THE PIT STOP: To race, or not to race?

By SCOTT WATSON, Courier racing correspondent

Hello race fans and welcome to The Pit Stop.

As they say, April showers bring May flowers — well April showers also bring a lot of rainouts to the race tracks in the area. And with the April showers and the unpredictable Iowa weather, the question comes up of whether the promoters of local race tracks should try to begin their race season in mid-April or just wait until May rolls around.

The questions that weigh on the minds of race track promoters are, “Do I try to get the season going in mid-April to whet the appetite of the racers and race fans who have been waiting for the race season to start for six months or better and take my chances with the Iowa weather? Or do I just wait until May when the weather is slightly more predictable?”

You can get just about any kind of weather in April here in Iowa. There have been some 70-80 degree days in April and I can remember just a few years ago when we had a snow storm in the middle of April where there were several inches of snow dumped upon us.

Even if Mother Nature cooperates and it doesn’t rain there can also be some chilly nights in April so the promoter has to ask himself, how many fans will show up to a race if they have to wear their winter coats, stocking hats, gloves and Carhartt coveralls to the races?

There are die-hard race fans out there but just how many are out there is hard to determine. And what if there is a chance of rain? How many fans will drive to the track if there is a chance of rain with the price of gas well above $3 aper gallon? I know if I was a fan and there was a chance for rain I would definitely think twice about driving to the track. If they do have the race and the weather is cold and the forecast calls for a chance of rain and there is a low fan turn-out, that is the making for starting the season in the red and that is not an ideal situation. As you can see, promoters have to have some gambler in them. Actually promoters have to have a lot of gambler in them.

The Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa had a different approach than other tracks in the area this year by scheduling an early race date on April 11 in which the USMTS Modifieds were on tap to race and then their first regular race night is scheduled over a month later on May 14. The April 11 race was canceled due to bad weather and was rescheduled for May 21.

The Knoxville Raceway has had two practice nights and two race nights that have been canceled due to wet conditions and they have a cement infield to help in the drainage of the liquid sunshine. With that cement infield they can handle a lot more rain in the days leading up to the race than other tracks. Usually a race at a dirt track is canceled because of the water in the pit area. Water on the track can usually be worked into the track but with all of the haulers in the pit area, there is a big concern to not get them stuck in the mud. One of those race nights that was rained out was this past Saturday night where the World of Outlaws were set to make their first appearance of the year at the track. It has to be some very wet conditions for them to cancel an event like that. The World of Outlaw event has been rescheduled for this coming Saturday night.

The Bloomfield Speedway has tried twice to have their season-opening race but both times they have fallen victim to the monsoons that have gone through the area in the past couple weeks. They will give it another try this Friday night and maybe the third time is the charm, as they say. I have talked to several fans that are rip-rearin ready to get the race season going at Bloomfield.

The Eldon Raceway elected to schedule their 2008 lid-lifter for this Saturday night, May 3. So far it looks like they have made a good decision and hopefully the weather will cooperate, as R.J. Promotions look to have some good racing at the “Home of the Super-Mile.”

Eddyville Raceway Park is an asphalt 1/8 mile NHRA drag strip and they are usually able to have races when the dirt tracks are not able to, but 2008 has not been good to them either. ERP normally starts their season in the middle of April with the first two races being test-and-tune days for the racers to get their cars all dialed in for the points battle. But the rains have been too much for even Eddyville to have the cars thundering down the strip so they will have their first race this Saturday as they jump right into the points race.

The winter has been long and it seems that the forces-that-be are not wanting to give up just yet and let us get the 2008 racing season under way. I have personally sent a note to Mother Nature to please let us have some races this week. If it doesn’t work out this weekend it will be time to do a no-more-rain dance on behalf of the race tracks in the area.

Well I better wrap it up for this week. Next week I'll be writing about the B-Modified division that is growing in the area. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you at the track. Gone racin’.



Courier racing columnist Scott Watson can be reached at swatsonagi@yahoo.com.

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