Wow what a week culminating in a great night of racing! Walls, tires, bleachers, all sporting a new coat of white. Coca Cola and I-35 Speedway brightly shining on the back straight wall. New banners up and on display. All in preparation for a full night of I-35 Speedway family and fun. The full night started with one hundred and eight (108) racecars in the pits. The night included MAVTV, our regular racers who support us each week, WAR Sprints, a tribute to Bob Libbey, a remembrance of Mike Knight, a VFW presentation to Mike Johnson, and an I-35 Speedway announcement of the 2017 inductees.

Opening ceremonies leading to the national anthem included a VFW presentation to track owners Mike and Kyle Johnson and a balloon release by the Mike Knight family in remembrance of our former track prep guru who passed away a year ago. At the driver’s meeting roses were given to the drivers to put on their racecars in honor of Mike.

The tribute to Bob Libbey brought several racers to I-35 Speedway to compete in his honor. Stickers with his favorite saying were carried on several of the racecars and numerous drivers asked for a second sticker to put on their tool box. With Bob’s family in attendance, wife Susan, daughter Meghan, Mother Norma Jeane, step father Charles, the I-35 racing family took part by waving their hand fans, given at time of ticket purchase, every time audio of Bob’s calls through the years were played.

To state how much this meant to the racers we utilize Jake Richard Motorsports Facebook post: What do you say….Win #10 on the year.  Tonight, I35 honored a very special person in Bob Libbey.  Bob was a wonderful announcer for many years at Lakeside and I70 Speedways, venturing out a few times at other tracks as well.  He had one of those voices that when he spoke, you listened and a smile that spoke even louder than his voice carried.  Jaker, as Bob would call Jake, came to the track tonight to honor a man that was a friend for many years.  The win tonight wasn’t about a trophy, this win was about a friend, this win was for Bob! I-35 Speedway racing family you were a huge part of this, Thank you, thank you, thank you racing family!

Congratulations to the 2017 I-35 Speedway Hall of Fame Inductees, Buz Kaster, Bud Wilson, and Paula Murphy! These three individuals were announced at intermission and the induction presentation will be at the season ending banquet. Make sure you get your ticket to this year’s banquet on November 4. Note: No conflict with deer season.

The weekly racing classes put on some of the best racing of the year. The competition was fierce and the drivers loved the track. Numerous drivers stopped and told me how smooth and great the track was to compete on, but let’s hear from the drivers themselves. Let’s turn to Facebook in a message to the I-35 Speedway page: I want to thank everyone from the track for the info before coming and being made felt so welcomed when we arrived we race several different places a year and that track come feature time was as smooth as it gets great job. Cut a brake line and he couldn’t finish but sure had a nice time Thanks Jeff Gay

That about says it all for this past weekend of racing. The drivers have spoken, great racetrack, great facility, and when they feel welcome that says a ton about our racing family!