Legendtorial ~ Richmond Revisited

by: Tim Leeming

I did not see the end of the race at Richmond Saturday night. I guess it must be an age thing, especially since Jeff is always telling me how far over the hill I am, but just after midnight, and it was just past half way in the event, I went on to bed. Even as little as a few years ago I would not have been able to go to sleep until I knew who had won. Moreover, the race Saturday night was going to determine who was going to be in that ridiculous dog and pony show NASCAR has christened as “The Chase”. When I turned back my sheet Saturday night, I would have bet on Kyle Busch being “in” and Jeff Gordon being “out”.

When I got up Sunday morning, before going out for the newspaper, I checked NASCAR.com for the finish. I knew the newspaper could not have gotten the story in time for its deadline. At that time of Sunday morning, details were sketchy, even on NASCAR.com, but I was shocked to see Jeff in the Chase and Kyle out. I watched the short interview with Kyle and I can understand his extreme letdown and disappointment, and while I’m sure Coach Gibbs leaned in the car to encourage a positive response to interviews, I was extremely proud of how Kyle handled himself in the brief interview. It was brief, few words, and obviously very uncomfortable, but he faced the camera. Wouldn’t have a couple months ago.

I did not see an interview with Dave Rogers, but I’m sure he is feeling about as low as anyone in NASCAR and I’m sorry for that. Dave is a good guy and is normally right on point with his pit calls. This time he made a bad pit call, believing the end of the race was imminent because of approaching rain. It was a gamble and he lost this time. I certainly hope the folks at JGR are understanding enough to forgive a call Dave believed best, when, in fact, it cost Kyle a place in The Chase. I will always remember when Jamie McMurray barely missed The Chase and the interviewer asked him how it felt. Jamie said that compared with what the people in New Orleans were suffering (this was right after Katrina), then missing The Chase was nothing to worry about. While I know it’s hard to put all of that in perspective for Kyle and Dave at the moment, I hope they will enjoy the rest of the year and maybe win a race or two.

Richmond holds a special place in my heart for a couple of reasons, although I’ve only attended races there a total of three times, I think. First time was in April, 1967, after my ship, the U.S.S. Opportune, ARS-41, had just returned from a six month deployment to the Caribbean where we patrolled from September to April each year. Back then, as today, racing was always the topic of my general conversation and all the guys on my small ship were from the Northeast and mid-west and knew little or nothing about racing. Because I was stationed at Little Creek Amphibious Base just outside of Norfolk, the trip to Richmond was a no brainer. I loaded up five of my shipmates early that morning in my 1961 Plymouth and headed out. The general topic of conversation on the trip was that there was no way they would get to meet Richard Petty, the driver I always talked about, and that certainly, Richard Petty did not know who I was.

When we arrived at the old Fairgrounds Dirt Track and pulled in the infield, we had barely gotten out of the car when Richard saw me. We had parked near the fence at the exit to the pits. Richard came over and started to talk to all of us and he certainly had an awestruck group of Yankee admirers. You can believe the talk on the ride back to Little Creek was quite a bit different. I still hear from some of those guys from time to time, and although none has ever been to another race, that day burns brightly in their memories. Oh, Richard won that day.

My next vivid memory of Richmond is the first victory for Kyle Petty. No, I was not there that day, I was watching on television. What made it so memorable for me is how I saw Kyle win his first NASCAR race and that meant I had been a part of NASCAR long enough to see his grandfather and his father win races. I still see that Earnhardt-Waltrip accident as one of those things meant to happen. I still see Kyle in that Victory Lane interview looking as though he was in shock. Nice memory.

My last visit to Richmond was with our son, Mark. He and his family were living in Richmond at the time and Ann and I had gone up for the weekend just for a visit. When we got there, Mark sprung the surprise that he had two tickets to the race Saturday night. I looked forward to the race with great anticipation both for having some quality time with Mark and for getting to see the new Richmond configuration.

