With my nick name of Eldora Mark and going there for 60 years, you would think I would say Eldora but not. Kokomo is my favorite. The old Eldora was great until they turned it into a Nascrap track.
Originally Posted by DirtTrackTherapy16J:
That is a very good strong answer that I can understand and appreciate Opp...the first time Funk took me there and he said hey let's go to the infield, I was like ***, have I had too much to drink? You cant go to the infield at any other tracks, and once we went into the tunnel and come out the other side, wow it was like a giant racing party. People everywhere, clowning, cutting up, just having one hell of a time. I still have 3 videos of JG, Windom, and S. Cottle, qualifying and they was flat ripping into 1, the sounds and echos of them coming down the front stretch and grandstands, yes I'd say T.H. is hard to beat. Fan base wise for Nonwing overall, I agree, something has to happen, were not all gonna live forever but I just dont know the answer. Your idea with pits, I like it, GC started doing this a lil bit this past season, cant remember exacts of it, but fans were given a chance to go to the pits for a limited amount of time for no extra charge. This idea along with some others would be a start at least for getting new fans, younger fans, more fans I believe.
One of the many things that I like about THAT is that fans can watch from the infield. When I am shooting, oftentimes I am the only one in the infield except for track officials. Of course that is a bit different when Sprint Week rolls around and there are a lot of us shooting. At Terre Haute, during the breaks in racing, I love being able to lean on the fence in interact with the fans. I have to say that I have made some lifelong friendships with a few. Just don't get that at many tracks. Oh, yeah, and the shots I can get there are OUTSTANDING. Sample. . . DSC_9908 by Carey Akin, on Flickr
Excellent photography there cmakin!!!! One of my good buddies you likely well know, he's a photographer, he's at Kokomo and Gas City alot, his name is Chuck.
Enjoyed reading the many fine replies to the initial question. Our family started going to the races in 1964 and here I am closing in on 2023 and still going strong. Been to 876 tracks over the years and two stand out as my favorites. The Reading Fairgrounds in Reading, PA was our go to track from 1965 until it closed in 1979 and we witnessed mainly big block modifieds in this timeframe but also saw USAC sprints and other divisions. The reason Reading was the best in my book is because the surface was always finely prepared, the fans were really into the action and were vocal about things and they usually only ran one division in a timely manner and the show did not drag on forever and the racing itself was fantastic.
Currently my favorite is the Kokomo Speedway. The track is super racy with good track prep and it seems no matter what type of race car you see perform here the racing is second to none!! Of course the wingless sprint cars are my favorite and are the reason my wife and I moved to Indiana 8 1/2 years ago and though we enjoy all the Hoosier bullrings Kokomo is our favorite. In recent years the O'Connors have brought in several different kinds of racing and the winged sprints, super late models and the UMP modifieds among others have produced some fine racing there.
The facility is starting to show its age and the homestretch grandstand is in need of replacement which is long overdue but the backstretch grandstand addition was a big plus. Hopefully soon they can do the same on the homestretch. The food is good and the friends who have made there over the years are priceless. And the wingless racing here is truly amazing and since we are now "Indianaized" which means we are spoiled by the weekly great racing in the state and sometimes racing that visitors view as fantastic we are like "it was OK or good" and then we think back to when we first came to Indiana and saw the fantastic racing and were going bonkers about it. Be appreciative of what we have here as Indiana racing is the best in the country. Enough said.
Originally Posted by WinglessLovers:
Enjoyed reading the many fine replies to the initial question. Our family started going to the races in 1964 and here I am closing in on 2023 and still going strong. Been to 876 tracks over the years and two stand out as my favorites. The Reading Fairgrounds in Reading, PA was our go to track from 1965 until it closed in 1979 and we witnessed mainly big block modifieds in this timeframe but also saw USAC sprints and other divisions. The reason Reading was the best in my book is because the surface was always finely prepared, the fans were really into the action and were vocal about things and they usually only ran one division in a timely manner and the show did not drag on forever and the racing itself was fantastic.
Currently my favorite is the Kokomo Speedway. The track is super racy with good track prep and it seems no matter what type of race car you see perform here the racing is second to none!! Of course the wingless sprint cars are my favorite and are the reason my wife and I moved to Indiana 8 1/2 years ago and though we enjoy all the Hoosier bullrings Kokomo is our favorite. In recent years the O'Connors have brought in several different kinds of racing and the winged sprints, super late models and the UMP modifieds among others have produced some fine racing there.
The facility is starting to show its age and the homestretch grandstand is in need of replacement which is long overdue but the backstretch grandstand addition was a big plus. Hopefully soon they can do the same on the homestretch. The food is good and the friends who have made there over the years are priceless. And the wingless racing here is truly amazing and since we are now "Indianaized" which means we are spoiled by the weekly great racing in the state and sometimes racing that visitors view as fantastic we are like "it was OK or good" and then we think back to when we first came to Indiana and saw the fantastic racing and were going bonkers about it. Be appreciative of what we have here as Indiana racing is the best in the country. Enough said.
From a transplanted Hoosier,
Bruce and Pat Eckel
Fantastic post! You are spot on. Lindy Vicari would be happy to know so many people to this day still appreciate what he did at Reading. Just like you said, one division, quick and efficient , and most of all fantastic track prep. The purse he payed was excellent also.
While we haven’t been able to make the move to Indiana yet, Kokomo and all of your description of it is why it’s my favorite place to go. It is the baddest bullring and a lot has to do with the fantastic track prep.
I’ll miss the view from the old grandstands when they go as I think the new ones will have you further away from the track. Let’s be honest tho, a bad day at Kokomo (which is rare) is better than most days anywhere.
I still have a soft spot for Ventura Raceway but times have changed there and I’ll just enjoy the great memories of what was. Great topic to discuss during downtime.
On a first pass to narrow down favorite tracks, the list has four: Kokomo, Winchester, Port Royal and Bridgeport, NJ. Great racing every time at all four.
When I lived in Oh til 1990: eldora. In philly since then: bridgeport.nj. Had to get used to the look of eastern mods, vs sprints w/o wings... but they really slide, run close, self start, flip less often (fewer injuries wrecked cars and delays), have great veteran racers (pauch til this year, ryan watt, horton, godown). I know bridgeport had poor surfaces for some of the usac races many here have seen. But on weekly shows the track is typically quite good, they put the races on flo, and they are improving the place. Food not bad; nice fries and decent ice cream. Sell season tickets so I can show up late for the features after watching heats on flo -- even if ticket office has closed. This is an actual racing image I froze from flo. Really happens.
DSC_9908 by Carey Akin, on Flickr
