In the nearly six years that have passed since then, I can now add another thirteen tracks to that list, plus one more that I later realized that I failed to mention on that first run down.
Left Off The Original List (perhaps I was trying to suppress it from memory?)
Mansfield Motorsports Park, Mansfield OH - I took a client who had always wanted to see a dirt track race to a mid-week show at this track on a hot and sunny July evening and from the first set of hot laps I knew that it was not going to be a good experience. The dust was flying from the initial green flag and with a great field of both Late Models and Sprint Cars on hand it just got worse from there. My client was a trooper though and stuck it out through the first feature race of the night was completed before she agreed with me that we needed to leave. Just like any track that I have a bad initial experience at though, I would love to go back again and see if I just caught them on a bad night.
Now on to the new ones by year.....
2010
Clarke County Speedway, Osceola IA - My friend Scott Watson asked me if I would fill in for him at this new track in south central Iowa so I can say that I was the announcer at the first ever race at this facility. The track was small with tight turns and there were no lights when it first opened, but since it was in an area that didn't have any other tracks within a fifty mile radius and knowing that the Nelson family would do a great job of promoting it I thought that it stood a pretty good chance for success. By 2014 the track had lights and the car counts had become impressive, but for some reason this past year the counts tailed off and the Nelson's announced that the track would close for good.
Mineral City Speedway, Fort Dodge IA - Now known as the Frontier Sports Park my only trip to this facility so far was for a USMTS show that was decided on the final lap when Ryan Gustin swept around Jason Krohn to take the win. Then we all scrambled to get the heck out of there before the severe weather moved in. Click this link for the story and action shots by our own Barry Johnson.
Valley Speedway, Grain Valley MO - This is one of those tracks that I love since they usually try to race until the snow flies, so when I had to catch a flight out of Kansas City early on a Sunday morning in mid-October I stopped in for a show at Valley that featured non-wing Sprint Cars. The racing was good, but a couple of caution-filled features made me hit a self-imposed curfew and I left early. Definitely a track that I want to go to again, not only for the racing action, but to thumb my nose at those in the community who tried to shut it down in 2014 due to noise complaints.
Butler Speedway, Butler MO - Made the trip down to this track for a late October day race and even though you can see it when you drive by on I-49, it would be nearly impossible to get to without detailed directions from the Speedway Directory. The racing was decent until the track locked down and I was struck by the lack of available seating at the place as the bleachers could have maybe held 400 people. It has sat idle now for at least the last two seasons.
2011
Saint Francios County Raceway, Farmington MO - Similar to my visit to Valley Speedway, I had an early Sunday morning flight out of St. Louis so after checking into my hotel near the airport I hustled down south of the city to catch the annual Queen's Royale event at this track that is one the final few that runs 410 Winged Sprint Cars on a weekly basis here in the Midwest. I saw some great racing in the heats and B-Mains, but a caution plagued Pure Stock feature that lasted over 45 minutes and even caused the starter to slam his radio headset to the floor of the flagstand caused me to enforce that self-imposed curfew again and I had to miss the grand finale. This is definitely a track that I want to get back to though as it is obvious that the promoters love racing. So much so in fact that in 2016 they are going to give the drivers of the nearby Doe Run Raceway the opportunity to race on Friday nights at SFCR until there is a decision by Doe Run as to how they will proceed after the track owner passed away unexpectedly last Fall. A very classy move on the part of the Saint Francois County Raceway.
2012
Salina Speedway, Salina KS - Morgan and I stopped at this central Kansas facility on the first night of our trip to California. The ASCS National Tour was in town and despite a smaller than expected field of Sprint Cars the show was a good one with Kevin Swindell taking the win.
Perris Auto Speedway, Perris CA - This track added the state of California to my list and I was impressed with how the track had been built so that the back stretch was actually higher than the infield. Despite the fact that there were some big haulers in the pits, you could still see all the way around the fast half-mile and the non-wing Sprint Cars put on quite a show. It was a bit of a shock though to have to pay to park on the grounds!
2013
USA Raceway, Tucson AZ - A strategically planned business trip allowed me to catch two nights of action during the Wild West Shootout and this facility shot down every preconception that I had about a dirt track in Arizona. It wasn't dry, it wasn't sandy and it wasn't one grooved around the bottom. In fact, on the first night it was almost too tacky, the perfect conditions for our friend the fasttrackfan, and Will Vaught made a nifty move on Jimmy Mars late in the race to win the main event. My first visit to Tucson was so good that I returned in 2014 for three shows and I have to say that I am a bit disappointed that this annual January event is now being moved to another track. Oh well, maybe the Arizona Speedway will be a new one for me in 2017.
Port City Raceway, Tulsa OK - On a night when I thought I would be visiting the highly touted Salina Highbanks Speedway near Pryor, scattered thunderstorms instead found Morgan and I searching for some place that was dry enough to race and we ended up at this facility that is built for the Micro Sprint crowd. I will admit that up until this night I would have never searched out a track that runs Micros, but that was because I had only ever seen them on full sized tracks before. With some rain early in the evening here as well, the track was fast, tacky and I was amazed at how great the racing was even on a smaller scale. I still need to get to the Salina Highbanks, but it will be hard to pass up a night at Port City to do so!
2014
Gas City Speedway, Gas City IN - Morgan and I had heard nothing but great things about this place so when we arrived a bit later than planned due to traffic for the Indiana Sprint Speedweek event it was no surprise to see the place packed with fans. The qualifying races were very good, but a caution-filled Modified feature then lead into a Sprint Car main event where the drivers pretty much hugged the bottom line and we left feeling that it just didn't live up to expectations. A visit with one of the drivers later at the hotel though told us that this was not a typical Gas City show so we definitely look forward to giving it another try. And next time, we will definitely get there early!
