As Herman’s Hermits (if you do not know who they are then google it) would say, second verse same as first. Another week of racing another week of everyone watching the radar. Unlike week 7, this past week we did not get all the feature races completed. Early morning showers were missing I-35 Speedway, showers came within a mile of the track both east and west but Mother Nature was going to allow us a great night of racing. A quick check of the forecast indicated no storm activity until after 1 a.m. Alright let’s go racing!

The pits were filling with what eventually became 115 racecars. The stands were filling with great race fans! Then as the national anthem played you could look to the west and see – dark clouds? Yes there they were the dark clouds we should not have seen, the dark clouds which should not have appeared until after we were all home and had enjoyed a complete night of racing. Maybe Mother Nature did not like that the week before we completed the show? We thought she liked us.

Anyway, the racing program originally was scheduled for 20 heat races, one B feature, and eight feature events. Yes all that racing creates the best value for the race fan’s money in the area. With the dark clouds on the horizon the track staff went into hurry up mode. Our goal was to give the fans the most racing we could. Racers wanted to race, fans wanted to watch, and the ambulance crew kept us informed of the storms and where they were located and how soon they would arrive.

It takes a great team effort to get as far in the program as we got. The racers are team players as they were always lined up and ready to go and the racing was very clean. The management team was making decisions to give the fans the best possible race show they could. These decisions included cancelling intermission, getting the lineups to the lineup board as quickly as possible, and cancelling the scheduled B feature and run all the B Mods in the feature. All this while facing the toughest decision of all, when to call the races. Making this decision is no easy task, but we have to consider getting everyone to their cars and allowing racers time to get loaded and out of the pits. Sprinkles came the minute we made the announcement and within a half hour the rains came, and came, and came (4 plus inches). Those features not completed will be made up in the future, non-wing Sprint Cars will run two features on June 6, and the Grand Nationals and Hobby Stocks will run their double features this weekend.

Congratulations to Allen Guthrie and Jeremiah Asher on their wins in the Vintage class and the E-Mods. The Vintage drivers came to me and thanked us, and in particular, Mike and Kyle Johnson for scheduling both vintage groups together. They stated it was much more fun to compete with 15 competitors rather than eight. Isn’t that what we should be doing working together to grow our sport! See my website racingkc.com for my personal thoughts on this subject.

This weekend is memorial day weekend, and yes, the forecast already calls for weather we do not desire, but just like the prediction of nothing until after 1 a.m., we will just have to wait and see what we get, but in the meantime say a prayer for great racing weather. Also let’s remember, Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country’s armed forces. We would not have this great sport if not for those who died for this great country.