by Gary Erdakos

Well it’s that time of year again. Quite depressing.

No. Not the end of the Holiday Season or time for another withdrawal from the lifespan bank account.

I’m talking about the guy’s version of post-partem depression – the end of the racing season. For me it’s a double whammy. As the Nascar season ends, so does the grass cutting season. Mowing the “lawn” (I use that term loosely) is my other simple pleasure. It’s a time I can sit and listen to the radio or my “special” tapes. During the rest of the week, life gets in the way of paying attention to music, as opposed to when you’re 20 when music gets in the way of life – or is your life. How else can you explain the Top 10?

As of this writing there are 48 days and 19 hours until the Daytona 500.

In the interim, I savor the Nascar Awards Banquet, my role in the movie “3”, (if only extras got royalties) and the Lowe’s Motor Speedway Big Blow-Out Sale. Every year without expectation I look for just one item of racing memorabilia. I’m not sure it even exists, but I make the pilgrimage to LMS in search of the Holy Grail but expecting to spend maybe $5.00 on something I don’t really want but can’t pass up. Unfortunately, this year there were 4 such “steals”. My last stop on souvenir road turned out to be Mecca. There, alone on the counter, protected by an acrylic ark of the covenant, was my “Red Ryder Rifle” -  the 1988 Bobby Allison Miller High Life Buick Regal perfectly detailed in 1:24 scale. Miracle? Providence? You be the judge. If I had arrived 9 seconds later, the guy behind me would have snatched it up. As I said earlier, I was planning to spend maybe $5.00. The ATM spits out a minimum of $40.00. At this point I had $20.00 remaining. Trying to hide my eagerness and calling upon the acting “skills” I acquired during filming of the  made-for-ESPN movie, I nonchalantly asked “How much for the Miller car?” You guessed it. $20.00. Done deal. Coincidence?