My racing wish list...

This time of year it’s pretty common for us to put together a wish list for the upcoming holiday season. If we don't put one together, we always seem to be asking someone else for theirs. I decided I’d put together a racing wish list since there isn’t much else filling up my racing schedule. Along with wishes for the local level, I added some NASCAR flair to the list even though it’s known that I’m not much of a fan of the “Hollywood” racing. While it’s obvious many (most) of these never have a chance of coming true, a guy can dream, right? Along with some serious thoughts and a few trips down memory lane, I’ve added a few items strictly for the purpose of spicing it up with a little humor. I’ll leave it up to you to determine which is which. With that said, here’s my list of wishes for this holiday season and looking forward to 2010:

1. I wish the races I want to attend aren’t scheduled on top of each other when the 2010 special events schedules are made public.
2. I wish more cars are painted free-hand and not covered in vinyl graphics.
3. I wish drivers’ meetings offer a little more variety and are less of a waste of time.
4. I wish the guy who goes to get another beer will wait until a caution or the end of the race before walking in front of me to get back to his seat.
5. I wish for tracks to work together to promote the sport in the interest of drivers and fans, despite the fact that they compete for those drivers and fans.
6. I wish for more fan appreciation nights so race fans can attend races at “throwback” prices once in a while to make a family night out affordable again.
7. I wish for fewer divisions and more competitive car counts.
8. I wish you could still get a few bucks to win a heat race.
9. I wish Danica Patrick all the luck in the world for any future NASCAR endeavors; she’s going to need it.
10. I wish I can see one entire night of racing when the caution flag never waves.
11. I wish people who live 100-plus miles away won’t call the track phone on race day to see if the races are still on despite the 90 degree weather and sunny skies, only to say, “Are you sure you’re still racing? It’s sprinkling where I live.”
12. I wish those same callers won’t ask, “Is it going to rain?”
13. I wish souvenir programs are worth buying every week just to get a points sheet.
14. I wish message board users will have more positive things to say to show support for the sport rather than just complaining to turn a few heads.
15. I wish for more first-time feature winners.
16. I wish for veterans of our sport to continue to make regular trips to the winner’s circle so we can remind ourselves once again of all they’ve done to make our sport great.
17. I wish for the 4-cylinder, hornet, flyer, front wheel drive, wild thing, etc. divisions to come together and decide on a common name.
18. I wish national anthem singers are required to go through an audition process.
19. I wish fountain Pepsi is available at every race track I plan to attend.
20. I wish all those people who think they can run a track better step forward to volunteer their services so they see it isn’t as easy as they think.
21. I wish Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch will just go away.
22. I wish double-file restarts are required within the first five laps of all features, but all subsequent restarts are single file.
23. I wish every caution flag requires the penalized driver(s) to place money into a pot to go toward the track point fund.
24. I wish for more Australian pursuits, cash dashes and king of the hill races.
25. I wish people won’t ask on a message board who won last week’s race when they could have easily logged onto that track’s web site in the first place to find the information they wanted or, hey, even gone to the race in question.
26. I wish every flagman waves the flying green with two laps to go.
27. I wish all drivers will attempt to score one feature just so they can see how much work it is and how impossible it is to “screw” them.
28. I wish tracks try more gimmicks to get fans to come to the races.
29. I wish points sheets are more available at tracks and that those point sheets include more stats, stats, stats.
30. I wish more people understand that running a race track goes beyond what happens between the time you open the gates on race day and the time you close them after the races are over.
31. I wish tracks have more specials that cater to the weekly drivers who support them throughout the season.
32. I wish Mother Nature will stay away on race day, but if she must make her presence felt I wish that she comes early enough so that other plans can be made and we don’t get caught in a deluge after hot laps.
33. I wish heat wins still warrant a picture of the driver holding a checkered flag.
34. I wish the term “B Mod” is changed to something that doesn’t force them into the role of “little brother.”
35. I wish for good, clean racing and for drivers to realize that “rubbing” isn’t racing… “the ability to pass a competitor clean because you can” is racing.
36. I wish to return to Boone for the Super Nationals after a five year absence.
37. I wish there is more corporate sponsorship at the local level.
38. I wish for fewer intentional yellows and more DQs.
39. I wish 30-plus drivers will commit to the entire Deery Brothers Summer Series for I.M.C.A. Late Models schedule.
40. I wish reflective decals are outlawed.
41. I wish more promoters will stick to the rules instead of making them up as the year goes on just to avoid confrontation.
42. I wish that car numbers include only numbers, no letters.
43. I wish NASCAR realizes that Saturday nights are meant for dirt track racing and to leave the pavement stuff for Sunday afternoons so I can enjoy my nap.
44. I wish for that guy in front of me to realize it’s a law… you’re not allowed to smoke in the grandstands.
45. I wish the one-spin rule in all qualifying events is included in the master set of racing procedural rules.
