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LEARY: We’re All Winners in the First Sport of Racing
Out of the millions of microscopic sprinters zooming to the ultimate finish line…all of us are winners...
Gregg Leary  |  Posted April 16, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Gregg Leary is a researcher/writer for Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)

I had a revelation a couple nights ago.

Racing was the first sport and we are all race winners.

Out of the millions of microscopic sprinters zooming to the ultimate finish line…all of us are winners. There was only one in each race who reached the checkered flag first and we are all products of those first finishers. Fascinating.

Although I can’t verify this from firsthand experience, I think racing actually began in the Garden of Eden. I don’t think the “stick and ball” sports originated there. I doubt if Adam said:

“Eve, hand me one of those oblong fruits and I’ll see if I can hit that Eagle receiver, streaking towards the sideline.”

“Toss me that spherical gourd and I’ll slam it through that opening in the tree.”

(That happens at Madison Square Garden of Eden.)

“OK, Eve, throw me that ole apple and I’ll see if I can hit it ‘out of the park.’”

What I think probably happened was this.

“Eve, did you see the size of that serpent? I’ll RACE you to the fig tree.”

I think evolution was a constant race. It was always good to be faster than the saber-toothed tiger, lion, tiger or grizzly bear that lived just outside of your cave or village. If you were the fastest in the village you lived to sire quick offspring. “Survival of the fittest,” and all that.

Come to think of it, you didn’t have to be the fastest in your cave or village. Just NOT the slowest. All you had to be was faster than one person in your neighborhood. Natural selection can be a bad thing if you are the slowest “vehicle” in the pits or paddock.

It stunk to be a “back marker” or “field filler” even then. Chances were good that you would not make it to the next race. If you were “off the pace” you became a predator’s dinner. Losing was really painful.

Think back to pre-school and kindergarten. Kids on the playground didn’t say:

“Find 17 others and we’ll play baseball.”

“Get me 21 kids and let’s have a football game.”

Typically, it was “I’ll race you to the swingset.”

Racing’s roots go back a long way.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Gregg Leary is a Researcher/Writer for "Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain","The SPEED Report", book reviewer and columnist for SPEEDtv.com. Leary was track announcer for Hooter's IHRA Drag Racing at National Events in the USA and Canada and entertained event crowds during "down time". He was Marketing, PR Director and track announcer at Lake Erie Speedway. Leary covered Auto Racing, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the National Basketball Association. Leary has conducted motivational seminars and performed stand-up comedy around the country. Leary is available for motorsports consulting on a limited basis. Contact him via email at

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Gregg Leary

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