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Sept 20, 1998 Jane Smith
Generation to Generation
Lately, for the past few weeks, I have been conducting my own survey on how people from all over the country really feel about local track racing. I wanted to know if NASCAR was it for them or did they really like local racing and did they attend their local races. I wanted to know if it was as much of a family oriented sport as it seems to be here. I wanted to know what made them tick when it came to racing.
One thing I learned for sure is that racers and fans in Central Florida are
very lucky in they have no "season" racing. We race 51 weeks a year, with
just taking off one week for Christmas. We do not get the "Racing Blues" likemy friends from Indiana and Pennsylvania. We do not have to wait for up to months for racing season to start again - we always have it. We are lucky
here and we never lack for something to do on a weekend.
Most people I talked to believe as I do, that without our local racing there
would be no NASCAR. Local racing is what made NASCAR. Most of them follow NASCAR but it does not take away from how they feel about their tracks and their drivers. One man even told me that he has sat in the same seat for the last 6 years at his track and all the people around him have been there that long too. They are known as the track experts and are treated special by the track owners and drivers. They are told how much their patronage is appreciated every week.
What really got my attention was the number of responses I got to family
involvement in racing. Not only did parents take their kids to the races and
the kids took their kids later in life but the number of father-son-daughter
racers was unbelieveable. Kids grew up working on their dad's or mom's cars and when they were old enough, they also raced and then usually the parents helped them. The parents who took their kids to the races instilled that love of racing in them and it seems to be a life-long commitment. It is handed down from generation to generation which I have seen at our tracks.
Many of my new friends say they come to Florida sometimes during their off-
season and they enjoy our racing for a change. Some even have racers from their tracks that come here for the winter. And when it comes to racing, it really is a small world.
No matter what state you live in, what class you race in or whether you are
just a weekly fan, somehow we are all connected. We all share the same loveand for us, we seem to pass that love to our children. And that love will
never die.
-Jane Smith
Sept 24, 1998 Jane Smith
Someone Named "Georges"
Once again, Florida is in trouble. Not long ago it was from wildfires burning a lot of our state up, now it is by a guy named "George" and what he could do to our state. We had firefighters from all over the United States helping us during the fires and saving a number of homes but this time, we are all on our own. We have to be smart enough to take this seriously and make sure everything and everyone is safe. Living in Florida means having hurricanes but having lived in California with earthquakes and no warning, I can deal better with hurricanes.
I doubt there will be any racing anywhere in our fair state this weekend and
if some tracks do get hit, maybe even longer. But no matter what happens,
Florida racing will survive just as we will. We are tough people and we can
rebuild and no storm or fire can ever break the bond we all share with each
other. So make sure that everyone is safe and if you should see someone lost, scared, with no place to go, reach out and help please.
The track where we race knows that there are alot of us that will help in any
way if something should happen. We are family just as I am sure you are
family to your tracks. And we have friends that are safer than we are but we
know that their door is open if we should need it. Just as my door is open to
anyone who should need me.
My prayers are with us all, please stay safe. Don't do anything stupid like a
hurricane party if George is anywhere close. I lost too many friends years
ago from hurricane parties and thinking nothing bad can happen. You don't
play games with Mother Nature ever.
Florida - be safe. This weekend will be yet another chapter in our lives.
Take care everyone, God bless you, and we will race again. There is a rainbow in our future.
-Jane Smith
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Sept 20, 1998 Jane Smith
The Heartbeat of Racing
When we say stock car racing, most think of NASCAR, Busch, Goody's Dash, Craftsman Trucks, Featherlite Modifieds, anything but what we are - local tracks and local drivers. Some of the greats have come from our ranks and some have even gotten their starts from our tracks but the majority of us are and always will be just local guys. There are always some that want more, to be part of the BIG BOYS, but I would say at least 75 percent are happy just being a local racer.
It is this breed, just the local guy, that keeps stock car racing grounded. Sure every class has different rules and different engines and "can" and "can not do" lists but racing is kept as even in competition as possible this way.
We work to race and race to compete. Sometimes we win, sometimes we blow up or wreck and sometimes we are at the back of the pack but we are there. The track is a second home to us with another family and we do and will take care of each other.
