The USMTS Modifieds were able to sneak in one night of action at the Humboldt (KS) Speedway on Friday night last weekend and the Saturday night race that was originally scheduled for Valley Speedway east of Kansas City and rescheduled for Humboldt was rained out. Still it was officially the first race of the season for the region that we focus on at Positively Racing and the action is now scheduled to continue weekly all the way through the third weekend of November.
In my memory the start of this season had some of the most aggressive early season scheduling ever with several tracks who in the past never even attempted something until mid to late April now posting special events in March Six weeks ago it looked like a pretty good possibility that most of those events would have a good chance of running. Then came the snows of late February and early March and now, as we are just a week or two out from those specials, the prospect of getting them is not as bright.
Valley's USMTS show was wiped out by snow, but rescheduled just a hundred miles or so to the southwest in Humboldt showing just how fickle Ma Nature can be. Beatrice Nebraska appears ready to go for this coming weekend despite having snow on the ground not many days ago and both Belleville and Highland look like they will open up the racing season in the St. Louis area this weekend. Closer to home though, I would have to believe that Memphis, Missouri, is going to need several dry and sunny days in order to run their two-day show March 22nd and 23rd, but if Mike VanGenderen can get some help from the weather I look forward to being there on Friday night.
VanGenderen will then try to whip the surface of the Lee County Speedway, Donnellson, into shape for a March 29th show there while Jeff Laue will have one more day to manicure the high-banks at 34 Raceway in Burlington where the Brockway Mechanical and Roofing Sprint Invaders will open the season on March 30th. Then on Sunday night the 31st, Mick Trier and Dana Benning will swing open the gates at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton for perhaps the first-ever race in March at that facility. (Ryan Clark can confirm or disprove that)
If any of these shows fall to the wayside either due to the late blast from winter or unfavorable race-day weather you will no doubt hear people say "I don't know why they schedule these races so early for anyway." You can answer that by saying, "why not, what does it hurt to schedule an early season show and then cancel if needed?" You just never know when you will catch a break from the weather and then just watch how both the pits and the grandstands fill up. Back around the turn of the century Hamilton County Speedway promoter Al Uhrhammer booked the NKF Tour for the final two Saturday nights in March and everybody said that he was crazy. As I made the trip up the first Saturday night there were still massive snow drifts in the ditches along highway 20, but the sun was out and the temperatures were in the 50's. It was a Modified, Stock Car and Hobby Stock show offering a modest, but respectable purse with no entry fees and admission prices similar to a weekly show. Over 120 cars with one from as far away as Canada showed up and put on some great racing in front of a nearly full grandstand. The weather held up and we were right back at it again with similar results the following week and Uhrhammer later told me that, from a profit standpoint, it was the best two shows that he had ever had. And I am confident that these two events vaulted the NKF Tour to the success that it went on to as well. So just who thinks it is crazy to schedule a race in March?
I am hoping to make it to a show this Saturday with the weather still to determine if it will be in Highland or Beatrice. I know that our friends Dick and Joyce Eisele are heading out to Beatrice so make sure to check out the 4d Fan Report for all the news from Nebraska. And, with the Who?Won.com site and forum still down, make sure that you remind your friends to bookmark the Eisele's blog as they are always the first to report the full results from both Oskaloosa and Boone.....and you won't have that forum to remind you!
Nine years ago today one of my best friends, and a friend to so many in racing, Darrell Bennett lost his battle to leukemia. Life has not been the same without him, but his love of life and his spirit makes me smile everytime I think of him.....enjoy the day....every day!
See you at the track soon and thanks for visiting the Back Stretch!
No comments:
Post a Comment