Oct. 29, 2007 - Home Cookin'

One of the really cool elements within racing is the fact that competitors come from every corner of our nation, from the biggest cities to the smallest burgs. If a racer is successful and can sustain a career for many years, often their hometown becomes a part of their identity and is almost as important as their name.

When I was a kid—and I’ll confess that to some extent I still do this—I would listen to the hometowns of all the drivers and wonder what it was like at each place. Everything sounded exciting to me, like it was a place I wanted to visit.

Pretty soon I had memorized the hometowns of all the drivers at my local tracks and when I heard their name during introductions, it didn’t sound complete until the announcer also gave their hometown. Plus, I’d read the racing reports in the newspaper and magazines and quickly figured out the hometowns of some of the national stars.

If you’ve been around racing for much time at all, I’ll bet you can remember the hometowns of a lot of racers. In fact, sometimes when I hear the name of a town, I immediately think of a racer from there.

Here are a few to think about. How many can you guess? (The answers are at the bottom of the blog.)

Galesburg, Illinois. (Jerry…) hint: early IMCA sprint star
Troy, Ohio (Jack…) hint: USAC sprint racer
Tiffin, Ohio (Rick…) hint: original World of Outlaws sprint racer
Dorr, Michigan (Bob…) hint: ASA late model great
Arlington, Texas (Jim…) hint: sprint car and Championship driver
Nazareth, Pennsylvania (Mario…) hint: you actually need a hint?
Spartanburg, South Carolina (David…) hint: the Silver Fox, NASCAR star
Forest Lake, Minnesota (Jerry…) hint: IMCA sprint car great
Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Doug…) hint: great “Outlaws” sprint driver
Marietta, Ohio (Larry…) hint: USAC sprint car legend
Zanesville, Ohio (Butch…) hint: USAC stock car legend
Albuquerque, New Mexico (Al…) hint: no hint on this one, either
Toledo, Ohio (Rollie…) hint: USAC sprint car great, later an official
Muncie, Indiana (Tom…) hint: great early star in Roaring Roadsters
Randleman, North Carolina (Richard…) hint: oh, come on!

Sometimes things get mixed up when a guy moves from his hometown to somewhere else to race. For example, when guys move to Indiana to race USAC, or move to North Carolina to go NASCAR racing. Brian Tyler is originally from Parma, Michigan, but for a long time officials listed his hometown as Indianapolis or Fortville, Indiana. Today he lives in North Carolina. However, as far as I’m concerned, Brian will always be from Parma, Michigan, and that’s as it should be. That’s ultimately where he’s FROM.

I guess that applies to me, too. I grew up in a rural area in Madison County, Indiana, where the tiny town of Perkinsville was a couple of miles west; Anderson was the biggest nearby town, about eight miles east; and Frankton was six miles north. My hometown? As far as I’m concerned it’s Frankton, because that’s where I went to school. Some 20 years ago I moved to the suburbs of Indianapolis, and today I live in Fishers. But no matter how much time passes, or where I’m currently living, my hometown will always be Frankton. That’s just the way it is.

It’s always interesting when I’m traveling and I run across a town that I’ve heard countless times in driver introductions. As I’m driving through the town I think about that driver. Did he work at this gas station? Did he frequent that restaurant? Wonder where he lived? Maybe he still lives here! I always thought it would be cool to be driving through Waco, Texas, for example, and bump into Gordon Woolley. Wouldn’t that be great?

It’s cool to sit in the stands here in the Midwest and listen to fans when a driver is introduced from California, or New York, or Florida, or Texas. There is something of a mystique to someone from far away, and it makes the entire event seem bigger, more credible. That’s why it’s so important to continue using someone’s original hometown, because if they introduce a USAC sprint car lineup and everybody is from Indianapolis or Brownsburg, how boring is that?

If I raced, I would have the coolest hometown ever, even if I had to make it up. Something like Possum Gulch, Tennessee. Dead Man’s Cliff, New Mexico. Flat Cat, Michigan. Even Twisted Bumper, Nevada. A friend of mine, Roman Comer, now lives in Phoenix but his original hometown is Slick Lizard, Alabama. Pretty hard to top that one!

