Antioch Speedway, Ocean Speedway, Petaluma Speedway, Siskiyou Golden Speedway, More

First of all...

The DCRR Racing Media Books

Just A Kid From The Grandstands:  My Time In Auto Racing

Stories of my time in auto racing from the beginning to 2003
Available on Lulu in Paperback And Hard Cover

And

Don's California Racing Recollections:  Best Of The Blog And Beyond

Racing History, Stories, Statistics And Pictures
Available via print on demand at Lulu in Hard Cover or Paperback

Disclaimer 

For years we've made a commitment to cover motorsports on the West Coast, and we're very proud of our record. We always endeavor to give you the most accurate information possible, but sometimes some details aren't available to us when we go to press. Therefore, we want to remind you that any finishes listed in the articles and stats posted on this page are unofficial. As always, we refer you to each race track's webpage for official results and point standings. Our goal is to cover racing to the best of our ability, but we are an unofficial news source for the tracks covered in each post. Thank you for reading and thank you for your support.

If You Like Reading Our Articles

Support Us Via The Go Fund Me The Tip Jar HERE

Also...

DCRR Racing Media And PR Consulting  HERE

From the Grandstands By Ron Rodda HERE 

Blakesley Sports Media HERE

Short Track Live HERE

DRC (Daren Ricks Campbell) Motorsports Media HERE

The DCRR Racing Radio Show

Backup Link HERE

ALL AMERICAN SPEEDWAY SET 

FOR SIX RACE RETURN BEGINNING AUGUST 1

By Steve Blakesley -- Read HERE

SRL NOTEBOOK: NEWS AND NOTES 

IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY

By Steve Blakesley -- Read HERE

Pit Stops - Weekend Preview

To make things a little bit easier given the current situation, we've decided to do our weekend preview stuff via the Pit Stops column and highlight some of the things that are happening at various venues. It was either that or we were taking the rest of the week off.

Antioch Speedway

There's been much talk since the creation of the Western States Dwarf Car Nationals back in the mid 1990s about having something happen at Antioch Speedway. For one reason or another, nothing quite came together. A couple of years ago, the Western States leadership reached out to management and was able to get a date for what they called the King of California Series. Unfortunately, this race was rained out along with a couple of others and that series never came to be.

With the introduction of Chad Chadwick as the promoter at Antioch Speedway, everything has been tweaked in one way or another in the hopes of making things better. The Dwarf Car competitors decided to form the Delta Dwarf Car Association and go under Western States Dwarf Car Association rules. Several drivers had already joined one of the participating associations in recent years so that they could participate in various Regionals and Nationals events. Now, not only can these Antioch competitors participate, but there was the possibility of the local group hosting either a Regionals or Nationals event.

On the original schedule for 2020, there was a Regionals event booked at Antioch Speedway on July 18th. Track management and Western States leadership have had encouraging conversations, and this date was given with the possibility that Antioch might host a Nationals in the future. Nationals are usually two-day shows, and Regionals are usually one day. Given the fact that multiple Nationals events had already been canceled, and the schedule ahead is always in danger of being adjusted, it was agreed that this Regionals show would be Friday and Saturday.

Dwarf Car racers from throughout California and surrounding states mark these shows on their calendars. They want to go and see friends from other places. They like to camp at the track, and it almost takes on the feel of a family reunion with racing included. For Dwarf Car fans, the Regionals and Nationals are the shows you don't want to miss. If you like this style of racing, you really do see some of the best competitors the division has to offer. That will be the case at Antioch Speedway this weekend.

Locally speaking, two-time Antioch champion and one-time NorCal champion and Danny Wagner will provide formidable competition. You can also count on several top stars from the area making their presence known, including Scott Dahlgren, young gun Devan Kammermann, Travis Dutra, David Michael Rosa, Toby Brown and Troy Stevenson. Some of these drivers might run in the Pro classification, while others might run with the Veterans. Several of Antioch newcomers will be a part of the Sportsman division as Nationals and Regionals shows break it down into three classes to promote even better racing all around.

The oldest of the Western States Dwarf Car sanctioned groups is the NorCal Dwarf Car Association, and they always manage to make their presence known at these big events. Reigning champion Michael "Spanky" Grenert will be on hand for the show along with past champions Ryan "Ice Chip" Winter and Shawn Jones. Jones is also a champion at Watsonville and has looked fast this year. He won the Pro division Nationals event at Petaluma Speedway earlier this year. Other hard chargers from the NorCal group include Ben Wiesz, Shawn Whitney, Kevin "Hollywood" Bender, Wade Ehrlich and Dan Geil. Expect a heavy presence of competitors from this group.

