Racin'
& Internet Stuff:
By Tom Avenengo
Volume # 14
First things, first:
I’m really a “Country Boy” at heart. I’ve only been to
Last Saturday night I accompanied my son, Eric, to
Some
of my thoughts:
Some info about three tracks that are
basically in my area – Accord, Orange County Fair Speedway and the Lebanon
Valley Speedway and their car counts.
Accord is an hour drive from my house, right up Route 209, and the
closest “big” city,
Last Friday, when I went to Accord, I had a passenger –
Jordan Sheehan, a young fella who loves “full fendered” racecars – like Pro
Stocks and Pure Stocks.
Over this past weekend, I thought I’d compare car counts between the three tracks.
Accord: 30 Modifieds, 23 “Spec” Sportsman, 22 Sportsman, 11 Pro Stocks and 11 Pure Stocks
OCFS: 32 Modifieds, 27 Sportsman (they always run race and Crate engined cars together), 12 Pro Stocks and 18 Pure Stocks.
Out of the three, I’d venture to say that OCFS is in the most heavily populated area, and probably the most “better off” as far as the economy goes. Yeah, you can see where I’m heading here, right? Why the big difference in the Pure Stock classes between the Valley and OCFS and even between the Valley and Accord?
Last Saturday, at the Grandview Speedway, the ARDC Midgets and the Tobias SpeedSTR’s (spec midgets) were both in action. I inquired as to how they compared, lap time wise and speed wise, since as far as I know, this was the first time they’ve both been at the same track at the same time. On the ARDC forum, this was the answer to my question:
“
Going back, in time:
Note: The following information was found
here: http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/history.html
Covering the days of May 20th to May 27th.
MAY 20
1926
Bob Sweikert... Born ... AAA / USAC driver. Best known as the winner of the
1955 Indianapolis 500 and the 1955 National Championship, as well as the 1955
Midwest Sprint car championship - the only driver in history to sweep all three
in a single season. His "Indy 500" win was over-shadowed by the fatal
crash of two-time winner Bill Vukovich during the race earlier that day.
Sweikert finished sixth at
1971
Tony Stewart... Born ... USAC / IRL/ NASCAR star.
1978
Tom Sneva became the first
man to average over 200 mph in qualifying for the
1984
Bill Holland... Died ... AAA driver from the 1930's 40's and 50's. He won
the
2000
Jeg Coughlin Jr. set an
NHRA Pro Stock 1/4 mile ET record of 6.822 seconds at Englishtown,
MAY 21
1924
Cotton Owens... Born ... NASCAR racer, team owner, and innovator.
1942
Danny Ongais... Born ... A former racecar driver from the
1983
Anthony Joseph Foyt Sr.
father of the first man to win four Indy 500s, died of
cancer.
1994
Johnny Rutherford,
three-time Indy 500 winner, announced his retirement.
MAY 22
1915
Joe Barzda ... Born ...
AAA / USAC driver in the 1950's. Quit after Van Johnson's fatal crash in 1959,
in which Joe was involved in. With brother Jim, he ran
the Californian Speed and Sport Shop in
1934
Bobby Johns ... Born ...
Johns raced in the NASCAR series in the 1956-1969 seasons, with 141 career
starts. He had 2 wins among his 36 top ten finishes and finished the 1960
season 3rd in the points. He also attempted to qualify for the
1966
Greg Weld crashed at Indy
and ended the saga of the
MAY 23
1925
Joe James ... Born ... AAA
driver from the 1950's.
1935
Jim Malloy... Born ...
USAC driver 1950's , 60's and 70's.
1963
Wally Dallenbach, Jr....
Born
1970
Bryan Herta... Born ...
CART / Champcar/ IRL Indy Car & ALMS driver
1982
Don Prudhomme
set an NHRA Funny Car top speed record of 250.00 mph in Baton Rouge,
MAY 24
1981
Bobby Unser won the
1987
Al Unser won the
1992
Al Unser, Jr. won the
1998
Eddie Cheever won the
MAY 25
1923
Smokey Yunick... Born ...
NASCAR and Indy mechanic and owner of the "Best Damn Garage in Town"
in
1925
Bud Moore ... Born ...
NASCAR crew chief and car owner. During his 37 years as a car owner, he has
achieved 63 wins, 43 poles and two NASCAR Grand National Division
championships.
1952
Tex Keene drove his
Mercury powered car to victory in a 150 lap NASCAR Speedway division race on
the 1/2 mile dirt Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. Finishing
2nd, 7 laps behind Keene was Jack Smith in a Chrysler powered car with Buck
Baker 3rd, another 7 laps back in his Cadillac powered machine. Frankie Schneider was 6th, Jiggs Peters 9th and Wally Campbell
16th. The second race for NASCAR's Champ Car division started 17 cars,
but just 7 were running at the finish.
1975
Bobby Unser won the
Richard Petty won the
World 600 over Cale Yarborough at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
1980
Johnny Rutherford claims
his third Indy win, then provides a taxi service to a
fellow driver. Rookie Tim Richmond, who would go on to have a successful NASCAR
career, runs out of fuel on the final lap. So Rutherford interrupts his victory
lap and invites
Benny Parsons won the
World 600 over Darrell Waltrip at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
1984
A.J. Foyt IV... Born ... Grandson of A.J. Foyt Jr. He competed in the Indy
Racing League IndyCar Series and briefly in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, then
called the Busch Series
1986
Dale Earnhardt won the
Coca-Cola 600 over Tim Richmond at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
1997
Arie Luyendyk won the
Jeff Gordon won the
Coca-Cola 600 over Rusty Wallace at the Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
2003
Gil de Ferran won the
Jimmie Johnson won the
Coca-Cola 600 over Matt Kenseth at the Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
MAY 26
1906
Mauri Rose ... Born ...
Rose won the INDY 500 three times; 1941, 1947 and 1948. He was inducted into
the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994, and Motorsports of Hall of
Fame of
1944
Sam Posey
... Born ... American racecar driver who raced in Cam Am, Trans Am, USAC Champ
Cars and Formula One.
1974
Johnny Rutherford won the
1985
Danny Sullivan, forever
known as the "spin and win," turns near-disaster into the biggest day
of his career. Sullivan spins on lap 120 trying to pass Mario Andretti but
somehow keeps his car off the wall. Twenty laps later, Sullivan tries again in
the same place and completes the pass.
Darrel Waltrip won the
World 600 over Harry Gant at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
1991
Rick Mears won the
Davey Allison won the
Coca-Cola 600 over Ken Schrader at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
1994
Robbie Stanley ... Died
... Robbie was the All-Stars Circuit of Champions sprint car titleist in 1990,
then moved on to USAC where he collected three straight USAC National sprint
car championships from 1991, 1992, and 1993, and was on his way to a fourth
when his career was cut short in a fatal accident in a USAC sprint car event in
Winchester, Indiana, on May 26, 1994.
