Speaking of champions, I had an opportunity to talk to Joe Roe as well this past week in an effort to bring everyone up to speed on his progress. Roe was involved in a multi-car incident during the Jerry Richert Memorial at Cedar Lake Speedway which resulted in a season ending knee injury. Progress is the operative word here as Joe is way ahead of his doctor's projections on his way to recovery. "I doing my best to make my doctor mad at me and set medical history" Roe said in a telephone conversation. "They told me that I'd be wearing my brace for at least 6 months, but I had it off in four weeks. I'm walking about a mile a day on the treadmills in Physical Therapy without the brace and anything else I can to help speed the recovery up. " Joe was in good spirits and his up-beat attitude was very reassuring. "My immediate goal is to be able to walk around the PRI show. There's a lot of ground to cover there and doing it with a brace would be hard." Roe's prognosis
for his recovery are as positive as his comments. "Realistically, I know that this will take a long time to heal but I hope to be back to near 100% within a year. I also know that I'm not going to be crawling around on my hands and knees anytime soon, but it feels pretty good right now. We're in Physical Therapy three times a week and pushing it to the limit." No surprises there as Joe has always been one to "push it" to the limit on track.

Regarding the accident itself and his racing future, Joe resolved to be a bit more serious. A lot of things happened at the wrong time. "We used a standard steering box which my knee hit in the accident. While I was flipping, my left leg was hard on the brake, bracing me for the impact. My right leg was off the accelerator and when the car came down on it's nose, my knee hit the steering box. That was the first thing we did. Got rid of all of them. I've talked to a lot of the World of Outlaw teams
like Craig Dollansky and their all using 1/2 boxes for that very same reason. We've already decided on that". Roe further cites the overall level of competition as a contributing factor. "Everything is so important now with the new format. You have to time good. You have to win your heat. There's so much on it now. I used to be able to sit back and just let things develop first. Then just pick my way through. With the format like it was, you have to be there, going for the win on the first lap, which is also the most dangerous lap of the race. As far as next season goes, we don't have anything definite yet. I'm going to be doing something, but I'm just not sure what yet. A lot is going to depend on how things go over the next couple months. We hope and plan to be racing something". It should be added here that the qualifying format is currently under review by the Bumper to Bumper IRA membership during it's monthly meetings and several alterations are currently under review. Roe ended the conversation by wishing to extend his thanks and appreciation to everyone that has helped him and his family out, as well as all of the fans who have shown their support, since the accident. "The business is rockin and staying busy, which is keeping me busy, and the family is good! Thanks to everyone!"

Speaking of the IRA membership meetings, Kim Mock, Fred Ebler and Scot Neitzel will remain on for another 2 years as Vice President and Board Members respectively as elections were held recently. "Darrell Dodd was also nominated for Vice President and it was pretty close" stated IRA President Steve Sinclair. "We had a lot of good nominations for the positions and all of them are more than deserving. Unfortunately, there is only room for so many". Another subject of discussion, other than the qualifying format, was the recent rules changes for the World of Outlaws. "We've got a couple different options open which are all good. We'll vote on them, but the bottom line is that we (the IRA) needs to stay in a position where they (the team members) can compete both with us and then maybe run another night with another club and still be legal. It looks like Knoxville, the Outlaws and the All-Stars are all trying to be uniform and I feel we need to be as well."

Other news includes the "sneak peek" of the 2003 Bumper to Bumper IRA schedule. An unprecedented move considering the release dates the past few years. "We have the opener already lined for April 12th at the Raceway @ Powercom Park (Beaver Dam, WI) followed by the debut of the IRA at the Dubuque Fair Speedway (Dubuque, IA) on April 13th. We tried the Dubuque thing a couple years ago but lost it to weather. We're going to try it again this year". Sinclair stated. Other highlights include the 2003 Pella Nationals at the Knoxville Raceway, currently set as a 2-day event on August 1st and 2nd. The annual IRA-Knoxville Challenge
Series will be back again as well. Dates set for that include May 17th (Knoxville), June 2nd (Powercom Park) and September 6th (Cedar Lake Speedway). The tour will also return to the Jackson Speedway (Jackson, MN) on May 30th (Memorial Day weekend) followed by a visit to the Echo Valley Speedway (West Union, IA) on June 1st. In all, 27 dates have been penciled in for the 2003 schedule so far, but several other dates are still pending. Sinclair elaborated by stating: "We have other dates tentatively scheduled including a couple dates where we will return to Michigan, but the exact dates haven't been finalized yet. I also want to try and keep a few open weekends throughout the season as well to give our teams time to do what they need or want to do as we go along. We'll also be going back to a lot of our regular tracks like Hales Corners, Dodge County, Superior, Lancaster and others. Antigo (WI) is also back on the list for 2003". After talking with Sinclair, (who was recently nominated as 410 promoter of the year for 2002), 2003 looks to be a little more organized concerning dates, but still remain aggressive enough to make the presence of the Bumper to Bumper IRA Series felt wherever they travel.

Well, I will leave you with that for now but stay tuned as a lot of developing stories will be unfolding in coming weeks. A lot of news concerning the World of Outlaws, the All-Stars and other organizations as everyone prepares for the upcoming season and the new rules. Of course, we'll also keep you up to date on rules changes and their effect on the Bumper to bumper IRA tour. For news until next time, log onto the IRA's website at www.irasprints.com. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.