| Tonight I was bored and searching on the computer for stuff to do. Well, I decided to search myself on google to see if anything came up. Unfortunately, I came across a post from almost three years ago on whowon.com. This post was the hardest one for me at the time and tonight proved it has not gotten any easier to deal with. The post started off asking who everyone thought was the fastest hobby stock at Fairmont. Well, some sarcastic individual decided to write 'Sami Jo Helmers' as a joke. Well, this joke did not end with his little post but instead grew into a nine page slam session on me. At first, I thought, well what the fuck, let them talk but as it went on it only got worse. When a fellow racer, of which I have grown to respect and cheer for, offered me and my crew any help on the car to make it go faster the other readers loved it. They did not think of it as sportsmanship but instead as a pick up line. I believe that one unnamed blogger posted that "Oh, so now you want to help Sami Jo out, eh? I think you just want to get a look at her rear end and maybe she can help tighten those lug nuts." I found this extremely sexist and inappropriate. This post was not directed at male vs female but slow vs fast. This blogger took it too far and it down right offended me. I have never presented myself as a "girl" at the track. I have never dressed at all feminine (well, other than when I had just left a wake for my friend Danny Posivio, may he rest in piece). I have never thought that because I am a girl, it should make me a special racer. Yes, my sister and I have gone through a lot because of our gender, but if anything it has made us stronger, not weaker. Being the first females to race in our area was not easy and the path was definitely not made of gold. I believe we have both worked hard to put ourselves out there as racers, not "female racers." This post was demeaning and idiotic. May the person who wrote it someday hatred of those words. To make this all so much better, the next pages included more messages about my apparent lack of driving skills. One stated that he loved the fact that I could spin out all on my own and another that " the funniest thing he's ever seen was when I thought I was good enough to drive a b mod and that the entire two laps I was in it was pure chaos." Okay, I honestly have not spun myself out since uh 2000 when it was my first year racing hobby stocks. People don't pay close enough attention to realize that accidents are not always caused by the person who suffers, but more often caused by those who have no respect and always seem to escape blame for some odd reason. In my defense, if that matters, the b mod was named Frankenstein because it was so many old and random parts on it that we were surprised it even ran. Yeah, I can handle a b mod since they handle the same way karts do and I've been racing those since I was 8. I was starting slow, as I am not a balls to the wall person until I know what my equipment is going to do. I believe that the previously mentioned wreck was in the heats, which is after the hot laps that I did....anyways, we were having problems with the header pipe and the melting of my shoes...and well, we broke an upper a-arm resulting in my car taking out the inner gaurdrail coming out of 4. After that, we went back to hobbys. I still believe that the girl that was bashing me later in the post was none other than Sara Mitdke. Sara and I have never gotten along. When I was out of racing for 6 weeks in 2003 due to a racing accident, Sara decided to start racing. Good, awesome. But, poor little Sara wanted everything that I had. She bought the same suit, parked in our reserved spot, kissed ass to the people we pitted by, tried to snag my guy, and even started showing up at all the parties I was at. Sara tried to take my life and my friends, but it didn't work. Since then, she has hated me for some reason...but, if I recall, Sara is the one who rolled her HORNET all by herself going into 1 with no one around her at all. She was chillin in the back when she just started to roll...hmm, did someone overcorrect a little too much? Perhaps. The worst thing in that post was the individuals that decided to attack my dad. He finally got so upset that he went on there with a response to those incessant posts. He stated that I have never raced to wreck anyone and run a smooth line which has been noticed by those that race well in the class but ridiculed by those who can't stand to be beaten by a girl. He said something that I will never forgive those asshole bloggers for. He stated that the only problem with me and my racing was him because he thought he couldn't do the best for me. This is NOT true. My dad has done more than any other father ever would have for his two daughters who longed for nothing else than to race. He gave up his racing career to support ours and has never let anyone tell him that girls can't drive. If you are going to pick on someone, please let it be me because my father respects everyone, despite their flaws and would never hurt a fly intentionally. He is the kindest, sweetest, and most loving father anyone could ever ask for and to put him down is to be on my bad list for life. Love you poppy! If by chance any of you remember this blog and realize it was you that said those things, please tell me. I'd love to have a little chit chat with you to help you realize vision is blurred and your grammar is poor. At days end, I know that I have had an amazing racing career thus far due to my family and friends that truly love and respect me in all ways. I have made some amazing friends along the way and, as always, made some enemies. I hope that one day the racing community will be able to look past gender and simply focus on the driving that goes on on the track. |
