Top 10 Craziest Things... #8

#8  –  Crowley’s Ridge Raceway 7/3/04

What Happened:  Sometimes, the craziness isn't what happens at the track. Instead, it's what happens leading up to the visit.  In a nutshell, this wild road trip took an unexpected journey through southeastern Missouri and northern Arkansas.  Fighting off Mother Nature and mosquitoes the size of buzzards, we were able to credit ourselves with two races in one night.

After hitting Union County Speedway in Liberty, IN on Friday, July 2, 2004 myself and my old college roommate Joe Gainey packed up my 1999 Grand Am for a wild road trip that was to incorporate 9 races in 9 days.  Set out to conquer the racing world, we were west-bound and down for a seven-hour journey to Pevely, MO’s famed I-55 Speedway.  An overcast, rainy Saturday would hinder our spirits, although we made good use of my new cell phone by constantly calling the track to see if they were racing.  In addition, we quickly found my mother to be a much-needed asset, serving as our “on-call meteorologist” (remember, in 2004, we didn't have smartphones, or really, any way to access the internet while driving).  Less than 15 miles from the track, we received the word that I-55 had been rained out.

With Mom keeping a watchful eye on the radar, we were guided to “head south”.  With our trusty National Speedway Directory in hand, we made an impromptu, last-minute, mad dash down Interstate 55 and landed nearly two hours south of our original destination at the new Poplar Bluff Speedway in Poplar Bluff, MO.  Arriving just in time for their early starting time of 6pm, we sat on the backstretch and watched them tick off heat race after heat race in a relatively timely fashion as Mother Nature’s dark and dreary storm appeared to get closer and closer.  Just a couple races shy of intermission, what can best be described as a tropical downpour fell upon us as we slopped through the pits to the parking lot and into our car.  Noticing the time was still early (7:30pm), we rocketed out of the pits in a hurry and fired up the cell, ringing up the on-call meteorologist who guided us to continue going south.

The National Speedway Directory listed Crowley’s Ridge Raceway as being 1/4-mile dirt track located in the city of Paragould, AR.  Following Late Model driver Brian Richie through the backroads of unfamiliar territory, we were lucky to find this little 1/5-mile hole-in-the-wall that is nestled deep within the woods on northeast Arkansas, nearly 10 miles away from Paragound and, seemingly, any type of civilization.  We arrived at the track just in time for the intermission fireworks display.

Wearing nothing on my feet but sandals, mosquitoes as big as vultures picked apart my feet like they were fresh roadkill on a sunny afternoon.  The facility hadn’t seen a lawn mower or a weed eater since Christ was a carpenter, and the payouts were only slightly better than the proverbial “hot dog and coke” as our new-found friend Mr. Richie won the race (after tagging the tail of the field) and pocketed a whopping $200 and a free tire for his efforts.  Restarts were a free-for-all as the waterhead flagman waved the green as cars exited turn two, and the entire program seemed to be nothing short of unorganized chaos.  Now being well over three-and-a-half hours from our original destination, we finally found comfort in a run-down Days Inn in downtown Paragould.  Thanks to Brian Richie and his crew, who gave us directions on how to get out of the race track and back to civilization.  Also, it’s worth noting that a tornado would rip through Paragould the day after we left, killing two people and injuring several others.

Looking Back:  And to think this is how we STARTED our road trip.  Actually, Joe and I like to reflect back on this excursion quite often.  Without a doubt, this is one of the best racing stories I have ever been a part of.  Also ironic is the fact that we ended up nearly 4 hours south of our original destination.  I remember us calling Crowley’s Ridge at least three times to get directions on how to get there.  They were giving us roads that weren’t on the map.  Thank God we were able to follow Brian Richie, even though he was driving well over 70mph at night down these Arkansas backroads.