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Greer was asked which was the most difficult class to tech. “ The most difficult is Sportsman, by far. They’re not a pure all out race car. They’re a mix of a race car and a bit of a street car, all rolled into one. The Prostocks are pure race cars, and they’re easier because they have specific parts.”
Greer continued “ What we do here in the pre race, in my opinion, is the most important. we like to try, the best we can, to establish a bunch of checks so that when they race, they are confident everyone is on the same playing field. It’s not always 100% but it’s better than nothing.”
Greer was asked if he ever gets to watch the racing. “ I get to watch some racing to see who’s outdistancing the others. After the race is over, we’ll probably tech the top four plus a couple. Then, if we run into any issues, we have a back up. If you have the top four and one car doesn’t make it, then the fifth place car would be teched and moved up the ladder.”
When asked if he had any advance knowledge of who could be illegal, Greer stated “ I don’t know who is illegal until I do my checks but sometimes I get told by others who is cheating. Sometimes, I take it to heart and sometimes I don’t. I can tell you this much. I have no favourites and most of the drivers respect me for that. A lot of people will tell you that the track has favourites. I disqualified Smokin’ Joe a few years ago. I don’t know how much favouritism that was. No one over rules me. Steve and Chris are a great bunch to work for. They work harder than I do. They will back me up any time if I need it.”
Surprisingly, Greer made another statement that seemed unexpected. “ I like the people more than the cars. There is a cast of characters in the racing business. I never followed racing when I was a kid. I was kind of a drag racer by heart. That’s when I kind of got into the oval track racing. The more I researched it, the more the respect I had for the guys that raced. I’d like to think they have a little respect for me too. They work hard every week. Today, the cost of racing being what it is, it’s tough, you can see it.”
Last year, an incident happened in the pits which I asked him about. “ I was down here with my radio on, which I always do and a guy came tearing in saying he needed an ambulance right away. I radioed up to the tower and told them to throw a “yellow” or “red” right now. I need an ambulance. They brought him in here. I didn’t know how serious it was until then. The track attendants did a fine job of keeping this man alive until the other ambulance arrived.”
Curiously, I asked him which was his favourie class. “ I’m a horsepower guy so Pro Stock is my favourite but I guess many people will tell you that the Sportsman put on a better show. The Sportsman cars do not have spotters and they race just as hard as the Pro Stocks.”
With that, Greer started his daily routine by waving the first Sportsman car onto the scales.
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