PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRIP: Playing the Rain Game

Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Oregon.  (Track photo)

As I sit here in the Denver International Airport and wait on my connecting flight to Portland, I can't help but ponder "what if".  What if Saturday's show at Willamette gets rained out?  What if Sunday's show at Grays Harbor falls victim to Mother Nature?  What happens?  What do I do?  

Sure, I could go see a race at one of a few different tracks, but my goal is to see racing at four different tracks in four different states while I'm out here.  If Sunday's show at Grays Harbors gets cancelled, my odds at seeing a race in Washington are all but shot.

My flight into Portland won't arrive until 10:30pm tonight (that's 1:30am eastern time).  I pick up my rental car tomorrow morning at 9am.  Whatever decision is made will have to be made quickly, but also keeping in mind the ultimate goal of four races at four tracks in four states.

Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, OR is at the top of the priority list.  Luckily, they race Saturday and Sunday both.  Grays Harbor also runs both days, so the opportunity to flip-flip those two tracks is certainly there if the weather looks more favorable one way versus another.  Other Oregon tracks racing on Saturday include Cottage Grove, Southern Oregon, and Sunset.  And in Washington, Skagit is a Saturday night option.

The Sunday options are pretty much limited to Willamette and Grays Harbor.  Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, CA would be an absolute last resort given its proximity from where I'll be.  And Eagle Track Raceway in the northeast part of Washington is slated to race Sunday at Noon...making it nearly impossible for me to hit if I'm in Oregon Saturday night.

Few options and big decisions.  Such is the life of those who like chasin' racin'. 

PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRIP: The Gameplan

Gallatin Speedway in Belgrade, Montana.  (track photo)
 

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I'll be flying out to Portland, Oregon this Friday to present at a college admissions conference.  The timing of the trip means, unfortunately, I'll have to miss Sunday's Johnny Appleseed Classic at Eldora (Shane Andrews and Kyle Luetters will be covering our announcing duties).  However, the timing of the trip also means I'll be able to see some racing at new tracks in a part of the country I've never been to before.

With my flight arriving in Portland late Friday night, there won't be an opportunity to catch any Friday racing action.  Doesn't matter, as there's literally no tracks within nine hours of Portland racing on Friday night.  Hard to believe, I know.

Saturday, I'll look to head a little south of the city to Lebanon, Oregon's Willamette Speedway for night #1 of their Clair Cup.  Last year's event drew a whopping 48 Late Models, so I'm hoping for a solid car count and a good show in my maiden voyage to the 3/10-mile oval.  The current weather forecast is calling for a rain-free Saturday with a high of 64 and a brisk low of 46.

Sunday will find me heading north to Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Washington.  The ASCS Sprints' Northwest division will be in action at the 3/8-mile track with IMCA Modifieds and Street Stocks also on the card.  The weather outlook for Sunday in Elma is almost identical to that of Lebanon, OR the day before with a high of 64 and a cool low of 47.  As you see, longjohns will be a necessity for this trip.

If all goes as planned, the following weekend should find me venturing into Montana for a visit to Gallatin Speedway, as they bring Late Models in for one of their few stops to the 3/10-mile facility.  I never put much stock into the weather forecast more than a few days out, but the early models are showing a high of 72 with a low of 43 and a chance of thunderstorms.  Should that show get rained out, my only other option is to head north to Great Falls, Montana's Electric City Speedway.

My final destination is slated to be Atomic Motor Raceway in Blackfoot, Idaho.  The 1/3-mile oval will open their regular season on June 1st with IMCA Modifieds as the headlining division.  Taken with a grain of salt, the initial weather outlook shows sunny skies with a high of 83 and a low of 53...which would be, by far, the warmest temps of the trip.

As I mentioned previously, this is all tentative at best.  Of my last three summer trips that involved racing, NONE of them went as planned.  So, I'm not holding my breathe.  However, if every DOES go as planned, I'll have seen racing at 169 tracks in 37 different states.

And, of course, I'll keep everyone here posted with updates, pics, stories, and more.

5 WEEKEND AFTER-THOUGHTS: 40 cars for a regular show?!

Todd Sherman (65) and Jeff Babcock (7B) battle for the win Friday at Limaland.  (Mike Campbell photo)

1.  Remember last week when I mentioned John Blankenship was one of the most consistent drivers in the country so far this year?  Well, he made me look good over the weekend with his $20,000 payday in the Lucas Oil sanctioned Bad Boy 98 at Batesville. He's still one of my picks to win the Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora in a few weeks.