Local racing, no matter what state it is done in, is the SOUL of racing. It alone gave NASCAR and all those other big series their heartbeat. Sure, there will always be people who don't consider our local tracks worth visiting but they just don't know what they are missing. NASCAR only gives us one side of racing, local tracks give us many. Different divisions, different cars, different people and different reasons why we race other than just for money like NASCAR. A few will race to be noticed and hopefully go all the way to the top but the majority of us are happy and content being at that local track every weekend.
Yes, we are the heartbeat and the soul for racing. Fans, drivers, pit crews, track personnel - everyone feeds the arteries that give racing life. Without us and our every weekend racing season here or seasonal racing in other states, there would be no Jeff Gordon or Mark Martin or Dale Jarrett. Without us, the local tracks and racers and the fans that support them, racing would not have a heartbeat.
-Jane Smith
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Sept 16, 1998 Racing Jane Smith
First and foremost, I would like to tell all Florida Stock Car Drivers that I know how hard you work to race and how much it does cost you. I am sorry if you think I am unfair to any of you because I do not mean to be. I write a lot about the runabout class because being in that class, I know that we are not highly thought of and most people have no idea of what the guys do in that class to race. No way does it only cost you a few hundred dollars to race that class like the announcers say. But I have friends in almost all classes and the ones who race on their own with little or no sponsorship are in the same boat as we are. You work your butt off to pay the bills and take good care of your family and race. You drive old cars and tow vehicles so your car will have an engine. Believe me, I know what it costs you.
And believe me, I know we are all one family. Racing people are very good people and that is hard to find today. Just go to any track in Florida, and you will find a friend. Fans, drivers, crew personnel, track employees - none are better. We work hard to play hard and we learn along the way.
But I do not want you to think that I favor one class over another, one track over another, one friend over another. I use our class because I do not want someone to get angry at me because I wrote about them without them knowing it.
But in my mind, it is all one class - stock car racing and each story is about you. We all pay dues, we all screw-up sometimes, and we all LOVE racing.
-Jane
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Sept 15, 1998 Paying Your Dues Jane Smith
No matter what kind of car or what track or what series we race in, they all have their dues. As you all know, anything can happen. You can cut down a tire and hit the wall, do a 180 or 360 in someone's oil, blow your engine, anything can happen. This is the tale of one car's dues.
My oil pressure reads 0, my temperature gage says 240, and I am losing power fast. My motor is still running but I am going backwards instead of forwards. "Hey dad, aren't you paying attention!! Better pull me off before I blow." Poor dad, this is the 10th engine he has put in me. He just put this one in Friday and it is only Saturday and I have holes in my oil pan. It isn't that dad is stupid when it comes to engines, just poor. He does the best he can with what he has but this engine was given to him and he really knew nothing much about it. I hope number 11 gets alittle attention. Maybe dad will havesomeone check it out and make sure that everything is okay before he puts it back in me. Boy, it would be nice to have RPM's when I need them and no boiling water burning my insides and making my temperature gage go nuts.
Dad says a friend of our's has a 305 for me and that is what I have to run formy kind of body. He pats my hood and tells me that I will be fine and my power will come back. But it sure hurts alot when I blow up. Once, I had a huge ball of fire under my body and dad did not even know it. I could feel it but he did not. Luckily he pulled me off the track and that stopped the burning but I had no more power.
Winning is nice but I don't race just to win. I love racing and the challange of running as fast as I can without losing control. I hang it all out on the edge and dare my insides to fail me. Sometimes they don't but sometimes they do and that my friend, is racing.
Dues, we all pay them. From NASCAR to 4 cylinder bombers, there is no difference. We are made by humans, put together by humans and driven by humans. And if we are lucky, we have a human that loves us and puts us together each time we fall apart. The human race, I love them. My human may not be the smartest when it comes to engines but he has never shown me any disrespect or called me names and I think I will keep him for a long time.
- Jane
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Sept. 13, 1998 One Unselfish Act Jane Smith
Sometimes life is full of surprises - good and bad. A simple invitation from one friend to another to go to a stock car race can sometimes become magic.You have seen drivers put other drivers in their cars for points but you seldom see what I did Saturday night - a driver let a complete novice use his winning car so she could race.
