Thoughts From Friday Night’s CRSA Sprint Race At Albany-Saratoga

Column By: TOBY LAGRANGE / RPW – GLOVERSVILLE, NY – The 2017 racing season has been an up and down one for me. It started with confirmation of a return home, so to speak. From there, the peaks turned to valleys and then back again. This past Friday night I was able to climb back up on the peak and do something that I have never done – visit a track as a visiting announcer.

Sure, I have called a few races at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway before (the last being a Street Stock event last September), however this past Friday night I was able to return to the track as the fill-in announcer for the CRSA Sprint Car Series. It was a different and awesome experience. I was nervous at first, since I hadn’t visited the track at all this season and had never called a full, Sprint Car program before but the anxiousness quickly went away once I took the microphone.

Once hot laps were completed I felt like I belonged and once the final checkered flag waved over the 25-lap A-Main winner Josh Pieniazek, I remember thinking to myself that this was the most fun I have had at a racetrack since I shared the Fonda Speedway booth and microphone with Jim King and Shane Andrews back in September of 2015. That statement was not designed to knock anyone at Albany-Saratoga or any other track or event that I attended last season…far from it.

The truth is, the 2016 season is one that I would like to forget. After the promoter change at the place I have called home since I was three years old and the prospect of not being there every Saturday night for the first time since 1982, I truly was hurting every time I attended a race. I wasn’t myself at all and when you add in the stress of my wife and I expecting our first child, my mind and heart just were not in the racing game. Once the season ended and our little Sammy came into the world, I began to focus on the 2017 season with a renewed spark for racing.

You see now it wasn’t just about myself. It was about my family and creating a path that my son could potentially follow in someday if he so chooses. It was about having fun again and doing what I love. It wasn’t long before I went from looking down from the peaks to up at them but the season went on and I did the best I could, with the best smile I could muster up.

The racing itself was fabulous as always at Albany-Saratoga and I would quickly learn that the staff and members of the CRSA Sprint Car Series are equally as fabulous. It has been quite a while since I have worked with such a professional group and one that made me feel right at home, even if it was only for one night.

The regular announcer for the CRSA Sprint Car Series is Ed Kochersberger, a Staff Sargent in the United States Army Reserve. His military duties kept him away from the Great Race Place Friday evening. He extended the invitation to me to fill in, an invitation that I quickly accepted. I owe a big thank you to Ed for thinking of me when the series needed an announcer and an even bigger thank you for serving our country.

As I began to make the 45-minute drive home from Albany-Saratoga (A drive I have made hundreds of times over the past 20 years) I began to think about the night, what I did wrong and what I could learn from the night. As Jim King has told me over and over, make sure you learn something each night you take to the microphone.

It didn’t take long for me to compile a mental list of what I had learned. On the announcing side of things, I learned just how quickly and difficult it is to call a Sprint Car race at a fast, four tenths of a mile track like Albany-Saratoga. It is much different than on a half-mile, which I am used to. It took a little while to get used to the flow of things. I also learned how important it is to do your homework before you get to the track and after you get there. Thankfully that is something I always do, as it again was something that Jim King has instilled in me.

I also learned something else, something that is very important…something that if I ever get the chance to run a racetrack (or series) again, I will make sure is in place. This is professionalism. After the CRSA A-Main was complete I headed to the pit area and the series trailer. Once there I again was met with a very nice group of officials, racers and crew members who were eager to hear about my thoughts on the nights activities and how I enjoyed my night. After the series director shook my hand and thanked me for filling in, it was clear they had done their homework.

In addition, I would like to thank Series Director Greg Hixson, owner Mike Emhof and Technical Director Mike VanDusen for the opportunity and guidance during the night. A special congratulation for VanDusen on his induction into the Empire Super Sprint Hall of Fame. Also, a big thank you to Lyle DeVore for having the CRSA and myself in what was a challenging night thanks to Mother Nature and to track announcers Danny Martin and Jay Severson for their hospitality.

As I write this column I have no firm announcing plans for the remainder of the 2017 season although I do have something in the works. The next race on my schedule is Super DIRT Week at the Oswego Speedway in October where I will be once again apart of the on-camera crew with Race Pro Weekly. There may be a trip planned to the Airborne Speedway in a couple weeks as a fan, we will see.

Despite the peaks and valleys of my season I will always remember the most important thing. Have fun, even if you haven’t reached the peak you are trying to get to yet.