MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Time passes, the world changes and so does one’s role in it.
The same can be said for whatever industry it is in which one works. That’s certainly the case with motorsports. Change takes place every day. Much of it just happens and goes unnoticed.
Then one day, we have the opportunity to reflect and many realizations come to light that are often lost to the demands and deadlines of life.
Recently, it’s been a series of deaths that have caused us to reflect, to look back, remember and look ahead.
Thirty-one years ago — 1991 — I got started in this sport. I was 22 years old. I was living in the moment, going to every race I could and loving every minute of it. There was no plan.
Just work, race and have a little fun along the way.
Life was simple and fun.
Along the way, I met hundreds of people who impacted my life in one way or another. Some became close friends, others are lifetime acquaintances. We bounced into one another’s lives a few times a year, caught up and went separate ways until paths crossed again.
A few of these folks were my peers in age and experience, but most were older and had very defined and sometimes important roles in the motorsports industry. As I was learning my way through the motorsports world — both in journalism and in the behind-the-scenes workings of this sport — these folks were established, with many doing important things.
And gradually life changes, there are more commitments — both in our work lives and our personal lives. We adjust and we keep moving forward. Life goes on.
Then, one day, Greg Hodnett is killed in an accident and it’s an emotional road block. But it’s temporary. It’s part of the deal, right? Deadlines come deadlines go. Birthdays come and birthdays go.
More curveballs come. Friends and acquaintances battle cancer — some win, others such as Bob Jenkins and Robin Miller aren’t as lucky. Doug Auld drops dead. Kevin Olson gets killed in an auto accident.
Then a series of losses hits you out of nowhere — and unexpectedly knocks you for a loop. Multiple motorsports industry icons who were part of your life in one way or another for three decades leave this world during a short period of time.
Treasured memories fill the mind, things that helped make you who you are. Then, there’s the realization that, “Hey, I’m not that hard-charging kid anymore and all the folks that I met in my youth have aged, and, oh, my god, so have I.”
Where did the time go?
Well, there was the time we were seated at Bruton Smith’s table during a racing function at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s The Speedway Club, and unlike anyone else in the room, those of us at that table shared Bruton’s love of the club’s catfish strips, made especially for him.
Then, there was that evening of bench racing with Johnny Capels, who died recently, and the long since departed Chris Economaki and John Cooper.
Don’t forget snacks and beverages with longtime drag racing executive Bill Bader during his numerous trips to the old SPEED SPORT offices in Harrisburg, N.C.
Finally, we recalled a hot Pennsylvania afternoon enjoying ice cream at an infield picnic table at Williams Grove Speedway with Danny Schatz, Jimmy Carr, Danny Lasoski and others. Schatz also passed recently at age 74, and neither Carr nor Lasoski drive race cars any longer.
Smith, Capels, Bader and Schatz all died within a few weeks of one another.
Meanwhile, this reporter spends far more time at a desk worrying about where and when others are going to do their jobs than he does at the race track. We’re getting things done.
However, there are other hard chargers on the racing scene.
Some are on the track while others are working the pits, taking notes or holding a microphone or a camera. As we write this, they’ll be at the Brad Doty Classic at Ohio’s Attica Raceway Park or USAC’s swing through the Plains states or dredging through pit areas on the Hell Tour.
Generations come and they go. The guard changes.
Here’s hoping the next generation of racers and race chasers makes as many memories as I have.