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4/3/20, 9:30 PM   #11
Re: My Top Ten
nathans1012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew S. Quinn View Post
Ive been lucky over the years with 167 I think without looking, different speedways in 3 countries. Been to the Knoxville Nationals many times,Pennsylvania speedweek,Chili Bowl,Williams Grove National Open, The Little 500, the 3 hour figure 8 race,The Oxford 250,the Star Supermodified Classic,and not to mention POWRi Speedeek,Indiana midget week,and Indiana Sprint Week. Been to Australia twice,and that tied in with going to the Knoxville Nationals. Back then I had to decide on either a street legal sprint car,or going to Australia. Guess which won?

I still havent been to Fairbury,I was on my way a couple years ago and had a tire blowout,which put me behind. Always wanted to go to Ventura,but its a long way to go for just one race,and I'd rather go for a weekly show lets say, rather than Turkey Night. I cant imagine being in L.A. on Black Friday.... Western Springs in New Zealand would be another for the midgets around Christmas time. Havent made it to the Hy Miler at Sandusky either,and havent been to Lima,and wouldnt mind going back to Moler so I can count it. It rained after the 2nd heat for BOSS sprints when I went there.Maybe California's speedweek,although I havent thought to much about it. The fire inside to go racing has died way down in the last 5 years.

Still have some race places I wanna get to. Bentley Warrens Saloon in Arundel, Maine is one of them. I just went back to Maine in January and found it on Route 1 in Arundel,but it was closed till about April. The museum at New Hampshire Intl Speedway,or what ever its called now in Loudon,New Hampshire. The museum in Darlington,and Ray Evernhams museum would be good to go check out as well. A museum on everyones hitlist should be the Museum of American Speed at Speedway Motors in Lincoln Nebraska. Its the best one I have been to,and I've been to a bunch of museums as well as speedways. A buddy of mine in Australia told me "Mad Harry" Delamont ended up with much of Brian Linigen's personal museum. I went to the Linigens museum in the Sydney Suburbs and it was just as nice as some of the museums I have been to here.
Andrew
Hopefully you'll make it to Fairbury some day. I am more then happy to make the 2 hour drive about 7-8 times a year from my Northwest Indiana home. I hold that track and staff to highest regard. I've see first hand what that track and staff are capable of and how well run of a facility it is. We've race are UMP Modifieds there a good bit the last 5 or so years with the few guys I help. Easily one of the raciest tracks I've seen and it really doesn't matter what division it is they all put on a hell of a show there. Even their weekly shows are better then most tracks biggest shows. Last year track owner Matt Curl with the help of some awesome sponsors raised the Late Model and Modified weekly payouts with the late Models paying $2,500 to win & $300 to start and Modifieds paying $1,500 to win & $175 to start each week and that will continue this year. The World Of Outlaw Late Model Series sanctioned Prairie Dirt Classic in late July has become one the best late model shows in the country. This year for the first time in the races history it's scheduled to pay $50,000 to win & $2,000 to start plus the last race of the Summit Modified Nationals that run along side the UMP Summer Nationals. The race weekend it self has the feel of being at Eldora for the world 100 weekend with the atmosphere and the excitement of knowing you will with out a shadow of a doubt see one hell of a show between the 2 divisions. I've seen a few Sprint and Midget races there the past few years and they have been very good as well. If you like racing of all sorts FALS is one of those tracks. I have begged them for a few years to try and get a USAC Sprint car race there. They had a POWRi WAR race there and I missed it. That was the day Tri-State got rained out and some of the guys there hauled ass to Fairbury to race. Heard it was a great race on the track.

I am beyond grateful to have two tracks like Fairbury and Kokomo only 2 hours from my house.

As far as my top 10 tracks I'd like to see

01. Boone - IMCA Super Nationals. Close to 700 / 800 cars competing through out the week.

02. Tri-State - Just haven't had the chance to make a race there.

03. Knoxville - Would love to see the Nationals there.

04. Port Royal - Heard a lot of good things about that track over the last few years.

05. Whynot (MS) - Fall Classic in October seems to be one of the best shows in the Southern U.S. each year

06. Lucas Oil Speedway - Show-Me 100 for Late Models, Sprints / Midgets, or a USMTS Modified show.

07. Bowman Gray - Would love to see a NASCAR Modified show there. Love watching the "Ground Pounders".

08. Oswego - DIRTcar NAPA Super Dirt Week or the Oswego Classic 200 for Super Modifieds.

09. Chili Bowl - You have a huge car count and a quality field of drivers which usually equals good racing.

10. Anderson - Little 500. Seems to be one of those races to catch at least once in your life time to witness in person.

Number 11 would be the next race I get to see in person. Watching a show on the internet is cool but just doesn't do justice to actually being there and seeing a race it live in person with all of your friend with a cold beer in hand on a warm summer night.
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Last edited by nathans1012; 4/3/20 at 9:43 PM.
 
