Slow Progress Being Made Towards Get Racing Going Again

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Slow Progress Being Made Towards Get Racing Going Again

The Editor's Viewpoint

I watched things starting to develop in Oregon within the last week or so. News came out concerning a court date in Baker City that sought to overturn the governor's very strict executive orders. This was more about the right to assemble at a church. Churchgoers in Baker City were not happy, and they were demanding their constitutional rights be addressed and respected. This wasn't about racing, but racing would certainly be affected along with other businesses that have been shut down during this whole deal.

The judge in Baker City heard the arguments and ruled for the church on Monday. There was immediate rejoicing within the racing community, but Mike and I looked at this whole thing and knew that this probably would only be temporary. Sure enough, it was only a few hours later when a higher court blocked that ruling. The governor's very strict orders remain in place for now, but this battle is far from over. I expect that there will be more court arguments if she doesn't start to ease up on things in the next week or so.

The big order in place was still the one that said that there would be no mass gatherings or sporting events to the end of September. That's pretty clear. Race tracks will not be staging racing events. The phase system that had been introduced prior to that would have had them possibly racing in front of empty grandstands in June, for the tracks that wanted to do that. In July, we could have been discussing limited grandstands and maybe getting back to full grandstands before the season was over. The announcement about September threw that all out the window. 

I would have bet money that Oregon would not be the last state dragging its heels to get things open and back to some sort of normalcy. We are already seeing some progress being made in states like California and New York, which have also been a bit of a pain in the ass when it's come to this deal. It gets hard for me to hide my opinion about the fact that this is a lot of hype and over reaction. What alarms me is how certain politicians and a good chunk of the population in this country are so eager to lead us down what I strongly feel is a dangerous path. We're in a bigger battle in this country than just getting back to racing, but this isn't the column for me to have that sort of discussion.

When I heard the news of the decision in Baker City, I figured that Drake Nelson at Coos Bay Speedway was going over things to figure out how soon he could make a race happen. Would the Memorial Day Weekend event have been put back on the calendar had the decision on Monday stuck? I could see him thinking about that, and I could see him racing on May 30th if Memorial Day Weekend was too early. I believe Coos Bay Speedway is prepared to reopen quicker than most of the other tracks in the state.

There could very well be tracks in the state that do not open this year, even if things loosen up and a green light is given for racing in July or August. Some tracks are already suffering due to loss of sponsorship and that sort of thing. This is indeed a big mess, and it's another reason I'm so cranky. I don't want to get into anything here or speculate on what tracks might do what. The best statement I can give is to go to that race track's website or Facebook page and get the latest information on what they are thinking. I think we can all agree that this is very disappointing.

One Oregon track that is going to be opening it's gates on Memorial Day Weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, is the little track at Cory and Sandy Penfold's property. That would be the 1/10 mile clay oval known as Marion Creek Speedway. This is an Outlaw Kart track, and they've had a few practice dates so far. They're not ready to properly open yet, so practice sessions have been the way to go. They've had some success with those events this year, and I have a hunch that Memorial Day Weekend could be even bigger than what they've seen so far.

A practice session at this venue is open to all of the Outlaw Kart classes, and I would think that anybody with a Kart looking to do something would head to that little track. It's not like there are other options on the table right now. Why not dust off the cobwebs? This is a practice session, but they will be running a sort of racing format. It's not an official race, however. There are no points, prize money or any of that. But there is the spirit of a little fun competition while putting these Karts through their paces.

Cory and his crew have been working hard at this track and will no doubt be making improvements right up to the very last minute headed into this weekend. They are looking at putting bleachers up as soon as possible. They're looking at putting a bridge in to make accessing the track easier for competitors to unload their Karts. There is so much stuff happening. I will say that I was impressed with what they have done so far in my visit a couple of weeks ago. If I wasn't going to be at my desk monitoring the activity happening down in California, I'd be tempted to check things out at Marion Creek Speedway. If we get enough details, we'll write about it in a future post.

