With winter seemingly behind us, the 2014 season is ready to roll out in a big way this week in Iowa when the annual Frostbuster swing begins tonight at Southern Iowa Speedway. There have already been a couple early season specials in this half of the state at Lee County Speedway and 34 Raceway, but the Frostbuster marathon has been labeled the unofficial season kickoff for the Hawkeye state in recent years.
Originally, I was hoping to hit at least three of those events, however a change in plans will lead me to miss tonight's opener in Oskaloosa and the Friday stop at Marshalltown Speedway. I plan to be in attendance at Boone Speedway this Saturday and join track announcer Jerry Vansickel behind the microphone before returning home Sunday for the fourth and final Frostbuster event of the weekend at Benton County Speedway here in Vinton. If we can miss the rain drops in Saturday's forecast, the improving temperatures should provide for full pit areas, packed grandstands and four straight nights of racing.
I attended Iowa's first race this year a couple weeks ago at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. In all honesty, I wasn't there to watch the racing as much as I went to see friends and to take in the sights, sounds and smells of a new season. I didn't take a notebook and, quite frankly, don't even remember all the winners, but it sure felt great to be back at a race track. Although Jeff Broeg may not want to read this (sorry, Jeff), I plan to do that more often this season. While I'll faithfully report the goings-on at Independence Motor Speedway, Benton County Speedway and a few other random events, I plan to spend many nights at the races this season socializing, enjoying the show and leaving the notebook in my passenger seat.
Despite the grueling winter, Lee County promoter Mike Van Genderen had the track in much better shape than many may have anticipated for the first show of the year. He and the LCS crew worked the surface all night to stay on top of things and they did a terrific job. The great racing was a reflection of their hard work. For more insight on the March 29 event, check out the recap provided by Dick and Joyce Eisele in the
4dfan Report at
Positively Racing.
I also attended the test and tune session at Benton County Speedway last Sunday. An impressive number of drivers were on-hand to dial in their cars for the upcoming season. There was also a strong turnout in the grandstand as many area race fans got their first racing fix of the season.
It was interesting to see how many drivers changed divisions for 2014. While there are always drivers changing classes, it seems that number is even greater this season than years past. Some drivers are even planning to run full schedules in multiple divisions. I think that's a healthy sign for the state of our sport. I know of a number of division changes for drivers in Independence, which includes a handful of new Late Models, a few new Modifieds and drivers moving from the Hobby Stock to the Stock Car division. Others may be returning to the track in 2014 after a year or two off. It will be exciting to see the changes in store this spring.
One thing that always makes me cringe, though, is when people say they're "moving up" or "moving down" a division. Changing divisions in racing is a lateral move - there is no up and down. You race what you want to race, what you can afford to race and what you enjoy racing. Because someone isn't behind the wheel of a Modified or a Late Model doesn't mean they're competing in a lower tier of dirt track racing. It takes every car in every division to make a show a success and there is tough competition in every division.
And, let's get this out of the way early this year, there are no "A" Mods in IMCA racing. There are Modifieds and there are Southern and Northern SportMods. If you tell me you run an "A" Mod, I'll ask how long ago you stopped racing in this area.
Lately, my schedule has been filled preparing for the upcoming season in Independence. In recent weeks, track promoters Darin Burco and Todd Summers have been diligently working on the track and improving other areas of the fairgrounds.
Burco and Summers have made a lot of improvements in the couple years they've been at the helm in Independence and 2014 will be no different. Plans to expand the pit area off the back stretch will be completed in the near future and is expected to add an additional 30-plus pit stalls in that area. Also, plans are in the works to replace the main ticket booth and build a nicer structure to greet race fans on their way into the facility.
Oh, yeah, and the track is ready to see race cars! Todd, Darin and Don Burkey have the track groomed and ready to go.
Area drivers and fans can see the improvements first-hand this Saturday, April 12 during the test and tune session, which is scheduled for 1-5 p.m. Prior to the practice session, the annual Indee Drivers' Day Car Show will be held on the streets of downtown Independence from 9 a.m. to noon.
Pit passes for practice will be $10 each, however each driver who brings their car to display at the car show will receive two free passes to the pits that day. Watching practice from the grandstand will be free of charge.
The first racing event this year will be the Open Wheel Shootout scheduled for Friday, April 18. That show will feature the second appearance of the Brockway Mechanical & Roofing Sprint Invaders Series. In addition to the 360 Sprints, unsanctioned Modifieds and SportMods will compete. Both of those divisions will run unsanctioned, however they will follow IMCA rules.
Although the action on the track has yet to start, I've received a few questions about our schedule. Three items have specifically drawn more attention than anything else, the first of which questioning the reason we dropped the IMCA Sport Compacts from our weekly program.
There were a number of reasons that led us to that decision. Among them was the fact that car counts did not improve since adding them in the middle of the 2012 season. After having a couple strong showings at the opening of 2013, the numbers continued to decline. A few people talked about bringing their cars or getting other cars there, but it just never happened.