4/4/20, 12:38 AM   #12
Re: My Top Ten
ISF
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Even though we've been to Ventura for a regular weekly show we'd love to go to Turkey Night out there.
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Last edited by ISF; 4/4/20 at 4:39 AM.
 
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4/4/20, 10:53 AM   #13
Re: My Top Ten
Rich Mersereau
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If you like good racing it's Chili Bowl or Indiana Sprint Week. Events with atmosphere can't beat Kings Royal, Knoxville Nationals and Chili Bowl. Little 500 is a must see at least once. A sneaker that needs to be on a must see list is the RaceSaver Nationals at Eagle. Oswego Super weekend has always escaped me because it's Labor Day. Skip Boone, its really not that good.
 
4/4/20, 2:09 PM   #14
Re: My Top Ten
WinglessLovers
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Here is my list of my top ten tracks on my hit list (in no particular order):

1. Electric City, MT - They owe me one. On our driving trip to Alaska we were stopping there on a Friday night and the weather was iffy. It never rained and when we pulled into the parking lot it was bone dry and so was the track but they had cancelled for the evening!!!

2. Kodiak Island Racing Assocation - I thought it would be cool to attend a dirt oval race at a track which is not easy to get to and the bear population outnumbers the human population!!!

3. Quincy Raceway, IL - This very western Illinois 1/4 mile dirt track was on my hit list when they ran an Illinois Midget Week race. Planned to hit it the next year and POWRi or Quincy took it off the schedule before I got there.

4. Marshalltown, IA - Looks like a very racy track from all videos I have seen and have never heard anyone say a bad thing about it.

5. Paducah Int. Raceway, KY - The status of this track seems to change as often as people change underwear but if it reopens again it will be a top priority.

6. Kalamazoo, MI - Another place that looks racy. Will get there one day soon.

7. Slinger, WI - What can you say about Slinger? This high banked bowl looks awesome and from all the reports it lives up to its billing.

8. Put-In-Bay, OH - This is another island track which you can travel to by ferry with or without car. They run once a year in September during the mid-week featuring vintgage race cars. It is indeed on the hit list.

9. Expo Raceway, OH - This is a fairgrounds race track that only runs twice a year during their annual fair. Another venue that runs during the week and the dates have never seemed to fall right to visit this one.

10. Devil's Bowl Speedway, TX - Have always wanted to visit this dirt track in Texas but for one reason or another have never made the trip. Will have to develop a vacation around two weekends to take this and several more tracks in to make the expenses worthwhile.

There are so many more tracks I would also like to visit and will do so and maybe even before the ten listed above.

Be safe out there and look forward to the return of auto racing hopefully soon.


Bruce Eckel
 
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4/4/20, 10:58 PM   #15
Tumey's 55
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I have been to Bowman. The atmosphere is redneck great. There were ~15,000 fans the night I went, modifieds were the headliner. If racing for you means passing then don’t go. The modified race was a high speed parade with next no passing. It is a flat track and about the only way to pass is to knock someone out of the way. Now the lower classes were entertaining, the crowd went nuts when the leader would get wrecked so someone could pass. Went once, but I only lived 30 miles away, once was enough.
 
4/5/20, 1:39 PM   #16
Re: My Top Ten
revjimk
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mc/rider View Post
PA sprint and midget weeks and a late October November sweep of California & Arizona I wouldnt need to win the big lotto, just be a really damn good buddy of the race fan who did
I go to those every year, & they're good if you live in the East & don't get to see wingless or midgets much, but the problem is (A) Low car counts, not many wingless teams back east (B) Most races are on 1/2 mile tracks (at least for sprints), which isn't as much fun as a bullring
Just off the top of my head, I'd like to see races at 2 Indiana tracks where I showed up but it rained: Gas City & Terre Haute
Have to think more about this, but I'd like to see more tracks in California. I've been to Perris & Tulare... oh wait: Turkey Nite (is that Ventura?) I have a very nice cousin there, but I'm sure her feelings would be hurt if I showed up & missed Thanksgiving dinner...
 