Two things I vividly remember about that race. First was the flyover by the jets, not sure if they were Navy or Air Force jets but they flew over the track so low you could almost see the pilots’ faces. As I watched the jets disappear with those fiery red afterglow exhausts, I felt a huge swell of pride in my country and remembered that Sunday long before when I was serving my country in the Navy. The other vivid memory is seeing Kevin Harvick putting Ricky Rudd in the wall. I told Mark that Kevin had really messed up when he did that to Rudd. You just didn’t mess with Ricky Rudd on the race track. As if Ricky Rudd wanted to prove me right to my son, he ran down Harvick and, as they say, the rest is history. That is the night I learned that Kevin Harvick had one of those “yap-yap” voices as Ricky Rudd described it.

As Mark and I drove back to his house in the still of a Virginia Saturday night, we talked about the race and about all my years of fascination with the sport. We talked about the other time I had been there at a Richmond dirt track with my Navy buddies and then sort of got off on what life was like in the Navy. The date of that Saturday night was September 8, 2001.

Sunday night, Ann and I returned home and Monday was a usual work day. Tuesday morning, around 9 a.m., I called Ann as I always did when I got to the office. It was my way of letting her know I had made the rush hour drive safely. Ann commented that she was watching the morning show on NBC and they were showing where a plane had accidentally hit the World Trade Center. While we were talking, Ann got very quiet and then told me a second plane had hit the other tower.

I turned on the radio in my office to hear what was going on and as Jimmy Buffet was singing “Come Monday”, everything went silent. Nothing, not even static for maybe forty-five seconds before the announcer came on to tell us something was happening in New York City and that we may be “under attack”. I went and told my boss what was going on but to adequately describe his reaction so you could understand it, you would have to have known the man. He immediately determined that we would work on as if nothing happened. I always went home for lunch and when I got there, Ann and our daughter Laurie were sitting there watching the television. My oldest Grandson Andrew, then five, was sitting there watching as well but I don’t think he could understand what was happening. I stood on the hearth in the den and watched the images over and over and I could not grasp the enormity of what I was seeing. It would be a few days before I could really begin to encompass the emotions of what happened that day, September 11, 2001.

Today is designated on the calendar as “Patriot Day”. The calendar here in The Lair has a notation from the calendar company reading “We will never forget. God Bless America”. How can we ever forget? Any of us who watched those towers fall, and saw the Pentagon, or heard the stories of the field in Pennsylvania will always remember where we were and what we were doing that day.

I had to bring up Patriots Day so as not to miss an opportunity to praise the folks who participate in NASCAR racing who honor this country at the singing of the National Anthem, although not always performed to our specific likings. It always touches me to see the crews and drivers standing there with their hands over their hearts and their hats off at the National Anthem. To see the huge American Flags appear in the grandstands, held proudly by a number of folks.

Very few times does the fly-over NOT evoke a lump in my throat. Not to call anyone’s patriotism into question, but if you watch other sporting events, compare what you see there to the reaction of NASCAR folks to our National Anthem. Maybe part of that is due to the fact so many of the builders of our sport were veterans of World War II and had brought home the American spirit to the sport of auto racing.

The world has changed greatly since that Tuesday in September in 2001. That five year old grandson who was watching the news reports with us that day got his driver's license this past Friday. He celebrated by having supper here with Ann and me. As I sat at the table and watched him eat as a 16 year old growing boy will do, I said a silent prayer that his generation will remember why this nation is the greatest nation the world has ever known.

So, while I don’t consider it appropriate to wish someone a Happy Patriots Day, I do find it appropriate to wish you all a blessed day as you pursue your version of The American Dream, whatever it may be. When you think of all the trials our country is going through, making The Chase or not is really not that important. But, then again, the American Spirit says that we are a country of winners and thus the quest to be the best. Let us hope there is never another attack on our soil and that peace will come to all the world at some point in the not too distant future. Let us all remember to always be proud to be an American as my buddy Lee Greenwood sings.

-Tim

Email:  legendtim83@yahoo.com

Twitter: @legendtim83

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