Originally Posted by JJMooney:
Been to Kamp a few times. Saw some good races. Like others have mentioned, it’s just in a bad location.
I stopped to take a look at the place in 2001 after a USAC race in Joliet. The track was called Benton County Speedway at the time. It was a Saturday morning and the promoter was there. I thought the place looked neat. It was more of a circle. It seemed to me it had more banking then. Black dirt. I asked the promoter why he didn’t run more sprint car shows. He said that he ran an IRA show once and took a bath on it. He told me that the area's economy wasn't very good and had no population to speak of. This was over 20 years ago and I’m sure the things in the area haven’t improved much.
When the Kamp’s purchased the track, they shortened it a bit, put more of straightaway on the frontstretch. Brought in red clay. I grew up in the Northeast and the track really did remind me of Flemington NJ in how the cars attacked it. Saw the first MSCS show there in 2004. The track was tacky and fast that night. Almost too fast. I got there late and pulled into the parking lot just as Shane Hollingsworth was sailing out of the ballpark in turn four. I remember the feature itself was really exciting with Danny Williams Jr winning.
Sad to see yet another track go. Glad I got to see some races there.
Yeah, sad to see any track close. It IS way out in the boonies, though. . . I did like what I shot there and also saw an amazing race that DD won by the skin of his teeth. The place reminded me of a small version of Eldora (see photo). Being inside, I missed the flying rocks, but my wife told me about them. Kamp by Carey Akin, on Flickr
Kamp by Carey Akin, on Flickr