It seems like the word rookie gets tossed around a lot in the Late Model racing world. So much in fact, that I wonder when a driver officially loses that rookie status.

I noticed that after Eric Cooley's outstanding run at the Magnolia 100, the driver from Fulton, Miss., was referred to as a Super Late Model rookie. It made me wonder what constitutes a Super Late Model rookie.

I don't want to take anything away from his accomplishment in Mississippi's most prestigious event, but it should hardly MORE

There's little doubt that the economic downturn has hurt the auto racing industry a bit. While we may not notice it on the surface, it's happening. Car counts are shrinking, as are track counts.

It's been pointed out that it takes awhile for the trickle down effect to actually trickle down to auto racing. And for those out there who have tunnel vision, they still may not be fully aware.

But in the South, a number of tracks were closed this season, and many more were shutting down early.

Toccoa MORE

Growing up around race cars and racetracks, at an early age I was fully aware that there was more out there than just my local dirt track.

Although Winchester (Tenn.) Speedway and Duck River Speedway in Wheel, Tenn., were and still are my home tracks, I'd been to a few others by the time I was 12. My stepdad had been to East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, raced regularly at North Alabama Speedway in Tuscumbia and made a trip or two to Talladega (Ala.) Short Track.

In the mid-'80s, however, MORE