PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRIP: Eagle Track Raceway, May 26

This sign welcomes folks to Eagle Track Raceway in Republic, Washington.

After Saturday's show at Lebanon, Oregon's Willamette Speedway, I drove two hours north to catch some shut-eye in Kelso, Washington.  The original plan was to spend the day doing the tourist thing at Mt. Ranier and Mt. St. Helens before heading over to Grays Harbor Raceway for an ASCS Northwest show Sunday night.  Of course, you know how plans can change when you're chasin' racin'.  And, with constant checks of the radar Saturday night, I knew things weren't looking favorable for Sunday.

This put me in quite the pickle as, all along, the goal was to seeing racing at four new tracks in four new states during this working vacation.  With May 26 being a Sunday, the only other track racing in the Evergreen State was little ol' Eagle Track Raceway.  Problem is, Eagle Track was some seven hours away in Republic, Washington and, with an advertised starting time of Noon, it would require me to forego another night of rest in favor of a 5:00am wakeup call. Oh, and it was already well past midnight.

A look at Eagle Track's gorgeous backdrop.

At 5:00am, I somehow stumbled out of bed and into the shower.  A morning cup of coffee helped me get on my way as I was scrambling to get to the track by that advertised race time of 12:00pm, knowing that I would beat the ETA my trusty GPS provided me with by at least 15-20 minutes.

The scenic trip through Washington's lush forests was quite nice. However, despite my best efforts, I wasn't able to make it to the track until 12:20pm.  No worries, though, as nothing resembling a race or even warm ups was anywhere near being ready when I pulled in.

Fans can sit high atop this perch on the fronstretch and watch the races if they choose.

Eagle Track Raceway is quite the scenic place itself.  Located at a higher elevation than most everything around it, the track is surrounded by mountains and tall trees.  The track is a big 4/10-mile grassroots establishment with not many cars and not many fans.  I don't know what the exact car count was on this particular afternoon, but there weren't more than 10 cars in any one division with the headlining Modifieds drawing in a whopping three cars total.

Everything about this place took me back at least 25 years.  The cars, the track, the people ... it was like time had just stood still since about 1987.  The race fans were certainly friendly folks and undoubtedly had a love for their little hole-in-the-wall speedway. 



Eagle Track's facilities were a bit outdated.

The facilities at Eagle Track were also exactly what one might expect from this type of track with very little bleacher seating (most folks watched the races from their vehicles, parked just off the front and back chutes), outdated ticket booths, and rustic outhouses.  I can't make this stuff up.

It's interesting how the word "racing" means different things in different parts of the country.  For example, where I'm from, "racing" mean the first actual ... ummm ... "race".  However, at Eagle Track, racing must mean "the time when everyone starts to arrive".  As I mentioned before, 12:00pm was obviously a time that was simply thrown out there and not the actual starting time of the first race, as most folks would expect.  As a matter of fact, after all 20-some cars in the pits qualified, the first actual "race" didn't hit the track until right around 2:00pm.  Not good.



This creature from outer space ran with the Modifieds.

Every class ran a Trophy Dash and a Heat, complete with driver intros on the frontstretch before each race.  The racing was as exciting as one might imagine with few cars on the big track.  And if they were trying to draw out the program, they were doing a damn good job of it.  By 4:00pm, I still hadn't seen an A-Main. Ugh.  Shortly thereafter, I hightailed it out of that place to head across the scenic North Cascades Highway and enjoy what was left of my day.

Nevertheless, Grays Harbor did eventually rain out so the decision to head to Eagle Track ended up working out for me as it became Track #167 with Washington being State #35 in my trackchasing adventures. 

A picture perfect afternoon for racing.