A farewell to Dave Harkey 1959-2008
I just don’t know where to start.
For those that may not know, Mr. David Harkey of Shipman, IL passed away this past Saturday, April the 19th. I was greatly saddened to hear of his passing, and without really knowing what else to do, I decided to put some of my thoughts down in words, and send up a short tribute to him. Dave, as everyone called him, spent a good portion of his life as an employee of Bigfoot 4x4 of St. Louis, MO, and it was while he was working for them that I first met him in the summer of 2002.
I met Dave in the obscure town of Sheridan, WY one hot June afternoon in ’02. I had just begun writing my first weekly article for a monster truck website, and this show that I met Dave at was my very first as a “non-paying guest”; at that point, I could hardly refer to myself as “media”. Truth be told, I really didn’t know any of the other teams and drivers, nor did I know Dave when I showed up at the fairgrounds several hours before the show. But having been a Bigfoot fan my whole life, I figured Dave and his Bigfoot hauler would be the proper place to begin my afternoon. Dave was never a boisterous person; never the type to intentionally draw attention or a crowd towards himself. So it is no surprise looking back that I found Dave all alone, quietly and patiently cutting grooves into his racing tires. I approached him with a mixture of caution and awe; at that point in my career, anyone that was allowed to even touch a monster truck was pretty dang important to me. I introduced myself to him, and he put down what he was doing, smiled, and said with a smile in his semi-raspy voice “Well hey, I’m Dave Harkey.”
The usual pleasantries were exchanged, and after explaining “who I was”, we began to shoot the breeze. That’s it. Two guys drinking some soda pops, BS’ing about any and everything on a warm Saturday afternoon. Except, I was nobody and he was Dave Harkey, with his monster truck and all. I was impressed. That afternoon, Dave shared some key pointers with me that have stuck in my mind as though he said them to me yesterday. Advice for getting around in the pits without getting in the way, how to know if I’m bothering people, etc. You know, the good stuff. I’ll never for get that.
I had no clue at that point that almost exactly a year later, I’d be working for a team myself and running across Dave every now and then. It was always a pleasure to see him and to work alongside him, and we all know what a great feeling it is inside when someone important remembers us. Dave always gave me that feeling, every time I would run into him someplace on the road.
The winters of 2004 and 2005 sit fondly in the banks of my memory. At the time, the team I worked for was running the full Monster Nationals schedule, as was Dave and Bigfoot, and a host of other great trucks and drivers. I raced against, shot the breeze with, shared tools with, swapped stories with, ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner with, and pretty much lived side-by-side with Dave for many weekends in a row. Although we always wanted to beat him on-track and he wanted to beat us, it was impossible to not like the guy before and after the show. Dave’s laid back demeanor and quirky sense of humor were always welcome in an otherwise stressful pit area. I have no idea how he managed to keep such a pleasant mood towards friends and strangers alike when he alone supported the truck and transporter that he was assigned to. Looking back, I wish I would have done it more, but I tried to sneak in a bit of help to Dave every now and then when he was really struggling with something. Sometimes I couldn’t help simply because there was nothing to do, so I’d just stand there in the cold, or in the dark, or in the cold and dark and just sympathize with his situations. It seemed no matter the time of day or night, no matter how catastrophically messed up the situation was, Dave always kept a level head, and made sure to say “goodbye” before leaving.
Dave and Bigfoot stopped running the Monster Nationals tour after the 2005 season if I remember correctly; I do recall that I was saddened that he wouldn’t be around the tour anymore. That being the case, it was always a pleasure to catch up to Dave at the odd race or exhibition here or there. There was a sense of camaraderie that developed amongst the Monster Nationals crew of ’04 and ’05. We may have wanted to beat up on each other at the Monster Nationals shows, but if any of the group found themselves together at a “foreign” show or race faced against unfamiliar opponents, it was like an “us vs. them” mentality took over. Once, in Montreal, our team and Bigfoot with Dave driving were the only “hard-core” racers in the group (at least that’s how we saw it at the time), and we all sat around BS’ing the night before the show, mandating that we should “stick together” and win us the race the following night. Well, we did just that somehow, as Dave and my boss Mark Hall met in the finals, with Dave just nabbing Mark in the last turn. We congratulated Dave back in the pits after the race, and I remember him remarking after the show: “You know, it’s funny. All these great trucks and drivers come from all over the place, and here a pair of trucks and drivers that live only three hours away from each other, drive aaaaallll the way up here just to do the same thing we’ve been doing all winter long!” I know my team didn’t win that night, but silly as it may sound, I was proud of us, and of Dave that night.
