Hoseheads Sprint Car Photos & News

Up For Breakfast

In the days following Thanksgiving, the calendar may still insist that the current season is autumn, but as the Indiana days grow shorter and far more colder, old man winter’s imposing presence is felt with more certainty, making the warmth and optimism of springtime seem like light years away. For those of us accustomed to active lifestyles and outdoor activities, it’s difficult to stay upbeat when driving to and from work with headlights on, fighting off the frost while cloaked in darkness.

It’s so much easier to rise from dreamland when bathed in sunshine, motivated to attack the day like birds of prey. But unless you are one who enjoys shoveling snow, shopping, hunting, or hoops, there sure isn’t a lot to look forward to in this state at this time of year. Nor is there a real reason to urgently bolt out of bed on weekend mornings.

Often weary after a long workweek, one can find me resting on Saturday morning until eyes open on their own, clock radio alarm thankfully disarmed for at least one day. With few exceptions, I’m often sleeping in until 9:30 or 10.

But the evening after Thanksgiving, I set my alarm in preparation for an 8 AM Saturday breakfast in Elwood, Indiana, nearly one hour away from my humble Carmel abode. Surely I could have settled for a bowl of cereal from the comfort of my kitchen. Or, if I wanted something a little more elaborate, a stack of pancakes, some homemade donut holes and a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice from nearby Bub’s Café is always welcomed. But breakfast in Elwood? And that early? Surely this would have to be a special exception to pry me out of bed on a cold and pitch black Saturday morning.

The exception: my breakfast guest would be Gas City I-69 Speedway’s promoter/operator Jiggs Thomason, at the helm for twelve seasons until announcing his retirement shortly before the conclusion of the 2008 racing calendar. Planning to reflect on his last dozen years over French toast, eggs, sausage, biscuits, and gravy, Thomason is one of those rare individuals who you just want to be around, owning boundless energy and a contagious enthusiasm for life, influencing laughter, smiles, and happiness.

A relative novice to the world of short track operations when he first arrived on the scene in 1997, by the time he decided to call it a career his personal touches and philosophies on customer intimacy single-handedly transformed a virtually unknown facility into a Friday night institution for quality sprint car entertainment, visited by fans and competitors from around the globe. Quick to disagree with such a sweeping statement due to extreme modesty, Jiggs continually diverts any praise, recognition, and credit for success to his staff, many of them long-time volunteers. Guided in principle by their personable and outgoing leader, it’s no wonder the Gas City employees work so hard to please their customers.

Approaching seventy years of age and wishing to slow down after having already retired from General Motors in 1995, rather than work himself to death Jiggs Thomason decided that the time was now to step away and finally enjoy some quality of life, allowing someone else a stint in the limelight of the Indiana sprint car scene. Joined in racetrack retirement by his equally pleasant wife Nona who faithfully answered phones, paid bills, and greeted media guests, in an uncertain economy where one’s job may be in jeopardy, a more pressing issue for loyal sprint car followers is who is going to fill the huge holes left by the absence of these two individuals who shared such a passion for human interaction. A discussion over breakfast may not have answered that question, but perhaps a little closure was obtained on both sides of the table in the twelve year reflection.

The sun officially awoke from heavenly slumber as I extended past Noblesville’s endless array of chain restaurants and big-box stores, finding freedom from Indianapolis metropolitan expansion as state road 37’s four lanes turned to two. Bypassing the abandoned Wheeler truck stop at the junction of state road 13, this is where I used to turn right to hitch a ride to Eldora, Knoxville, Haubstadt, and Chillicothe with photographer Steve Remington. The family of Steve’s wife Barbara still owns a large chunk the farmland that dominated the landscape while en route to Elwood.

Animation – One can often tell the mood of Jiggs Thomason by his facial expressions. Here, he appears quite animated in his discussion with 2006 track champ A.J. Anderson.

Nearly reaching the Airport Restaurant where Elk Burgers are on the menu, I hung a left at 13 and scanned both sides of the road for a Jim Dandy Restaurant. But after exiting city limits slight paranoia turned into panic, returning south to stop for directions. Unbeknownst to Jiggs or me, this particular establishment had been closed for two or three years. Luckily, I still managed to find the former location and a maroon Chevy truck waiting in the parking lot. A familiar face was spotted through the windshield of that truck, seen grinning from ear to ear.

Yep, it was the same man from Marion who guided the Gas City ship to prominence. It was also the same man who personally went around to thank each of his competitors for showing up, the same man who gave away handfuls of free tickets in an attempt to build a fan base, the same man who handed out cash refunds to fans after rain outs, and the same man who paid pit fees for racers who couldn’t afford to get in.

It would be pretty difficult to find someone who cares as much for racing people as Jiggs Thomason. So would it come with any amount of surprise to find him still waiting for me? Truly one of a kind, I cannot think of anyone else in a management position, in any discipline, who is better skilled at meshing with different personalities and is more well-liked for that ability.

Secretly I had hoped my conversation with him would get the juices flowing and make him change his mind. But realizing through my own endeavors that racing is truly a labor of love filled with more complaints than thank yous, I can understand his desire to step back and enjoy the scenery from afar. I can’t say that I haven’t had the same thoughts myself. But as Jiggs can attest, it’s pretty difficult to say no to racing. Even if the rewards aren’t always immediate, it keeps you coming back for more.

Hard to say no to the endless supply of bacon and sausage, the Fat Tommy’s breakfast buffet kept me coming back for more, with our conversation confirming that Thomason will only be spectating when the 2009 campaign commences. First and foremost, Jiggs has always been a fan, just like the rest of us. And as we all know, quitting cold turkey is just not possible. So I’m sure you’ll see him taking in a little more of the action than normal from foreign venues.

Sitting across the table from the man who exudes enthusiasm, listening to his words and tone was indeed contagious, making me wonder how I will ever be able to step away myself. Up for breakfast so early in the morning, I think my excursion to Elwood through cold and darkness was well worth the sacrifice in sleep, as fuel was provided for not just the rest of my day, but yet another racing campaign. Wondering when I’ll ever see the sun when waking for work, as I flip up my collar, don my winter hat, coat, and gloves and brave the elements to scrape ice from a crusty windshield, April can’t get here quick enough.

Congratulations – Jiggs was always found on the front stretch after each feature event. Here he is on the scene to offer a congratulatory pat to Cole Whitt.

A huge thank you goes out to photographer Dave Merritt for exclusively adding color to this Q&A article. I’ve always said that pictures can speak a thousand words and as far as I’m concerned, there’s no one better at capturing the essence of the Indiana sprint car scene than Dave. Check out his wide selection of shots at www.davespitpassphotos.com and if you like what you see, be sure and send him some commentary at jse47@comcast.net. In this season of giving, why not be good to yourself and order an enlarged image suitable for framing? It sure beats socks, underwear or a Chia Pet!

