Things I miss about racing

[doyle hargraves]

Cubic inches lettered on your hood or hood scoop

[Mopar DLM]

Tearaways flying in the breeze during a race. With everyone purposely making the track dry I don't recall seeing many if any being pulled. One less thing the drivers of today don't have to worry with. I would bet none of the youngsters out there now have ever had to run the last couple laps of a feature with the shield up cause they had pulled all 14-15 because that's only how many you could fit on a helmet then and smeared it till you couldn't see.

[BloomerHarvickFan]

I miss the 2 day 100 lap Hav-A-Tampa races. Come in on Saturday and there was always somebody at the gate passing out sheets with the Feature and B-Main lineups.

[play4kps]

I miss seeing working locals being competitive with the traveling hot shoes!

[over4T]

Flat towing an old pre war coupe to the local fairgrounds track
Finally getting to hear your home built flathead at full speed..nothing like it
Getting your first real trailer, open of course. Still use them after 60 years to my son's displeasure
All the old racing rags..Nat'l Speed Sport, Hawkeye, west coast's Racing Wheels to see what happened last week
Gary Jacobs who attended over 100 races a year for over 25 seasons and wrote them all up for Racing Wheels
Negotiating with the trophy girl after the races for your newly won shiny plastic reward
After the races at Midway Speedway in the Big Apple bar in tiny Crooksville, OH
Wrestling in the pits at Avila, IN after an on track incident with someone you later became great friends with
Monday in the junk (not recycle) yard looking to replace the stuff you destroyed Saturday
When you stood a chance of actually making a few bucks over what you'd spent to race that weekend
The Stroh's girl with NDRA

Thanks for starting this thread Doyle. This could go on for a while.

[Mopar DLM]

Pitting in the infield leaning on the guard rail listening to the old GRT cars with the left side header coming out the flame cut out in the door

[Highside Hustler25]

How many remember when driver and crew all wore white pants as a requirement?

[doyle hargraves]

Thats a good one HH i remember that at Quincy raceway in illinois but not sure how many tracks actually did that

[doyle hargraves]

any of you guys ever go to any of the Busch All star tour races? those guys did some hard racing. hard tires and small motors could put on a good show. who woulda thunk it?? lol

[FastEd95]

How many remember when driver and crew all wore white pants as a requirement?

That's what we did in southern Minnesota in the '70s...the glory days of racing for me.

[FastEd95]

any of you guys ever go to any of the Busch All star tour races? those guys did some hard racing. hard tires and small motors could put on a good show. who woulda thunk it?? lol

Used to follow that series quite a bit from about 1990-2001. We called it the Kosiski Benefit Tour because of the dominance of the brothers from Omaha. What a great series started by Iowan Jim Wilson.

[Just The Tip]

Great thread. I too miss the open trailers pulling into the pit area. I miss the days of going to a bigger show and more than half of the field having a solid chance to win. I miss the days of showing up to the track and having a real surprise of who showed up. I miss the days of when someone brought out a yellow it was because they had a real problem with their race car. I miss time limit heats and b-mains. I miss crew chief races at the end of the year. I miss having 5 or 6 different chassis brands in a feature race.

[intel8]

Busch Allstar tour was a staple of eastern Iowa, those were some great shows, the 20 lap qualifiers were like mini features. White pants were mandatory in the pit area at every track in this area in 60's/70's.

[dirtfan22]

Southern Auto Racing News, Big 4m gatherings, Big Ole Cheater posts and contests, Duayne Hommel racing, Miss NDRA Eva Taylor (she sure made a young fan feel important), big races at the best racetrack in Georgia - North Georgia Speedway, the real Atomic Speedway TN, and many many more!

[dirtcrazy4u]

I miss the 1/4 north hills raceway. A highway buried it. Thursday night track. Work on Friday morning was tuff.
Lernerville speedway 3/8. 6 divisions every friday, packed pit area. Hot sausage sandwichs that were killer. Friday night but not what it once was.
Scmuckers on Saturday nights big fast 1/2. You had to make HP at this place. Was closed for many years but it's been brought back to life. Just not the same.
Motordrome on Sundays another big 1/2 . Somehow I always made work on Friday's and Monday's thru out the summer.
To say I miss those days would be an understatement. Going to pennsboro and sleeping in the back of the truck. Unloading the car when we got back to the garage only to have to work till the early hours of the morning.
Yea it would be an understatement.

[Raceready]

Hows about when a drivers car wouldn't start or go into gear, another driver would give them a push with their front end to get them on their way ? ?

[doyle hargraves]

Ten dollar pit passes. Lol

[LugNutz]

I remember Three dollar pit passes then when they went to Five dollars. Back when the promoter paid the purse out of grandstand sales not entry fees and back gate.

[Josh Bayko]

It's not late model racing, but I really miss Flemington. I think modern late models would have been great there.

[MUD MAESTRO]

Watching all those 55-57 Chevy's chasing HOFamer Ronnie Weedon around Quad City Speedway in his red 55 Ford.