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...

Road Trip Days 6 & 7

Day 6 of the big road trip was mostly consumed with our self-guided tour of the White Mountains.  Overcast skies early in the day cleared up somewhat in the afternoon and I thought we had a chance to get the show in Wednesday night in Oxford, Maine.

We made it to Oxford Plains Speedway at 5:30pm, a full hour before the first race was scheduled to hit the track.  It was almost like the clouds followed us over.  A light sprinkle fell off and on and I was worried we may not get this show in.  Remember, the entire premise of this road trip was to seeing racing in five new states (VT/NH/ME/CT/MA).

At 6:25pm, with the sprinkle turning into a light rain, the National Anthem was played and, to be honest, I knew this one just wasn't meant to be.  6:30pm came and went without a car being lined up in the chute.  With a radar full of multi-colored "blobs", and the rain now becoming more heavy, track officials made the decision to postpone the program to the following evening.

I was disappointed, to say the least.  Not in the track.  They did what they had to do.  Rather, I was upset that there was now no way I'd get to see racing in all of the states I had planned.  Selfish?  Yes.  But justified, nonetheless.

So now a decision had to be made.  For Thursday night's racing, did we go to Thompson International Speedway (Thompson, CT) as we had originally planned?  Or did we head back to Oxford Plains Speedway (Oxford, ME) for the rained out show?

It was a tough call, but we opted to head back to Maine.  I figured, on down the road someday, it would probably be easier to see a race in Connecticut than in Maine.  Yes, this is how my mind works.

Thursday came and went, and we were Maine bound once again with much better weather.  On tap at Oxford Plains, a 3/8-mile semi-banked asphalt track, was a regular racing program with 26 Late Models, 19 Strictly Stocks, 15 Mini Stocks, and 17 Runnin' Rebels.

Oxford Plains is a neat place.  It's very clean and very well manicured all around.  The grandstand seating is enormous, about 24 rows high, and runs longer than the distance of the frontstretch.  The backstretch seating is similar, giving this track more than enough room to accommodate well over 10,000 fans.  The midway behind the grandstands is all asphalt with a few different vending areas and souvenir booths.  The food at Oxford Plains, like every other track in the northeast, is quite a bit more than anything we have in the midwest.

The pits are located off the backstretch with cars exiting the speedway off turn two and entering the track at the end of the backstretch. There are two scoreboards at Oxford Plains - one located off turn two and the other sitting off turn three - both of which display the top five cars as well as laps completed.

The first race of the night hit the track right at the advertised starting time of 6:30pm and the prelims went without a hitch as just one yellow flew in all of the eight heat race.  After a quick 15 minute intermission, the first feature of the night was on the track and, much like the heats, cautions were minimal.  In addition, three of the four A-Mains weren't decided until the final lap.  The final checkered flag of the night waved at 8:56pm making this the quickest racing program I have ever attended in my 32 years.

All in all, this was quite the enjoyable night of racing.  Although I'll always be a dirt track fan, this asphalt show had some good side-by-side racing and the efficiency of the program was second to none.  Oxford Plains gets "two thumbs up" from this camp and is certainly recommended if you're looking for a track to hit in the Pine Tree State.

Oxford Plains becomes track #159 and Maine becomes state #31 on my track-chasing list.

Road Trip Day 5

Woke up in Bar Harbor, ME this morning after a solid night's sleep in a mountain view cottage.  If you ever get the chance to visit Bar Harbor, do it.  The place is absolutely gorgeous and should be on everyone's bucket list if you're to travel or just sight-see.

By 11:30am, we were heading back west to New Hampshire for tonight's destination, Canaan Fair Speedway.  The trip took longer than expected thanks (yet again) to traffic, but also thanks to my GPS try to take us on some goat path that hasn't been operable by anything other than an ATV since 1842.

With Hot Laps slated to start at 6:00pm, we rolled into Canaan one minute late.  Luckily, they were still packing the track and Hot Laps didn't officially get started until 6:25pm.

Standing at the top of turn one, looking down the frontstretch. 

