Fireworks, Family Fun, Facebook, favors, and phone calls make up week 15. Both Lakeside Speedway and I-35 Speedways had fantastic firework displays to celebrate the birth of our great nation. Lakeside’s was on Friday July 4. I-35’s was delayed a day and occurred on Sunday, July 6, a perfect closeout to the weekend. Family Fun was had by all as both tracks handed out United States flags to the children allowing them to share their patriotic spirit.

The favor for the weekend came from Stock Car Driver Hank Thompson. Hank has spot 14 on the back row of the pits. When he arrived at the track one of several drivers new to the track had taken his spot. With the USRA Nationals coming in October we will continue to have drivers test the track. By rights he has purchased the parking spot for the weekly racing and could have asked the officials to have the new driver move. Instead Hank moved to spot 11 and simply asked that we make sure his spot is open next week. A true gentleman racer.

Another gentleman racer was found at I-35 Speedway. A mistake was made in figuring the initial lineup which showed Zach Sanders on the outside front row. Zach’s car had an issue and he required a push from the pits to make his heat race. This means he had to go to the rear and forfeit receiving passing points. To ensure he understood a mistake had been made and the lineup corrected we went to his pit to explain. He explained it was not an issue, their starter had hung up and it was not the track’s issue, it is what should be done, another true gentleman racer.

Behind the scenes this week let’s spotlight Randy Reber. You may know him as Bumblebee with his bright yellow fire suit. On race night he is on the Lakeside fire crew and the front straight official at I-35. That is not all he does. During the week, Randy can be found doing a variety of tasks at the tracks from mowing (the John Deere mower seat fits his seat or vice versa), to painting, to cleaning, to mopping, to running errands, to weed eating, to a variety of other duties. Thank you Randy for all you do around the tracks.
As for Mother Nature we could give her an “F” for Saturday. As predicted the storms came Saturday morning but they hung around too long at I-35 Speedway. The place was a muddy mess. Owners Mike and Kyle Johnson determined we could not race on Saturday but Mike asked, ‘What about running on Sunday?”. After discussion it was determined let’s try it. This meant making phone calls to the ambulance crew, the fire crew, the tow truck crew, the officials, the racers, a ton of coordination in a short time. It all worked and Mike’s idea was very successful, the perfect ending to the weekend.

This is where Facebook comes in, used in a positive way, the message was spread that the Saturday races were postponed and moved to Sunday July 6. For my full opinion on Facebook please visit www.racingkc.com where I have written a blog on the positive and negative aspects of Facebook and our sport.