Another One Bites the Dirt?

(Val) As so often happens with sports, rumors abound, and at this time of the year, racing rumors seem to increase tenfold. No, it's not Silly Season yet, but one would never know that when reading the various message boards and blogs.

Just today I heard that the track we went to last Friday, Jacksonville Raceway, will be under new management next year, and will be dropping their Winged 410 Sprint program. All I know is that, if this rumor is true, it's a darned rotten shame. JR is one of the best tracks around for Sprint Car racing, and even though it's a 100-mile drive, I have yet to go there and find the racing not worth the trip.

Last week, it was reported that Mount Vernon Raceway will be closing at the end of the season. Earlier this year, Godfrey Speedway was bulldozed. Several years back St. Charles Speedway shut its doors and homes are currently being constructed on the site of one of the greatest little quarter-mile dirt tracks ever built.

Unfortunately, this seems to be a trend in dirt track racing, and it's a sad trend indeed, for without dirt tracks and open wheel racing, where would we have gotten NASCAR drivers like Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, J.J. Yeley, Dave Blaney and Jeff Gordon, among others? Every one of them started out in Karts, moved up to Sprint Cars, and have gone on to find success in the Big Show. Would they have made it to this level without such humble begnnings? Maybe, but it is doubtful.

For most of these guys, getting back behind the wheel of a Sprint Car is still the thrill it always was, although now they do it more for recreation or fundraising instead of chasing after a championship. My guess is that they still get the same rush they used too, if not more. These are the kinds of guys who understand and appreciate where they came from, and my hat is off to them for continuing to support the path by which they travelled.

Let's hope that more of today's top level drivers will realize the impact they can have on preserving grassroots racing. If they can own and support Sprint Car and Midget teams, operate tracks and help promote the events at these levels, it can only benefit fans, owners and other drivers along the way. By the same token, if you claim to be a race fan, do yourself a favor. Break the Sunday afternoon sofa habit and get out and support your local tracks and drivers. You never know when you might be sitting in the bleachers one night watching a future Cup champion. If the current trend continues, you may never get that chance.

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