1996
Buddy Lazier won the
Jimmy Vasser won the PPG
U.S. 500 at the
Dale Jarrett won the
Coca-Cola 600 over Dale Earnhardt at the Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
2002
Helio Castroneves won the
Mark Martin won the
Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 over Matt Kenseth at the Lowe's Motor Speedway,
Concord, NC
MAY 27
1969
Jeremy Mayfield... Born
... NASCAR stockcar driver
1972
Mark Donohue won the
1979
Darrell Waltrip won the
World 600 over Richard Petty at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
1984
Rick Mears won the
Bobby Allison won the
World 600 over Dale Earnhardt at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
1990
Arie Luyendyk won the
Rusty Wallace won the
Coca-Cola 600 over Bill Elliott at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
2001
Helio Castroneves won the
Jeff Burton won the
Coca-Cola 600 over Kevin Harvick at the Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
2007
Dario Franchitti won the
Casey Mears won the
Coca-Cola 600 over J.J. Yeley at the Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
Racing
on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm
Live racing telecasts
Friday,
May 21st:
9:00
AM to 12:00 PM on SPEED – Truck practice from
12:00
PM to 3:00 PM on SPEED – Final Cup practice from
3:30
PM to 5:00 PM on SPEED – Truck qualifying
5:00
PM to 7:30 PM on SPEED – Cup “All Star” qualifying
8:00
PM to 10:30 PM on SPEED – Truck race
Saturday,
May 22nd;
11:00
AM to 6:30 PM on Versus – Indy 500 qualifying (first day)
7:00
PM to 11:00 PM on SPEED – Cup “All Star” race
8:00
PM to 10:00 PM on ESPN2 – NHRA qualifying from
Sunday,
May 23rd:
12:00
PM to 6:30 PM on Versus – Indy 500 qualifying (second day)
7:00
PM to 10:00 PM on ESPN2 – NHRA Eliminations from
Thursday,
May 27th:
2:00
PM to 3:30 PM on SPEED – Nationwide practice at
3:30
PM to 5:00 PM on SPEED – Cup practice at
5:00
PM to 6:30 PM on SPEED – Nationwide final practice
7:00
PM to 9:30 PM on SPEED – Cup qualifying
Track
news:
From last weeks column:
“Is this true?:
I found this on one of the forums that I frequent – supposedly this is
being done at the
“TALK ABOUT PAYING DRIVERS
OFF...THEY ANNOUNCED ON SATURDAY THE TOP FIVE IN POINTS ARE NOW GUARANTEED $500
SHOW UP MONEY”.
Yes,
it really is true. They’re doing that in
order to keep their top five point men at their track. I have no idea as to where the monies are
coming from, since there is more involved besides what’s mentioned, above, for
another class. Not being privy about
racing in
And
speaking of New Egypt, I read that a driver had an altercation with a New Egypt
track official – head butted him? – and since the
racing in
The
History of the Sport:
Here is
some more of what Peter Kessler has written about OCFS – for the Hard Clay racing program.
Part 2
1941, continued
The Middletown Times Herald sports section headline screamed:
HARPER CAPTURES 25-MILE FEATURE AS FAIR
AUTO RACES EMBARK ON NEW ERA
There weren't any crackups, no
one was hurt and not a single car nicked the whitewashed railings at Harry Clay
Oval Saturday, but it was almost universal consensus of opinion today that
Saturday's auto races had produced some of the best driving in the annals of
the event which highlighted the closing day of the 101st Orange County
Fair. A crowd estimated at 10,000 thrilled to the twenty-third annual
gasoline derby at the Clay Oval and cheered wildly as Doug Clarke, the official
starter, dropped the coveted black and white checkered flag on Harry Harper,
the speed demon from Chester, Pa., whose victory in the final event climaxed a
great afternoon.
Long affiliated with Ralph
Hankinson Speedways, the County Fair entered its second century under a new
auto racing promoter - Walter C. Stebbins of
Crowd Pleased
Although the afternoon was free
of accidents, only three of the drivers had ever raced on the
An innovation this season along
with the new era in the Fair's auto thrill was the inverted system of
starts. All events, except the time trials, semi-feature and feature
races were started with the slowest car of the qualifying trials in the front
tiers, and the fastest in the rear positions. This inverted start is used
exclusively with midget race events on the dirt and board ovals. Nat
Kleinfield of
Harper Goes to Front
At 4:45 o'clock while the pungent
odor of castor oil drifted over the hills and deafening roar of speeding motors
faded in the carnival din, the smiling Harper, who has been driving big cars
for six years, was crowned the New York State Open Champion. This as the
result of lead-footing his black and yellow number 15 Hal Special to
victory. He took the lead at the dropping of the green bunting by Starter
Clarke and held that position for the twelve and a half-mile grind over nine competitors. The 1940 Penn
State Champion started on the pole by virtue of accomplishing his half-mile
qualifying trial in 28.26, fastest of the more than two score fellow pilots.
