Who are the track champions? To answer that simply they are the winners and point leaders at the end of the season. What about places 2-5, 6-10, 10-20, 25+?How can a person toil for a whole season or many seasons grind it out with nothing to show for it?

We see those drivers and crews who with little sponsorship money and crews made of erstwhile shade tree mechanics. They are covered in grease and oil and they find a way of getting a tire or a pair of approved shocks.Maybe the tire man feels for the driver and crew and loans them parts.Such is the plight of so many.

Some labor with a lot of money, accruing track championships with dozens or perhaps hundreds of wins.My friend in Tampa drove his 360 sprint car to a heat win and then came to his crew and said change this engine fast, his brand new engine seemed to be broke and the crew however replaced the engine in mere minutes and won the race.

The racing hobbyist marvels and imagines himself or herself being in that position and making history. His car and his engine run well but their days are numbered and one evening that engine fails or a tire goes soft and flat. Recovering from major surgery, the engine is still serviceable but escape from reality is not in the cards.

One evening however,this driver gets up front in the feature,has a good start and leads the race, something the driver is not use to. I rememberJoe Bates in his Blue #9, 55 Ford holding off the cars with the new hutter parts and Goodyear tires.

On lap 13,tragedy happens and the car slows and comes to a stop.For a few breathless moments, the white and then checkered flags might flap before you with your contemporaries jockeying for position make the pass as your engine finally and forever gives up it's life. A terminal end to a potentially magical moment.

A few drivers and fans talk about how you almost did it. Your wife and family console you. All those nights in the garage and a few arguments over the money you spend for the dinosaur in the yard, seem just too painful to reconcile.

A few weeks later you cobble together a few dollars and perhaps a new Hutter racing engine with a Troyer Chassis and perhaps a sponsor who helps and for a few weeks you run reasonably well,getting a 4th place win you are ecstatic.And by almost a miracle you are in the top 3.You are actually in the winner's circle being interviewed by the track announcer. Your family,mechanics and friends gush over your fortune and invade the track like Army Ants on a binge.

For hundreds of thousands of other drivers across the country and the world,there are no checkers and no top 10 finishes in the point standings. Year after year the same results seem a certainty, yet you would have it no other way,that being lapped is better than being in the stands or at home with the Nintendo or fixing the leak in the bathroom.

It is a cult of family and the drama of fans, history of drivers and tracks, and you think,it is all good. It is 'a wonderful life!! By the way, Joe in his 96 was passed by three to four cars. A fifth place finish but at least he raced and met many like-minded friends.