Best Laid Plans
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: Josie Cotton: Movie Disaster Music
Topic: Auto Racing

I learned a few days ago that the track at which we intended to race this year - Creek County Speedway near Sapulpa, Oklahoma - has been sold to a new owner/proprietor.  Unfortunately, one of the first actions of the new owner was to cancel the planned non-wing sprint class.   

On one level, this was extraordinarily disappointing news.  As I've mentioned in previous entries, I do miss racing very much and when I stopped racing it left a large void in my life.  To believe I would have a chance to race again in the type of car I love, only to have it snatched away at the 11th hour, was a bitter pill to swallow.

However, I'm not as disconsolate as an outside observer might imagine.  My dad has been having some significant health issues lately.  At this point everything is pointing toward a full recovery, but the reality is that even before the latest problems, he was not going to be able to do much physical work to assist with the race car.  There were ways I had planned to try to work around not having dad's help, but I don't have any close friends who share my passion for racing and it was going to be difficult, at best. 

Instead of letting this development dampen my spirits, I'm doing my level best to look on the bright side.  For one thing, racing is a very expensive avocation for the non-wealthy, even in a limited class.  Not racing will definitely make my financial life less stressful.  Not racing will also make it easier for me to attend out-of-town rock and roll shows this summer, in terms of both funding and available time.  And it will free up time to work on my neglected house and do a variety of other things that would have been forced to take a back seat.  I'm currently in the process of getting back into photography after an extended hiatus - it will be nice to have more time to devote to that effort.  I haven't done much hiking lately either - I'd like to make a couple of those trips this year.  Finally, my dad loves fishing but he hasn't been able to do much in recent times, and I haven't really been very helpful in that regard.  I'm going to try to change that and make sure we go on some fishing expeditions this year.

So, all in all, I don't think this is the worst thing that could have happened.  That doesn't mean I don't still miss racing and very much want to get back into the sport at some point, but we have to play the cards we're dealt and if we can get my dad back to his old self again, I think my 2007 hand actually looks pretty good.  

Out Of The Blue
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: MTX: Love Is Dead
Topic: Auto Racing

To a large extent, my life has been in limbo since we stopped racing.  I've written before - here and elsewhere -  that stopping racing cold turkey has been a difficult adjustment for me.  Figuring out a way to reinvent myself has been a major struggle.  I recently got some news that has the potential to clarify things considerably. 

I've learned that a race track south of Tulsa called Creek County Speedway is planning on having a limited non-wing sprint car class in 2007.  Outside of mini-sprints, there hasn't been any weekly non-wing open wheel class in the state of Oklahoma in the five years since I retired.  The fact that a limited, relatively affordable class is apparently being started is not something I expected to happen.  I figured my only realistic choice was between starting over from scratch with an IMCA Modified or staying out of racing altogether.    

I'm still a little bit in shock, but I know I'm going to have to give this a shot.  Even though the rules package sounds good, it's still going to be expensive to put a car together (racing is never not expensive).  There's no guarantee that they'll get enough cars to keep the class going all year.  My dad won't be physically able to help much.  There are some significant technical differences between sprint cars and our old supermodified - coping with those differences will be an additional challenge.  But even with all the potential pitfalls, I can't turn my back on this opportunity.  So much of racing revolves around practicality and the specific details of the rules packages.  Slight differences in the wording of the rules can make the difference between having to spend $3000 vs. $15,000 vs. $30,000 on a motor to be competitive.  Truly limited non-wing sprint car classes are very uncommon, nationwide.  I was very fortunate to have the chance to participate in the old 100" wheelbase open wheel limited supermodified class for 11+ years, and when it ended I figured my time in racing probably went with it. 

Racing helps me understand my life, if that makes any sense at all.  There's going to be a huge amount of work involved in getting our old sprint chassis assembled - we've done some of the work, but we bought it as a bare chassis and there's still a ton of stuff left to be done.  Unless we buy a lot of new lightweight parts, the car will probably be at somewhat of a disadvantage in terms of weight.  There may even be some issues we haven't anticipated, since we never ran a sprint chassis before.  But the idea of strapping into a car and dropping the throttle and pitching that sucker sideways - it's really difficult to explain to someone who's never had that feeling.  Let's just say that there's now there's an urgency to getting the thing rolling that didn't exist a few weeks ago.   

hungry hearts
Now Playing: Bruce Springsteen: Darkness On The Edge Of Town
Topic: Auto Racing
They're racing at the Fairgrounds tonight - a special holiday date. The faint roar of the straining engines is a siren song to my uncertain, wavering ears. I ache for what's lost. I know it ain't coming back, but I'm wondering if I should - if I could - settle for something less.

It was a highly improbable confluence of circumstances that led to my having a chance to race the type of cars I love the first place. There aren't that many tracks in the country running non-wing open wheel cars, and far fewer that have a restricted class that's remotely within my limited civil servant means. I know I was extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to do the thing I love for as long as I did. But even so, that blood does not leave your veins when you retire. I'll continue to yearn for the feeling of dropping the throttle and broadsliding into a turn for as long as I exist on this earth - maybe beyond.

There were so many discouraging nights - so many times when a rational person would have just packed it in. We had limited money, limited knowledge and limited skill but wondrous, amazing things can happen when you persevere against seemingly insurmountable odds. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude and pride when I think about the night I was able to give my dad an A-Feature victory.

But now, even if I wanted to throw reason to the wind and start over again in another class, my dad's no longer physically able to help, I have no kids of my own to teach and I'm not strong enough to do it all myself. My time has passed, but my heart has yet to accept it. I'm not sure it ever will...

Memories
Topic: Auto Racing
Went out to watch the races at State Fair Speedway last night. They had a celebration for the 50th anniversary of the first race at the track, bringing back a bunch of the veteran drivers. Foremost among them was my all-time favorite race car driver, Harold Leep. Leep was the far and away the best driver who ever strapped into a 100" wheelbase supermodified, which is why he's a member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. What's even more impressive than his incredible talent, though, is the utter class the man has never failed to exhibit both on and off the race track. If anyone inspired me to become a race car driver, it was Harold Leep.

It looks like the Speedway has been saved from the wrecking ball, at least for a few more years. I'm happy about that, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the powers that be have not really given up on that idea. We do have time now, though, to strengthen the track and make it a political impossibility for it to be destroyed. We have reason for hope, which is perhaps all one can ask for.