North Vernon 8/29
 

I know that the Smackdown at Kokomo will draw a lot of cars, but looks like the only other tracks racing non wing cars next Saturday in Indiana will be North Vernon and Paragon. Since work prevents me from going anywhere except for North Vernon hopefully they will have a decent car count. I believe when they were there a couple of weeks ago they had 27 cars. If they could ever get the facility straightened out it would be a nice place for sprint cars. Being from Seymour, it is a nice close place to be able to go to.

Re: North Vernon 8/29
 

For those of us not able to make it to Smackdown, it would be awesome to see a field of quality cars show up at North Vernon Saturday.

Re: North Vernon 8/29
 

Has North Vernon fixed their catch fence? I still cringle when I think about Brady Short going though it :7:

Re: North Vernon 8/29
 

Hell, going thru it ain't no big deal, going over it in turn one is a big deal, especially before they changed the entrance, we had a guy in a TQ clear that thing one night, never touched it, there's pictures someplace, we never did figure what launched him. Bob

Lil brother went over it in a Tq in turn 3 ended where the pit sign in booth is now. Think it was combs car that quit in front of him and he launched off the left rear

Yeah that place is definitely sketchy.

Didn't mean to start a bashing session, but sprints always put on a show there.

Re: North Vernon 8/29
 

Originally Posted by Eatin Dirt:
Didn't mean to start a bashing session, but sprints always put on a show there.

No doubt they have some issues, but I agree sprint cars do put on a good show there.

Back when Indiana sprintweek opened on Thur night at twin cities, those were always awesome shows. Still remember JJ Yeley diamonding off turn 4 passing all kinda cars for the win.
Twin cities over the years has had some outstanding sprint car races there.

Re: North Vernon 8/29
 

Originally Posted by Eatin Dirt:
Didn't mean to start a bashing session, but sprints always put on a show there.

Sorry wasn't bashing , just asking a safety question, I'd hate to see anybody hurt . :7: And yeah have seen some great races there several year back

We've been to the last few and no they haven't did any repairs to fence or front stretch wall, yes its cool place to watch a race but it's scary has Hell as a car owner and dad !!!!!

Re: North Vernon 8/29
 

Originally Posted by sprinter6p:
We've been to the last few and no they haven't did any repairs to fence or front stretch wall, yes its cool place to watch a race but it's scary has Hell as a car owner and dad !!!!!

Thought about going til I saw what happened last week. Apparently they did their track prep with a skid steer. Started 14 late models and only 3 finished. 3 boards broke in the stands and a huge piece of the wall broke off and flew into the stands, thankfully no one was hit.

Re: North Vernon 8/29
 

I haven't attended North Vernon since they had their last Indiana Sprint Week race several years ago. I did see some exciting races there and some bizarre incidents. Most memorable on track incident was Jack Hewitt/Dickie Gaines in 2002 which left Jack severely injured. I'll never forget my first trip there in 2001 for Sprint Week when the drunk fell over the edge at the back of the track and had to be rescued by the track emergency crew. The races had to be stopped while this was being done. Fortunately, the Muscatatuck River was at a low level. I believe the drunk received only minor injuries. I've talked with many people over the years who remember the incident.

Re: North Vernon 8/29
 

Originally Posted by timk:
Thought about going til I saw what happened last week. Apparently they did their track prep with a skid steer. Started 14 late models and only 3 finished. 3 boards broke in the stands and a huge piece of the wall broke off and flew into the stands, thankfully no one was hit.

I'll bet ya it's the same skid steer that Gerry Olson used in an attempt to dry the track for the infamous. rained out ’02 US Dirt Nationals. That was a sad sight.

Originally Posted by ronmil:
I haven't attended North Vernon since they had their last Indiana Sprint Week race several years ago. I did see some exciting races there and some bizarre incidents. Most memorable on track incident was Jack Hewitt/Dickie Gaines in 2002 which left Jack severely injured. I'll never forget my first trip there in 2001 for Sprint Week when the drunk fell over the edge at the back of the track and had to be rescued by the track emergency crew. The races had to be stopped while this was being done. Fortunately, the Muscatatuck River was at a low level. I believe the drunk received only minor injuries. I've talked with many people over the years who remember the incident.

As for the 2001 “drunk in the river” incident, I remember that as well. If I recall correctly, he was a big boy too. A tow truck had to be summoned so they could hoist him out of there.

My first visit to North Vernon was for the ’97 Sprintweek show. Kevin Doty won that year and again in '98. The '98 Sprintweek event was the year that the track's water truck broke down but the show went on anyway. Doty beat Robbie Rice by inches at the line in that one. How USAC was able to determine Doty the winner, through all that dust, is beyond me.

To this day, Tony Elliott's '99 SCRA win at North Vernon still ranks as one of the best sprint shows I've ever seen.

No shortage of memories from North Vernon. That's for sure.

Re: North Vernon 8/29
 

I will be there on Saturday to see what craziness comes next. Who knows, an awesome sprint car race might even break out!!!!! For those of us who can't make it to Kokomo we have to get our fix some way :)