Sunday, January 3, 2016

Turning the calendar to 2016

With the holidays past us, it is time to put the 2015 racing season to bed and to look ahead at what 2016 may offer. Many things will be the same but there is always the inevitable change from year to year, some good and some things not so good. Let's talk about that in a moment. First let's break down 2015 and see how last season played out.

For me it was another good year of racing and in fact, one of my best ever in terms of races attended. In 2015 I attended one hundred and sixty five race events, which is the second highest year ever for me. It was also the fifth time that I have been to one hundred and sixty nights of racing or more in a year. It was also the thirty fifth consecutive year that I have attended at least one hundred nights of racing in a year.

In 2015 I saw racing at sixty six different race tracks in thirteen states. Interestingly, the sixty six different tracks ties my highest one year total of race tracks seen which happened last year, and that was also done in thirteen different states.

I saw four tracks for the first time ever in 2015. They were the Nobles Co. Speedway in Worthington MN, Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids IA, The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indy for an indoor midget race.

I have now been to two hundred and ninety three different tracks in twenty eight states and three Canadian provinces. Those numbers would pale in comparison to a Randy Lewis or a Guy Smith who have been to six or seven times more tracks than that, but my mission has never been to try and set any records. I simply like going to the races and as an inevitable consequence of that, the numbers per year and total tracks attended have started to mount.

My strong preference is dirt over asphalt with the 164 vs. 1 comparison pretty overwhelming, especially considering that my home state is probably more well known nationally for the asphalt tracks we have compared to the dirt tracks. However, I still consider the Badger state to have many good dirt tracks from border to border, West to East. My willingness to travel to watch races does give me the chance to get a wider perspective than some on what is going on with racing trends, and I'm happy to report that I feel just as comfortable in the pits and know nearly as many people as I wonder the pits in the Dakotas to Iowa and Nebraska as to my home stomping ground.

While there is never a truly bad night at the races, certainly there are some nights that are more fun than others. Some of the highlights that pop into my head immediately from the 2015 season include the Wild West Shootout in Tucson which is an event that any race fan would love, whether they are a Late Model or a Modified fan. I went to the Rebel 5K race in Davenport for the first time in 2015 and found that to be a great early season race. The Lucas Oil Racing Series visited the Oshkosh Speedzone Raceway for the first time in 2015 and that proved to be a great night of racing. The Zone is really one of the nicest racing facilities in the Midwest, yet I'd guess that many people beyond the Badger state have never heard of it.

One of my favorite races every year is the Street Stock Little Dream race at the Rice Lake Speedway in Wisconsin. I may be partisan because I go to the races there every week, but anyone that attends that race once will tell you that it belongs on your "bucket list" of events to see. The uniqueness of this event, where the crowd contributes mightily to the final purse, makes it for a fund night of uncertainty and last year's winner went home with over 14 thousand dollars, a huge chuck of change for the Streeters and they responded by fielding over sixty entries for the race from four states and two Canadian provinces.

I always tout the John Seitz Memorial Race at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks North Dakota as one of the great events of any year. Over sixty Late Models are always on hand to battle it out on this little "bull ring" of a track that produces tremendous racing action along with the nights of Late Model racing, they also provide three nights of 410 sprints and great modified racing too.

Some other highlights of the year included a fantastic photo finish of a Late Model feature during the Twin 25's at AMSOIL Speedway in Superior Wisconsin where John Kaanta beat Jeff Provinzino by literally inches. Although the event was weather plagued in 2015, the Charlotte racing weekend was impressive and perhaps one that we'll try again some time.

Of course, there are always some "stinky" races, whether they be caused by the weather, poor car counts, poor race administration or just some of those nights when nothing seems to go right. I truly saw two of the worst in recent memory during the course of the 2015 season, but I won't name the tracks involved. I will only say that one was in Indiana and one in Nevada. Other than that, you'll have to use your own imagination!

As far as the breakdown, I visited fourteen tracks in Wisconsin, fifteen in Minnesota, fifteen in Iowa, three in South Dakota, two in North Dakota, four in Illinois, four in Missouri, one in Kansas, two in Nebraska, two in Nevada, on one each in Indiana, Arizona and North Carolina.

But, enough of 2015. Let's look at some things early in the 2016 racing season that have piqued my interest. The two tracks in Wisconsin that I wrote about last Fall that were reopening after being closed have made some decisions. The Spring Lake Speedway, which is near Unity Wisconsin in the central part of the state, has decided to sanction their Super Stocks, Street Stocks and MidMods with WISSOTA. They will run nonsanctioned Modifieds, which makes perfect sense since a few of the remaining racers in that area that they want and need to race with them have cars built to USRA specs.So they will undoubtedly write rules that allow USRA, WISSOTA and IMCA cars all to run.

