The Dirt Racing Sellout - By: Jody Shannon

Posted Jody Shannon on March 31st, 2008 | Filed under Articles, Jody Shannon

I am Jody Shannon and I have sold out the dirt racing community again.

With every dirt race in the area rained out or in some cases overpriced, I decided to venture out to Anderson Speedway and see how the other side lives. Yes, I was heading to a pavement short track race and I am willing to freely admit I was pleasantly surprised. In actuality, as I sat in the crowd of pavement lovers, I began to think about the differences between “us” and “them” and some of the stereotypes that seem to follow the “Hollywood, movie star chasing, star gazing Nascar car fan that so many non-dirt fans are generalized as.

The first thing I noticed was the crowd does not care about practice nor qualifying. I sat there at 5:30pm and thought to myself that there was no way they would be able to pay the purse. I counted the stands as practice took place, a total of seventy-three people on the grounds. Qualifying was much the same, no one in the stands. They then took a break to clean the track off and said that racing would kick off around 7pm. About fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled start I looked towards the gate and noticed it was lined all the way to the parking lot. I would speculate a thousand fans entered the track from 6pm to 7pm.

Looking at the crowd that came in I noticed something I do not see often at the local dirt tracks, a very young teen aged based crowd. I was really surprised to see the crowd was filled with, and it out numbered everyone else with a 16-25 year old crowd. The beer garden was filled with hot young chicks who gave up a night of clubbing to freeze their ass off at the race track and have a few drinks. I have no reasonable explanation for this phenomenon, but wish I did so I could implement it at other tracks across the nation.

Speaking of the crowd, they were very receptive to all the action. They clapped for all the winners. Booed the guys who wrecked people and had their favorites. It was refreshing to be at a race and not have a predetermined idea of a racer. Thanks to 4m and many of the ball-less and faceless bashers, you have heard nothing but bad about every driver in the country by the time you see him for the first time. The experts have done informed you that they are cheaters and/or a dirty driver. It was nice to sit back and enjoy everything for what it was.

The main attraction of the night was a $3,000 to win, 200 lap Enduro for Thunderstocks. Basically these cars are four door pure stocks and they turned 14 second laps on the 1/4 mile oval. These were not junk cars, but I am sure no Dirt Late Model elitist would give them the time of day. They are too ugly, cheap and should be used only as a support class. Well, thats what I hear on Late Model and Sprint Forums anyway. But none the less, $10 for a $3,000 to win show, regardless what class, is a very fair admission. Despite it being under forty degrees and headlined by a glorified Bomber race, the crowd of roughly fifteen hundred stayed till the final flag flew. In fact most of them was still there when I left, as a angry lynch mob was headed to the pits after a last lap tangle for the lead.

As for the racing action it was superb. Plenty of side by side action. Many death defying moments and a finish so good I cannot type it all. Basically, Johnny Magee leads one hundred or so laps with Bill Rose chasing him. The final fifty laps they run side by side in traffic with Magee just nipping him on the straights. On the final lap a frustrated Rose never turned as he went into turn four, spinning the leader and sending the fans into a frenzy. I bet almost none of the fans in attendance knew either of the participants, but they was outraged. To the fence they ran in a scene that rivaled Bill Frye and Scott Bloomquist 1997 Dream altercation. What transpired the next five minutes was purely amazing. Passionate race fans screaming obscenities. Grandmothers giving the finger. Small children pointing their thumbs to the ground. As Bill Rose tried to apologize and explain his side of the story over the PA the crowd was so loud it drowned him out. Not a word of the apology was heard, and fans would have refused it anyways. As Rose stood on the track red faced and clearly shell shocked I thought to myself Scott Bloomquist would have loved this reaction.

I left feeling full filled and kinda dirty because I enjoyed a pavement race so much. And I also thought to myself how could this run down pavement track outdraw many of my favorite dirt tracks with Thunderstocks as headliner. Why are they drawing a younger crowd than us?

Maybe it has something to do with giving respect to the “po boy” average racer. You know, the guy who works on your car, bags your grocery’s, unclogs your shitter. Maybe the crowd could relate with these guys? While the top end of pavement racing seems chaotic, with no true leader in the industry, and different “late model” groups emerging daily, the roots seem to be firmly in place.

Can we say the same for the roots of Dirt Racing?

I’d ask the Dirt Racing Community, but they are too busy arguing over real issues in our sport like Scott Bloomquist hair, what Jimmy Owen’s is wearing and who has the best graphics that are not copied from another artist.

After all the years of hearing about these starstruck NASCAR fans are the scourge of the earth, I am beginning to wonder if we as dirt fans are inadvertently turning into them? Looking at the sport from afar, as I did the other night, it seems we have became the stargazers and the ones who place image over substance.

Just something to think about,

Jody Shannon

The views reflected in this article are those of Jody Shannon, and Jody Shannon only. He does not care if you agree with him or if you are offended. Unless of course your name is Mariah Carey. In that case Mr. Shannon would like to invite you over for some champagne and barbiturates. All haters, lovers, illegitimate children and Elvis impersonators looking to reach me may do so at jodyshannondrf@yahoo.com