While Oregon waits with bated breath to get back at it, so does the northern-most track in California, Siskiyou Golden Speedway. I don't have to speak with Promoter Kevin Barba to know that he is chomping at the bit to get back to doing anything at that track. As soon as they are able to, those gates will fling open again. Whether it's a limited practice, a full practice, racing in front of an empty grandstand, partial grandstand or whatever, I expect to hear something from Siskiyou Golden Speedway in the very near future. It may also be the closest option to the south of Oregon for Oregon racers eager to get back to racing again.

Here's an interesting thought that I had. When Coos Bay Speedway was thinking that they were going to have a Memorial Day Weekend event, some of the Sport Modified teams were already putting together money to make a purse. I wonder if these people can be motivated to do the same for Siskiyou Golden Speedway, which is maybe a bit more likely to have an actual race before any track in Oregon? I will also say that since the Pacific Sport Modified group was leading the charge to put a purse together for that class at Coos Bay, it would be nice to see what they could do at Siskiyou Golden Speedway. Is that track just a dot on their map, or are they prepared to go a little extra for the cause? It's all just speculation, but I'm watching.

Not long after the previous post went up, we were hearing rumblings that racing could happen again at Ukiah Speedway and Diamond Mountain Speedway in Susanville. I know it had to be painful for Furia Motorsports to throw in the towel for the Memorial Day Weekend event in Ukiah. This is a show that has gone well for them in recent years, and they waited as late as they could before being forced to pull the plug. However, they've been in discussions with various county officials trying to figure out when they could start doing something. 

What was announced was that the track would open for practice on June 5th. On June 6th, there would be a race in front of an empty grandstand. Financially, this is a difficult proposition for any race track. No details were available concerning how this would go and/or what divisions would be included. I won't speculate on anything regarding the format, but I do suspect that they will have covid-19 rules for people to follow. The best place to check things out is the Ukiah Speedway website and Facebook page, and news should be forthcoming soon. 

This has been an interesting time for Tri State Pro Stock Series Promoter Roy Bain. He's watched in disappointment as some important dates have been lost due to this virus, but he has not thrown in the towel. He's determined to make the Pro Stocks a part of any race date that he can find. There is incredible interest in this type of racing, so Bain goes live on the Tri State Pro Stock page to give people updates. He's been on the phone with several different promoters to find out the status of their race tracks and also find out if the Pro Stocks will fit in anywhere.

I don't want to get into naming race dates in this article since I'm hearing the possibility of the date but no confirmation from the official websites. From Roy's perspective, he's trying to gather the troops and get the commitments for when the date is officially announced at the track. He's trying to let promoters know that if they are booked on that date, these are the commitments he has. One date that was thrown out there was the possible visit to Antioch Speedway on June 6th. Roy was told that they needed to get 20 cars committed to it. There are probably a half-dozen to 10 Super Stock racers in Antioch, so I don't think 20 cars is a problem here. I've seen several people already commit to this as of yet not officially announced race.

The nice part about this is that during the whole covid-19 deal, Roy has found an amazing sponsor in Lyle Hopper. Some of you will know that the Hopper family has been involved in racing for many years, and Lyle himself was a big Late Model booster on the old NASCAR circuit in California in the 1980s and early 1990s. He has Winning Attitude Motorsports in Paradise, and he has pledged $1,000 to the purse of this potential Antioch date. I do appreciate what Hopper is doing, and I do urge Pro Stock racers or any racer in general to throw some support behind this man for the support he is showing the sport by buying racing parts through him. It's not every business that gives back this way, so when Winning Attitude Motorsports or somebody like PitStopUSA.com does this, you damn right I stand proudly behind these awesome businesses.

While we're waiting to see what happens with Antioch, Jeff Olschowka at Diamond Mountain Speedway in Susanville has already announced limited practices that will be happening as we close out the month. It's all explained on their Facebook page. There are two hour slots for the drivers to practice. Roy went live on Monday with reports that Jeff is trying to put together some races on June 13th, and there's a possible date for the Pro Stock class on June 27th. The core four classes usually featured there include IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Mini Stocks. I look forward to seeing Jeff make announcements on the track's Facebook page regarding what the game plan is for racing, though I suspect it might be empty grandstands at first.

