This is the Statt Mann Baby!!  Time to Scatt a little bit.

Funny Car driver Gary Densham doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his driving or his ability to survive in a world that’s doing all it can to ignore his brilliance.

With almost no budget or resources, Densham qualified for the NHRA’s playoffs last season even finishing second at Gainesville and Sonoma.

That’s a good season for anyone but for a 62-year old, an age when many are GPS’ing their way to the couch, Gary Densham is beating kids who could qualify as his grandchildren.

In a plain wrap car yesterday, Gary qualified seventh ahead of last year’s Funny Car champion and the man who led the points most of the year.

But Densham punched me in the gut with news he wouldn’t be on the tour this year because of sponsor ignorance.  He can’t or he won’t buy a seat because he shouldn’t have to.  Gary’s not 18-29.  And he doesn’t hang out in Hollywood.  He lives in Bellflower with a great wife and a great life.

When idiots say racing is entertainment they’re just making an excuse for people who forgot how to race.  Gary Densham is a racer and, in my eyes, bigger than most of the midgets he beats on the track.  He’s won two of every three rounds he’s raced in the past 30 years, for crying out loud!

The act of ignoring him, his experience and his ability to still contribute is another reason why racing and its sponsors have lost a lot of their social relevance.

He deserves so much more.  So does the sport   and its fans.

Peace.