Cancel and Return to Message Board |
Original Message I grew up a mile as the crow flies from Shangri-La Speedway. My dad was involved in sprint car (big car) racing there in the 1940s, and at Campville Speedway before that (long gone, now a pumpkin field) in the late 1930s. So when I was like 5 or 6 and asked him what that noise was, he was foolish enough to be honest with me. Started going there in 1966-67. The noise, the way the cars were lettered, the speed, all of it was fun. When Mike Zopp, then driver of the Manny 10-10, waved at us when we waved at him, and then later that year when Bullet Bill Strosahl (who knew my dad) let us sit in his McClure 15 ride, I was hooked. Dad and I spent decades going to various tracks and following the modifieds, whether dirt or asphalt, and made many friends along the way. I don't go nearly as much now that my dad has passed and Shangri-La is a hole in the ground and I moved to the Albany area, but it will always be in my blood. |