"Wilcox, Stewart & Van Luven" Lions Drag Strip Courtesy of WDIFL.com

I don't like flying anymore. Actually, I never really liked it very much prior to September 11th, but now, it's simply appalling. It's not that I'm against increasing security but do they really think they are going to catch some idiot bringing a bomb on board? While the airlines are busy frisking their paying customers at the gate looking for nail clippers, they are still hiring people with minimal security screening, to load the baggage into the plane. This makes good sense to me.

Flying just isn't any fun anymore.

It wasn't always that way. The first time I was ever in an airplane was when I was 12 years old. My parents were visiting a relative living in Bakersfield, CA. If you've ever been to Bakersfield, you know how flat it is. Great place to raise onions, though.

So, I'm sitting on a fence in this big onion field watching this old guy trying to start his ancient two wing bi-plane crop duster. The big propeller on the radial engine would turn a couple of revolutions, cough a few times, belch out some smoke, and quit. This process went on for about 10 or 15 minutes. Finally, the engine caught and actually continued to run for a while, though not very smoothly. The "pilot" motioned me over to the plane. He sat in the second of the two open cockpits. With all the noise from the engine, I had to get really close to hear what he was saying.

"Get in", was what he said.

Like a fool, I climbed up on the lower wing and into the front cockpit. Just as I got my second leg inside, the plane started to roll. The first thing I noticed was that there was no seat, just a cylindrical metal tank (like an enlarged "Moon" tank for all you older guys) that held the crop dusting chemicals. Since there was no seat, there was also no seat belt. These discoveries came too late, as we were already in the air.

I straddled the metal tank like I was riding a small horse, and grabbed hold of the framework of that damned plane so hard that my fingerprints are probably still there. Of course, within a minute or so, the pilot demonstrated to me that centrifugal force could keep me from falling out (no seat belt, remember) while he flew upside down loops. This was my first experience at air travel.

Scared the living you know what out of me, but WOW, that was fun.

I'm an adult now and air travel isn't fun anymore. It's just inconvenient, plus crappy food, crappy attitude and crappy looking "cabin attendants" (I don't care; they are still stewardesses as far as I'm concerned, even the males.)

OK, I don't even know why I went into all that. It has nothing to do with drag racing, does it?

I remember drag racing when it was a lot more fun, too. I remember the first time I was standing next to a dragster in the pits. The engine was running. I think that it was a big Oldsmobile V-8 with a 6-71 GMC blower, six Stromberg 97's on top and "weed burner" headers. The driver kept winging the throttle. Man, that was cool. The "crew" (one guy) was also the guy that drove the pick-up push truck (a big piece of wood was bolted to the front bumper). I hung around that team all day, watching everything they did, my eyes as big around as saucers. At the end of the day I helped them push the car up on the trailer (open flat bed, single axle). I can still remember clearly what a great day that was and how much fun I had.

How many of you reading this can remember the very first time you ever went to a drag race, and the shear excitement and fun of it? What a great feeling, right?

When is the last time you went to the drags and had that same exciting feeling? Not in awhile possibly? Maybe it's because the "newness" of it all is gone. But for many racers it could be that they are so focused on the "money" issues of drag racing (expenses, cost of parts, payouts, contingencies, etc.) that they lost site of why they got into drag racing in the first place.

Sometimes it seems that all I hear or read on website message boards today (especially the Mustang related boards) from many drag racers is about the "money". What's going on out there? Nobody in their right mind would ever mess around with this sport and not expect to blow way too much money. Even breaking even is not an option. A serious coke habit is probably less expensive.

Maybe it's just me but I get a little tired of hearing or reading about how expensive drag racing is or "all the problems" with drag racing, class rules, sanctioning bodies, the condition of one lane or the other, problems with contingency payments, rain-outs, tech inspectors and all the other stuff. Am I the only one who seems to feel this way? If I am, please accept my apologies in advance.

If September 11th reminded us of anything at all, it is that our time here on this earth is limited. If we are going to invest our money, time and energy in something as silly as drag racing, it sure makes sense to get some fun out of it, doesn't it?

My commitment to myself this season is to have a great time at every drag event I attend. Having "fun" is the key word for 2002. So, if you want to share with me all your problems in the drag racing world………..please don't. I'm not listening.

Now, if only flying could be more fun again. What ever happened to the girls (a politically incorrect word I suspect) in the hot pants?