I'm not exactly sure how Chad Chadwick has been able to pull off the miracle that he has at Antioch Speedway, and I'm not going to speculate too deeply into anything. I don't envy the man and what he's probably going through on a daily basis trying to keep everything on track for the Memorial Day Weekend event. The practice they just had saw at least 100 cars across multiple divisions. I've already mentioned how this was the most successful practice in the history of this race track. Sure, you might put an asterisk next to it due to the circumstances, but it's still a positive for this race track and racing in general. Somebody had to lead the fairgrounds race track charge.

All eyes are on Antioch Speedway from the racing community as they head into this coming weekend. Memorial Day Weekend will offer two events, one with a regular purse and the other with an increased purse. As I've mentioned, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds and Hobby Stocks are all on the card. We reported last week that roughly 100 competitors had already expressed interest in going, and I suspect the actual roster when racing happens will be substantially bigger than those projections. I've heard lots of exciting news regarding that, but I can tell you that the drivers will come from all over California, Oregon and even Nevada to be a part of this show.

The bad news is the covid-19 rules allow for no grandstands admittance. That's quite frustrating. We're probably looking at an Antioch Speedway record in car count for this event, and fans won't even be able to experience this in person. The good news in all of this is that SpeedshiftTV will be showing this online. The even better news is that Chet is coming in to announce. Many of us regard him as one of the best guys in the business, and the little catch phrases that he throws in there such as, "Let's drop the hammer", "Lap number next" and so on just make it more fun. He throws in facts and clever anecdotes that enhance any broadcast that he's a part of.

You might ask what a guy has to gain from opening a race track and trying to do something bigger than average for the drivers during these conditions? I crunched the numbers, and it might not be as big of a risk as one might expect, but it's also not a big financial gain. The first thing that is important is that what Promoter Chad Chadwick is trying to show is that we can do racing under covid-19 guidelines, go by the rules and everything will be okay. This is the first step towards getting things opened up the way we want them to be. 

I would compare this race to last year's West Coast Nationals in another way. What this weekend event is showing is how Antioch Speedway is capable of having big events. There's nothing happening on the West Coast for IMCA Modifieds. Therefore, all eyes within the racing community will be focused on Antioch Speedway. It's the race track's time to shine. If this goes as well as I think it will, it's certainly going to be big for this race track and its future. The other thing is Chadwick is clearly demonstrating is that he's in this for the long haul and committed to making things better at the sixty-year-old racing facility. On that last point, I never had a doubt.

We were hearing rumors a couple of weekends ago of something big happening for the open-wheel community. The talk centered around Winged 360 Sprints, Wingless 360 Sprints, 305 Sprints and Dwarf Cars. Bakersfield Speedway undid those rumors where it might have concerned them. They made the statement that there would be no racing there through the month of May. I do believe Scott Schweitzer is hoping to have at least some grandstands there before opening the gates. 

This left Kern Raceway as the next choice. The track has actually run a few events with these divisions, minus the Dwarf Cars. There seems to be an interest in doing this type of program, which no doubt is influenced by the fact that Bakersfield Speedway doesn't go all in with open wheel racing due to the high volume of Stock Car type classes they have. Regardless, no announcement was made of any Memorial Day Weekend race of this type. Furthermore, it was just announced that the USAC Western Midgets event that was scheduled for the end of May has been canceled. Merced Speedway was also to be a part of that weekend.

Merced Speedway management made the announcement that they weren't doing anything through Memorial Day Weekend and would make some sort of announcement on Memorial Day Weekend of what might be next. Just because the following weekend is now off the table does not mean that an announcement may not be made regarding something happening in June. I won't speculate on that, but we should hear something within the next few days from Merced Speedway on what they're thinking. Check their Facebook page and website for up-to-the-minute news. This is good advice when it comes to any track as news seems to change daily.

When we were looking at racing grinding to a halt in California back in March, Kern Raceway figured they'd sneak one more race in before it closed. The NARC/King of the West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Car Series was to be a part of that program, but the club itself announced that they would not be there due to the covid-19 situation. I know they're looking at things and making sure their rear ends are covered when it comes to safety and insurance. It didn't surprise me that they made this move. The Central Valley Mini Stocks and Bakersfield Hardtops, however, still wanted to race that week, and management added a Modified/Sport Modified shootout. They managed to pull things off, and that was the last race before everything shut down.