The years rolled by, and though I seemed to see Dave less and less, it was always fun catching up with him each December at the MTRA Banquet in St. Louis. We would swap war stories, check up on how each others’ lives were going on, and vow that we’d do a better job of staying in touch. It’s funny how I look back now and realize that I felt closer to Dave than I do many of my own relatives. In fact, after doing some quick math Tuesday night, I realized that in the last five years I’d spent more time at an event of some kind with Dave than I had with my immediate family back in Wyoming. It’s funny, yet tragic at the same time, what the racing world does to families and friends. I guess eventually the friends just become family.
When I heard last spring that Dave had decided to retire from Bigfoot, I was somewhat heartbroken. I knew that Dave, like everyone, was getting older, and that the human body can only take so much abuse. I’m thankful that some of my fondest memories of Dave came at one of his last events; one that Dale, Travis, and I were at with him in Arkansas. We were blessed with good weather and an easy weekend of shows, so in lieu of that we all went back to our “stick together” mentality and parked all of our semis together in a “compound” outside in the pits. The daylight hours before the show were spent working the BBQ, talking, laughing, sharing some of Dave’s old war stories, and speculating about what the future might hold. I’ll never trade the fun we had that weekend, both on and off the race track, for anything. It was weekends like that that you almost didn’t want to end, ‘cause you knew that there wouldn’t be a show or a race that fun for a long time afterwards. Dave was a big part of what made that weekend fun.
Not long after that weekend, Dave moved on from Bigfoot and kinda dropped off my radar screen. I never forgot about him, and I always wondered how he was doing, but with so much craziness going on in our own lives, we tend to loose touch with those who aren’t right in front of us all the time. As the year progressed and my time as a team member in the industry expired, I found myself on the outside looking in, wondering where people like Dave had gone off to and how they were making it. As the MTRA Banquet rolled around, I excitedly hoped that he’d make a cameo appearance at some point, but alas, I never did see him there.
When I heard about Dave’s troubles late last week, my heart sank. I felt so bad for him; I knew that it couldn’t be the Dave that I had grown to know. I just knew that there had to be some kind of outside force pushing him into a corner. I don’t care what anyone says, or claims to know, or any of that; Dave Harkey was a good man, right down to his core. Nobody will ever change my mind on that.
As I sit here writing this, it breaks my heart even further to realize that our weekend with Dave last spring will go down as the last time I have seen my friend. It amazes me to think how many people Dave has touched over the course of his time on this Earth; how many checkered flags signed, how many miles traveled, how many smiles were made just because of Dave being Dave. Like I said…there are people who are hurting very badly right now…people that got to know Dave even better than I…but I miss him so. My condolences go out to all of Dave’s friends and family, from the bottom of my heart. Let this serve as a reminder to all of us who love this sport to do a bit of a better job of sticking together, keeping in touch, and watching out for our own. Let’s all carry on the good spirits that Dave always spread; let’s not forget him and his name; let’s not let something like this happen again, if we can stop it.
They say that time heals, and I hope it does for everyone. But not even time can erase the memories of our friends and family; I can tell you it won’t erase my memories of Dave. I hope you are off to a better place now Dave. Wherever you are, whoever is there with you should consider themselves lucky to be with you.
Goodbye , old friend.
-Kyle Doyle
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Readers Sound Off Over MLMT Situation
You've read what we think. Now read what fans think.
by Kyle Doyle
Photos by Ross Z. Bonar
It seems that my open letter to Joe Froome and the MLMT didn’t go unnoticed by fans and industry members over the course of the last week. I’ve received numerous emails and phone calls from casual fans right up to prominent owner/drivers since publishing my letter, and I want to thank everyone for reading, whether you agree with my points of view or not. I’ve been encouraging teams and fans to write in to share their thoughts with me and all of The Monster Blog’s readers regarding the MLMT issue. Understandably, most owners and drivers have opted to refrain from making public statements, opting instead to take more of a “wait and see” approach. I can’t blame them, but I feel fortunate to be in a position to raise some of the questions that everyone has been waiting to hear the answers to, but haven’t been able to ask out loud. I encourage all of you to write in to us here at TMB and share your thoughts on this issue, or any others that you’ve read about on this site, or on others. That being said, here’s what some of our readers had to say.
