Midwest Racing Roundup
Indianapolis,Indiana By Tom Botos
3-25-09
Hello again racefans I have great news,
Mount Lawn (IN) Speedway has released there 2009
racing schedule. Mt. Lawn Speedway begins racing on
Saturday May 2nd which is my younger brother Mike
Botos's Birthday. Mike has gone to many great races
with me over the years like the World 3 Hour Figure
8 Championship at Indianapolis Speedrome,The UMP
Fall Nationals at Eldora (OH) Speedway, several
Outlaw Figure 8 races at Anderson (IN)
Speedway,Sportsdrome (IN) Speedway,and the old
Louisville (KY) Speedway.
Mt. Lawn Speedway is an egged shaped
tri-oval and they are running Late
Models,Thundercars,and Hornets on Saturday May 2nd.
Mt. Lawn will run every Saturday Night until
Saturday Sept. 12th where they take a night off. In
my opinion Mt. Lawn had some great racing and great
crowds last season and I hope that car counts and
fan counts comtinue to grow there even in our tough
economic times.Mt. Lawn is a historic track and I
wish someone would write a book about it or create a
website to celebrate its great racing history. I
would buy a book written about Mt. Lawn Speedway and
Winchester (IN) two of the oldest tracks in
Indiana..
As you can tell over the winter I have
become quite the racing history buff. I bought "The
Ghosts Of Jungle Park", "The Rim Riders" by Buzz
Rose which talks about the history of the CSRA Big
Car touring series that went to tracks like
Winchester (IN),Ft Wayne Speedway,and Jungle Park
(IN) Speedway. I went to the "Bench Racers Weekend"
at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Indianapolis and the
"Old Timers Reunion" for Columbus (IN) Speedway.
Seeing the old vintage cars on display at these
reunions and as I walked around the old track at
Jungle Park I relive the history of our great sport
and appreciate the people that built our racetracks
that we enjoy today and I wonder what it would have
been like to be alive after World War 2 when racing
enjoyed immense popularity. It seems that most
county fairboards jumped on the bandwagon and
converted there horse tracks into auto racing
tracks. I wish I could go back in time and go to
some CSRA Big Car events at Dayton (OH) Speedway a
track I never got to see as well as Ft. Wayne (IN)
Speedway.
I wonder what it would be like to see
guys like Ted Horn,Everett Saylor,Duke
Dinsmore,JImmy Wilburn, Mauri Rose,and Joie Ray
race? I bought several pictures from Ted Knorr of
some of these racing legends and now they hang on my
bedroom wall. i wouldnt mind having some Dirt Late
Model pictures to hang up as well.
I am very concerned about the Future of
Anderson (IN) Speedway. A track that I consider to
be my home track along with Mt. Lawn. The 2009
Schedule has some great CRA races scheduled and I
look foward to them very much. The regular weekly
show at Anderson has suffered greatly car count wise
the past few years with so many contributing
factors. I realize Anderson's economy probably is
not much better than that of Kokomo,Indiana both
being car producing towns. I hope that the economy
turns around and the racecars that are parked will
be able to race again in the future! The more cars
you have the better the program in my opinion. I
hope all racefans can afford to go to the races
every week this season.It would be nice if all we
had to worry about is the weather on Friday and
Saturday Nights ruining our racing plans.
On Tuesday Night June 16th Anderson
Speedway is having a 300 Lap CRA Super Series Late
Model race. A race that Kyle Busch is expected to
race in. I could be wrong but i think they scheduled
this race on a Tuesday so that NASCAR and some of
the old famous A.S.A. Drivers will be able to
compete or be on hand as maybe Grand Marshalls? I
don't know maybe I am dreaming here but I would love
to pay tribute to stars like Bob Senneker,Dick
Trickle,Mark Martin,Butch Miller,and Mike Eddy! I do
know this race is to pay tribute and celebrate the
memory of Rex Robbin's American Speed Association!
On Saturday June 13th according to the
schedule the CRA Street Stocks will run Mt. Lawn
Speedway! I am very excited to see these great
drivers on that tricky egg shaped track. Acccording
to Mt.Lawn's schedule the CRA Street Stocks are not
listed but maybe it is an error? Don't forget on
Saturday June 27th the 300 lap CRA Street Stock race
at Anderson (IN) Speedway!There are alot of great
races coming up this year in the midwest if you are
willing to travel including the ARCA 200 at Salem
(IN) Speedway on Sunday April 5th and the Anderson
125 for CRA Super Series Late Models at Anderson
(IN) Speedway on Saturday April 11th.Gas City I 69
Speedway and Bloomington (IN) Speedway both have
season openers on friday April 10th. The CRA
Sportsman are very competitive and they put on a
whale of a show last year at Anderson. The CRA
Sportsman will return to Anderson on Saturday April
18th. Sunday April 19th Winchester Speedway will
have the Rich Vogler Classic with CRA Super Series
Late Models,CRA Street Stocks,and CRA Compacts. and
the main event will be a 40 lap USAC Sprint Feature.
If you have any news,notes or comments send them to
indybear37@yahoo.com Gotta Go See you at the
Races!
