One Last Time We Promise!

12/9/03

think in last month's installment I said something about the November piece being the last one. C. Bley Motorsports Au Go Go, aren't you just raving about all yesterday's parties? You all are taking up valuable cyberspace with this business. Can't we just put a wrap on this? I just got that gut feeling that my reader was thinking along those lines and I figured that after 11 months ... death sentence.

Well, the other day I was talking to a race fan/bar attendee and I told him about the column that I was putting the quietus to. He responded in general, "What is your idea of a good crowd these days? What kind of bleacher creatures catch your attention in the new millennium?

And then I froze. I thought ...I dunno.

Then, after the officers maced, cuffed, and dragged him out the back door, I got to thinking that was a fair question. What constitutes a good crowd? What kind of a person would you like to be sitting next to in the grandstands? Sure, C. Bley Motorsports Au Go Go, you've run your mouth (actually your computer) about what stood out, but frankly some of the

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behavior you described to me is nothing I'd like to be in the state with. For God's sake, some of your stories sound like they took place in the exercise yard at San Quentin. What gives?

Okay. Lemme try and fumble through this.

Number one. A good crowd at any drag race is a BIG one. If we are all gonna' be here next year or next decade, same time, same Bat Channel, we gotta' hope for big crowds. Some of the TV crowds I saw at a few of the races, we're not impressive and I'm not talking about the monsoon month of September either. Nothing is more enthusiasm dampening than watching two Top Fuel dragsters, Funny Cars or Pro Stocks speed from the line in front of a Top Eliminator Club that's 50-percent full. It would be better to take a MAC-10 to the idea of a Top Eliminator Club than to have it routinely look like a septic tank that just blew under the stands. So, big crowds count for a lot. Prospective sponsors look at things like that. In these days of economic chaos brought on by "The Moron" and his grifter pals, it's essential. The best foot is put forward in this regard.

Number Two, and this lane moves a lot slower than the above, I have a bad attitude towards aggressive behavior, and maybe a passive act or two.