A Quick Review of 2024 On The Back Stretch

As I checked back on this similar entry from 2023, I see that I had set a goal of forty-five race nights. That would have been just three higher than my all-time low of forty-two since I obtained my driver's license in 1979, so I am very happy to say that I blew right by that goal with a total of fifty-two events in 2024.

Our season started with a "surprise" event on March 3rd at the Park Jefferson Speedway in the southeast tip of South Dakota and it wrapped up with our annual trip to the Turkey Bowl at the Springfield Raceway on November 16th. After seeing races in only three states last year, we boosted that to seven in 2024 by slinging dirt in South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Our 2024 tour took us to twenty-seven different dirt tracks, as for the second year in a row I did not meet my goal of seeing at least one race on pavement, but I did get to one new track for me in what was a very special evening. My son Morgan and my three-year-old grandson Wilder met Christine and I at the Kokomo Speedway in Indiana the night before we were starting a seven day family beach vacation in Michigan and it would be Wilder's first-ever race! He was so excited that he did not nap during the ten hour drive, so while he did not last long, he had a good time before Grandma took him to the hotel and the next day he was asking "when can go the races again?" 

Usually the Knoxville Raceway leads the way when it comes to the number of nights that I have attended, but with that beach vacation coming during the 360 Nationals weekend, and then with another social event scheduled on the Late Model Nationals weekend, my only four nights at Knoxville came during the 410 Nationals. That means my "home track" of 34 Raceway will lead the way in 2024 as I spent seven nights there with each of them on the microphone for at least some of the evening. A highlight was when I was able to join James Essex and Dustin Jarrett on the live broadcast of the postponed Slocum 50 that was now contested as a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event through MavTv on Flo. It was my first time to use the headset and television monitor with a producer talking to me as well and she was a definitely a pro making my time as the lead go smoothly during the support class action. The Lucas Oil Late Models will be back at 34 Raceway on July 10th and I hope that I have the opportunity to be part of the team once again.

It is rare that I write a blog from a night that I announce as I leave the notebook in the car and that is why you don't see a link for a story from 34, but that doesn't mean that we didn't have some fun, especially when long-time racer Dennis LaVeine hosted a "free night" courtesy of his business LaVeine Sanitation. Not only were the stands packed, but the pits were full as well with drivers coming from far and wide to a part of this special show.

Second on my list was the Davenport Speedway with five nights including an SLMR event that was pushed from Friday to Monday, and yes I did do a bit of a report from 34 in this link as well. We were also there to catch the season opener where Mitch Morris made his Late Model debut with a victory and for two nights of MLRA racing in September. With that series now extinct, it will be interesting to see if and how Davenport fills the void for their Super Late Model fans in 2025.

With Mike Van Genderen and Dana Benning at the reigns, it was an easy choice for me to make the trip north to the Independence Motor Speedway four times in 2024 and I always enjoys my trips to both Vinton and Donnellson as I was at the Benton County Speedway and the Lee County Speedway three times each. I spent two nights each at Memphis, Bloomfield, Stuart, Oskaloosa and Tipton, while I made it for one night of racing at Spoon River, East Moline, Quincy, Dubuque, West Liberty, Columbus Junction, Peoria, Farley, Jacksonville, Eagle, Maquoketa, Valley and Tri-State.

Even though I still went to fifty-two nights, I do feel that I was a bit more selective and I definitely took advantage of my three streaming subscriptions by not making some road trips on a weeknight that I would have definitely considered in the past. I look for that trend to continue in 2025 as I will still keep my goals of seeing at least one race on pavement and attending an event or two at a track that I have not yet been to. By the way, that trip to Kokomo was my 221st different track in twenty-five states.

Finally, the highlight of my 2024 season came on Saturday November 2nd when I was inducted into the Iowa Racing Hall of Fame. It was a spectacular evening that I will never forget and I look forward to being there going forward to honor and welcome each new class.

Be sure to keep checking in over the coming weeks as the Back Stretch will be busy with the state points from Arkansas, Missouri and Texas. Then we will have our annual "Best of the Midwest" standings followed by a bit of a surprise. We will then top off the year as we always do with our updated Cumulative All Iowa Points standings in all nine divisions featuring drivers from the year 2000 through 2024.

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!