All-in-all, I’d rather be in Darlington
Written by Linda Przygodski · September 5, 2004
Don’t get me wrong. There is a certain joie de vive to Southern California that I deeply appreciate, but running a 500-mile race on Labor Day weekend just doesn’t resonate. What used to be a NASCAR tradition has been replaced by a poor facsimile, and it’s noticeable even to the most newbie fan.
“I’ve only been watching NASCAR for about five years,” said Rick Jenfleck, a banker from Dallas, Texas. “I went to the Southern 500 for the last three years, and man, what great racing. The Busch race here was OK this weekend, but I remember watching this race on TV last year and falling asleep.
“I hope it’s better with the new tires. We wanted to come to a race on Labor Day, so we came here cause we had to. But, I really would have liked to take my five year old son to his first Southern 500 this year. It’s a shame.”
Last year, after NASCAR announced that the Labor Day tradition of the Southern 500 would shift to California Speedway, I was torn. Any reasonable person understands NASCAR’s need to court a major television market like Los Angeles. One understands the appeal of a second race on the extreme West coast. But, it has not been all that was promised.
I recall something about Darlington’s brutal temperatures as one of the reasons the race was moved to November. As I sit here in the media center, grabbing a brief reprieve from the near 100 degree heat, I don’t remember it being quite as sizzling during the Southern 500 last year. It was 94 degrees by 9:00 am this morning in delightful Fontana and the heat is hanging like a blanket over the race track even at 4:30 pm in the afternoon; only having cooled down four degrees from the peak temperature of the day.
Crew members look embattled, and drivers worn out and the race hasn’t ran one lap under green. The stands look particularly bare, which begs another question. One of the other reasons for the Darlington-Fontana swap was that Darlington was failing to sell out race dates.
As I look at the spare that are failing to fill in as we approach the start of the event, it is clear that California Speedway hasn’t done a much better job of getting asses into the seats on a sweltering Sunday Labor Day race event.
The track doesn’t have the charm that Darlington does, and won’t produce a race like Darlington would. It’s another cookie cutter race track guised as a Los Angeles jewel.
Yet, the reality is, Fontana is about an hour and change from downtown Los Angeles (IF traffic is on your side) and is located in essentially what I would describe as the ‘barrio’.
Sure, it’s close enough for NASCAR to invite some “B” list celebrities, have a movie shoot at the race track and let the driver’s appear on Los Angeles area television shows, but when you hit the infield, trust me it’s just another track filled with your typical NASCAR fans.
They seem to be having a great time, so what do I know?
But, all-in-all, if I had to sweat my ass off somewhere, I’d much rather be in Darlington.
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Enjoy Mothers Day in Darlington next year, after that you may find yourself in Washington State or Staten Island New York, with nothing in Darlington but cobwebs and memories.