A Voice for the fans ~ Hissy fits pitched Here
5/16/2013
PattyKay
Lilley
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I bid you welcome gentle readers, to a discourse about memories... how we make them, how they change with time and how they can and perhaps do deceive us all too often. No, this isn't a "Voice For The Fans", but then, you haven't been complaining much, so I have very little to pass along to the powers that be.
Folks that get to be my age... two months short of what used to be thought of as the time-honored three-quarter century mark, seem to spend a whole lot of time with their memories, or as it might be more properly described, living in the past. Over the past month or so, a self-induced change of lifestyle has opened my eyes to the fact that while there is nothing wrong with living in the past, I really don't care to do so. Though viewed realistically, my future may be short, I prefer to look forward, not backwards. History is fine, for those that learn from it, but they are few in number. For those that choose to live in it, It precludes a lot of fun, learning and possible adventure that could have happened. In short, I'm not dead yet, so let's get on with life.
Have you ever been a fly on the wall and listened to the modern version of the old "hot stove league" reminisce over a sporting event that happened years ago? I've done that for a couple of decades now, and such conversations have provided the grist for my writing mill on many occasions. This past weekend was no different, as I read pieces from several Internet boards, almost all decrying that Saturday night's race was not the much vaunted Southern 500, because it was not run in the scorching heat of a Labor Day afternoon in South Carolina. This page even carried on Saturday, a Flashback to The Lady in Black, cheering the final win for Texas Terry Labonte, a two-time Cup Champion, at the last running of the Southern 500 at Darlington on Labor Day Weekend.
But wait! Even that does not satisfy the memory of the purists. That race ran on Sunday. The original Southern 500, which ran in 1950 (when a whole lot of you weren't even born yet) was run on Monday, Labor Day... and so it is that it should always and ever be run on Labor Day. Please allow me to put that in a bit of prospective. In 1950, America was engaged in a "Police Action" in the divided country of Korea. If your home even had a television set, you could only get three snowy channels and it came with "rabbit ears." Look it up. Among the "high-tech" things that came with a plug were AM radios, toasters, waffle irons, vacuum cleaners and curling irons. Microwaves hadn't been invented, nor had 8-tracks, let alone cassette tapes, and auto racing had only started running again in the past two or three years, after taking a patriotic hiatus while we fought WWII on several fronts. Life as we knew it in 1950 is so far removed from life as we know it today that it's hard to find the proper words for comparison. Maybe, as the old saying goes, "You had to be there."
I've never attended the Southern 500, but I have attended what was known back in 1991 as the TranSouth 500, the Darlington spring race that has morphed into the one we saw Saturday night. It was a day race, and pleasantly warm for early April. Our seats were in the Brasington Grandstand, named for track builder and promoter, Harold Brasington, in turn 4, which is now turn 2. (It's the wide end of the egg) Here's some prospective on 1950 for you... I listened last week to a radio broadcast interview with Harold Brasington's grandson. In 1991, the track itself was a mess... weathered, worn, cracked and bumpy. It has since been repaved, but from what I hear from others that have been there more recently, the lack of "facilities" and the distinct lack of cleanliness in the few that did exist has not changed.
No one warned me when I made reservations that our seats were located just above the corner where the game apparently is to see how many empty beer cans can be piled up against the fence by the race's end. No, seriously! For two solid days, they sailed over our heads on their way to the ever-growing pile of crumpled aluminum, and of course the flies that were attracted by the stale contents within each can. A few fell well short of their mark, sometimes accompanied by an "Oops! Sorry!" from somewhere behind. To heighten the interest of the game, chicken bones were also included among the guided missiles. Need I tell you how unimpressed I was with the sanctified and hallowed home of the Southern 500? One thing I will tell you... we never went back.
So this is the way it works... I think. Each one of us sees an event a bit differently from another. No two people see things exactly alike, even when looking at the same exact things, and so it follows that each one's memory, even of the same thing or event, is different from anyone else's. When we're talking racing, some folks prefer to be in the infield. No thanks; I'll take my seat in the grandstand, where I can actually see the race I came to see. I can party later, if so inclined. My memories will be of the race, seasoned perhaps with the thoughts and antics of those in surrounding seats. I can't speak to the memories of the infield party crowd, though I've heard more than enough tales to tell me I made the right choice every time.
Looking back on the race just passed... the Bojangles' Southern 500, as it officially reads in the record books, or whatever else you might choose to call it... I'd say it wasn't very memorable on any count, except perhaps that I've yet to read of anyone being penalized or any car impounded. That may not be memorable, but it certainly is refreshing, don't you think? The race itself was much like a tribute to Joe Gibbs Racing, with Matt Kenseth taking the checkers just ahead of teammate, Denny Hamlin, while the dominant car of yet another teammate, Kyle Busch, faded to 6th with a tire going down after leading 265 laps of the 367-lap distance.
