Sportswriting at the speed of NASCAR
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Bumper to bumper traffic, cars passing one another, squealing tires, voices over a radio, hours of basically staying in the same area, slowing down in the name of a flashing yellow light and flaring tempers, with the occasional yelling or possible wave of good faith.
The scene being described here isn’t that of a typical day of traffic in the city of Hillsboro (Really though, how in the heck did traffic ever become this congested in a small city like we have here?).
What I am speakin’ about is one of my favorite sporting events: The Daytona 500! Or if you live in Georgia or somewhere down in Dixie (or talk how I speak sometimes): The Daaaaytona Fiiiive Huuundred!
This event is described by loyal NASCAR fans (such as myself) as the Great American Race or by people who don’t like or understand the sport (or see the appeal) as “The Redneck Super Bowl.” Either way, no race is better than 500 miles at Daytona on a cool February day.
Heck, I am wearing an old shirt of Dale Earnhardt Jr. from 2005 when he was a spokesman of a beer that calls itself the “King of Beers” as I type this column. In NASCAR circles, there is only one king, and that is Richard Petty, winner of seven Daytona 500s, not to mention seven NASCAR Cup points titles.
Since the shirt I am wearing was printed (’05), the junior Earnhardt traded in his adult beverage for one full of energy and went from a single eight to double vision with the No. 88, and no, the double vision wasn’t caused by too many Bud-weis-ers.
The energy drink hasn’t “Amped” his on-track performance. He started with a bang by winning his first non-points race with his Hendrick race team a couple years ago to crashing (too much sugar in those drinks) with a 25th place points performance last season. (Maybe his car should have been sponsored by 5 Hour Energy, as their saying is no crashes... which is good for you if you’re driving a car).
Back to the actual event. I had the opportunity to attend the 50th running of the 500 in 2008, where “Rocketman” Ryan Newman smoked past two-time champion and then-Joe Gibbs Racing driver Tony Stewart for the win of the final lap. Since that time, Stewart left the former coach of the Washington Redskins organization to start his own team and hired the man who took the coveted 500 win away from him.
(Confused yet? It is OK if you are, I am on the verge of pulling into the pits.)
OK, what I love about Daytona is the history of the track. The first Daytona 500 was in 1949 with Lee Petty winning in a photo finish that took three days to decide the winner. In 1979 there was a fight in the infield, which just happened to be the first full NASCAR race on national TV.
My all-time favorite race car driver, Dale Earnhardt, lost his life there on the final lap in 2001.
Even though the elder Earnhardt lost his life in turn three on the final lap, while driving the black No. 3 car, that place is still special for all race fans.
Three years before his death, Earnhardt gained his coveted 500 win after 20 years of losing the race every possible way imaginable, celebrating by standing on top of his car with his arms held in the air.
Even though the 2.5 mile oval can bring on mixed emotions, when I was there I saw one of the funniest sights I have ever seen.
The race was over, and well, this “husky” fella who could have possibly drank a few too many beers was dancing in the middle of the aisle professing his dislike of 4-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon in song and dance.
Did I mention the man was shirtless while wearing a hat in the shape of a mug of beer? Just thought I’d give all the details to enhance the full view of what was witnessed.
Speaking of things being out of tune while making loud noises, kinda like my car when it takes me 20 minutes to get from the road by the Southern State Community College campus to the office of The Highland County Press when the Hillsboro traffic is at its worst (OK, you got me, sometimes, or in my case, every time before 10 p.m., traffic in this area is a son of a bee sting), there is a song called “I Love NASCAR” by Cledus T. Judd (a parody of Toby Keith’s “I Love this Bar”). And, well, he is loud and out of tune, but the man makes some very good points in his music.
No. 1: You can’t hear a dang thing once the flag drops; No. 2: The mention of his like for football and wrasslin’; and No. 3: Mark Martin drives hard. (He did win five races and finish in second place last season). Did I mention Martin drove a car with products made by Pfizer when the song was recorded?
Racing has a few sayings that can get someone ready for the upcoming season as well.
Some of the better ones include: “Rubbin’ in racin’,” “I just wanted to rattle his cage,” and “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” The best saying that involves racing comes from the legendary Ricky Bobby and his teammate, Cal Naunton Jr., which was: “Shake and Bake!”
But it comes back to the “I Love NASCAR” song, with the chorus sung by Toby Keith, that explains how I feel about this great sport: “I love NASCAR, it’s my kind of race. Just to see Big E back on the track would put a smile on every face. No one drove a car quite like Earnhardt. Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, I love NASCAR.”
Though, in the true racing fashion, I want to thank my people in post-race form: “Well, I couldn’t have done this without my proofreaders, and the boys and girls back at the office and print plant.
“Without their framework and talents, this wouldn’t be possible. We were just good today, all 16 pages. From start to finish, we just were at the top of our game.
“And (of course) I’d also like to thank a few of our sponsors: Southern State Community College, Wilmington College, all of the area Realtors, the Shoe Station, Magee’s for their awesome Turkey Club sandwich, ... there are just too many to list. I’d also like to thank our readers for all their support.”
