My 6-year old daughter Camryn had her first dance recital on Saturday.
I cried 10 times before it started.
It really is amazing what age and perspective brings to a man.
Perhaps it is some sort of a weird midlife crisis, but I was all choked up on Friday night too.
…Over a freaking sprint car race.
Rocking my 20-month old to sleep while watching DirtVision (because who doesn’t do that in 2021?), once the ultimate villain of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, Donny Schatz, went to victory lane for the 300th time in his career.
What’s even more amazing than this feat is the fact that I was cheering for him!
“Wait, what?”, say my friends on the backstretch at the Knoxville Raceway who have watched my immature, overly Busch Light served self booing Schatz all of those years while he dominated the sport’s top prize.
Schatz won in the series’ first ever trip to Dubuque. He got choked up after the race. Then DirtVision attempted to interview his dad (Mr. Schatz wasn’t much of a public speaker).
All the feels were had. Old man Schatz got to me me.
It isn’t the first time this has happened.
Late in Jimmie Johnson’s career, I found myself hoping that boring driver of the iconic Rick Hendrick 48 car (he really was super boring) could find the win column one last time.
I felt the same way the last year of Jeff Gordon’s career.
I don’t cheer for Lewis Hamilton in F1, but damnit I respect the consistency that Mercedes brings each and every year.
How is Billy Moyer still racking up top 10’s against the best in the world?
Longevity is really what it comes down to for me.
I am 36, about to be 37. I have two kids, multiple jobs and with every waking day, it is harder and harder to wake up and want to kick ass.
A guy like Donny Schatz has been doing this for damn near three decades!
I never had a problem with him personally. I just didn’t like the fact that he was so good at his craft. How ridiculous is that?
Well that’s racing, and motorsports are better with a bad guy. By my experience at least, things always seem to come back around.
I am happy for the No. 15 team and who knows, I might even be rooting for Schatz when the Nationals come around in August.
