Racers in Heaven

As the title of this entry indicates, this will be about racers who aren't with us here on Earth anymore. Some passed doing what they loved best, racing. Others were taken from us in tragic accidents outside of the track or race car. There is quite a long list of well known drivers who we have lost. Dale Earnhardt, Scott Brayton, Greg Moore, Swede Savage, Eddie Sachs, Dave McDonald, Gordon Smiley, Aryton Senna, Roland Ratzenburger, Kenny Irwin, Tony Roper, John Nemechek, Neil Bonnett, and the list goes on. These drivers were all killed behind the wheel of their racing machines. I have seen it only once in person at a race track. It was the 2002 Turbo Blue Racing Gasolines Illinois Fall Nationals at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, on the Springfield Mile. In a race before, Denny Eckrich I believe it was, blew a motor laying oil down the front straight. George Handley III was one of a few cars who spun early in the modified feature. He spun and was hit at not quite full speed in the driver's side door by if I remember correctly Jim Shereck. The sound was one of the most sickening things I have ever heard in my life. It happened in front of the grandstands, so everyone seen and heard it. When the blue tarps were put on the car, and then escorted out by the Illinois State Police, I knew he was gone. I only knew that because I had seen it only 1 year before during the ARCA Re/Max Series race at the Springfield Mile. Dean Roper, on lap 17, had a heart attack coming off of 4 and hit the inside wall down the frontstretch and hit the end wall where the cars come onto the track. My grandpa told me when the blue tarp came out like that, it usually means the driver isn't with us anymore.
Other drivers have met a tragic fate outside of their race cars. Alan Kulwicki died in a plane crash in the mountains of Tennessee. Davey Allison died in a helicopter crash in the infield of his hometrack, the Talladega Superspeedway. Red Farmer, who was on board with him, survived the accident. Colin McRae was another driver killed outside of his race car. The legendary rally driver died in a helicopter crash just outside of his home in Scotland. Stan Fox, who cheated death in the 1995 Indianapolis 500 in one of the most horrific crashes of the time, died when he hit a van head on in New Zealand. Bob Wollek, a driver in the GT class of the American Le Mans Series, was riding his bike when he was struck by an elderly driver, and later died at a local hospital.
All of these drivers, as well as every other driver who have died either doing what they loved, or were just doing everyday things, will NEVER be forgotten. Racing is an inherently dangerous sport. We can always improve the safety with better materials, walls, and safety devices, but there will always be an element of danger. This is a fact of life all racers come to accept. Some racers have paid the ultimate price. Now, they are racers in heaven.

The Digital Age and It's Devistating Affect on the Racing Media

The way we receive our racing news has drastically changed within the last 2 decades. We as fans used to rely on such publications as National Speed Sport News, National Dirt Digest, Mid American Racing News, RPM Racing News, Hawkeye Racing News, and I can go on. We then had magazines like Dirt Late Model Magazine, Stock Car Racing Magazine, Circle Track Magazine, among others. With the revolution of the internet, we as fans are able to access news and gossip any time, day or night, any day of the year. With websites by series, networks that show the series and sports (SPEED and ESPN come to mind here), as well as web sites where fans can interact. Websites like 4m.net, STLRacing.com, The Drunken Race Forum, and other message boards lets fans communicate with one another. They can post results, discuss previous races and current issues and gossip about the sport. Twitter allows for instant results as they happen as well as updates of the racing action. New websites like DirtOnDirt cover events in detail, and show video as well as articles to show what happened. All of this advancement has come at a price. The print media we have come to love over the years is slowly dying off due to cost and it's inability to keep up with digital media. Within the last 2 weeks, 2 well known racing newspapers have went under. Mid American Racing News fell first, then RPM Racing News. Both of these were well established publications. The biggest one to fall, much to the disappointment of many fans, myself included, was Stock Car Racing Magazine. It printed it's final issue last year. It still exists in website form, but it isn't in circulation any more. Only Circle Track Magazine is still around. What makes print publications so great, in my eyes, is the fact you can go back many years down the road, read about an event, and you can remember it clearly. It is like an instant trip back into time. Digital media just doesn't let you do that as easy. I hate to see print media dying off. It is a sad thing that it and digital media can't co-exist. I think if print publications tailor what they put in their products, they can. My suggestion is to read up and support your favorite magazine or paper as long as you possibly can.

An unusually busy Monday in Motorsports

Due to the rain across the country yesterday, 3 major events were put off until today. They are the IZOD IndyCar Series Streets of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Florida, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia, and the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Inaugural 4 Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, North Carolina. The race in St. Pete for the IRL was a typical street race. Will Power won race number 2 in a row in convincing fashion. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Race from Martinsville just concluded minutes ago. Denny Hamlin won one of the more exciting races I have ever seen at Martinsville Speedway. Early on it looked like the typical train racing most fans know. As the track took rubber, there was 2 and 3 wide racing. The finish was spectacular, with Denny Hamlin capturing the checkers. The NHRA 4 Wide Nationals was phenomenal. Drag racing 4 wide, whether it be Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, or Pro Stock Bike, is absolutely bad-ass!! The winners, in order of class from Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Bike are Corey McClenathen, John Force, Mike Edwards, and Matt Smith. A lot of racing all on a Monday, and all around the same time television wise. It was a great day of racing for people like me who love to watch it, that's for sure!!

The Race Blogger's 2010 Season has taken the green flag!!

Last night, March 27, 2010, The Race Blogger's racing season officially took the green flag. I traveled to Brownstown Speedway, a 1/4 mile clay oval in Brownstown, Indiana. It was my first ever trip there. It took me a little over 4 hours to get there. Brownstown is about 50 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky. It is a track built on a county fairgrounds, Jackson County to be exact. There are quite a few dirt tracks around the country like this, built on a county fairgrounds. The weather was beautiful all day and night. It wasn't cold or damp and a hoodie with a t-shirt on underneath was sufficient. I was fortunate to have some fellow fans and friends of mine who had saved extra room, as there were quite a few people there. That is why I love the sport so much outside of the actual racing action. You meet a lot of wonderful people, whether it be fans or drivers. Some of my closest friends are ones I have met at the race track. The stands were packed. The race I went to see was called the Indiana Icebreaker. It was a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event. This event will be one of about a dozen events that will be televised at a later date on SPEED Channel. There were 61 dirt late models in attendance, which is an impressive number this early in the season. Jimmy Owens was fast overall qualifier, and showed he was going to be a force to be reckoned with. He won his heat race easily, and started on the pole of the 50 lap feature. He led the 50 lap feature at times by half a track. The O Show stole the show. There was some good racing throughout the field. One driver, Wayne Chinn, of Bradford, Ohio, came from 21st to finish 8th, an impressive run. Brad Neat, taking a series provisional and starting 25th, finished 11th. Also impressive. The track had some nasty ruts in turns 1 and 2, as well as a spot on the front stretch. Considering the rain they have had, and the rivers being flooded, not the worst conditions I have seen. Still not ideal but the racing was decent, so not going to complain about it much. Overall, a good experience, and Brownstown is a track I will go back to in the future. I can tell that when it is right, it can be quite a racy race track. It was nice to finally smell racing fuel in the air and hear the rumble and roar of dirt late model engines pounding the track. When the final checkered flag flew, I had a smile on my face and I had some clay on me. Hey, it's dirt track racing and sometimes you get a little dirty.