46. I wish for a master set of racing procedural rules.
47. I wish for all drivers to automatically fall into single file alignment when the caution flag is thrown and not try to advance position(s) under caution.
48. I wish for more victory laps with checkered flag in-hand.
49. I wish time limits aren’t necessary.
50. I wish more promoters will actually “promote racing” rather than just “put on races.”
51. I wish that more announcers will include hometowns when introducing drivers.
52. I wish cars are as nice to look at in August as they are in April.
53. I wish they take down that wall they built around Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway.
54. I wish for people to stop looking at it as “moving up or down” divisions. All changes are lateral… racing is racing. Purse doesn’t dictate importance.
55. I wish for NASCAR to be less “Hollywood” and show more appreciation for its grassroots history.
56. I wish for my own, personal supply of tenderloins and racin’ taters from 34 Raceway.
57. I wish that the successful drivers of today remember how they were when they started racing when they get mad at the rookies and slower drivers of today.
58. I wish Jerry Blue was still a race track promoter.
59. I wish more drivers realize that qualifying for the feature is a privilege and not a right simply because you signed in at the pit gate.
60. I wish the folks selling beer will understand that cutting someone off is more important than making a buck.
61. I wish for more open trailers and low budget racing than enclosed haulers, big rigs and endless funding.
62. I wish it is more readily understood that a race isn’t won on the first lap.
63. I wish that more people will accept the fact that they don’t really know how to prepare a race track better than anyone else.
64. I wish for fewer drivers to race for points and more to race for their love of the sport.
65. I wish a driver will admit that the last caution actually was his fault.
66. I wish people accept that human element (on the part of both drivers and officials) is a special part of the sport, even when it comes to mistakes.
67. I wish the leaders will respect the lapped cars and realize that they, too, are racing for position.
68. I wish for junior fan clubs to be a point of emphasis at every track that holds a race.
69. I wish for Mark Martin to win that elusive championship.
70. I wish no track will run more than five divisions during its weekly show and no more than three divisions for any weekday special.
71. I wish for fewer mid-season specials that fall on back-to-back(-to-back?) weekdays.
72. I wish it is common knowledge that sometimes you do have to go slower to go faster.
73. I wish for Greg Kastli to return to victory lane in 2010.
74. I wish Larry and Kathleen Kemp would return home to Iowa.
75. I wish more racing teams come to the track dressed as a team.
76. I wish Hawkeye Racing News focuses on racing in this region like it used to.
77. I wish I lived in North Central Iowa so I could know what it’s like to go racing five nights a week in 2010.
78. I wish for Jill George to qualify for the World 100.
79. I wish all message board administrators require all users to provide their real names in order to be eligible to post and that said message board administrators confirm the users are who they say they are.
80. I wish all message board administrators require an IQ test upon user registration and that said message board administrators enforce a minimum IQ in order for an individual to become a member.
81. I wish message board users understand that freedom of speech doesn’t mean you are at liberty to say anything you want on the Internet.
82. I wish any track in Iowa will take the chance and schedule at least one race every month of the year.
83. I wish drivers don’t have to pay an entry fee to provide the entertainment.
84. I wish all tracks impose a penalty for all drivers guilty of speeding in the pits.
85. I wish all drivers show up on time (this means by check-in time, not in time for the first heat race).
86. I wish fewer (yes, fewer) cars qualify for features and that drivers are required to race their way in.
87. I wish people will understand that, even though they don’t care for a specific sanctioning body, it still serves as one more option for drivers and fans.
88. I wish I could have one more race burger and speed wheel from the Independence Motor Speedway concession stand like they had in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
89. I wish the layover flag was never invented.
90. I wish passing points are outlawed or designed in a manner that every driver, crewmember and fan understood who qualified and where they started in the feature before the feature rolled onto the track.
91. I wish attendance at racing banquets is mandatory.
92. I wish every kid who comes to watch the races can be given a checkered flag and a Sharpie so he/she can get autographs after the races.
93. I wish NASCAR can produce a Sprint Cup champion whose team isn't led by a cheater.
94. I wish intermission never starts after 9 p.m.
95. I wish for greater appreciation for all the excellent work track photographers do week in and week out.
96. I wish drivers would check in upon arriving every night instead of just wondering why they were left off the heat race lineup.
97. I wish drivers understood that they can approach a track official with a question after the races, but they shouldn't be sending their wife or girlfriend (or both!) to do their dirty work for them.
98. I wish I could see my dad in the old pro stock one more time.
99. I wish all promoters a successful 2010 season.
100. I wish for anyone who read this entire list to add a wish of their own to my list by commenting on this blog entry.
101. I wish for a safe, happy holiday season and an enjoyable off-season for all of my friends and family in racing.

Bonus wish #102. I hope readers continue to support positivelyracing.com into the 2010 season and beyond.