Track Tripping with the SteelerDirtFreak
Posted By Paul on May 12, 2004
Welcome to the first edition of what I hope will become a regular feature - Track Tripping With The SteelerDirtFreak.
This year has seen us begin to travel to a lot more tracks than we ever have in the past, mainly as a result of my increased involvement with photography. So far this year we have been to tracks in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Illinois. Within the next two weeks Ohio, New York, and West Virginia should be added to that list, and before the season is over, I hope to be able to add Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia to the list.
What I’d like to do with this column is just relate different thoughts and impressions from different tracks that we visit. And I’m going to try to look at it from the perspective of simply being a dirt track fan. Afterall, that is what both Mrs. Freak and myself are when it comes down to it; we just happen to be able to go to some of these tracks because I get a kick out of standing in the middle of wide open circles with maniacs driving at insane speeds running out of control inches away, while I stand there peering thru the lens of my camera, wondering what happened to the car that was supposed to have driven into view by now.
One of the first things that comes to mind in traveling to different tracks is how vastly different tracks can be, both in layout and in management.
When we went to a track in Budd’s Creek, Maryland, the first thing to notice was that the parking lot was full of trailers and vehicles for a 4-wheeler ATV meet. The parking lot attendant did not know anything about “them there car racers. “ And this was for a touring series race! And that apparently was the brightest light bulb in the box. The people working at the ticket window had no idea what National Dirt Digest was and why they would pictures of a dirt cars going in circles. After much discussion, they decided that since I had a camera, I must in fact be a photographer and they granted us our pit passes. (I know that Todd Turner, editor of NDD had called in my credentials to the track)
The person working at the gate between the pits and the grandstands was all confused by the heat races and the B-mains and the dash, finally asking one of the series officials “When is the real race going to be? I don’t care what kind of letter you give it, I just want to know when it is going to be.”
The public address announcer was asking those around him to explain what a dash race was and then explained it to the crowd so they would understand what was going on. The woman that Mrs. Freak sat next was very nice and friendly but simply could not understand why in the world all these out of town drivers would travel all this ways just to race. Following a series was just beyond her comprehension, and her husband was one of the local racers.
So the next time you are on a message board or just talking trash at your favorite watering hole and you start to bad mouth your local track and track officials, just stop for a second and think about it. It could be a whole lot worse!
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