It was just announced by the King of the West Series that because there are no grandstands, they aren't expecting to race through June. This group probably commands the highest purse of any dirt track racing effort on the West Coast. Therefore, you're going to have issues with payout if you don't have an opportunity to get fans in the grandstands. They're looking at July and hoping the situation will change when it comes to allowing fans in the stands. This is kind of a difficult situation. At this point, if they lose July, they might have to scratch the idea of a championship season. If they can still have a race or two, maybe they do that. They've worked so hard to try to rebuild this thing that it's frustrating to see what they're going through now.

Ron Rodda is still writing his From The Grandstands column on Hoseheads. I know Ron could upset a few people with his opinion, but I always respected him. He didn't just go negative against something for the sake of doing so. When he has something negative to say, it's with the general hope and intent of helping make things better. Sometimes tracks aren't looking in that area, and having somebody who is fair and even-handed with their criticism can help if you don't take offense. I like the fact that he's continued this column even after the printed magazines have all folded. I now include a link to his column with each post that I put up, which can be found near the audio links at the top. 

Ron had a rather insightful column about how Marysville Raceway and Dixon Speedway were able to start racing in front of empty grandstands so soon. They happened to be in two of the counties that were a little further ahead of the curve than anywhere else. Promoter Jeremy Prince at Dixon and Promoter Dennis Gage at Marysville used different approaches, but both were effective. Obviously, neither track is taking the covid-19 rules lightly. Both are trying to enforce them as best they can. It seems to me that both tracks hope to keep going, but I won't speculate on what's next after Memorial Day Weekend.

Dixon Speedway is the only Micro Sprint game in town right now. Plaza Park, Lemoore and Delta Speedway are still trying to figure out how to proceed. Dixon Speedway will be running on Saturday and Sunday. They've been putting information up on their Facebook page. There are no grandstands. I know that generally people travel to Dixon with one of the racing teams, but I think there are a few people who like to come out just to spectate. I just noticed on their Facebook page that Dirt Oval TV will again be broadcasting the show this weekend

At Marysville, Gage was candid about the idea that he needed the revenue that he got from SpeedshiftTV to help him out. He had done the math and figured that he could open the gates with no grandstands if he reduced the purse in each division by 50%. There was a little bit of complaining, but racers are racers. Everybody knows we are in difficult times right now, so if you want to go racing, you have to make sacrifices the same as the promoter. The two races they have held have gone well and probably have gotten about the same amount of support as they would have under normal circumstances, though you could argue that the Sprint Car numbers were slightly higher than average. 

I did find it interesting that Gage was keeping an eye on the fact that more tracks were opening and how that could impact the revenue generated through SpeedshiftTV. He hinted at the possibility that the track might have to re-evaluate what they do after Memorial Day Weekend. I won't speculate on that other than to say that you should check out the official track webpage and Facebook to see what's going on. They have started championship seasons for both the Winged 360 Sprint Cars and IMCA Sport Modifieds, so that tells me that if it's possible, they will keep moving ahead.

Getting back to SpeedshiftTV, Marysville still had a dilemma headed into the weekend. They already knew that the Mel Hall Memorial race would have to be rescheduled as it just wasn't possible to do this race properly under the circumstances. With Antioch Speedway using Speedshift on Saturday and Sunday, they pretty much knew they couldn't step on those dates. It might not matter when all the tracks are up and running, but these are different times. Area tracks are trying to be respectful of each other in these early stages as they get going again. Dennis went back and forth on whether Friday or Monday would be the best course of action, but he settled on his Winged 360 Sprint Car/IMCA Sport Modified event happening on Monday. This means that racing fans can watch three events in the comfort of their home this weekend, though I'm sure people would be happier if they could be at the race track. Hopefully, that will change soon.

I'm not sure what I'm doing with this column. I could scratch it completely and start over. The intent was to put it out a couple of days after our previous post, and I started writing this on Tuesday. I'm thinking Thursday evening might be the time, so it's early Wednesday morning as I write this. This means I'm going to add a little bit more as information has come in. As I've been saying, things change everyday, and it also seems like things are different in different parts of the state of California. What works for one place may be different for another. It's the same for the West Coast in general. 