Without further delay, heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere’s Jiggs!

KO: So what’s the status on finding your replacement for 2009 at Gas City I-69 Speedway? Keep in mind; I won’t be getting this transcribed for two or three weeks.

Jiggs: We’ll have a replacement by then. In fact, I’m meeting with Jack tomorrow morning. The way it looks right now, we’re probably going to go with an internal individual. I’ve been through several. I’ve talked to this one and that one. We’ve had some people discuss purchasing the place, leasing it, this, that and everything else. We think this is a better way to go to make sure that it (the track) stays where it’s at.

Editor’s note: A few days later, Barb Nichols announced that Leroy Battieger will be taking over promoting duties for the 2009 season. Leroy has previously worked as a pit steward for the Gas City sprint car division.

Creating Heroes – Seen shaking hands with 2004 track champ Shane Cottle, because of his Friday nights spent in the Gas City spotlight Shane is now a household name in traditional sprint car racing.

KO: So Jack Himelick is still going to own the place?

Jiggs: Right.

KO: Are you going to be there to help out and offer advice or are you going to stay away entirely?

Jiggs: I will be up until the time they start racing. I’m going to help them put the track back together and I’m going to work with them as far as the scheduling. In fact, I’ve already been to the USAC meeting. We’re in Midget Week and also Sprintweek. I’m working on a motorcycle race with the AMA.

KO: So what if your replacement says, “Hey, I got in over my head and I don’t like this.” Is this retirement a done deal or would you be willing to come back?

Jiggs: No. I don’t want to come back.

KO: It’s just too much at this point of your life?

Jiggs: Not in the capacity I’ve been in in the past. Not only did I do the promoting, but I helped work the track and everything else.

KO: So why do you want to retire and when did you start to seriously think about it?

Jiggs: Probably a year and a half ago – before the start of last season I was thinking pretty strongly about it. I’ll be 69 in February and I’m getting up there. To be truthful with you, I’ve spent 30 years in the auto industry and I’m tired. I always said that when it wasn’t fun, I wasn’t going to do it. And it’s still fun for me, but it’s starting to sway where it was becoming too much of a job.

Decision Time – Not a dictator by any means, Jiggs Thomason is seen conferring with some of his employees on what appears to be a key decision.

KO: Are you a lifelong resident of Marion?

Jiggs: Yes.

KO: Were you a race fan as a kid? Where did you go to watch racing?

Jiggs: Oh yeah. Always been a race fan. We went to Kokomo. I used to go to the 500 every year. I used to go to all kinds of different places. Anywhere I could go…used to go to Anderson a lot. I raced some at Gas City and Montpelier.

KO: In a modified or a stock car?

Jiggs: Hobby stock.

KO: Wow. So how long did you race then?

Jiggs: Uhhhh, six years.

KO: And how long ago was that?

Jiggs: I quit racing in ’94. I got too old – just like I’m too old to keep doing the racing thing now.

KO: I don’t think a lot of people know that you were a driver. What amount of success did you have?

Jiggs: (After taking a bite from his biscuits and gravy) Well, I won the last feature ran at Gas City before they shut it down in ’88. And then in ’93, I won the track championship for hobby stocks at Montpelier.

KO: So driving stock cars gave you the background for running a racetrack…

Jiggs: That’s all I had. I didn’t know any more about it than the man on the moon.

Head Honcho – Jiggs is pictured conducting a driver’s meeting and if you’re a driver, you probably should be paying attention.

KO: Before you took the job with Jack Himelick at Gas City Speedway, you retired from General Motors around 1995. Was that the standard 30 year deal?

Jiggs: Right

KO: Straight out of high school then?

Jiggs: No. When I got out of high school, I worked for Owens Illinois in Gas City. And then I went in the service. When I came back out of the service, that’s when I went to GM.

KO: How quickly did you decide after your GM retirement that you were bored and needed something else to do? Or did your wife Nona just say that she wanted you out of the house?

Jiggs: No. Really – I went over to Jack about buying some dump trucks. A buddy of mine and I were possibly going to get into some dump trucks. In fact, at the time that I did it, the wife didn’t even know for sure what I was doing or why I was doing it. But he had some dump trucks for sale down at his equipment shop and we got to talking and he said something about the racetrack. I asked him how it was going and he said that he was not going to open it. He said, “I’m not going to open the track.” And I said, “Ohhhhhh.” So I got to thinking about it and I went home to talk to Nona and told her that I was going to go back and talk to Jack. Two days later, I went back to talk to him and I told him, “Hey, if you want someone to run the track, I’ll give it a whirl.”

So, I got started and let me tell you something, I pulled out on (state road) 22 several nights that first year and thought, “Boy, you’ve gotta be smarter than this.” (Laughing) I won’t name out the individuals. I don’t have to. But they drug me over the coals that first year. But then the car counts started coming up by the end of the season and the crowd base came up. We took a pretty hard hit that first year.

KO: So was that ’96 or ’97? Did Jack run it himself in ’96?

Jiggs: Yeah. Between him and Sam Thompson. The two of them ran it that first year. Then I came in there in ’97.

KO: So you got to know Jack from the dump truck deal or did you know him before that?

Jiggs: Oh no. I knew Jack. He used to come to the races all the time over at Montpelier. I knew who he was. He had the gravel pit there. And he sponsored some cars over there and things.

Keeping it Real - It looks like Jiggs is having a little fun with Cole Whitt, a six-time visitor to Gas City’s victory lane in 2008.

KO: So how was the position laid out to you? What expectations were there for the job?

Jiggs: Well, to start with, all I was supposed to do was the promoting portion of it which consisted of taking care of all the advertising, the PR work, the schedule, and any project work because he wanted to do a lot of things to the speedway. I was supposed to take care of all that. The way it ended up, that wasn’t quite what happened (laughing).

KO: So when you won that last feature in ’88 at Gas City and even any of the times before that, from ’86 through ’88, what did you think of the place? Was it a dump? Did it just have a long way to go?

Jiggs: A REAL long way. Yeah. Did you get there at all?

KO: Nope. I never did make it there for some reason. It was a place I had heard about but never got to see because I was always going to bigger races elsewhere.

Jiggs: There wasn’t a whole lot to be desired there.

KO: When we think of the Gas City of today with the nice bathrooms, good concession stands, the solid parking lot and pit area, what was it like back then?

Jiggs: You didn’t actually have a restroom for the men. You just went in and there was pea gravel back there and that’s what you used it for. There were no stools in there or anything – just metal panels up around it. Of course, the retaining walls were all railroad ties – you know, where they stuck guard-railing on them. It was a little bit different than what it is now.

KO: Along the way, you figured out a different way of doing business than most short track promoters that I know today. You went around to thank all the competitors for coming out. You handed out cash refunds to fans if the show was rained out. Where did you figure out that you needed to do those little things?

