So why does this weekend of futility make me feel so lucky? There are several reasons. Number one is that I have the best group of people working with me at the track. Drag racing can be a very friendly and communal type of affair. I try to bring my family and friends along whenever I can. I've never understood why anyone would adopt a "lone wolf" persona at the track. I had eleven crew members with me last weekend handling everything from tee shirt sales to polishing the race car. I was the only one who didn't get to do his job--driving the car. I also love talking with my NHRA drag racing friends. There are people that I only get to meet at these types of events, and even though this time they got to watch us deal with adversity, it was still fun to hang out and catch up with them.
Another thing that makes me feel lucky is that we have one of the coolest cars at the track. Sometimes I'm just amazed that it's our car! We've spent thousands of hours and dollars on it. It's made me realize that building and maintaining a stocker is one of the most difficult things to do in drag racing. It's something that we can be proud of. The nostalgic paint job really brings the old racers and their stories. The ten second time slips get lots of respect for the two ton grocery getter.
Once racing is over, I get to come home to ten acres on a secluded island. I have a nice house, a three bay shop and neighbors who don't mind that I have thirty cars in the yard. I can fire up the race cars any time I want, within reason. I can only get home by taking a pretty expensive ferry (especially when I'm towing a trailer) but that keeps crime really low. It would be great if someone would build a drag strip out here, but I'm not holding my breath.
What makes me the luckiest of all is that my family goes racing with me. The other day I was taking care of my two year old daughter when Dr Big Block was ready to test fire the motor. I put the ear protection on her and she stood next to me on the bench seat when we lit off the big orange monster. She smiled and laughed. Life is good!
Whaddaya Think? Click here to write a comment! Close this box
Recent Stories