To fully appreciate my relationship with this beautiful West Central Florida quarter-mile facility , we must first go back a few decades to the timeframe of the late 1980s and early 1990s . When I was a teenager growing up in my native North Carolina , I used to walk to the corner store and buy drag racing magazines during the off-season , just so I could feel somewhat connected in the dead of winter . Previously , I never gave much thought to the racing scene outside of my local area , so I guess that ’ s why it was so fascinating when I learned of the happenings in Florida during the winter . I soon realized the term “ off-season ” didn ’ t really apply down in the Sunshine State , and in fact , Bradenton ’ s legendary Outlaw Snowbird Nationals is famously held each year on the first weekend of December . Where I come from , the only race that takes place in December is when we all make a mad dash to the store for milk and bread if there happens to be a light dusting of snow in the forecast !

Nevertheless , it was the timehonored power of print media that spurred a fascination with Bradenton all those years ago . The real clincher was when sometime around 1991 I read this exciting write-up about how Ed Hoover won “ The Snowbirds .” Hoover was ( and is ) a hero of mine from the local Quick 8 scene of the Carolinas ,

and to read about how he won this ultra-cool race in December many miles away made me realize right then and there that I must visit this magical place ! Well , it took me roughly 16 years to actually make the trip , so understandably my anticipation had been building . When I drove through the gates of Bradenton in December 2009 it was just as I had imagined it in my dreams : Sunshine , short sleeves , palm trees swaying in the warm breeze and , of course , race car haulers that lined the pits for as far as the eye could see !

Longtime track official Dave Lansbury was the first BMP dignitary I met . He showed me around the facility , then introduced to me to the rest of the gang . In addition to Dave , I interviewed co-owners

Alan Chervitz and Todd Dickenson , along with longtime tower coordinator Laurie Johnson . They each told me their best Snowbirds memories from decades past and I , of course , echoed how I used to daydream about this event when I was a kid . The conversation was pretty surreal , actually . Little did I know that I ’ d be getting my first taste of “ the curse ” in less than 24 hours .

The following morning in Bradenton seemed just as glorious as the first , but in the early afternoon

a distant storm was developing . Trouble was , it wasn ’ t going to be distant for long . I was in disbelief as I watched this lowhanging mass of frightening , black clouds heading straight for the track ! When I say it rained hard , I mean it rained exceptionally hard , and soon a flash flood ensued and before I knew what happened the event was effectively cancelled , and I was driving back home feeling all kinds of disappointed .

Not to be deterred , I was determined to give this another go in 2010 . This time around , though , I contracted food poisoning and nearly died alone in a Motel 6 right there in Bradenton ! Thankfully , I lived to tell the tale , although I ’ ll omit the horrid details of my sickness ! Fastforward to the Snowbirds of 2011

and amazingly I ’ ve got this bright idea that I ’ m going back for more ! I dropped a note to Dave Lansbury requesting media credentials . “ You ’ re a brave man !” he wrote back . We had a good laugh , although I was secretly fearing for my life if I attempted this trip one more time ! Somewhere in the middle of all this I also broke down on the highway one January evening as I journeyed to Palm Beach Raceway for the winter bracket series . It seemed as though the curse had somehow been

upgraded to a state-wide warning that I should stay out of Florida altogether ! I can truly laugh about it now , because those early perils are long gone and I ’ ve enjoyed many Snowbird events without incident , including the most recent running of the 2016 gathering .

My fun-filled Bradenton adventures go far beyond the Snowbirds , though . A couple years ago , I was sitting at home when I glanced at the forecast and realized that some sort of “ polar vortex ” was heading straight for North Carolina , with threats of snow and ice and a high of , say , 10 degrees . I knew I must leave town while the getting was good , so I threw some things together ( short sleeves , short pants and sunblock ) and made a spur-of-the-moment trip to Bradenton to attend the Southern Nostalgia and Muscle Car shootout . It was an awesome event , and a worthwhile cause to escape the wrath of winter ! Then there ’ s the action-packed U . S . Street Nationals held in late January each and every year . Oftentimes I close out the season with a December trip to the Snowbirds , then start up again right back at Bradenton the following month . It ’ s a beautiful pattern to follow .

Just north of Bradenton , in the historic town of Saint Petersburg , is where I fell in love with Greyhound racing at Derby Lane , which is remarkably the oldest continually operated Greyhound track in the world , dating back to 1925 ! All things considered , the older I get the more I gravitate toward Florida , which is only the natural progression of life I suppose . Dave and I text back and forth throughout the year , and recently I told him that when I retire I wanted to travel around , sample coffees of the world and watch Greyhounds race ... all while wearing plaid pants pulled up to my chest . “ I ’ ll join you !” he wrote back .

And so it goes , all those unfortunate events were really just a coincidental streak of bizarrely bad luck ; something to reflect on with a laugh during my very brief off-season . Most any day of winter , you can bet I ’ ll be counting the days until I pull through the gates of Bradenton again . DI