TRIBUTE TO OUR CREW CHIEF
WE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PAY TRIBUTE TO OUR CREW CHIEF, THE LATE ERNIE RUMFORD (SHARON'S DAD).
WELL, IF IT WASN'T FOR ERNIE, I PROBABLY WOULD NEVER HAVE STARTED RACING. BACK WHEN SHARON'S MOM JUDY WAS ALIVE AND CONOR WAS JUST A TODDLER, WE WOULD ALL PILE IN THE SUBURBAN AND HEAD TO MINDEN TO WATCH THE ICE RACES. WE USED TO TALK ABOUT HOW IT WOULD BE COOL TO BE OUT THERE, SLIDING AROUND, VYING FOR TRACTION, AND HAVING LOTS OF FUN. NOTHING EVER CAME OF IT UNTIL THE YEAR AFTER JUDY PASSED, WE WERE AT ERNIE'S FOR THE WEEKEND AND HE HANDED ME A RULE BOOK FOR ICE RACING. HE HAD TAKEN IT UPON HIMSELF TO GET ONE FOR ME BECAUSE HE 'JUST KNEW' I WOULD WANT ONE. WE STARTED GOING THROUGH THE RULES AND FOUND THEM TO BE VERY STRAIGHT FORWARD, AND I DECIDED TO GO FOR IT!! I MENTIONED IT TO WAYNE CHRISTIE AND HE TOLD ME OF HIS OLD CAR THAT I COULD HAVE THAT WAS AN ICE RACER. SO, NEW YEAR'S WEEKEND OF 1999, WE DROVE TO MINDEN AND DUG THE CAR OUT OF ABOUT 3 FEET OF SNOW, DRAGGED IT BACK TO ERNIE'S PLACE, AND STARTED WORKING ON IT.
I REGISTERED FOR THE 1999 SEASON, AND HAVEN'T STOPPED SINCE. FOR THE FIRST TWO SEASONS ERNIE WOULD RIDE WITH ME AS MY PASSENGER, AND BE THE 'EYES' IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD. I REMEMBER WAITING IN THE MOCK GRID LINE-UP AND LOOKING OVER AT ERNIE, WHO WAS BEING RATHER QUIET, AND REALIZING HE WAS HAVING A LITTLE 'PRE-RACE SNOOZE'. I USED TO ASK HIM HOW HE DID IT, BECAUSE I WAS A BUNDLE OF NERVES, AND HE WOULD REPLY THAT HE WASN'T THE DRIVER, SO IF ANYTHING WENT WRONG IT WASN'T HIS FAULT. HE HAD NOTHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT. THIS ALWAYS MADE ME LAUGH. IMAGINE FALLING ASLEEP IN A RACE CAR?!!
AFTER THE SECOND SEASON AND WITH A CHANGE OF CARS, WE DECIDED THAT ERNIE WOULD DRIVE AS SECOND DRIVER. WE BUILT THE NEW CAR WITH HIS HEIGHT IN MIND, RE-WELDED THE SEAT TRACKS AS FAR BACK AS THEY WOULD GO AND BENT THE SHIFTER ROD SO THAT IT WAS MORE ON THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE VEHICLE. THEN, IN DECEMBER, A MONTH BEFORE THE SEASON STARTED, ERNIE HAD HIS FIRST HEART ATTACK. THE DOC TOLD HIM HE WAS NOT DRIVING A RACE CAR AND WASN'T EVEN ALLOWED TO PASSENGER ANY MORE. SO, FAITHFULLY EVERY WEEKEND, ERNIE WOULD BE STANDING ON THE SNOW BANK WATCHING FROM THE SIDELINES. I WONDER SOMETIMES IF THAT WAS REALLY MORE FUN FOR HIM THAN DRIVING WOULD HAVE BEEN.
ONE SUMMER EVENING IN 2001, THE FOUR OF US WERE AT PETERBOROUGH SPEEDWAY WATCHING THE SATURDAY NIGHT RACES AND THEY HAD A NEW CLASS OF CARS OUT. THEY WERE CALLED MINI STOCKS. THEY KEPT ADVERTISING ON THE LOUD SPEAKER THAT THEY WERE SEEKING NEW ENTRIES FOR THE BRAND NEW CLASS, SO AFTER THE RACES, WE ASKED THE OWNER OF THE TRACK FOR A RULE BOOK. WE TOOK IT BACK TO ERNIE'S AND STARTED GOING THROUGH IT. TWO WEEKENDS LATER WE HAD OUR FIRST MINI STOCK BUILT, REGISTERED AND ROLLING OUT ONTO THE TRACK! ERNIE WAS ALWAYS THERE RIGHT BESIDE ME, BUILDING, WELDING, GIVING ADVICE AND HELPING WHEN
