Anyway, back when I was motorsports writer at The Press, I covered all kinds of races, from the Indy 500, a Formula One at Watkins Glen, NASCAR at Michigan International, as well as watching amateurs and hobbyists at Cloverleaf Speedway and Nelson Ledges, where they ran a 24-hour race one year. I had a friend named Nelson and I got him a t-shirt featuring a sports car and “24 Hours of Nelson” on it.
Only covered one drag race, though, at Dragway 42. It was one of my favorites, not for the racing, but because I got 1-on-1 interviews with Shirley Muldowney and “Big Daddy” Don Garlits. Shirley was an absolute sweet and funny charmer and if she’d asked me to drop everything and run away with her, I’d have said “Do I have time to pack a suitcase?”
Big Daddy was NOTHING like what I expected. We were sitting in the shade, far enough away from the track that we could converse easily. And rather than talk cars, we ended up discussing economics and politics — what a mistake the Vietnam War had been, how Reagan was offering simplistic solutions (this was Summer 1980), but the Dems weren’t much better, etc. Heh — 90% of what we discussed was worthless for what I had to write, but it still was one of the best interviews I ever had.
Footnote: I was in the press room at one point when I noticed the light fixtures swaying. At the time I thought it was vibrations from the cars, but when I was driving home I heard them talking about an earthquake in Lake Erie.
Thanks for opening up a memory vault I hadn’t seen for many years.
Thanks. I was on that beat for only one year, because I got an offer of a job from UPI, for which the Cleveland bureau was just about 20 feet away from Press Sports. But it was a fun year. I went in to it not know jack shit about auto racing, but the sports editor, Bob Schlesinger — who had been on the beat for several years — took me down to Mid-Ohio to introduce me to the race course owner, Les Griebling. He also gave me the name of Dan Lugenbuhl, Roger Penske’s aide/spokesman and sent me off to cover the Indy 500 (my first race) for two full weeks. I quickly realized that as with any other assignment, your main duty is to talk with people.
I had a good time, and a bonus was the hospitality tent Penske laid out — unmatched before or since. And since Bob had given me Dan’s name, Dan gave me a pass, since it was only supposed to be for VIPs — sponsors.
I hope that lede is less ominous than it sounds.
Anyway, back when I was motorsports writer at The Press, I covered all kinds of races, from the Indy 500, a Formula One at Watkins Glen, NASCAR at Michigan International, as well as watching amateurs and hobbyists at Cloverleaf Speedway and Nelson Ledges, where they ran a 24-hour race one year. I had a friend named Nelson and I got him a t-shirt featuring a sports car and “24 Hours of Nelson” on it.
Only covered one drag race, though, at Dragway 42. It was one of my favorites, not for the racing, but because I got 1-on-1 interviews with Shirley Muldowney and “Big Daddy” Don Garlits. Shirley was an absolute sweet and funny charmer and if she’d asked me to drop everything and run away with her, I’d have said “Do I have time to pack a suitcase?”
Big Daddy was NOTHING like what I expected. We were sitting in the shade, far enough away from the track that we could converse easily. And rather than talk cars, we ended up discussing economics and politics — what a mistake the Vietnam War had been, how Reagan was offering simplistic solutions (this was Summer 1980), but the Dems weren’t much better, etc. Heh — 90% of what we discussed was worthless for what I had to write, but it still was one of the best interviews I ever had.
Footnote: I was in the press room at one point when I noticed the light fixtures swaying. At the time I thought it was vibrations from the cars, but when I was driving home I heard them talking about an earthquake in Lake Erie.
Thanks for opening up a memory vault I hadn’t seen for many years.
This comment made my day! NELSON EFFING LEDGES! The Goat and I went to a 24-hour motorcycle race there more than 30 years ago. It was wild!
Thanks for stopping in and commenting, Tom.
Thanks. I was on that beat for only one year, because I got an offer of a job from UPI, for which the Cleveland bureau was just about 20 feet away from Press Sports. But it was a fun year. I went in to it not know jack shit about auto racing, but the sports editor, Bob Schlesinger — who had been on the beat for several years — took me down to Mid-Ohio to introduce me to the race course owner, Les Griebling. He also gave me the name of Dan Lugenbuhl, Roger Penske’s aide/spokesman and sent me off to cover the Indy 500 (my first race) for two full weeks. I quickly realized that as with any other assignment, your main duty is to talk with people.
I had a good time, and a bonus was the hospitality tent Penske laid out — unmatched before or since. And since Bob had given me Dan’s name, Dan gave me a pass, since it was only supposed to be for VIPs — sponsors.
i thought drag racing had receded into the mists of time like the hula hoop. silly me. be well.
Intermittent Erin is infinitely better than no Erin <3