Racing

Today I'm thinking about adding some flowers to my blog.  Nah!  Probably not.

When I was a kid my Dad and I didn't do a lot of fun things together.  He was an only child who lost his Dad when he was 2.  His step father didn't come into his life until 4 or 5 years later.  So he didn't know a whole lot about being a father.

One thing we did have in common was a love of cars.  I can remember as a kid hanging on the back of the front bench seat looking at all the cars going by as we drove some place.  I could name them all--make, model and year.  Of course, that's when they all didn't look alike and the styling changed every year.

I lived in Louisville, KY about 5 miles from the state fairgrounds where they had a 1/4 mile paved asphalt oval race track.  On a Fri or Sat night we could hear the cars going around the track in the distance.

One night out of the blue my Dad told me to get ready we were going someplace.  I couldn't imagine where he would take me on a Fri night.  We didn't often do things like that together, especially on a whim.

Much to my surprise and joy we ended up at the race track at the fairgrounds.  On Fri nights they ran the older models...cars from the late 40's and early 50's...in lap races but also in figure eights.  It was fun to watch two cars approaching the X of the figure eight wondering if they were going to hit.  One night a couple of them did and one ended up sitting atop the stack of tires they placed there for...well, I'm not sure what for.

That began a regular activity for us happening several times a year.  On Sat nights they ran the late models...60's.  They were faster and sleaker.  It was something to see a car that was a current model running on the track.  Someone really had to have the bucks to do that!  One of my neighbors ran a late model and I would occasionally go down past his house to see the car off the track being worked on.

We would often get to go in the pits to see the cars up close.  It just further fueled my love of cars, especially the unmuffled roar of the engines.

As I grew older we stopped going to the oval track but my buddies now took me to the drag strip to see the cars, again with wonderful unmuffled engines, roar down the track from a standstill to over 100 mph in a quarter mile.  Wow!  That was moving.

I still love racing and enjoy watching the NASCAR races on TV.  When I was a kid it was rare to see them televised. 

One of the fun things that happened while I was at the Bargain Hunter was we sponsored a weekly race series car.  We got free tickets to go to the Mansfield track to see it race as a major sponsor of a car.

One evening we went over for the Hooters 250.  I thought about bringing ear plugs...but I didn't want to be a sissy.  I made sure we sat down close to the track on turn 4 so we could get the benefit of the acceleration of the engines.  I came home that night unable to hear well and it lasted a day or so more.

Maybe that's why I need hearing aids.  Aw, it was worth it and still is to see and hear the cars turn loose their horsepower.  One of my dreams is to drive a NASCAR in one of their schools around the country.  It's part of my bucket list.  What's on yours?