2.  I made it to Limaland Friday night for their anniversary race, and a VERY talented field of UMP Modifieds (29 total) saw Todd Sherman grab the win.  I was unaware that Limaland had the "if debris falls off your car and brings out a caution, you go to the tail" rule.  I can't say I'm a fan of it, as too many variable can happen to cause debris to fall off one's car.  I'll discuss that in a Puttin' On A Show editorial later this week.

3.  In case you haven't noticed, Waynesfield Motorsports Park has been quite the hotbed for Non-Wing Sprints.  The 1/4-mile oval drew nearly 40 cars Saturday night for a regular show! Hat tip to them!!

4.  Congrats are in order for Dusty Moore, who finally got a monkey off his back and grabbed the Late Model win at Attica Raceway Park Friday night.  I know that team's been working as hard as anyone to get things figured out and it all came together for them Friday evening.

5.  Doug Drown continued his hot start to 2013 with wins at Wayne County and Hilltop over the weekend.  The Hilltop victory was good for $2000, as Drown just continues to rattle off wins in the Sean Weekley owned #63.

HISTORY: Limaland's 78th Anniversary

Bill Keeler (20) leads Cory Seeling (03) and Tyler Stump (93) into the Limaland sunset.

If you know me, or even if you don't and you just follow this blog, you know I'm a fan of two things: good racing and well-run programs.  Likewise, it's no secret I'm a a big supporter of Limaland Motorsports Park. I've mentioned that on here multiple times.  This Friday, May 17, the Allen County oval will hold it's 78th Anniversary Race presented by Homeland Technology Group.

Like several tracks, Limaland has a long and storied history that began just prior to the start of World War II.  And, like most, the track shut down during the war years after a few summers of racing old jalopies and motorcycles.  Allentown Speedway, as it was called back then, reopened after the war with several now-known names taking turns at promoting the track, including Roy Spears and Jack Keller among others.  After a few "open-and-closed" seasons in the late 50's, the oval was transformed into a more formal, flat, quarter-mile race track in 1960.

The general admission entrance as it looks today. (Track photo)

In 1967, the track was renamed Limaland Speedway and took on a new look with 22 degrees of banking in the corners.  From there, the popularity of Limaland began to take its shape with track champions such as Don Hewitt and Rocky Fisher.  That popularity also prompted several regional stalwarts to tame the highbanks with drivers such as Dick Gaines, Tommy Dickson, Jim & Fred Linder, Johnny Beaber, Harold McGilton, Dick & Al Liskai, and Larry Helms among others often making the trip to the storied race track.

But even through the good times, Limaland wasn't immune to the hard times either.  At one point, it looked as though the facility may have reached its end.  However, changes in ownership saw legendary promoter Earl Baltes take a stab at reviving the track and then, in 1998, the historic speedway would be purchased by the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH).

As they say, "the rest is history".  UNOH has invested a countless amount of time, money, and resources into making Limaland Motorsports Park, as its now called, one of the premier facilities in the midwest.  And, as I mentioned in the beginning, the racing at Limaland is top notch and the program run in a timely fashion.  The facilities are the icing on the cake, and the complete package of what Limaland is today would certainly make its founding fathers proud.

5 WEEKEND AFTER-THOUGHTS: Eldora Off-Road, Oakshade finish, & more

(Mike Campbell/Eldora Speedway photo)

1.  It's the same old tune today with Mother Nature once again washing out many of the weekend's races in this region.  Eldora, Limaland, Attica, and Moler all fell victim to rain Friday while Waynesfield, Montpelier, and Florence were among the Saturday rainouts.  

2.  Eldora's TRAXXAS TORC Off-Road Championship Series event on Saturday was able to beat the weather and it was a pretty darned interesting show with former motocross champion (and TORC Series founder) Ricky Johnson getting the win in the Pro 4x4 division by passing Johnny Greaves with less than four laps remaining.

3.  I hear it was another outstanding Late Model finish at Oakshade Saturday night with Dona Marcoullier narrowly edging out Rusty Schlenk for a wild side-by-side victory that saw both cars spinning after the checkered flag waved. 

