YOUNG LIONS ROAR – SEMI-PROS TOO - OVER STANCILL’S MOVE
John Stancill Moves To Young Lions For National Points; Ragan Claims 50% Points Reduction
By Jason Buckley
(Editor’s Note: The quotes within this column are the views and opinions of the individuals quoted. Their views are not necessarily those of LegendsNation.com, its sponsors or other contributors.)
In racing, drivers and teams do what they can do to gain a competitive advantage over the competition. In the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, manipulating the rules is something very common, and recently was highlighted when Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were nailed to the wall for their teams manipulating the ‘Car of Tomorrow’ body lines they thought were within the grey area of the rules. Unfortunately for them, NASCAR didn’t approve of their efforts and slapped both teams with hefty money and points fines as well as suspending their crew chiefs.
In the Legends and Bandolero nation, drivers and teams work just as hard as the NASCAR competitors to push that envelope and find a hole in the rules they can use to their advantage. Also like NASCAR, 600 Racing and INEX keep a close eye on what is going on in the garage, on the track and everything in between to insure the integrity of the sport and that rules are being adhered to.
John Stancill sitting on his car. (LN Photo)
Sometimes though, things cause quite a stir, like what happened during the fourth round of the Summer Shootout at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (NC) with John Stancill’s Nick Pistone Racing team. Right or wrong, the situation created a huge buzz that could be heard throughout the garage area. Let us explain.
Semi-Pro driver John Stancill arrived at the track last Tuesday with something different on his car. In addition to the “S” on the front of his car signifying he is a Semi-Pro driver, a “Y” also accompanied it, which indicated the Young Lions division. 14-year old Stancill, who was in the Semi Pro national points lead heading into the race, decided to move to what INEX deems is the 12-16 year old inexperienced group. He admittedly did this to aid his run at the national title.
“We decided to use the Summer Shootout as an advantage for us in the national points,” said Stancill, who had 13 wins in the Semi-Pro division this year going into last week’s event at LMS. “In the Young Lions, the points count as Semi Pro points for the nationals. So we felt it would be a whole lot easier to run the Young Lions and get more points for the nationals.
“Basically we are all focused on national points, which is why we switched to Young Lions. We called 600 and asked them about it and they said it was fine. They said all the rules apply to it, so that is the way it goes. I am not going down there because I cannot compete with the other Semi Pros. I have been out there and beat Pros. This is just a points deal right now.”
Unfortunately for Stancill, before he was able to run his feature he was greeted in the garage by Ken Ragan, 600 Racing’s General Manager. Ragan informed Stancill that while he had no control over him changing classes during the Shootout, he would only be receiving half points towards the national Semi Pro championship, not full points as he thought.
(top and bottom) Nick Pistone (left) and Ken Ragan (right) had a discussion over the rules. (LN Photo)
“I really didn’t know anything about that (half points),” said Stancill. “We looked on the Internet and we saw another Young Lion, he finished about third or fourth out here in the Summer Shootout, and he got full points for the Young Lions and he got the same exact points for Semi Pro. So we thought he got full Semi Pro national points for running Young Lions. That is what we thought we would do. But he (Ken Ragan) comes over here and says that they are wrong, they are half points. Basically we wasted a whole week coming out here for the Summer Shootout to race the Young Lions. We thought it was full credit and now they are saying it is half credit. “
Nick Pistone, owner of Nick Pistone Racing, oversees Stancill’s racing operations and helps guide his still young career. He also had a discussion with Ragan, and it got heated at one point.
“The last three weeks I have been looking at the points,” said Pistone. “I check the points every week because he (Stancill) is leading national points, and I found that at the Summer Shootout they were giving Young Lions the Young Lions points and also giving them Semi Pro points. So, rather than racing 50 cars, we moved John down to Young Lions. Anybody would do it if they knew what they were doing.
“We went out there and we were fast. We really didn’t tell anybody, we just did it. Everybody saw that Stancill was running Young Lions and they went and complained. So now of course 600 Racing is going to change the points system. He (Ken Ragan) said the points are wrong all of a sudden and they are going to change it. So, we will just go run Semi Pro again. It really doesn’t matter because we will run on the weekends and win, but I was trying to take advantage of the system and they shut it down.”
John Stancill added a "Y" to the front of his car to race in the Young Lions division, then won the feature.
Lori Stancill, John’s mother, also had a discussion in the garage with Ken Ragan. Lori didn’t understand why now it is a problem when she feels the points have been manipulated for a long time.
“Our side of the situation is that we feel that the national points have always been won by manipulating them,” said Lori Stancill. “We were very aware of Craig Goess winning three national championships because we traveled with the man. He choose to race were there were only five Pros. He would get 100 points for the win. He manipulated the system just like Buddy Goudy in Texas. We are well aware of when he won the Semi-Pro points championship that he manipulated the system owning all five cars he raced against every week. But it seems that when we found a loophole that you could run Young Lions and receive a 100 point Semi Pro win, which was already printed on the Internet and we checked it out before we chose to make that move, but now suddenly when we are in it you only get 50 points (for the win). Ken Ragan specifically told me that he would not allow the national points to be manipulated; meaning he figured out what we were doing and all of a sudden now he is going to change the rules. But he didn’t change them when Buddy Goudy was doing it and he didn’t change them when Craig Goess was doing it, but maybe I need to give him a Greenville Toyota truck like Craig Goess did.”
