[Jerry Shaw]

I love all the tracks I go to on a regular basis. But they all have different personalities, so I love them for different reasons.

Haubstadt- Tommy's relentless pursuit perfection (go ahead and sue me, Lexus) produces dirt racing's perfect racing surface. So many times, after another heart stopping set of heat races have just finished and support class heats are underway, I'll go out to the parking lot to visit with my friends and everybody is just looking at each other like " Uh oh, here we go again." Like Justin Hatten said a couple of years ago, I can't count the number of times I've left Tri-State Speedway saying "My God, I think that was the best sprint race I've ever seen."

Bloomington- No where do I feel more at home at a track, than I do when I open up my lawn chair on the hill side of Bloomington Speedway. It's like watching the races from the couch, in my living room. They truly treat you like a guest and you're guided through your racing experience by the best team of announcers anywhere. Plus, nothing is more pleasing to the eyes than brightly colored racing machines with the beautiful red clay as a backdrop.

Paragon- This is a little piece of earth that has been untouched by time. Every time that I sit down on the same wooden bleachers as I did when I was 5 and look out at the same picture postcard backdrop that I did back then, I become that age again. Seeing epic battles between legends like Dick Gaines, Chuck Amati, Bobby Kinser, Larry Miller, Butch Wilkerson, etc., etc., etc. at such an inpressionable age is one of the things that set the hook in me, as deep as it did.

Terre Haute- Back in the day when the Indy 500 was BY FAR the biggest race anywhere, there was nowhere that young fans could interact with and see up close a good portion of that races' drivers, than they could through the infield pit fence of the Action Track. I grew up watching these same legends doing battle through the backstretch fence and turning circles as then flew around thie great track. With some of the moves that King and Dorsett made right off the bat, it looks like they both know exactly what I'm talking about and the track is now in good hands.

Lawrenceburg- It's over 180 miles one-way to this place and I don't ever remember leaving there thinking that it wasn't worth the trip. And the new Lawrenceburg is the 8th Wonder of the Racing World. Big. Fast. Well lit. Great to look at. From the ticket booth on back, it's the nicest facility there is. And it's the place that has my favorite set of track regulars. And I saw at least three races last year that left me thinking that once these guys get a full handle on their track prep, this place could be like a bigger Haustadt on steroids!!

Eldora- There's nothing better than starting my racing season standing in between turns 1 and 2, plugged into my iPod, watching that first set of hot laps at the Big E. I like the experience of sprint cars screaming across my field of vision so fast that it throws my equilibrium off. It's the biggest, fastest, most dangerous extreme dirt track ever! I've always thought of Eldora races more as spectacles, than I have as traditional racing events. It's more about the speed, than it is the quality of the racing. Last year's 4-Crown shot a big hole in that way of thinking.:O:

Jerry