Jiggs: From going to other speedways and the way the people were treated – how they did this and how they did that. In fact, the last check that they gave me at the last race I ran at Gas City – it wasn’t any good. Two or three things I told Jack, I said Jack, “We’ve got to work with the people. The competitors. The fans. Everybody.”

Just like the purse – before we ever go racing, we’ve got the money. I want the money, at the speedway, to cover the purse. I want the envelope for a twenty car field. He never had any problem with that. We always did that. We never had to worry about if we had enough people in the grandstands – is it going to rain and nobody’s going to show up. And Jack was real good about giving me loose reins, if I needed to do this, that, or whatever. I didn’t have to check with him to do what I needed to do.

KO: Those little things like thanking the competitors and handing out cash refunds on rainouts, how big of an impact did they make in the growth of the track?

Jiggs: I think it really helped. It’s real easy just to walk by ‘em or stay away from ‘em or whatever. There are tracks that operate that way and they’re successful, they make it the same as everybody else because Kevin, a race fan is a race fan. I don’t care how much you brow beat him, a competitor is the same way, you can brow beat him all that you want to. He says he’s never coming back and I guarantee you that he’s possibly the very first one that’s going to be there the next week. (Laughing).

That’s just the nature of ‘em. I’ve said – to me it’s like a sickness, an addiction. You know? It’s unbelievable the things in the last 12 years that I know people have done as far as their financial status in order to keep racing. I’m talking competitors and fans. They’re going to be at the speedway. I’ll tell you what, I’ve had people call me at home and say, “Hey Jiggs. You know I’ve heard you say several times that if you don’t have the money to get into that speedway, don’t try to sneak in there. You give me a buzz.” I’ve had several people call me and I take care of them. They didn’t have the money! They honestly didn’t. But I look at it this way, if they’ve got guts enough to call me or approach me when they see me somewhere and say, “Hey man, there’s no way I can pay but I would sure like to race,” I’m going to take care of them.

Jack of All Trades – No matter what’s going on at the track, Jiggs seems to be knee-deep in the action.

KO: Those little things, can you instill them in your successor? Or is that just the way you like to do things.

Jiggs: I hope so. Oh, and he’s got his own way. There’ll be some changes you know. A lot of the things he’ll continue to do – stuff that he sees that has been beneficial to us. We really struggled the first year I was there. We flat last our butts but about the middle of the second year, things started turning around. We started getting good car counts and a fan base.

KO: I remember a great show with a good crowd in the middle of ’98. Jeremy Sherman showed up from Arizona…right around Sprintweek time. That was only the second time I’d been to Gas City and I suddenly realized the potential of the place.

Jiggs: For two and a half years, we fought a clay problem. I mean we absolutely couldn’t do anything right to get rid of it. And finally, well, mid-season last year, no, it was the year before last, we come upon this new clay that we had access to. We tried it out and it’s really helped us as far as the dust. And let me tell you, dust, in my opinion, will run people away from a dirt track quicker than anything. Even though that’s dirt track racing, they don’t like it.

KO: In your twelve years at Gas City, was that the hardest thing, fighting the dirt and trying to get that figured out, or were there other things you thought were harder?

Jiggs: That’s probably the toughest thing I went through.

KO: Figuring out the right combination of water, the clay?

Jiggs: It wasn’t the water so much as it was the material. The actual clay. And you know, I had some soil analysts come in and try to help us out. And finally, we got what we think is a fairly good combination. The track right now is probably in as good of shape as it’s ever been in going into the winter, where it can bond and everything. We should have a fairly good surface all of next year.

KO: Is operating a racetrack more difficult than promoting?

Jiggs: Yes. You know, if you’ve got it, you’ve got it. If you don’t, you don’t. Really, as far as the operating end of it, if you satisfy a small portion of what you’ve got there, you’re doing a good job. They’ll pay twelve dollars to watch four hours of what I consider excellent entertainment and they think boy, it’s just not what it used to be – something didn’t go this way or that way or whatever. People don’t really realize what it takes to keep a dirt track going. They really don’t.

KO: I’ll get into that here as one of my questions because that’s something I want people to know.

On any given Friday night, Gas City crowds are healthy and if you get there late, it can be tough to find seats. It hasn’t always been that way though. In building crowds and creating a loyal fan base, how much door to door shaking of hands, meeting and greeting, and educating did you do? What else helped you obtain your loyal following?

Jiggs: Well, for the first couple of years or three or four years, we went to the car show there in Marion. I know over at Muncie we had two or three over there. At Muncie one year, I gave out over $800 in ten dollar passes to the fans and the young kids. Just stuff like that. We advertise in Speed Sport. We used to advertise in Mid American. We used to advertise on a radio station. Really, I think the most benefit to us was those car shows during the winter because everybody would get to thinking about it and we normally had them in the first part of March.

KO: Was there anything else to help you obtain your loyal following? It seems like a lot of the same people show up from week to week.

Jiggs: And they do. I can walk down in front of the main grandstands and I can tell you who’s going to be sitting where. They put blankets down and of course you get a lot of heat over that for the people that aren’t there every week that want that same seat. And I think word of mouth helps you more than what you think. I think that’s the cheapest form of advertising you can get. Well, that and the sweatshirts and t-shirts we sell. We sell them and make a profit off them and then turn right around and when somebody wears ‘em, they’re out there advertising for us for nothing.

KO: I was out in California at the Oval Nationals and I was talking to a guy and he had one of the shirts on. And he’s like, “Man, I want to move to Indiana!” And I asked, “Are you sure you want to move to Indiana?” And he said, “Yeah!”

Jiggs: But where can you go and have better racing than the state of Indiana for short track dirt racing?

KO: It is hard to find anything better.

Here is this question I knew I was going to ask you. How much work does the operational part of running a racetrack involve? Is it a seven day per week deal? Give me a general timeline of all the things you do after you shut off the lights on Friday night to when you open the gates the next Friday.

Jiggs: After I shut ‘er down, I’m back at the track at six o’clock in the morning. We go out and we completely redo the track. We disc it up. Harrow it. Work it. Grade it. Run it in. I’ve got a crew that comes in and cleans up on Saturday morning. We go into the pits and all the mud that’s been brought in and dropped off the cars, we scrape that up and take a loader and go around and pick that up. We clean the bleachers every Saturday morning. We clean the concessions. We do everything in there. The whole property. When I leave there, normally I get out of there anywhere from 11:30 to 2:00. I try to get out of there early enough that I can go to another track on Saturday night. And then of course on Sunday I have to go to Kokomo!

