To spray or not to spray

Track prep and other things
make our racing nice

8/9/04

Track owners, clean up your act!

eing in the bracket racing business for so long, I enjoyed the perks of the office that covering the sport brought. One was attending several sessions at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing Schools at both Pomona and Gainesville. Hawley never disappointed in his classes. Wife Fran and I often say that when we’re racing, Hawley is always with us when we go down a track --- at least in our heads.

One thing that Hawley taught us should be written in gold leaf on the dashboards of our cars --- get acquainted with any new track that you’re racing at. I’m paraphrasing here, but essentially, “The Professor’s” message was, “Get to know your race track.” That meant if you’re going to a track that you’ve never raced on before, learn everything you can about it before making that first pass --- where the turn-offs are, how much the entry fee and the payouts are, what kind of starting system it has, is there an ambulance on duty during race times, is it eighth-mile or quarter-mile, how are bye runs selected, that sort of thing.

Nowadays Hawley would probably include the following question bracket racers should ask themselves: is the track properly prepared for racing?

We’ve been to plenty where the answer is yes, and plenty others where the answer is no. And if there are too many “no’s” in the equation, I suggest you take yourself, your bracket car and your money elsewhere.

I’m not bragging here, but I’ve been to tracks from the Northeast to the South to the Midwest to the far West, and one thing I always watch for, whether I’m racing or not, is how the track management keeps care of its customers. Specifically, are they glad you’re here? That’s the first thing I’ll use to judge a “good” track from a “bad” one. You all probably know the rap yourselves --- if the lady at the ticket booth entrance greets you with a smile, fine, chalk up a “yes” on your mental chalkboard. If they’re grouchy and give you a hard time about your offspring being older than 12 and therefore you have to pay an adult price for him or her to get in, well, maybe that’s a “no.”

Another thing I look for in a “good/bad” track is what might be called “creature comforts.” How much is a cup of ice or a Coke? How much are hot dogs and hamburgers? And maybe even this --- how long is the line in front of the concession stand to get your Coke and dog? If it’s long, maybe that should rate a “yes.” Short, and maybe the food isn’t that great, and the Cokes are $3 for a cup of ice and a bit of black drink poured over it.

One thing that surprised me once was seeing Bill New and his sons from Firebird Raceway in Boise, Idaho, at a weekly bracket race at Atlanta Dragway a couple of years ago. “Hey, Bill, what are you guys doing down here?” I asked. New said that he and son Brad jumped on a plane, flew down to Atlanta and visited several local tracks, just to see how each ran its concession stands. “We’re here to see how others do it,” New said. That was impressive. No other reason than to check out Atlanta Dragway, Southeastern Dragway and Silver Dollar Drag Strip, among others. And yes, the food at Firebird is good, burgers handmade and the Pepsi fresh, along with other goodies. The same went for Firebird’s gift shop, which had fair prices for shirts, with plenty of toys for yourself and the kids.

That’s why Firebird Raceway always is a “yes” in my mind. The same goes for Maple Grove Raceway in Pennsylvania and Huntsville Dragway in north Alabama. Heck, it was the same for little ol’ Lassiter Mountain Drag Strip, now Birmingham Dragway, in Alabama. Good burgers. Good. I remember what the late Pete Sciro told me one time when I was new to the place in my old front-engine dragster. “Try one of their hamburgers. It’s just like your mother would make.” He was right. I never ate dinner at any other place on a Friday night. Lassiter Mountain’s burgers were quite filling enough, thank you very much.