Another week Mother Nature let us get in a race. Thank you Mother Nature. This time she surprised the weather forecasters as there was no mention of the weather which occurred on Saturday morning. Guess she did not want Mike Knight working so hard watering all day long, she did it for us. Restoring a couple of race banners and staying cloudy most of the day led to a great night of racing.

Of course behind the scenes, the Facebook page, text messages, the telephone lines, everyone is asking, “Is I-35 Speedway racing?”. Let’s go behind the scenes for a moment and look at it from track management’s point of view. From track management’s view we always want to race when we can, but we have to consider, will the pits and parking lot dry enough to get racers and fans in, will the track get rough or will we be able to roll it in and have great racing, will the safety vehicles have a place to park, will fans come, all these questions have to be answered and usually most are a guess at best. Our preference would be sunny all day with no weather even predicted and a temperature above 70 and less than 90. Therefore, when you ask before noon, just know track management is working on answering the above questions.

Did anyone notice the white and yellow paint which was applied this past week? Yep, during the week there is almost always something being done to I-35 Speedway. Mike Johnson is a stickler for detail, and thank goodness he is, along with track preparation there is painting, mowing, weed eating, rock moving, equipment maintenance, spraying, cleaning, inventory, restocking, and other chores always ongoing. I-35 Speedway is one of the cleanest and best prepped tracks in the country. If you travel to other tracks compare the other tracks to what you see at I-35 Speedway. If I-35 Speedway is your home track just know it is one of the best maintained facilities in the nation.

This week is the Kaster Family Celebration and all that Larry Kaster has meant to the local racing community. Larry brought modified racing to this area and is a principal person in the history of our sport, a true Hall of Famer. On C.A.R.B. Nights it is no coincidence the award given in his name is one of the most coveted in the racing community.

The track staff is busy collecting, organizing, and preparing all the donations to be given to children on McCarthy Auto Group Kid’s Night at the races. This past week numerous drivers and crews along with race fans brought school supplies to be given out on August 1. Thank you Bruce Fair Racing, Bud Wilson Racing, Conger Racing, Donnie Brown Racing, fan Bobby Russell, fan David Long, Green Rolling Farms, Holden Schultz 36S DX Racing, I-35 Speedway, J&L Racing Show-Me Vintage Racers Jan & Larry Schmoe, Johnson Racing, Philip Grenier #25 Race Team, Pony Express Rides Wichless Scentsy sponsor DX Race Team, Ryan Schaffer Racing, and Thomas Roberts Racing so far for your donations for the kids. As an added bonus, National Top Teacher of the Year, Donn Harrison, will be helping us this night.

Finally, let’s get back to the on track racing from last week. Oh what a night, very few yellow flags, great racing in all classes, and congratulations to Zach Sanders, Jon Boller Jr., Shadren Turner, Austin Johnson, Anthony Asher, Mich Ross, and Dennis Fair on their wins. We had a couple of classes go green to checkered, when that occurs you know it is a great night!