Where is ... Bill Brodrick? (cont'd)

"The things that stand out in your mind are the guys when they won for the first time," Brodrick said. "Any time you had a first-time winner that was really special. I always went out of my way to try and make it as easy and as memorable for them as I could, because you only win the first time once. Any time we had a first-time winner that was always special."

Unocal was bought out in 1997. Although he'd been with the company just a few weeks shy of 29 years, at the end of the season, Brodrick was shown the door.

Afterward, he refused to be a "hanger on," who begs for passes.

"I didn't leave the sport voluntarily ... I was told I was gone," Brodrick said. "So I cut bait, and that was it. It's one of those things you accept. Today, I don't miss the hassle because it doesn't look like anybody's having fun. It's changed so drastically now. I miss the people. The people are what made the sport. The people are what made it for me.

"I've always been a racer. I covered racing when I was in the media before I went to work for the company. I've been, I guess, a racer and a car guy all my life. I miss the travel, although I still travel a great deal. I prefer now just to sit and watch it on TV, because if I went to a race ... I wouldn't know any of the participants. What used to be the young guys are now the old guys."

Brodrick hasn't changed much since leaving the sport. He still has a wicked sense of humor. He calls himself a "ward of the government" because he collects Social Security. Then, concerning his business interests, he adds, "I put 34 years of racing experience to good use. I bought a saloon."

He operated Tavern at the Bridge in Algonquin, Ill., for four years and then turned it over to his son.

"My son talked me into it, and my wife, of course, was on my son's side," Brodrick said of his decision to buy the bar. "This place was available, and my son knew it real well. To make a long story short, I bought that saloon and had to go to work. My son runs the business now and it's doing quite well. It was work. I'd never worked that hard in all my life."

He still handles a few things here and there with the tavern, and he's also a contract driver for a courier company. Brodrick stays as busy as he wants to be.

"I work when I want to work," Brodrick said. "I can go out and play like Michael Schumacher every day in the traffic around Chicago if I feel like it. It keeps me busy, gives me a little extra money. I love driving, because when I was with the company, I drove to all the races anyway.

"I fool around. I like to go to estate auctions, car auctions and fool with my toys. I've got a hot rod, an old antique car and a sports car. Life is good. I can't complain."