Briz, first of all I want to apologize for taking out on you my own personal frustrations. I want to convey to you what I think most of us feel about the information on the future of all of our's beloved Salt Flats that has come to light in the past two weeks.
We all may never set foot on the Salt Flats again. Some are nearing the end of their time on this Earth. We have lost many long time Racers in the last year. Some like You or I may have every nickel to our Name invested in our Race Vehicles which we may never have a place to take them again. Some were about to Race for the First Time ever. But one thing is consistent throughout our Sport. We are all heartsick when tragedy strikes another Racer through injury, death, or just plain bad luck. The difference this time is that this tragedy is real, and it has struck each and every one of us.
No one wants to quit. The thing that sets us apart from most people is that every one of us has had to deal with some sort of adversity or failure out of our own control either building or driving our racers. Perhaps the motor pukes on the first pass. You suck it up, go back home and fix it for next year. That's life, and very few of us (You and I included) won't quit until our last breath. Most of us will do what ever We can to fight this battle to save the Salt Flats but the odds are not currently in our favor.
Very few Land Speed Racers are wealthy and I don't imagine You are either. What all of us share is our commitment to risk everything We own, including our lives to follow our dreams. I spent most of the past eight hours stewing over my previous rant. I felt terrible and still do about aiming my frustration at you, and the only thing I would change looking back is to have made the same rant with the Headline: To everyone.
I kept thinking about guys from all corners of the Earth that have been building their racers over many years unable to proceed any faster than they could afford. And now we over the last two weeks discover that without a miracle from Mother Nature that Good Old Corporate America may soon finish off their fifty year destruction of our beloved Salt Flats.
In the case of the four wheel race vehicles and I am sure even many of the Bikes, Most are special purpose built and probably now or soon junk. Sure, we still will have the running gear, but Here in the States, used Race equipment in excellent shape is usually worth fifty cents on a dollar, tops.
My anger was not actually with you, it was more my own realization that my lifelong dream may be over, but as they say, I'll always have the memories (and this one won't be a very good one).
I could go on and on but suffice to say I let my frustrations and personal emotions get the better of my judgement.
As stupid as this sounds, I hope all of You folks from abroad Can find someway to make the best of your visit and buy a Lottery Ticket, hopefully you will win and be back.
With deepest apologies, Bob Drury
