I’m one of those people that just has a lot of good luck.
I’m often the guy who is in the right place at the right time. Now I realize that often “Good Luck” is being properly prepared to seize opportunity when opportunity presents itself. But, for me, I think its just that I’m lucky.
My stroke of “luck” continued on Saturday Night at New Paris when I happen to stumble into the pits of Ryne Balsley. Ryne is the driver of the #17B Mini Stock and one of those big ole Indiana country boys that everyone should be privileged to meet and have as a friend.
Ryne took me through the pits, introduced to me some of the other mini-stock drivers and told me the story how he got started in racing.
“I started racing four years ago. I was a fan of Craig Cassel, saw him go from mini-stocks to late models, so I went out and got myself a mini-stock”
Ryne is a life long race fan, he remembers going to the tracks as early as age 5. Some of his childhood heros were Bobby Blount and Dave Bise (E-Mod Driver),
“There were just a bunch of guys who were good drivers and you sit back and be amazed at how well they are and how they keep their car clean.”
Ryne said he remembers one day just making the decision to go racing.
“I called up Craig (Cassel) and we went over to Jimerson’s and we picked out a car and we took it racing. I remember that first night like it was yesterday. Oh man, we had lots of problems, your scared the first time, but wow, we had a lot of fun”
The thing that struck me, was how well liked Ryne was, how much he enjoyed the camaraderie of the pits and the friendly competition shared by all the mini-stock drivers.
Ryne qualified 8th fastest and had his position in the A-Main locked in.
During the heat, Ryne was pretty racy, but the car had a little push and him and his friend Shane Eldridge adjusted on it during the break.
Ryne felt he had a pretty good shot at a Championship. “If we show up every night, take care of our equipment and catch a break or two, we might be able to win a Championship”
And that folks, is where the happy part of the story ends and the bad things begin.
During the feature race, Ryne had worked his way up to 4th
On the 5th lap of the race, while following in line and making his way to 3rd, a couple of guys got a little squirly coming out of turn four. On thing led to another and the No. 17B got hooked in the left rear and turned head on into the front stretch wall.
It was a spectacular looking accident which brought a hush over the crowd as everyone held their breath and waited to see the condition of the driver.
A few moments later, the window net dropped and out came an unhurt Ryne Balsley.
It took several more minutes to clean up the debris from the accident and for the tow truck to hook and tow the car back into the pits.
After the race we spoke with the driver of the No. 27 car who had a front seat view of the accident “That scared me right there, I looked up and all I could see was the underside of Ryne’s car, I knew it was going to be bad”.
For Ryne Balsley, it is bad. Racing was his escape.
Like many folks in Northern Indiana, the economy has hit right square in the pocketbook.
“I lost my job a couple of months ago. Its the economy you know. They (Precision Weld) said if things pick back up this Spring they might call me back.”
Examining the damage on the No. 17B, it became apparent hat there was going to be a fair amount of work... and money... to get the car fixed back up.
The car needs a new front clip, new motor mounts, new pulleys, radiator needs replaced, the fender’s junk, all the right front suspension parts. Probably a $1000 worth of parts, before labor.
For Balsley, barring some good luck or good fortune, its a season ender.
“The car will probably end up parked for the year. Might even be two years. I don’t have any way to get this all fixed back up and repaired. We got the tools and the know how, but I just don’t have the money right now to do this. This is sad.”
Folks, this is sad.
I know that guys get wrecked every weekend, its a part of the sport. There isn’t any way around it.
But if ever there was a guy who didn’t deserve what is happening to him, its Ryne Balsley.
A geniunely good guy, who races with his dad Mike, his friend Shane Elridge who drives the No. 92 and the Cassel’s.
No wife, no kids, no girlfriend, Ryne had his priorities in order and wasn’t sacrificing anything or anyone to go racing.
Just a good ole boy, enjoying life and putting on a show for the fans of short track racing and the fans of New Paris Speedway.
So I’m going to ask the readers of the MARC Times Racing News & Michigan Racing Scene to see if there is anything they can do to help Ryne get back on the track.
This isn’t something we would do normally, but this time it just seems right.
A good guy who caught a bad break and just needs to catch a bit of luck.
You can reach Ryne directly at 574-993-7659 or you can call me at 734-536-0319 or email at
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What do you think folks, can we get this done ?
