A buddy of mine and I joke a lot when we talk about different shows on television, especially the ones where you see home videos of people doing foolish things. We always question if that person has any talent. Sometimes we even joke when someone hits the wall during a race and we joke that they had talent, but lost their talent right there.

One definition of talent is “a special natural ability or aptitude.” And sometimes I wonder if talent is really on display or is money in short track racing. I tend to think that money cannot hide talent, but it could boost that talent above it.

Let’s be honest, this is a money driven sport and that is on all levels. Short tracks do what they can to make different divisions affordable so they can get more participants competing each week. They basically put divisions that could cater to any income level.

Now in the past, I have harped on telling people to race what they can afford to race. On the other side, there are some who race in a division that they really don’t need to be racing in from an income level. These are the ones who have the money to compete at a higher level but don’t want to because they can easily win in the division they compete in. When this happens, we have boring racing, fans get bored and the entertainment is no longer there.

While someone may look like a talented driver in that division, it may be a case of the money boosting that talent. They are also the ones who try to push the envelope on the cost limits for that division simply because they have the resources they quietly try to increase put more expensive parts into their cars to get an advantage. Well, when that happens then everyone else needs to do the same just be able to compete and before you know it, some have priced themselves out of that division and we then run into the situation of seeing cars sitting in fields rather than in the pits.

One other thing I tend to see when you have competitors like this is a lack of respect. Sure, they have the funds to easily repair their cars every week if it gets wrecked every week. So, sometimes they tend to be a little more aggressive in their driving and take out someone who is less funded. The worse case scenario is that they not only hurt that one competitor but others that end up being victims.

This doesn’t show any talent, it shows ignorance. Ignorant on the fact, that you may have hurt the car count for the next week or the rest of the season and thus overall hurting your track and short track racing.

Fortunately, racing also has a family atmosphere where one competitor will bend over backwards to help their fellow competitor, or sponsors or part manufacturers step up to help as well. And it’s those people who put short track racing in the spotlight it deserves to be in. These are the talented people of the sport and these are the ones who want to help see it thrive and in this economy it is greatly appreciated.

The simple thing is this, use your head. Right now, we need your talent behind the wheel and are a smart driver. Short track racing doesn’t need you taking out other cars to where they can’t race.

We are a competitive and entertainment business. The competition you show on the track is what entertains the fans. They want to see great side-by-side racing and close finishes. They cringe when you hit the wall and they applaud when you win.

Let’s do this, at the end of the night let’s put your cars on the trailer with all four fenders in tact and the fans leaving saying to each other, “This place has some real talented drivers competing, and can’t wait to get back here next week.”