Another reason is because we wanted to provide a more efficient program and running six divisions weekly was taking us in a direction we did not want to go. Car counts in Independence have remained among the highest in the region despite declining car counts all over the area in recent years. We are proud of the support of area drivers and fans, but we wanted our focus to remain on the overall quality of the program and not quantity of divisions. We felt a return to five divisions will move us back in that direction.
An IMCA Late Model driver told me a couple seasons ago that he was impressed at how efficiently we were running the show in Independence and there was one big indicator that led him to that observation. When we get our show done in a timely fashion, he said parents were more likely to take their kids through the pit area following the races. Those kids get to see and meet the drivers they cheer for every week. They get autographs from their favorite drivers. They want to come back more often. Those kids are the future of our sport and to be able to provide them with a more complete experience at the track is essential to the future of any racing program.
No, the Sport Compacts didn't add an hour to our show or push us too late into the night, but running six divisions did lead us to a longer than desired program and did prevent more kids from making their way through the pits with mom and dad at the end of the night. In the end, the car count, the longer program and the desire to run a more efficient show is what led us to remove them from our program. That isn't to say the Sport Compact division isn't a worthy one. It is a great addition to many programs, however we didn't feel it was a fit with ours.
A couple of questions have also been asked relating to the annual Buchanan County Fair race. Traditionally, we hold our weekly program on the Saturday night of the fair, however a live music concert will take its place in 2014. There will be no racing this year during the Saturday of the fair.
In its place, we are scheduled to run a fair special on Wednesday, July 16 to kick off that week's grandstand events. Stock Cars, Northern SportMods and Hobby Stocks will be competing for IMCA national, regional and state points, however track points will not be awarded that evening. In addition, the Micro Mods, which run weekly in Decorah and are being introduced in Vinton later this season, will be a part of the fair race.
The two questions I've received most often about the fair race are, "Why aren't you making the Wednesday fair race a points night since we're not running Saturday?" and "Why are there no Modifieds or Late Models during the fair?"
I'm not a fan of off-night points racing, especially when it's a weeknight, and it seems a number of drivers feel that way, as well. Yes, making it a points race would likely guarantee us more cars that night due to the number of drivers chasing points, but at what cost? We're a Saturday race track and when we don't run on Saturdays, it's a special event. I wouldn't feel comfortable asking one of our dedicated racers to take a vacation day from work or change their schedule to chase points in the middle of the week when we have traditionally raced for points only on Saturdays. Some wouldn't be able to do it and others would prefer not to do it. We understand that so the fair race will not be a race for track points.
The fact that it's a midweek race is also a big reason we aren't running as many divisions during the fair. By racing on a Wednesday, we're immediately limited on time. Gates won't open until later than normal so the start time will be pushed back to accommodate those wanting to make it to the races after getting off of work, plus, completing the show at a decent hour is even more essential on a weeknight.
When it came to considering which divisions to run, the Modifieds were quickly eliminated because there was a special event already planned that same night in Oskaloosa and the Harris Clash is the following night in Knoxville.
We didn't include the Late Models because we already have two big Late Model specials during the month of July. Tuesday, July 1 is the annual stop for the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models and Thursday, July 24 is the World of Outlaws Late Model Series event. Midweek specials are never a guarantee, but scheduling three midweek Late Model specials in a three-and-a-half week span didn't feel like a sound decision. On top of that, Modifieds and/or Late Models are a part of every other special event on this year's schedule and we felt the July 16 date would be a good fit to try something new.
Since we wanted to try something different, we are inviting the Micro Mods to compete. There has been a lot of interest in that division in our area this season and, like our 360 Sprint special, we wanted to give Independence race fans something unique. Four divisions is plenty for a midweek show, yet what we have scheduled should provide for some great racing and allow fans to get home at a decent hour.
The third and recently most popular item up for discussion has been the Saturday, May 10 program. On the initial schedule that was released, MLRA Late Models were added to our five weekly divisions for that evening's event. After addressing some communication snafus and then talking it over with the track promoters, we removed the MLRA portion of that show. Our weekly program will still take place that night.
I've had a number of calls, texts and e-mails over the course of the last week regarding that event. I was also directed by a couple people to read about it on the message boards. I rarely visit the message boards and spend considerably less time replying to questions and comments on there. The best way to have your question answered is by e-mailing me at indeeracing@yahoo.com (which is on the
Independence Motor Speedway web site) or indeeracing@gmail.com.
To clarify, however, I can guarantee everyone that the decision to remove
that portion of the show was not at the request of either IMCA or MLRA, as discussed on the message boards.
It was purely the
track's decision. Ultimately, we knew that one of two things needed to take place to make the show a success: 1) Drop a couple weekly divisions, or 2) Increase gate prices. We had no desire to do either.
Our weekly racers are loyal to us week in and week out and we are grateful for their support. Racing season is only four months of Saturdays (one fewer this year due to fair) and we did not want to short any of those drivers another night of racing. For tracks who run a weekly program, that weekly program is their bread and butter. To mess with it isn't in the track's or racers' best interest.
