I am Indy

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my son, my dad, my brother-in-law, and I had a fantastic time attending the Firestone Indy 200 at the Nashville Superspeedway last month. Even with the rain, it was a hell of a lot of fun, and we were all looking forward to doing it again.

So, of course, Nashville was dropped from the circuit for 2009. The suits at the track and the suits at the IRL couldn’t come to terms. It’s a damned shame, too, because it’s an excellent facility, and it’s not quite two hours from the house.

So it looks like we’re headed to Kentucky Superspeedway next year. Unfortunately, that’s practically Ohio from here (not particularly close). I bitched to Dad about it, and he had the brilliant idea of going to the race, spending the night in Louisville, and going to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green on the way home. Sold. It will be my fourth or fifth trip there, and I always have a marvelous time.

I’ll make a blatant pitch here. If you like real racing, you need to be following the Indy Racing League.

Ladies and gentlemen, I was right there when NASCAR races were still “Grand National” or “Winston Cup,” and my dad renewed my subscription to the Southern MotoRacing newspaper ever year for my birthday. I grew up 25 miles from the biggest speedway in the world. I followed closely in the late ’70s and early ’80s, when the giants were Bobby Allison, Neil Bonnett, Buddy Baker, Bill Elliott, Benny Parsons, Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, and Cale Yarborough. I was there for the tail end of David “Silver Fox” Pearson’s run through the record books. I was there when the scrappy newcomers with lots of promise were Terry Labonte, Ricky Rudd, and a quiet, mustachioed man from North Carolina named Dale Earnhardt.

I felt Bill Elliott’s exhaust on my face when he came from more than a lap down to win the Talladega race that led to the restrictor plate rules.

I’m telling you, folks, if you remember how it used to be—if you remember when the wheel-to-wheel race was the thing, and not these ridiculous, choreographed spectacles that pass for “stock car races” these days—then you need to be following the Indy Racing League. The competition is fierce and genuine.

Your next chance is the very race we’re going to see next year: the Meijer Indy 300. It’s at 6:30 EDT this Saturday on ESPN2. Watch it with us.

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