The Tomahawk Speedway, back in business after having sat idle for two years, is waiting on another track to make a decision before they declare who they will sanction with and just exactly what rules they will use. Another area track, which has been for sale for an extended period and has been on and off with their racing, is too close for Tomahawk to run on the same night if they chose to request sanctioning, so Tomahawk is waiting to see if this other track decides to operate or not in 2016 which will play a big part in what Tomahawk decides to do.

The I-35 Speedway in Mason City, now known as Mason City Motor Speedway and a track that I generally get to a couple of times each year, has seen major changes. New promoters Al Hejna and Ryne Staley have convinced the county to make some major changes to the track and the sanctioning body has switched from IMCA to USRA. Pretty much surrounded by IMCA sanctioned tracks, they will have to rely on cars from the Deer Creek and Upper Iowa Speedway areas to help them fill out their fields. They will use the tactic of the "transitional rules" to help ease the switch over, a tactic used successfully by several of the sanctioning bodies.

In Southeast Iowa, Mike VanGenderen surprised me when he announced that he was bringing back Late Models to the weekly show at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. And in a bold move, he wrote a whole new set of rules for his Late Model class that include two options for the crate motored cars and rules that would allow the IMCA Late Models to also race. This new rules package didn't get high grades from some at the IMCA "head shed" when I asked them, but I can understand why. As with any "for profit" business, they make more money the more tracks they sanction and the more drivers who buy licenses. If these new rules go over and drivers start building cars based on these rules, it may cost IMCA more cars and tracks. Strange though, that for a sanctioning body that is so "gung ho" about crate motors in every other class, that they haven't tried to implement rules by now for their Late Models with a crate option.

As I write this, two of the finest dirt tracks in northeastern Wisconsin are going through some difficulties of their own. Seymour Speedway, which has been a Sunday night track for many years, and now that they have changed the track from a tri oval to a tree oval track has provided some of the best racing of any track in that area, is currently undergoing a major change in management.

For many years the track has been a club operated facility, negotiating a deal with the Fair Board. However, the club has struggled from time to time and as with many of the club operated tracks, has both struggled to find people willing to devote their time while also having the expertise needed to operate a special business like a race track is. They got into arrears in their payments to the county, and the threat was there that if they didn't get things squared away, the country would either find some other use for the fairgrounds or simply end racing. Dave Panske, who has been a member of the club for many years and a racing insider in the operation of the facility, has stepped forward to buy the assets of the club and promote the races in 2016. I was at Seymour a couple of times in 2015 and always saw good racing there but with all the tracks in northeastern Wisconsin, by the time that Sundays roll around, some times it's hard drawing both race cars and fans to the track. I wish Panske the best of luck with his efforts.

As I write this, I'm not certain if Luxemburg Speedway has found a promoter for 2016 or not. Luxemburg is truly one of the nicest racing plants in the state, but with so many tracks in close proximity, it has been a struggle for the last couple of years for former promoter Gene Mathu, and he had to fight many weather related issues as well.

Fargo North Dakota has always been one of racing's hot beds in the upper Midwest. There are a ton of racers from the Fargo area and when the Red River Valley Speedway shut down two years ago, it was a major loss for racing in that area. However, the drivers from Fargo didn't stop racing; they simply moved their racing to other tracks and places like I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls MN and Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon MN benefited from the extra drivers on hand that were displaced from their home track.

Now, Jake Bitker, who also runs the Norman County Raceway in Ada MN, about forty miles Northeast of Fargo, is going to be taking over as the promoter at Fargo and the track will again run a weekly program on Friday nights. Bitker also owns Performance Auto which is the biggest speed shop in Fargo and also sells various brands of racing chassis and motors.

I talked to Bitker last year in Tucson where he was helping on the Mods and Late Models that he owns, and at that time he told me that the Fair Board had been in contact with him but that the only way he would take over Fargo was if they let him run a weekly program and at that point, they were only interested in him promoting specials. Obviously, something has changed and someone has given in a year later.It will be interesting to see how well the fans support this new program which features neither Late Models or Sprint Cars on a weekly basis while both a local fan favorites, and what effect, if any, the reopening of Fargo plays on some of the other area tracks.

The Late Models have already had their first special of 2016 in Tennessee and the Sprints are racing already in Arizona. Within a few days we will be taking off for the Wild West Shootout in Tucson and many will soon be finalizing their plans to head to Florida. Those of us that are lucky enough to take advantage of some of these opportunities feel very blessed and anxiously await the start of another racing season.

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