With that in mind, we were not willing to increase ticket prices. As I said before, our weekly program is our centerpiece. That not only includes our drivers, but the pit crews and fans alike and that's the way it is for any track who runs a weekly program.
We felt it would be wrong to ask our weekly fans to pay more on a weekly race night. Many race fans budget their entertainment dollars and go to support a loved one in a division that would not have seen an increase in purse money that night, so how could we ask or expect them to pay more at the gate? Two divisions of Late Models, you say? Believe it or not, not everyone wants to see a longer than normal show with an extra division of Late Models.
It wouldn't be right to ask a driver, mom, dad, brother, sister, grandmother, girlfriend or whoever to shell out more money at the gate because we decided to add a sixth division and make our weekly show a special event. I realize scheduling that way has become more common today, but we want to maintain our weekly show in Independence for what it has grown to become. Running another division (regardless of sanction) was straying from that belief.
Hopefully, that answers the questions people have had about May 10.
Questions about the fair race and the MLRA race led to other comments by a few folks who asked about those events. It goes back to something I talked about earlier and that is the importance of each division to our program and not the importance of one division over any other.
A few times already this season I've heard, "Independence is a Late Model track." That statement makes me cringe as much as the "moving up" and "A Mod" comments. You don't move up or down divisions, there are no IMCA A Mods and Independence is a race track, not a Late Model track.
Yes, Independence has a rich history of Late Model racing and our veteran racers are some of the best known weekly racers in the region. Yes, we even have drivers from years gone by who raced in that division and take in our weekly program. We're also entering our 32nd year of Modifieds, our 25th year of Hobby Stocks, our 22nd year of Stock Cars and our seventh year of Northern SportMods. Those divisions play as vital of a role in our weekly racing program today as the Late Models.
The Late Model division helped build Independence Motor Speedway. That is without question. But the other divisions have allowed it to become what it is today. In fact, when I started taking a more involved role at the race track, the complaint I heard most often was that the track was too Late Model-centered. Many people felt Independence catered to the Late Models, that we solely used our weekly program to provide a quality race track for the Late Models at the expense of the other divisions and that special events were centered around Late Model racing. I heard that more often than many may realize. That is not our goal. If it was, the race track wouldn't be in operation today.
Of course, Late Model drivers and their fans aren't saying this, but they don't hear it said to them, either. For that reason, they may not believe me, but it's true. I've heard it. I've heard it a lot.
If you think about it, none of today's race fans remember a time without Late Models in Independence. They've always been there. But most of them also don't remember a time without Modifieds, many don't know Independence without Hobby Stocks and quite a few weren't even around before Stock Cars were added 21 years ago in 1993. To many, Independence is ALL of those divisions. Yes, the longtime fans remember the draw the Late Models brought to Independence on Saturday nights, but it honestly isn't quite that easy anymore. I'll be 40 years old at the end of the month and I don't remember much about racing in Independence prior to the addition of the Modifieds in 1983. I was nine years old then and many of our faithful fans are my age or younger. The younger ones can't remember a time without Hobby Stocks or Stock Cars.
I know many fans in Independence who don't care for open wheel racing and attend the races to watch Late Models, Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks. By the same token, I know just as many race fans who love open wheel racing and would be thrilled if the Late Model division disappeared from the weekly program. Without all of those people, though, Independence Motor Speedway would close its gates.
If you go to a restaurant, it's likely that there's something on the menu you may not like, but the reason you're probably there is because that restaurant offers you something you do like. If you like it, you order it. If you don't like it, you don't give it a second look on the menu. That doesn't mean you stay away from the restaurant. If that was the case, none of us would ever dine out. If you're a fan of some of the best Modified drivers in the region, you'll love coming to Independence even if you're not a fan of the Late Model division. At the same time, if you're a die-hard Late Model fan, Indee has some of the best drivers and one of the highest weekly Late Model car counts around. I'm sure it would still be worth the trip even if you didn't like the Modifieds on the menu.
Still, there are those folks who love the Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks and really don't care much for either the Late Models OR the Modifieds. Guess what? We need and appreciate those folks just as much as the Late Model and Modified drivers and fans.
Our special events schedule has been more diverse the last couple of seasons. We still have Late Model specials, including a $10,000-to-win show and a $3,000-to-win show. We also have a couple of special events for Modifieds, including the return of the Hawkeye Dirt Tour and the Open Wheel Shootout. In addition, we've included the Stock Cars, SportMods and Hobby Stocks in a number of special events and have invited back the 360 Sprints, plus offered the Micro Mods a night of racing. Our attendance has been steadily increasing in the last couple of years, as well, and I believe that's because we're providing something for everyone and not catering to one or two divisions.
In fact, last year we offered increased purse money during one weekly show each to the SportMods, Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks. Those nights were among the best attended weekly races of the year. Yes, Late Models bring people, but so do each of the other divisions and it takes all divisions equally to make our program a success.
If you're planning on attending any or all of the Frostbusters this weekend, have fun and rejoice in the fact that racing season has officially returned. If you see me in Boone or Vinton this weekend, stop and say hi.
Let's get this party started!
