As a kid in the late sixties, I lived in central Illinois. I went to the Nationals every year, but grew to love the short tracks. We would go to Paris or Charleston Illinois, for the 1/8th mile digs, and there was also the 1/5th mile in Terra Haute Indiana.

Even though the tracks were short, the cars ran steep gears and big tires, so the real action was on the bottom end of the track. Even sitting near the starting line you could easily see the whole race. Gassers, Altereds, Pro Stocks, SupeStocks, and early funnycars were the main racing attraction, though we would get a fueler or two. We saw many name touring racers, jets, the Chuck Wagon, L.A. Dart, Nicholson, Jenkins, Sox, and even Willy Borsche ran there... and crashed!

It was a great time, partly because the racers could not use power to save them from a bad start. It was "sudden death" if you weren't out on time! I miss those days.