Taking the lead as the field went
into the first turn, the Pennsylvanian never slowed down until he completed the
twenty-five laps. However Rufe Anderson, the
Rutty
Makes Bid
They finished the way they started - in one,
two order. Lew Volk of Paterson and Ducky Pehman
of Allentown started in third and fourth spots, holding their positions for
only a couple miles until George Rutty of
Three quarters of the twenty-five laps found
Volk fifth. Earl Johns, the
Horace Baker of Shelbyville, Del., and Tom
McKenna, the Hartford, Conn. Ace, were forced to drop out due to mechanical
trouble early in the event. The
Match
Race Close
Harper now has three firsts to his credit
toward capturing the Eastern Independent Auto Racing Circuit pennant. He
won the main event at
In the match race Volk, Anderson, and Harper,
they with the three fastest time trials, also staged a thrilling race ever, a
two-mile distance. Many times the three autos were running
wheel-to-wheel. Volk spurted ahead at the start and led to the finish.
Bob Cooney, on the pole in event four, took the lead but lost to George
Rutty who came up from third place in the third lap to win the
five-miler. Here Duncan MacKinnon and Pan Wheeler provided a race of
their own for the crowd with Wheeler overtaking MacKinnon on the straight-aways
only to lose on the curves. The Scotchman started second but finished fourth
with Wheeler a radiator behind after starting sixth.
Four months later, on December 7, the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked
The Annual Race at the fairgrounds was the last race run at this speedway until 1946. There have been persistent rumors of a midget car race being run on the “Little Track,” which was constructed early in 1942, two weeks before a ban on all motorsports was enacted for the duration of the war. No records of a race have ever been found, but a race was scheduled for Sunday, July 26, 1942. It would’ve been the first race ever held on the 1/5-mile dirt oval that was located in the infield in front of the main grandstand.
In the summer of 1941, every young man who was to lose his
life in combat during the coming war was alive.
In the years to come, there wasn’t one person in the
Next week: A pause before the Memorial Day Weekend. We’ll explore the 1963 season.
Note: There was a photo in the above article, and when I copied and pasted it into this column, it was there. Upon my attempting to e-mail a part of this article, with that photo, to see if it might work, it came up blank where the photo was, so I’ve deleted anything referring to said photo from the article.
Former Dirt Oval (
Note: In most cases, the names that appear in this section are names of those that have run at the Dirt Oval for an extended period of time. Those that ran an extended amount of time are in bold. And, in some cases, maybe some only had occasional appearances at the Dirt Oval, too. And, yes, some I’m not even sure about!
Last week I did miss Michael Storms run at Brewerton where he finished 5th in the modified feature.
This past weekend:
Penn Can - Danny Creeden was 7th in the Modified feature.
Big Diamond – Mike Mammana was 6th in the Sportsman feature.
Five Mile Point: Mike Mammana was 13th in the Modified feature.
Sundance Vacation – Nick Pecko was 2nd in the Modified feature.
Selinsgrove – Davie Franek was 19th in the 358 Sprint Car feature.
New
Brewerton – Michael Storms was 20th in the Modified feature.
Wyalusing – Kyle Rohner was 7th in the Stage One Modified feature.
Borgers – Tiffany Wambold was 7th in the 270 Micro feature, and won the 270 Rookie Micro feature.
Dunn Hill 2 – Anthony Perrego won the RoC Sportsman race and Mike Mammana was 3rd.
Utica/Rome – Chuck Alessi was 17th and Billy VanInwegen, Jr. was 24th in the CRSA Sprint Car feature. AJ Filbeck was 12th in the Sportsman feature, while Mike Ruggiero was 17th.
Accord – Kayla Smykla was 3rd, Kyle Rohner 7th and Jason Roe 19th in the Spec Sportsman feature. Mike Ruggiero was 1st, Brian Krummel 5th and Anthony Perrego 9th in the Sportsman feature. Greg Hastie was 10th and Clinton Mills 16th in the Modified feature, while Tom Hindley and Lex Burrit were both DNQ’s.
