Apparently time does fly when you are having fun. This week marks my 44th anniversary at National Speed Sport News.
Practically everything has changed in that time. Not all of it good. Racing simply isn’t a hobby anymore. If you don’t have big bucks to throw away, you can only watch, not compete. In the 1960s, nobody got rich racing, but nobody went broke, either.
Racing has gone “top heavy.” Everything now centers around NASCAR’s Cup division. I’d love to see it all turn around, but it won’t. The damage has been done.
There’s far too much technology in racing. I long for the days when the guy behind the wheel made the race what it was. Now all these sleek handling supermarket cars can be driven by anyone.
I was down in the dumps in 1963. My brief writing stint for Illustrated Speedway News ended because its publisher, Walter Bull, constantly worried that if a writer offended anyone he might lose a subscriber.
I was out of work. The folks at the post office didn’t appreciate the time I took off to watch my cars race. The first two got wrecked, the third had no engine. The indoor TQ season was coming at Island Garden, just 15 minutes from home. I had nothing to do.
I wrote to Chris Economaki and offered my services to cover those races for NSSN. We hooked up, and this turned out to be a major coup for me. I had no experience in covering races, but those indoor shows helped me get my writing “chops.” There was a lot of frantic action and running laps in eight seconds kept you busy. Since this was the only racing that winter, I was able to write long-winded stories.
I remember many of the TQ gentry patting me on the back saying that I’ve made the “big time” with NSSN. They were right. The first column came two years later. It has been a great relationship.
The early days saw me typing away on my portable, hoping the U.S. Postal Service would deliver the copy before deadline. Even though the office was only 40 miles from home, it was often touch and go. I was a busy guy. Some weeks I’d have a column and four result stories in these pages.
I had the most fun going to Middletown, N.Y., on Saturday nights. Announcer/PR man Ray Martin was one of my best friends. After the show, I’d head for the office where Ray would write his result release and I’d do my race story. His boss, Betty Gessner, would bring us cold brews and we’d have a nice time yakking about the races. I’d drop my copy off at Ridgewood on the way home.
Then in 1984, DIRT took over Middletown and very sadly, my wonderful friend Ray passed away. As I used to, I showed up at the track’s office with my typewriter to do my story. They wouldn’t let me use one of their empty offices. As someone said, I should have told them I was a potential sponsor.
Things got easier with the Internet because I’m now able to correspond directly with my readership. I have had some very ardent followers over the years, and I appreciate it.
I respect the fact that Chris has always wanted NSSN to be like a real newspaper, not a fan puff piece. My thanks to the staff for making so much of my stuff look better than it actually was. I was asked recently if I have any goals. Yes, I’d love to be able to write a 50th anniversary column in six years. The way things have been going, I guess I should shoot for 45 first.
No more paper cuts at 25 Emerson Place, Valley Stream, NY 11580. E-mail to racewri771@aol.com.