Looking ahead to the coming weekend, we find that race of many names, currently known as the "NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race." This one doesn't go back as far in history as last week's race, having bowed in as the brainchild of T. Wayne Robertson and H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler in 1985. Back then, it was known simply as, "The Winston", reflecting on sponsor R.J. Reynolds' Winston brand cigarettes. Not only has the name changed a few times, but the format has always been like a moving target, never pinned down and almost never the same from one year to the next. Mr. France, Mr. Helton and anyone else out there listening... that just might be the reason why this race fails to excite many of the fans; it's never the same race!
Still gentle readers, we probably all have our favorite memories of some of these races, while the others just fade into some sort of blur. From the point of view of age... 1985 was the year my daughter graduated from high school... there are four that I remember best of all, and one I'd rather forget. Those four would be the 1987 "The Winston"... that would be the one containing the "Pass in the Grass", which never was a pass; Dale was always in the lead. Next would be the 1989 "The Winston", when one light touch from the bumper of Rusty Wallace sent Darrell Waltrip spinning out of contention for the win but into the hearts of millions of fans that never much cared for him before, as the black hat passed from Darrell to Rusty in just that small moment in time. The third would be the 1992 version of "The Winston", the first one run under the lights, giving it the billing of "One Hot Night." That one saw a side-by-side, bump and bang, smash and crash ending between Kyle Petty and Davey Allison, Lord rest him. Davey won the race but never made it to Victory Lane. Instead, he was taken by ambulance, unconscious, to a nearby hospital where he found out he'd won upon awakening.
The fourth one that is impossible to forget if you watched it the first time was the 2001 "The Winston", when the green flag and the rain came at the same instant and almost half the field was wrecked by the time they got to turn one. NASCAR got that one right gentle readers. They threw the red flag and after brief consultation announced that all teams with cars damaged on lap one would be allowed to go to their back-up cars, and the race would be restarted from the green flag, as though the wreck had never happened. Jeff Gordon won the race in a back-up car. Here's what it looked like at the beginning...
Oh, and the one I'd rather forget? I think most folks already have. That would be the 1986 "The Winston", the only one of the races not held at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The original premise was to have had the race move from track to track each year, giving each track on the circuit a shot at being "Home" to the All-Star race. Well, my Home Track, then known as Atlanta International Raceway... the perfect oval... killed that idea when they threw a race and no one came. To be fair, the race was held on Mothers' Day, and I guess a lot of Moms had other ideas of what they'd like to be doing that afternoon. But it's also fair to note that Atlanta is one of the worst cities in the nation for supporting any sort of sports, be it racing, baseball, football, basketball, hockey, curling or chess... they just don't come out in large numbers.
In any event, here's what everyone missed. The race ran for 83 laps, or 126.3 miles, with nary a caution from green to checkers. Bill Elliott led every lap but one, which is credited to Dale Earnhardt. Apparently, there were no segments involved, and there were only 10 drivers in the race, 7 of which finished on the lead lap. Yep, pretty much a snoozer there guys and gals. The only blessing was that it was a short race, and there probably wasn't a traffic jam getting out of the track. If you ever wondered why it stays in Charlotte, my guess is that every time a move is mentioned, someone pulls out a tape of that Atlanta race and all questions are answered.
I know that those of you reading this are of varying ages and genders, and what you remember of All-Star races may be quite different from the ones that leap to my aged mind. Therefore, I did what all good writers do these days; I jumped over to YouTube and did some shopping. Lo and behold, as usual, that site came through with exactly what I was searching for... a compilation of the most memorable parts of all or almost all of the All-Star races... the crashes.
And I keep trying to tell myself that no one really tunes in just for the crashes, yet folks do whole videos, just of the crashes. Oh well, sometimes, I'm wrong; other times, I'm just not right. In any case, I hope to have revived a few good memories for each of you, but do consider this. Time lends a hand... or maybe an air brush... to soften or enhance what we remember, so that after a while, our memories tend to become what we want them to be, not what we actually experienced at that moment in time. Things that were good when they happened become more wonderful with each passing year, yet things that were terrible at the time become less hurtful to recall as time goes by. It's our brain's way of taking care of us, and for the most part, it does a good job. No, our kids don't really believe that we walked four miles to school and four more back home, uphill both ways... but our memories might indicate otherwise. Just be that fly on the wall and listen to those hot stove leaguers reminiscing. Pay close attention and you'll know just what I'm talking about.
Come Saturday night, there'll be a whole lot of pomp and circumstance on your television, with a whole lot of talking and probably a whole lot of mediocre music, sometimes in the background and sometimes requiring you to grab the volume control. Amidst all of that, if you pay close attention, you will see two races. The first will be rather like a Hooligan race, and will place the first and second finishing cars in the "A-Main" if you will. There will be wrecks; there are always wrecks in a Hooligan race. One more car will be placed in the big race by virtue of the Fan Vote. Then, after all of the brouhaha is over, the final race will be run... in five segments, 4 at 20 laps and the final segment at 10 laps. The running order after the fourth segment (Lap 80) will be repositioned behind the pace car based on the average finish for the first four segments, prior to the opening of pit road for the mandatory four-tire pit stop. The order of the cars returning to the track will determine the starting order of the fifth segment.
Got all that? Great! Let's make some memories on Saturday night! Remember, the good ones improve with age... much like me. Oh, and did I mention... there will be wrecks?
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay
