MISSISIPPI RIVER DELTA BLUES

From time to time, those of us involved in the sport of drag racing ask ourselves the big question -- WHY? As in, why are we doing this? And often as not, we don't have a real solid comeback for ourselves. For the most part, drag racing types don't like politics, yet we often discuss that aspect of the 1320 sport. Most of us don't own race cars, although we all would like to. And, but for a chosen few, people don't tend to make a fortune by being involved in drag racing.

Just about the time our lack of having compelling reasons for our involvement has us leaning towards dropping drag racing and opening up a hardware store, IT invariably happens. IT is that whatever interested you in the sport in the first place gets revealed to you once again! In my case, IT took the form of a trip to Cordova, Illinois for the 47th running of the World Series of Drag Racing.

The World Series has been around a long time, much longer than I have. But this year's edition took me back to the days I used to sit in the bleachers and wait to be entertained. I wasn't a demanding sort back then, but I did value variety, nitro, and action in as large a dose as I could get! That's what I found at Cordova. Top Fuel cars, old and new, Nitro Funny Cars, Fuel Altereds, Jets, everything but Nitro Harleys! And all at a fraction of the cost of attending your standard issue national event, regardless of sanction. They even had good food, none of it with a national ad campaign to spoil the taste.

And the atmosphere, what a relief! If you've ever tried to get into a drag race without paying (we call that a press pass around here), you would be money ahead trying to rob the local bank! The reception from the press pass mongers at the major players is at least as chilly. No such problems at Cordova. Maybe they actually believed we were there for a purpose. What a concept!

And it's always a whole lot easier to talk to the racers at an event like the World Series. With very few exceptions, most are more than willing to pause and exchange gossip, inquire about the family, or whatever. In fact, if you go to enough of these sorts of races, you actually can begin to see the other people involved in the sport as actual friends, not competitors, victims, partners in crime, or whatever. You might see these people, oh, once or twice a year, but it's always nice when you do see them.

And that, as much as anything, is what keeps me coming back to drag racing. It's nice to have the feeling of belonging to an extended family, which is what the drag racing community really is. You might only see some of the family occasionally, but they are still all out there. Maybe we all need to get out of the house more, and go to a few more match races! What a concept, huh?

Later!!

racer4339@aol.com

photo by Jeff Burk

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