Despite the fact that the Internet is my medium, I remain a newspaper fan. It was really neat to pick up the Bakersfield Californian Saturday morning and see a picture of a couple of Top Fuel cars above the fold on the front page of the paper, then go inside and find a whole page of words and photos about Friday’s race. Ditto for the Sunday paper.

Gary Densham was another NHRA regular who is at the race as a spectator. He told me he wasn’t making the trip to Gainesville because he doesn’t have a sponsor or the money to make the tow. He also told me that it had become so expensive to run a “big show” nitro car that he couldn’t even afford to take match race dates. The cost of competing at the big show is just prohibitive.

The economy doesn’t seem to be an issue at the March Meet as they reportedly have way over the 500 entries they said they was going to be the max amount of cars. According to the staff they are parking race cars in places they have never parked them before.

After four days here at Bakersfield the old (64 on Mar. 7) Burkster is getting a little fatigued. Darr Hawthorne and I have been getting up at 6:00 AM every day to go to the track so we wouldn’t miss anything. This morning as I was creaking and clanking around the motel room when it suddenly occurred to me that this is what I used to do when I first starting going to Indy back in 1975 (minus the creaking and clanking).

Then I realized that Bakersfield is exactly what the U.S. Nationals used to be. Racers would pay to race and didn’t give a damn what it paid to win. They wanted that “Wally” from Indy and didn’t care what it cost. They’d take a second mortgage on the house or the car to get the money to attend. The fans and racers camped out or slept in their cars (I camped out).

Indy has lost that kind of raw appeal to racers and fans. The campgrounds have been organized and sanitized for your protection. You need to know the secret handshake to get past the ropes and into someone’s pit. Teams spend more money funding and staffing their freakin’ hospitality area than they do on the cars. That’s not the deal at Bakersfield. This event is about racing, socializing, spectating, drinking beer, eating $5.00 cheeseburgers … and so much more.

Bakersfield and the March Meet remain an iconic race for the fans and racers alike. It’s not that they want to come -- they have to. I’m just sorry it took me 50 years to attend this race. It has recharged my batteries and reminded me why I love this sport so much. I’ll be back!