My day got off to a rocky start. We were all sitting at the park & ride waiting for our vanpool and we found out the van tires had been slashed. No van today so I had to drive at the last minute. Fortunately I had enough gas and the correct change for parking. I only drive two miles a day to the park & ride so a lot of times I'll have less than a quarter tank until the weekend comes. There are a lot of days when I've only got a couple bucks in my pocket. I park at a $1.50 per day lot that has a kiosk where you drop your money so I need correct change. The alternative is the $6 per day ramp where I can pay on the way out so I save $4.50 by having the correct change.
I stopped at the credit union and picked up some cash because I might have to drive again this week. I needed some money for the three race weekend I've got planned this Friday through Sunday night anyways. I don't carry a cash card, the wife usually has the checkbook and I'm very conservative about how I use my credit card. Hey, I was raised by depression era grandparents and it left a lasting impression on me. Some would say cheap but I prefer the word wise. Anybody who grew up in an era when credit was harder to come by saw this meltdown coming. I'm feeling the pinch like everyone else but the racing season is my priority and when that's over we'll see where we're at.
Gas jumped to $3.859 today and oil shot up to $133 per barrel. I read where a lot of Wall Street people who were involved in other types of markets have gravitated to commodity speculating. I'll be the first to defend our free enterprise economic system but traditionally governments have had to step in and regulate. The reason for regulation is to prevent exactly the kind of greed we see permeating the market today. Energy is going to be an issue from now on and it's going to have an effect on grass roots racing.
I decided on Kopellah, Cedar Lake and Kasson for this weekend. Kopellah is always a fun place to go. They don't get the most cars, huge crowds or thousands of fans but it's a fun track. Everyone is friendly and it's a more relaxed atmosphere than the bigger tracks/events. Matter of fact, that's what I like about Kopellah. It's the kind of place where you say you're going to the dirt track, not the "facility or venue." You go to the races at Kopellah, not to an "event." It's a down to earth, laid back grit in your teeth dirt track racing the way it should be.
Cedar Lake has their first double Features night of the season. After reading the releases it appears more like a qualifying Heat race like they have at the Masters and USA Nationals than an actual Feature. From what I read I think the word "Feature" isn't really an accurate description of the first races of the evening. It's more like a big event format and the first race amounts to more of a long Heat than an actual Feature. I think it might be a good way to move the show along and make a night at the races more attractive to families. There were a lot of contrary posts about it on the internet boards but they haven't even given it a chance to see how it works. A lot of these racers have the idea that everything has to be done the same way at all the tracks. How dare a track try something different must be their thinking on this. It sounds better to me every time I look over the format so we'll see how it goes.
Sunday night I'll be going to the USMTS at Kasson. I haven't been down there since a 360 Sprint Car special some years back. I'm thinking it was maybe the first or second year I wrote for MRC so that would make it 1999 or 2000, somewhere in there. I remember it being a neat little track and the USMTS is always good so I'm looking forward to it.
That's all for tonight. I have to baby sit a 2 year old and a puppy for a couple hours.
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