At one time, Canaan was an old fairgrounds track.  Actually, it was a 1/2-mile "back in the day", probably because it was an old horse track.  As racing became more prominent, they built the current relatively flat, 1/4-mile which is what they still race on today.  Practically no sign of old, old 1/2-mile still exists.  

Just off the backstretch sits the "other" Canaan Fair Speedway, an asphalt track the races every Saturday night.  The dirt track runs each Friday as well as a few special occasions throughout the year, such as this one.

Canaan Fair's asphalt track sits just off the backstretch from the dirt track.

It's still quite obvious the track sits on an old fairgrounds.  With the buildings surrounding the speedway, the covered grandstands...anyone can figure out the fair was held here at one time.  The pits are off turns three and four with cars entering the track at the beginning of the front straight and exiting the track at the end of the back straight.

Concessions at Canaan, like every place else in New England, are overpriced at $2.50 for a hot dog, $8.000 for a chicken tenders platter, and $7.00 for a steak and cheese.  The wait to get the food is even more ridiculous.  When the lady behind me in line got her chicken tenders (no platter) before I got mine (with fries...which were already sitting there waiting to be picked up), I raised holy hell.  

One of the coolest pics I have ever taken... a look at Canaan Fair Speedway.

30 Modifieds and 23 SCoNE (Sprint Cars of New England) Sprints had signed into the pits as well as a few others in two more support classes.  With a post time of 7:00pm, the first race of the night actually hit the track at 7:15pm.

The heats at Canaan were, for the most part, lackluster with little passing on a one-groove race track.  The format for the Mods was puzzling at best.  Scheduled to start 24 cars in the Twin 20's, they had four heats.  The stupid part is, they only took the top three from each heat.  Why?

Sitting under the covered grandstanding looking into turn one.

Then, they ran two B-Mains and took the top five from each of those consies.  I figured they would add two track provisionals to get their starting field of 24.  Instead, they rolled out a Last Chance Qualifier which they took the top two from.  I mean, what the hell??  Why not just take an extra car from each B-Main?  Or, better yet, take the top five from each heat, then run ONE consy and take the top four.  Their format had way too many unnecessary races and way too many extra laps on the track.

Nevertheless, the field of 30 was finally trimmed down to 24 for the first 20-lap feature and, thanks to some track prep, it was pretty darn good (despite several mid-race cautions) with the top three finishers all crossing the line in a bunch.  The 25-lap SCoNE Sprint A-Main was up next and it didn't disappoint either.  As a matter of fact, had it not been for a caution with two to go, I have a feeling we would have had a side-by-side finish.  After the Sprint feature, the national anthem was finally played (??) and the final 20-lap Modified race came out with the top 15 finishers from the previous feature inverted.  Although it did have some movers and shakers, it wasn't quite as eventful as the first race.

A look at Canaan Fair Speedway from above turns three and four.

In all, this was an average night at the track.  There was a lot of things to be disappointed with from high concession prices to a bizarre race format to lackluster heats, but the features provided some solid racing and we were on our way out at 11:15pm.  Canaan Fair Speedway (dirt track) becomes track 158th different track I've seen racing at and New Hampshire becomes the 30th different state I've seen a race in.

The weather for tonight's asphalt race at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine doesn't look promising, but we'll keep our fingers crossed.  Enjoy your day!

Road Trip Days 3 & 4

The first part of Sunday was spent doing the whole "tourist" thing in Vermont.  A tour of Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory was, dare I say, delicious.  After that, a short swing through the green mountains with a few stops along the way pretty much wiped out the better part of our day.  At 3:00pm, we started making our way to the 1/4-mile dirt oval Legion Speedway in Rumney, NH.

Legion has gone through a few ownership changes over the last several years.  Once known as Rattlesnake Motordrome (yikes!), it was later purchased and renamed Big Daddy's Speedbowl.  Last year, Si Allen bought the place and named it Legion Speedway, to be run in conjunction with the American Legion that sits at the entrance to the speedway.  The track ran a couple of "test" shows last year before opening full time this season.

Standing above turn one, looking at Legion Speedway.

