[Jerry Shaw]

I think most of us were trying to be optimistic, as we saw the ominous looking thing off to the Southeast, South and Southwest of us. We've all seen the horizon blacken many times while we were there, at this place. But, more often than not, it usually skirts Tri-State Speedway and misses it slightly. There is often what seems like a force field around the place. Not on this night, though. It came barreling across the fields that are off to the South of the track. And as it did, the trees, the fields, the highway and anything else in the background that it had reached already, just completely disappeared. By the time that it was obvious that this wall of water was going to roll right over us, it was way too late to get out of the way. Especially considering the size of the crowd that was in the backstretch grandstand, on this night. And once it hit, it wasn’t one of those sprinkles that built up to a shower, like most rains you see. It wasn’t even merely your garden variety heavy rain. It was an absolute cloudburst. Like someone else said, from the grandstand, you literally couldn’t even see the racetrack. So, by the time my girlfriend and I had worked our way down to the walkway in front of the stands, to stand amongst the mob that was wanting out, we were just as saturated as it is possible to be. Just as if we had been thrown into a swimming pool or had fallen into a lake, with all our clothes on. By the time we made it to the concession stand area, every square inch of dry space was occupied, so we made a dash for the car, which was in the back lot, just West of the pits. Not in hopes that we wouldn’t get any more wet, because that wasn’t possible, but to find shelter from being pelted by the driving rain (with a few hailstones mixed in) and to keep from getting hit by lightning. After we were in the relative safety of my car, we watched the bombardment continue for another twenty minutes or so, before it started to lighten up some. At that point, you could see the back edge of this storm to the South, towards Interstate 64. Beyond that there was a definite clearing. A few stars were peeking through.

And right after that, you could hear some activity on the track’s P.A. system. And since Allen Beck has a very loud voice, even before I had rolled the driver’s side window, you could tell he was saying things that were positive in nature. Shortly after that, the rain had almost stopped, so we stepped out of the car and then heard Allen say something to the effect of “Race fans, Tommy Helfrich has said that this might not be as bad as some of you might think and they’re gonna try to get this track back, so you guys can see some racing!! It might take some time, though.”

Little by little, you could see Tri-State Speedway coming back to life. People were coming out of their cars and talking to the folks that were parked beside them. Race teams were starting to mill about the pits. The motor home parties were starting back up, as they were repositioning their lawn chairs, firing the grills back up and setting the coolers back out. And you could hear the familiar rumble of John Deere tractor motors, slowly making their way around the circuit. We decided to make our way back towards the stands. We could ring out our socks and change t-shirts with the extra ones we had in the car, but the rest of our wet clothing was going to have to drip dry. While we were wearing it. And what better place than the reserved part of the stands? Up high and more in the warm breeze than any other place there. I visited with as many people as I could, along the way. Everybody I talked to had a couple of things in common. They were all soaked to the bones, from the monsoon they had all been through and psyched up that Tommy and his people were going to give us a race to see, despite that.

When we got back to our seats, you could see that they were starting to make some serious progress, already. But what a rain it had been, as almost the entire infield was a lake. The South end of it, a couple feet deep or more. But, Tommy and who ever the other tractor operator was, were making pass after pass with those aeriating discs that they always use to get the surface ready, until they were joined by those hybrid push truck/racecar hook vehicles, that they’re also famous for. At that point you knew it wouldn’t be long. And it wasn’t. Next thing you know, sprinters were rolling onto the track and we were back in business. And the rest of the program started back up, just like nothing had ever happened. The only difference is the track was faster and tackier than it was before. Maybe even more so than I had ever seen it. Blake Fitzpatrick, in brother Braylon’s new beautiful #3 sprinter, was flying around the place at a frightening pace, in both his heat and the first few laps of the feature. And so was Brady Short, who inherited the lead after Fitz’s flip and led the rest of the way. But, not without a serious late race challenge from a hard charging Jon Stanbrough.

It was an amazing night at Tri-State Speedway. And it was amazing the way that they brought their racing surface back, so the show could go on. I don’t know for sure that no other track would have tried to bring their surface back, after being so far gone. But, I do know that very, very, very few would make such an attempt. I’m just glad that I was there on this night to see this magic happen. It was a magnificent night. One that those that were there will talk about for years to come.

My racing week was end capped by totally opposite phenomenon. It was started on Thursday, by watching a track prep crew take a raceable track and turn it into an unraceable swamp. And it was finished on Sunday, by seeing a track crew take a unraceable swamp and turn it into one the raciest surfaces I’ve ever seen.

To Tommy, Loris and everybody that works at this racing facility, thank you for your efforts and for the way you treated everybody throughout this whole ordeal.

Jerry