Jump to content

An Old Timer's Dream & Passion is Fading Away


metroracer

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, metroracer said:

What is that old Pop song.....   "Pave Paradice.....  Put up a Parking Lot,  Don't know what you got till it's gone !!!!

I just was remembering the Good Old Days as a Young Racer in Texas of the Choices of Paved Oval Track Speedways to go to as a Race Fan or as A Young Inspiring Racer to be starting out in the late 70's @ Meyer Speedway in Houston in the Six Cylinder Hobby Stock Division (  = Broncos).   Soon after that I started to get invitations to race at other Texas Oval Track Racing Venues like: Lone Star Speedway in the Austin area,  CC Speedway in the Corpus area,  Pan American Speedway in North S/A area, & at the Brand New "Hwy-16 Super Speedway on the "Poteet, Hwy -16 in south S/A.....

Those were the Days,   So Many to Pick & Choose From ( Sort of Pick Your Poison So to Speak !!!!)   Now we Anit Got Nary a One of them left....

HMP is the ONLY Rae of Sun shine let in the Whole State of Texas with the Abundance & Over Loaded with Willing & Able Racers "Chomping & the Bit ( Including Me !!!) to be able Race Sort of Like Amatore Nascar Home Track Style Paved Oval Short Track Racing.

In My Late 50's I bought a Pro-Stock race car and started to race at HMP in 2014 & early 2015,   But there was a lot of Drama & Things going on at the track & in my Personal life at that time frame..... In 2015, HMP oval track shut down....   So Raced at CTS about four time that year.   Racing in the Budweiser 250 in July of 2015 in the 50 lap Super Stock race was the Fun-est time I had ever had in My Whole life in that One Race,   However I Cut Down a right rear tire 10 laps in and still finished up 17th of a 27 Super Stock Field.   I got race that night with Bob Caufield with his '56 Chevy.....   What a Treat that was, Bob was able to finish the race and placed 10th.... 

Don't get me wrong, I did Not Burn up the Track in 2014 & 2015 at All,  I Just in the need for valuable "Seat Time",   But Race Tracks Closing Down Right & Left.....  That Need for Valuable Seat time just faded away....   CTS Closed, CC Speedway Closed around that time as well.

Yep those were the Good Old Days that I Miss So Much in my life....

Unfortunately, Due to Circumstances out of our Control....   HMP Now only a Limited Oval Track Event Schedule Available per year.

All Meaning My Life Long Deams & Hopes of Multiple Paved Oval Track Racing Venues in The Grate State of Texas with its Abondance of Willing & Talented Race Car Driver & the Deep Rooted Talented Racing Families that S/A , CC, Austin, & Houston Area has to offer to the Racing World is:  Fore Give Me - A Shame in the Worst Degree....   In My Opinion.....   Organized Paved Short Oval Track Racing can only be Short Lived in a Reality Real World Situation with only a Few Race Dates to Work With !!!   In a Manor of Speaking with no Real Fault to Any One in-concern or Particularly !!!!    Sort of like Me Years back,  Some Times We just Can't see the Forest because of the Trees or Just Can't Smell the Coffee.....

In My Case,  In My Young life....  There were Many Paved Oval Tracks to choose from !!!   Now, We are Grateful to have just One Paved Oval to Race Fan at or Racer Race at these....

I am 67 now,  So My Hopes & Dreams with the Passioned Fire for Driving a Race Car or even going to My Local Speedway to Enjoy some Good Old Time Asphalt Texas Style Short Track Racing......  ( I Repeat =  TEXAS STYLE) at Multiple Racing venues with a Full Racing Season & With a Full Championship Season End Awards Banquet)  is going by the wayside before my Eyes...... & Other Texas Racers as well....

So if You Have a spare Ten Million or So lying around to help keep Texas Racers on the Racing Map to help keep our Dreams Alive & Well fo a long time to come...

All Meaning -  Learn From My Mistakes of Not "Seeing the Forest Because of the Trees, or Not Smelling the Coffee while the Coffee is Brewing....

