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November 22, 1999 -Jane Smith
COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS
Sometimes with all the bad things going on in our lives, we forget
the good. With Thanksgiving just a few short days away, time to
remember both good and bad and to count our many unending
blessings.
We all have setbacks in life. But when you belong to such a
great family as the "racing family", there are many friends and
loved ones to help us back up on that road of life. Life has
bumps but if it didn't, it would be too easy. We loose loved ones
and sometimes we ask "why". Only God has that answer but
when the most recent loss happen to the "racing family", a new
racer was born and maybe just maybe part of Wild Bill will be in
him also just like he is in Wild Bill's son.
It may not always seem like it, but we do have many blessings
and Thursday when you are with your family or friends and enjoying
turkey or ham or tacos, remember your blessings. Remember all
the good deeds done for you and the deeds you have returned.
Remember how much you are loved and how grateful you are for
this love and remember that even if l999 was the worse year in
your life, that next year will be better.
Our "racing family" may not know each other by name or face but
that is unimportant. We understand each other and when one is hurt
or in trouble, we all feel that pain. We have a way of taking care of
each other unlike other sport families and that and that alone is a
blessing.
May Thanksgiving be a day of love, family, friends, good food (but not too
much), Christmas videos, football games and all the blessings that
each of us possess. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO MY RACING FAMILY -
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND LOVE THROUGHOUT
THE YEAR.
-Jane
November 15, 1999 -Jane Smith
‘Wild Bill’
I do not know Wild Bill. I never met him, never saw him race, never
saw him play pool with his son but I did not have to to care about
him. You see we are one family, all of racing is family, and when
we lose one of our family members while racing, it does hurt.
Racing is and always will be dangerous. Drivers, their families,
fans, pit crew members, track owners all know this. All it takes
is one good hit and you can be crippled for life or dead. But still,
racers race. No one thinks that this can happen to you but no one
really knows, you just kindof believe that the odds are in your favor
that nothing bad will happen since cars and tracks have improved
their safety standards. And then you see something like this, just
a racing incident and you remember how dangerous this sport can
be.
Bill's life was cut short just like John Nemechek. But if you could
ask Bill or John, "would you have changed anything?" probably the
answer would have been "no". For John, racing was his life but for
Bill, racing was his passion. But both had the same love inside of
them and perhaps someday, Bill's son will also race.
I am sure that heaven must have a racetrack and that Bill is up
there now racing his heart out with some of our best. His family
and friends will miss him for many moons to come but all the
wonderful memories of "Wild Bill" will help to ease the pain. May
God bless you and give you strength and watch over you as Bill
would until you meet again.
-Jane
November 6, 1999 -Jane Smith
THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN
It is hard to believe that this is already November and soon, Turkey
Day will be upon us and then the ever dreaded but much loved
Christmas. It is time for family and friends to share all their fortunes
and good and bad times of the year and celebrate. Racers and
local tracks will have their banquets with food, spirits trophys and
alot of stories among each other. And plans for 2000 will slowly come
out among the talk.
We each have our blessings and are thankful for different things in
our lives. Everyone with families are thankful for their love and everyone
that
races are thankful for all the late night help and cheering on they
have received throughout the year. Racing is not a one man sport,
it takes relatives, friends, neighbors and sometimes complete strangers
to run that local track week after week. It takes working your butt
off to take care of that wonderful family and have enough to take care
of that car and yourself in that car. But racers and their families that
race as a racing family know the sacrifices and the joy that this great
sport has to offer. One weekend you may be wrecked out and the next
in Victory Circle.
Christmas time is a good time for a racer. It is the time when his
"Wish List" becomes of interest to family and friends. It may be as
simple as new rims or new gloves or shoes and maybe a Simpson
helmet or new fireproof driving suit. Or he may have more of a car
"Wish List" with rear-ends and carbs and heavy duty oil pumps on
the list. It is never hard to find that man in your life or woman the
perfect gift at Christmas because a racer always has a "Wish List"
all year.