4.  Nationally speaking, who are the most consistent drivers in the country right now?  Shane Clanton and John Blankenship.  Clanton rattled off his third WoO win Saturday night while Blankenship scored another top five with the Lucas Oil Series.  Those two are my early favorites to win The Dream at Eldora here in a few weeks, and it's no coincidence they finished first and second in that race last year.

5.  In case you missed it, USMTS Modified ace Ryan Gustin notched his first career Late Model win over the weekend in the MARS-scantion John Kuntz Memorial at Springfield Raceway.

UPCOMING TRIP: Pacific Northwest

Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Oregon  (Track photo)

Each year, I try to make it a point to get out and visit a few new race tracks.  By no means am I at the top of the heap when it comes to race-chasing, but I am fortunate enough to have seen races at 165 different tracks in 33 states.  The thrill of going to new tracks, especially those in new states, is my equivalent of being a kid at Christmas.

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to be selected to be a presenter at a college admissions conference in Portland, Oregon the last week of May.  As several of you know, college admissions is my "real" job...the one that pays the bills.  Just as anyone would do with an opportunity to visit a part of the country they've never been to before, I'll be taking a few extra days off to enjoy myself and catch a few races.  Most likely, this will be the only chance I ever get to visit the Pacific Northwest, so I'm going to enjoy it while I can.

Even the best laid-out racing trips are often detoured thanks to Mother Nature. Especially mine.  Three years ago, a 10-day journey that was set to begin in Iowa, Colorado, and Kansas was vastly (and impromptu) rerouted to South Dakota, Wyoming, and North Dakota.  Two years back, a planned trip to a track in Oklahoma found my wife and I scrambling to Kansas to attend the only track racing in a four-state region, immediately followed by a detour through Nebraska.  And just last year, our New England trip to seeing racing in five different states (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut) was cut to four when a late rain shower washed out an event on our schedule and forced us to bypass the Connecticut track.

So, it goes without saying, this schedule is certainly subject to change without warning.

However, if all does indeed go as planned, I'll be able to knock off four new tracks in four new states with visits to Willamette Speedway (Lebanon, OR), Grays Harbor Raceway (Elma, WA), Electric City Speedway (Great Falls, MT), and Atomic Motor Raceway (Atomic City, ID).

Soooo, keep checking back.  In the coming weeks, I'll lay out the plans in some more detail and tell you about the trickery involved in trying to pull this off.  As always, it's a wild ride...

5 WEEKEND AFTER-THOUGHTS: Power Outages, Pontoons, & Big Paydays

(Jeremey Rhoades photo)

1. Finally blessed with another nice weekend, local tracks Oakshade and Waynesfield both got to swing open their gates.  From what I've heard, Oakshade's Late Model feature was a dandy with Ryan Missler narrowly edging out Brian Ruhlman at the finish line.  Waynesfield, unfortunately, fell victim to a power outage just as the green flag waved on the first A-Main.

2.  One story you probably missed this weekend was the fact that Eldora Stock racer Paul Pardo had to pull the motor out of his car after last week's race.  His replacement engine? The motor out of his pontoon jet.  Pardo wheeled the fresh power plant to a heat race victory and and second place A-Main finish Saturday night at the Big E.

3.  In a weekend full of drivers with excellent finishes, perhaps no two-day run was stronger than Jon Henry's.  "The Steel Driver" captured two wins and a second place finish in a 24-hour span by wheeling the Dean Miracle-owned 23J to a win Saturday night at Eldora, which was preceded by a win and a runner-up finish the night before in Limaland's UMP Modified "Double Down" show.  Speaking of solid UMP Modified runs, Joey Kramer picked up back-to-back wins at Southern Ohio Speedway this weekend.

4.  Anybody remember when I said Doug Drown would get himself a big payday this year?  Okay, actually what I said was that Drown would get a national touring series win this year.  But, Saturday's $12,000 victory in the Southern 100 is just as good with several national stars, regional hotshoes, and local warriors in the house.  Kudos to him on the big win.

5.  Last but not least, get well wishes go out to Barry Doss.  The veteran southwest Ohio driver suffered a heart attacked in the pits at Moler Friday night and is currently in a medically-induced coma.  Thoughts and prayers here...