After a new business venture brought me to Myrtle Beach permanently in mid-2001, I realized I wouldn’t be able to continue racing and made the difficult decision to sell my equipment. It seemed at that time racing was all over for me so, I sold it all…car, trailer, welder, compressor, scales, jacks, jack stands, tools, spare tires and wheels…you name it …I sold it. I sold it all except for my fire suit, helmet, shoes, gloves, and radios. What does that tell you? It tells me somewhere in all this, even though I was telling myself it was over, I wasn’t ready to give up hope to someday get back into a race car.  And never did I utter the words, “I have retired”...just wanted to make that clear.

Nearly ten years have passed and not many opportunities to drive race cars have come my way I suppose due to being and old phart living in a completely new area and no longer traveling in racing circles (no pun intended).

A couple of weeks ago, fellow radio host and friend Bobby Williamson, suggested there might be an opportunity for me to drive a second car for Bruce James Racing. Bruce owns a couple of vintage modified race cars and supports the Bell and Bell Vintage Modified Series started by Bobby Williamson and his group of vintage racing enthusiasts. To say I jumped at the chance may be a slight understatement.

For those who have never raced and never had the desire this may be hard to understand. But, desire to and thoughts of driving race cars are always present in my mind. Seriously, I don’t think there are very many minutes that pass when I’m not remembering or dreaming of driving a race car. Watching racing has never satisfied that desire.  So, plans were “quickly” put into motion for me make my return to racing driving a vintage modified at Carolina Raceway in Lakeview, SC. The day before we were scheduled to race, racing was cancelled due to the death of someone close to the racetrack family. We turned our attention to preparing for the following week back at Carolina Raceway.

I made several trips to the race shop that week to look more closely at the car and to work with the guys at Bruce James Racing to make a few changes such as moving the seat and some other minor adjustments. This is my first time working up close with a vintage race car and many of my concerns center around overall safety. There have been many safety improvements made over the years, most as the result of loss of life and other serious injuries. As I looked over the car, I was convinced it was a solid race car, but would need a few upgrades to provide a safer experience. I’ll get into more of the issues I see with vintage racing safety at another time. But, I do have concerns about vintage racing safety and the fact that some folks are racing old technology without minimum safety upgrades.

Race day finally came and the cars were loaded early Saturday afternoon with nothing else to do but wait for time to leave for the racetrack. The tow to the track took a little over an hour and went well. When we arrived at the track I saw my friends Billy Biscoe, his wife Karen, and Dennis Andrews at the gate awaiting our arrival. Billy had towed one of his beautiful vintage race cars to the track in support of RacersReunion.

We proceeded to unload the car and get the pit ready for action. I walked through the pits meeting and talking to some really great folks. It was awesome to be back at a race track and in that mode. It occurred to me one of the things I missed was the comradery. When fellow racer, Sherman Garris and I met that night, he said that aspect (the comradery) was what he missed even more than the racing.

Karen Biscoe showed up well stocked with sandwiches, fruit, and drinks….that’s how she roles. The party was on! That is.. until we spotted a rather nasty storm cloud creeping up on us from the direction of the turn one end of the track. The water truck had just finished watering down the track and several cars were out on the track when I noticed…almost at once, all the vintage guys began loading their cars. Word came through the pits the storm radar indicated we were in line for a direct hit form a rough-looking storm.

As it turns out those guys had been there before during and after one of those gully washers and had some issues getting out of the track. So, we followed suit and loaded both Bruce James cars and headed out of the race track just as the bottom fell out. It didn’t take long for the race to be “officially” canceled and we were on our way back to the shop without even getting on the track.

So tune in next week when I will bring you up to date on my latest attempt to….race again.

Jeff Gilder