New Year, Old Sayings

 I intended to come up with something new for my first racing blog of 2023.  

 Instead my thoughts keep taking me back to a familiar theme – about how all forms of racing are in it together and to the old saying about how a rising tide lifts all boats.
 As the new season gets underway, there are lots of positive signs across the motorsports spectrum, including some healthy cross-pollination. 

 The NHRA’s professional circuit is drawing big crowds and a good TV audience. Despite the harsh weather, Atlanta Motor Speedway had a good crowd for its Cup Series race on a chilly Sunday afternoon.

 Last week at Circuit of the Americas, the Cup race saw two Formula One veterans and an IMSA champ compete against the NASCAR regulars. Afterwards, all three had good things to say about the driving abilities of the NASCAR drivers they raced against.

 Based on the pictures I saw from the motorcycle races at Senoia last week, that circuit drew an outstanding crowd even though the weather Saturday morning would have been enough to discourage folks from making plans to attend.

 As a life-long follower of dirt racing, I’ve been proud to see posts on Twitter about Jonathan Davenport, the “Superman” of dirt Late Model racing, making the media rounds in advance of his NASCAR Cup Series debut in next week’s dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

  Davenport will be driving for Kaulig Racing, which is capable of providing him with a top-flight car. It’s a big moment in Davenport’s career, and it’s big for both the dirt racing world and for the track at Bristol and for the elite NASCAR circuit in general.

 Despite the grumbling from some corners about NASCAR racing, it appears the movers and shakers in that series are doing their best to attract today’s fans, even if some of the changes turn off a segment of their fans from back in the day.

 The NASCAR leaders, as well as promoters of other forms of racing, really have no choice. They probably aren’t going to ever get back fans they’ve lost over the years, so they have to go after the people that seem to like their events as they are today.

 It’s the same for the Pollard family that promotes Senoia Raceway – they have to try to attract new fans because there aren’t enough of us old-timers coming through the gate to make the numbers work.

 It’s kind of like what my old friend Jake Mask, long-time owner of a tire store in Fayetteville, advised me about how to respond to friends who asked for discounts on the produce or Christmas trees we were selling at the farm.

 He said that when his friends asked for a discount on tires, he told them: “I have to make money off my friends because my enemies don’t buy tires from me.”
 Like the saying at the top of this blog, it can be applied to racing promoters too.

 See y’all at the races.




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