Tracks that have off-seasons will take this time to revamp and renew
tracks and stands. And even the ones that keep on racing, they
strive to make things better for the next year. Tracks need cars and
fans to stay open and cars and fans need good tracks to run on. It
is a hand in hand process that makes it all work for the owners and
the fans and the racers.
Many series will conclude this month and the Snowball Derby in December at
Five Flags will be the whipped cream on the 1999 Racing season.
Not only will you see local drivers and state drivers but some NASCAR
drivers as well. SpeedWeeks and the Snowball Derby is where you
get to see a little of all the racing world and realize that no matter where
and what you race - Winston Cup, a local series, or just a local track,
we are all the same just some may have better sponsors than others
but the heart within all of us in racing is the heart of a racer.
The countdown has begun and "Wish List" are becoming very important
and may all your dreams come true in 2000.
-Jane
Novemeber 5, 1999 -Jane Smith
For many years I have watched Wayne Anderson. I followed him from the
days he raced at New Smyrna Speedway to the winter series he raced in
Arizona to the Craftsman Truck series and back to Slim-Jim All Pro. But
it was not until SpeedWeeks l999 that I actually was around him.
There are always stories on every driver - they are friendly or not friendly.
They will talk to you or won't. My daughter went with me every night of
SpeedWeeks because I drove so far to get to the track and both she and
I studied the drivers and watched them. Some were very nice and others
didn't want to be bothered but Wayne Anderson was different. Not only
did this man smile all the time but he always spoke if to say nothing more
than "hello". After the 9 nights, Wayne Anderson got our vote for the nicest
driver at the track and to this day, I still see that.
I was at Lakeland when Wayne won his first Slim-Jim race this year. The
speech he made still brings tears to my eyes and shows that he truly has
a good heart. After losing his truck ride and having a rough time, he thought
or felt like he had lost it. But Frankie and his wife stood by him and gave
him
the encouragement he needed. But what Wayne did not realize was that he
had many fans no matter what he did. The fans loved him, not his truck, not
his name, but him.
Wayne Anderson you have alot of fans behind you and you have a great wife
and son and don't ever think that you are alone or forgotten. You worked hard
and we see that. You have earned being the Driver of the Month with dignity,
pride and the greatest smile around. Congratulations Wayne and watch out
2000.
-Jane
Sometimes It Is Just Your Time
Message boards across the web are getting really bad about
slandering racing. To say that a driver cannot win unless he is
on the pole is no guarantee that he will win. That is not only true
in our local racing but also Winston Cup. How many times do you
see the Pole Winner in Winston Cup win the race, not very often.
True, you have a better chance in local racing of winning if you have
the pole and you can get a jump on the rest of the pack but there are
no guarantees.
If you are into local racing, I am sure that you must have more than
one favorite driver and that you must like to see alot of different
drivers win a race. The same old one week after week is no fun for
anyone but different, well, it is much more exciting. For drivers
to go to a track week after week and not have a fair chance at the
win, that makes them not want to race.
Local racing is totally different than any other racing - Winston Cup
or one of the big series. Local racing does not have great sponsor
money if any and the guys who get behind the wheel of those race
cars are just like you and me. They work for a living, they have families
to support, house notes to pay, electricity, etc. But somehow, they
manage to buy and build a racecar and go to the track for a night of
pure fun for them. Some will win and some will never win but the
majority of them keep trying. Now if they are wrecked, you may not
see them for awhile since money is the key issue in local track racing.
Hopefully one day, every racer that goes on his or her local track, will
win. It may take years and it may take only months. They may have
the pole and they may start from the rear. But having the pole does not
guarantee a win, it makes the odds better but there are no guarantees in
racing just as there are none in life.
Winning is not everything, you can win even when you are not the first
car to cross the start-finish line. What counts in racing as it does in life,
is how you play the game. Playing fair, being a good sportsman, knowing
when to move down on the track and let the lead car go by, knowing when
not to push your way to the top and purposely wreck a car out, all this
counts and all this makes you the winner.
Sometimes it is just your time to win that trophy and stand in Victory
Circle. And all the time you win when you race fair, do your best,
and teach the young race fans in the stands that winning is great but
what counts is how you play the game.
-Jane
