Camping at the Flat Track Races

We're hitting the road tomorrow, spending the weekend at the vintage dirt track races in Waco. The Vintage Dirt Track Racing Association (VDTRA) is a group of old guys, riding old bikes, living in the past and feeling young again. I'm an old motojournalist who feels right at home amongst them. :-) I submitted a race report from this event last year. This year, it will be a feature article in a major publication. I'm tickled pink.

My lovely bride, who has endured nearly 50 years with this old eccentric, will humor me by hanging out at a loud, dusty race track and caring for Oscar the dog (and me) just because ??? :-) She plays along with my excitement. It is great to have a partner who is so understanding ... and allows me to have expensive toys (camera equipment). ;-)

I'm hoping this opportunity will finance that new lens that I so dearly desire. It has already led to another article. In addition to the VDTRA feature, I will be putting a piece together on one of my race heroes, Terry Poovey (18).

When I was covering these races in the early 80's, I didn't realize what historic events I was witnessing. Harley-Davidson had dominated flat track racing since the 50's; Honda wanted their piece of the pie. They hired Mike Kidd, reigning Grand National Champion, and Terry Poovey to help develop a competitive mile and half mile flat track racer. Bubba Shobert (67) and Ricky Graham (3)were the beneficiaries, stringing together four consecutive Grand National Championships for Honda. There are many articles on the internet that document that success. I won't duplicate them. I'm just basking in the glow of times gone bye. I'm thrilled to realize how intimately close I was to this historic happening.

Terry Poovey was badly injured last year when he crashed hard at the Springfield Mile. He was in a coma for a long time and is still in rehab. Bubba Shobert, who retired from racing after being seriously injured in a crash, will play Master of Ceremonies at the VDTRA's Terry Poovey Day on June 9, in Sherman, TX. It is heart-warming to see how close these guys are after being such arch enemies on the track.

I've been browsing my photo archives, wallowing in nostalgia. What fun I did have, hanging with my heroes and taking some pretty decent pics in the process. I even made a few bucks. :-) Here is a picture of Hank Scott on a Honda. This picture ran for three consecutive years as an ad for the DuQuoin Mile. Black and White was the norm in those days. I shot a little color (Kodachrome 64) but that was mostly during practice. Most of the racing was at night, under the lights (not very bright lights).

I had a picture of Scott Parker published but it was a special deal and maybe my best flat track picture ever. Scott Parker was the Harley guy who kept the Honda hordes worried. He is the winningest rider in flat track history. This shot is from the Harrington Halfmile; a race that was won by Terry Poovey on a Harley. :-)

I look at these photos and say to myself, "Wow, I was taking those with a manual focus, manual exposure, manual everything camera. Why is it so hard to duplicate my results with auto-focus, auto-exposure, auto-everything on today's digital everything? Am I just old?" :-)

I'm looking forward to a good weekend of vintage racing, hanging with my honey, trying to keep my auto-focus lenses pointed in the right direction, and dreaming up a story line that will endear me to my editor. :-)

l8r