It’s too cold. It’s too hot. The pits are too muddy. The track’s too rough. It might rain. They won’t have any cars. They have too many cars. Is it me or does it seem like racers — and fans, too — try to find reasons not to go to the races?
Yes, today’s race cars cost more money than ever. I get it. Catch a rut the wrong way and you’re knocking off what costs in upwards of thousands of dollars — if you’re lucky. The worst-case scenario could be totaling the car altogether. Might as well just park it and wait another day, right?
Yes, travel costs a lot. Fill anything up at the gas station and you’ll understand. Fill up that crew, too, and it gets even more expensive. And that’s before considering hotels, if you didn’t opt for that pricy toter home. Might as well not leave the house, right?
Yes, time is the most finite resource one has. No one wants to waste it on an uncomfortable experience. Who wants to sweat or freeze their butts off? Muddy pit conditions and dusty tracks mean cleaning not only the car, but the trailer and the truck that took it. That certainly eats up hours. Might as well wait for the perfect race, right?
Guess what?
It doesn’t exist.
Perfect is the enemy of good. If you wait for the perfect opportunity to go race — or do anything, for that matter — you’ll find yourself old and gray, wishing you had got off your high horse to go out and enjoy life.
Some of my fondest memories have come in conditions less than optimal.
I froze my butt off at many editions of the Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium Speedway in New Jersey. And I got to see Jimmy Blewett and his late brother John masterfully move through the field to win — and receive just as many cheers as boos. (I’ll admit it, booing was kind of fun.)
I sweltered under the summer heat during the Southern Nationals Series in Tennessee. And I got to see Chris Madden, Jonathan Davenport and Brandon Overton show their grit that led to them touring nationally.
I’ve been knee-deep in mud at the Ice Bowl at the Talladega Short Track in Alabama. And I got the pleasure of talking with the legendary Red Farmer — and this then-80-something-year old telling me his iPhone was newer and better than mine. (Did I just get schooled by Red Farmer?)
I’ve come back to the hotel covered in dirt from head to toe from Can-Am Speedway in New York after a World of Outlaws Late Models race. And I got to hang out with Tyler Reddick’s parents for a bit before he became a NASCAR star. (Great folks, by the way.)
One of the best races I’ve seen was the Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway, when the track conditions were far from favorable. In the closing laps Scott Bloomquist made a pass for the lead — and lost a wheel. The other contender, Bobby Pierce, got a flat tire. Jimmy Owens, however, outlasted them all, to win.
And rain? I know rain.
I promoted the NELMA Late Model Challenge, an annual pavement late model race at Evergreen Raceway in Pennsylvania for seven years. How many times did we use a Sunday rain date? Five.
The first year of that race, it was called something different: The Walt DeMorris Memorial Late Model Challenge. Who was Walt? A weekly racer who loved racing. Number of feature wins? Zero. Number of parties won? Countless. Yet, despite that track record — and the rain — a race in his memory attracted a full field. That brought so much joy to his family and friends who came out to honor his memory. That made dodging every single raindrop that fell worth it.
Some ask me why do I go to so many motorsport events? I’ll tell you why. My one regret in racing? Missing Walt’s last race at Evergreen, his first away from his home track of Riverhead Raceway. He messaged me after that event telling me how much fun he had.
The next day, he was dead.
Life’s short. Stop making excuses. There’s no better time than now to do what you love — and you love racing, right?
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
