Every year, my 3-year-old niece and 5-year-old nephew come down to visit for the Memorial Day weekend, and every year, my nephew has the same trip on his agenda for his Saturday night “boys night out” — NASCAR Whelan Series dirt track races near my home to watch whatever is racing that weekend.
He’s prepared for the trip too, with his own set of goggles I bought him when he was 3 to keep the plumes of dust coming off Turn 4 out of his eyes, a big bag of his own peanuts to blast into and spread the shell remnants all over the bleachers and a youthful interest to see just which car will be the first to end up on its hood on the night.
Sure, my nephew doesn’t know much about racing, and he can’t tell you who any of those drivers are or whether the sponsorship on the side of the car is a good one or not, but a trip to Grandview Speedway is all he talks about for days after the trip even after he returns home to Mom and Dad.
I never would have thought that dirt track racing would be something that would catch — or hold, for that matter — his attention, with nephew being more of the hands-on type of child who likes to be doing much more than sitting in the stands watching. His father isn’t into auto racing in the least bit, and my nephew never watches the NASCAR races on television, but there is just something about all the dust and dirt and wrecks and racing at the dirt track that he can’t get enough of.
This year, our trip to Grandview fell on a weekend of late models and modifieds, and as is our ritual, my nephew was more than ready to tell me before the start of each qualifying race, as well as the features, which car he’d be rooting for to win.
Most of the time his car is the last-place one, as he seems to always like the last car he sees before the start of the race, but he’s never let down by the outcome.
He just continues to cheer intently, eat his peanuts and sip the soda I’d bought him at the concession stand for the $2 or whatever it cost.
I never really gave it much thought in the past, but this year I couldn’t help but notice just how much our annual trip means to my nephew, and for the first time, I can truly see just what the dirt tracks have to offer by way of a good time.
Children can have just as much fun watching your average Joe run the car he’s working on in his detached garage as they would watching Carl Edwards do his signature back-flip off his car after winning a race.
I don’t mean to take anything away from NASCAR and the wonderful show that’s put on at tracks throughout the country every weekend, because a lot of NASCAR’s finest have gotten their start on the dirt tracks.
But for the $13 total that I spent to get into the race — my nephew is free since he’s under 6 — and the image of guys racing for the love of it all and not the sponsorship they need to hold onto or the endorsement deal their looking to lock up, you can’t beat the excitement of the dirt tracks.
And the memories, well, as they say, those will last a lifetime.
Here’s hoping that little Michael and I get to do this for a long time to come, and maybe, just maybe, someday we’ll get to take a trip to a NASCAR race, but for now, the dirt track will do just fine.
PENSKE ADDING A TEAM
Racing Web site www.jayski.com is reporting that Penske Racing is expected to run a fourth team this season with Nationwide Series driver Justin Allgaier behind the wheel of the No. 22 Dodge.
Allgaier, currently 10th in the Nationwide championship points standings for Penske, is more than capable of success on the Sprint Cup Series with a 2008 ARCA championship under his belt.
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2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Standings
Rank…Driver…Points…Behind
1.…Jeff Gordon…1722…---
2.…Tony Stewart…1678…44
3.…Kurt Busch…1607…115
4.…Jimmie Johnson…1594…128
5.…Denny Hamlin…1575…147
6.…Kyle Busch…1540…182
7.…Ryan Newman…1538…184
8.…Jeff Burton…1472…250
9.…Matt Kenseth…1460…262
10.…Greg Biffle…1448…274
11.…Carl Edwards…1431…291
12.…Mark Martin…1428…294
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