OCFS – Brian Krummel was 1st, Joe Conklin 8th, Matt Hitchcock 9th, Keith Still 16th, Bobby Hassenmayer 17th and Doc Young 20th in the Sportsman feature, while John Lodini was a DNQ. Danny Creeden was 7th, Tim Hindley 11th, Clinton Mills 13th, Billy VanInwegen, Jr 19th and Mike Ruggiero 20th in the Modified feature.
Note: A quick count of the above names and I think it’s 35 drivers. Not too shabby for one little Go-Kart track turning out some fairly good racers, huh? Something else – I’ve had a difficult time finding any former Dirt Oval drivers that have gone into “Full fendered” cars – most all have stayed with open wheel.
Again, I hope I didn’t miss anyone!
More
racin’ stuff:
While watching some NASCAR stuff on TV last weekend, on Saturday, there was an interview with Elliott Sadler. In it, Elliott thanked NASCAR for coming out with the “Safer Barriers”. Hate to tell Elliott this, but NASCAR did not come out with them, but they have made sure they’re at every track where they race.
Also on Saturday, they announced that there were still plenty of tickets for the Cup race on Sunday still available. I guess they didn’t have many takers because on Sunday there was a ton of aluminum showing and in some places, complete sections were covered over.
And, in the Nationwide race, there was a little “to-do” between Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer. Seems that on a restart, Bowyer, who was on the inside of the front row, didn’t go, and Hamlin, in an attempt to pass him, on the left, got into Bowyer and Bowyer got into the wall and that started a small “big one”. The mess was big enough for them to bring out the red flag. After they started up again, Bowyer left the pits and drove around on the apron until he caught up with Hamlin. Once he caught him, he turned right, into Hamlin. Hamlin was fortunate to not hit the wall, stopping on the banking. Bowyer was immediately invited to the NASCAR “trailer”. What bugged me about this whole deal was that Hamlin was not allowed back into his re-starting position – some kind of NASCAR “Rule”.
In a way, I think NASCAR must be offering some nice big
bucks to some selected drivers to cause some of these late race yellows, so there’s
a green/white/checkered situation. Hey,
something similar to that worked back in the late 40’s or early 50’s when Andy
Granatelli was promoting stock car races in
With today’s technology, cameras and microphones – I
often wonder – at the big tracks, why is “
Other forums/message boards and websites:
Track Forum: - http://www.trackforum.com/forums/
What drivers would you like to have raced at Indy? Some very interesting names
on this thread.
Front Engine vs Rear Engine circa 63-64.
Some things said about how the ‘merican drivers thought about the “funny
cars” and more that can be found if you go here:
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?137283-Front-Engine-vs-Rear-Engine-circa-63-64
A thread that I started:
Elliott Sadler should know better:
“On an interview just now on SPEED,
Elliott just had to thank NASCAR for coming up with the Safer Barriers. Huh?
Oh, right! A NASCAR "Invention"! Yeah, right you are, Elliott. And
the Dufus announcer failed to correct him, too. Gotta love
it!”
http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?137341-Elliott-Sadler-should-know-better
Frontstretch.com:
http://www.frontstretch.com/
Dramatic Moment: There were damn few of them, huh?
Matt McLaughlin's
Thinkin' Out Loud: Dover Spring Race Recap
Jayski:
- http://www.jayski.com/
Mayfield's suit vs. NASCAR dismissed, Vickers released
from hospital, heads back to Charlotte, 87-year-old dies in ride-along crash at
TMS, TRG needs sponsorship, will start-and-park if needed and Stewart Haas has
not talked to Hendrick about 3rd team.
All the above can be found if you go here: http://jayski.com/cupnews.htm#news41tue
Also found on Jayski’s website:
Pony cars getting ready for prime time debut –
by Lee Spencer.
