Rolling Billboards

 There are lots of ways to spread the word about dirt-track racing, but in my book, few are as effective as open trailers.

 I say that from personal experience.

 When I was just barely a teenager, I spent a lot of time playing in my grandmother’s back yard, which offered a clear view of Highway 92 between Fayetteville and Griffin.

 On Saturday afternoons – and Sundays too – I got to see some beautiful race cars, all brightly painted, shined up and sporting giant numbers on the doors, riding on open trailers pulled by trucks headed to seemingly far-away race tracks.

 My favorites were the No. 44 of Roscoe Smith, the No. 222 of Leon Archer and the No. 05 of Jack Evans.

 They passed through Inman on their way to races at West Atlanta Raceway (later Seven Flags Speedway) in Douglasville and Rome Speedway in Rome.

 I followed NASCAR racing at that time, but I was just as intrigued by the cars of the Griffin dirt trackers as I was by the No. 21 and the No. 43, my favorites on the NASCAR circuit.

 When I turned 16 and got my drivers license, some of the first places I went on my own were dirt tracks. I’m still going today.

 In the years since I first saw dirt-track cars on the road, most racers, especially in the upper classes, have upgraded their haulers.

 First came ramp trucks, which remain some of the coolest vehicles I’ve ever seen.

 Then came enclosed trailers and trucks. Many a race car today is transported in a truck or trailer that gives no indication of what’s inside. Modern race-car haulers, with the support equipment inside, offer lots of advantages for the race team but aren’t much for attracting new fans.

 Several years back, my wife and I were on the way home from North Carolina and had planned to attend a Southern All Stars asphalt race at the track now known as Gresham Motorsports Park.

 We were eating supper at the Waffle House next to I-85 in Lavonia when we saw Buck Simmons’ No. 41 on an open trailer pulled by a red one-ton, stake-bodied Ford truck with four tires and a tool box on back.

  Given my wife’s preference for dirt racing, it’s no surprise our passes to the track at Jefferson went unused and we watched Buck race on the dirt at Lavonia Speedway.

 These days at Senoia, one of my favorite towing set-ups is Glenn Morris’ familiar blue cube van and his open trailer.

 Glenn has been towing his No. 27 race cars with that rig for the past 25 years. Before that it was used by Andy Knowles, who bought it new and had it customized, to tow his No. 66 racers.

 The 1980 GMC truck, parked in the same spot inside Turn One most every Saturday night, now has almost 300,000 miles on it. That’s a lot of trips to the race track - and a good many short runs from Glenn’s house to his muffler shop during the week.

 The trailer, which Glenn built from scratch when he got the truck, is still going strong too.

 I’ll bet there are more than a few people in the stands on Saturday night who were introduced to the sport by drivers like Glenn, whose race cars serve as rolling billboards while traveling to and from the track.