I really believe that this whole thing can break in the direction we want to see at the drop of a hat. Suddenly, the floodgates could open and tracks will start doing things. There are so many factors that will play into a promoter's decision. It really boils down to what they are able to do and what works for them financially. Just because you can have practices doesn't mean some tracks can open. Some tracks won't be able to have racing in front of empty grandstands because that is a recipe for promoters to go out of business. Some tracks are waiting for the ability to have fans in the grandstands. 

I've spoken in previous columns about the economics of this whole deal. What that means is some tracks have lost sponsorships for the year, and you'd be surprised how much that has impacted some places that rely on that money to do business. Just because there are some racers ready to get back out there doesn't mean every racer will be able to do it. They themselves are dealing with economic impacts. The same holds true for the fans. Some racers may only be able to run a few times before they run out of racing budget, or they won't be able to race if the grandstand situation forces a promoter to reduce the purse to one extent or the other. There is way too much to consider, and this is where I start getting grumpy.

I want to get on my soapbox and let my views be known here, but I know that can upset some people. I see a bigger picture going on in the world that could impact our way of life going forward if we aren't able to rein it in. As in, this is just the beginning and there is more bad news coming in the not-too-distant future. Do we rush out to the ballot box and cast our vote? Well, that's probably a good thing to do, but what will be the impact of the elections? I'm not going to pick a side here, but I think people can get a good idea of what one side of the aisle is thinking versus the other. I think they can also see certain unelected people and the impacts they are having on what's happening today. 

Now is the time for people to pay attention, think about where the world is going, think about how the elections may impact where the world is going and vote your conscience. I've heard the phrase, "Nothing can stop what's coming." That may be true regardless of the outcome of the election. On the other hand, something could slow the negative factors down enough that maybe it can ultimately be stopped. I really don't know. Pay attention to what's going on in politics. I mean, really pay attention and think about how that impacts you and the people around you. It may make a difference going forward. In a racing sense, what do you think these politicians think about what we do on race day, and will certain politicians sacrifice it in the end? 

What we are witnessing here is an attempt at a paradigm shift. We hear phrases like "The new normal" and "Not going back to the way things were before." Does the situation that's been happening really rise to the level of the media hype? That's the question. One of the things we are seeing right now is businesses closing their doors. A few corporations were having a hard time anyway and might have been postponing the inevitable, but that's not the entire case. Certain smaller businesses and local chains of two or three stores are being hurt. People are losing their livelihoods over this. So, it's bigger than racing, but racing is being hit hard. Tracks will close over this, and some tracks are trying to weather the storm to figure out what they can do to turn it around in the future.

On Twitter, I made an observation a week or so ago that it doesn't make sense to basically be able to have your gathering in the pits. We've got racing happening at Marysville, for instance. However, they have no fans. My question has been, if we've decided a track can get as many racers and crew as they are able to, which could lead to anywhere from 400 to 500 people on average with social distance measures in place, why can't we get more people on the other side of the fence? Why can't these places open up at 25% capacity in the grandstands if they observe social distancing guidelines? 25% of a grandstand's seating capacity of 3500 fans still checks in at around 750 people. In other words, tracks could do about the same business as they've been doing in recent years. Nobody's packing their grandstands on a regular basis these days, so we're talking 500 to 700 fans at some places. What was interesting was Bakersfield Speedway retweeted what I posted there.

Scott Schweitzer is one of those promoters I have a great deal of respect for. I've never met the man, but he is not somebody who hides away in his office. He meets the press head on. When the guys at The Bakersfield Californian were doing their in studio show that covered the tracks down there, Scott would routinely show up and give them an update. He works well with the businesses and the racers in his area and has certainly been able to maintain and even build on the numbers that were there before him. He's been in this thing now for closing in on two decades, so the man is committed to this racing thing.

