Off To The Races!

I had never been to any type of race before I met Kirby.  When we went to visit his brother in Gillette, WY he took me to my first dirt track race.  His brother letters race cars out there, and does the majority of them at that track.  I was really not that excited because I despised car racing.  I hate watching it on TV.  It is sort of like watching fish in a tiny tank swim from one side to the other and back, except watching fish can be sort of relaxing and sometimes they do something slightly funny or entertaining.  Worst case scenario you can laugh when they poop and swim around with a long turd hanging off their stomachs.  

Dirt track racing is totally different than NASCAR, though, and I ended up really liking it.  Because we were there with his brother, who had to work on some of the cars, we got pit passes and that was particularly cool for a first timer like me.  The cars are SUPER loud up close and the guys (and gals) that drive them are mostly really cool.  The tracks are shorter which makes for more entertainment value because most of the interesting action happens in the turns.  The races are also shorter, so you only have to be into it for a little while, whereas some NASCAR races take the entire afternoon or more.  The skill level of the drivers also varies widely.  There are some guys who aren't very good and/or are just starting out and there are others that totally kick ass.  You can usually tell who's new or who sucks because they don't have many or any sponsors on their cars.  One race we went to last year a guy literally had nothing on his car but his number, and it was taped on the door in duct tape.  I kid you not.  And he sucked big time.  But I was rooting for him because I felt bad for the guy, but as could be expected he came in last.  I just wanted him to hear one person cheering for him in the stands!  Finally, there are more wrecks due to all of the above factors.  Smaller track, shorter races and varying skill levels lead to lots of wrecks.  We've seen cars pile into each other, drive on top of each other, catch on fire, flip on their roofs, go up on top of the retaining wall and get stuck there, go over the retaining wall and down the track side, drive shafts fly out from under the car, you name it!  NASCAR has gnarly wrecks because of the speed the cars are traveling, but they tend to be pretty run of the mill.  The cars are designed to withstand high speed impacts without doing too much damage or flipping, etc...and cost about a million bucks to build.  Therefore they are built to not get all kinds of tore up when they do wreck.  Usually about half the field is eliminated by the mid-point of the race and then there's some good racing the rest of the way because the track opens up, very similar to 4 on 4 hockey.

I also like it because its really personal.  All of the tracks are in areas where its a big deal, of course.  So alot of the fans are really into it because they know one or more of the drivers.  There's always a couple groups of girls wearing homemade shirts supporting this or that driver.  In the areas where its a really big deal, and the population is a bit more affluent like Gillette, they have professionally made shirts, jackets and hats supporting their favorite driver.  I have a hoodie that Kirby's brother makes and sells that has all of the numbers of the cars he letters on the back with his company logo on the front, and its actually really cool and no one else in Nashville has one!

Plus, the drivers at this level are really only doing it for bragging rights and possibly a small cash prize at the end of the season (or in the occasional cash prize races scattered through the season).  The money won isn't even enough to begin to cover the costs of operating one of these cars, so its more the pride in winning than a financial necessity, anyway.  At least professional drivers still get paid even if they lose, and make money off sponsorships and appearances.  You still need to win to make decent money since no one wants a loser to be in their TV commercials or to come speak to their business conference.  But the money is there pretty much regardless, so its easier for those guys to be laid back about it, even when they have a terrible day.  They walk away from the race car regardless of its condition, go get into their luxury buses, ride home to their mansions and get in bed with their supermodel-hot wives.  A crew paid by someone else gets the car ready for the next race and its magically at the track in peak condition the following week.  In dirt track, every time, there's someone who gets super pissed and either tries to fight another driver or pitches some kind of hissy fit on the track.  Again, its kind of like hockey in that way.  But for the dirt track driver with the blown engine or trashed car, that's a big expensive mess that has to be fixed, usually by them and their friends, usually with their own money, in one week so they can be back on the track the next Saturday night.  They load their own car onto their own trailer and haul it back home to figure out what needs to be done.  

Dirt track racing is, to me anyway, the hockey of the motorsports world.  There's more car to car contact, as well, in dirt track than typical NASCAR and certainly drags.  If I can make something like hockey then I can find a way to enjoy it!  Of course there's always good people watching at dirt track races, too.  I'm sure there is at NASCAR races, as I can tell from the pictures I have seen when my Dad has gone to one.  But the rural people that go to the dirt track every Saturday night all summer long are another breed entirely.  I'm not judging or being mean here, I'm just stating the facts as I see them.  Its as much entertainment for me to go and watch them in their "natural habitat" as it would be entertainment for them to go to NYC and be baffled at all the city folk.  And as far as "city girls" go, I'm still fairly countrified but I don't see that kind of people on a daily basis.  I do need to be more careful in what I wear from now on, though.  All the other races I've been to have been in cooler weather, and the track always seems windier and colder than outside the track area, so I've just worn jeans and a hoodie.  Last night it was 90 degrees at sunset, and I wore a black sundress with flowers on it and black sandals.  I thought that was very casual, and I always wear dresses when its hot because I don't really "do" shorts.  I was wrong.  I stuck out like a sore thumb and had people staring at me all night.  Not cool.

