[Wallsracing]

Late night at Lincoln Park kicking up more than mud
Wednesday, September 19, 2012

By JARED JERNAGAN, Assistant Editor
Bright lights, loud noise and flying dirt: It's just living the dream for the hotshoes who flock to dirt tracks every Saturday night.
For residents of Putnamville and the surrounding area, the early morning hours of Sunday, Sept. 9 played out more like a nightmare.

On Sept. 8, a night Lincoln Park Speedway's owner referred to as "a 500-year storm," a double bill, a late start and record numbers of racers and spectators converged to make the latest night in the track's history.

Things did not wind down until 5:30 a.m.

Citizens took their concerns to the Putnam County Commissioners Monday evening, complaining not only of the recent late night, but of noise, dust, light and trash each Saturday night from April through September.

"We're three miles away and we couldn't sleep," said Lee Stewart, who lives south of Putnamville with wife Susan.

The Stewarts had with them county documents from the 1990s that established the track's operating hours as ending at midnight. However, the documents listed no penalty for going beyond midnight.

"We're not trying to close them down," Stewart said, "we're just trying to get what was established back in 1992."

A number of other residents added their complaints to the list. Among these were the noise generated on a weekly basis, dust kicked up at the track, trash in nearby yards and lights from both spectators' vehicles and the track itself.

"It's really hard to stay home on a Saturday night," one neighbor said.

Of course, not everyone in the neighborhood had a problem with the track.

"That race track was there when I bought my house," one man said. "I knew it was there. I knew what race tracks were. Most nights they are out of there by midnight."

Both Lincoln Park promoter Joe Spiker and facility owner Dave Allison addressed the commissioners as well, confronting some of the issues brought forth by the residents.

"An apology does nothing at this point," Spiker said. "We were behind the eight ball from the beginning that night.

"We had more cars in our facility that night than any dirt track in the state of Indiana ever. There were 184," he continued. "We usually set the fireworks off at dark. We were an hour and 28 minutes late. The fireworks were shot off at 11:17. That was too late. I was aware of that. Everybody was aware of that."

As the night got later, Spiker said his no-win situation only got worse. Not only did he have to think about disrupting the neighbors, but also about fairness to drivers and fans.

"We tried everything within our power to be fair to our patrons. We cut laps. We counted caution laps," Spiker said. "When they're racing for $3,000, they want every lap they can race. We took a lot of flack for that and we knew everybody would be upset."

Asked if he could guarantee events would not run after midnight, Spiker said he could not. He said even if the county were to establish a penalty for exceeding the time, he would still have angry drivers who felt their night was cut short.

He said Sept. 8 was only the fourth time the track has gone past midnight in 2012, and none of the others had been past 1 a.m.

"That was a one-time thing -- it will never happen again," Spiker said. "We don't need people upset. I try to be a good steward of the race track and I want to make it where it's done by midnight or no later than 2 in the morning."

Allison, who owns the property and ran the business before Spiker, addressed a number of the other issues. He said ambient light from the speedway does not leave the track.

He said decibel meters would read zero in houses outside the immediate area -- a notion at which many residents scoffed.

In addressing the dust issue, though, both he and Spiker said much more dust is generated by the nearby Lincoln Park Stone facility than by the track operating one day a week.

Moreover, a dirt track is ideally muddy, not dusty, both for the quality of racing and the comfort of spectators.

"As a promoter, you want moisture," Allison said. "Dust will run your fans off and your drivers will be screaming at you all night."

While expressing sympathy with both sides, the commissioners said they were in no position to make a decision on Monday.

"We're not going to resolve this tonight," Commissioner President Kristina Alexander said. "We're going to have to have a special meeting and talk to the parties and get something resolved."

A special meeting of the commissioners and the county attorney, the owners and their attorneys and a representative of the residents and their legal counsel will be scheduled at a later date.

[awnunn]

"We had more cars in our facility that night than any dirt track in the state of Indiana ever. There were 184,"


Close. might have been most ever for LPS (an yes I was there also an had a blast watching the races that night) but not all tracks ever. I can understand a curfew but 11:00 is totally absured. Midnight yes with a little give an take on both sides. You guys at LPS did all you could do, you had the next race rolling out as soon as the other one ended. Cant ask for anything more than that.


Brownstown Speedway History

TRACK RECORDS







•Total Race Cars at one event - 205 (Sept. 1995) (an im sure other tracks in Indiana have surpassed that mark also)

[Avon Open Wheel fan]

I think midnight is a good target time to end the races. We all know that once in a while things out of your control can make a show last a little longer. Think Joe's main point about the car count is this does not happen every week and I think this is a once in a life time event that most of us may never see again in our life. Hopefully everyone can come together and work through this without setting a bunch of curfews. Getting the show over at a decent hour is and should be every promoters goal no matter where they are located. Both drivers and fans do not want to spend that long at a racetrack you want to put on a good and fast show so everyone is happy and will return next week. It is not Joe's objective to see how long the show can drag on he really has nothing to gain and everything to lose if this happened every week.

[Chris Nunn]

uh dad...he said "that night" as in they had the most cars on that particular evening than any other track in indiana.

Posted via Mobile Device

[Rogue-9]

Originally Posted by Chris Nunn uh dad...he said "that night" as in they had the most cars on that particular evening than any other track in indiana. Posted via Mobile Device

He also said "ever."

[Chris Nunn]

Dont give my father a big head.

[BrentTFunk]

I thought Joe Spiker's quotes were very good. I do not think 11 is too early for a place providing family entertainment. If parents are leaving with kids that are asleep, you are missing out on the future. I went to Gas City last Fri, and left after the sprint feature. When I got on the road it was 9:22. It made me happy since I had to work Sat.

[Poorboyjocko]

With a car count of 184..you might think a two day show for 2013 would be on the drawing board. That is a lot of pit passes..

[Rogue-9]

Originally Posted by Poorboyjocko With a car count of 184..you might think a two day show for 2013 would be on the drawing board. That is a lot of pit passes..

This was the result of the king of non-wing being postponed one week to the same night as the patriot 100. This is not a normal event.

[DunaganRacing]

Originally Posted by Poorboyjocko With a car count of 184..you might think a two day show for 2013 would be on the drawing board. That is a lot of pit passes..

It was originally a 2 day show, the King of Non Wing sprint show got rained out the Sat before. The problem was running 2 big shows in one night. I liked it myself, wife and kids not so much!

Posted via Mobile Device