Racefans do yourself a favor

[OldSchool+]

Absolutely correct.

It is unclear who really were the good & who were the bad guys during prohibition (the revenuers ran Robert Mitchum through the nails on his last run, for instance).

And then there was the "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" Cup sponsorship thing.

They are legal, but deadly, and a stimulant. And they handed them out by the truckload at the races.

IMO, the confusion is trying to assume that "legal" is the same as "morally correct".

And although the laws change and the customs change, thankfully The Rule Book and true morals do not.

Y'all come back now, y'heah?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ukOA994JzA

[OldSchool+]

ps--I used to know an old boy from Kentucky in the 80's, and "dry" (that is, alcohol is illegal) counties still existed.

Why? Because moonshine is still profitable. According to Charlie, the moonshiners were, let's say, making contributions to the politicians to keep it that way so they could sell their stuff as one could not get Busch beer at the 7/11.

And 2018?

https://abc.ky.gov/Local-Information...Map%206-17.pdf

[jacko241]

ps--I used to know an old boy from Kentucky in the 80's, and "dry" (that is, alcohol is illegal) counties still existed.

Why? Because moonshine is still profitable. According to Charlie, the moonshiners were, let's say, making contributions to the politicians to keep it that way so they could sell their stuff as one could not get Busch beer at the 7/11.

And 2018?

https://abc.ky.gov/Local-Information...Map%206-17.pdf

When I raced at Road Atlanta in the '80s, we would have to drive to the next county to buy beer. It was funny when we walked into the country stores in Braselton, and ask where they kept the beer. The little old ladies looked at us like we were the devil!

[shorttrackcar1]

Well Mark I have known a few guys who drank a lot more then they should . Most still alive . The friends I had that got caught up on illlegal drug coke ,meth etc . couldn’t stop or control it most of them are dead or living on the streets . Lost everything they had family money . No where near the same .

[OldSchool+]

Seems like today's crowd goes for stronger stuff and tolerates it less well than the hippie generation.

But from what the big boys tell me, it's hard to OD on cannabis (Gary's deal...anyone remember Balough?).

Have an old friend who drinks too much, but says funny things from time to time.

One of his witticisms: "Stupid people give drugs a bad name, man".

I cannot argue with that.

[Mark Keeler]

And I have several family members who literally drank themselves to death and yet still no a few who smoke weed to this very day. Touché I guess. The point is alcohol is a drug. Whether the government deems it legal or. It. Same with cannabis.

So to say you can’t compare moonshiners to weed dealers is one of the most asanine things I’ve read on this board. (And that’s saying a lot)

As for the “tax evasion” argument that was made earlier, that actually made me laugh out loud. If that is at the root of someone not “giving a dime” to Gary Balough then I would again argue that I hope you ask for the tax returns and books for every racetrack, souvenir trailer, food vendor, etc. that you give business to. AGAIN, NOT ALL ARE BAD, but there are plenty out there cheating the government out of every dime possible. Hell who is our President right now? (just had to throw that one in there. Although I’m sure that will now turn this into an argument about how bad Obama was since that seems to be the most popular defense for anything Trump does/doesn’t do.)

As for Old Schools point, I grew up less than 15 miles outside of Boston in a completely Dry town. When I left there in ‘94 it was still dry. I understand only recently they have started to allow alcohol sales. But weed is 100% legal in MA for recreational use. Scratch your head on that one!

[zerofor]

Westerville Ohio,a northern suburb of Columbus is still a dry town to this day as far as I know.There was an old dug well on our property south of Columbus that an old guy my wife knew said had a still next to it and the operators paid him to carry water when he was a young kid (we would have been talking early 1920s probably).Now they are working on legalization of marijuana in Ohio and one of the applications for a grow facilities permit came from a entity using a location close to where I lived on a road named,,,,get a load of this now no kidding I know the road....Seeds road.

[OldSchool+]

"...Who is our President right now? (just had to throw that one in there. Although I’m sure that will now turn this into an argument about how bad Obama was since that seems to be the most popular defense for anything Trump does/doesn’t do.)"--Mark Keeler

Ya did bring it up...

Let's see, personal responsibility is a rare thing for one to possess these days, but divvying up the shee-ite from the shinola goes as follows (imo only):

>Trump "maximizes" his tax liabilities. I have no quarrel with that. So do I.

>Trump's achievements stand on their own. IMO, the guy has never held office, and has both parties and all three branches of gubment militantly against him. And the media? Another really above board bunch.
He is doing much better than I had guessed he would, against greater odds than I thought he would face.

>And Obama? A disaster on any and every front that makes Jimmie Carter look almost bright.

And those two assessments have nothing to do with each other.

[Mark Keeler]

Bottom line, if you hate the man then just say that. Plain and simple, cut and dry. . There’s no harm in simply stating it. But unfortunately everyone feels the need to try and quantify everything and by doing so delegitamizes their whole argument. I learned a long time ago that “explaining is losing”.

My understanding of the book is that it is primarily about his racing, innovation, “outside the box” way of looking at the sport and how to gain an edge, etc. but at the same time he does not try to deny or mislead anyone about what happened and what he was doing. Personally I would rather read that than an account that just praises him for the good and ignores the bad.

Can’t wait to read it.

[OldSchool+]

Word.

[jacko241]

So I started reading Gary's book. It is starting off very interesting, and I like the style it is written in. Long time stock car writer Bones Bourcier helped him write it. He does say he will offer some explanations, but no apologies. He feels like the time he served in prison paid his dues.

[OldSchool+]

Thanks for the initial objective take, Jacko. I always liked Bone's stuff.

"Sounds like a real arrogant bastard to me."--'Pounder

"Now that's funny right there."--Larry the Cable Guy

"[Gary's] maker will be the true judge."--GPII

True dat. And mine. But good deeds will not get you in The Big Back Gate in the Sky, nor will bad deeds keep you out.

Only one rule in The Rulebook. A sincere commitment to The Winning Team. I am trying to stay legal.

[OldSchool+]

And "Groundpounders" last few posts done disappeared for one reason or another.

Still, there were a few quotes taken from them before they went missing that were used for a good cause, so all is not "lost"...

[jacko241]

OS, if you want to read it when I am done, I will ship it to you. That way we won't have to give Gary any more money.

[Boneman]

We are on the verge of having an intelligent discussion here on KARNAC. so I'll keep it juvenile.

Here is a picture I found of groundpounder and shorttrackcar: two guys on the sidelines who are lecturing us about a book they did not read.