I watched him do an interview with the Bakersfield Tuff people, and he was very open about the economic impact of what is happening here. He knows how this whole thing is hurting business. People are feeling the pinch. I've heard the same sort of talk from other promoters who are struggling with the big question. Can you open a race track with no fans? One promoter I have been speaking with, somebody who's been trying to figure out if this can work, tells me point blank that there will be no racing if he can't have grandstands. Furthermore, if that doesn't become an option in the near future, racing may not happen there at all. So, this really is serious. Schweitzer is pretty much saying the same thing.

The restraints should continue to loosen up over time, or that's the hope. What Scott is dealing with is a deadline that says there could be no racing with grandstands through September in Bakersfield. If that's the case, he's not prepared to open. Even with revenue generated through Speedshift or other internet pay-per-views systems, it isn't enough for him to financially make it happen. He marvels at the ability some tracks have to pull it off, but I think the first tracks to reopen have had one advantage for sure. There haven't been many pay-per-view streams out there, so more people are paying to watch that specific race track. That means more money for that race track. 

In the column I referenced in which Ron Rodda wrote about Chico and Dixon, he indicated that if the ppv revenue starts falling for Marysville and they are unable to open the grandstands, it could impact just how much racing they do after this coming weekend. I'm not going to speak for Dennis Gage in that regard, but this is something he's looking at for sure. Schweitzer is doing the same thing. It's just that he has a different county to deal with. What's happening in Kern County is different from what's happening in Yuba County. Therefore, even though I was assuming that Bakersfield might open up earlier given the fact that it's on private property, county politics are affecting what is going to happen there. I knew something was up when the open wheel show that was being talked about as possibly happening at Kern Raceway never materialized.

Even a promoter with a few more dollars at their disposal isn't going to risk too much to open the gates mainly to keep the racers happy. If they think they will start losing money doing it, you can bet that they won't keep doing that. I have said that my view of things continues to change every day based on the information I get. That is so true. There was a time when I thought that most tracks would either be racing or practicing by the end of June in California, and they might even be having some fans in the grandstands by July. I'm going to say I'm cautiously optimistic that we could begin to start seeing that trend. Fans in the grandstands by July at some places? I think it's possible.

Ukiah Speedway has apparently added another practice for the end of May, which reaffirms that they are on the course to have a race in front of no fans on June 6th. I'm watching Ocean Speedway. They made the announcement of a race on June 5th, and I have a question. If that race has no grandstands, will John Prentice follow through with the plan or move it back further? Madera Speedway appears to be moving to the next phase of bigger practices. Things are moving very, very slowly. I'm trying to at least be cautiously optimistic that we are going to get the news we all want. 

The news that racers in Stockton wanted to hear was announced. Stockton 99 Speedway will be opening for a race on May 31st. This will feature Late Models, Bombers and Mini Stocks. With this being the only option for pavement Late Models, there could be drivers heading to town from both Madera and Roseville. It didn't sound like the grandstands were quite ready to open yet, but the Stockton 99 Speedway Facebook page might have information on that or at least where you could pay to watch it online.

The last little bit of breaking information that I will probably cover here is Siskiyou Golden Speedway. I know Kevin's been going stir-crazy. Though he hasn't been able to do much at the track, he's been going over fixing the equipment and doing other things. As of early this evening, the equipment has hit the race track again, and limited practices are being discussed. This is very good news for the people in Northern California and Southern Oregon. The push will be on to open those gates and get more for the racers as soon as possible, and the track's Facebook page will offer the important news when it breaks.

The news that I personally want may not be forthcoming, so I'm prepared to make certain decisions very soon. I'm hoping to remain active on this blog with weekly content through the end of this season. I don't know that I'm going to make as big a commitment as I have over the past few years. I'm going to do what I feel comfortable with, but without enough support, how much stress I deal with will determine how hard I'm willing to push myself. I am in no mood and don't have the drive to stress myself out too much if it's not helping me a little bit as well. I have certain goals for my life that may be negatively impacted by doing so much racing journalism. It was overwhelming last year, but I was in a position to push myself even though I don't know how I got through it all.

