You can't slow 'em down

I haven't found anyone yet who acts surprised by David Poole's note we posted Tuesday, the one about Buddy Baker running some 200 mph laps at Daytona International Speedway the day before. And why should they?

Sure, Baker is 64, but so what? Red Farmer has quite a few years on Baker and he's still racing with and often beating people his grandchildren's ages. Paul Newman, too, has 80 years on him and can still get around a track pretty quickly.

Bruton Smith is no spring chicken and he's as scrappy as any 20 year old you'd consider messing with. Smith would grudgingly acknowledge, too, that Bill France Jr. is getting on in years but is about as ornery as ever.

Another guy who gets around quite well - albiet in a golf cart - and has little or no regard for the years is Tom Higgins, The Charlotte Observer's former motorsports writer. Higgins tells a good story about Baker, too. Heck, Higgins knows a couple dozen stories about Baker and literally hundreds about NASCAR and it's characters. You could make that thousands when you factor in the hunting, fishing and golfing yarns, along with those about the other subjects with which he's familiar.

Seems Buddy Baker was at Talladega, working with a couple of the Penske team's drivers. A driver from another team, one just about as well-known for his behavior as he is his driving, walked past. It's a guy who, as Higgins puts it, "has quite a mouth on him."

"Hey, Baker," the young gun said, "Think you could run the speeds we do here now?"

"I don't know," Baker deadpanned, fondly recalling the days when engines and cars ran unrestricted at Talladega. "We never ran this slow when I was racing here."

Thank you, ladies and germs. (Cue the rim shot and canned laughter.)

Like I said, Tom Higgins has a million of 'em. And he'll soon start sharing them with ThatsRacin.com readers. It will take us a few days to get him wired and hooked up, but watch ThatsRacin.com's Inside Line blog space for his arrival.

I believe you'll find it entertaining and then some.