LLLLLEEEETTTTSSSS Get Ready To RRRRRRRace!

Silver Lake, KS - Somebody once uttered the words 'I can't wait for race season to get here!'

This statement means a lot more to me know that I am ready to get back to the race track as well. There is a connection between everyone that attends a dirt track over the summer months. Everyone enjoys the atmosphere, the drama and the wild and wooly action. After watching my 2nd episode of Madhouse, I am ready to head back out to our local dirt tracks. My only thought when watching this show is, 'do we look like these guys when we go racing?'

I am not sure what the answer is to that. There is some similarities watching each of these 4 asphalt drivers getting ready to go racing, but in the long run I know that television is packaged whatever way they want it to be packaged. In the back of my mind I am wondering if it all really went down that way. Hopefully in a few short months we will be able to find out for ourselves first hand when the show Heartland Thunder airs on the Discovery Channel. Most of us saw what went on behind the scenes and we should be able to tell if it really happened the way they are showing us or if they packaged it up like other shows.

For those of you that have been living in a cave during the 2009 race season.... Heartland Thunder is a show about racing weekly at Lakeside Speedway. The show centers around 4 drivers, Tom Charles, Danny Charles, Justin Boney and Tim Karrick. They filmed them in the shop, at their jobs and at the track. After watching the crew in action, I wonder if they ever thought about calling it the Joe Walker Show. Smokin Joe ripped off his streak while the cameras were rolling. I think it's going to be a fun show to watch. It had been set for a March release date, but from sources I am being told now that there might not be an air date scheduled at the moment.

The saga of Thunder Hill Speedway returns to action this season flying under the IMCA banner. When we last left the facility, the Conkwright family had just purchased the track in Mayetta. A ton of leg work needed to be done right from the beginning. The family has put a lot of the work and time in and recently they have been fighting the bad weather while trying to continue. Recently the new owners unveiled their new web site and announced their weekly purse. It seems that everything is moving in a positive direction for the rookie owners.

In Topeka, HPT is getting ready to host the Saturday Night Showdown for the 2nd consecutive year. This years schedule has a few Late Model specials along with a couple of regional USAC Midget events. I have seen several USAC events over the years. Not very many of them have been successful outside of the Belleville Midget Nationals and it causes me to wonder WHY? Like some of you, I attended most of those races and they were great races, but the crowds were sparse to say the least. I hope HPT has some more success this go round. One of the best midget races I can remember was held on the temporary track that lay ed on top of the drag strip. John and I got to meat a 16 year old Kasey Kahne at that event. Who would have thought?

Back on to the HPT Saturday Night Showdown series, recently they announced their payout for the 2010 season. Most fans probably noticed that it had been trimmed back. If you look at it, it's still a pretty good payout. I think it's more than fair. Just like the midget question earlier it makes me wonder why more cars didn't turn out when they were paying more money? I think that HPT might have figured out what some tracks have figured out as well. Not everything can be answered by throwing money at it. In the last year more tracks have been working harder at enforcing their rules, giving racers a good facility to race and plain and simple 'treat people nicely.' To me the little things, or the things that some people might take for granted, are the easiest things to fix and make the most people happy.

When we talk about doing the little things it reminds me of the track down south that is one of the best overall race operations in the U.S., Humboldt Speedway. Ron and Rhenda Whitworth go out of their way to make the racers, fans and sponsors feel like they are part of the family. It's not very often you see a track owner walk around the pit area thank all of his racers and even slip a $20 or a $50 to a racer that has had some bad luck at their track. This is exactly what and who the Whitworths are. They put their heart and soul into their track and it shows. There are several drivers that would also swear how good the racing surface is there too. I can't wait to make my way back to Humboldt this year for a couple of shows.

As I bounce from topic to topic, I am going to write a little more about the upcoming race season at some of the other tracks. It also will be a perfect time to chat about big races and more that you don't want to miss out on.

This year is particularly special to the ITP Gang. If you have seen all over our web site, it's our 10th year of promoting local racing and it has been so much fun along the way. We have met so many people and to see the different types of people has been outstanding. I hope that we have another 10 years just like the first 10 years.

Make sure you watch the web site. Not just the Forum Section! We have a lot in store for you race fans this season. Again, like last year, most of our stuff is going to be web based, but we are putting together a whole bunch of surprises for this season. We have a new blog section here at ITP. Several authors have been lined up to help bring you and inside look at racing in the area. Another nice aspect is that this season we have put together a Race Calendar. This calendar is going to be filled up with important race dates throughout the upcoming season. More races are being added every day. Each entry will give you all the particulars and more on each event. Several new features and old ones will be dominating the web site, make sure you use all of them to suit your individual tastes and needs.

Until next time.... I am Jr. and this is my first rant of 2010.