As I looked out of my window this morning, it was certainly a “gray area” outside. It was just foggy enough to be an inconvenience to anyone who may be driving to work, and the skies appeared even a darker gray as the promise of raindrops hung above me. Gray was just everywhere. When I was in the Navy, everything on board ship was painted gray. We used to joke all the time about such a drab color but you have to admit it was difficult to distinguish a grey ship out on the ocean and that was the reason for such a choice of colors.
So, are you wondering yet where I’m going with this? Believe me, it is heading in a direction you may not expect but one which I hope you will enjoy.
Over the past two months, I, along with others of RacersReunion, have had the pleasure to participate in such events as the “Official RacersReunion NASCAR Hall of Fame Visit”, the Augusta International Raceway Preservation Society Hall of Fame Induction and car show, a two day event, AND, the annual Celebration of the Automobile put on by The Historic Speedway Group at Occoneechee Speedway in North Carolina. What that has to do with the color gray is the subject for this Legendtorial.
The motel in which we stayed in Hillsborough had the desk directly under a bright overhead light and directly in front of a mirror. As I sat down to answer e-mails Friday night, looking into the mirror above my laptop screen, with that bright overhead light, I realized, for the first time, how gray my hair has become. Oh, I’ve known there was plenty of gray there, but that light really brought out the gray/silver to the max. I went back to answering e-mails, but glanced, from time to time, at the reflection of gray I had never previously noticed. I must say, however, that not even for a mini-second did it ever enter my mind to rush out and buy that product that promises in its ads to take away the gray. It absolutely did not and does not bother me although the worship of youth today would lead you to think having gray hair would be criminal.
I do not intend to go into all the medical and scientific reasons a person’s hair will turn gray. From the earliest time I could remember my Daddy’s hair was gray but I never knew why he, at so young an age, was totally gray. Not until, that is, his 77th Division Reunion in 1986 at Ft. Jackson. The Colonel of my Daddy’s Unit told how my Daddy was involved in a heavy fire-fight with the Japs on one of the Islands in the Pacific. The Colonel said the battle went on for more than 8 hours with my Daddy on the rocks on a hillside with his machine gun taking out Japs right and left. I was told, by the Colonel, that the day after the battle, my Daddy’s previously jet black hair began to turn silver gray and within two weeks was completely silver/gray. I don’t know if that’s medically possible, but the Colonel swore it was true.
I learned growing up that while it is not always true, of course, and we all know case history to prove it, the gray/grey/silver hair indicates someone who has lived awhile and who has a much deeper understanding of, and appreciation for life. I know this is true in my own life because I have come to much more deeply appreciate every detail of life that, say 40 years ago would not have evoked a second thought. Rather than bemoan, as some do, the fact that my life has not been perfect, and that I haven’t had everything I wanted, I have learned to understand that I have everything I need and much, much more than I probably deserve. OK, but this is not intended to be a philosophical diatribe of life styles or life purposes.
What I do want to convey here is that we at RacersReunion, are extremely fortunate to be a part of something that respects and honors the gray/grey haired ones. As I participated in the events in Augusta and in Hillsborough, it is not difficult to realize that most of the participants have that gray/grey/silver hair. I don’t think I ever truly realized how very becoming that is to someone’s features until I walked into the tent in Hillsborough and saw all the folks gathered there with so much of racing history stored underneath the locks of gray/grey/silver hair. Oh, I’ve seen all those folks before and I don’t have an explanation as to why the “over sixty generation” struck me so forcefully at Hillsborough, but it did.
I do want us to consider this tonight. NASCAR, in its infinite wisdom, destroyed much of the history of the sport by hauling the Late Model Sportsman, Limited Sportsman, and other Divisions records to the Daytona Dump several years ago. Even today it seems to me, NASCAR makes more of an effort to re-write the history the way they prefer it to be rather than the way it was. Shameful! Everyone who knows me knows I detest D.W. but few know the real reason why. It’s NOT because he is a big-mouthed jerk with a know-it-all attitude, but it is because he continuously makes comments inconsistent with the real history of the sport. He wants the History according to D.W. rather than what really happened. We all know of the gray-haired know it alls who got their information from sources that may or may not be trustworthy and I am afraid, sometimes, that is will be from those sources that the younger generation learns the “Gospel of the Ages”.
For those of you who did not attend the events in Augusta, Middle Georgia, or Hillsborough, there is The Moonshine Festival coming up in Dawsonville, GA the end of this month. Cody Dinsmore can fill you in on that. I would also let you know that this weekend, Sunday, October 13th, The Memory Lane Museum in Mooresville (Exit 36 off I-77) will be opening at 10:00 a.m. that day and remain open until 5:00 p.m. From 1:00 p.m. til 3:00, there will be a “meet and greet” with some of the legendary drivers from the past, those with the gray/grey/silver hair. Folks such as Bobby Allison, Rex White, Geoff Bodine and others. In fact, you never know who will show up for events at Alex Beam’s Memory Lane. Back door opened at one such event and in walked Richard Petty and Dale Inman. It is race weekend in Charlotte and that pretty much opens the door to many possibilities. There is a charge of $10.00 per adult, $6.00 for children 6-12, with children under six free.
So, as I sit here with my gray/grey/silver hair shining in the overhead light of The Lair, it is my hope that the great legacy of this sport will be recorded, much as it is here on RacersReunion, and that the younger folks will get an opportunity to meet and talk with such heroes as Bobby Allison and Rex White. It is upon their shoulders this sport was built. Listen to the stories of the ones who were there when it happened. Having spent the past five years hearing these stories first hand never ceases to intrigue me as to how these memories live on inside the icons of the sport. Many of the races they talk about I witnessed in person and I know their recollections to be right on the money. Not only that, but I have resources, as does anyone with a computer, to go back and look at what transpired on the track and the recollection of the participants is uncanny after 30, 40, or even 50 years.
It is my earnest hope that all the efforts being made by the groups such as AIRPS, the Middle Georgia folks, The Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, The Historic Speedway Group and RacersReunion will preserve an accurate history of NASCAR racing. There are bitter and spiteful folks around who spout their own version of how things were, so be selective when you read or listen to the stories. We have a great legacy, we don’t need folks re-writing it as they think it should be.
And one final thought here. I have a real problem with Rex White. Since we were on the subject of hair, be it whatever color, I must point out that Rex always has his hair perfect! Every strand is combed into place with precision and he always looks as though he is posing for a high fashion men’s magazine. But, come to think of it, Rex is, and always has been, about precision. One thing that made him great!