When it comes to racing, all of us know that we put alot of time and money into our cars. Some do let friends and family drive their cars during practice nights but most of us fear the worse and never let people drive our cars during a race, especially someone with basically no driving experience. But faith and a heart of gold and realizing that a stock car is just a car and can be replaced really comes into the picture.
Finally, after a year of trying and being disappointed each time, my daughter finished her first race. The car had to be adjusted to her size - wood added to the pedals - but she did it. She went out in one of the biggest fields we have had in the runabout division and danced with the BOYS. In spite of turning around in her own step-dad's engine oil, he blew his engine, she was not thrown and just put her car right back on the track and continued racing.
With tears in her eyes, my friend's eyes and mine, she crossed that finish line. She started 2lst and finished 15th and no matter how many races she may run from now until she quits, none will ever mean the same as this one. The unselfish act of a friend will never be forgotten. Someone believed in her and because of this belief, he made a dream come true.
-Jane
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Sept 11, 1998 A Little Touch of Magic Jane Smith
Sometimes in the Land of Oz or the Magical World of Stock Car Racing, we get to see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If by any chance you were at Lakeland last weekend for qualifying of the Hooters AllPro Cup cars, you would have seen a brillant rainbow over the track. With dark clouds and rain coming out of them everywhere around us but right there at the track, the cars went out one by one to qualify. Among those cars were some of Florida's finest stock car drivers - Mario Gosselin, Brad May, Derrick Kelley, Jeff Emery, Jeremy Bowser to name a few.
After qualifying, since there may have been 40 at the most people in the stands, they let us go over to the pits so we could look at the cars and meet the drivers. We already knew Mario and Brad from Orlando and New Smyrna tracks and Jeremy but I found a nice surprise in meeting the #80 driver from Mississippi, my home state - Calvin Redwine. Since Mississippi really is a dirt track state, I asked Mr. Redwine how did he get into Hooter cars. And to my surprise, this was his first late model he had ever driven and his first experience on asphalt and his second year in Hooters AllPro Cup. He built and owned cars before and just got a fever to do this.
Next we spoke to most all the Florida drivers and went on our search for Justin Labonte, Terry Labonte's son. Justin is a mear 17 years old, still in high school, and driving the #44 Hooters car for the first time. He is up there in points and doing really well. We found Justin with his car waiting to go thru tech and found him to be very friendly and not afraid to talk. His pit crew was really nice also. They informed us that they would be at Hooters that night so the public could meet them and we decided to go also.
Hooters was an experience in itself, I can't say that it is a family place. My 5 year old was the hit of the night with the Hooter girls since he had a cast on his leg and his arm and one by one, they all came to our table and signed his cast. The drivers were there and a lot of football fans that could have cared less about stock car drivers. The #65 car of Sammy Potashnick was parked outside of Hooters and Sammy's dad made sure that Alex got to sit in that car and see how it felt to be a Hooters AllPro driver. A very nice thing to do for a little boy with dreams of someday being a driver himself.
After a full night of meeting drivers and racing the go-kart tracks of Kissimmee, it was race day. We got there early for the autograph session and one by one, Alex got all of them. I wished Mr. Redwine good luck and we reminded Mario that we had pitted next to him in Orlando about a year ago and he remembered. We found our seats and waited for GENTLEMEN START YOUR ENGINES.
The race started and my friend from Mississippi was one of the first to be put out of the race - just too much damage to his car to run. And Mario had his problems and was many laps down and then put out for good on the back stretch. Brad's engine gave way but Derrick Kelley was going strong. And all the sudden over the loud speaker, MAGIC came out. Terry Labonte and his wife were there at the track with their son Justin. They were on top of the #44 transporter, Terry acting as Justin's spotter.
The race ended and Derrick came in second and Justin fifth but we had only one thought then and that was to see Terry Labonte. They let everyone who wanted to cross over into the pits go and we waited our turn. Terry was surroundedbut did not seem to mind. He signed everything from a Jeff Gordon shirt to a Mark Martin hat and one little boy's leg cast.
Now looking back, the end of the rainbow was right over that transporter and we found the pot of gold. A touch of magic that we will never forget.