4/5/20, 3:29 PM   #17
i love dirt track racing
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Thanks, Tom for starting this thread. Hopefully that things will work out for yourself and the other iow fans to get something knockoff the bucket list soon. Our racing families all have a bucket list and we start off each year with what do we want to knock off this year.we had doing the California speedweek as our choice this year. We have been very fortunate to knock down a lot of the great racing events together as a great group of friends. So I texted some the folks today and asked what they were thinking. So here i go.
Bill is the one that got this stuff started. He has been to everyone of the Kings royals racing events. He has seen a lot of racing events and said that he wanted to get to calasotga as his bucket list. Thanks bill for getting this started and what a great thing that you started. Thanks for the great friendship. Wow.
Mailman - he is the president of this family. This is a lifetime position no elections on this position. He has been hanging out with bill for a long time and has seen a lot of great racing events.
His bucket list is doing the Placerville hangtown 100.
Tulare - trophy cup
Devils bowl- out law show.
Lucas oil speedway- for the sprint car racing events.
Ventura- turkey night.
Speed drome for the 3 hours of endurance figure 8 racing events.
Thanks aq for that one .lol.
Paul is just happy to see what the heck happens next. LOL.
Good buddy from Terre haute Kevin and his family.
Leffler memorial
Ventura - turkey night.
Calistoga.
Chili bowl and Knoxville national
Kevin has not been able to attend the burg since the changes that have been made. He wants to see what the hell we have been talking about. Great family that they have. Thanks. Always nice to have them at the racing events.
Bill and his wife from PA. Always nice to see them at the racing events. They are big cj leary fans and they want to go to Arizona for the championship to celebrate with him and chuck. They also want to hit Knoxville. Great people.
Rita I have not forgotten about you. She is the one that keeps this family on our way for the best of times. Wow. What a wonderful time that we all have shared. Thanks Rita for helping us all get though this together. Thanks. LOL.
Thanks to Dan and Jen for the great times that we have shared together. Got to be with Jen last year to mark off two of her bucket list with Ocala and Knoxville. It's always great to have you guys in house and thanks for being the part of the racing family. Thanks to you both.
Well I will end up with my bucket list.
Little 500 - never have been to
a asphalt racing event. ( unless you count on aq trying to running over us leaving ims after carb day ). Unbelievable.
California speedweek was on the list this year. Sounds like that is not going to happen this year.
Chili bowl - I am going to hit it and see what happens. Probably when I retire. Have to save vacation time now for the other stuff i love. LOL.
3 hours of figure eight racing endurance racing event. Hell that is the only time that you can get aq to get out and see a race. Hopefully that we can get together on that one and have a meet and greet with you. Thanks.
Well Mrs g. Hopefully that i will not get blocked for taking too much time. LOL. Thank you and your families for keeping this website going. And to all the racing teams, promoters ,and employees stay safe you have a lot of racing fans waiting for the great things that we all love. Take care everyone and be safe. God bless America. Thanks.
 
4/5/20, 4:42 PM   #18
wildman92
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Ooops. Dirtfan and I were late responding to Rick. The track I want to visit (and Dirtfan most wants to take me to see) is Lucas Oil Raceway in Wheatland MO for the Hockett/McMillan Memorial.

The track Dirtfan most wants to see is Perris Motor Speedway in the fall. We were sooooo close to the track late last year, but it just didn’t work out.

Anywhere we go with our racing families is an unbelievable and unforgettable event. Here’s hoping we all get the opportunity to enjoy all the great racing events with our racing families and make many Kodak moments. God Bless America and Go Blue.
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4/6/20, 5:22 PM   #19
Re: My Top Ten
Bostonian
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When I was a full-time musician until 2004 (jazz guitar) I was working with my teacher to network with other musicians from around the world with the goal of traveling the 2002 F1 Tour. I was going to travel the circuit, take in the races and try and piecemeal enough gigs to eat and travel to the next race, while using different musicians along the way.

Unfortunately, my Dad became ill and I needed to care for him. So good-by music career. Now I take care of my Mom and I'm starting to ramp up my playing again.

Maybe I can put together a US Tour and follow Bobby Santos for a season
 
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4/6/20, 9:23 PM   #20
Re: My Top Ten
bigvee
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Don't know if I have a top ten bucket list but here is my top three.
1. Australia in Dec. and Jan.
2. California for the Outlaws in the fall
3.The entire Pennsylvania sprint week
 
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