If I'm not having to stress out too much, I'll write as much as I'm comfortable with this year. After that, certain things will fall by the wayside. There are many factors at play here, so I can't say how much I will be doing or won't be doing. One of the announcements I am preparing to make is with the idea of reducing a little bit of stress, but also about speaking up for myself and my worth. Certain people impacted that decision in recent years because of my high respect for them, but that situation has changed. When I see doors closed that I hoped would lead me where I wanted to be, I have to look for other avenues to get where I want to go. I won't say any more yet as I'm giving this an opportunity to change for the better, but time is running out. 

Unless somebody makes a reasonable offer that I can't refuse, I'm definitely walking away from the weekly grind of the media effort at the end of the year. There are other people younger than me who have the drive, and it's my hope that they get enough support to keep doing it. Believe me, a lot of the younger guys won't keep doing it for nearly as long as I have if it's not worth the effort. I certainly encourage them to do what they do, and my door will always be open to talk with anybody, offer advice and offer moral support. Racing media is very important to the sport, but we also need to change the way we do things. I have my ideas, but I won't be looking to put them into motion if I'm not brought on board some place.

I still don't feel like I'm old, but I'm getting older. I was a teen when I jumped in and started writing articles, and there was a time period of about 20 years where I was as actively involved in the sport as a fan could be. It was the center of my life before opportunities dried up, stress became overwhelming and for the betterment of my peace of mind I walked away. I don't want to rehash any of that. I feel that while my return to the sport didn't yield the results I really wanted, it's somehow kept my head above water and kept a roof over my head. I'm really walking a fine line of losing everything. I still don't have the answers to what's next for me, and making the sport so central in my life has been a negative in some respects as well has a positive in other ways. I've never really figured out what's next for me outside of racing, and I'm a little too old to make that statement.

The blog will go on as it did when I started it 13 years ago. I won't do it as a weekly effort when I move into my next phase, but I will keep it around as long as I can. It will serve for me to comment on the current sport when I feel moved, but it will also serve as a place to talk nostalgia and ideas for future books. If I'm not making everything about the current sport, I can give more attention to book ideas. That's something I'm interested in doing. In the event that I do ultimately lose everything that I have, I'd love to have certain books written. Most people will probably not care one way or the other, but for me they would remain as a record of my time in the sport and would also serve as a way for me to archive the history. 

What ultimately happens with me when I am engaged in the current sport is I get burned-out. I might get one day out of a week where all of the current wtiting is done. If I'm not getting a head start on next week, I could work on a book. However, if I'm not getting a start on next week, it's a good bet I don't want to write about racing that day. In other words, books are never worked on during racing season. By the end of the season, I am burnt out and not really interested in jumping into a book. I keep telling myself when the season ends, I'll get to work on a book, but I don't. I'm just too tired of it. If I move away from doing weekly stuff, I can turn my attention to those books. I know there is not a lot of money in that. A few people will support me when I initially release a book, but I like that I put something out there a little bit more substantial than a blog post. I'm more proud of the magazine I did than the blog I currently have.

The sequel to Just A Kid From The Grandstands is 99% written. However, it needs serious editing. I'm talking about at least a month of doing that and possibly adding any other chapters that might be needed. When that's done, the observational, autobiographical, historical all-in-one books from me are done. I don't want this to be a trilogy. I have multiple books in mind that cover the history, and I want to get to work on those. 

Dennis Mattish has set a high standard with what he's done. Both he and Tom Motter have done amazing work with their books, so I recommend people check out what they've created. If you're a fan of Watsonville Speedway, San Jose Speedway and Bay Area racing in general, you won't be disappointed in Dennis. If you're a fan of BCRA Midget racing and West Capital Speedway, the same holds true for Motter. There are some tracks that need coverage that I know won't get it the same way I would do it, even if somebody else attempts to write a book on those tracks. 

When we lost Pat Bisio and Kent Bickford last week, I finally looked through my photo boxes and was blown away. My little camera only took on trailer or off trailer race car shots, but there are pictures in my collection spanning over 15 years. The 1990s are covered like a blanket in photos from Antioch Speedway with several other tracks included, such as Watsonville Speedway, Altamont Raceway, Petaluma Speedway and Merced Speedway.