I think you summed up what a lot of us who are more than just casual fans, as well as people who are in the industry, have been wondering since the press conference at the final event last year in Nashville. After that press conference, it seemed like all of our prayers had finally been answered: a legitimate racing series with challenging tracks at super-speedways that focuses on the drivers. After the press conference, a lot of information was given out that included a very impressive schedule of events and led to a lot of hype and excitement, which has now become lots of speculation and questions. Personally, I feel that doing this set them up for disappointment.
As a fan that loves monster trucks in general and wants this series to succeed, I do hope that a few things are cleared up. While there are some things that might not be any of the public’s business, if I were a potential sponsor or a team considering running with the series, you bring up some very good questions that I would definitely like to have some clarification on. Mainly, is there truly enough funding for this series, or is it more of a “keeping our fingers crossed and hoping it works” type of deal? If you look at the MLMT as though it were a publicly traded company, and you were considering buying stock in it, one of the first things you would like to know is if the company is going to be around in a few years and what its financial situation is. I think that without going into too much detail, these points can be addressed and could definitely ease some concerns.
That being said, I feel that we need to cut Mr. Froome and the MLMT some slack. Last season was a big success in my opinion, and I only heard positive things from the people that went to their shows. And finally, the season hasn’t even started yet,, so I feel that while its perfectly valid to have some questions, at the same time we haven’t even seen how it is going to go yet. I think that it’s only fair to reserve some judgment until we have a better idea of how the series is going to go.
Jeremy
Sacramento, CA
Thank you for the well-written and well thought-out letter Jeremy. I agree with a lot of your points, especially the analogy between a publicly traded company and the MLMT. Although they are not a publicly traded company, I feel that teams committing themselves and their equipment to running the MLMT schedule are in a way investing in the MLMT. Many teams have been beating the MLMT drum very heavily to their sponsors, and I hope for their sake that the series pans out. But also, I do agree that some judgment does need to be reserved until the first truck hits the track this summer.
The structure of the MLMT series does seem shaky to say the least. The thought of paying out big prizes, and having huge numbers of trucks may look good on paper, but in reality how can the series continue to do this when they don’t sell their events out? Yes, the MLMT has the awesome race courses that are not found at other promoters’ shows, but will this draw the big crowds? Probably not! Bottom line is, that in my honest opinion the MLMT needs to slow down and build up to the level of the ever popular Monster Jam series. Yes, it may take time, but that is not to say that it is impossible. With a little work and some patience, it is a very achievable goal.
Michael
Forest, VA
I agree Michael that the MLMT’s foundation seems a bit shaky, but selling out events isn’t something that always happens overnight. The MLMT broke into some new venues last year that had not been visited by monster truck events before. Dome events held in places like Detroit, Houston, and St. Louis have been going on for many years now, and over time the promoter of those events has successfully marketed them and grown them into what they are now. Keep in mind also that selling out a 60,000 seat dome in an established market is very different than trying to sell out the 66,000 seats at Kentucky Speedway on their first try. I think that with proper marketing and teams confident that they will be getting paid well, the MLMT could do well in a lot of speedway markets. Starting small enough to make money but being flexible enough to grow is key, in my opinion. While I don’t want to see MLMT, MTC, or any other promoter go down the Monster Jam highway from an on-track perspective, there is definitely something to be learned from their marketing department.
I heard this (MLMT) might not happen. [If so, that’s] too bad. I always thought some of this was too good to be true.
Jerry
Illinois
It seems that in the monster truck industry, if something is too good to be true, then often times it isn’t. Let’s hope that is not the case with the MLMT, but only time will tell.
You hit on a lot of very big questions that I believe the MLMT needs to answer. For a series that is basically calling out Monster Jam with each tid-bit I read here and there, they sure have been leaving a lot of people in the dark on things. I’m curious to learn your opinion on the hiring of Debrah Miceli (Madusa) as the Executive Vice President of the MLMT. I believe hiring her was a huge mistake for thee MLMT.
