I went to I-55 Raceway two Saturday nights ago(5/14/16) and I had a fantastic time! Ever since I was 16, which was 10 years ago, I am only able to attend a couple nights a year. My daughter last year was FINALLY the age that I could take her and she had a great time. With many other obligations with the kids and parenting it is difficult to attend weekly.
When I was a kid though the racing was in my blood! For 10 years when I was a kid, from 6-16, I craved going to the races! A portion of my life consisted of Friday nights at Belleville, Saturday nights at Pevely, and Sunday nights at St. Charles! I lived for the racing world as did all of my childhood racing friends! All we ever dreamed about and talked about was racing one day! If you were a kid at the same time as I was you envied Justin Allgaier. To be 14-15 years old racing a latemodel like that. You would have did anything to be in his shoes!
I just wanted to share my experience from that Saturday night and what hit me and made me very sad. When me and my buddy got to the races we got our pit passes and headed into the infield right after hot laps. To have the clumps of dirt in my hair and the racing fumes in my nose again is a comforting feeling to me. When I was a kid I used to go home covered head to toe in dirt. I loved it! We used to have so much fun! Football behind the bathrooms on the front stretch, running around like we owned the place. There were so many kids there! As soon as the races were over we lined up to go in the pits and run free. We couldn't wait. Even after the races were over we knew we had a few more hours of fun down in the pits! Roam the track looking for parts buried in the dirt, get autographs, even though you had already got Ed Dixon and Scott Weber's autograph 100 times before on the 50 flags that you collected over the years. Parents socialized and drank and the kids ran free. It was the life!
I was disappointed the other night. The racing was fantastic! Great track all night. I was surprised at the car count of the Sportsman and even surprised about the pro 4s(or whatever they are called now). I understand the low car count though. Coming from a family that struggled to keep the car on the track financially every week when I was a kid, I understand. The disappointment though wasn't in regards to the racing but rather just in the little things that I looked forward to all week long when I was a kid wasn't existent. What happened to JR Fan Club? You have to bare with me, like I said I have been out of the racing world for some time. JR Fan Club was amazing! As soon as you got to the track you ran over to Angie and JoAnn to get your name entered!
After the races were over I tried to show my buddy what we would do when I was a kid. We walked around the track a couple times. Some idiot in a red dually gets on the track and starts getting on the gas flying around the track. Little kids were scattered about and this guy is flying past. Quickly some staff stopped him. I was SHOCKED to see that only a handful of people were waiting to go down in the pits. After we walked around for about 20 minutes we headed out back to go look at some cars. To my surprise the pits in the back were cleared! My jaw dropped! I was blown away! The drivers used to have the cars out for at least an hour hanging out signing autographs! That was the biggest disappointment!
Then I had got to thinking in general just about other things that have changed. What happened to the random Wednesday night races that Pevely used to have a couple nights a year? We loved those! What happened to Night of Stars with all the NASCAR drivers? What happened to the 2 seated Sprint Car Schrader used to raffle off rides in? What happened to all the kids that used to be running around all over the place? I remember the flag boys next to the flag stand! I saw so many familiar faces and it was great! I really had a great time and saw some great racing but what happened to the next generation of kids?
When I was a kid STLracing forums were so crowded with discussions that you would post something one night and it would be pushed to the second page by the next night. Now all I see is the administrator posting results and points for each track and 0 replies to everything.
I still dream of the day that I will race! This year some friends and I will be doing the Kenny Wallace Racing Experience! I can't wait! Who wants to rally to get the families back at the races!? I-55 hire me to promote! My passion is contagious!! I know the regulars that have been going for 20+ years and have never lost that routine! I never lost the passion but had no time with working Saturday nights.
When I was a kid though the racing was in my blood! For 10 years when I was a kid, from 6-16, I craved going to the races! A portion of my life consisted of Friday nights at Belleville, Saturday nights at Pevely, and Sunday nights at St. Charles! I lived for the racing world as did all of my childhood racing friends! All we ever dreamed about and talked about was racing one day! If you were a kid at the same time as I was you envied Justin Allgaier. To be 14-15 years old racing a latemodel like that. You would have did anything to be in his shoes!
I just wanted to share my experience from that Saturday night and what hit me and made me very sad. When me and my buddy got to the races we got our pit passes and headed into the infield right after hot laps. To have the clumps of dirt in my hair and the racing fumes in my nose again is a comforting feeling to me. When I was a kid I used to go home covered head to toe in dirt. I loved it! We used to have so much fun! Football behind the bathrooms on the front stretch, running around like we owned the place. There were so many kids there! As soon as the races were over we lined up to go in the pits and run free. We couldn't wait. Even after the races were over we knew we had a few more hours of fun down in the pits! Roam the track looking for parts buried in the dirt, get autographs, even though you had already got Ed Dixon and Scott Weber's autograph 100 times before on the 50 flags that you collected over the years. Parents socialized and drank and the kids ran free. It was the life!
I was disappointed the other night. The racing was fantastic! Great track all night. I was surprised at the car count of the Sportsman and even surprised about the pro 4s(or whatever they are called now). I understand the low car count though. Coming from a family that struggled to keep the car on the track financially every week when I was a kid, I understand. The disappointment though wasn't in regards to the racing but rather just in the little things that I looked forward to all week long when I was a kid wasn't existent. What happened to JR Fan Club? You have to bare with me, like I said I have been out of the racing world for some time. JR Fan Club was amazing! As soon as you got to the track you ran over to Angie and JoAnn to get your name entered!
After the races were over I tried to show my buddy what we would do when I was a kid. We walked around the track a couple times. Some idiot in a red dually gets on the track and starts getting on the gas flying around the track. Little kids were scattered about and this guy is flying past. Quickly some staff stopped him. I was SHOCKED to see that only a handful of people were waiting to go down in the pits. After we walked around for about 20 minutes we headed out back to go look at some cars. To my surprise the pits in the back were cleared! My jaw dropped! I was blown away! The drivers used to have the cars out for at least an hour hanging out signing autographs! That was the biggest disappointment!
Then I had got to thinking in general just about other things that have changed. What happened to the random Wednesday night races that Pevely used to have a couple nights a year? We loved those! What happened to Night of Stars with all the NASCAR drivers? What happened to the 2 seated Sprint Car Schrader used to raffle off rides in? What happened to all the kids that used to be running around all over the place? I remember the flag boys next to the flag stand! I saw so many familiar faces and it was great! I really had a great time and saw some great racing but what happened to the next generation of kids?
When I was a kid STLracing forums were so crowded with discussions that you would post something one night and it would be pushed to the second page by the next night. Now all I see is the administrator posting results and points for each track and 0 replies to everything.
I still dream of the day that I will race! This year some friends and I will be doing the Kenny Wallace Racing Experience! I can't wait! Who wants to rally to get the families back at the races!? I-55 hire me to promote! My passion is contagious!! I know the regulars that have been going for 20+ years and have never lost that routine! I never lost the passion but had no time with working Saturday nights.