Where did the unknown rule come from that says only
Lates, Limited Lates and Modifieds are racecars? What
happened to Sportmans, Super Stocks, Bombers, Pure
Stocks, Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, 4
cyl. bombers, and Strictly Stocks?? Do they not have
motors, do they not have roll cages, do they not have
drivers who work just as hard on them as any Late Model
driver does on his??

When stock car racing began, back in the good "ole"
days, there were no fancy cars. They just raced every
day street cars that half the time they drove to the
track and prayed that they would be able to drive it
home again or they were not getting home. They may
have souped up the engine some but that is about all.
They were just everyday cars.

Personally, I love watching the old films on those cars,
the drivers in their white t-shirts that were black from
the dirt coming in the car, and the men's faces when they
took off their goggles and looked like raccoons. There
was no arguing over "what is a real racecar" because
there was only one car.

Why do drivers not move up a class when they have raced
the same division for years?? Come on now, don't you
think they want to BUT you run what you can afford and
that is just how it is. If all you can afford is a
Strictly Stock or Pure Stock and you come week in and
week out just to race for the fans in the stands, you
have nothing to be ashamed about. Even those low
class Strictly Stocks cost money and every driver puts
his/her blood, sweat and tears into that car.

It would be great if all racers could have a Boyd
engine or a Graham car but they can't. There are
$25,000 engines racing against $8,000 engines and
guess what, those $8,000 engines can and do win also.
Having more money in a car does not mean it will be
better than one that has less money, it just means
it costs alot more when it breaks.

Sometimes more is less and less is more. You can have
the most expensive engine, chassis, everything and
still get beat. It can and does happen. You see it
in all classes and all forms of racing. But you do
not have to race a Late, Limited Late or Modified
to be called a racer. Because every class costs
money and not every racer has money to go up in class.

Some of Winston Cup's finest racers came from Mini
Stocks and Bombers or Super Stocks or Pure Stocks or
whatever you want to call them. That is the learning
ground for most racers. Most don't have the money to
jump straight into a Late Model.

In a day where you see so many "big rigs" at local
tracks, the every weekend racer who does race on a
budget gets overlooked. There are far more of those
guys than Big Boys. The car counts alone prove that
at most all local tracks. You see far more Super
Stocks, Mini Stocks, and Strictly Stocks than Late
Models or Limited Late Models or even Modifieds.
These are the classes that are somewhat affordable
although even these guys make no money at racing.

So next time you hear someone say, "man, that was a
boring race" just think how boring it would be if
that class was not at the track with 20 plus cars
and guys racing their hearts out. With the cost of
racing going up and up, you run what you brung, and
race what you can afford.



Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board!
or send a letter to the editor!