R is for Races

"Off to the races," has been my frequent response over the years.

In the early 1960s, I lived and worked in the Sarasota/Bradenton area.  I was a co-owner of a late model stock car for one season. We raced at local tracks in Bradenton, St. Petersburg and Tampa. Lots of fun, but, oh, what a money sink that was! You can do nothing but cry when a car that is being lapped crashes your car into the wall 50 feet from the finish line. (Yes, we were leading at the time.)

I also went to the Sarasota greyhound dog track almost every night for a year. My budget for gambling was a paltry $20 per week.  Since I came to know all of the dogs running, I actually made a little money over the course of the season.

As a kid, I loved to watch harness racing at the county fairs. In the mid 1960s, I was based in West Palm Beach for a year and a lot of my coworkers were pilots. I often went along for the rides. I remember watching the harness races in Pompano Beach at night from 3,000 feet while flying with a buddy.

We also flew over to the the 24 hour Sebring race in a Cessna 182. Took our boss along and scared him to death. We arrived and got into the pattern with lear jets and twins. I must admit that I don't like seeing lots of aircraft around me either. Especially when they are bigger than me!

I have owned and shown horses, but I don't really like horse races. They just take too much time between races for me.  Couple that with the fact that I never seem to win. I know horses well, but I cannot pick a horse race to save my life.

I can't let this discussion of races go without telling about another kind of race.

In the early 1970s, I lived in a redneck trailer park in Manassas, Virginia while working for Univac in Washington, D.C.  It was the only park we could find that allowed us to keep our collie dog. I used to invite a coworker out to our mobile home frequently. I would always be out front to greet him when he arrived. Why? I enjoyed the hell out of seeing my redneck neighbors peeking out from behind their curtains with their mouths open at a black man getting out of his automobile in that trailer park.