Now I can only wish that I had "Seen the Trees" or "Smelled that Coffee While the Coffee was Brewing a long time ago...

Now there is all most No Trees to See, & all most No Coffee to Smell in the Racing World in this Area.

So a Word of Advice for Free = Lets ALL Stop Bitching about one thing or the Other..... " AND SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SPEEDWAY IN ONE FORM OR FASION !!!"

So My Long Time Passion for Racing Texas Style does Not have the Same Fate as the Dinasaur.....  Right Now it is Headed that Way in My Opinion....

Thanks for Your Time, Best Wishes....

John Cornish #02

i am 66  and know just what you are talking about . .. , but the thing about racing in the future  is cost  as it always has been   finding kids today that want to race on a track  outside of your family is getting even harder .. ..you cant go out and find a carbed  car or truck anymore    .makes it hard to get the everyday kid to get involed .. and with electric on its way in  our type of cars from those days you mentioned are going to go by the way side  .. look at nascar they left us local racers behind  .all electronic now .. even the car  lost the trans missions and solid rear axels  ..we can not compete with that  .. a young person who was never around   cars and motors like ours  would not know the first thing about  the workings ....as for bitching  you know and i know that will never  ever go away .. what did go away for the most part is saturday night at the fights .. havent  seen a tire iron or jack or screwdriver a peice of pipe anything being thrown or used against another in a long time .. unheard today .. texas beinmg a big time football and baseball state has always had  hard time in getting  folks in the stands where  a young pup like we were could  say hey i can do that . i want  to do that and do so  ..shoot have you seen the cost of just a  factory stock .. and pulling a car with a dolly   wont work   i n the old days we could build many of the parts not  anymore  ..the dallor   isnt worth much  anymore  .it wont go as far  so  it takes alot of those bills to buy anything or just to get a car to the racetrack  pay your way in .. it cost the team  just to drive up to texana  enter the car pit passes fuel  food    an average of three hundred   min  .the equipment in the thousands .. . thats is alot of bucks  its a wonder we still have any racing  .. shoot just to get in the pits  dont even own a car cost 35 bucks ......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Metroracer, i agree with you 100%. I miss those days long gone as well. I have been a race fan all my life. I grew up in North Carolina near Charlotte. I remember listening to it on the radio with my father because it wasn't televised. I agree with HiTech about the cost just to race. I did all my racing in the mid 90's at Corpus Christi Speedway. I raced off my per diem money from traveling for my work. Now when I look in the classified and see how much cars and parts are going for, I wonder how an everyday Joe like myself can afford it. I would love to see a full stand of people at an asphalt track. I came back from a vacation to North Carolina 2 weeks ago. I had the opportunity to go to Bowman Gray Stadium to see a race. It was unbelievable how full the stands were. These stands go 3/4 around the track and it seem to almost be a standing room only situation. The car count was amazing as well. I can only hope we can have this again in Texas. At 67 years old it is something I would like to see before I head off to that place in the sky with my wife.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Old farts with money seem to be the only hope for asphalt racing in these parts.

Remember when riding a Harley was for the young, crazy, adventurous folks? Somewhere along the way, Harley riders became old, crazy and adventurous and Harleys are all over the place these days.

Well, 50 years ago asphalt stock car racers were young, mechanically-inclined, and adventurous. Love of riding saved the Harley crowd in spite of the astronomical costs involved.  Perhaps love of racing will somehow inspire older folks with deep pockets to save the asphalt scene in Texas. 

I can dream, can't I?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes indeed men, whole new ballgame these days. It really has squeezed out the common racer. We saw the writing on the wall years ago when it became impossible to compete with the big money. You race for fun but hell you want to have a chance to do well. When we realized a top 5 was a win, it was time to do something else. It sucks.

Very much a snowball effect of how it got to where it is, and well said about Texas. Dirt it is and it is getting pretty complicated too I hope that bunch is able to work together and keep it thriving for many years to come.

