Tuesday August 12 still trying to catch up

I can't believe that it's already Tuesday the 12th and the last time I posted was almost an entire week ago on the 6th. Time sure has been flying by lately and I have been spending some time away from the computer.

We camped out at Cedar Lake last Saturday night and had a good time even though it was a just a small group. Nothing like the USA Nationals crowd, there were only a few campers and your typical week after the Nationals smaller crowd. I have noticed that even some of the owners and track workers take the week after the Nats off every year so it must be a grueling week for everyone.

The Late Model Feature got to be kind of an ordeal this time around. The track slicked over, there were still a couple of grooves of racing but cars were spinning out almost every lap. They finally shortened the race to 25 laps and awarded the win to John Kaanta. I commented to Ron Bernhagen how frustrating it must be to work just as hard on the track for every race but they're still at the mercy of humidity, wind an weather. They put in just as much work whether the track turns out perfect or not so perfect. Man, that has to be a lot like farming, you work your *ss off based on an educated guess but never know how things are going to turn out. I appreciate what those track prep guys do and share their frustration when it doesn't go the way they'd like to see it. Maybe that was the dirt gods way of evening things out after three perfect nights the week before. The racing was actually pretty good right up to the end of the night but it was nothing like the previous weekend but that was an impossible act to follow.

This week I'll be heading to Jackson for the Friday of the Nationals. I'm looking forward to the show. My hands are wiped out after keying all day at the office so should really give them a rest but I had a few things to say. I'll try to get on here a little more during the coming weeks.

I haven't been real enthused about the racing since the USA Nationals were over. It was so good that I'm spoiled and anything else is going to be a letdown for a while. That's the problem with a great weekend of racing, it takes a while before things measure up.

Man, I'm in a jam for next season. You see, I make a pretty good living but my wife only works a little part time and she spends a lot, a lot, I said a lot of money on frivolous things. Gifts for the grandkids, furniture, decorating, who needs all that frilly stuff. Heck, I'd line the walls with my racing pictures if it was up to me but she doesn't like them. Anyways, in case you haven't figured it out I'm saying this tongue in cheek. I need a woman who knows how to decorate and to remind me to do things for the family because I'm so one dimensional I'd never think of it on my own.

Next year things could change though. You see, we moved into this house in 1997 and really got into the website around that same time. In 1999 I started writing for the racing papers and gradually got more involved in the photography since then, especially the past five years. I was having so much fun that I neglected the house and it's getting run down and needs a lot of work. We're talking about getting into a town home if the market comes back to where we can sell this place but first I'm going to have to do the work. I'm not talking a couple hours at night, h*ll that's how long it takes just to cut the grass. No, I'm talking all summer long, a couple weeks of vacation, intense stuff like replacing windows, concrete work and a bunch of big projects. I'm talking all my vacation, nights and weekends all summer long. My wife has been kind enough to let me "check out" every summer for ten years and now she's asking for something back. We're getting closer to retirement and I'm not getting any younger so I'm dreading it but it looks like the summer of 2009 will be the year I do the work.

I'd still get to a few of the big events but probably could only do about ten nights of racing for the entire season. It has taken me ten years to build up all my media contacts and get to the point I'm at today. Racing doesn't wait for anybody, if I step aside for a season there will be somebody filling my spot and I might not get it back. That's my biggest regret but I've got to take care of family and home first, racing is just a hobby.

In addition to the house I'm due for another vehicle before long. Actually it wouldn't hurt to replace both vehicles but I can't afford more than one car payment at a time. I haven't had a car payment for several years so I've been putting the extra money into other things like racing. Well, now it's catching up with me and I'm going to have to make some sacrifices. I'm not trying to get anybody's sympathy, just thinking out loud about how I'm going to tackle these obstacles that will be coming up during the next year or so. It's the wise thing to do to take care of the necessary things and I know deep down inside that's what I'm going to have to do. I'll have to take a real close look at everything during the winter and figure out what I'm going to do.

One more thing that I'm getting more and more is that the wife is sick of me using all my vacation to go racing and not taking her anywhere. I operate on a shoestring like I already mentioned so I'm not talking about going to exotic places. She likes car trips within a couple hundred miles that are not tied in with a race. I think that's pretty reasonable of her and can totally understand how she feels. I've got a cousin who used to own Sprint Cars then in 1976 they sold out and never looked back. He used to chase up and down the highway every weekend. Fairmont, Knoxville, Sioux Falls all summer for years just like us race chasers do today. Then one day he walked away and never looked back. I don't think I could do that, I love the photography too much, but I would be comfortable cutting back some. Have you ever noticed that many of the racing photographers and writers are single? Unless they grew up in a racing family not many women will tolerate a guy being gone all summer. At ten years I'd say my wife has been pretty tolerant but now that travel is so expensive I can see her point. Just like a lot of you I'm spread pretty thin but I can't see myself quitting entirely. Racing media work is like a treadmill, you can't get off and take a hiatus because your gig won't be there when you get back. The show must go on so if you get off you're out of luck. That's where I'm having a problem, I need to take the time off but I want the racing gig to still be there when I come back. The thought of not doing this anymore is depressing.