Legion had only run two races before the July 1st show.  The season opener drew 19 Modifieds, a pretty decent number for that area.  The following week, the car count slid back to 13.  The afternoon we were there, they had just 9 Mods in the pits.

Hot Laps rolled onto the track at 4:20pm, about 20 minutes past the advertised starting time of 4:00pm.  However, with racing scheduled to start at 5:00pm, the first heat was actually on the track ten minutes early, most likely due to the sprinkles that had started falling.

Legion Speedway, as seen from the top of the turns three and four bleachers.

Looking down the frontstretch at Legion Speedway.

Literally a lap or two away from the first Mini Stock heat taking the green flag, the skies opened up.  For nearly 45 minutes a hard, steady rain fell on us.  I thought for sure the show was going to be rained out...especially since the track had a 9:30pm curfew.  But they decided to try their best to get it in and I was stuck with a decision to make.

I hit Legion with the intent of being out of there by 7:30pm or so.  With a three-plus hour drive to our hotel in Augusta, ME - and knowing we were wanting to spend as much as time as possible in Bar Harbor, ME the following day - I had to decide whether to stick this one out, or throw in the towel and hope the show in Canaan, NH didn't get rained out Tuesday.

The Legion Speedway pit area.

With a small field of cars in the pits, we made the tough decision to pull out of Legion having not seen a race.  I hated doing it, but Jayme let me make the call knowing I'd be the one living with the decision.  

Monday was the only "off" day I scheduled for this road trip.  And when I say "off" day, I'm talking about the racing, of course.  Jayme and I spent the entire day taking the sights and sounds of the gorgeous Bar Harbor, ME.  Climbing to the top of Cadillac Mountain, taste-testing the local seafood joints, walking through the downtown tourist shops...we did it all.  

Sitting at the top of Cadillac Mountain in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Today, we'll spend a few morning hours in Bar Harbor before packing up and heading five-and-a-half hours back west into New Hampshire for tonight's special show at the Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, NH.  

Road Trip Day 2

Who says you get to relax and sleep in on vacation?  We were up by 6:30am and out the door by 7:45am to make the hour drive to Cooperstown, NY to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.  This was my second visit to the Hall, but Jayme's first.  Seeing how much she enjoyed it made it all worthwhile.  After spending about four hours in Cooperstown, it was time to head to Bradford, VT.

The four hour drive to Bradford was plagued with slow drivers and traffic...enough to make even me say a few choice words along the way.  Nevertheless, we pulled into Bear Ridge Speedway right at 5:00pm, with 30 minutes to spare before Hot Laps.  Upon our arrival, promoter April Preston kindly greeted us with open arms and gave us a quick tour of the place and showed us around the facility.

A look at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT.

Bear Ridge is a 1/4-mile D-shaped oval with only a small amount of banking.  The track is nestled in the hills of eastern Vermont and sits high atop a ridge (hence the name), making for a picturesque setting to say the least.  The pits are located off turns three and four, as cars exit the track at the end of the backstretch and enter the track at the beginning of the frontstretch.  The infield is mostly grass and kept clear of safety vehicles and track equipment.  Concrete basically lines the entire speedway with the exception of turns one and two where just a few "yuke" tires mark the outer edge of the narrow track.

The grandstands are built into a small hillside and are a mix of both wood and aluminum.  Behind the flagstand, the top seven rows of seats all have backs on them.  And behind the seating area, the midway is all gravel and contains a nice mix of track food ranging from cheeseburgers ($5.00) to onion rings ($5.00) to gravy fries.  Yes, gravy fries.  

The grandstands, press box, and VIP suites at Bear Ridge.

On tap tonight would be Sportsman Mods (21 cars), Coupes (18), Midgets (15), Limited Lates (7), Hornets (19), and Mini-Stocks (11).  A cool program was in store with "Mod Madness", in which the Mods run no heats.  Instead, they run three 40-lap features with lap money being awarded to the top five drivers each lap of each feature.  It was an added bonus for me, as this is one of my favorite classes to watch.

