Respect…The Big Ingredient to Racing Success

Last year, I got a birthday present that many wish they could have, that is to sit down and interview NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Mark Martin and Midwest short track legend Dave Watson.

Our discussion started out by talking about their days in racing. They would race 50-60 times a year with just one car, compared to teams having two, three, four, or more cars today.

“Well, one of the problems is they race so infrequently, they don’t know which one to take,” Watson said. “We would race 50-60-70 times a year and only had one car. So that is the amazing thing. We hear about it all the time. We have a big schedule. We are going to run Madison in 14 races this year. Heck, we ran 14 races on Labor Day Weekend.”

That comment caused both of the short track legends to chuckle a little, until Martin chimed in with a little secret of how he would travel from Batesville, Arkansas, to race with the Trickle, Shears, Watson, Weber, Detjens, and many others.

“Dave was established up here with what I consider the heroes of late model racing. When I got up here, and gosh, he knows more than I do,” Martin recalled. “When I got here, it was explained to me right quick how we race and this is how it’s done, and everyone respects that and there were no problems. I don’t remember giving or getting a tire mark from Dave, Joe Shear, Tom Reffner, Larry Detjens, or Mike Miller. I never remember getting a scratch. I raced a lot with Trickle and once or twice we did a little rubbing because the racing was pretty intense. We never tore stuff up. To see these cars get tore up after the race is over is really a crime. It’s one thing to tear a car up racing, it’s another when it’s over.”

Both then talked about how they feel that racing today is not racing but more of a show. Watson even said that if they got a tire mark it was simply because there was no more space on the track, and it was not done by running each other into the fence or the dirt.

Martin followed that up by talking about when he came up to race in Wisconsin. His main goal was to earn their respect. In fact, that was a paramount goal of his competing among the greats.

Part of gaining that respect was knowing the difference between a crash fest and a race.

“A crash fest is a different show. A race is a race. A crash fest can be entertaining to the casual race fan, but it isn’t a race. Real hard racing is where you are stunned by the craftsmanship of the drivers and the cars. You are just amazed.”

Watson compared who they were as drivers back then to the drivers many are seeing today. Maybe a little insight as to why they chose to race with the respect.

“Part of the respect, a certain percent of it was, Mark knew where the tires went, what shocks he wanted, which all of us were doing at that time.” Watson explained. “Now we walk around here and the kids are going…which car am I in? What is the car number? Oh, I am going to drive the blue one today. I’m sorry that doesn’t do a lot for me.”

With today’s social media, the word “clickbait” has become part of our vocabulary. In the spirit of the news mantra, “If it bleeds, it leads,” we are seeing more what some would say is disrespectful driving on the track.

Take out the other driver to gain a position. The bump and runs turn into a wreck. Drive another car right into the wall.

This isn’t auto racing. It’s a lack of respect.

I’m always curious of how many people watch these videos of people wrecking each other during and after the race of who is going to fix their cars? Who is going to pay for the new body panels? Or who will pay for the damage to the chassis, motor, suspension, or even to the driver?

Ask any driver or race team that a good night for them is to load up the car the same way they unloaded it. Because it means they don’t have to spend extra time and labor to get it back to the way it was loaded up from the shop in the first place.

Do you watch those videos on social media thinking that is the greatest thing you ever seen and give it a like? Or do you watch those videos and give an angry face emoji?

There seems to be a lack of respect out on the tracks and it gets highlighted on social media.

For me, I would rather watch two drivers go side-by-side for a photo finish.

Would you rather see a video of a car, beautifully made by a group of family and friends to race on the track, get junked up in a matter of seconds and think that was awesome? Or would you rather see two drivers race side-by-side for 50 laps and not touch each other the whole time?

Not sure how you feel, but I would rather be on the edge of my seat watching a close race in 2012 when Dan Fredrickson and Jonathan Eilen actually did go side-by-side in the final 50 laps in an ASA Midwest Tour race at State Park Speedway in Wausau, Wisconsin.

To me, I will remember more about that race than I would with the silly shenanigans of watching a race break out into a demo derby in the infield.

It’s obvious which one got my thumbs up on social media.