Grassroots Motorsports
Issue link: http://grassrootsmotorsports.epubxp.com/i/397024
A s I write this, it was 30 years ago this week that we filed incorporation papers for Motorsport Marketing, Inc. the company that publishes this magazine. Back then the title launched as Auto-X, but today it is thankfully pretty well known as Grassroots Motorsports. When we started, one of the frst questions I was asked by a reader was, "Aren't you going to run out of things to say?" Fortunately or not, depending on how much you like to listen to me, I haven't yet. This is my 237th column in this publication, and I still feel like I have a lot yet to say. One of the things I said less then, and have tried to make a habit of saying more now, is thank you. Thank you to you, our readers and advertisers who helped us make this happen. Thanks for believing in us. Thanks for knocking our heads out of the clouds whenever we've gotten a bit arrogant or made a technical blun- der. And thanks for being pretty much the only friends I have, since I have mostly just worked 60- to 100-hour weeks and hung out with you guys through your cor- respondence and friendship at events. I'll give you an example of what our community is really like, and why they make the best friends. My wife and partner (another person I need to thank for putting up with 30 years of uncertainty, insanity and constant chaos) recently decided that she wanted to restore a vintage travel trailer to take to events and camping with our kids. We already had the perfect car to tow it with, a 1959 Edsel wagon, so I agreed to help her fnd one. (Most of you already know that I would restore just about anything, so it wasn't a hard sell.) What we found was a truly craptastic 1962 Shasta in Muncie, Indiana. I put a message up on the Grassroots Motorsports forum, and within a few minutes I had a personal message from "Aussie" Steve offering to look it over for us. Steve, a regular on our board and at our Challenge events, is one of the good guys–a bigger-than-life transplanted Australian who now lives with his wife in northwestern Ohio, not too far from Muncie. Not only did he look over the trailer, he actually dealt with the seller, purchased it using the money I had wired him, and dragged it the couple of hours back to what he happily refers to as his compound. (Yeah, I wired him a couple of grand with no receipts or promises. I knew my money was as safe as if it had been in Fort Knox.) By the time Margie and I got to Ohio, Steve and his buddy, Vince, had the junk tires off the trailer, the bearings repacked, and work started on the lights. Then they devoted an entire weekend to working with us to clean up and ready the thing for the long trip home. The kicker? I asked Steve what he wanted for all this help, and he was actually insulted. His words and gestures made it clear that this is what car guys do for each other. All he'd let me do was buy them dinner and a nice bottle of scotch. This was hardly the first time I have seen this kind of love and loyalty: This is what the Grassroots Motorsports community does for one another. I am truly blessed not only to be allowed into this group, but to be responsible in some small way for bringing it closer together. That spirit extends to our staff, and it helps explain why our company has been able to not only survive 30 years, but prosper. Even when the world started changing, readers' basic desire for real information and down-to-earth content did not. In fact, this year we have put out our biggest issues ever. I don't think it's hurt that we refuse to talk down to our people. Sure, snarky is in, but I never liked it and have worked hard to avoid it. Of course everyone should know what a late apex is and when to use it, but if you don't know, we need to teach you, not rail on you in our letters or our columns. I am a simple guy and wear my heart on my sleeve. I like hanging with people like that, so I have tried to surround myself with like-minded individuals. I hope we've all been able to accomplish what I set out to do: Bring America a down-to-earth, realistic car magazine that educates and entertains without being arrogant or preachy. I'm happy to be where I am, surrounded by friends and staffers both new and old who all share the vision. As the saying goes, the future is so bright I need to wear shades–or else get checked out for cataracts. Either way, enjoy this, our 30th anniversary issue. I'm going to blow out the candles and wish for 30 more. by tim suddard • tim@grassrootsmotorsports.com "HAS IT REALLY BEEN 30 YEARS?" STARTING LINE