Hot Laps rolled out at 5:30pm and the first heat of the night hit the track at 6:15pm.  It wasn't too long before the first 40-lap Mod race hit the track and it was a dandy.  Nip-and-tuck racing at the front of the field combined with heavy lapped traffic made this race a good one (albeit a tad dusty).  After that race, I'd already felt like I got my money's worth.

The first of three 40-lap Mod features gets rolling. 

The rest of the evening went well.  The second Mod feature saw a full field inversion and the winner came from 14th.  Throughout the course of the night, there may have been a few instances in which "too much downtime" came into play, but that was mostly due to the track crew working hard to keep the dust down and keep moisture in the race track.  

With just a couple races left, and a fireworks display still to come, we headed out around 10:00pm and made our way to the hotel.  All-in-all, it was an enjoyable evening.  Bear Ridge, the only dirt track in Vermont, gets the "Puttin' On A Show" seal of approval.  

Cars roll down the Bear Ridge backstretch.

I'm happy to say that Bear Ridge Speedway becomes track #157 and Vermont becomes state #29 on my lifetime track-chasing journey.  If all goes as planned, Legion Speedway in Rumney, NH will be track #158 and state #30 Sunday night.

In the meantime, enjoy your weekend and stay cool.  Congrats to all of this weekend's winners.

Bear Ridge Speedway - "Home of the Coupes!"

Road Trip Day 1

Just after 6:30am, Jayme and I were leaving my parents' house in eastern Ohio and heading north.  After a quick swing through Martins Ferry, Ohio for some cheap gas ($2.91/gallon), we were ready to battle the orange cones, speed traps, and New York tolls.

I surprised Jayme with a visit to Niagara Falls on the way.  Because she had never been there, she'd been asking me to go for over a month.  Although I was secretly planning to take her the whole time, I kept making up excuses as to why we couldn't go ("it's too far outta the way"..."we don't have enough time"..."there's really nothing to see").  So, she was pretty excited when she finally realized we were taking the time to see the Falls.

We did the "Cave of the Winds" tour which, as Jayme put it, was "the best $11 waterpark" she'd ever been to.  Fully equipped with cheap ponchos and water sandals, the Cave of the Winds allows you to get as close to the Falls as you could ever want to.  It was time and money well spent and after a stay of nearly two hours, we were now east bound and down for Brewerton Speedway.

With the wind trying to blow away her poncho, Jayme gets soaked from the Falls.

From Niagara Falls, the journey to Brewerton should have only taken two-and-a-half hours, but thanks to New York's toll system coupled with Friday evening traffic in Syracuse, our first trip to the D-Shaped Dirt Demon was stretched out to three hours.  

Brewerton is a cool little track.  I'd have to say it's roughly a 1/3-mile with just a slight arch in the backstretch.  The pits are located behind the grandstands towards turn one and cars both enter and exit the track at the end of the frontchute.  The main grandstands are wooden and 15 rows high, while a newer set of tall aluminum bleachers sit in turn four.  The midway behind the grandstands is all gravel and offers the standard race track dining options ranging from cheeseburgers ($4.00) to hot dogs ($2.75) to chicken ($5.00) to pizza ($3.00).

A look at the Brewerton Speedway pit area.

Signed into the pits were 25 Big Block Modifieds, 12 IMCA Modifieds, 19 Mod Lites, and 14 4-Cylinders.   Hot Laps started right at 6:30pm and the Canadian and American national anthems were being sung right at 7:30pm.  The heats were run off without a flaw - nine total - and were finished by 8:12pm.  With new clay on the track being less than two weeks old, the track staff took advantage of intermission to rework the racing surface.

At 9:00pm, the Mod Lite feature hit the track and saw a three-car battle go right down to the checkered flag.  The Big Block Mod feature was a dandy with Dan Vauter getting the win in a pretty darn good show.  Behind Vauter, Larry Wight was puttin' on a show, charging from 18th to 4th in the 25-lap A-Main.  Just after 9:30pm, we were leaving Brewerton and heading to our hotel.  

Today, we'll swing through Cooperstown, NY for a stop at the Baseball Hall of Fame (Jayme's first visit, my second).  After that, we'll head up to Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT.  

A look at Brewerton from atop turns three and four.