I'm very confident in the kind of books I could produce when doing them decade-by-decade. The span from 1980 through 2000 is very appealing to me, but I can also go deeper. I just need the time. There's content written for history books that I could probably put together in a short amount of time while I'm working on the bigger picture books. The only thing I need is the time to sit down here and get to work. Relieving myself of the week-to-week racing coverage would make that easier. However, there are also certain real life things that could negatively impact any effort I might make in racing. Therefore, I feel the urge to make the time for this stuff while I can.

If I were to engage in a current racing effort of some sort after this year, I lean towards the nostalgia stuff. There's nobody really out there doing much in that area, but there's quite a bit happening. I love the fact that everything old is becoming new again. There is a Hardtop effort along with Sportsman and Super Modifieds. I love these cars, because these cars have personality. Nothing else quite compares to them in my mind, and I'm getting bored with race cars that all look the same. 

Yes, there's some good racing in certain classes, but nothing out there really inspires the imagination the way it used to. I'm not taking a dig at anything. What I am saying is it might be easier for me in my more relaxed schedule to do stuff for the nostalgia effort. I have a few ideas in mind. You can look back at my blog before I started getting active weekly and see that I had been paying attention to the Hardtop effort.

The Hardtops themselves have a history behind just the modern effort that is getting lost. When I say modern Hardtop effort in California, I go from 2002 to the present, and there are names that people don't always associate with helping build up what we have now. One could almost put a book together just on that subject if they wanted to. There could also be a historical effort being made for Vallejo Speedway, a track that is just dying for some attention. It's not like there's not a lot of information out there that can be cobbled together to make one hell of a book. So, the wheels are turning. Slowing down on the weekly media effort won't necessarily mean I'm going away. I never intend to go away from my blog as long as I'm able to maintain it somewhere online.

I did get a kick out of the fact that there is sort of a Hardtop offshoot of a division happening in Nevada. Scott Holloway shared a video of his new Coup that he is planning to run. In Nevada, there was a time when they were doing a class called Rat Rods. One of the founding forces behind the revival of the Sportsman division at Merced Speedway, Luis Miranda, was part of that class. Duncan Lee, a name people may remember from the good old days of NASCAR, was a part of that deal. Anyway, the Coup division has popped up and they've got a handful of cars. Holloway is one of them.

I could say that maybe this Coup division is what could have become of the Hardtops had they continued to evolve past the closure of Vallejo Speedway, but I don't know. They are something that was created in the spirit of those old classic cars. You have to work with the technology you have that's easier to access. I do believe that people can still build Hardtops that are truly in the spirit of the old Vallejo Speedway rules, but it's also a challenge to do that. This Coup division is using technology more from the 1970s through the 1980s, but they're also trying to maintain that Hardtop look. It's not a bad idea.

Again, the reason people keep coming back to this is because everything old is new again. There's a yearning for some of the stuff we used to enjoy back then. Modifieds all sort of look alike, and now we've got Sport Modifieds that only differentiate themselves with their rear spoilers. Well, Modified racing is actually a little bit better than Sport Modifieds, but there's a ton of cars in both classes.

The same is true for Sprint Cars. They are fast and exciting race cars, but they all look alike. Hobby Stocks are the division that has uniqueness. Don't like the Camaros? There are Chevelles, Novas and other types of cars. This will all be threatened as the IMCA Stock Car gets a foothold on the West Coast. That trend will continue. I like the look of the IMCA Stock Car, but I prefer Hobby Stocks. Every division doesn't have to look the same, in my opinion.

I'm not knocking it. It probably sounds like I am. You need something out there on the track. The next big thing probably will never come out the way it has through the years. We will probably recycle Modifieds yet again into Economy Modifieds. Sprint Cars will carry on and we might reinvent the more affordable version of the Sprint Car along the way. You work with the chassis and equipment you have, so I understand that. There's a place for the nostalgia stuff, and there are things within sphere that we haven't explored. Some of it would be more popular with some racers than others. The main thing to me is I want to see the nostalgia effort continue to grow. 

Anyway, if I do this right, I will post this on Thursday. That's all I have to say for now. thank you for reading and thank you for your support. It means a lot to me. Until next time...