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September 10, 1998 RACING GODS Jane Smith
Sometimes in stock car racing, we all have this period that feels like the "RACING GODS' are in disfavor with us. Now most of us know that this is not true, just seems like it is true. Anyone can have a bad spell, anyone can blow up an engine, anyone can have a blow out and hit the wall, you just never know with stock car racing. One minute you are leading the race and the next you can be behind the pit wall crying to the RACING GODS.
This past weekend, it was that way for my daughter. We had a powder puff race that she entered and practiced for every Wednesday that she could. She learned how to work on the car which is really a dirty job and she was ready. Even though our runabout really had no chance against a bomber, she was determined that she would be in the top five. She wanted this and she was willing to learn whatever she had to so she could race.
First, her step-dad raced the car in the runabout race but he realized that something was wrong during his race so he pulled down to the infield so as not to blow up the car before her race. This concerned her but her step-dad assured her that it was not serious even though he knew it was. He did not want to spoil her race.
For almost four laps, she did real good in that runabout until she looked at the gauges and the oil read l0 and the temperature was 240. She did not want to make her step-dad mad at her so she pulled out of her race and sat in the infield and watched her friends continue the race.
After the race, I went down into the infield to see what was wrong - she was not moving. The car was so hot that it did not want to start, so the wrecker pushed her back to the pits. With tears in her eyes, she asked me "why do the RACING GODS hate me? I have tried three times now to race and each time the car either messes up or I wreck."
And my answer was "well, maybe the RACING GODS don't like our choice in cars or paint jobs. Maybe we confused them with having a Buick with a Chevy Jeff Gordon paint job. They weren't prepared for that combo."
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A Girl Has To Do What A Girl Has To Do
In this crazy world we call stock car racing, you see a wide variety of drivers - short, tall, thin, fat, older and younger and sometimes GIRLS. Although we have few female drivers that drive every weekend, twice a year at our tracks, we have a powder puff race for only novice female drivers. This is their chance to show what they have, to prove to their husbands, boyfriends, brothers, fathers, etc. that they too can handle a stock car. It may not go as fast as the normal driver and yes, wrecks can and do happen but this is their moment in time.
As of yet, I have not had the priviledge of driving in that race. Not because I don't want to but because I have a dreamer in my family. My only daughter's dream. She wants to race and this is her chance to start her dream. She has entered before in the powder puff but the first time the transmission went out on her and the second time, she got alittle too brave and passed in the wrong place and wrecked. But that has not stopped her and made her want this any less. She was not hurt but sore and the car was fixed and raced again (it was not our car but a good friend's).
As I watch her practice every Wednesday night that she can, I know this will not be easy as her mom. Maybe partly because she is my only daughter and I would die if she did get hurt but mainly because I love her. And that love for her says that a girl must do what a girl has to do to fly and fulfill her dream. Some dreams just can't ever come true for some of us but in this case, we have the stock car and the track and the time she requires for guidance and help.
Friday is coming fast now. The weather may or may not cooperate for us to go racing. But we have two cars from friends on standby just in case something should happen with this one so one girl can start her dream. You never know, we may open the door for the new FEMALE Jeff Gordon.
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September 1, 1998 Opinions Always Count Jane Smith
Stock car racing has been around for a very long time. It would have been something to watch years ago when they used boards for the track surfaces and big block stock cars. Those days are gone but in the state of Florida, we still have some special races that date back a long time. The Snowball Derby, the Governor's Cup to name a few.
Since there is no way that every track can air every race on TV, I would like Florida fans opinions of what race they would really like to see the most on TV. In October, the Governor's Cup will be televised and fans from Key West to Pensacola will be able to enjoy seeing some of their favorite Florida Late Model drivers. But what if you like another division of racing say Limited Lates or Modifieds? Now is your chance to give me your opinion of what race has prestige and history to you.
About two years ago my son lived in California for a year with his dad. While he was there, they televised live the Hooters Cup Race from Lakeland (before it became Hooters AllPro). In fact, it was the Labor Day race which is coming up again shortly. That night, very late, my son called all excited because he saw David Rogers, from our local track, racing in that race. He got a touch of home from watching a race on TV. You too can feel that warm glow inside if you just take the time to give your opinion.
E-mail Jane Smith at: Jane1377@aol.com
