From 410 Sprint Car Racing to Netflix Binges

As we get up this Sunday morning, it’s Easter Sunday….and last night we spent the night watching three episodes of The Blacklist on Netflix.  Last year, on the night before Easter, we were at Lincoln and pulled into the driveway here in Johnstown at 4 in the morning.  Strange times anymore as we embrace all the changes from the COVID-19 pandemic.  The smell of spring isn’t always flowers for us, it’s cool nights at the race track with our friends smelling the alcohol burning…hearing those 410 motors for the first time in months.  Spring is finally loading the car into the trailer and spending our weekends at the track. 

The feeling of spring is here but there are no cars getting loading into a trailer and there is no sound of the motor running.  We sometimes feel like anything that gives us excitement has all of a sudden been taken away….just like that.

 The beginning of March many nights spent in the garage and many phone calls getting prepared for the Test and Tune at Bedford Speedway on the 29^th.  Thrashing…making sure we had everything in place.  The excitement was in the air, the merchandise for 2020 had been finalized and was scheduled to be on our doorstep by the 3^rd week of March.  We couldn’t WAIT, race season was almost among us.  We watched the All Stars, the Outlaws starting their season and that feeling….it was there. 

After those nights in the garage, the news would be on and you’d hear the grumblings of this Corona virus, shrug it off like most things you hear in the news.  As the days went on, that’s all you would hear about and you start questioning the seriousness.   Soon after that, school was postponed for 2 weeks….then non-essential businesses were closing and you find yourself heading to the grocery store to start hunkering down in your house for a few weeks.  What does that  mean for racing?  As the days continue, more businesses are being shut down and the economy is crashing but still a small sense of hope when Lincoln and Port still run their races in March.  Not long after, we get the news that now the tracks are shutting down per the government guidelines.  Anger, fear, uncertainty, disappointment have now taken over that “spring excitement” feeling.  What do we do now?  Hunker down and wait it out…..life as we know it has changed indefinitely.  The car hasn’t come out of the garage, we have boxes of merchandise sitting in the spare room, and not much else to do to prepare for the season until we know when and where we are going. 

As we approach a month now of social distancing and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, we are missing our fans, our racetracks and most importantly our feeling of passion but if anything, this time away, is building more excitement and more passion to make 2020 the best short season possible.  Having to take a step back from the things we are most passionate about makes us realize that even with the lows of the season, we would still take the rollercoaster ride over sitting at home watching The Blacklist on Netflix.  Being in this sport for a lifetime, sitting on the couch and staying home is quite the opposite of what we know.  Sitting still has never been a strong suit as many can relate.   iRacing has been cool to see on FS1 and something awesome to see for the sport, but to us, it still doesn’t get our hearts pumping like the real thing.   

We hope everyone is staying safe and staying healthy!  Our merchandise is up on the site so check it out for now.  We have DSR Tumblers available and will get stickers available online soon! 

Link to DSR Tumblers ⬇️ use code FREESHIP for Free Shipping. 

https://liveinspiredapparel.com/collections/accessories/products/dsr-tumbler

Title Photo Credit - Rick Rarer (SprintCarNews.com)