Five Weekend Afterthoughts: 6/25/12

Matt Miller collected $4,800 for his win Saturday night at Oakshade.

1.  If you didn't stick around for the Late Model feature Friday night at Attica Raceway Park, you most certainly missed the race of the year.  On a classic three-groove racing surface, unheralded John Mayes Jr. led the first ten circuits until Justin Chance finally worked his way around...only to have Mayes (whose previous best career finish was a 4th, I believe) battle back around him just a few laps later.  Chance slipped back under Mayes on lap 14 with Jeff Babcock pulling alongside in the corners.  Like a pesky mosquito that wouldn't go away, Mayes fought back in the middle groove and reassumed command of the race with four laps to go.  With Chance and Babcock pulling under Mayes, Ryan Missler worked the extreme outside groove hoping to spoil everyone's party.  As the white flag waved, Mayes held his middle line while Missler roared around the top.  Coming off turn four for the win, Missler got a monster run.  With his arm out the window, pumping his fist in the air, Mayes thought he had his first career win...only to be denied as Missler somehow stuck his car between Mayes' #69 and the outside wall to get the win by less than half a car length.  The official margin of victory was .08 seconds in a race which saw five lead changes and no one driver pull ahead by more than a single car length.  

2.  Matt Miller absolutely, totally dominated the Barney Oldfield Race at Oakshade Saturday night.  Miller lapped up to the top ten and collected $4800 for his efforts. You always hate to look too far ahead, but the 2005 Dream winner almost has to be considered an early favorite to win Oakshade's $10,000 UMP Summer Nationals finale.

3.  Somewhat overshadowed by Miller's domination were the solid performances turned in by Jeff Babcock and Dona Marcoullier Saturday night.  Glued to the bottom, and aided by just two cautions, Babcock came from 20th to 5th in the 40-lap A-Main. After being sent to the tail of the field for an early race spin, Marcoullier rallied back to a 7th place finish.

4.  The "feel good" story of the weekend has got to be the kindness drivers continue to show young Keegan Miller.  Long story made short, Keegan is a nine year old little boy (and a big race fan) who will undergo his third open heart surgery on August 6th. Several drivers have donated a wide variety of items to Keegan ranging from pictures to t-shirts.  Saturday night, however, Canadian drivers Andrew Reaume and Justin Coulter raised the bar.  Reaume autographed one of his doors and gave it to Keegan while Coutler gave Keegan one of his racing helmets (with a Spiderman paint scheme on it).  These random acts of kindness often go unnoticed in our sport, but they are certainly worthy of attention and praise.  Kudos to these guys and the others who have done so much for this little guy.  Make sure you "like" Keegan's facebook page to follow along on his journey.  

5.  Vacation starts Thursday!  Nine days...eight races...seven states.  As of right now, seven of the eight tracks have approved us for media credentials (thank you!) so we'll encourage you to check out their links on the lefthand side of the page.  Also, Tim Frost has jumped on board and provided us with the brand new 2012 edition of the National Speedway Directory (a must for every race fan).  If all works out as planned - and that's a big if - this little track-chasing adventure will put me at 162 tracks and 33 states lifetime.  To say my fingers are crossed would be an understatement.

Five Weekend Afterthoughts: 6/18/12

Rusty Schlenk (1z) and Dona Marcoullier (6m) battle Saturday at Oakshade.

1.  I mentioned last week to "look for good things" out of the Doug Drown/Sean Weekly combo and Drown certainly proved me right.  The Wooster, Ohio hotshoe doubled down this weekend, notching wins at Muskingum County Speedway (Friday) and Hilltop Speedway (Saturday).  I say this team will pick up at least five more wins this season.  

2.  Kudos to Dona Marcoullier, who finally got himself a Sunoco ALMS win over the weekend.  The win came Saturday night at Oakshade Raceway where Dona won a regular show the week before.  After starting fifth, Marcoullier moved ahead of early race leaders Curtis Roberts and Casey Noonan, then turned away the challenges of Rusty Schlenk and Brian Ruhlman.  From there, Marcoullier slowly pulled away from the field for the victory, which will certainly give him some momentum heading into this Saturday's $4800 to win Barney Oldfield Memorial at The Shade.