I normally take the rest of Saturday and Sunday off and Monday, if we need fence repair, I get a hold of the fence company to come in. If there’s guardrail damage or something, we always try to do that on Monday, no later than Tuesday. And then when the weather was excessively hot during the summer, we’d start watering on Wednesday, definitely on Thursday. The crew would come in on Thursday morning and wet it down really good and then come back Thursday night and wet the surface again. On Friday morning, they’d come in again, take it apart, and then start laying it in and getting it ready for Friday night.

But all the tangibles in between are what really take up the time. But I would put in a pretty good week’s work – really. You had to take care of all the mowing. You had to take care of the clean up, weed-eating, and weed spraying. We tried to keep the place looking halfway decent, you know? There was a lot of painting to be done. I had a crew of volunteers that do all of the painting.

On The Gas – In a season of Fridays, Jiggs will wear out a golf cart. Here he is spotted on his final night of promoting and operating on October 3rd, 2008.

KO: With all that stuff going on during the week, those two days shows during Sprintweek have to be pretty tough to pull off.

Jiggs: It’s a lot to do – anytime.

KO: Kind of a backbreaking deal…

Jiggs: Well, yes, and the way you should do that, if you could, you need to break it up, with certain individuals back at a certain time. But the thing is, you break it up like that and everybody is always right there anyway. They’re going to come out to help.

KO: Since taking over the reins in ’97, other than the dirt and trying to find the right combination, what has been your biggest challenge for you there?

Jiggs: The projects that we did there. We put the new office buildings on. We put all new guard-railing in down the straightaway plus between three and four. All new fencing…of course it doesn’t look like that now. And we put the cement and asphalt in and stuff, versus to where it was just stone up under the bleachers.

KO: I had written down some ideas of what might have been your biggest challenges and obstacles. I had daylight savings time and the decision to drop qualifications because I know a lot of the sprint car racers didn’t like that. The spec right rear tire was a big deal. Dust control. Pleasing the racers and the fans. Those seem like they could be pretty big challenges.

Jiggs: They are. For instance, the spec tire. I always said I would never agree to a spec tire unless they eliminated the tire deals. Well, when Hoosier came in with that, I agreed that the money that was given would go into the points fund. That’s what we intended to do. What we were going to do in the sprint cars was separate from what we got from them. What we wanted to do, and Jack and I had agreed, we’d give the top-ten in sprints an additional $500 bonus. Well, they didn’t want to do that and I let them vote on it at the driver’s meeting. They wanted it put in the purse so at that time, that’s when we increased the purse. Of course I got drug over the coals over that because I didn’t put any of it on the top. They didn’t tell me where to put it. They just said they wanted the money put in the purse. I’ve got no problem with that. I went from 8^th and back. We added the money we were to get on a weekly basis and put it in the purse. But that’s what they asked for. And I felt that’s where it needed to go. I really did.

And you talked about the time change. That was one of the hardest things. Just that one extra hour, and that sun beating down on that track, it just flat tore us up.

KO: I remember before, the way the sun was, you’d qualify, then you’d bring out the stock cars that would chew it up, and then you’d have a heavy track for the sprint heats.

Jiggs: Now, the sun’s beating on it so hard and stuff, that’s the hottest time of the day. So we really got beat up there. That one hour really made a difference. And that’s just not my opinion. Every promoter you talk to will tell you that it hurt them.

KO: I would agree. I would agree.

Getting that first USAC date, I believe it was Sprintweek for 2002, how crucial was that date to the current state of affairs for Gas City? Word of mouth is something, but then actually having a Sprintweek date where everybody is there, that exponentially increases the word of mouth. In your mind, was that date crucial or do you think the track would have gotten there without that?

Jiggs: Well, at that time I don’t think it was as crucial as it would have been maybe three or four years before. I think it would have been more crucial and more of a help back then. By the time we got the Sprintweek date, we were getting really good crowds and we were getting good car counts. A lot of drivers would come tell me, “Hey Jiggs, we just can’t compete. We can’t run with those guys.”

I was always a qualifier, Kevin. If you would have seen me at a race, I was there to qualify. That was part of racing to me. Once we finally got convinced, not only me but a lot of the other promoters, that it made a difference, we have now got guys that have won sprint car features that would have never probably won a sprint car feature because of the difference. It makes a big difference when your hot dogs start at the back. And truthfully, I’ve got tape after tape that I look at and it is better racing. I feel that it is. I understand qualifying. Qualifying takes care of the hot dogs. It takes care of your big people. I feel that it does. You know what I’m saying? I think that it’s an advantage to them.

KO: How much money does it take, up front, to put on a USAC sprint car event? I’m sure it’s published somewhere.

Jiggs: 27 or 29, I don’t know.

KO: So what kind of a crowd is necessary at Gas City to guarantee a financial success?

Jiggs: Say you put 1,500 in the grandstands at $20 a head. That’s thirty thousand. You’re covered. That’s all you’ve got to have. So then you’ve got all your concessions. Your beer booth. Your souvenir booth. You’ve got all your pits and everything above and beyond 1,500 in the grandstands. I think it’s $27,800…

Taking a Break – Here’s a rare sight. Jiggs is standing still with his headphones off. The guy is always on the move.

KO: So as long as the weather is decent, it’s probably going to be a good night then…

Jiggs: Oh yeah. We’ve not had a bad one with USAC. And it doesn’t necessarily need to be Sprintweek. Our Border Wars show in April does well too. I’m going to be getting with USAC and talking with them about the possibility of a race in the spring. I’m thinking it’s the 18^th of April, but Dave Rudisell is going to have a race at Lawrenceburg. I’m not too sure I wouldn’t like to try one on the 17^th.

KO: It sounds like what was going to happen this year, except Lawrenceburg wasn’t ready.

Jiggs: Yeah. Right. Right.

KO: Is there a big concern for handling those massive crowds of Indiana Sprintweek?

Jiggs: We just do what we have to do. It never fails. We have to end up letting people in the pits and different things in order to compensate for not having the seating capacity.

KO: Is there any significant stress with having to turn people away?

Jiggs: But we have. We’ve had to turn them away in the past. I guess it’s good in a way and it’s horrible in the other. It’s tough to do but the thing is, it’s part of the deal. It’s a win-lose situation. It’s great that you’ve got a crowd like that but that’s just like we were going to have a bike race this year. There’s not been a dirt track race – there’s never been a national race in this area as far as motorcycles. If we would have had that I’m not sure we could handle the crowd because that was in conjunction with the Indy Mile and the Grand Prix down there.

KO: A lot of the outspoken racers and some of the jaded fans like to say that racetracks are only getting rich off the racers and fans. Outside of Eldora, is there any potential to make some decent money at running a racetrack these days with costs so high and margins so low? I don’t think it’s a get rich scheme for somebody to go out there and build or run a racetrack.