The General Hydroponics Redwood Dwarf Car group from Petaluma Speedway has been delivering big car counts for any regular show these days. Reigning champion Chad Matthias is anticipated along with other notables such as Mark Hanson, past Antioch champion Kevin Miraglio, Carroll Mendenhall, Matt Hagermann, 2018 champion John "Scooter" Gomes and Michael Affonso. South Bay will be represented as well. Past series champions Mark Biscardi, Gene "Punky" Pires and Terre Rothweiler could be there along with notables such as Jimmy Damron, Eric Weisler, Barry Waddell, Eddy Claessen and Trafton Chandler.

Drivers will be coming from Southern California, Nevada and Oregon to participate. Some of the drivers to watch for include Nick Valasquez, Tommy Valasquez III, Darren Brown, Tim Fitzpatrick and Camden Robustelli. According to Delta Dwarf Car Association leader Danny Wagner, there could be 60 to 70 Dwarf Cars for this show.

On the heels of a record 24 Super Stocks and Pro Stocks, the Antioch based Super Stock class will be back in action on Saturday night. Reigning track champion Kimo Oreta had his best performance of the year in the most recent event, finishing fifth. 2013 champion Jim Freethy didn't have a very good night, but he should be back to try to turn things around. Mike Walko has looked fast all year long as he looks for his first win. Others to watch for include last week's B Main winner Chris Long in the John Keith owned entry, Jon Haney, John Evans and Ryan Cherezian.

You might have noticed the IMCA Stock Car of Chris Bennett in the field with this Super Stocks last week. Bennett is the first local competitor to throw his hat in the ring as a member of the 2021 IMCA Stock Car roster at Antioch Speedway. We've heard that past Super Stock champion Todd Gomez will be ready to roll with the group next year as well. People have been purposely constructing Hobby Stocks with the idea of being legal to run with the IMCA Stock Car class in the future. This has been a growing trend in recent years. Though the cars might not be 100% legal in some cases, they are close enough to make them legal without too much work.

Antioch Speedway track prep man Brian Pearce recently put out word that the track was looking to include an IMCA Stock Car show at the Bill Bowers Memorial event on the first weekend of October. This is an opportunity to showcase this style of racing as this becomes the third IMCA sanctioned division next year. Already, we are hearing of racers making plans to be in Antioch that night if it's a go. Such noteworthy talent as three-time Watsonville Hobby Stock champion Rob Gallaher, past Merced Hobby Stock champions Michael Shearer and Bruce "Bubba" Nelson and Merced star Garrett Corn say they are in. This will also be an opportunity for Hanford and Bakersfield area racers to come be a part of the big show, and it could be that some Oregon IMCA Stock Car competitors will be there as well. It has potential to be the biggest IMCA Stock Car event ever promoted in California to date if it's officially announced.

The Bill Bowers Memorial race will already be big, but this would certainly make it bigger. In the meantime, we have the Dwarf Car Regionals on Friday and Saturday. It appears as if you'll be able to watch all of the action on Dirt Oval TV this weekend since the grandstands still can't be open to fan attendance just yet. You can find more information at www.antiochspeedway.com.

Ocean Speedway

Ocean Speedway in Watsonville also has a two-race weekend, and this one is pretty special. It's the 10th Annual Howard Kaeding Classic, which pays tribute to one of the all-time greats of San Jose Speedway. The Friday portion of the show will include the Ocean Sprints, presented by Taco Bravo, the IMCA Sport Modifieds, the Hobby Stocks and the Western Midgets. On Saturday it's the NARC/King of the West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds and Hobby Stocks once again.

The NARC Sprint Car group has been hit very hard by the virus shut down. This is probably the most expensive division to book in Northern California, and it becomes problematic when you can't have fans in the grandstands. Race-by-race, they have watched their events get canceled. In fact, they've only successfully held one race at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford on June 20th. This was made possible thanks to some good sponsorship, and Spencer Bayston of Lebanon, Indiana drove the Tarlton Motorsports entry to the win ahead of Bud Kaeding, Tim Kaeding, DJ Netto an Mitchell Faccinto.

Netto is the reigning series champion after a close battle with Bud Kaeding and Dominic Scelzi last season, and he'll be able to claim that honor for another year. NARC recently announced that they would not be crowning a champion this year. If every date remaining on the schedule is successfully held, they will only have eight total races. However, they are anticipating other races will be canceled as well. The reason for the Watsonville event happening is because of some great sponsorship, including Al's Roofing. Plus, the show will be broadcast on the internet via Flo Racing.