3.  I don't need to tell you that Billy Moyer, Jr. has been the hottest driver in the country over the last few weeks.  After picking up a few MARS wins in early June, he started off the Hell Tour winning three of the first four shows.  Things should get even more interesting this week as the Summer Nationals heads into Illinois.  It's about this time when Shannon Babb starts heating up, right...?? 

4.  You just can't beat Oakshade Raceway.  I know I've said that a lot over the years, but I really and truly just love that place.  The people (staff, drivers, fans) are all just outstanding individuals.  Case in point, track promoter Chrissy Henricks graciously allowed Jayme and I to take our son Chase in the pits Saturday night. While walking through just a small section of the pit area, we were stopped by Dusty Moore's team and Chase was given some stickers, then Andrew Reaume so kindly gave Chase an autographed picture, and finally Dan "Links" Rice gave Chase some candy AND a stuffed animal.  Everyone says Oakshade is a special place and this just further proves that point. 

5.  The countdown is on for Jayme and I's summer vacation.  If all goes as planned, I'll be hitting eight races in seven states over the course of nine days.  It all begins Thursday, June 28th at Lernerville Speedway.  From there, we'll swing through New York, venture on up into Vermont and New Hampshire, slip over to Maine, and finally grab a couple of shows in Massachusetts and Connecticut.  For me, there's nothing more exciting than planning and executing a road trip.

Summer Road Trip 2012

Every few years, I try to save up some money and take a big summer road trip. Obviously, as I get more involved in racing, it gets to be more and more difficult. Likewise, being married and have a two-and-a-half year old adds an entirely new element of adversity to planning such a trip.

My 2009 summer road trip took me as far west as Gillette Thunder Speedway in Wyoming.

But this summer, the blueprint has been laid out for a New England journey that will take my wife and I to seven races in six different states over the course of eight days.  It's a fairly ambitious trip with plenty of time for leisure thrown in as well.  The schedule is as follows:

June 29 - Brewerton Speedway (Brewerton, NY)
June 30 a.m. - Baseball Hall of Fame (Cooperstown, NY)
June 30 p.m. - Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford, VT)
July 1 - Legion Speedway (Rumney, NH)
July 2 - fun day
July 3 - Canaan Fair Speedway (Canaan, NH)
July 4 - Oxford Plains Speedway (Oxford, ME)
July 5 - Thompson Int'l Speedway (Thompson, CT)
July 6 - Seekonk Speedway (Seekonk, MA)
July 7 - Braves vs. Phillies (Phladelphia, PA)

We'll start off at the "D-Shaped Dirt Demon", Brewerton Speedway.  Although I've already been to races at eight different tracks in the Empire State, this will be my first ever visit to Brewerton.  The following day, we'll spend half a day at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.  This will be Jayme's first ever trip to the historic venue, my second.  That night, it's off to Bear Ridge Speedway for my first ever race in the state of Vermont followed by my first ever race in New Hampshire at Legion Speedway on Sunday.

Monday and part of Tuesday will be reserved for some R&R in Bar Harbor, Maine.  We'll follow that up with our final dirt race of the trip, a stop at the Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, NH.  The final three shows are all asphalt races.  Wednesday's short trip back across the state line will find us at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine, Thursday's journey will take us south to Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut, and Friday's voyage will have us venturing over to Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk, Massachusetts.  Each of those three events will be my first races in their respective states.

Our trip will wrap up with a Saturday evening baseball game to watch Jayme's beloved Braves battle their rival Philadelphia Phillies.

All-in-all, it should be a fun trip that would help bring my "career" race-chasing totals up to 162 tracks in 33 states...if everything works out as planned.   Of course, that's a big "if".

What I like about this trip is that I've tried to keep everything within reasonable distance of everything else, which will allow us to spend a good bit of time taking in the sights in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.  Whether she's shopping, I'm hiking, or we're grabbing a bite to eat at one of the local hot spots, I'm sure it'll be a trip we remember for a long time.

Oh, and I'm looking forward to visiting so many new race tracks too.  :)