LIVE & LOCAL RACING
Well over the past three months, I have come to one
conclusion, Mother Nature hates motorsports! It seems every week we get eight
million inches of rain and causes everyone to get rained out OR it is super
nice during the week then on Friday –BAM– here comes the liquid sunshine! It is really
making it hard on the racers and tracks alike. Many don't understand from a
tracks standpoint that the rain out hurt them more than you would think.
Yes, track
operators suffer from this because you prepare your surface and track grounds
for an event, pay your weekly $1,000 plus insurance, order your concession
supplies, advertise etc... then wammy you’re rained out. Well you may think, “prep
to the track does not cost anything.” That is where your 100% wrong. In
the dirt racing world, you have to have people running the tractors, water
trucks and lawn mowers, so you have man hours being burnt then you add in the
cost of fuel for the equipment and your throwing money out the window! On the
drag racing side you have people mowing and scrubbing the track which uses
water and cleaning agents at times then you have to spray traction compound and
run your blowers to get the dirt, dust, grass clippings and everything off the
surface so not only do you have man hours and fuel costs but water and other
supplies wasted away!
PHOTOGRAPHY | KOHLSRACINGPHOTOGRAPHY.COM/STRAIGHTCIRCLESCOMMUNICATIONS
Tracks can
lose several hundred or even thousands of dollars just by what ole mom nature
decides to do.
The
one track in the tri-state that has been lucky enough to get all their shows in
but 1 is Soggy Bottom Raceway in Morgantown,
KY. This place must have an anti
rain gun or something because Don has been the "chosen one." They
have been knocking out some great racing each Saturday night featuring UMP Pro
Late Models, UMP Modifieds, UMP Limited Modifieds, Cruisers, Pure Stock, Street
Stock and Rusty Bolts. Dang, hey Don... think you could add any additional
classes? I think there could be room for something like... Limos or Buses or
something!
On the
other end of the luck is Chandler Motor Speedway. For the past five weeks
straight, the races have had to be canceled because of rain. The way things
look Harold Baker and his crew may be lucky to get their action kicked off my
June!
Other
tracks around the area are suffering with bad luck as well like Western KY
Speedway in Madisonville.
Tim and Tammy and the crew there have seen their share of rain and rain outs
but seem to be pulling thru it pretty well with make up events happening on
Sunday over the past month. Windy Hollow Dragway has gotten one drag race in
and working on the rescheduled Duke Williams Memorial event as we go to
press. Rockport Raceway has gotten in two events at the Reo, IN
karting facility and Fordsville Raceway is working on getting their season
kicked off.
There
has been some big news out of the Owensboro
area over the past month. Windy Hollow Speedway is now under
new management. Scott Slayton has taken over the lease of the 3/8 mile
dirt track after Jack and Ros Vick decided to retire. Racing is still
taking place on Sunday's at WHS and we look forward to seeing everyone there.
Other
news... Owensboro's
Roger Lee Hayden and Tommy Hayden have both been in the hospital after
being injured in AMA motorcycle racing accidents. Roger got the worse end of
the deal. He has lost a finger, has 3 fractures in his pelvis and also
back injuries. Tommy had some major damage to his ankle and we ask
everyone keep them in your thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery. I know
this won’t keep ole RL or Tommy Gun down for long!
And
last but not least, The Big Rivers Chapter of the American Red Cross just gave
away a Rusty Wallace Ford replicas of the #2 Rusty drove. They sold
tickets for $10 each and the lucky name was drawn out by a little girl who
was going thru the Bar-B-Q Festival with her parents. Well you will never
guess whose name was drawn out – my buddy, Jason Koger! Jason is the guy
we talked about a couple months back who lost his arms in an ATV accident. This
was a super emotional time when his name was drawn! It is so awesome to
see something good to happen to someone who has had all of this stuff
happen to him. A very special thanks to Stinnet's Auto Sales for donating the
car for the give away and thanks to everyone who helped out!
That
about does it for this month of rain! We hope to be reporting on some high
octane, dirt throwing, rubber burning racing action next month. If not we
may have to start racing row boats!
Until next time...
~Peace
Comments (
