At about ten this morning, Saturday the 25th of April, after one goal had been scored in my son’s soccer game, everyone ran for cover from the rain, thunder and lightning threatening the event. We got lucky when, miraculously the clouds parted and his team went on to victory. In the back of my mind, and the minds of all racer’s and fan’s, the rest of the day was, ‘not looking good for racing tonight’. But, maybe my luck would hold out later. Every hour on the hour or more, I got a text from our publisher, phoned Berlin’s hot line, or checked MCT’s own Aaron Murphy’s weather updates on line. All of which are also invaluable to teams, tracks and fans alike. The out look, which began with only the southern part of Michiana getting canceled, showed the carnage spreading north. Driving to the track in the rain with so many cancellations reported and qualifying skipped, I still had hope. Track management had placed a ‘hold’, but no cancellation, an hour before racing was to start. I still had hope until I saw the ‘Event Canceled’ sign come out. After taking a picture of the empty, wet, lonely track, I smiled at how nature holds the final word to start your engines, and left. The car and I were wet; I was low on fuel and drained, wondering where everyone was. The car seemed to know, and took me to that place that is always near our favorite track. In Marne in the middle of town it’s called, what else: the Pit Stop Bar & Grill. I could have gone home, made some calls to drivers or had a drive to think for a story. In stead, I went to Berlin’s unofficial ‘service station’. Whether or not you’ve been there, you know the place. It has great food and drink, racing memorabilia everywhere, half a car on the wall, Budweiser, sunken pool pit, racing on the big screen, fans watching, and gracious hosts. Ilene Heible, a happy lady with a big smile who has owned the Pit Stop for the last fifteen years, admitted Berlin Raceway patrons are a staple of her business, when I spoke with her. She is another example of the far reaching spin-offs of the auto and racing industries. Her grill tonight is full of examples of people who work in and around those industries and would normally be at the race track, if not for the rain. At one table, a couple had dinner while their girls played video games (the guy was bummed); a card game between two couples, parents and their grown kids, at another. Long tables were pulled together for a large group of fans out for the night, next to a race team having a drink (dang ... could have been our night). Prospect Studio owner Zack Polk, next to me at the bar, talked of “the big one of ‘08”, a turn one pile up last season that nabbed most of the cars in the race, while a couple out on a date playing Keno and watching truck racing sat next to him nodding. Three or four men to a group were here and there, having a beer and race talkin’, just like the group of twenty-something’s in the corner. The same cross section of America from the stands, chatting and laughing, sulking and groaning, wishing the thunder had been of another sort. I’ve written, in the past, of rain as one of the quirks of sport that create anticipation, anxiety, and fun. On my usual drive around the ovals, as the locals call it, of Muskegon’s Pere Marquette Park on Lake Michigan, the rain continued late into the night. I did come up with the winners of tonight’s rain outs though; the families of teams and drivers who got a rare occasion, Saturday night at home.
