fore WORD
By Adam Cornell
IT MUST BE NICE FOR ANYONE WHO WORKS for themselves, or has started a new business, there is nothing more grating than someone saying, “It must be nice,” when they see your success. It’s frustrating, because without saying it, they have spun a narrative in their head: “You’re lucky, things have just fallen into place for you, it’s not fair you’re lucky and they aren’t.” What they don’t seem to understand is that running a business and creating something out of nothing isn’t a nine-tofive job. There are some days that don’t end until 2am. Others that have to start at 4am. If your head does manage to hit the pillow before midnight, it’s usually filled with a list of things you didn’t get accomplished that day and cannot forget to do before the next day’s agenda begins. There is no one there to tell you what to do next. No road map to success that you can follow. It’s working, it’s building, it’s hoping, it’s believing. It’s winning and failing and then not giving up. I’ve learned over the years this truth: people who work for someone else can’t wait for the weekend. People who run their own business wish there was an extra Tuesday. I think if ever there was an industry that knows better than to say, “It must be nice,”
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it’s the racing industry, and specifically those who work on and build racecars for dirt track racing. Late nights getting the car together, hours upon hours repairing after a race, don’t forget the travel or the pressure washing; all without the guarantee of success. In fact, a majority of competitors in dirt track racing will never taste victory during the entirety of their racing careers. Work ethic is respected in this industry. (So is partying. But I’ll save that for a different column.) It’s not the same in every industry. I have a former classmate who works as an attorney. To talk with him, you would think that the goal in life is to try to bill as many hours as possible to a client while actually shooting the back nine at the country club. “Work is for chumps,” is the attitude. No wonder nobody likes lawyers. As the old joke goes, in a shipwreck, the sharks don’t eat the lawyers out of professional courtesy. Building this magazine from nothing has been challenging, infuriating, stressful, and scary. It’s also been rewarding, fun, exciting and an adventure, to be sure. Perhaps not too unlike building a race car. (Probably far less complicated, and if I mess up, I won’t catapult myself into turn four. But other than that. . .exactly the same.) Every day is a workday. But also, every day I get to work with and talk about race cars. I get to work with great people from all across the country, including amazingly talented writers and photographers, not to mention industry professionals and marketing people. Each day is a challenge, but it’s also its own reward. One of the things I never got an opportunity to do while working at other publications, was to interact directly with subscribers and readers. I had the rare chance to talk a bit with a reader or two at a trade show or race. But
DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE | APRIL/MAY 2021
to be the face of the magazine now gives me the honor of speaking with readers from all over. It’s a bonus I did not anticipate and am thankful I get to experience it. I am sure as the racing season starts up and we shake off the rust that naturally grew on the nation in 2020 from the pandemic and everything else, there will be new challenges, rewards, new ups, new downs. I couldn’t be happier to be facing the new year at the helm of Dirt Empire Magazine. Thank you for coming with us on this journey, I hope you enjoy the ride. I looked at myself in the mirror this morning as I reflected on everything we’re doing at Dirt Empire, and I said “It must be nice.” I smiled and answered, “It sure is.”