Answers to hometown quiz:

Galesburg, Illinois. (Jerry Blundy)
Troy, Ohio (Jack Hewitt)
Tiffin, Ohio (Rick Ferkel)
Dorr, Michigan (Bob Senneker)
Arlington, Texas (Jim McElreath)
Nazareth, Pennsylvania (Mario Andretti)
Spartanburg, South Carolina (David Pearson)
Forest Lake, Minnesota (Jerry Richert)
Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Doug Wolfgang)
Marietta, Ohio (Larry Dickson)
Zanesville, Ohio (Butch Hartman)
Albuquerque, New Mexico (Al Unser)
Toledo, Ohio (Rollie Beale)
Muncie, Indiana (Tom Cherry)
Randleman, North Carolina (Richard Petty)

Oct. 22, 2007 - Flying Isn't A Luxury Anymore

As I write this I’m scrambling in my office to finish up some work, then toss some stuff in a bag and head for the airport for a brief trip with my family. I can recall the eager anticipation I once held for air travel, but these days I usually feel a sense of aggravation and tension.

Frankly, they’ve taken all of the pleasure out of airline travel. Greyhound in the air is actually a more accurate description. I don’t get much of a sense of luxury on any flight, but then again I’m not in First Class. Hey, writers fly coach; back there you certainly aren’t in the lap of luxury.

Probably my biggest aggravation is the security screening process. I realize that 9/11 changed everything, and it required us to redefine the process of air travel. But I have to believe there is a better way than making 80-year-old farmers remove their shoes, and stripping a bottle of water from your bag with an ominous glare. At the very least, officials need to do a much better job of communicating with passengers WHY they can’t bring water or sunscreen past the checkpoint. Instead, you have dozens of TSA (Transportation Safety Administration is the official name for the agency, but the nickname is Thousands Standing Around) white shirts barking at you. Maybe somebody is actually paying attention to security, but I think it’s more about a bunch of bureaucrats swearing allegiance to whatever is in the policy manual.

The airlines haven’t helped themselves, either. Yes, we’re addicted to cheap fares, and there is tremendous pressure on the airlines to make money. But cramming us into a seat that presses our knees in any position is not the answer.

When I began my business career some years ago, the airlines still served meals on all but the shortest flights. There was a prevailing sense of enjoyment on each flight, but as the airlines rushed to cut costs, the mood today is simply one of “get this flight over with.” A week or so ago I was flying Northwest and they didn’t even offer peanuts; only a complimentary soda. Someone mentioned the other day how appalled they were to see people these days flying in cutoff jeans and flip-flops, but I think that partly reflects the feeling that air travel isn’t anything at all special, but simply the cheapest way to get from point A to point B.

This sounds like a gripe session from someone with too many road miles, but it’s really not. I still very much enjoy traveling, and visiting both new and familiar places. It’s just that getting there is getting to be less enjoyable.

When I traveled to Japan a couple of years ago, I was amazed and impressed with their train system. It was smooth, inexpensive, fast, and quite comfortable. It was great to walk up to the window, buy a ticket, wait only a minute or two to board, find a comfortable seat, and lean back to enjoy the trip. In about 90 minutes we were at our destination, where we grabbed our luggage and exited the station. What a great system!

There was a time when I would have mocked the suggestion that we Americans need to look seriously at mass transit. That trip to Japan convinced me that it’s only a matter of time before we HAVE to get serious about train travel. I really believe anyone who experienced their system could immediately see the benefits, and would be just as enthusiastic as I am.

But I doubt it will happen for quite some time. We’re still pretty fond of our clogged highways and no-peanuts airlines. But I can dream, can’t I?

Oct. 15, 2007 - Staying Connected

We were at Winchester Speedway this past weekend, enjoying the Winchester 400. I brought my 14-year-old son along, and he’s a typical teen-aged kid of 2007: Wired and connected, eager to enjoy whatever technology can bring us.