Edited by RodneyRodriguez
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, RodneyRodriguez said:

Yes indeed men, whole new ballgame these days. It really has squeezed out the common racer. We saw the writing on the wall years ago when it became impossible to compete with the big money. You race for fun but hell you want to have a chance to do well. When we realized a top 5 was a win, it was time to do something else. It sucks.

Very much a snowball effect of how it got to where it is, and well said about Texas. Dirt it is and it is getting pretty complicated too I hope that bunch is able to work together and keep it thriving for many years to come.

i see dirt going the same way as paved .. the cost each year just to keep up with the jones  will do as it always has sooner or later a class is gone .. but that has always been part of racing .., just to figure the cost to race a car  counting fuel pit passes entry  food and such min average  low side about $300.00for a s small team  that is if you dont have major damage.my son decided it was time to get out, cost just to   buy the things the car needed  . and yes rod  getting in the top five is a win today ..u see alot of great drivers good teams  but dont have the money  to keep up or buy those $ 800.00 shocks  .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, HiTech said:

i see dirt going the same way as paved .. the cost each year just to keep up with the jones  will do as it always has sooner or later a class is gone .. but that has always been part of racing .., just to figure the cost to race a car  counting fuel pit passes entry  food and such min average  low side about $300.00for a s small team  that is if you dont have major damage.my son decided it was time to get out, cost just to   buy the things the car needed  . and yes rod  getting in the top five is a win today ..u see alot of great drivers good teams  but dont have the money  to keep up or buy those $ 800.00 shocks  .

I agree. If you want to run up front you best have some money backing you. Otherwise, you'll just be out there going around. Just seeing what is in the classifieds is way more than I ever had to pay in the 90's for anything. Yes, I know price of things go up but if you consider inflation I think it has gone up more than the economy. I also believe the dirt tracks will eventually go away as well. More developers are buying up property. They can offer the track owner an offer he couldn't refuse. I hope it never comes to that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Radical said:

I agree. If you want to run up front you best have some money backing you. Otherwise, you'll just be out there going around. Just seeing what is in the classifieds is way more than I ever had to pay in the 90's for anything. Yes, I know price of things go up but if you consider inflation I think it has gone up more than the economy. I also believe the dirt tracks will eventually go away as well. More developers are buying up property. They can offer the track owner an offer he couldn't refuse. I hope it never comes to that.

i just wonder what nascar and other big shows will do once we go electric ... going to be a hugh grave yard of new and used cars and trucks .. . idont see local tracks being able ot follow ... by then  gas would be really sky high . .i hope not in my lifetime i will see that . unless i am lucky .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The sad part is that youngsters still want to race. But since there is no appropriate place to race - except the local drag strip - they end up racing each other (and killing each other) on the streets.  The thrills and adrenaline and close calls are the big draw - just like on an asphalt short track. 

Trouble is that you and me, our significant others and our kids are sometimes in the way. And there really aren't any rules - except to look out for the police.

The only places where asphalt racing is succeeding in Texas are the expensive private road courses in the Dallas and Houston areas.

Not sure how well Harris Hill is doing, though.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Well, Well....  "the cat is out of the bag Now,  & is the Just of what my story was all about" !!!

In the late 60's "The Who" had a hit song..... ( I Can See for Miles, & Miles, & Miles, & Miles.....)

That's Me Through & Through now in my life now days.....   I have seen way Too Many Track Closings,  Starting way back with Meyer Speedway here in Houston in 1979....

Rest in Pease Asphalt Track Racing in Texas, Rest in Pease !!!!

Thanks for Your Time.....

Edited by metroracer
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/1/2022 at 1:44 PM, metroracer said:

Well, Well....  "the cat is out of the bag Now,  & is the Just of what my story was all about" !!!

In the late 60's "The Who" had a hit song..... ( I Can See for Miles, & Miles, & Miles, & Miles.....)

That's Me Through & Through now in my life now days.....   I have seen way Too Many Track Closings,  Starting way back with Meyer Speedway here in Houston in 1979....

Rest in Pease Asphalt Track Racing in Texas, Rest in Pease !!!!

Thanks for Your Time.....

1969 blood sweat and tears  what goes up must come down spinnings wheels .. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...