad clown, '80s era baffoon with no discernable talent.

If Knoxville had a pond (i.e. Eldora), Dougey would have been forced to take a bath years ago (just like another "journalist" we all know).

Seems like you have a good hard on for Doug Auld.. He is right Knoxville inforcement of the law is way over the top. Im not saying they have ruined the event but it just hasn't been as fun in years pasted

As a RESIDENT of Knoxville, I have no issues with what Doug wrote in his commentary. If anything, I think he was being fairly nice considering.

I have experienced the following the last few years:

Pulled over by a City Cop who told me I was speeding after the races (I hadn't had anything to drink, and he ended up just letting me drive away and didn't even give me a warning).

Pulled over by a County Cop that told me I had a tail-light out (I got out of the vehicle and low and behold it was illuminated).

Pulled over by a State Trooper that followed me from Wacko's to Coal Port Church (just outside White Breast Campground) that pulled me over 500 FEET from my front door and told me I was speeding (again, no ticket or warning).

Had I been drinking or from out of town, I have No Doubt in my mind that I would have gotten a ticket in each case. It's time for our Police Chief to go (as the leader of the local police, he sets the standard everyone must follow for the week) and for the City Council to pass ordinances that allow public consumption of alcohol within a XX Block radius of the raceway during the 10 days of Nationals (The only place their ordinance would not be in effect is ON HIGHWAY 14), but that seems way too hard for any of them to understand.

I've been to Daytona and the only cops I saw were responding to a traffic accident, the rest were just walking around and answering questions out of towners had.

Flood the City (and the local businesses) with letters and e-mails. Nothing will get done unless everyone is on the same page.

I would think ticketing teams for pushing their cars across the street to the wash bay would be excessive. Having undercover law enforcement ticketing jaywalkers would be excessive. Where is the law directing traffic after the races? It takes forever to get out of town on a weekly show, let alone during the Nationals.

I was pulled over a couple of years ago just outside of town and was asked if I was at the races, I told the officer yes and he asked if I had been drinking and I showed him that my pit band was still on my arm and explained that drinking was not allowed during the races and he still ran my through the whole sobriety field test. After proving I had no alcohol in me I asked if maybe chasing druggies would have been a better way to spend his time. I was called a smartass and told to leave.

I still came back but not so sure about 2012.

Open a window. I'm thinkin you need some air. Sounds personal to me. You agree that the enforcement of "certain things is over the top", then continue with your rant on a personal level. Don't know what kinda axe you've got to grind with Mr Auld but maybe you oughta just write the guy a letter or drop him an email or something.

REMEMBER OUR TROOPS!!!

Must be something in DSM river water ...... Mahaska CO. S.O. and Oskaloosa P.D. are no DIFFERENT.

I think it is nothing more than a revenue source for both the counties and towns of Marion, Mahaska, Knoxville and Oskaloosa..

I have been subjected to RAGBRAI riders at various times (recently and in the past) and there is NO COMPARISON to the way those bikers behave (badly) along the way and ESPECIALLY in host towns... but then the Register would rip the counties and towns involved if they treated the dope smokin' naked bikers like they do 'uncouth' sprint car fans.

The Des Moines Register .... Iowa's best ... 'red' newspaper.

S.H.S.

Hey opperman fan, what about RAGBRAI? That is a free for all, the law looks the other way during that mess.

Go read the Doug Auld article again. He didn't do anything wrong and neither did the person who passed him and also got ticketed. I understand the opinion that only lawbreakers need fear the police but in case after case, that has proven to be untrue. If someone does not stand up to lying, scheming cops and their superiors, the only people at the Knoxville Nationals will be those who walk there.

To that end, I have been somewhat reluctantly appointed to gather these tales of police harassment for a "concerned citizen" who is also a personal friend of the Iowa governor. He promises that the governor will read them. It is too much to ask Knoxville police or Marion County cops to lighten up. But when the Big Cheese cracks their nuts, maybe change will occur.

Send me you story of wrongful imprisonment or excessive ticketing to [email protected].

P.S: I was never thrown in the pond at Eldora, and have never recommended a Doug Auld column until now.

this past year 4 of my buddies and i went down as we always do, well we have a deal where each of us take a night to be the DD and the responsible one to keep everyone safe. well we were walking out of wackos and it was late we had been there awhile it wasnt a mile and we were pulled over and i was pulled out of the car to do a sobriety test even though there was no smell of alchol on my breath, after i had passed the sobriety test the officer still insited on giving me a breathlizer which i had blown 00's. so basically we spent 45 min on the side of the road to find out i hadn't had a drink.

If it's as bad as some of you say and that it's selective enforcement depending on where you are from, I would recommend fighting the tickets or, in the case you have been completely wronged, sue.

I've fought tickets before and won. I'm not going to get bullied. Maybe you should take the same attitude. Get an attorney, take 'em to court and get some publicity through mainstream media.

Frankly, I think there is certainly some heavy-handed enforcement of laws that aren't enforced year-round. I also think that there are those who abuse their privilages while in town for the races and officers look the other way.

The Nationals event is dying anyway. Nothing to do for people who come here, which makes people find other things to do during the day and stay out of town.

The town doesn't get behind the Nationals like it used to and probably never will again since there is little economic incentive to do so. I think the vast majority of the townsfolk are getting to the point that it's more of a nuisance week than anything. With fewer and fewer individual businesses around to profit from the races, people see little reason to cater to fans and take a dim view of those that can't obey the laws while they are in town.

Complainers might need to keep that in mind.

Wow sprint777x, few business profit from the Nationals? Not sure if you are going to the same Nationals as I have been.

Most of the places that fail to profit, are those that refuse come up with ideas to profit. But I think he was getting at only 'chains' see the dollars.

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A healthy diet of dirt in my nachos and beer.

I agree that they should not look the other way, but Vande77 gave 3 examples of being unfairly targeted when he was doing nothing wrong. My buddies and I camp close by and walk to the races every night so we can get as lit as we want. (and we do) We have seen many a cop on the walk back and none of them have ever bothered us. Technically, they could if they wanted to be asses, but they leave us alone. As far as the drinking and driving, it should be dealt with like any other drinking and driving offense, but the cops don't need to be making crap up to pull people over either. I am not a big fan of pulling people over on suspicion.