Jiggs: Well, it’s a good deal for you if you’ve got some money you want to throw away! Yeah. You know the margins used to be out here (holding hands far apart) and now, you stop and think about the expense that you have to put in. I’m a firm believer that if you shut a racetrack down, I don’t know for sure that you’re ever going to get it back up. I really don’t. That’s what concerns me about Gas City right now. Oh, and I tell you what, the city council and the mayor there in Gas City, I couldn’t ask for anybody to work any better with me than what that group of people have.

KO: They understand the importance of that racetrack to the community and commerce?

Jiggs: It’s just like this. There’s three motels up there at 22 and 69, a quarter of a mile from the track. Go through there on Saturday morning after we’ve raced on a Friday. You can’t get a room there during Speed Week. You can’t get a room there during Midget Week. It brings a lot of revenue into Gas City.

Words of Wisdom – When Jiggs talks, people listen. Here, he offers some kind words to two-time and defending track champ Billy Puterbaugh.

KO: Getting back to this soil issue, it kind of fascinates me. When you first took that job, did you ever have any idea that becoming a soil expert would play such a huge role in operating that place?

Jiggs: I had NO idea. If I had, I probably wouldn’t have ever gotten involved.

KO: What specific things did you learn about working with soil and what one person, other than the soil expert, gave you the best advice? Did any other track operators give you any tips?

Jiggs: Well, we would pick up chunks of soil from other tracks. I brought soil all the way back from East Bay and sent it in and had it tested. I brought it in from DuQuoin and had it tested. I’d send it in through GEM Farm Services. They’d get it tested for me. We were trying to get the right combination that we needed. But you know the guys working the track, they came up with a lot of ideas too that really helped. The soil may be completely different than what they had at East Bay because it’s so sandy down there. You’ve got a different clay up here. It can be a really high loam clay and you can still have problems with it. So what they do and how they prepare it makes a difference. You don’t work a dirt track when you want to work it. You work it when it wants worked. If you do, you’re kidding yourself. I mean, it’s going to bite you. And it’s done that several times, believe me.

KO: So was there one person who gave you the best advice on what kind of soil to get, where to get it, etc.?

Jiggs: Well, we got it through just trial and error. And this one we’ve got right now is probably the best we’ve ever had. Did you get to many races up there this year?

KO: Oh yeah. I got up there about seven times.

Jiggs: And I’ve got to tell you now, I’ve got people complaining, wanting to know what I am going to do about getting all that mud thrown up there in the grandstands. “What are you going to do? You’ve got to get it stopped Jiggs! And another thing, I don’t know what you did to that fence but we can’t see the cars!”

They’ll get on their cell phones up there and they’ll call the office and say, “Hey, we need the fence cleaned.” It’s gotten to be a joke but I’ve got a guy now that when that happens, the office automatically calls him and he stays out in the number two turn – here he comes and the other guy starts at the pits and down the straightaway they go with their shovels cleaning the fence.

You’ve got to do something!

KO: What is the location for the dirt you bring in? Is it local to the area – Grant County?

Jiggs: We get it out of Hartford City. It’s south of Hartford City. We’ve got a pretty good sized vein of it.

KO: And you’ve still got access to some of that?

Jiggs: Oh yeah. In fact, we’ve got some stockpiled there outside of the pits.

KO: So when all that stuff ends up in the stands, what do you do with it?

Jiggs: We just bring more in. We just put thirty loads on it.

KO: There’s no way to recover that stuff in the stands because you’re cleaning it with a power washer?

Jiggs: We just put it in a wheel barrow and dispose of it. Well, by the time you get it up there you’ve got all the trash and everything in it. But we put thirty loads on it at the end of the season and we had put some on back in July I think.

KO: I remember the Midget Week date in 2007. The midget feature was just fantastic and then you guys reworked the track for the sprint cars. But when you guys were watering, it almost smelled like laundry detergent that was coming out of the water truck. Did you guys ever experiment with soap or anything like that?

Jiggs: We tried all that stuff.

KO: Does it work or not?

Jiggs: Well, it’s a very short-term thing. It wasn’t really as successful as what we’ve got now. Yes, we used to use quite a bit of laundry detergent. We’ve tried that. There’s a couple of other things we used that you’re not supposed to but we tried them just to see if they helped and it didn’t. And that’s when we came up with this clay that we’ve got now.

KO: Alright. The ideal surface for racers - is that something totally different than the ideal surface for the fans? The fans, they don’t like dust and they don’t like it to be too muddy. And the racers, they don’t like the last minute track changes that help the fans.

Jiggs: Well, the guys that run on a regular basis with us – they love it. They think it’s perfect. They really like the way the surface is right now. I tell you what. It’s tough to keep the track not being real rough. You’re not going to get it completely smooth but if you can keep it halfway decent and keep the ruts out of it, it helps out.

KO: What’s the best compliment you’ve received in running the racetrack? Has it been the facility? Has it been the surface? What do you get the most gratification from as far as compliments?

Jiggs: Probably the facility…and the surface of the track. Yeah.

KO: Bloomington and Gas City are about 130 miles apart but you developed this solid relationship with Bloomington’s Mike and Judy Miles, working with one another and not scheduling against each other when either of you have bigger shows. Why isn’t it possible for other tracks that run on Saturdays and Sundays to do the same thing?

Jiggs: I’ve not got the answer. Mike and I, from day one, we talked and felt that it was beneficial to both tracks. And I think it has been.

KO: How early into your deal did you talk to him? Did you talk to him first or did he talk to you first?

Jiggs: It was early when I first started out and I’ll be truthful to you. Mike has really helped me. I’d call him and ask him about things. I didn’t know anything about prepping a track, this, that, and whatever. We just seemed to hit it off and we worked together and it’s helped us. If Mike’s got a problem with a date or something, I’ll work with him and try and help him. And I tell you what, I was a member of management at General Motors for 29 years and 7 months. I had thousands of people that I worked with. And I’ve never found anybody I could work with any better than I can work with Mike and Judy Miles. They’re really great people. They are what sprint car racing is about.

KO: Good people.

Jiggs: Yes they are.

KO: Do you think it’s possible for Indiana sprint car racing to continue to grow or has it reached a level where it can’t get any higher?

Jiggs: I think right now it’s just about where it will be maybe for a short period of time and when the economy turns around, it will make a quick upturn again. Like I said earlier, racers are racers.

KO: In my opinion, the poor economy hasn’t seemed to affect the racers or the fans.

Jiggs: Well, it does in isolated cases but at the same time, you’ve got to take into consideration all the young drivers involved. There are so many of them. Like I said awhile ago, you’ve got kinds moving from California or Arizona to Indianapolis, Indiana so they can race all summer versus what they do out there. You’re doing something right. I’m not sure what it is. I’m not going to make that statement. There’s something that you’re doing that is right. Now whether a promoter at this track can get along with the promoter at that track, it may not be true. But there’s something going on with sprint car racing in the state of Indiana that attracts these kids.

