It was 1978, a different time in America and a different time in racing as well. I am not sure if the times were necessarily better in '78 because I had already been in the Air Force for four years! I had long since ended my trips to the old racetrack in upstate NY.

In fact this is where I was in 1978 for at least part of the year because I was TDY from Little Rock AFB in Arkansas. These barracks were pretty ran down even when I was there but of course not this run down!

I lived on the ground floor in the corner.

These were better days and looked like the place I remembered back in the year of 1978.Down the hallway from my room was a Canteen, ran by locals and veterans of the now closed-down Rhein Main AB, in Frankfurt, West Germany.

That was my room and that was me and that was my hair. lol. The days there were like magic and I was transitioning from the Maintenance Squadron to the Weather Field. Thank goodness too, because I was born to be a weather guesser, er Forecaster. hahah

I remember working on C-130s and glue cloth patches to the maintenance access points on the top of the wings.That was what I did most of the time on the aircraft and the rest was spent in Survival Equipment Shop.We had two very friendly Iraqi civilians who worked there and I remember AFN radio playing and hearing, "your station for the 70s' on AFN Radio in Frankfurt' and the daily notice at 10PM that said, "It's 10 o'clock in Central Europe, do you know where your kids are?".

The cost of gas was .78 cents but since I had no car at that time, I didn't need the allocated gas coupons. BACON was $1.20/lb and a dozen eggs were 48 cents and stamps around 12 cents.

But back in the states in Little Rock, even the sun seemed much brighter and the air a lot warmer. In the racing world Richie Evans was beginning to really make a name for himself capturing numerous championships. His contemporaries that lost their lives racing included Charlie Jarzombek, Corky Cookman and a litany of other greats. The death toll was escalating and a few changes came about.These included high insurance premiums, safer barriers and flame retardant uniforms.

And like the names that had become the standard for that area so were the tracks and many of which closed.The price of change can be steep. The mom and pop race car tracks were diminishing to be replaced by corporate entities and sanctioning bodies. Tracks that fell to the times were Hales Corner Speedway (IN), East Windsor (NJ), Nazareth, Bodine's Chemung Speedrome, Flemington and at one point Wall Stadium (NJ).

In Florida changes were coming as well, some tracks resurfaced with new owners but others fell to real estate dealers, flea markets and Fairgrounds. Those were Lakeland Speedway (1/4 mile version) and Golden Gate Speedway. Newer generation drivers replaced names like Ray Evernham,Tony Siscone, Greg Sacks, Parker Bohn, Martin Truex Sr and his brother Barney Truex in the famed #59.

With new times come new challenges,new drivers, tracks, owners and fans. Ed Lynch Jr replaced his Ed Lynch and before long Sye Lynch takes over for his own dad. His grandmother Jean Lynch who is now 80 and still doing work with the Smith family in Charlotte and the World Racing Group. New places that have better facilities and foods but loses that quintessential feel of the days of yore.