| Racing fans, what's your favorite forms of motorsports? |
Subject: Racing fans, what's your favorite forms of motorsports? by Notorious on 2008/1/27 4:31:47 Please no arguments about which is best, just what floats your boat and why, if you want to elaborate. First, since I've been a hot rod nut for as long as I can remember, I've always enjoyed drag racing. But I must admit I found it much more interesting years ago when the cars were much more diverse. I'd rather go to one nostalgia show than a whole season of modern pro drag racing. Give me the gassers, the fuel altereds, A/FX cars, early super stockers and "rail jobs." Also stock cars and anything else that runs in a circle. Sprint cars, supermodifieds and the Indianapolis 500, still and always the greatest race in the world, no matter what, IMO. But what wouldn't I give to have seen it anytime from the early 60s on back, when "the big cars" were king. Watson roadsters, Offenhauser power, you know. I didn't get to see the race live until 1968, the beginning of the long Unser dynasty. And although Nascar is the only professional sport I follow closely, I'm happier at a great short track show with ultra-competitive racing. Where the drivers are only known to the locals but are heroes just the same. Good God, the racing I've seen on tracks no one's ever heard of. Shady Bowl Speedway in DeGraff Ohio, the best stock car racing I've ever seen, week in and week out back in the early and mid 80s. Sandusky speedway, also in Ohio, also good stock car racing but even better, supermodifieds! These cars were the most balls to the wall cars to ever bolt on a set of pavement rubber. So damned fast you'd swear they had to be on a tether. Fuel injected big blocks, lots of rubber, wings, a driver and little more. And sprint cars, the ultimate show on dirt. Fremont Speedway in Ohio (where I regularly raced my stock car way back when), the Famous Eldora Speedway, Wayne County Speedway, Lima Land (a 1/4 high banked dirt bull-ring where I also raced a few times) and many others I'm sure that I could recall. If you ever have a chance to catch a sprint car show live, DO IT! And their little brothers the midgets, no less impressive but more rare. Mainly they run in touring circuits only these days, such as USAC. Sprints and midgets also run on pavement in USAC and other series and can put on a helluva show there too. Anyhow, that's my rant although I've seen and appreciate many other types of racing too. I saw the Trans-Am series early on at Mid-Ohio in '67-'68, etc. I saw Mario win an Indy car race there in '84, I believe. Mario was my boyhood hero. Back in the early to mid 60s, he won USAC sprint and midget championships before moving up to Indy cars. I went to a vintage racing weekend at VIR a few years ago. All of the great sports cars that I remember from way back. That was damn cool. Someday I'm going to get to the Bonneville salt flats. Without a doubt, the purest form of hot rod racing left. |
