Editor's Notebook Archive

A Sixties Kind of Guy, February 2000

It's the dead of Winter here in Thunder Valley. Snow covers the hillsides that slope into the Valley and icicles hang from the abutment of the Billy Mitchell Bridge. We stand at the apex of Canada Corner and listen for the warming sounds of race engines at full throttle. Daytona and Sebring are far away, much too far.

I'm a sixties kind of guy. I know that. It dates me. I know that. I've been part of the action on behalf of numberless causes, for the rights of people of color, of welfare mothers, of young people, of the homeless, of seniors. Sometimes a local leader, mostly a marcher. My reasons for being involved are many and convoluted. Some are personal. Some are historical. Some are a matter of chance.

But I also know and greatly value individual achievement and the sense of pride that follows personal accomplishment. The first African-American, for instance, elected to a particular office wants to be known as the best person for the job, not the best African-American person available.

So, what does this have to do with standing on the edge of a frozen race track, straining for the sound and the smell of auto racing? Thunder Valley Racing, my Thunder Valley and your Thunder Valley, rides the tension between the need for affirmative action and the intense competitive nature of race car drivers.

And yet, there are issues, there are problems, there are barriers to success for women in racing that don't exist for men or are less severe for men. The issue of sponsorship is a major concern. Acceptance at the track is a lessening concern, but still a concern. A community of empathetic peers with whom to share success and lament failure is an ever present need. Finding a racing suit that fits is no small problem for many.

Thunder Valley Racing is dedicated to addressing those issues without denigrating the importance of individual achievement. We believe that a rising tide lifts all boats, that drafting is a good way to move to the front, that in togetherness there is strength, that there is no 'I' in Thunder Valley (even though the 'I' is very much present in 'racing').

I'm a sixties kind of guy who feels at home at the turn of the century. Thunder Valley Racing is a sixties kind of place that is every bit as much needed at the beginning of the new century as in the middle of the old.

--T.W.

To send a letter to the editor, email to tw@thunval.com

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