Reason #27653 Why I Love Summer

It amuses me to no end when people who have certain preconceived notions about me discover that I am a NASCAR dad – it’s true, I am unapologetically a NASCAR dad, yesterday was definitely a NASCAR dad kind of day – and I got pictures to prove it.

The day started off with breakfast on the patio of the local bar and grill with my oldest son and a friend, then we loaded up the bikes and headed for Brockville for the hyrdoplane races – no pictures of that, it was fun but we weren’t in a good enough location for pictures.

Then we headed for the Brockville Speedway for the dirt track races.

Permit me to indulge in a bit of walk down memory lane before I get to the pictures…..

One of the earliest memories I have of a day out with my dad is going to a little dirt track out in the country, I have no idea how old I was at the time but going to the track in Plymouth that day and watching the stock cars has stayed with me ever since.

I can still sit here in my living room and see the track as clear as day, I can still hear the sound of the engines, and I can still smell the gas, the oil, the exhaust, and the rubber – heck I even recall some big ‘ole white car leaving the track in turn 2 and ending up way off in the trees

Someday I should ask my dad if he remembers that day as clearly as I do…. and if he remembers how old I was – to this day I don’t know why that day means as much to me as it does, maybe he knows the answer to that question as well

I also remember taking my kids to their first race when they were little, and I remember the look on their faces as they heard the engines, smelled the gas, and the oil, and the exhaust, and the burning rubber, and watched the cars race around the track.

And I remember how excited they were when I quietly slipped away from our seats and went to the announcers booth and told him that there were some kids from the Arctic at the track seeing their very first race…. and he welcomed them by name over the track PA system.

- and I wonder if someday they will take their kids to the track and remember the first time I took them to the races the same way I remember the day my dad took me.

But enough of the sappy stuff….. first came the stock cars

As much as I love all forms of racing the stock cars have a special place in my NASCAR dad heart, stock cars on a dirt track even more so…

How can you look at this and not smile?

Then out came the vintage modified class

Some of the coolest looking cars on the track

– and they were followed by the big block sportsman class

These guys wasted no time at all getting around the track.

Flat out into the turns, foot on the gas, and throwing the rear end out into the wind

What better way to spend a bright sunny Saturday than riding your motorcycle, watching hydroplane racing, and washing down soggy hot dogs and overly salty french fries with a cold beer while sitting on a hard wooden bench at the dirt track.