T2x

John's story is not unique. The glory days of the well paid, highly skilled, professional crewchief/throttlemen started to wain well over 10 years ago. The iconic champions of the sport like Bobby Moore, Bill Sirois, Dave Gilmore, Harold "Smitty" Smith, Errol Lanier, Richie Powers, Bobby Idoni, Wayne Vickers, Don Pruett, Bob Saccenti, Joe Imprescia, and Jerry Gilbreath have either (semi) retired or passed away. There are very few true pros remaining and all of them have reduced schedules and/or perform Poker Run duties for the few owners perceptive enough to reach out to them. It is a true tribute to JT and Steve ("MBE") that their services are still in sufficient demand to keep them relatively busy. But the sad fact is these two stand head and shoulders over the rest of today's competitors with very few exceptions (Gary Ballough, the Geico boys, Joey Gratton. among them).

The reasons for this are many, but the economy and simple ignorance lead the charge. In the world of high performance boating most of today's owners and competitors think the sport started the day they arrived, and have little interest in what or who came before. They have no concept of the speed, handling and lap times buried in their investment as vast resources of knowledge, skill, set up, and talent have been squandered and replaced by high dollar horsepower, paint jobs and bravado.

A bad trade IMHO......

Congratulations on a great career Johnny, we may never see your kind again.

T2x