Nov. 23, 2007 - A Welcome Reprieve

Well another season is over. Many race nuts get upset this time of the year when racing is all but shut down. I always find it a relief, even when racing has been good.

I remember 1962-63. As soon as the outdoor season ended, the ATQMRA began racing indoors and they ran Fridays at Island Garden and Saturdays at the Teaneck, N.J. Armory. This went on until March. The reason I didn't burn out was because I was so young and all of the racing was quite good.

Now, things have changed. We have so much racing on TV. At first I thought it was a good thing but as always, NASCAR overdoes it. With all the extra shows going on all week, plus a very long pre race show, it's all too much. I only watch Dave Despain's WindTunnel on Sunday nights. It's too bad it isn't on in the winter.

I went all year without watching any of Speed's Trackside shows. They are a waste of time. First, all John Roberts ever says is a cliche. It's very funny, he never has an original thought. Then, there's Jimmy Spencer who often chastises drivers for inconsiderate driving. It's like Liz Taylor dissing someone's second wedding. Plus, you have Kenny Wallace and his annoying giggling. At a recent prerace show for a BGN race, in 45 minutes, they never said who was on the pole.

Spending a few months without hearing Michael Waltrip is like a vacation on the Riviera. His tiresome plugging for his sponsors and his butt-kissing of NASCAR is cumbersome.

The addition of ESPN this year brought us Jerry Punch who says the same drivel all day and when he can't think of anything, he talks about football. Do football TV commentators talk about racing during a time out?

I won't miss Larry McReynolds, who constantly butchers the English language. "He has ran in the top ten all day," seems to be his favorite. He just stated he didn't know how to spend the 91 days leading to the Daytona 500. Why not go to night school and stop embarrassing yourself? By the way, do any of you find Jeff Hammond to be as hilarious as his friends think he is.

Back to ESPN: The duo of Sally what's-her-name and Brad Daugherty is just plain awful. Daugherty has become NASCAR's official Stepin Fetchit. They make a big deal out of him being a former truck team owner. He was a part owner for part of a season.

So I'll be watching DVD's of old TV shows this winter and enjoying it. I won't be missing NASCAR on TV a bit. The racing this year was on most days, uninspiring because NASCAR won't alter the car specs so the racers can run close to each other. Years ago they used to on the same tracks they race on now. To me there's nothing worst then watching a bad race and having to listen to phony enthusiasm from the TV mouths

Nov. 16, 2007 - Historic Races Need Northeastern Home

I saw the Monterey Historics on Speed on TV recently. It made me salivate.

There were around twenty Indy roadsters on hand along with many other antique race cars which revved proudly around the Laguna Seca race course. Those people sure now how to do it right.

My love for racing's history intensifies every year. I'm involved with our cozy little Long Island group. We have great times together.

The northeast, which is so rich in racing history needs a major event. Right now, if I want to see a gaggle of Indy roadsters, I'd have to trek to Milwaukee.

We need to maintain a big interest in racing's past. Today's race machines have no personality. They are disposable. Many historic race cars stayed competitive for years and have many stories about them. So many of these cars have been lovingly restored. It's too bad we don't have a venue where they can be displayed and driven.

Pocono Int'l Raceway is nicely centrally located. I know that Dr. Mattioli was treated with disdain by the folks who have run Indy-car racing in the past and he has a very bad taste from it. But the vintage fraternity has nothing to do with that.

How about it, Dr. Joe? Please open your doors to the many in this region who have loved racing during its greatest days. It would be a great event for everybody.

Nov. 9, 2007 - Making An Announcement

One of many things that change is track P.A. announcers. I've been to many tracks these past 55 years and have observed many of them. For 15 years, I announced too. I used to enjoy it very much. I don't think I would now. Today's announcer is merely a salesman. So many of them have a pile of things to plug. The racing sometimes seems incidental.

The DIRT organization is the worst in this respect. I saw a big change at one track which they took over, Orange County in Middletown, N.Y. For years the track announcer was Ray Martin. Ray was a very nice, generous and quite humorous man who loved racing very much. He used to position himself by the sign-in booth and virtually someone from every competing car that night would chat with him.

Ray would then regale us with news from as trivial as a crewman's cat having kittens to someone switching powerplants in the race car. He would fill the dead spots of the show with these facts, which showed the fans that real people were involved with the race cars. When DIRT took over Middletown in 1984, it all changed. DIRT never makes an effort to show interesting facts about its competitors. Drivers only get mentioned when the lineups are giving or if they do well in the race. The seventh-place guy never gets noticed in DIRT.

But what you get in DIRT is a spate of sponsorship talk. From the first lap of the first race to the checker in the feature, the fans are reminded every second about the official something or other of DIRT. One disgusted fan wrote once to tell me that he kept count one night and the dealership that provided the pace car was mentioned 85 times!

What is it with race people? Are we all stupid? Why must we be reminded a zillion times about these sponsors? Look at NASCAR on TV. I don't know about you but after fifteen years, I think I know that Jeff Gordon is backed by Dupont. Before the sponsorship "era" us announcers were part of the entertainment. We'd keep the fans informed of the goings-on, make a few jokes to liven up the dead times. We enjoyed being there and wanted the fans to be too. I learned under Johnny Long, one of the best race callers ever. When the racing was under green, you knew what was going on. When action stopped, he'd make you laugh or smile. I got to hear people like Ted Webbe, Nat Kleinfield, Chris Economaki, Bill Singer, Johnny Cathers, Warren Ruffner and others who made a night of the races a joy.

We also have a new breed of announcers — the "screamers." These guys should be made to hear themselves. Racing is a deversion. Fans go there to relax and watch some good racing. Do they need some idiot yelling at them all night? Trouble is, they do it whether the race is a barnburner or a yawner. I always tried to be honest. A great race deserves a special effort by the announcer. An average one shouldn't be oversold with phony bravado. So many announcers avoid the basics. When you go to Williams Grove, Bruce Ellis gets on the mike when the cars are being pushed off for warm-ups and tells the fans about the driver and the car. There are new fans every night. It's a shame he's the exception, not the rule.

Racing used to be entertainment. We should go back to that.

Nov. 2, 2007 - Indignation Over WoO Stagnation

The World of Outlaws has been in existence for almost 30 years now and not many changes are evident.

When Ted Johnson started the series, he had to assure the drivers that it would be worth their while to do all that traveling. So, he had a system wherein the fastest guys would start in front of the "A" main, hardly an Outlaw exclusive. But he also saw to it that track conditions would make it hard to pass, notably hard and slick.

Well this is nice for the drivers but what about the fans who pay their hard-earned money to see wheel-to-wheel racing?
It has been apparent that the fans long have taken a back seat as far as the “show” is concerned. When DIRT took over, many hoping a change or two would come. DIRT is not exactly a fan friendly operation.

Sure, I've seen some great Outlaw shows, but I've seen more in which the pole starter, who got that spot after winning the "Dash" race, would lead all the way.

One of the first Outlaw races I remember years ago was on the Syracuse mile in which winner Sammy Swindell griped in his post-race interview about his starting spot, which was third! The fans booed lustily.

Years ago I suggested in a column that the Outlaws handicap their "A" main by not having either an Outlaw feature winner or someone who won at the hosting race track, in the last calendar year, start in the first two rows. This certainly would increase competition.

Look at Donny Schatz. He's having a tremendous season. He has won most of the "blue chip" sprint-car races and will probably win more money than anyone ever has in a sprint car. Donny has done this by nary passing a car. Most of those wins were wire-to-wire. This certainly isn't a knock on him, but the system.

There just isn't enough side-by-side racing anymore. Promoters and sanctioning bodies have to realize that fans will eventually lose interest. You should be able to tell the difference between warmups and the feature event.