Josh
Ramsey, IL
I’m not entirely sure how to read the appointment of Debrah Miceli to the EVP position. I don’t know her personally, and although she’s got a number of years behind the wheel, I question her actual hand-on knowledge and understanding of the sport and the way it really works. I guess my gut instinct always leads me to be wary of anyone who rises to a prominent position and didn’t get there with grease on their hands and a whole bunch of miles on the road under their belt. I’m not saying she has no business in monster trucks by any means, but I guess at this point I’m still a bit of a skeptic. I’m not sure what exactly led to the appointment of her to the EVP position, but I guess only time will tell if it was the right thing to do or if in fact it was a mistake. She may prove all the doubters wrong and actually do well. Who knows?
For me, the MLMT is EXACTLY what I want to see come out of the modern day monster truck industry (open qualifying, legitimate points racing, big courses, a large number of trucks at every event, etc.), and so I've been doggedly doing whatever I could to support it and get its name out to anyone who'd be remotely interested, regardless of how good or bad things seemed to be going for it. However, after reading this letter, I have to say I'm approaching the series with a little more grounded realism. I still want it to succeed, but I've had to take off the rose-tinted glasses and admit that the foundation it's been built on does seem rather shaky right now.The fanboy in me doesn't like having to take a seat and wait it out, but until we know exactly what the MLMT's made of and where it'll wind up, said fanboy's just gonna have to deal with it. Like The Monster Blog, I don't like parading around a grand cause only to have it fall apart and leave me looking like a fool for championing it.
Paul
Snellville, GA
I agree with you whole-heartedly Paul. I too, like most of the industry, want the MLMT or any other organization like it to succeed in the worst way. But nobody wants to go bragging and talking-up something only to find out that its not going to happen. Hopefully Mr. Froome and co. will be able to give us some additional insight in the coming weeks and put the fears of many to rest.
Thanks again to all of our readers who took the time to jot down their thoughts and write in. I think that the majority of fans feel positively about what the MLMT stands for and what they are trying to accomplish, but with the lack of core facts available, they are much like the rest of the industry: skeptical, but hopeful. More on this situation as it develops.
-KD
by Kyle Doyle
Photos by Ross Z. Bonar
It seems that my open letter to Joe Froome and the MLMT didn’t go unnoticed by fans and industry members over the course of the last week. I’ve received numerous emails and phone calls from casual fans right up to prominent owner/drivers since publishing my letter, and I want to thank everyone for reading, whether you agree with my points of view or not. I’ve been encouraging teams and fans to write in to share their thoughts with me and all of The Monster Blog’s readers regarding the MLMT issue. Understandably, most owners and drivers have opted to refrain from making public statements, opting instead to take more of a “wait and see” approach. I can’t blame them, but I feel fortunate to be in a position to raise some of the questions that everyone has been waiting to hear the answers to, but haven’t been able to ask out loud. I encourage all of you to write in to us here at TMB and share your thoughts on this issue, or any others that you’ve read about on this site, or on others. That being said, here’s what some of our readers had to say.
I think you summed up what a lot of us who are more than just casual fans, as well as people who are in the industry, have been wondering since the press conference at the final event last year in Nashville. After that press conference, it seemed like all of our prayers had finally been answered: a legitimate racing series with challenging tracks at super-speedways that focuses on the drivers. After the press conference, a lot of information was given out that included a very impressive schedule of events and led to a lot of hype and excitement, which has now become lots of speculation and questions. Personally, I feel that doing this set them up for disappointment.
As a fan that loves monster trucks in general and wants this series to succeed, I do hope that a few things are cleared up. While there are some things that might not be any of the public’s business, if I were a potential sponsor or a team considering running with the series, you bring up some very good questions that I would definitely like to have some clarification on. Mainly, is there truly enough funding for this series, or is it more of a “keeping our fingers crossed and hoping it works” type of deal? If you look at the MLMT as though it were a publicly traded company, and you were considering buying stock in it, one of the first things you would like to know is if the company is going to be around in a few years and what its financial situation is. I think that without going into too much detail, these points can be addressed and could definitely ease some concerns.
That being said, I feel that we need to cut Mr. Froome and the MLMT some slack. Last season was a big success in my opinion, and I only heard positive things from the people that went to their shows. And finally, the season hasn’t even started yet,, so I feel that while its perfectly valid to have some questions, at the same time we haven’t even seen how it is going to go yet. I think that it’s only fair to reserve some judgment until we have a better idea of how the series is going to go.
Jeremy
Sacramento, CA
Thank you for the well-written and well thought-out letter Jeremy. I agree with a lot of your points, especially the analogy between a publicly traded company and the MLMT. Although they are not a publicly traded company, I feel that teams committing themselves and their equipment to running the MLMT schedule are in a way investing in the MLMT. Many teams have been beating the MLMT drum very heavily to their sponsors, and I hope for their sake that the series pans out. But also, I do agree that some judgment does need to be reserved until the first truck hits the track this summer.
The structure of the MLMT series does seem shaky to say the least. The thought of paying out big prizes, and having huge numbers of trucks may look good on paper, but in reality how can the series continue to do this when they don’t sell their events out? Yes, the MLMT has the awesome race courses that are not found at other promoters’ shows, but will this draw the big crowds? Probably not! Bottom line is, that in my honest opinion the MLMT needs to slow down and build up to the level of the ever popular Monster Jam series. Yes, it may take time, but that is not to say that it is impossible. With a little work and some patience, it is a very achievable goal.
Michael
Forest, VA
I agree Michael that the MLMT’s foundation seems a bit shaky, but selling out events isn’t something that always happens overnight. The MLMT broke into some new venues last year that had not been visited by monster truck events before. Dome events held in places like Detroit, Houston, and St. Louis have been going on for many years now, and over time the promoter of those events has successfully marketed them and grown them into what they are now. Keep in mind also that selling out a 60,000 seat dome in an established market is very different than trying to sell out the 66,000 seats at Kentucky Speedway on their first try. I think that with proper marketing and teams confident that they will be getting paid well, the MLMT could do well in a lot of speedway markets. Starting small enough to make money but being flexible enough to grow is key, in my opinion. While I don’t want to see MLMT, MTC, or any other promoter go down the Monster Jam highway from an on-track perspective, there is definitely something to be learned from their marketing department.
I heard this (MLMT) might not happen. [If so, that’s] too bad. I always thought some of this was too good to be true.
Jerry
Illinois
It seems that in the monster truck industry, if something is too good to be true, then often times it isn’t. Let’s hope that is not the case with the MLMT, but only time will tell.
You hit on a lot of very big questions that I believe the MLMT needs to answer. For a series that is basically calling out Monster Jam with each tid-bit I read here and there, they sure have been leaving a lot of people in the dark on things. I’m curious to learn your opinion on the hiring of Debrah Miceli (Madusa) as the Executive Vice President of the MLMT. I believe hiring her was a huge mistake for thee MLMT.
Josh
Ramsey, IL
I’m not entirely sure how to read the appointment of Debrah Miceli to the EVP position. I don’t know her personally, and although she’s got a number of years behind the wheel, I question her actual hand-on knowledge and understanding of the sport and the way it really works. I guess my gut instinct always leads me to be wary of anyone who rises to a prominent position and didn’t get there with grease on their hands and a whole bunch of miles on the road under their belt. I’m not saying she has no business in monster trucks by any means, but I guess at this point I’m still a bit of a skeptic. I’m not sure what exactly led to the appointment of her to the EVP position, but I guess only time will tell if it was the right thing to do or if in fact it was a mistake. She may prove all the doubters wrong and actually do well. Who knows?
For me, the MLMT is EXACTLY what I want to see come out of the modern day monster truck industry (open qualifying, legitimate points racing, big courses, a large number of trucks at every event, etc.), and so I've been doggedly doing whatever I could to support it and get its name out to anyone who'd be remotely interested, regardless of how good or bad things seemed to be going for it. However, after reading this letter, I have to say I'm approaching the series with a little more grounded realism. I still want it to succeed, but I've had to take off the rose-tinted glasses and admit that the foundation it's been built on does seem rather shaky right now.The fanboy in me doesn't like having to take a seat and wait it out, but until we know exactly what the MLMT's made of and where it'll wind up, said fanboy's just gonna have to deal with it. Like The Monster Blog, I don't like parading around a grand cause only to have it fall apart and leave me looking like a fool for championing it.
Paul
Snellville, GA
I agree with you whole-heartedly Paul. I too, like most of the industry, want the MLMT or any other organization like it to succeed in the worst way. But nobody wants to go bragging and talking-up something only to find out that its not going to happen. Hopefully Mr. Froome and co. will be able to give us some additional insight in the coming weeks and put the fears of many to rest.
Thanks again to all of our readers who took the time to jot down their thoughts and write in. I think that the majority of fans feel positively about what the MLMT stands for and what they are trying to accomplish, but with the lack of core facts available, they are much like the rest of the industry: skeptical, but hopeful. More on this situation as it develops.
-KD
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