Dreams abound in racing. There is not one driver who has ever sat behind a wheel and not dreamt of blazing across the bricks at Indianapolis or snaring the checkers at Daytona. Or the mechanic turning a wrench in a backyard garage fantasizing of one day tuning a 750hp beast for the high banks of Talladega or Texas International Speedway. Yet there are other dreams in racing that don't revolve directly around learning drafting techniques or valve timing secrets. There are dreams in racing that require the same life-long commitments and sacrifices but do not involve tires or horsepower. This is one of those dreams-and it all began with a flick of the wrist.
Snow, School Buses, and FlagsA product of York, Ontario, Roger Slack was born in 1974 into a family ripe with racing in its blood. His grandfather owned Cayuga Speedway in Canada and his father raced local Late Models in ASA, NASCAR North, and he competed in the GATR Big Rig Racing Series, so Slack was no stranger to racing or racetracks. Yet the major element that caught the young Slack's eye at the track was the flagmen. "I just liked waving flags and that is how it all got started," says Slack.
Every kid has an idol, a hero he or she wants to emulate when they grow older and Slack was no different. What may be considered different, however, is that Slack looked toward the flagstand to find his hero. "Growing up, there were a few flagmen I looked up to such as the flagman at my grandfather's track Bobby Anderson. He was the guy that really took me under his wing. Chip Shunamon, Dick Willett and Chris Hopkins were the other flagmen that had a marked influence on my style and taught me volumes on how to act in the flagstand," Slack says.
Almost before he could walk Slack was always seen waving a flag, whether it was at his grandfather's speedway or when he was traveling with his father to races. And even while waiting for the school bus.
"It seemed I never went anywhere without a flag," says the now 25-year-old Slack, grinning. "One morning there was a snowstorm and we were waiting for the school bus. I was out at the bus stop just waving my passing flag as the cars came by. A man who thought that I was warning of danger pulls over and starts yelling, 'What's going on? What are you doing?' And I said, 'I am just flagging,' and he yells back, 'You shouldn't be doing that.' Well, I did not stop."
A Stint Behind the WheelAll his exposure to racing ultimately did lead Slack to try his hand in a racing machine, but it was short lived.
"I raced a little bit of quarter midgets but mostly go-karts from age 12 to 17," Slack says. "During this time, however, I realized that I had run out of racing talent and that I could make $50 flagging a race or pay $100 to race in it-I chose the flagging. I flagged races and worked at grandpa's speedway whether it was cutting grass, picking up garbage, selling programs, or cleaning bathrooms. Flagging, however, is what really paid off. I did all the other things to get to be in the flagstand."
But there were even more valuable lessons to be learned from the laborious chores around grandpa's speedway. Slack was learning what it takes for a track to operate-a lesson that would prove invaluable in time.
Slack continued to drive go-karts and flag karting events in the area, but it was at Rolling Wheels Raceway in New York when he was about 13 or 14 that Slack got his big break. He was stationed on top of his father's hauler flagging from the infield during a practice session when by sheer chance Glenn Donnely happened to notice Slack and was instantly intrigued at how enthusiastic and proficient he was with a race flag. Donnely decided to take a chance on the young flagman and he gave Slack the opportunity he had always craved.
"Donnely actually asked me to flag from the track's flagstand and it was then that I flagged my first real race," Slack explains. "They had a guy in the stand behind me to supervise, but I was the official flag guy."
Slack had flagged go-kart races and several hot laps at his grandfather's tracks, but this was his first taste of flagging an official race-and he wanted more.
"I had been flagging and decided I was only going to race a certain number of races," Slack details. "I had not raced all year until one day I hopped in a go-kart for a few practice laps. But I realized when I was out on the track that I did not like driving anymore, so I parked the kart. I flagged that night, my brother raced for me, and I have never raced since."
Promoting a FutureSlack always knew he wanted to flag, but his ultimate goal was to promote a short track. Flagging gave him the opportunity to visit a variety of race tracks and to learn what worked in racing and what did not. Through his travels he discovered how a successful track operates and how a troubled track falters, an experience he equates to his own "little college education in racing." Armed with this knowledge, Slack turned his energy into promoting and began down a path from which he never looked back.
"As soon as I turned 16 I started promoting go-kart racing," Slack says. "I would rent our speedway from grandpa, set up temporary courses, and run races during the time when I was still flagging the Big Rig races. I also started flagging for Glenn Donnely, and in 1991 and 1992 I got to flag in Syracuse for the World of Outlaws. But somewhere in my teens I had stopped looking up to flagmen and started looking up to promoters like my grandpa, Donnely and Humpy Wheeler. I knew I was never going to make a living flagging races so I just planned on flagging until I was finished with college and then I was going to get into the promotions business."
In 1992 Slack was in his last year of high school, he started with ASA in the fall as head flagman, and he began promoting demolition derbys at the county fairs in Ontario. Flagging and promoting gave him the means to enter McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, after high school to pursue a degree in social geography.
Meanwhile, Slack's demolition derby promotions expanded to six events a year, and with the demanding flagging schedule that kept him traveling almost six months of the year, he found himself at a crossroads for his life upon his graduation in 1997.
"I took almost a full year after I graduated and just tried to figure out exactly what I wanted to do," Slack says looking back. "Did I want to go into the Monster Truck business, should I go work for a big promotions company, should I go work at a speedway, or even just try and build up my own derby business."
Ultimately, it was his relationship with Humpy Wheeler that helped cement his decision.
Meeting a HeroIn the fall of 1992, while still in high school, the World Karting Association wanted Slack to go to Charlotte to flag a race, but he would only agree under two conditions. First, they had to fly him down to Charlotte and the second was they had to give him a chance to meet Humpy. Slack got what he demanded.
"Humpy and I were introduced and we talked for quite a while one night and he came and saw me flag the next day," Slack says. "He told me that I was the best flagman he had ever seen and I told him what I wanted to do in racing. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime happenings when you get to spend a bunch of time with the person that had been your hero. So I just told him straight-out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be someday in racing and he suggested that I be his radioman. We just really hit it off."
Beginning that year Slack traveled to Charlotte for all the major races to spend time with Humpy and to serve as his radioman. "I still do it today," Slack says. "Everywhere he goes on a race day I go with him to ensure he gets where he needs to be and do whatever he needs to get done."
Humpy began keeping tabs on what Slack was doing with ASA and how his promotions were fairing in Canada. Slack had taken over a few events that were not doing so well and turned them into successes with huge car and crowd counts. He was quickly developing a reputation for being able to get things done and Humpy noticed.
Slack graduated in May of 1997, but he skipped graduation ceremonies to flag an ASA race in Tri City Speedway in Michigan. It was a trend he had followed since the end of high school.
"Even though I was student council president in high school," says Slack "I had reached the point where I was so busy with the student council and the flagging that I knew I had to make a choice. I thought to myself, 'When am I going to start sacrificing?' so I started giving up the parties and the proms and all the high school things to do what I really wanted to be doing because I knew that someday it would payoff."
The pay off came much sooner than he thought.