Now that the racing season is over, I want to congratulate the champions from all over the country and not in only the sprint car racers, but those competing in all forms of motorsports.
Now that the racing season is over, I want to congratulate the champions from all over the country and not in only the sprint car racers, but those competing in all forms of motorsports.
The drivers are the ones who are in the spotlight, which is good when you win, but not always so good if you make a boneheaded move or make a mistake. Then, all eyes are on you! Yes, the driver gets most of the attention but racing is truly a team sport, especially at the semiprofessional or professional level.
It takes dedicated people with a strong work ethic and it takes people who sometimes have to set their pride aside and hunker down and do what‘s best for the team.
It takes people who are willing to keep working and go without sleep to fix torn up race cars, or build new ones, when they know that when that job is done they have to load up and drive all night to get to the next race.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series is without a doubt the most grueling racing series in the world.
I know, Formula 1 has to load up its multi-billion-dollar teams and cars into cargo planes and team members and drivers get into their private jets and fly all around the world, but they don‘t do it 80 to 90 nights a year. Some of the WoO teams have to bounce up and down the road nine or 10 months out of the year with as few as two crew members.
It takes a special type of person who is willing to commit to being out on the road and away from home for weeks — and sometimes months — at a time.
Some, especially when they are young and have no real commitments at home, jump at the chance to travel all over America and see the sights and the scenery but many will only do it for a few years, get tired of the grind and decide they want to settle down back home.
That‘s why it‘s difficult for teams to keep continuity and to keep key team members together year after year. A lot of these people spend as much time with their teammates as they do with family members.
It‘s not an easy life and there are a lot of ups and downs but man the ups can be an exhilarating, adrenaline-fueled great time. But as they say, “if it was easy anyone could do it.”
As I mentioned last month, I have been writing this column for Sprint Car & Midget Magazine for many years.
I never considered myself a “writer,” and I‘m sure there are many people who would agree with that, but I can say that I wrote all of the columns myself, and never had any of them ghost written.
In the early days, Doug Auld had to do a lot of editing to my columns, but with his help and suggestions, over time my writing improved, and he had a lot less work to do to polish them into shape.
I‘ve always enjoyed a challenge and it was challenging at times. Not only was it difficult putting a column together, but sometimes the most challenging part was coming up with a subject or an idea to write about.
I hope people enjoyed reading them and my biggest hope is that on occasion people might have learned something that they otherwise wouldn‘t have known.
I‘ve enjoyed doing a column and there were times I learned things, too. Often, I started a column thinking it was going to be on a certain subject or person and the next thing I knew it was going in a completely different direction from what I had planned.
Some of the times when that happened, I would have to “phone a friend” or use the world wide web for information or confirmation on a subject to learn the facts on whatever and wherever my column took me.
As I said, I‘ve enjoyed writing for this magazine very much, but I‘m like some of those team members who‘ve been on the road for a while, I‘ve decided it‘s time for me take a break and from writing a monthly column.
I‘ve been told the door will always be open for me to write an occasional story if I‘d like, not only for Sprint Car and Midget magazine but for its sister publication, SPEED SPORT, as well. Maybe someday down the road, I will do just that!
In the meantime, thank you to everyone who is a loyal reader of this magazine!