Trailer Racing

Last night on TV I saw a “trailer race.” Expendable motor vehicles towing expendable trailers race around a figure-eight track. A moment’s reflection will lead you to conclude that, in the absence of traffic lights, there is going to be an exciting spot in the middle of a figure-eight race course. In a trailer race, the last moving vehicle that still has trailer parts dragging behind it wins. Any trailer parts. It doesn’t need wheels. Some bits of steel dragging behind the tow vehicle count. Collisions, therefore, are a fundamental part of the race. Trailer debris promptly covers the track. They drive up onto the trailer of the vehicle ahead in hopes of pulling it off. One guy’s hood flew open early in the race, blocking his view. In a normal race, this would be a severe disadvantage, but in a trailer race, it might be an advantage. Do you really want to see what’s ahead?

The race I saw was held in Rockford, Illinois, just 95 miles / 150 km away from me. I have not been able to decide if I want to go to Rockford for the next trailer race to see it in person or if I feel that 150km is as close to the event as I want to be.

Hard to understand

I tried watching a show on one of the Spanish-language channels. It was one of those high-speed police car chase video shows. Now, attempting to follow Spanish spoken at full speed is extremely challenging for me. This show, however, was originally in English, and they just run the Spanish translation over the original English. Trying to understand Spanish with someone yammering away in English in the background is not the challenge I’m looking for. Oh my.