How I'll Remember 2007
11/12/2007Some years, well, you wish they'd last forever.
Other years, well, you'd like to forget.
I write the following with all due respect to the race winners and series champions whose achievements this season have earned our applause and respect:
I'll remember 2007 for the passing of The Giants.
Bill France Jr.
Wally Parks.
Shav Glick.
There would not have been a NASCAR without Bill France Sr., who conceived the idea of organized stock car racing, and built mega-tracks like Daytona and Talladega to showcase his product. But there would not be a NASCAR as we enjoy it today without Bill Jr.
There are added burdens and higher expectations on any "Junior" of a famous father. (Just ask Dale Jr.) France Jr. certainly was no different. It's a historical fact that when Bill Sr. handed the NASCAR keys (in a photo-op) to his son on Jan. 10, 1972, people like Richard Petty and Junior Johnson publicly doubted he was up to the job. They could not have been more wrong if they got to turn one at Darlington and turned right.
Bill Jr. embraced his father's vision that, over the long haul, NASCAR could be as "mainstreet" popular as baseball, football or basketball. He once told me, to achieve that goal, "we work at it day-after-day, week-after-week, year-after-year." They did and they have.
Following Bill's death in June, the work continues.
It's not hype to say that Park pretty much invented a sport. While France Sr. pulled-together a loose bunch of tracks and tours, Parks saw the risks of street rodding, and the rewards of professional drag racing. Safety rules were standardized. The image of those who love going fast in a straight-line improved.
One word - Pomona - immediately brings to mind an arena for fast cars and brave men. And women.
Parks' NHRA became the home of some of the most colorful personalities in all of American sports: "Big Daddy" Don Garlits. Shirley "Cha-Cha" Muldowney. Don "The Snake" Prudhomme. Oh, and John Force.
"Wally created our playfield field," said six-time champion Kenny Bernstein. Parks died in September.
Starting in 1969, no one told racing's stories better than Glick. He enjoyed a 55-year journalism career at the Los Angeles Mirror and Los Angeles Times, and readers enjoyed going along for the ride. Shav reported from Riverside to Daytona, Indianapolis to Talladega, and countless short tracks, dirt ovals, drag strips, road courses and superspeedways in between.
He was a real "people person," and believed in telling the great tales of racing's fascinating characters, over technical details. He figured out a long time ago it was impossible to interview a car.
Glick was a positive influence on a couple of generations of motorsports' writers. That helped advance racing's visibility and popularity. Asked to describe Glick, Mario Andretti simply said, "Integrity." The truth: Glick, who died last month, was respected more than many of the drivers he covered.
So, for 2007, it's cheers to the champions.
And . . .
God Bless to The Giants who are gone.
[ I.N. Sider names the Man of the Year for 2007 in the season's finale column. Look for it December 3. ]
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(I.N. Sider is the pen name for an independent motorsports business-person who has a quarter-century of professional experience working in almost every major North American racing series. The writer is not an employee of Valvoline or Ashland Inc. The column is intended to inform, entertain, and stimulate thought on the contemporary motorsports scene. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Valvoline or Ashland Inc.)
BackAbout I.N. Sider
I.N. Sider is the pen name for an independent motorsports business-person who has a quarter-century of professional experience working in almost every major North American racing series. The writer is not an employee of Valvoline or Ashland Inc. The column is intended to inform, entertain, and stimulate thought on the contemporary motorsports scene. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Valvoline or Ashland Inc.