DRUMS, Pa. – It’s time for the brutally honest column.
My girlfriend and partner in life for the last 19 years, Mary Ann, passed away from cancer in April 2022. I made the decision many years ago to spend most of my time in Florida with her. For the last 10 years or more, I’ve only been to the Florida sprint car events and a handful of Pennsylvania shows.
After her passing, I decided to spend more time in Pennsylvania and less in Florida and return to the Central PA sprint car racing scene. One thing I learned a long time ago is that life constantly changes.
By doing my website (hoseheads.com) 365 days a year, I was always in touch with what was happening in the sport. I have been a fan of sprint car racing since I made that first trip to Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway as a kid during the 1960s. I really got hooked, though, around 1976 when I returned to Selinsgrove after a few years away and found they had switched from supermodifieds to winged sprint cars
I also made my first journey to Williams Grove Speedway that year and I have attended at least one race there every year since.
Where I’m going with this – most of us have this sport in our blood, but a few people are there because they have to be. Or they want to go and once they are there, they complain about everything.
Sprint car racing to me has always been that little island of happiness where I can get away from whatever may be bothering me.
All through my life, the daily problems disappeared for a short time while I was at the track. As we all know, life throws many obstacles at you and everyone needs that special place where they feel all is right with the world. Sprint car racing has always been that place for me.
Everything about it, the racing, the sound, the smell, the people is that little island to me.
If you see me at a sprint car race, it’s because I want to be there. I woke up that morning with the excitement of going to the races. I had quite a few years away, but it’s just like that friend you haven’t seen for 10 years. Once you see them and start hanging out again, the time disappears.
Apparently, some people don’t feel that way. They tell you they would rather be somewhere else, or they feel it’s too windy, dusty, cold or wet. I feel sorry for people who are at a sprint car race only because they have to be there. I don’t know what that would feel like. They probably don’t understand why I’m at a race on a cold day if I don’t have to be.
It’s only March and I’ve already been to 14 shows, and I enjoyed every one of them. Sure, sometimes the weather or racing could be better, or the track surface could be better. It’s March racing in Pennsylvania, though, and that’s a difficult month for track surfaces.
All I can say is if you see me at track, believe me, I’m enjoying every minute of it.
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This story appeared in the April 19, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
