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Where’s My Gun?  I Have a Dead Horse to Shoot One Last Time
by Jo Ann Hlavac  email me 08/29/08 
dedicated to my friend Brian who reminded me about something important
As all my regular readers know, I have written an article ever year this week since the last Labor Day Southern 500 about the importance of the Labor Day Southern 500.   This will be the last one.  I am loading my gun and shooting this dead horse one last time. 

I have written about Darlington being a driver’s track in its purest form. Darlington is all about patience; all about driver skill.  Darlington is all about the driver, separating the good from the great. Darlington is all about perseverance, for the crew chief, pit crew and driver. Darlington is all about tires, knowing when to save them and knowing when to use them. Darlington is all
about racing the track not the other drivers. And all of this is still true.

Race fans see the pilgrimage to Darlington Raceway as a must. She is the Motherland. It all began at Darlington Raceway. Darlington is all about history and tradition. Football has Lambeau Field, Baseball has Fenway Park, Golf has Augusta National and NASCAR has Darlington Raceway. For 59 years, the greatest and not so greatest of our sport's drivers strapped on their helmets and have raced at Darlington Raceway. I have expressed how every single great and not so great driver in our sport strapped on their helmet and raced on Labor Day Weekend in the Southern 500 for 54 years and should still be racing there on Labor Day weekend.  Darlington is one of the tracks all drivers want a win and the Southern 500 was the one race they all wanted to win. 
And all of this is still true.

I have repeatedly pointed out that before there was a California Speedway, there was Darlington Raceway. Before there was a Bristol Motor Speedway, there was Darlington Raceway.
Before there was even a Daytona International Speedway, there was Darlington Raceway. And there should always be NASCAR racing at Darlington Raceway and it should be on Labor Day Weekend.
And all of this is still true. But they don't race at Darlington Raceway on Labor day weekend and that’s life.   I have expressed in each article about how moving the Labor Day date just plain sucks.  And I still think it sucks but that’s life. 

My friend Brain wrote on our forums:
As much as I loved The Southern 500 on Labor Day, and would love to have it back..I know that it is NOT going to happen and have moved on. IMO others should do the same... Na$car does not want that "Southern Redneck" label on them anymore and this is a BIG step in achieving just that. Deal with it or move on,, can we PLEASE stop bitching about something that is obviously out of our control This was never about selling more tickets.. This was and is about changing the face of Na$car....you guys are the ones carrying that heavy grudge around on your backs not me...life is too short to have such animosity over a sporting event

And he is absolutely correct.  Life is too short to be upset about a simple sporting event.  Does that mean I am watching the California race this weekend? NO but not because of my boycott but because California is plain boring and I can’t see wasting my time.  But I also don’t waste my time on Chicagoland or Kansas.  I also only catch about the last 30 laps of Pocono, Michigan, and Texas.  In a 10 month stretch I lost 3 people I
loved and respected.  And if losing them taught
me anything it is that life is to short to be
wasting what time I have here on earth. And life
is way too short to devote my time to boring
racing. 

Will this mean that I will lift my boycott
of all ISC tracks except Darlington? NO but not
because of what they did to the Rock and the
Southern 500.  But because life is too short to
give any track my hard earned money that
doesn’t treat race fans right.

I am grateful that The Lady in Black that is Too
Tough to Tame is also, as another writer Pete
Iacobelli put it, "To Tough to Kill".  I am glad that we are still racing at Darlington Raceway once a year. It ain't Labor Day and it ain't two races a year but it sure is better than no races a year at Darlington.

I had this article written in my mind before the announcement that Atlanta was getting the Labor Day date. So I am grateful that next year I will be sitting in the sweltering heat on my birthday on Labor Day weekend watching a race.  And while it ain’t Darlington, it will do.  

Now if ya’ll will excuse me I need to load my gun and shoot the hell out of this dead horse one last time.  BANG... BANG... BANG...BANG... BANG... BANG...BANG... BANG... BANG...BANG... BANG... BANG...BANG... BANG... BANG...BANG... BANG... BANG...BANG... BANG... BANG...BANG... BANG... BANG...BANG... BANG... BANG...BANG... BANG... BANG...BANG... BANG... BANG...BANG... BANG... BANG!!!!!

Man I feel so much better!


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