Year In Review 2016
I thought it might be fun to take a look back at some of the happenings at the raceway during the last year.
January-March
What I remember most about these months were the really tight and competitive Nascar races that are run on Friday nights. If you weren’t racing in the 4.6’s, you were not going to be in the mix for any wins. Personally, I remember the tight races I had with Tom, he really made me step up my game on the gutter lanes speed wise.
Series racing was strong, most of us were preparing for the Nats by trying different chassis, motors, bodies, etc etc….
I think that just about everyone pitched in to help refurbish the Twister for the Nats. Looking back, a lot was accomplished in a short period of time.
April-June
During this period, it was pretty much all about the Nats. Rick Linn who made monthly trips from California to race with us during our series racing won the 1/24 ES race.
2 memories stand out to me. The thrill of victory in the biggest race held in the U.S annually, and how much that meant to Rick. Also, seeing Matt Bruce walk away from the drivers panel after a late race mechanical failure ended his chance at a win. Handling that situation with as much class as he did is something just about every human could learn from.
July-September
Nascar racing on Friday nights was strong. It seemed that Ryan, and Roman were the 2 guys to beat most of the Summer.
The annual AFTW’s took place in July. (Also known as the Jim Radford Flat Track Worlds) Jim won an amazing 5/6 races he entered, only stumbling a little in the 1/24 ES race. Hey, I remember that race! Truly an amazing accomplishment, as that unofficial record will stand for a loooong time.
In late August was the 6 hr. enduro using both the Twister and the
Bullring. The field was full with 8 three person teams. This event brought out half a dozen guys that had not raced in quite a while, so it was good to catch up with some of those folks.
October-December
At least 5 of our racers went to the “Worlds” held in Chicago this year. We continued racing every Friday night with the Nascar class, and Series racing resumed in November.
I will end this rambling by saying this, and I am sure I speak for all of us. Thank you Jim, Diane, and Ryan for all the hard work each of you put in to keep the raceway thriving. Jim and Ryan are there well before the open sign is turned on filling orders for online customers and tending to business matters. It’s easy to take for granted all the hard work that goes into running a small business, little things that us racers don’t notice when we come in to race, but are vital in keeping a business growing. Diane works in law enforcement during the day, and comes in after work to run races for us, works on inventory control, and does a variety of other tasks. Now that I think about it, the only thing I have not seen her do is pick up a controller and race!
Jim and Diane are not ones to seek praise, I think it’s best to show our appreciation by grabbing our slot car boxes and making it out to the track often!