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Last week a New Year got Happy, and now racing is once again ... in sight.

The sky at the eastern horizon is getting light. The whistling of the sea breeze has a guttural edge, barely discernible.

"Are engines cranking up out there, Molly? Listen. Can't you hear it? Whoa. Did you hear somebody who sounded like Ol' D.W.? I think I caught the last 'boogity.'

"Woman, I'm glad the coffee's ready, but I'm thinking about NASCAR, all right? I ain't got time to pay no bills, nor operate my Sears cordless drill."*

The man and his wife are already holed up in their Ormond Beach condo. Junior's back home, dismantling the business his daddy took 30 years to erect. Big Hank has felt smaller ever since he turned it all over to Junior, and he got tired of trying and failing to talk some sense into him, so he sighed, packed the car, and he and the wife fled, and they're not coming back to Poughkeepsie until after the Daytona 500 has been run and life has returned to normal. Last time they talked, Junior was interested in "an online presence."

In the meantime, Hank and Molly are walking on the World's Most Famous Beach in their sweatsuits and overcoats, and catching movie matinees, and they seldom miss Haddock Night at Alfie's. Hank plays lots of golf and listens to Frank Sinatra on his music gizmo.

What he awaits, though, is the first time the iron gates at The Speedway swing open. He's even got a hankering right now for sports cars snaking through the infield, twice around the clock, and him and Molly riding the Ferris Wheel in the middle the night, feeling romantic after a few glasses of wine.

Not that Hank doesn't enjoy the occasional beer. Oh, there'll be plenty of time up there in the First Turn Upper Grandstand, which is supposed to be roughly equivalent to the tickets that have been in the family since Mario won the 500 in 1967, and Hank and Molly used to have six tickets, back before they cost 230 bucks apiece, but Junior doesn't care about racing anymore -- he's too busy trying to sell virtual plumbing fixtures -- and he and Molly won't miss him, but they would like to have the grandkids along. Hank would like to do a better job with little Kyle than he did with his daddy, teaching him about racing and all.

Sometimes it occurs to Hank that Billy France had the same problem.

Lines from a song I wrote, taken wildly out of context.