The old saying goes, “You can’t go home again.” Well, you can, but you just can’t stay.
Such was the case when we traveled back to my old stomping grounds, the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., for a ‘Wild West Tour’ event on July 15. I was the track announcer there for the 1983, ‘84 and ‘85 seasons under the guidance of NRC president and Grand Forks Hall of Famer Jim Corcoran. The facility, although aging as it will, is still how I remember it from the ‘80s, with the occasional facelift having been done and a coat of paint or two having been applied over the years.
Of all of the great racers who passed through the River Cities gates during my years as a regular there, one dirt Late Model driver remains racing at the speedway to this day. That driver is my good friend Tom Corcoran of East Grand Forks, Minn. – and it was great to see him during our visit there. It was also great to see RCS promoters and longtime friends Linus and Don Mack, who in their time were really great 410 Sprint Car drivers, and I enjoyed seeing all the great fans that turned out on a hot evening in the Red River Valley.
My old Sgt. from the Grand Forks Air Force Base (where I was stationed in the ‘80s), Maurice Stansbury, couldn’t attend as he and his wife Ellen were in the process of moving into their new house that they purchased outside of Grand Forks. It was, however, good to see them both as they were really busy with tearing old rooms apart and mowing grass in their giant farm-sized yard property, which we were able to visit following the racing program because we had a couple off-days before our next show.
Old memories can stay with you forever and always be there for you. But you can revisit some of those days gone by if you can live your Life As An Outlaw….
