TNTRL has it's roots in the early days of on-line sim racing with a small group of friends racing under the name of ALoOo (A League of Our Own) ran by Mac16 (real name not remembered) on the old "Ten" network with NASCAR 99. With the introduction of N3 in the fall of 1999, the "Ten" network was folded and the League became RedLine Racing. The League was now managed by Eagle6 (Jim Hanway). With the introduction of N4, the League again went through some changes and became Tuesday Night Thunder Racing League. Duckslayer, Freon, Runner Risc, Vista31, Elvis24, Nascarman, SleeperNY, and Granpawl was just a few of the members at this time. Steve Piercy (Breeze) and Allen Dossett (Duckslayer) was responsible for running the League at this point. The League experienced considerable growth during this period and a TNT website was started. Racing expanded to include open setup racing on Sunday nights as well as fixed setup racing on Tuesday night.
Then about the time NR2002 came along (or shortly there after), several events occurred that prompted the splitting of the League into 2 factions. The actual events are not important but the end result was and is to this day important. Steve Piercy (Breeze), founded TNTRL with what was left of the membership and opened TNTRL.com. The site still exists today under the same name. He founded TNT based on two principles; One, that respectful and courteous racing is more important than speed or winning. Two, that the Rules would be applied to all (Admins and members) the same and fairly. It was to be a League based on respect and fun more than all out competition.
Steve continued to oversee the operations of TNTRL and guided it through considerable growth. Monday night road racing was introduced, a Busch Series League was started for new members, and IROC became a yearly event. Steve oversaw TNRL until 2004 when some changes in his personal life required he terminate his relationship with TNT in order to devote more time to personal issues. It was nearly the end of TNT. Up till this point, Steve had maintained the financial burden of the website entirely on his own and the server costs was handled with donations from members. Steve also handled all the "business details" related to running the League. During Steve's absence, the Steering Committee was formed to over see the League operations. With the added expense of maintaining the server and website, TNT went broke during the 2005 season. TNT was kept financially afloat at this time by some dedicated members. In the fall of 2005 TNTRL was at a crisis point.
It was decided by the Steering Committee to attempt a reorganization for 2006. A "pay to play" system was introduced. Needless to say, it was a success and TNTRL is healthier today than at any time in it's history. The TNT you see today has evolved from this reorganization. TNT has survived going broke, cheating scandals, dishonesty, and is now stronger than ever. Still committed to the principles that Steve Piercy founded the League on. We have not heard from Steve for some time now, but we still await his return and hope that he is proud of what continues in his name.
For those interested, SleeperNY and Granpawl has been here from the begining, whew, talk about old timers. Rick105 and myself first raced with TNT in the spring of 2000. I left to race with other Leagues and returned to TNT for good in 2001. Raakkos and RaceguyOSU began in 2002 with TNT.
This was written by Big Dog 61 with the help of the older members, Raakkos, Raceguy, Rick105, and of course SleeperNY and Granpawl. I have tried to get the timeline as accurate as possible, but I may have erred, poor memory etc. If anyone reading this can add or correct any information, please contact someone at TNTRL, thank you.
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