(NOTE:
I wrote this in 2008 for The
Racing Journal. TRJ, which covered short-track racing in
north-central North Carolina and south-central Virginia, ended after
four months because of the economy.)
CROWD
WOOFS IT UP DURING 'BIG DOG'
By
Tom Gillispie
TRJ
Editor
JULIAN
— Most Big Dog Shootout fans were winding down around 10:30 on
Thursday, May 1. The action was pretty much over, and cars were
streaming off the property.
But
Jack Napier was just revving up.
An
excited Napier was fluttering around Todd Tutterow's orange Willy's
race car. As he got photos of himself with Tutterow and hugged
various people, he exclaimed about the excitement on the track and
Tutterow in particular. Tutterow smiled and patiently stood for
pictures and listened to the jacked-up Napier.
Strangely,
the Los Angeles native said that when he flew to North Carolina to
see friend Shelanda Jones of Hillsboro, he had no idea that he would
visit Piedmont Dragway. In fact, he was afraid Jones meant that they
were going to have to actually race when she said they were going
racing.
He
said he'd been to drag races before, but he had no idea who Todd
Tutterow was. But he was making up for lost time.
"I've
never been this close and personal before," said Napier, who
often used "my good man" when addressing someone.
"He's
a very charming man, very personable man," he said of Tutterow.
"After I saw the way he did on track, my God! It was
acceleration and exhilaration!"
Other
fans were also excited, although in a little calmer manner. Many of
them had been here before.
"Sometimes
it's something to do on a Thursday night," said Mike Lee of
Greensboro. "I did this as a teenager, and I sort of got away
from it. I remember the gravel pits they had here."
Lee
was asked who his favorite driver was.
"Ronnie
Gardner," the 55-year-old Lee said. "We used to go to the
same church."
Antonio
Randolph of Mebane had come along with his dad, Ray.
"I've
been coming here since I was seven, and I'm 37," Randolph said,
adding that Ray Randolph drove a '61 Impala here years ago.
The
junior Randolph, unlike Napier, was a veteran Tutterow fan.
"I've
been following him for three or four years," Randolph said. "I'm
a Ford fan, and it made me feel good when I saw his Mustang. And I've
always loved blown motors.
"I
try to make Big Dog. I've gone to Farmington a few times, and races
at Rockingham and Dinwiddie, Va."
Kenny
Black of Halifax County, Va., has also been to Virginia Motorsports
Park in Dinwiddie, Va. So have buddies Moses Ruffin and Harold
Neverson of Petersburg, Va.
"If
we're not working, we're here," Ruffin said. "We love the
horsepower. Wherever there are fast cars, we're there. We love the
adrenaline."
Black
said that he rides with a friend to various tracks.
"I
like Big Dog best," he said. "I think the fans here love
Todd Tutterow. I believe he has more fans than anybody."
Black's
a Tutterow fan, too.
"I
want to see him get outrun sometimes," said Black. "I like
him, but I don't like to see him win all the time."
Black
got his wish Thursday, as Tutterow had to settle for winning the
consolation final.
"I
like to get away from home now and then," Black said, explaining
his visit to the racetrack. He said he has his wife's blessing about
going to the races. "She doesn't mind as long as I don't go all
the time," he said. "And as long as I don't spend too
much."
Joe
Jackson and Stump Mabe, both of Greensboro, came together Thursday
and have been to Piedmont Dragway many times. Jackson, 68, said he
raced there in the '50s.
Benny
Vickers, also of Greensboro, said he came to the first race at
Piedmont Dragway in 1957.
"They
had drag racing on dirt," the 60-year-old said. "I was 10
years old."
Vickers
said he attends two or three Big Dogs a year.
"I
want to go to them all, but I don't," he said. "Sometimes I
have to look after my grandson Jake or do something for the family."
Vickers,
who had been watching race videos on a TV screen, looked around and
added, "I love the fact that there's something like this around
here."
Several
fans said they love drag racing but can't stand circle-track racing.
Others like both. Vickers said he's been involved in NASCAR racing
himself.
"A
lot of circle-track people come here, too," Jackson added.
Short-track
or dirt fans would have been right at home in some ways -- a group of
fans had pickup trucks backed up to a fence and were sitting in the
beds.
The
stands were nearly standing-room-only, just as they were a month
earlier for Big Dog, and fans were crowding the walking and standing
areas as well. After a pass, men would reach out and bash fists, or
they'd clap each other on the back. Or they'd hurry over to talk
trash with a companion.
Occasionally,
someone would openly count his money after a transaction.
Some
fans took photos with cell phones. Women and children milled around
among the men; many fans carried coolers, and sometimes a child stood
on a cooler to get a better view.
Many
fans put their fingers in their ears when the cars passed by, and
most of the people wearing hearing protection were children.
And
track personnel walk around with microphones, talking to fans and
stoking the crowd's energy.
Derrick
Florence of Eden was leaning against a fence and quietly watching.
"I
don't come as much as I used to," he said. "I used to come
every week."
He
said that fans will talk trash with their friends and try to predict
who'll win.
Marvin
Lewis of Cary was looking over the cars. At 6-7, he towered over
them.
"I've
been coming to the races since I was a little boy," Lewis said.
"I don't miss a Big Dog event. I'm just a race fan. I have a
race car myself, a '66 Mustang Fastback. It's under construction, and
I'll run bracket races at Roxboro (Motorsports Dragway) or go to
Dunn-Benson (Dragstrip)."
The
Big Dog crowd is a far cry from a NASCAR crowd, since probably half
of the crowd is black. Some, like Lewis, Ruffin and Neverson, are
racers. Others, like Randolph, have fathers who raced. Others still,
like Napier and Black, got introduced to drag racing by a friend.
"They
(blacks) like it; they like the racing," Black said.
Ruffin
recalled his wife's puzzlement a few years ago when they went to
another dragway on a Friday.
"She
looked around and said, 'Mose, where are all the black people at?' "
he said with a laugh. "I said, 'On Saturday, they'll come, and
it'll be packed.' "
Like
Big Dog.
CONTACT: I can be reached at tgilli52@gmail.com or nc3022@yahoo.com. Also, my Twitter handle is EDITORatWORK.
More entries from TARJ
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)
EDITOR@WORK blog entries
Entries from The Dog Blog
More blog entries by Tom Gillispie
Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie
No comments:
Post a Comment