The Daytona 500 was fun to watch this year. Dave Blaney had a good run and would have probably had a top 10 had it not been for having to take evasive action to avoid a wreck. Dave was forced to cut through the infield resulting in the flying sod doing some damage to the car that resulted in leaking coolant and oil. They had to park it.
The Wood Bros 21 won the race with a driver by the name of Trevor Bayne taking the win in only his second Cup start. Immediately after the race my dirt track friends were congratulating Trevor and saying how great it was that the Wood Bros won. Quite frankly I have never paid that much attention to NASCAR racing to offer much of an opinion.
I've watched my share of Cup races for sure but I don't keep close track of the sport. Usually I'll watch their races up until our season starts and then only catch select events until our season concludes at which time I split my attention between football and the remaining Cup schedule. Not that it's bad racing, I'm just not much of a television fan of anything, racing or otherwise. Racing is something I do on a warm summer night, not something I watch on television.
Speaking of racing on television, what do you think of the Dirt Knights series? My wife was watching over my shoulder and she was pretty critical of it. I'm with her on that one, I never noticed how small of a niche sport dirt track racing is until I saw them hauling to tracks in the middle of nowhere and racing in front of half empty stands. The USMTS is decent racing but I think the biggest thing they've got going for them is the hype and media coverage. I think in that respect they really know how to do it right. On the other hand, a big old heavy dirt Modified will never get me as excited as a volatile high speed on the edge Sprint Car. Basically a Modified looks like a Late Model that they forgot to put the nose piece on. Heavy, wide, slower and not as exciting as Sprints. Good racing at times but certainly not worth all the hype and attention they seem to generate.
I'm off today for the Presidents Day holiday and already spent a couple hours moving snow. When it stops (another 1'-3" by 6pm) I'll have to go out there and clean it off again.
Not much else happening around here these days. I'm just trying to hang in there and save a little gas and hot dog money for the racing season. That might be a little more of a challenge this year with the predicted gas prices and more family obligations. I'll get to enough races to keep a column going and do some magazine work but it probably won't be a record year. Actually, I think my record years are going to be a thing of the past. I'll still be out there as much as possible but I've got a couple retirement parties and even a possible wedding in the family so there are things tugging at my time and resources.
I look around at the racing writers and photographers and I wonder how they all manage to check out on their non-racing family and friends all summer. One particular scribe I know of logged in 160 shows last season. You don't go to 160 nights of racing without skipping out on more than a few graduations, weddings and other functions. Some might conclude that I'm jealous for bringing this up. To the contrary, I have always felt that 25 races per season is plenty. I've got 22 penciled in that are more or less a sure thing and another half dozen that require travel and motels that are a question mark. We'll see if the money is there and make a decision as those races get closer. I've got a mighty nice fire ring in my back yard and a great family so I can take it or leave it as far as getting to every last race. I guess as a writer and photographer I shouldn't admit that but I'm just being honest. I get worn down by the frantically busy seasons, the late night drives, the long hours of writing and photo editing each week and everything else that I do during the racing season.
One cool thing about 2011 is that I found myself with an open spot in my schedule during the "Back to the 50's" car show at the State Fairgrounds. Cedar Lake replaced the IRA Sprints with the USMTS at this year's Masters. Seeing as I'm now considered a Sprint Car writer and photographer that left me without a reason to attend the event. Some have asked why I don't go out and watch some of these events as a fan. My answer is that I have obligations to fill on the Sprint Car side and I have to conserve my funds to cover those events. The pie doesn't have quite enough pieces to venture much outside my main gig.
