Sometimes I wonder if I was born in the wrong generation.  I love anything nostalgic – signs, cars, commercials.  When I retire, my dream is to drive from one end of Route 66 to the other.  Heck, the first Cars movie made me cry.  Growing up with a dad that loved racing, I was exposed to all types of racing.  These days, while drag racing will always be my first love, I have grown to love dirt racing – sprint cars and modifieds.  This weekend is the 31st annual King’s Royal race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg.

Now, you are probably thinking “Why is this girl going on about this race?”  It’s not the race so much – no, it is the commercial I heard this morning for the race.  One of the things I hate about today’s racing commercials, they are all sex and fast cars.  While that is great, I miss the old-school commercials.  You know, the “Sunday!  Sunday!  Sunday!  Be there!” commercials.

 

The commercials where the names – and nicknames – of the racers brought the crowds in.  Where just hearing them raised your blood pressure and heart beat and made you WANT to be there on Sunday.  Where deep down inside you believed if you weren’t there on Sunday, you were missing out on something great.

Today, on the way to work, there was a commercial for Eldora Speedway and the King’s Royal.  While, it was obviously made with high-tech gadgetry (no static or fuzz), it had that old-school feel that made me smile.  It made me WANT to go see Slammin’ Sammy Swindell, The King Steve Kinser, and the Steel City Outlaw Tim Shaffer.  I want to BE THERE to see who takes home the $50,000 purse and who gets crowned the “King” of Eldora Speedway.

You know, maybe that is what is wrong with racing today.  Sex sells.  We have to watch these women racers go on about how they want to be respected in a male-dominated sport, yet bare all for magazines and commercials.  (And, before you get all wound up – I am a woman racer!)  Maybe we need to get back to our roots and remember exactly what racing was… and should be today.  It’s not about sponsors or selling products.  It’s not about sexy women and bare skin.  No… it’s about spending the day at the track, the sun high in the sky, the smell of dirt and grease, the roar of engines, the clanging of tools on engines.  It is about the track dogs and nachos and other yummy goodness – the food that doesn’t taste quite the same if its not at the track.  But, above all, its about the time you spend with family and friends, laughing and watching America’s REAL pastime – racing.

So, kudos to you Eldora Speedway for bring back a little bit of nostalgia for this girl born too late to experience the real thing.  Thank you for bring a smile to my face, and goosebumps to my arms on a Friday morning.

You can bet your butt, I will BE THERE Saturday night to watch my favorite drivers take each on for the battle of the crown.  I will BE THERE with my Farmer Brown and soda.  I will BE THERE with a smile and dirt on my face.  I will BE THERE to see who wins the 31st Annual King’s Royal.

There is no other place I would rather be.

 

 

Note:  The King’s Royal is on Friday and Saturday at Eldora Speedway.  Not Sunday!  

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Tags: Everyday Life