John Stancill (left) and Ken Ragan (center) listens as Lori Stancill (right) explains her side. (LN Photo)
While the Stancill family and Pistone were fired up over the controversial situation, Ragan didn’t seem too phased by it.
“I wouldn’t really call it a controversy,” said Ragan. “There are two classes, actually three classes that he is eligible to run in. He can either run in Pro, Semi Pro or Young Lions. He really can’t get in there and start back-tracking, especially once he goes to Pro; he is there to stay. But going from Semi Pro to Young Lions is probably somewhat ok. That is not the intent of the class, but our practice has been the Young Lions winner gets half points when it comes to Semi Pro national points.
“Within the Semi Pro division we have young Lions group that is kind of a rookie group. It is kind of like our rookie of the year program. When you run the Semi Pro as a 12 year to 16 year old, you get Young Lion points and Semi Pro points. If a track decided to set up a separate Young Lions division, then the winner of that A-Main gets 50% of what the winner of the Semi Pro division gets toward national points. That has been the practice.
“We will have to talk about it at 600 tomorrow and discuss it with Darrell at INEX and make the right call on the national points. (EDITOR’S NOTE: LN has called INEX & 600 Racing regarding the issue after last week’s Shootout event, but have not received a return call.) But what I have been accustomed to and what I have seen is that the winner of that Young Lions division gets 50 points, not 100 points towards the national points. Now track points, he might get the same as a Pro winner or Masters winner or whatever, and the track doesn’t really have that direct connection with INEX. It is two different programs. We do the state and national points. We do not do anything with track points. I don’t know how Roger Slack will handle that.
“I haven’t got a rulebook with me and I don’t want to say it is (in the rulebook),” added Ragan. “But I know in the past, and I am talking about over the years, there has been a practice of the Young Lions special races paying half points. If it isn’t in the ’07 rule book, we will clear it up by ’08.
“There are a lot of practices that are not in the rulebook. I personally feel, and this is me as a person and I certainly don’t want anybody to think I make the call as a person; I wouldn’t do that without getting with the right people over at INEX and 600 (approve the move).”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Monday afternoon, after the story was posted, LN received a phone call from Haven Kerchner, Communications Manager at 600 Racing. She informed LN that indeed the points reduction is in the 2007 INEX rulebook. Specifically, page 39 states:
"Any race that is held for Young-Lion competitors only will be given points based on the "B" main points schedule."
Additionally, page 85 of the rulebook states, in reference to "B" feature points:
"Non-transfer spots begin at fifty (50) points and reduce by one (1) point per position."
LegendsNation.com acquired a copy of the 2007 INEX rulebook from a competitor and verified the above information.
Kerchner also stated that the full points awarded for the Young Lions in the first weeks of the Shootout was a clerical error and the points from all Shootout events will be adjusted according to the INEX rules.)
Stancill raced Tuesday evening in the Young Lions division and won the race. Wednesday night he was back in the Semi Pro division, where he finished 22nd. Stancill chose to not fight the system and let things play out as they were.
“The smartest thing we can do is stay out of it and let them handle it and see what they are going to do,” said Stancill. “They are the big people in the chair and we have nothing we can say against them because they control everything.”
Pistone echoed Stancill’s comment.
“It is a 100% losing battle to fight anything with Ken Ragan or 600 Racing,” explained Pistone. “You can’t argue with it, so you might as well take it and move on.
“It is frustrating to me because we did it and nobody else did it. He (Ragan) came to us and told us we were manipulating the system and I can’t argue with them. Every time I argue with them they threaten to take my parts deal away. It is a losing battle. It is a monopoly and there is nothing you can do about it.”
Lori Stancill was more vocal about the situation, not understanding why this is an issue now considering another individual they are racing against in national points is racing the Young Lions division, and according to her getting full Semi Pro national points.
“John is 14 years old,” said Lori Stancill. “This is his first year in the Legends car. We have run the B feature every single race. So yes, why wouldn’t we be allowed to run in the Young Lions? We should have been in the Young Lions all along. But because John is racing for the national points, now it is all of a sudden wrong to do that. But so is Justin Ashley I might add, the number 50, who has actually got 12 wins at Anderson, South Carolina and he is also running the Young Lions, but I don’t see anyone going over to lecture him. So when it comes down to the end of the season Justin Ashley perhaps might win the points (national points for Semi Pro) just racing at Anderson, South Carolina. He already has more wins than we do, but why are they picking on me? Why? Why are they picking on us now? Why is John more in the spotlight than Justin Ashley who actually should be the national points leader as of now?
“He (Ragan) said we could race Young Lions. Here at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway we could put him in the (Bandolero) Bandits (EDITOR’S NOTE: Bandits are for 9 – 11-year-olds, Young Guns are for 12 – 16 year-olds.) if Roger Slack said so. But as far as the INEX / 600 Racing points, we would not be awarded a 100-point win. It would only be a 50-point win.
“To my knowledge Ken Ragan is the bottom line, so I do not know who else to fight with. I don’t know who else to go to. It is a monopoly. What are you going to say?”
LegendsNation.com attempted to get comments from Darrel Krentz, INEX Executive Director. Krentz was aware of the Semi Pro to Young Lions move by Stancill but chose to not comment until he understood the full scope of the situation.