So, as three-time NASCAR Cup champion Darrell Waltrip will say before the green flag is waved on Sunday: “Boogity, Boogity, Boogity. Let’s go racin’ boys!”
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor for The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
The scene being described here isn’t that of a typical day of traffic in the city of Hillsboro (Really though, how in the heck did traffic ever become this congested in a small city like we have here?).
What I am speakin’ about is one of my favorite sporting events: The Daytona 500! Or if you live in Georgia or somewhere down in Dixie (or talk how I speak sometimes): The Daaaaytona Fiiiive Huuundred!
This event is described by loyal NASCAR fans (such as myself) as the Great American Race or by people who don’t like or understand the sport (or see the appeal) as “The Redneck Super Bowl.” Either way, no race is better than 500 miles at Daytona on a cool February day.
Heck, I am wearing an old shirt of Dale Earnhardt Jr. from 2005 when he was a spokesman of a beer that calls itself the “King of Beers” as I type this column. In NASCAR circles, there is only one king, and that is Richard Petty, winner of seven Daytona 500s, not to mention seven NASCAR Cup points titles.
Since the shirt I am wearing was printed (’05), the junior Earnhardt traded in his adult beverage for one full of energy and went from a single eight to double vision with the No. 88, and no, the double vision wasn’t caused by too many Bud-weis-ers.
The energy drink hasn’t “Amped” his on-track performance. He started with a bang by winning his first non-points race with his Hendrick race team a couple years ago to crashing (too much sugar in those drinks) with a 25th place points performance last season. (Maybe his car should have been sponsored by 5 Hour Energy, as their saying is no crashes... which is good for you if you’re driving a car).
Back to the actual event. I had the opportunity to attend the 50th running of the 500 in 2008, where “Rocketman” Ryan Newman smoked past two-time champion and then-Joe Gibbs Racing driver Tony Stewart for the win of the final lap. Since that time, Stewart left the former coach of the Washington Redskins organization to start his own team and hired the man who took the coveted 500 win away from him.
(Confused yet? It is OK if you are, I am on the verge of pulling into the pits.)
OK, what I love about Daytona is the history of the track. The first Daytona 500 was in 1949 with Lee Petty winning in a photo finish that took three days to decide the winner. In 1979 there was a fight in the infield, which just happened to be the first full NASCAR race on national TV.
My all-time favorite race car driver, Dale Earnhardt, lost his life there on the final lap in 2001.
Even though the elder Earnhardt lost his life in turn three on the final lap, while driving the black No. 3 car, that place is still special for all race fans.
Three years before his death, Earnhardt gained his coveted 500 win after 20 years of losing the race every possible way imaginable, celebrating by standing on top of his car with his arms held in the air.
Even though the 2.5 mile oval can bring on mixed emotions, when I was there I saw one of the funniest sights I have ever seen.
The race was over, and well, this “husky” fella who could have possibly drank a few too many beers was dancing in the middle of the aisle professing his dislike of 4-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon in song and dance.
Did I mention the man was shirtless while wearing a hat in the shape of a mug of beer? Just thought I’d give all the details to enhance the full view of what was witnessed.
Speaking of things being out of tune while making loud noises, kinda like my car when it takes me 20 minutes to get from the road by the Southern State Community College campus to the office of The Highland County Press when the Hillsboro traffic is at its worst (OK, you got me, sometimes, or in my case, every time before 10 p.m., traffic in this area is a son of a bee sting), there is a song called “I Love NASCAR” by Cledus T. Judd (a parody of Toby Keith’s “I Love this Bar”). And, well, he is loud and out of tune, but the man makes some very good points in his music.
No. 1: You can’t hear a dang thing once the flag drops; No. 2: The mention of his like for football and wrasslin’; and No. 3: Mark Martin drives hard. (He did win five races and finish in second place last season). Did I mention Martin drove a car with products made by Pfizer when the song was recorded?
Racing has a few sayings that can get someone ready for the upcoming season as well.
Some of the better ones include: “Rubbin’ in racin’,” “I just wanted to rattle his cage,” and “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” The best saying that involves racing comes from the legendary Ricky Bobby and his teammate, Cal Naunton Jr., which was: “Shake and Bake!”
But it comes back to the “I Love NASCAR” song, with the chorus sung by Toby Keith, that explains how I feel about this great sport: “I love NASCAR, it’s my kind of race. Just to see Big E back on the track would put a smile on every face. No one drove a car quite like Earnhardt. Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, I love NASCAR.”
Though, in the true racing fashion, I want to thank my people in post-race form: “Well, I couldn’t have done this without my proofreaders, and the boys and girls back at the office and print plant.
“Without their framework and talents, this wouldn’t be possible. We were just good today, all 16 pages. From start to finish, we just were at the top of our game.
“And (of course) I’d also like to thank a few of our sponsors: Southern State Community College, Wilmington College, all of the area Realtors, the Shoe Station, Magee’s for their awesome Turkey Club sandwich, ... there are just too many to list. I’d also like to thank our readers for all their support.”
So, as three-time NASCAR Cup champion Darrell Waltrip will say before the green flag is waved on Sunday: “Boogity, Boogity, Boogity. Let’s go racin’ boys!”
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor for The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]