End of the season and the Good Ol' Days

We're seeing the regular season wind down again and each year, there's always this "fall tinge" that hits about late August. I don't know how to describe the feeling that comes over. Maybe it's because the "unofficial" end of summer, Labor Day is just around the corner. Perhaps all the talk of football ramping up to its opening day crescendo creates an air of excitement that is multiplied by the usual race day activity.

There is a difference in the air - while it may be the same temperature as late spring day, the smells of soon-to-be harvested crops sweeten the breeze, there is a feeling at the end of the year similar to the ending of a work day - except this time it's the end of the racing year. It's a time that always punctuates my memories of each season.

A thread on Dirtdrivers.com had several people reminiscing about times gone by and the sound of Ford Flatheads, Offys and Novi engines in cars of the 50's and 60's.

But the "good ol' days" are relative. I'm not a youngin' compared to some of the new crop of drivers and fans, while I may be a kid to the likes of the folks who remember races at Capitol Beach, Sunset Speedway, Midwest, and so on. We all have our memories. I remember with some fondness the days of 16-foot wings on sprint cars and the World of Outlaws were truly "Run whatcha brung" - others remember no wings at all. The younger people know nothing of little wings.

Maybe in 20 years the racing technology will change so that the sound of a Chevy V-8 will sound sweet to those who remember it and be foreign to the spectators watching dual-overhead cam, or electric, or some synthetic-fuel-burning 15,000 RPM motors winding in their place. Who knows?

For all of us, it's different. But it's important that we remember these things and look fondly upon them. But we can't browbeat others into thinking that the natural evolution is inherently bad. People complaining about purses, track conditions, rough driving, accusations of cheating, and so on have been part of racing since day one. The last-lap wins, jubilant drivers and the thrill of a good show have been permanent fixtures as well. It's all part of the entire experience.

No time today is worse than the other, nor is it necessarily better. It just is, and it should always be a time to cherish. None of us would be there if we didn't like it. Racing is entertainment at its core, and even those who work in the field are still part of the entertainment industry. We are part of it because we want to be, it isn't like farming, or building, or those things people have to do. So we need to remember WHY we are there and use that to fuel our memories of days gone by as the laps run behind us.

It's in our nature to long for what we thought was the best of times but so long as we're enjoying the racing, every time we go to the track, and no matter if what we see is good or bad, we're always living in the "good ol' days."