NEETS ENDURO SERIES WILL NOT BE IN OPERATION IN 2012 AND PERHAPS LONGER

Checkered Flag Waves for the NEETS Series... Story by: Joe Cutri December 22, 2012 After 10 years of racing, a handful of states, nearly a dozen speedways, thousands of drivers and countless fans and supporters, the checkered flag will wave as it has been decided that the series will be taking a hiatus from racing. The North East Enduro Tour Series (NEETS) has just completed one of its most intense seasons of racing, hosting 20 events at three different speedways in two states. Crowning eight champions and sustaining a strong following was seemingly insignificant to the record setting banquet with the highest attendance ever. This decision was not made easily; however we the promoters and officials believe the time is right. Speaking more as a friend of the drivers and less as a promoter, Erin and I have felt this coming on for the past year or so now and we feel that the best thing we can do for the series and the sport is to go out on top after the most successful season of racing. Erin and I stepped up to take this position from Series Creator and original promoter, Billy Bartley, in the early part of 2007. Since then, we were forced to rebuild the series to be one of the best. We've ran things as 'officially' as possible while still retaining the knowledge of knowing what our decisions felt like from a driver's standpoint. Nearly all of the NEETS Officials were enduro drivers at one point or another. We always tried to focus on what was best for the drivers above what was best for us. Money was never the goal…never the reason. We became promoters for the love of the sport and the love of the drivers. We first met through racing and we have met some of our closest friends through the series. The decision to take a break at this time has nothing to do with issues or problems with the series. We feel that it is time for us to finally do the 'family thing'. Countless drivers and friends have come and gone to focus more on their own families and Erin and I have never had that opportunity to do so. In the course of a racing season, we would be so overstressed with racing and finances that starting a family has been nothing more than a dream. Focusing on starting a family and planning for children is impossible for us to do together when we are tied up on working two full time jobs, our typical 9-5 careers and the series. It would have only been a matter of time before something would have to give. Before it comes down to it being our marriage, we feel this is the best course of action. Our drivers are not being thrown to the wayside as there are plenty of speedways that host enduro racing. Pennsylvania based speedways Big Diamond Speedway (Minersville) intends on hosting several enduro races after taking last season off, Mountain Speedway (Hazelton) will continue to host enduro races, and Susquehanna Speedway (York Haven) also hosts enduro events. New York based speedways Riverhead Raceway (Riverhead) and Black Rock Speedway (Dundee) both host enduro events. As mentioned above, the series will be taking a hiatus; we have not specified a set amount of time we will be taking away from racing. This hiatus may be for only a year…it may be for more. We have left a foot in the door with Grandview Speedway for possible future events. Assistant Promoter, Kenny Rogers, is an absolute stand-up guy in our books, he has been one of the main reasons that the series has been successful these past few years and a shining example of a good businessman. He has helped the series in more ways behind the scenes than we could begin to explain. He has welcomed us to come back to racing whenever we feel that the time is right. The NEETS website will remain active in the future. We will continue to utilize the website to advertise special events, charity events and such. We plan on stepping away from racing, however we still have intentions of hosting a few 'get-togethers' here and there to stay in contact with the numerous friends we've all made throughout this past decade. At this time, Erin and I would like to thank everyone for their involvement with the series. Through the good times and the bad, the high car counts and the lows, the perfect warm sunny days and the sweltering heat , frigid cold and downpours, we've been through it all for and right alongside our drivers. You, the drivers, have been the ultimate reason we originally decided to become promoters, the reason we strived to keep the series alive in its darkest hour. We've stressed, sweat and bled to keep you all racing, wherever and whenever possible. This series does not belong to us, it belongs to the drivers. If it wasn't for our drivers we would have never had a series. I cannot say it enough for everyone to understand, but the drivers are our reason for racing. We will continue to stay in contact and you will all see our faces from time to time. This is not the end and it is not goodbye…let's just say we'll see you around. From Erin, Cindy, Eric, Jess, Josh, Gary, Pat, Ryan, Henry, Sue, Jenn, Cory and myself...from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

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