“It’s a shame you’re so cheap, Dad,” he said as we were driving home. “If you had a phone that was internet-capable, we could get the football scores.”

I explained that I don’t need to know the scores until we get home. It’s only an hour drive, anyway. Life isn’t so urgent that I’ve got to know all the news as it happens. Naturally, he was amazed that I didn’t feel a sense of urgency to have up-to-the-minute news at my fingertips.

The conversation got me to thinking about how technology has changed the way we get news and information about racing. This is particularly true for those folks distributing news and results from tracks, teams, and sanctioning bodies.

In late 1983, I began a four-year hitch doing the publicity for Anderson Speedway on a part-time basis. I was still pretty much a beginner in terms of my writing career, and doing track publicity was a way to not only get more experience, but to deal with the wolf that appeared at my front door on a very frequent basis. My job at Anderson was two-fold; distribute weekly results to area and national media, and generate publicity on upcoming events.

E-mail? Forget about it in 1983. Text messages on cell phones? Cell phones, what’s that? Faxes? Only a handful of papers and other media used them yet. In fact, a lot of smaller media institutions were still using paste-up in the production room; they didn’t even use computers for their layout work, let alone communications. It wouldn’t have mattered much anyway, because we hadn’t yet figured out how to link the growing number of personal computers to communicate with each other. So we’d use a computer to write the press release or results, print them out in hard-copy, and use snail-mail for distribution.

I’d work late each Saturday night on the Anderson results, and after church on Sunday I’d quickly print out the proper numbers of copies. I at least had the ability to print mailing labels, and I’d spend a good part of the afternoon printing, folding, stuffing, and sealing a growing pile of envelopes. I’d affix the postage, wrap them in bunches with a rubber band, and run to my car. I found a post office that had a Sunday evening pickup, and I’d drop them in the outside box, crossing my fingers that they’d arrive in time for each paper’s deadline.

Today, my e-mail in-basket gets buried with more than 200 messages per day. Race results, press releases, all the stuff that once took me many hours to accomplish, are today distributed with the press of a button. I must say, if I were still doing that sort of work, I’d like the new way a whole lot better.

But I still don’t need a high-dollar internet phone. Not yet. I remain blissful in my state of disconnect, knowing that all those e-mails will have to wait until I’m good and ready to read them. And not before.

Oct. 8, 2007 - A Visit With 'Speedy Bill'

I traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska this past week, where I had an opportunity to visit “Speedy” Bill Smith and his fabulous collection of vintage racing cars and engines.

Speedy Bill and I are collaborating on his autobiography, and last week was our first outing to get started on the project. We managed to carve out a day to walk through his beautiful three-story museum located adjacent to Speedway Motors, the hugely successful performance parts business founded by Smith and his wife Joyce in 1952.

Inside the pristine Museum of American Speed, you’ll find a vast and breathtaking collection of automobile memorabilia and performance equipment. When Smith began his career in 1952, he was the type of person who “collected” things he found interesting. A special intake manifold, an old Ford Model-T specialty engine, whatever, he squirreled away stuff until one day he realized he had an enormous volume of, well, stuff. Rather than allow everything to languish in a dusty barn someplace, Smith felt compelled to share the treasure with his fellow motorheads, and he built the museum several years ago.

It has grown to become a legitimate world-class collection, and it’s presented in a first-class, professional manner comparable to fine museums everywhere. During the summer months tours are available each day, and during the winter—from October to April—tours are available on Friday afternoons.

I found the display related to the Indianapolis 500 particularly compelling. You’ll find a spacious recreation of the old Gasoline Alley, spanning several decades. Using some of the original doors as well as other authentic props, it provides us with a wonderful glimpse back in time to a very special place. Seeing those green-and-white Gasoline Alley doors again certainly brought back memories.