It is also fun because the majority of NASCAR drivers got their start in this type of racing.  Unless you have a bit of money at your disposal to start with, you work your way up through the lesser dirt track classes like Pro Stock, Modified, etc... to Late Model.  If you are a good Late Model driver you will get some financial backing and can race outside your normal area, getting on some national tours and getting recognized by the racing "big wigs" and hopefully offered a spot on a Nationwide team, and if you're any good there, eventually a Sprint team.  I'm not generally a fan of amateur sports at all, but when it comes to amateur racing, you get way more for your money.  Up and coming Late Model drivers can hook the corners like mad, and watching those cars go one, even two, wheels up around those corners is exciting.  Watching the good drivers narrowly avoid wrecks, practically pushing people in front of them to get an opportunity to pass, and even drive a badly damaged car is sweet entertainment.  At one race we saw a car get smacked on the left front wheel and it was obvious the suspension was badly damaged because the tire was basically laying horizontal in the wheel well.  Typically they will make a car in that condition leave the track because it is dangerous to the other drivers, but for whatever reason they let that guy keep going and he drove that car all the way to the end with that wheel lifted off the ground, and then he won the freakin' race!  That takes wicked skill and ability to be able to maintain the speed and steering to keep that wheel up on the straightaways, not to mention still beat everyone else.

Aside from dirt track, I can kind of appreciate drag racing.  The best part for me is that the individual races are short, but it sort of sucks because they go all day.  The only professional drags I've been to were in Memphis in August and it was hot as balls.  I think I would enjoy it better if it were in cooler weather.  The races can almost be too short, on the other hand, and if you aren't paying attention you can miss the action entirely.  This was exacerbated last year by the shortened tracks due to the one driver's death after his chute didn't deploy and he crashed into a wall past the end of the track.  I don't follow racing enough to know if they have changed that back or not.  

I don't like the motorcycle drags and I'm not really sure why, but I think the wheelie bar on the back has something to do with it.  I know it is necessary, but it bothers me for some reason.  I do like the Funny Cars and Pro Stock dragsters, and I actually prefer it when one of the cars has some issue off the start.  Nose to nose finishes aren't as exciting to me.  They finish the strip in like 3 seconds, going 300+ miles per hour, but when someone has an issue off the start its funny while also making you sympathetic with the driver because its like, "aw damn!"  Those cars are supposed to be at peak performance, but with that much horsepower and that level of fuel sometimes shit just goes wrong.  And so long as no one gets hurt it is pretty cool when one just blows the hell up at the start!

I'm looking forward to next month when I get to attend my first "Nostalgia Drag" which consists of classic cars set up to drag race.  They won't be as fast as the pro drags, not even close, but it is the history of drag racing and in that regard I'm very intrigued.  Most people don't know but NHRA (the pro drags) stands for "National Hot Rod Association" because in the beginning it was just guys racing their hot rods, and has since evolved into something quite beyond that.  So, Nostalgia Drags is the roots of drag racing and in a way the "real deal."  Just as NASCAR stands for "National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing" and began with, literally, stock cars.  Bootleggers modified stock cars to be lighter and have more horsepower, in addition to hidden compartments in which to hide the booze, so that they would look like a regular car to a cop but in the event of a chase they could outrun them.  They began racing these modified stock cars and NASCAR was born.  This is also why each model of race car has to be a model sold by the manufacturer, even though today's race cars are not in any way, shape or form a stock car off a lot and the bodies aren't even real car bodies.  They just generally look like the vehicle they are supposed to be, but up until the last few decades they were literally stock vehicles that were mass produced (like the Dodge Daytona), but modified for race performance.

The only other race I've been to was a Nationwide Series race at Nashville Superspeedway last summer.  It was an awesome experience in that we went with a friend, who was there with the family and friends of a driver.  They had traveled over in a top-notch RV, and got to park along the far wall opposite the grandstands.  We had food, beer, TV's outside tuned to the race broadcast and a bathroom all to ourselves, not to mention we were literally right up on the track.  I didn't get into the race all that much, but the atmosphere where we were helped me be as festive as I could be.  I was just blown away by how fast those suckers are driving--its a hell of alot faster in person than it looks on TV.  And significantly louder!  I couldn't look at the cars coming or going because it made me dizzy as all get out.  It was cool for me, too, because Kyle Bush won the race and he and his brother Kurt Bush are my favorite drivers, mostly because every NASCAR fan in the universe hates them and in racing I like the underdogs.  Kurt also started out driving the Sharpie car and I like Sharpies.  Simple as that.  (And yes, even though I don't watch or follow NASCAR I have a favorite driver because you can't live in the South and not have a favorite NASCAR driver.  It is simply not allowed, even if you hate NASCAR.)  I'm fairly certain I wouldn't enjoy a NASCAR race sitting in the grandstands with everyone else, though.  If I can't watch in VIP Style, I'd rather stay home!  I fell asleep trying to watch the Daytona 500 with him on TV, two years in a row!

But here I am, turning into a race fan of sorts, which I thought would never happen.  I hope to one day get Kirby into football a little more as a tradeoff for my attempts at enjoying racing.  Although racing is predominantly a Southern thing, it is popular all over the country and he grew up with it.  So it is somewhat odd that his Southern wife hated racing until he came around.  Whereas he grew up without any serious exposure to the #1 sport of the South: football.  He's already adopted many of our customs and ways of life after 10 years down here, so I'm hoping in 10 more I can have him screaming at the TV with me watching football like we do with hockey now!  If I'm really lucky I'll have him screaming in a Southern accent!  :P

***If you are in any way interested in crazy people and ridiculous racing, I highly recommend the following documentary.  Its not dirt track, but its very similar just on a paved track.  One day soon we will be visiting the track in Anderson and watching these guys.  They are GREAT!!!

http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/dirty-driving-thundercars-of-indiana/index.html