KO: Maybe it’s something YOU did?

Jiggs: I don’t know. But look at the kid you’ve got in Schuerenberg. It blows my mind.

You’ve got a purse here that is a very minute, small dollar in comparison to the equipment that they’re pulling in there. I stand there and I watch some of those rigs pull into that pit and I think, “Gas City, Indiana…and look at that! There’s got to be $300,000 pulling in through there right now. I know there’s two cars in that trailer. And I know those cars are 80 to 110 thousand dollars apiece. And that rig’s got to be at least a hundred. There’s over three hundred thousand dollars and they’re gonna race for…”

Well, I’m not going to tell you!

KO: It’s crazy!

Jiggs: It is. It’s an addiction. What did I say earlier?

KO: So what help is there for us to get over it?

Jiggs: I hope none, because I love it! And I tell you, if you don’t love the sport, get out. And that’s what I said as far as my retirement, I want to get out when I’m still really enjoying it because then I can go and do what I want, when I want. And I’m not telling you that if the racetrack…I never say never. If I see a third of the way into the season or halfway into the season something’s not going right, I won’t hesitate one minute to go tell Jack, “Hey bub, let me tell you something…here’s what you’ve got to do.” I’m not going to hesitate. But I don’t think that’s going to happen and I’ll tell you why.

Let me tell you something. Jiggs Thomason is not what made Gas City. What has made Gas City what it is today is the group of volunteers and the employees there. You know I have 14 individuals that don’t receive one penny at that speedway? Did you know the track is prepared 100% by volunteers? Every one of them guys, right on down through the list. And that’s what’s made the track. It’s been that way ever since I’ve been there. I started that the first year I was there. We lost two of them this winter. We had a couple guys that we lost.

KO: But I’m sure they enjoy doing it.

Jiggs: Oh YEAH. You’ve got guys like Phil Canaday. He’s going on 77 years old.

KO: He likes going around in that tractor doesn’t he!

Jiggs: Yeah. And Bob Johnson. But see, those are the guys…Chuck Smith and Milt Moore. Of course Milt passed away. Those are the guys that prepared the track. And then you’ve got Bill Kreigbaum that takes care of the equipment. You know he’s 70…I’m the youngest one in the bunch!

KO: No wonder you have all that energy.

Jiggs: No, I mean really! You know, the personnel, the staff that I’ve got - I go to a lot of other tracks and I’ll put them up against anybody. Even in the concessions and the souvenir booths or whatever. You know?

KO: Do you ever see the possibility of some racetracks closing in the next five to ten years because of the economy or poor car count?

Jiggs: I don’t know. You’ve got a couple of tracks…like Bunker Hill. They are scrambling. Montpelier. Every year they go back and forth. That’s hard to say. I just don’t think that you can lose a dirt track and ever bring one back.

KO: Do you have any thoughts of making Sprintweek even better than what it is now? I’m sure that’s something you’ll look forward to even more now that you’re going to be retired from the racetrack.

Jiggs: I don’t know of a better show anywhere in the country. And they can talk about what goes on here and there. Agreed – it’s great racing. But overall, for what Sprintweek is, I don’t think it can be beat.

KO: I know Mike and everyone that’s in the Sprintweek fold; they like to keep it to a minimum.

Jiggs: Well, yeah. And they do that for a reason. Not only for the competitors – it beats up on you to do what those guys are doing and also, the distance involved for the fans. For Sprintweek this year – I’m not going to open it. Lawrenceburg is going to open it on a Friday night. I’m going to run a Saturday at Gas City. Well, I’m not going to do it but somebody is. Then Sunday is in Kokomo. And that makes a straight shot. I think they open it Wednesday at Terre Haute because they want to have the gathering for all the drivers and stuff – see they had that a couple of times and that was great. We need to get back to that. When we had our meeting down at USAC, we talked about that. I think that’s a good deal. Starting it back the second week is the same way and it’s going to consist of seven races. And that’s another thing we did for the last week – ending it on a Saturday so it gives Sunday for the people to get back home.

KO: So all those gas stations, restaurants, and hotels off exit 59 of I-69, they seemed go grow right along with your track. Do you feel that the racetrack was the reason behind the growth of that area or do you think it’s just a good stopping point between Fort Wayne and Indy?

Jiggs: I think it’s more the stopping point. You know, that’s just like what the gal at the Burger King says. I’ll go in there every now and then and she’ll donate me a meal. She says, “Boy, you know on Friday nights Jiggs, we have to have extra help.” It’s the same thing with the Village Pantry. It benefits them but I don’t know that it helped them as far as their growth or anything, but it has brought them a lot of revenue.

KO: When you decided that you were going to retire and there was some question about the facility being a racetrack next year, did the community and did the mayor come to you with concerns that this needs to stay a racetrack?

Jiggs: Well, they wanted a racetrack because of the revenue it brings in. And I went in to talk to the mayor and in fact, I tried to get to him before I ever made the announcement about what I intended to do. They know that it’s a benefit to the community.

KO: Part of the deal of being a racetrack promoter and operator is having to deal with A LOT of negativity and criticism. I guess that can come from running any sort of business. You said you worked in management at GM for about 29 of your 30 years there. How did you learn to handle the negativity and criticism – was it because of your time at GM or are you just the type of guy where that stuff bounces off and you take things constructively?

Jiggs: Well, I don’t think that it bounces off. I think the constructive part of it is good. I think what it is more than anything is the way you address it. It doesn’t actually bounce off if you address it and discuss it.

It’s just like making mistakes. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve got no problem with an individual making mistakes as long as you learn from them. But as far as the criticism, I understand the drivers being upset because when they’re in there, they get that adrenaline pumping.

That’s just like in the pits when I’ve got a problem back there, and they call me, that’s probably the slowest I move all night. I want to give them time you know! When those pit stewards call me, what I need to do is stop and talk to Kevin and ask how the family is doing, what all is going on. Well I don’t want to rush back there and have somebody thump on me! And I understand those guys. They worked all week to get that car ready and somebody bangs ‘em and they think it’s intentional and 99% of it is not intentional. I tell you, I had thousands and thousands of people work for me at GM and I never, ever found anybody in that group of people that worked for me over the years that would compare for being as tightly knit together as what racers are. The racing community is a unique group. Now whether you want to believe it or not, but believe me, it is. Some of the things I’ve seen them do, I’ve seen them out there ready to kill each other and a half an hour later, they are back there helping each other out. Or the next night you’d see them at another speedway or Sunday at Kokomo and they’re all buddy-buddy.

KO: In June of this year, maybe two or three weeks before Sprintweek, you had a pretty bad fall from the water truck. How bad were those injuries and did that recovery period make you think that maybe you didn’t need to be doing this stuff anymore?