2015
Beatrice Speedway, Beatrice NE - If you clicked the link in the first paragraph you will see that it is getting kind of hard for me to add a new track within a six hour radius, but for some reason a trip to Beatrice had always eluded me. That is why I targeted the IMCA Spring Nationals as my first race for 2015 and then to have temperatures in the low 70's just made it that much better! A full field of 234 cars in four classes provided a great night of racing that necessitated not just one, but two Back Stretch entries to get it all covered. Another trip to Beatrice is definitely on my "to do" list and you never know, it might just be in another six weeks!
Dells Raceway Park, Wisconsin Dells WI - The pavement racing bug bit me hard last Fall as I followed up a long overdue trip to Oktoberfest in La Crosse with a late October one day round trip adventure to this sharp facility in a beautiful setting. It was a fun trip and if the track has this late season show on the schedule again in 2016, I will make sure that we get off to an earlier start so that my wife can spend some time at The House on The Rock along the way.
Five Flags Speedway, Pensacola FL - I have heard about the Snowball Derby for many, many years and I knew that it was a big event. But I had no idea that it was this BIG until I closed out my 2015 travels with two days of action at pavement racing's version of the Super Nationals......or The World 100. The track is lightning fast and they can definitely race two and even three wide, but unless everybody in your party is 5'8" and 150 pounds I would suggest that you purchase one "extra" reserved seat ticket so that you will have room to sit.......and breathe! I want to go again, but when I do I will be requesting a ticket at the end of a row.
So with those added I am now at 206 tracks in 26 states and I will continue to try to add to that total whenever possible. Some of the more "close by" facilities that I need to finally get to include:
In Iowa....
The Clay County Speedway in Spencer and the Sioux Speedway in Sioux Center
In Illinois......
The Charleston Speedway, the Route 45 Speedway in Flora which has just switched their sanctioning from UMP to USRA, and the Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown a track that I actually drove to one day a few years back to find that they had been rained out an hour earlier.
In Missouri.....
Central Missouri Speedway in Warrensburg and the Dallas County Speedway in Urbana are the only two still in action that I have yet to visit.
In Wisconsin there are several.....
141 Speedway, Angell Park, Columbus 151, Lafayette County, Slinger, Oshkosh Speedzone, Wilmot and Plymouth to name a few.
Chateau and Jackson would be just within that magic six hour drive in Minnesota and even though it would be a little farther drive I do need to visit the newly named Badlands Speedway in South Dakota sometime. I am surprised that I have never attended a Thursday night weekly show at US 30 Speedway in Columbus, Nebraska, and now that the dirt track at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas, is getting back in action that track returns to my list. The Atchison County Raceway recently announced that they will be IMCA sanctioned and this "newer" track joins the historic Belleville High Banks as couple of more facilities from the Sunflower state that are on my wish list.
With my son Morgan currently residing in Oklahoma City I am envisioning some road trips that might take us to 81 Speedway in Wichita, the Longdale Speedway, Brill's Motor Speedway, Lawton Speedway, Outlaw Speedway in Muskogee and of course the Salina Highbanks.
So as you can see, after adding only 13 new tracks over the past six years, I am going to have to live well into my 80's in order to complete this list!!
Looking back at that original list from 2010 it saddens me just how many of those tracks that were still in operation at that time have either disappeared or now sit completely idle.
 |
| The former Hawkeye Raceway near Blue Grass , Iowa |
Before catching my flight to Pensacola in December I drove up into the housing addition that once was Hawkeye Raceway near Blue Grass and the old track is now an oval shaped pond for the residents to enjoy. Nobody has even mentioned the track in Aledo the past several years, Freeport is history and I have no idea whether or not the track near Macomb exists any longer. Missouri has been hard hit with Butler and Lake Ozark joining the old I-70 Speedway sitting there like ghosts next to major highways. The Benton Racepark, Poplar Buff Speedway and LA Raceway have all closed in the last two years and after making a brief come back recently the Montgomery County Speedway is growing weeds once again. One bright sign for the Show Me state though is that the Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia that sat idle for two full seasons returned to action with one event in 2015 and for 2016 they have one race per month scheduled from April though October.
With some of my favorites close to home now scaled back to special events only it just goes to show that you should appreciate each visit you make to any given race track because you never know, it might just be your last. So with that in mind Craig, my answer to your poll question would be the last five tracks that I attended......and they will be replaced by the next five that I am going to!
_________________________________________________________________________________
You Sprint Car fans will probably tell me that I am late to the game, but I stumbled upon this great website Sprintdudes.com this week, and I hate to say it but I cringed when Richard Allen posted a link to his own blog from Inside Dirt Racing today on the 4m message board. Despite the fact that he specifically states that poorly run tracks should get some criticism it is obvious from the follow up responses that his true message isn't getting through. No Richard, no matter how well thought out your effort is, you will never convince an AWP that constantly bitching about a track or promoter on the internet will not help the situation.
The rain that has delayed the start of Speed Weeks in Florida appears to be over for now so the Nesmith Crate Late Models will kick off a big weekend in Ocala tonight while the Sunshine State Modified Tour will take the green at East Bay Raceway with Iowa's own Mike Van Genderen as one of the entries. The pavement short track crowd will be in Cordele, Georgia, for SpeedFest this weekend with big events for both the Super Late Models and the Pro Late Models.
All of this will start revving me up me up for the start of the 2016 season in our neck of the woods, but just the fact that I can still see the sun when I leave work at five o'clock has already started that process!
Enjoy your weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment