Last Sunday I was one of the millions of Americans who planted their asses on the couch upon waking up Sunday morning and didn’t leave until nearly midnight, watching different forms of racing all day. Truth be told I enjoyed all three races for what they were. The Formula One race in Monaco is cool because it is all ritzy, glamorous, and historical being run on virtually the same course it has been on since the late 1920s. I enjoy the Indy 500 for the sheer spectacle and history of it. Seeing Tony Kanaan take the checkered flag under yellow after making a gutsy move on a late race restart was neat. The stock car race from Charlotte was one of the longest on record with delays from falling TV camera cables, countless crashes, and other stuff but I persevered and made it until the end despite my distinct lack of beer remaining in the fridge. Oh, the things we do for love.

As I was watching all of this stuff, especially the Indy 500, it struck me that there are virtually no races that I would plant under the “all or nothing” category any more. That was the spirit which defined the Indy 500 for decades and made it the four wheel equivalent of the space program before such a thing existed. Creative cars like the one featured in the lead photo of this item (Yunick’s famed “pod car”) were the norm. Every year for ages someone would show up with something out of left field. Sometimes the idea worked like in the case of the Novi turbine cars (yeah, they didn’t win but were good enough to contend!), sometimes the idea killed someone like Mickey Thompson’s machine that surrounded Dave MacDonald with fuel and erupted when struck by Eddie Sachs (who also passed from injuries sustained in the wreck). The reasons for both the successful and non-successful entries were one in the same….Indy was an all or nothing proposal. Show up with your best shot and lay that son of a bitch on someone’s chin before they do it to you. The racing world has but precious few events that invoke anything near this type of spirit anymore, but they are there.

Four that leap to mind are (of course) Bonneville, King of the Hammers, the Pikes Peak hill climb and the Isle of Man TT. Both Bonneville and King of the Hammers feature amazingly creative machinery largely fabricated from scratch by the teams competing with it. The same can be said for the majority of Pikes Peak racers, although there are always a few factory teams sprinkled in. All three events exist on their own and not as part of some “series” to have their value watered down or their importance diminished. I included the Isle of Man TT because it too is an event free and clear of the dreaded “series” influence that makes everything “just another event”. Sure, the guys race hot rodded production bikes at Isle of Man, but this thing is probably the single deadliest annual racing event still in existence. In fact, as I write this on Tuesday it has been announced that a Japanese rider met his end during a qualifying session just today. While that really stinks, it won’t stop the race, slow the event, or cause it to be cancelled. There’s no one in a luxury box making a call to their legal team. I don’t want to sound crass or to diminish the life of the rider involved, but he was there and he knew the risks and the scores of victims the amazing course has tallied over the years. His bravery along with the bravery of those that take their homebuilt iron to speeds previously unknown at Bonneville or bash their brains in over the unforgiving desert and rocks of Johnson Valley at King of the Hammers is to be commended and celebrated in today’s world.

So getting back to my original point, the racing world was previously full of races that competitors viewed and prepared for as all or nothing events. It wasn’t about plotting a course to visit 20 race tracks in a season, make 300 celebrity guest appearances, film 14 commercials, and swap out 13 hats each weekend in the winner’s circle, it was about taking your ideas, your plan, and your gumption, pouring it all into one car and making that one car better than anyone else’s for an event. Yes, there were traveling pros, but they were the extreme exception to the rule.

On a grassroots level there are several great “all or nothing” events that have come to be in the last couple of decades. The One Lap of America, Hot Rod Magazine Drag Week, The Diesel Power Challenge, The Top Truck Challenge, and several more have become things that regular guys look at, study, and build specific cars or trucks to compete with. As all of the events listed are multi-faceted, the direction and approach of the builders play heavily into their success or failure. I have seen it cut both ways and that is what makes such competition so compelling. It is what also makes such competition so expensive.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans, US Nationals, and virtually every other big name race in the world has been reduced to just another bus stop on a yearly tour of them. The racers all say the right thing about how “important” such events are and how a win at one can “make a career” but the fact is that the thrill is gone and it ain’t coming back. No one at the casino gives a shit about the $5 tables. It is high stakes poker that draws a crowd and gets people all riled up. The enthusiasm for Bonneville, Pike Peak, the King of the Hammers, and Isle of Man TT lies largely in the fact that they stand as islands of awesome above the hum drum drone of series racing. Racers have one chance per year to show up with their best stuff and shine. There is no next week at Bonneville. There’s next year and we all know the amount of crap that can go sideways over 365 days leaving you with the possibility of never getting back there again. That’s pressure. That’s intense. That’s the anthesis of a 23+ race season.

Rather than cry about what’s gone, let’s celebrate and encourage what’s here. Pay attention to these events (and suggest others below!) that truly define the pure spirit of racing and competition. There’s a lot of neat stuff going on out there outside of the traditional channels. I always feel that it is my BangShift duty to keep my nose shoved into as much of it as possible. I hope you feel the same way.  The hero drivers, builders, and tireless crewmen deserve our support and admiration. In all or nothing type competition, lots more leave with nothing than they do with all.