Jiggs: See, I’ve had two hip replacements. I’ve had both of my hips replaced. And when I fell off of that truck, I landed on my left shoulder and my head and that’s what helped me – because I landed on my head, where it wouldn’t hurt me! And the doctor said, “Jiggs, I’m going to tell you right now, keep doing what you’re doing. If you would have landed on one of those hips and shattered it, we couldn’t do a thing for you. You’d have been crippled for the rest of your life.” And you take older people - when you hear about them falling and breaking a hip and they don’t last, yes that makes a difference. Well, not only that, but being 69 years old in February, that’s getting up there

KO: So you want to have some quality of life?

Jiggs: Well, yeah, and I think what upsets me more than anything is that I cannot do the things that I used to do and I cannot keep up with these young kids and that really gets to me. It (the fall from the water truck) didn’t help me any.

(A boxing bell rings in the background signaling that food is ready.)

KO: That little bell reminded me of the start of the feature at Gas City. Is Danny Williams (Gas City’s announcer) here with a tape recorder?

Anyway, I just wondered about the true effect of that fall because a lot of people didn’t know about that. And yet, you were there the week before Sprintweek on the fourth of July with a bandage on your leg, walking around and doing work. You were supposed to be at home resting.

Jiggs: Nawww…you’re not going to feel any better doing that. That’s just like when you feel bad. Are you going to feel any worse if you’re out doing something or laying at home?

KO: Yeah, that’s true.

Jiggs: It beat up on me there for awhile.

KO: So how bad were the injuries?

Jiggs: I just had to have 20 some stitches in the one and seven or nine in the other. I had a couple of cuts that were pretty bad.

KO: In your legs?

Jiggs: In my calves, yes.

KO: Ouch. Just thinking about it makes my cringe. I don’t like needles or stitches.

Jiggs: I went back to the track that night. Yeah, I came back to make sure everything was going right. I didn’t want to take a chance on it not happening.

KO: And it turned out ok that night?

Jiggs: Oh yeah. We were alright.

KO: So when you first took over in ’97, what were your own personal goals for the track?

Jiggs: To turn it around – you know. To make it supposedly profitable.

KO: Naturally over the years, I’m sure those goals changed.

Jiggs: Yeah. Like I told you earlier, we lost our butt that first year. It was about the middle of the second year before we really had things turned. You know the biggest car count I had that first year was 62 cars.

KO: Overall? Total?

Jiggs: Yeah.

KO: And now you can get 62 sprint cars there an opening night or towards the end of the year.

Jiggs: Yeah. But you know it seemed like there it continued to grow, grow, and grow and then all of a sudden we met that plateau and then we just tried to maintain that.

KO: So do you have any particular Gas City memory that will stand out above all others? It’s probably hard to nail down just one – maybe a banquet, an award, something?

Jiggs: Well, what I’ll remember more than anything is the group of people that I had that I worked with. The whole group. I’m not one for individual things because like I said, I’m not the one who made Gas City what it is. It’s that group of people and those are the people that deserve the credit. And you know, people are not appreciative of what they’ve got. Fans aren’t. I better reword that. There are certain ones, regardless of what you do and how hard you try, you’re not going to satisfy them. It doesn’t make any difference what you do. Like I said, I’ve got complaint after complaint after complaint about dust. We turn around and we get it where we think we got it whipped and we’re holding it down a little bit and then guess what…

KO: Too muddy?

Jiggs: I get complaints because the track’s too heavy. But the drivers love it so you’ve satisfied somebody. And the thing is, I look at it this way. I don’t treat anybody any different than I’d want to be treated myself. I think if you live on that philosophy and you try to do that…and I’ve tried to be fair with people. It’s like I’ve said in the past, there’s nobody that’s made more mistakes at Gas City Speedway than me.

KO: But you learned.

Jiggs: Yeah. You learn from ‘em and they’re beneficial.

KO: I went to a few of those Gas City banquets and they were a lot of fun. I remember sucking the helium from the balloons and speaking on behalf of Tony Elliott. That was Joe Roush’s idea by the way. I don’t know that Tony liked that, but I went out to California a week later and he told me he heard about that and he laughed. But some of those banquets were legendary. Brandon Petty singing karaoke…I even heard someone threw a telephone out of a window and they didn’t even get billed for it. I’m wondering if you picked up the tab for that.

Jiggs: We took care of that. It wasn’t only a phone. It was a fire extinguisher…

KO: I think one of those in the guilty party always wondered if Jiggs took care of that.

Jiggs: Yeah, we took care of it. As long as they had a good time.

KO: So how much fun did you have at those banquets?

Jiggs: Oh, it was great seeing everybody enjoying themselves the way they did. But it was a task to do it and it was sure nice when it was time to go to bed. It always worked out pretty good.

KO: So they never got too far out of hand?

Jiggs: No. In fact, everywhere I had one, I told them that we needed no help from local authorities and we could take care of our own problem. And it’s still that way. The one we just had…they have a tendency to get intoxicated and they get to thinking about this, that, and whatever, but it works out. I’ll put it this way: we’ve never had any deaths at ‘em so we’re doing all right.

KO: That’s a success.

Jiggs: And I’m not too sure that it couldn’t have happened.

KO: I’ve been there for a few and wondered how you went back to that hotel and asked for another one!

Jiggs: We always tried to keep the number of people around 250. And we sold it out every year. Every year we’d sell our banquet out. If you keep it to a smaller crowd like that…if you get too big, you can’t control ‘em.

KO: All throughout this interview and whenever you’re at the track, you are so quick to thank your staff for all the success. But of course, your wife Nona, she’s been there along the way too. How did she feel when you took over at Gas City in ’97? I remember you said she didn’t even know what was going on.

Jiggs: No, she didn’t realize that I was over there to talk about running the racetrack.

KO: So when you broke the news to her, what was her thought?

Jiggs: Oh, she supported me on it. Yeah, she supported me and she’s worked with me. And in fact, I tell you, and I’ve told Jack this and others that it’s going to be harder to replace her at that racetrack than what it is me.

KO: I’ve talked to a few people myself, one of them Kevin Eckert, and he’s like, “Is there a nicer lady than Nona?” Nobody is going to be able to fill her shoes.

Jiggs: You know, she goes over there on Friday morning and when there’s rain forecast or something, she answers the phone. We don’t put it on a recording. We try to keep the calls moving through. She takes care of all the pay, all the billing and everything. So it’s going to take something to replace her.

KO: So how does she feel now that you want to retire? I know she’s supportive of everything you do.

Jiggs: Oh, she agrees and she’s ready too. We’ve been there 12 years and you know I’ve talked to some of these other guys and unless they are track owners, 12 years is a pretty good stint at promoting. I mean look at Kokomo, Lawrenceburg, and some of the other tracks. Bloomington and Paragon are about the only ones to have the same staff. Twelve years is pretty good.

KO: Are there things that you wanted to improve but never got the chance?

