What I am hearing from some very good sources is that the Fair Board that currently operates the racing program, with Mike Van Genderen as a hired employee, is looking for other options next year and some of those would not include the weekly Wednesday night racing that we have seen here ever since I can remember.....and that is long time! I know that myself, as well as many other fans whom I see in the stands nearly every week at Osky would hate to see that as it is truly a gathering place for several of us who all go our separate ways on the weekends and even though the car counts have suffered this season I can still say that I have yet to leave a race night there wishing that I had done something else that night.
So, in the true spirit of the book cover pictured here, I will go ahead and throw in my two cents as to what I believe would bring this place back to life in 2018. Now, just like nearly all internet opinions, this is not based upon me putting any of my own money at risk as, after all, I have a new grandson to spoil, a wedding to pay for and another kidney stone to give birth to, but hey that doesn't stop anybody else from throwing out their ideas so why should it stop me!
The Modified division has all but died here at Osky with only two track regulars, Cayden Carter and Scott Dickey, showing up to compete for the $1,000-to-win Hawkeye Dirt Tour show during the fair and there were only four cars at the most recent weekly show. The purse that was paid out to those four cars was $1,050. It looks like the Modifieds themselves have thrown in the towel on Osky and hopefully they contradict me tonight by pulling in ten or more, but perhaps it is time to cut them from the weekly show and move that purse money to the Stock Cars.
Yes, I know that the Stock Car count at Osky has suffered as well this year, It was a dismal five for the Tuesday night fair race, but what is the division that people usually think of first when it comes to this track? My far fetched idea would be to make this the Stock Car Capital of the Midwest, stealing a bit from that track that is twenty-five miles to the west, and post a weekly purse that would pull in drivers from a 100-mile or more radius every Wednesday night. How about $750-to-win and $100-to-start? Plus, since it would be IMCA sanctioned with the standard point average invert used for lineups each week, I would pay the winner a bonus based upon which row he or she took the initial green flag from:
Second Row: $50
Third Row: $100
Fourth Row: $150
Fifth Row: $200
Win from the sixth row or further back your bonus is $250 making it a cool $1,000 check at the end of the night, so even though a "new car" knows that they would have to start from the back of their heat and deep in the invert if they make it, they would know that a win would be worth four figures. Or at the minimum the $100-to-start check would bring them back next week.
How about this plan? As a Wednesday show this is something that is actually viable. Every driver who wins an IMCA Stock Car feature Thursday through Sunday gets a free pit pass for that next Wednesday to compete against the best at the Stock Car Capital of the Midwest! Yes, that might include some of your weekly drivers, but what a great way to reward them for the effort that they put forth to race more than once a week. And you just never know, the guy who won at Britt on Friday, Shawano, Wisconsin, last Saturday, or Vinton on Sunday might just take you up on it!
And, for one of my four or five regular readers, I will call him "Dan", I would not totally turn my back on the Modifieds as I would still schedule them during the Frostbuster (if you have one), during the Fair and at the Annual Fall Challenge. Maybe once in awhile give the Stock Cars the night off and have the Mods in at the same purse?
I will tell you that I have floated this idea with somebody who is much smarter than me about putting on weekly racing and his opinion was that it would likely make a big splash to begin with, but as the season went on you would probably be back to the same ten or twelve cars that you have now and paying them nearly three times the money. See? That's why I don't risk my own!
I am very excited that Jason and Robert Goble have purchased the Quincy Raceways and will actually take over right away to close out the 2017 schedule at the quarter-mile oval. I have known Jason for many years now and he always did a great job as the facilities and concessions manager at 34 Raceway and that hands on experience will definitely give the duo a huge head start.
Like Oskaloosa the car counts at Quincy have dwindled this year although there still appears to be a solid base of drivers and fans who make it their "Sunday night thing to do." I am sure that my Positively Racing colleague Danny Rosencrans would have better insight as to what needs to be improved there, but from my infrequent visits over the past few years, once again in the true spirit of the Suess look-a-like above, here are my suggestions.
1. Implement the "one-spin and you are in" rule during heat races and B-Mains. There have been nights where as many as thirty caution flags waved during the evening, many of which were for guys who would get sideways in the corner and then just shut it down. This is a Sunday night track, thirty cautions is twenty-five too many!
2. Get the show over before nine o'clock. Doing #1 will help that as well as #3. Once again, it is a Sunday night show and if you start hot laps at 6:00 p.m. the only reason that it should take longer than three hours is if you have so many cars that you are having to run B-Mains as well. That would be a nice challenge to have. Too many classes?
3. If UMP forces you to qualify and then do your lineups straight up, then drop them. a.) Qualifying takes extra time and uses up your race track, and b.) It's called "racing" not chasing. Will Michael Long continue to win the Modified feature nearly every week? Probably, but at least he will now have to do it from tenth or twelfth and that will be even more impressive than what he already accomplishes. Long already has an IMCA legal car, I am guessing that others can be switched over if you give them six months to do so.
Just my basic three for now, I am sure that Jason and Robert are being bombarded with other suggestions right now and hopefully all that offer up their opinions share the same wish: That they are successful in keeping racing alive and well at Quincy!
See you tonight in Oskaloosa!
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