Minott coming back to Wiscasset booth

In the midst of a somtimes turbulent change at Wiscasset Raceway this summer, there remained one constant.

One constant that, thankfully for track owner Doug White, will be back for a 15th straight season of racing at the facility. Ken Minott confirmed this weekend that, despite swirling rumors to the contrary, he will be back as the track's lead announcer in 2008.

Minott is a true gem on the local racing scene, a guy that people like myself can lean on. Want to know who won the Late Model feature last weekend? Ken's on top of it. Want to know how many times Chris Thorne finished 7th or worse in that division over the last 3 seasons? Well, Ken's got that info, too.

When White bought the track in the middle of the 2007 season, he brought with him the engergetic and sometimes abrasive John Crawford. Crawford was originally brought in as a consultant to White, someone who then could sell the place to potential advertisers and help bring it a little more visibility -- like he'd done with Unity Raceway when he leased that track from Ralph Nason a few years back.

But, Crawford soon ended up on a microphone, and then on a radio to help officiate races. In fact, Crawford was everywhere all the time it seemed. It became clear that it grated on Minott's nerves -- when during one Saturday night, Crawford left the announcer's booth with a scrape on his forehead.

(For the record, Minott didn't swing at Crawford. He simply knocked over a pile of "stuff" that caught Crawford's melon...)

More than Crawford's appearance, however, Minott had to weigh what all of us are forced to at times -- family obligations vs. our vocations. On a couple of occasions, Ken had asked me if I ever felt torn between work and my family. At first, it seemed an innocent enough query, but by September I knew something was on his mind.

For 14 years, Ken has missed out on Saturday cookouts, trips to Red Sox matinee games on Sundays in Boston, on watching his kids do things themselves.

He's not ready to give up either -- the family or racing. And all he wanted from this year was permission from White to miss out on a race here or there to tend to things such as, oh, I don't know, his daughter's graduation. Seems reasonable enough.

Minott will also get his Sundays, too. He's giving up the media relations portion of his gig at Wiscasset, meaning he won't have to spend hours and hours compiling race results, recaps and press releases.

Good for Minott for putting family first. Good for Doug White for understanding the asset he has in Minott. Good for Wiscasset Raceway fans for getting the best deal of all.