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GLEANINGS FROM THE GROVE
Thrill of a Lifetime!
Paul C. Fanning, DTM
That first whiff of hot motor oil, the smell of
gasoline, and the odor of burnt rubber, coupled
with the roar and throbbing of the engine
mesmerized me. I was hooked, forever to be
enthralled by racing for fame, fortune, and
trophies. Well, perhaps not fortune, but. . . did
you know that I was a race car driver in the
1960s? My career, as it was, was not successful
nor long lasting. In fact, I only participated in
one race, never to finish as I crashed after a mere
two laps. As the famous radio commentator
Paul Harvey would say, “and now. . . the rest of
the story!”
No, the car I drove was not a formula one
vehicle, nor a NASCAR muscle car, but a quarter
midget racer. These were a quarter size of the
adult cars, with a gas motor that could reach
45 mph and had been very popular from the
1940s through the 1980s. (Jeff Gordon, former
professional stock car racing driver, who is
the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports,
drove one as a kid.) The age restriction was
8-16 years old, on an oval or figure eight formal
track with numerous hay bales on the sides. Of
course, you had pennant streamers galore, the
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stands, the obligatory loudspeaker, and chatty
announcer. And let us not forget the snack stand,
the drawing card for every kid there whether
driver or in the viewing stands. I still
am not sure how I ended up at the
track that day but believe someone
my dad knew had suggested I
may have had “the need for
speed” and should come out
and see what it was all about. (I
thought, “Gee, how hard could it be going
around in circles?”) We arrived early in the cool
of the morning, met the man who would be my
guide and sponsor for the day, and sat watching
the various kids like me begin to get ready to
race and hone their track skills.
Remember, these were smaller versions of
a true race car, not with a lawn mower engine,
but a real gas pedal, brake, and fairly simple
to use with an “on” toggle switch on the hood.
They looked like the metal race car in the older
Monopoly game with the oval hood. That is
what they looked like, but kid sized. Since this
was before fire suits and protective gear, we
had a helmet, a pair of gloves and our street