Bring Back Saturday Night Thunder
ByIt's Saturday night. All across this great country of ours some of the finest drivers are showcasing their talent on the dirt and asphalt bullrings that are the foundations of American auto racing.
And what is SPEED TV broadcasting right now? A Figure 8 Trailer Demolition Derby. Pick-up trucks driving trailers of boats or campers in a figure-8 configuration trying to beat the hell out of each other until there's one truck left standing.
Now I understand that the scheduled NASCAR Truck race was rained out and SPEED needs to fill the air time with taped programs, but why in God's name did they even film this crap to begin with? For a network that is supposed to be centered on motorsports you'd think they could have a little more emphasis on grassroots short-track racing. I'm sure at the top of the hour they'll move on to the 965th episode of "PINKS All Out".
Back when I was a kid (heh) ESPN had a show called "Saturday Night Thunder" and, quite frankly, it was some of the best televised motorsports I've ever seen: non-winged USAC sprints and midgets from daunting Midwestern tracks like Winchester, Salem, and of course Indianapolis Raceway Park. It'd be nice if a network would pick up where ESPN left off. We could use some solid, Saturday night short track racing... something to fill the void when we can't make it out to the track ourselves.
3 Comments
May 23rd, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I remember that series as the best car racing on TV. It was nice to watch drivers who could talk without a sponsored drink in their hand, or showing off their sponsored sun glasses, and who raced for the fun of racing–who often had to work for a living and knew themselves how to fix a car.
My favorite memories were when Page Jones would be starting from the rear with a poor handling car. He was wild working his way to the front.
That was Great racing.
I miss the grass roots racing and hate the staged TV competitions they air now in its place.
May 23rd, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Hi Jim,
I agree… I used to love watching Saturday Night Thunder. And it’s too bad to hear that Larry Rice just passed away. He was great with Gary Lee and Dave Despain. They just had a real, fun, racey show.
June 25th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I heard Gary Lee announcing last week at a track in northvernon Indiana. He announces for a midget racing series called midwest tqs. It was a lot like old times. He is one of the best.