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Midwest Racing Roundup By Tom Botos
8-8-10
Hey race fans WOW! is all I can say after a
fantastic racing weekend meeting a few new
fans,drivers and two racing officials at two
different tracks this weekend. The weather has been
great all weekend long with no threat of rain which
is a nice change of pace! This past weekend has
reassured me that race drivers and race fans are the
greatest people on earth and there is no better
place to spend a weekend then at ar race track
chatting with fans and interviewing drivers when
given the opportunity!
Let's begin with me having two vacation days
Thursday and Friday from work I headed to New Paris
(IN) Speedway Thursday Night for the 9th Annual
Summer Sizzler for Super Outlaw Late Models.
Congratulations goes out to Phil Bozell on his very
first ever Summer Sizzler win which was wild and
wooly all night long with the Madhouse Rules style
restarts double file! I have never watched the
Madhouse TV show So I honestly do not understand how
it works but it lead to some very hot and steamy
racing action all night long at New Paris Speedway!
With each restart of the race fans were wondering
who was gonna take the lead next. I have been told
this summer sizzler by far has been the best one yet
as far as racing excitement for the fans. I would
like to have seen Terry Senneker win the race after
he boldly passed both Scott Hantz and Bobby Stremme
using the outside groove of the New Paris bullring!
Terry did not follow the rules and was penalized for
not going passed the orange cone in the correct
lane. Again I do not know really what Terry did
wrong but he definitely gained me as a fan watching
him pass those two hotshoe drivers on the outside.
New Paris Speedway is a crown jewel in my
opinion as far as tracks go Michiana race fans are
so lucky to have tracks running outlaw super lates
almost every week in and week out. I would not mind
living in between New Paris and Plymouth Speedway or
between Fairbury American Legion Speedway in
Illinois and Farmer City (IL) Speedway. Throw in
Kathe very fast in your face action at Kankakee (IL)
Speedway and I would be in dirt late model or
asphalt late model heaven! I have told my friend
Dave Egan to live in between Portsmouth Speedway and
KC Raceways in Ohiu would be awesome as you have
Skyline and Midway Speedways in the area as well.
Someday I wanna get to both Hilltop and Rocky Top
(OH) Speedways. Wayne County and Lakeville Speedways
have worked well together in the past and I like
there racing as well. I will return to New Paris
Speedway again as I really going there as much as I
can with there great racing action and great food.
New Paris Speedway has the BEST onion rings I have
ever had at a race track! They also have Pepsi or
Coke from the fountain which is very rare at race
tracks in the Indianapolis area. Mt Lawn Speedway
has Coke and Anderson has Pepsi Cola from the
fountain. I prefer fountain soda pop over cans or
bottles any day! To each his own everybody has there
preference on how they like there soda pop.
Friday Night I went to Baer Field (IN)
Speedway in Fort Wayne,Indiana. I had a great time
talking with fellow columnist Ron Verash and Carl
Smith from
www.stockcarextreme.com . Both of these guys
have done so much for racing providing historical
racing photos from tracks all over the midwest.
These guys are keeping our racing history alive and
when I see there booth area busy with fans looking
at photos to buy it gives me a great feeling knowing
in photos our racing history will live on for
generations to come.
The racing at Baer Field was good as Jason
Dietsch won the International Gold Cup 100 for
Superpro Series Late Models. Tommy Cook battled
behind hin and finished second.Steve Minich Jr. won
the Baer Field Late Model feature. Scott Coe won the
Open Wheel Modified feature. Jared Neal picked up
the Street Stock Feature. The car counts at Baer
Field are pretty good and better than a few tracks I
have attended this season. When you buy food from
the concession stand they have the little red
plastic trays we had in school to carry our lunches
on in the school cafeteria. This is the only track I
know of where they have this neat luxury. If you get
a chance check out Baer Field Speedway for some
great racing and great food at reasonable prices.
Coolers are allowed at Baer Field!
Saturday Night I went to Lincoln Park (IN)
Speedway for the tirst time in many many years and
was treated to some great racing. I sat on the
backstretch in the pit area grandstands. Actually
the pit area grandstand is open to fans as well as
there is a pass gate for drivers there to there pit
area. This creates a good mixture of fans and
drivers sitting in the same bleachers. I think this
is really neat as this allows the fans to get closer
to the drivers and there cars. Anytime the fans can
interact with the drivers it creates life long race
fans in my opinion. I think this interaction is very
important to our sport if it is to continue.
Thursday afternoon I ate lunch at the
Landmark Bar and Grill in New Paris,Indiana and the
food is awesome there. The Landmark Bar and Grill
has a very full menu of great tasing food for race
fans to enjoy on there way to New Paris Speedway. If
you get a chance stop by there and eat you will not
be dissapointed!
Friday Morning I went to the Northeastern
Indiana Racing Museum located in the Dean Kruse
Foundation building. This huge building also houses
the National MilitaryHistory Center,The WWII Victory
Museum, and the Kruse Automotive Horsepower
&Carriage Museum all for $10.00 general admission! I
promise you this museum is worth every penny. I was
amazed at the collection of WWII vehicles they have
collected is simply amazing to me. Oh one more thing
Lincoln Park Speedway has a very good tenderloin
sandwich and chicken tenders. Check out LPS Lincoln
Park Speedway as they have very nice facilities and
great racing and awesome car counts.
The weblink to The Kruse Foundation Museums
is
www.dvkfoundation.org. Race fans stop by the
Kruse museum and see photos of Avilla Speedway,South
Anthony Speedway and the Fort Wayne Speedway all
closed race tracks. If you like racing history you
must check out the Kruse Foundation Museums. I am
getting sleepy here so I must stop now. For any
news,notes or comments email me at
Indybear37@yahoo.com. Gotta go see ya at the
races
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