Racing the Way It Was When I Started
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Back in the stone age, when I was a teenager, there
was (and still is, though it's paved now) a half-mile dirt track located some
30 miles east of Rochester NY, where I grew up. It's called Spencer Speedway,
and many of you will remember folks such as Richie Evans, Geoff Bodine and
Jimmy Spencer racing there, but they all came later. (Been told that it wasn’t
exactly “dirt” even to begin with, but some combination of tar, gravel and
dirt. Sure did get dusty when the cars were on it!)
At about age 15 or 16, I was "dragged" out there by an old boyfriend
that was fascinated by drag racing. In those days, the dragsters were burning
something that passed for high-powered fuel but reeked of ether, and it just
made me sick. Anyone near my age that had a tonsillectomy back then knows
exactly what I mean.
Ah, but one weekend night we stayed on after the stinky cars were through
because there were scheduled to be a couple of feature races for something
called "stockcars", and the rest, as they say, is history.
Bear in mind that we are talking early to mid-fifties here, but the cars were
of a much older vintage, having a born-on date in the area of 1938 to 1941,
pre-World War II. They strongly resembled the little "Legend" cars
that we see today except that they were full-sized.
I couldn't tell you the name of a driver I saw there that night, but I knew I'd
found something special; something that really piqued my interest and made me
ecstatically happy to be a part of it. Time and again, I went back to that
little dirt track (Without that particular boyfriend) to watch the likes of
Dutch Hoag, Elmer Musclow and Lee Bliss turn circles while flinging rooster-tails
of dust and dirt all over the crowd. The crowd loved it, and I did too! It was
all about speed, and those men were our heroes, whizzing around that little
bull ring, sliding sideways through the turns and daring to risk their lives to
put on the best show on earth for the race fans, a stock car race!
In 1955, the Big Guns from the Grand National circuit came to town to race at
the Monroe County Fairgrounds out on West Henrietta Road and my darling Aunt
Isabelle, who indulged the every whim of that scrawny teenager she loved, got
tickets for herself, my poor unsuspecting grandmother and me to go and see a
Grand National race. Life doesn't get any better when you're not yet seventeen!
The race was won handily by Tim Flock, who wound up alone on the lead lap, but
there were a few other interesting names among those that I saw that day; names
such as Lee Petty, Buck Baker, Fonty Flock and a guy named Junior Johnson, just
to name a few.
I have to admit that being as young and ignorant as most teenagers, I really
didn't understand back then why some of the local heroes, especially Dutch
Hoag, who was the best that Spencer Speedway and the Northeast had to offer at
the time, didn't fare well against those interlopers, but I would learn over
the years what it means to race the best and try to beat the best.
It was some 30 years or so before I was able to see another live Grand National
race, but for all that time, I followed the series closely (buying copies of
the Monday edition of the Charlotte Observer from a local News Service) and
looking forward to weekly copies of GNS… Grand National Scene. It was the best
I could do while living in Western New York State. I cheered lustily when ESPN
decided to take a chance and begin televising the races. Looking back today,
I'm not at all sure that was a good thing. Sometimes, less really is more.
Now, Spencer Speedway, Oswego, up around the Lake, Nazareth, down in
Pennsylvania and the like are not in a league with Indianapolis, Daytona or
that big ugly track in Alabama. (Hold your fire! I used to like Talladega,
until the restrictor plates came upon the scene. Now, it just flat scares me!)
Neither, I guess, are the small Southern tracks like North Wilkesboro Speedway,
Hickory Motor Speedway, Myrtle Beach Speedway, Columbia Speedway or Bowman Gray
Stadium and many more, all of which have been removed from the Grand National
[Cup] schedule over the years.
Still, the small local tracks provide some of the best
racing to be had, and they are the venues that give us the best of the racers
we see on the TV screen every Sunday. Over recent years, I've had many readers
and race fans tell me stories of disillusionment and disappointment regarding
the current state of NASCAR racing at its highest level. The reasons for that
are many and varied, ranging from a seemingly endless parade of boring races to
the impact on the wallet of being bled by not only the tracks but by every
hotel, motel, restaurant and gas station within their local hospitality
industry.
Then of course, there is the television coverage, or
lack of same, that so many of us are subjected to on a weekly basis. Whatever
the individual reason, many fans have canceled long-held reserved seating at
almost any track you can think of and are planning vacations in the mountains
or at the beach instead of at the track.
What will happen in the end to the “Big League”
remains to be seen, but there is something quite simple that we as race fans
can do. My advice is to take your kids out to the local short track; whether
it’s dirt or asphalt makes no difference. Whether they run stockers, modifieds,
DIRT, Sprints or Midgets is immaterial. Show the kids where real racing comes
from, lest they be fooled by the bread and circuses that now pass for the upper
echelon of racing on television. You won't see Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Michael
Waltrip in the infield, and you're not likely to run into Rutledge Wood, but
you just might see the guy that lives down the road a piece, out on the track
and racing hard.
What you will see for sure are drivers that still race
for the win rather than looking at some “big picture.” You’ll see older drivers
still racing, with no one suggesting that they might like to sign into a
nursing home, and you’ll see youngsters that still have to prove their worth
before even being considered for a top ride. If any of that sounds familiar, it
might be because that’s what Grand National racing used to be all about, before
the big dollars took it over.
It's funny; I don't mind being old, because I enjoy
having two beautiful granddaughters and watching them as they approach adulthood.
I couldn't do that when I was young because grandkids are our own children's
way of paying us back for all we did for them. First, we have to earn them. (I do,
however, tell my daughter that if I had known that being a Grandma was this
much fun, I'd have done that first.)
But I do miss the little dirt bullrings of my youth,
right down to the need to shower twice to get all of the dust and dirt out of places
I didn't know I had. Racing should be fun, and it should be about the race and
who wins! If I want a show, I'll order one up "On Demand." Please,
would someone explain that to NASCAR?
Time now for our Classic Country Closeout and this
week we’ll share another “hits of a single year”, this time 1959. I know that’s
older than many that read here, but the music will be familiar as most have
been played millions of times in varying venues. Please enjoy:
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling.
It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay 