No more New Years
Resolutions…….please!

1/9/06

e probably all make our New Years resolutions at about the same time. Either just after midnight on New Years Eve after consuming adult beverages, or sometime in the next few days when we step on the scale after the holidays or notice we can’t get the belt to fasten in the same hole anymore. Been there, done that. Of course I couldn’t help but make a few more of my own New Years resolutions last week.

You know the drill, eat better, drink less, get myself in better shape, have the cholesterol checked and try a salad or two for a change. After I thought about it for a few days and took the walks I told myself I would take, passed up the Burger King Whopper and ordered the salad instead, and saved those ice cold beers for Friday after work, I got to thinking. Why does this have to be a “special decision” and why do most of us look at it as punishment for overindulging? I don’t have the answer either, so you will have to figure it out yourself.

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I went through a real medical scare in August and since then each day has seemed more important to me. It’s the little things like how not to be a rude person, how often I talk to my sons and in general just pay attention to everything a little bit better.

I probably have a year or two of competitive racing left in me. The effort to prepare the car, the tow vehicle and trailer along with support equipment is a lot harder for me now. Thirty years of doing it probably has a bit to do with it, but my desire to get out there and compete with friends and racers I have yet to meet creates such a strong desire inside me I feel compelled to do it every year. If you don’t race but always wanted to I have three words for, GO DO IT! If it is the financial concerns I can certainly understand that. Just find a class you can afford and GO DO IT. I have raced my 1974 AMC Hornet wagon in Trophy and I probably had the most FUN doing that of all my cars. Sure, it’s fun to go 180 mph in the dragster and winning a national event was so important to me. But when it comes to just plain old FUN, a street-driven car and a Trophy is something you can smile about before, during and after it is over.

So, if you are still thinking about how many New Years resolutions you made then didn’t follow through on, how about an option? Make some plans to contact your local drag strip, ask what the rules are for Street Car class or if they have a Street Car night. It won’t matter if you are 54 years old like me or 20 years old. The guys in Trophy or Street class won’t care one little bit. Besides, what could be better than taking the family sedan down to the drag strip and treating it like you stole it then driving back home listening to your favorite CD? No trailers, no Cols, no race fuel, no parts breakage, no delay boxes (for those of you that know what they are!) and its CHEAP FUN! That is something that is getting harder to find all the time. TRY IT, YOU’LL LIKE IT!!

NOW SOME OTHER SUBJECTS THAT HAVE “RISEN TO THE TOP” LATELY

Traction Control: Seems like every year we spend the winter wondering about traction control and how it could RUIN DRAG RACING. I will never understand it. “WINNING RACERS HAVE TRACTION 'CONTROL' ALREADY!” That’s right, that’s what I said. Have you ever looked closely at the ET slips on the better S/Pro and Pro ET cars? Good cars don’t vary .003 in 60’ times over a six-hour time span. They can repeat ETs round after round. “THEY ARE NOT CHEATING” -- they have done their homework, worked hard on preparation and bought products that them CONTROL THEIR TRACTION.