-Speed is cool. But you already knew that. Me too. Still, it never hurts to repeat: Speed is cool. Speed makes a car lift off the ground when it’s taking off from the starting line like a bat out of hell. Now this lifting off the ground may actually slow the car down slightly as a second or two in the air detracts from time with wheels on the ground, racing down the strip. But let’s face facts, that lifting of the front end off the ground, like a jet taking off from the runway, just looks, uhmm, you know...cool.
Bat Out of Hell: Our friend, C.J. Williams in his Ford Cobra Mustang. C.J. was smokin' Saturday and beat all challengers in his class. Congratulations, C.J. !-A dog is a race car driver’s best friend. There were a number of people with dogs at the track, dogs being walked, dogs sitting on the laps of spectators, dogs being held in their owners arms, dogs guarding their masters race cars and equipment. Well, rather than guarding, the dogs may actually have been waiting for belly rubs. Whatever. A dog can be watchful of property and still get his belly rubbed, can’t he? The dogs did not seem perturbed in the slightest by the noise of the cars, or all the commotion. Which is probably why there were there.
You didn’t see any cats at the races. A cat on a leash probably just wouldn’t work at all, at least I don't think it would. It would be kind of fun to observe a napping cat startled by the initial rumble of a race car starting; that would be a sight to see. But really, a cat at the track? Never gonna happen. A cat, unlike a dog, would simply never express enough interest in what his human was doing to warrant a trip to the track. A driver inquiring of his feline, “Muffin, would you like to go watch me race today, would you sweetie, hmmm?” would be met with an indifferent turning away of the cat’s head. A dog however, would be in the car, waiting to go with his head stuck out the car window by the time his human finished the question. The desire to be sociable is what makes dogs more lovable than cats.
Gone to the dogs: A race car driver's best friend. Dogs are also good friends with balding race spectators.-Don’t forget the sunblock. Just because it’s mid-October and the temperature is around 60 degrees doesn’t mean you can forgo the Coppertone. If it’s a clear, sunny day and you spend that entire day outside without an SPF 45 or better sunblock, you will become a crispy critter by the end of the day.
-Byron, Illinois is home to not only the Byron Dragway, but the Turkey Testicle Festival as well. Just thought you should know.
-Depending on how fragile your hearing is, or how long you wish to remain amongst the hearing, you may want to consider ear plugs when you go the race track. Those of us in my age range (I’m 44) grew up with that loud rock ‘n roll blasted over stereos at home and in the car, we had Walkmans that put the music directly into our ears, as does the iPod and other devices we have now. So our aural senses have taken a lot of abuse over the course of our lifetimes. From the Baby Boomers to Generation X and beyond, we will all morph into one generation. We will all be Generation Deaf. So protect your hearing, because auto racing is loud. Race cars rumble and thunder and roar, all at maximum decibel levels. A day at the races sounds like a Motorhead concert, except that this concert goes on continually, lasting all day, whereas a Motorhead concert just feels like it lasts all day.
-Below are two videos of C.J. in his black Ford, shot on our little digital cameras. Not great video, but they do give one a sense of the sights and sounds of the racetrack.
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