A racer's retirement.

The Nebraska Cup on Sunday will mark the end of the sprint car season at Eagle Raceway for 2007, but it also has added meaning. This year’s Cup will mark the end of Rodney Droud’s driving career.

Anytime one of our local guys retires it should be noted, especially one who recently won back to back Eagle points championships in 2004 and 2005.

In spite of his success, I always felt that winning was not first among Rod’s priorities as a driver. While I’m sure he loved to win, I think he enjoyed competing against the other drivers and spread his messages of faith through his racing.

Rod was probably the first driver that I knew personally, and he has the distinct honor of being a fellow York High School graduate. In fact, throughout his driving career, he had sponsors from York. So there was a lot of personal connection.

That connection made the 2004 and 2005 seasons much more interesting, going to the races and keeping track of the points. Those points battles were hotly contested and if I remember correctly, both came down to the final night.

In fact, Rod can be blamed as much as me for making my fiancée a sprint car fan. I had dragged her to a lot of shows before that, but having someone she knew out there on the track really got her into the sport.

It was during those years that my roommate and I hooked up with Rod and his crew down in Tulsa during the Chili Bowl. The post race discussion in the motel room should have been tape recorded, as I’m sure we solved all of the race world’s problems.

Through it all, Rod has always been one of my favorite race personalities, and I’ll be sorry that he’ll no longer be out there competing. However, this probably won’t be the last we hear from him. He still has his brother to help out, and a son who is just starting to race. Who knows, maybe some day he and I will promote races together.

I know Rod probably won’t make a big deal about ending his days as a racer, but I think the fans, and staff at Eagle should. I hope you go to the show to cheer Rod on in his final race, and stop by after and wish him well as he starts out his new life after driving.