In part: “Pony cars have made their long awaited
arrival to the Nationwide Series, but there are still kinks to be worked out.
More than 25 teams shook down their cars at Daytona International Speedway on
Tuesday in anticipation of the new vehicle's debut this July. Kevin Harvick
led the speed chart in
morning testing of the new Nationwide car.”
More can be seen, here: http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/NASCAR-pony-cars-get-ready-for-prime-time-debut-Lee-Spencer
Video
time:
I searched the Internet to see if I could find something that you might enjoy and I’ve come up with this – Terry Fator. If you’ve seen this previously, I apologize. Enjoy – both songs!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uUcBDvo8fA&feature=related
Is this true?:
Here is part of an e-mail I received the other day:
Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older
ones) didn't know this. It's easy to check out, if you don't believe it. Be
sure and show it to your kids. They need a little history lesson on what's what
and it doesn't matter whether you are Democrat or Republican. Facts
are Facts!!!
Social Security Cards up
until the 1980s expressly stated the number and card were not to be used for
identification purposes. Since nearly everyone in the
An old Social Security card with the "NOT FOR
IDENTIFICATION" message.
Our Social Security
Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the
Social
Security (FICA) Program. He promised:
1.) That participation in the Program would be
Completely voluntary,
No longer Voluntary
2.) That the participants would only have to pay
1% of the first $1,400 of their annual
Incomes into the Program,
Now 7.65%
on the first $90,000
3.) That the money the participants elected to put
into the Program would be deductible from
their income for tax purposes each year,
No longer tax deductible
4.) That the money the participants put into the
independent 'Trust Fund' rather than into the
general operating fund, and therefore, would
only be used to fund the Social Security
Retirement Program, and no other
Government program, and,
Under Johnson the money was moved to
The General Fund and Spent
5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be
taxed as income.
Under Clinton & Gore
Up to 85% of your Social Security can be Taxed
Other
(non racing) news:
Thousands of nonprofits may lose tax-exempt status.
DES MOINES,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100516/ap_on_bi_ge/us_charity_deadline
Gov. Perry's temporary digs costs Texas
AUSTIN , Texas
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100517/ap_on_bi_ge/us_texas_governor_temporary_mansion
Worry
that Gulf oil spreading into major current
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100517/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
Closing with this:
If you are 30, or older, you might think this is hilarious!
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes
about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking
twenty-five miles to school every morning....Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH ways… yadda, yadda,
yadda
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in h*ll I
was going to lay a bunch of stuff like that on my kids about how hard I
had it and how easy they've got it! But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I
can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it
so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a darn Utopia!
And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got
it!
I
mean,
when
I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something,
we had to go to the darn library and look it up ourselves, in the card
catalog!!
There
was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to
walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would
take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!
Child Protective Services didn't care if
our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends
also had permission to kick our butt! Nowhere was safe!
There
were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you
wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it
yourself!
Or
you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would
usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up! There were no CD
players! We had tape decks in our car.. We'd
play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the
tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause,
hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig?
We
didn't have fancy stuff like Call Waiting!
If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy
signal, that's it!
There
weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't
make a darn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your
"friends". OH MY GOD !!! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!!
And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please! You kids
have no idea how annoying you are.
And
we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the
phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your
parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you
just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances,
mister!
We
didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video
games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like
'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your
screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your
imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens,
it was just one screen... Forever! And you could never win. The
game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died!
Just like LIFE!
You
had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You’d get
tired when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your butt and
walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no,
what's the world coming to?!?!
There
was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get
cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear
what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons,
you spoiled little rat-finks!
And
we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to
use the stove! Imagine that!
And our parents
told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh, no, no electronics
to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing
chores!
And car seats -
oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If
you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last
moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well
that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!
See! That's exactly
what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled
rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or any time before!
May “Guardian Angels” sit on the shoulders of all of our race drivers and race fans, and guide them safely around the tracks!
Drive safe!
As usual, you can reach me
at: ygordad@yahoo.com