Hello, It’s Me

Surprised I blogged today. No more surprised than me. It is two surprises for me-I also went to the Fremont ‘Y’ and worked out for the first time in months. The blog is certainly a mental lift and the bike, treadmill, and weight lifting routines let loose at least a few endorphins. Now the trick is to start doing both regularly.

I have been focusing far more on things other than racing in 2017. I have become vocal politically because I see what is happening leaving an America far from what America was as I was growing up and far from what I would hope it will be for my children and my grandson.

I have been enjoying baseball more than ever, especially Nebraska baseball. A trip to Haymarket Park is better than a trip to a psychologist for me-at least I think it is as I have never been to a psychologist. I love the kind of baseball Coach Darin Erstad has the Huskers play. I have enjoyed watching, even when the Huskers lost two games to Iowa. And several games have been very special for me. Two weeks ago Henry got to run on the field with one of the NU starters for the National Anthem. Doing so he got to high five all the non-starters. And yes, he was thrilled. Last week was even better as he was “guest coach” for the Saturday game against Iowa. He got to walk out with Coach Erstad and give line-up cards to the home plate umpire and Iowa coach. Not bad for a 5 year old before 7,200 people. If you are a Facebook friend you can see photos and videos on my page or Steph’s page.

I haven’t been to any live racing shows yet this year, and probably won’t see one until the Lucas Oil late models are at I-80 Speedway on the Tuesday before they head to Wheatland, Missouri for the Show-Me 100. I have been watching on my computer though, mainly on Lucas Oil Racing TV and Speed Shift TV.

Yes, I have been watching. Last night I even watched sprint cars racing at Park Jefferson Speedway in South Dakota. Those of you who know me know that I am not big on sprint cars, and that I truly do not like Park Jefferson. So, make it three surprises for the weekend-the two I already mentioned, and watching last night.

Driving to Lincoln last weekend, Matt and I listened to Kevin Harvick on one of the NASCAR radio stations. Harvick stated that other than the Daytona 500, the 600 mile race in Charlotte, and the Southern 500 at Darlington, all races should be shortened. I agreed with Harvick, while Matt thought the night race at Bristol should still be 500 laps too.

300 miles at New Hampshire drives me insane. 250 miles would be better, 200 miles better yet. 300 miles at Dover is beyond plenty. Same with Pocono. All the 400 mile races at the cookie cutter 1 ½ mile facilities could be cut back to 300 miles.

Would this pull NASCAR out of a seeming slow death spiraling downhill year after year? It would fit in with the attention span of younger generations. Coupled with the new segment format it would mean less riding around the track. I think it would be a good thing, but I don’t see it happening. How many commercials would be lost with shortening races? And that unfortunately is the bottom line.

I mentioned before enjoying baseball more than ever. Part of it is the play of the Huskers. Part of it-a big part-is simply enjoying time spent with my son. When the starting time for the game is listed at 6:05 p.m., that is when the game starts, not 6:25 p.m., not 6:30 p.m., not 7:00 p.m. There are no B-Mods in baseball wasting everyone’s time. And there are no ridiculously long intermissions at baseball games either. No “short intermissions,” no “brief intermissions” that last a half hour or longer. There is a 90 second break between each half inning of a game. If I go for concessions I can still watch the game from the Haymarket Park concourse. And if I need a restroom break, I can still listen to the radio broadcast of the game. Those things don’t happen at the track.

The Lucas Oil show at I-80 Speedway will be my first live show this year.  The SLMR show at US 30 Speedway in Columbus is on our list. I plan on attending the final two nights of the Silver Dollar Nationals at I-80 as well. The following week I am hoping Matt and I will be heading to Fairbury, Illinois for the Prairie Dirt Classic, but that is iffy right now. We do plan to attend the first two nights of the Knoxville Late Model Nationals in September. I have no doubt that Matt will try to rope me into a race at Park Jefferson or Adams County Speedway, more likely both. I wouldn’t mind if he didn’t though. And we are giving some thought to the Friday NASCAR show in Kansas City in October. Other than that-well, lots of events shown on the computer.

Thanks for stopping by.