Jiggs: Well, one thing that I would have liked to have gotten done that I didn’t get done, on the west end of the main bleachers there’s room for 640 more seats. We extended the east end and I would have liked to have extended the west end. That would have given us up to right at 3,400 people versus 2,800. I would like to have done that. And, at one time I would liked to have moved the pits to the east end, where we’d never have a push truck on the track. We could run them right down the back…

KO: What things will you miss the most about being in charge at Gas City? Am I right in assuming that you’ll say the people?

Jiggs: That’s it. That’s just when I retired from GM, I didn’t miss the job, I missed the people because of all of them that I worked with over the years.

KO: But you still get to see a bunch of them?

Jiggs: Oh yeah. The people from the plant, they’re there at the racetrack every Friday night. Or I see them here, there, or whatever. And like I said, it ends up internal. What I’ve agreed to, if we sell it, I’ll spend the first six races there. If one rains out, I’ll still be there for the sixth race. The same way, if we lease it. But if someone internally gets it, then I’m not going to be there. It wouldn’t be fair to that individual. Because the first thing people are going to say is, “Well where’s Jiggs?”

No. That’s not going to happen. Well, I’m not going to tell you that I’m not going to be there. I may be out in the number two turn sitting in my truck, but I’ll not be involved in any activity that’s going on because that wouldn’t be fair to him. Now, the next day on Saturday if they’ve got to have help for this, that, or whatever, I’ll be there. And I’ve told everybody, if one of the guys that prepares the track, if they want to take a week off…like Phil this last year, he took a week and followed Midget Week…ok…Bob was off for seven weeks. I replaced ‘em. That’s no big deal. If one of ‘em wants to take a week and I don’t have any plans, I wouldn’t hesitate for one minute to work as a volunteer.

KO: So this ultimate retirement, what sorts of things do you have planned? Races, places that you haven’t gotten to visit in the last 12 years…

Jiggs: There you go! And yeah, I’ll still go to the races. I’ll be around the racetrack. I may not be at Kokomo every Sunday you know. I might be other places too because I won’t have to be right back at the track the next day.

KO: Are there any other things that you really want to do?

Jiggs: We want to take some trips. And we want to go out here and there. Well, we’re going to go. We won’t have to worry about being back Wednesday or Thursday or Friday.

KO: The first name Jiggs – I’m guessing that there’s another first name on your birth certificate, or is there?

Jiggs: I’m not sure I had a birth certificate. I was hatched!

KO: I always wondered if that’s your real first name or if it’s just a nickname through your GM days.

Jiggs: No. No, no. I had that long before I worked at the plant. I had that when I was about that high. But that’s just a nickname.

KO: So the real first name…or do you even want to say it?

Jiggs: No!

KO: We’ll just keep it a secret then. Nona recently gave me a newspaper clipping from a 1969 Marion newspaper where you were a softball manager and it even listed you as Jiggs there.

So for the people you haven’t already thanked, is there anybody you want to call out in particular?

Jiggs: Well, people like yourself and Dave (Argabright) and the guys that do the articles in the papers. It’s just a great group of people. It takes them all Kevin, not just one. It takes a whole group to really do what needs to be done, and is being done, in sprint car racing. And you know, we talked basically about sprint car racing. There’s a lot of people who complain about the other classes. But let me tell you something, without those other classes, I’m not sure you’ll have sprint car racing.

KO: You might not be able to afford it.

Jiggs: That’s right. Let me tell you something. People need to sit back and take another look at what it costs. I tell you right now, counting the purse and everything else, before we ever put a car on the racetrack, what do you think we’ve got going out expense-wise? Now I’m talking the purse, the insurance, the people, the taxes, the water, the lights.

KO: I would have to guess between ten and twenty thousand.

Jiggs: Well, that last figure was closer to it than the first one was. And that’s to even think about having a race. Well, you stop and think, our raw purse is $11,800. You’ve got your insurance and I’m going to tell you – I said it takes us all, like you reporters and stuff. It takes the insurance people as well and I couldn’t ask for anyone better to work with than Larry Rice from K&K Insurance.

KO: He’s a racer.

Jiggs: Yeah. He’s great to work with. But you take your insurance. Our taxes – we got this big tax raise three years ago – went up $5,310 a year. That’s getting pretty close to five hundred bucks a month. You figure your help, the lights, the water, the whole nine yards, and it costs a large amount of money before we ever made that first dollar. And that’s providing we don’t tear up any equipment.

KO: So that just proves that you’ve got to have those support classes to pay the bills.

Jiggs: Oh yes. Sure you do. And a lot of people, they complain, “Well, why don’t they just eliminate ‘em and run nothing but sprint cars.” But let me tell you something. Those guys in the modifieds and street stocks, they’re just as proud of what they’re doing and what they’ve invested as the sprint car guys. I understand where those people are coming from. They are a unique group. There’s no doubt in anybody’s mind. But you still need those other classes.

KO: So anything else you can think of in your twelve years that I didn’t touch on? Any funny stories or anything?

Jiggs: No…I tell you what, it was harder for me to do what I did by retiring from there (Gas City) than what it was when I retired from GM.

KO: I bet!

Jiggs: Oh yeah. It was harder. It was. But you asked how I could adjust to putting up with the criticism and stuff out there. You do what I did at GM for that number of years and you deal with the UAW and upper management – going over there and listening to these racers, that’s a piece of cake.

KO: And you wonder why the auto industry is in a shambles…

Jiggs: Oh yeah. That was like a day off going over there (Gas City). You know?

KO: Anyway, with this article I was hoping to update the people on the status of Gas City while at the same time provide some additional information about you, giving myself an opportunity to thank you for all of your years.

Jiggs: Oh, I appreciate it. And I appreciate guys like you that don’t get the credit that you should get.

KO: It’s kind of a thankless job. But a lot like you, I do it because I love it.

Jiggs: That’s it. But that’s just like the internet. I answer every e-mail that we get and I’ve got a gal, Barb Nichols - there’s someone you need to mention along with Dick and Helen Nichols. Barb takes care of the internet and that family, those three, they do all of the painting there at the track. Any cleanup that I need…

But the internet, to me, has really hurt the sport. Some of the stuff that comes out, people can’t be thinking. They just blurt it out.

KO: There’s no filter.

Jiggs: No. They just blast you and that’s it. When it started out, the chat line on there was just great. You got a lot of good information. And then it just became somewhere for everyone to whine on. And the bad part about it is, you hear enough of that on Friday night. Why would you want to hear more of that?

KO: I try to keep things positive, to an extent. I want to be able to speak the truth, but there’s a way you can word it.

Jiggs: And at least have a little tact about it. But, that’s people and we’re all different.

KO: Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. If you don’t have anything else, I guess we’ll put a wrap on this.

Jiggs: Sounds good to me.