It's Not a Race Until Someone Gets Rubbed Out...

So, it was Radio Night at Speedway 660, Saturday night. The Fox crew was there (along with our sister stations) giving away free gas & groceries... I went for the fries.

I have never really been a big race fan. Other than seeing the cars go fast in front of me, and having a basic knowledge of how races work in general (first to cross the finish line wins), I’m completely clueless to the sport of car-racing. I’ve never been able to get into it the way I do with, say, hockey. Much like I follow the Leafs (yes, I admit it), race fans follow their favourite driver; buy the merchandise; and keep track of stats. I always found it kind of boring...at least on TV.

Seeing a race live, is a whole other animal; even for me.

When I was a kid, I loved the fact that an hour drive (I grew up here) meant I could witness, live, the same thing that bored me to death on TV, and be completely thrilled. I loved the sounds. I loved the speed; and I loved those fries.

Naturally, though, being a kid, I went with my parents to the races hoping for accidents. You know how it is; you can’t look away. Sure, it was fun to watch the cars fly by, but I was always waiting for a collision; a flying car; or, at the very least, some burn-outs. I usually got to see all of that - gotta love the Street-stock division – and I found it all very exciting. The crowd would cheer and look in awe as a car would collide with another and spin off the track, forcing the dust to fly... sometimes, pieces of the car. You could smell the burning of the tires as cars slid to a stop, and the added excitement was watching the other cars attempt to avoid the mash-up.

This past Saturday wasn’t much different than those trips with my parents years ago. It was the Firecracker 150, which for me - as stated above - means nothing...I didn’t see one firecracker; let alone 150... What I’ve come to realize, though, is that what made my childhood trips to the Speedway so much fun, were the same things that made my parents hesitant to take me. Crashes sure slow things down, huh?

I guess I’ve grown up a bit. With each caution flag that went out on Saturday during the main attraction, I found myself getting angry at those that caused them. I was enjoying the chase. The longer the cars went without a caution, the faster they seemed to go; the closer several got to taking over the lead. I was caught up in the excitement. Then, suddenly, it was a leisurely Sunday drive.

I had a blast this weekend, and I want to thank the folks at Speedway 660 for having us out there for Radio Night (congrats to all who won gas & groceries). If you haven’t been in awhile, I encourage you to get out and enjoy it before the season ends (here’s the schedule).

And, while the accidents may slow things down, at times...it makes for an excellent time to get those famous fries without missing the action.

-Crash-