Come North For Racing In March

Usually on this third weekend in March I am checking MapQuest to see just how far of a drive it would be to get to the nearest race that will be able to run, especially following a cold and snowy winter. How long will it take me to get to Little Rock? How about Dallas? Yea, I know that racing season will get into full swing around here in just another couple of weeks , but I wanna go NOW!!

So do you think as we get ready to head into the weekend that there are some people in Arkansas, Oklahoma or even Texas who are looking around to try to find that "closest" race that will actually be happening and checking out how far of a drive it would be for them to go to Memphis, Missouri!?!?

That's right, the racing looks like a pretty sure thing for the Bottom Heavy Nationals at the Scotland County Speedway this Friday and Saturday night with the forecast calling for sunny skies and temperatures in the sixties. Meanwhile, down south most if not all of the racing action has been cancelled for the weekend:

World of Outlaws Late Models at Kentucky Lake Speedway on Friday and at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock on Saturday - Cancelled

42nd Annual Devils Bowl ASCS Spring Nationals in Texas - Postponed

SUPR Late Models at Baton Rouge Speedway - Postponed

And just announced this morning, Friday's USMTS stop at Caney, Kansas, on Friday - Cancelled (The Saturday's show at Humboldt and Sunday's event at I-35 Speedway in Winston are still on as scheduled)

Yes, the southerners will need to come north if they want to go racing this weekend as not only will Memphis be in action, but they could also catch the MARS Late Model series opener at the Springfield Raceway on Saturday night or head on over to the St. Louis area where the Highland Speedway will open its regular season on Saturday night.

I myself plan to be in Memphis on Friday night, I have another commitment for Saturday and if things look good I might make the trip to Winston on Sunday evening. All this bragging about being able to race up here in the north might coming to a sudden end though as my most trusted weather dude Terry Swails is seeing the possibility of snow in our area for Sunday night!

Promoter Mike Van Genderen was one of the 270+ drivers that were in competition at the IMCA Spring Nationals in Beatrice last weekend and he would like to see some big numbers this weekend at Memphis as well. As a reward to any division that tops the 50 count he will bump the winner's purse up to $1,000 (or $500 in the Sport Compacts). I will predict that at least one division will achieve that goal on Friday night. Hope to see you there!

Still monitoring the evolution of those long range forecasts and they are not from Terry Swails......he knows you can't be accurate that far out.

Donnellson, Iowa, Saturday March 28th - Clouds and Sun with a Shower and 55 (nothing like covering your bases, why not just predict daylight, with increasing darkness towards evening)

Burlington, Iowa, Saturday April 11th - Mostly Sunny and 55 (let's lock this one in for the debut of the National Sprint League at 34 Raceway!!)

I will be looking for the license plate PLATNM everywhere I go this year.......goodness!!