One other aspect I enjoyed was that Smith pays tribute to various craftsmen whom he deeply admired. Smith has a keen appreciation for mechanical excellence, and one of his goals with this institution is to remind us of great mechanical minds who exerted tremendous influence over the sport. Of course you’ll see the handiwork of giants such as Harry Miller, Louis and Arthur Chevrolet, and Mickey Thompson; but also lesser-known geniuses such as Robert Roof, who developed a wide array of performance parts way back in the 1920s and ‘30s from his tiny shop in Anderson, Indiana. Anderson is my hometown, and I had never heard of Robert Roof! So much for us “experts.” I found it particularly gratifying that Smith has preserved the legacy of such men, and helped all of us—as well as future generations — acknowledge the people who came before us.

If you’re anywhere close to Lincoln, take some time to visit. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed.

Museum of American Speed
P.O. Box 81906
Lincoln, NE  68501
http://www.museumofamericanspeed.com/

Oct. 1, 2007 - Is Racing Getting Stale?

Short-track attendance seems to be flat this summer, and even NASCAR—the gold standard of American racing for the past decade—is experiencing declining TV ratings and some empty seats. It’s not exactly an onslaught, but I’ve heard in recent months from a small but growing number of longtime fans that they’re having a hard time getting excited about going to the races, and some openly confess that they’re losing interest in motorsports.

It makes me wonder: Is racing getting stale?

When was the last time you went to the track and saw something really memorable, really compelling, really interesting, really entertaining? Hopefully, it was just a couple of weeks ago. If not, maybe that’s the problem.

Chris Economaki has said many times in recent years that the sport is lacking in old-time promotion. I think he’s right, because a lot of events I attend clearly lack pizzazz, even if the racing is pretty good. See, it isn’t just about the racing; folks need to be entertained, even hard-core lifelong race fans.

A few tracks are beginning to catch on, bringing some fun—and life—back to the show. I’ve seen folks using compressed-air guns to shoot t-shirts up into the crowd during intermission, and it was neat to watch everybody go wild trying to get a shirt. A few weeks ago at O’Reilly Raceway Park, Hostess did a promotion where they actually showered the folks in the grandstand with Twinkies, thrown from the roof of the suites. It sounds silly, but the fans were absolutely screeching with laughter and excitement.

They weren’t just watching the races, and they weren’t just enjoying a free Twinkie; they were having a good time.

Sometimes we hear track operators or even fans brag about how early their races finished up. “We were out of there by 9:45,” they might say. That’s great, because long, drawn-out shows are a scourge on our sport. But I hope we don’t get so caught up in the time issue, we forget the fact that people are there not to watch the clock, but to be entertained. In fact, some tracks are so efficient they run one heat after another with all the excitement of loading a truck, as if the real purpose was to see how quickly they can finish the program.

When was the last time somebody described going to the movies as, “Aw, man, it was great, the movie was only 90 minutes long! We were out of there by 9:45!”

What made me think about all this was a recent trip to the track where I realized I am completely and utterly tired of track food. No offense to concession stands across the land; it’s just that after years of hot dogs and cheeseburgers, I realize I’m ready for something else. How about a salad? How about some BBQ ribs? How about a slice of cheesecake?

A track might have a killer cheeseburger, but after 20 years of cheeseburgers your first bite tells your brain, “We’ve already had this sandwich…nothing new here.”

I wonder if that’s what’s happening, for example, with Nextel Cup broadcasts. Maybe people flip on the TV on Sunday afternoon and get the impression that it’s the same bunch of cars going around the same track, just like the event last week.

Personally, I’ve felt for a long time that Nextel Cup races are too long, but then again the races are the same length as they were ten years ago, when Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup racing was booming in popularity. So maybe it isn’t the length of the race, but the fact that we’ve all seen this show before. Lots.

I think it’s time for racing—particularly short track racing—to try some different formats. Who says we need 10-lap heats and a 25-lap feature? How about something new, like a 20-lap feature, invert the finish, and run another 20-lap feature? Or whatever. Just give us something DIFFERENT.

Racing is definitely an entertainment enterprise, from the Indianapolis 500 to the smallest micro-sprint track out in the sticks. These are the words no entertainment entity ever wants to be associated with: Boring. Predictable. Stale. Familiar. Routine.

How about it, promoters and track operators? How about some fresh new perspectives to the sport we all love, with a double-dose of spice and pizzazz?