This race is special in its own right, and drivers will be competing for $32,000 in purse money. Everybody who starts the feature race is guaranteed $800 with the winner pocketing $5,000. In all but one of the previous Howard Kaeding Classic events, they've had enough of a car count to produce B Mains. That's expected to be the case this year. You'll have to earn your way into the feature race, and just ending up on the podium is a victory in itself. In order, the winners since 2011 are Evan Suggs, Jonathan Allard in back-to-back victories, Bud Kaeding, Kyle Hirst with three-straight wins, Colby Copeland and Bud Kaeding last year. It should be an exciting show.

The Saturday program will feature the second appearance of the IMCA Modifieds. The Ocean Speedway website is keeping track of points, though we haven't heard if they are officially going to crown champions. We do know that IMCA actually considers it a championship race once four events are held. They will need two more IMCA Modified races after this to meet the minimum. Bobby Hogge IV led all the way in winning the most recent race over 2018 champion Cody Burke, reigning champion Austin Burke, Petaluma point leader Anthony Slaney and Tim Balding. We don't know who might show up for this race, but Watsonville will have the only IMCA Modified program going in California on Saturday night.

The Hobby Stocks will be busy with events on both Saturday and Friday. The track officially acknowledges two shows, though the first race was rained out. Drivers had the opportunity to run a makeup race the following week, but they elected to make it a 40 lap feature instead, won by past champion Terry Campion ahead of Joe Gallaher add Bobby Huckaby Jr.

Bud Kaeding finds himself holding a 39 point lead in the Ocean Sprint point standings ahead of Kaleb Montgomery. Koen Shaw is 51 points out in third, one ahead of Zane Blanchard and 17 in front of reigning champion James Ringo. What these five racers have in common is that none of them has won a Main Event yet. The record shows that the three wins so far have gone to Shane Golobic, Sean Becker and Blake Carrick. It's anticipated that the car count could reach into the 30s as it did at the previous race.

For the IMCA Sport Modifieds, this will be their fourth race. In the eyes of IMCA, that will make it an official championship. Surprisingly, Merced area competitor Gavin Espino holds a three point lead over Steven Allee and a five point advantage over the tied Tanner Thomas and Kelly Campanile. This is a Top 4 that many experts would not have predicted. Thomas, Brent Curran and Fred Ryland have won the three races held so far. Curran had to withstand a serious threat from Ryland on the final lap to get the win in a borrowed car at the most recent race. Car count is expected to be solid once again in this class.

By all accounts, the Western Midgets are on a good pace as a second-year class. The season opener found them producing 11 cars. The results were similar to last year as reigning champion David Prickett held off teammate Tyler Slay to pick up the win. The group will have a very busy weekend as they also compete at Petaluma Speedway on Saturday night. Some of the stars who could be in Watsonville on Friday night include reigning Ventura champion Randi Pankratz, Jackson Dukes, Evan Bonnema, Harley Rose and Joey Bishop.

Sprint Car enthusiasts can rejoice. Though you can't attend in the grandstands, you can watch this action live on Flo Racing. It should be an entertaining weekend in Watsonville. For further information, go to www.racepmg.com or check out the Ocean Speedway Facebook page.

Petaluma Speedway

Petaluma Speedway has a special show planned for Saturday night. The USAC Western States Midgets, as well as their West Coast 360 Sprint Car counterparts and the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, have seen the virus shutdown decimate their season. In fact, it's just possible that the Western States Midgets/BCRA Midgets shootout set for Petaluma on Saturday night might not have happened. Thanks to the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame, they're paying $1,000 to win and the regular purse. Fans watching at home via Flo Racing will also be treated to PitStopUSA.com Wingless Spec Sprints, Santa Rosa Auto Body 600 Micros and Western Midgets.

The record shows that Robert Dalby picked up the USAC Western Midgets championship in a relatively close battle with Cory Elliott last season. Ben Worth, David Prickett, CJ Sarna, Shannon McQueen, Jake Swanson, Austin Liggett, Randi Pankratz and Kyle Beilman made up the balance of the Top 10 in the standings. As has been the case quite often in recent years, this is a co-sanctioned event with the Bay Cities Racing Association. The record will show that last year's BCRA champion was the consistent Robert Carson, followed by David Goodwill, JR Williams, BCRA Hall of Famer Floyd Alvis and Mark Maliepard. Carson was piloting the car of his grandfather, the late Howard Segur. It was certainly the oldest car in the field.

A good turnout of Midgets is expected, and that's likely to be the case with a PitStopUSA.com Wingless Spec Sprints. They've held three Spec Sprint shows so far this year, and two of those wins went to Dwarf Car star Shawn Jones, who isn't anticipated this week. DJ Johnson, who won at Antioch last week, is the other winner and could be on hand for the show. A check of the standings finds the only driver with three Top 5 finishes, Cody Fendley, leading Jones by 17 points and rookie Daniel Whitley by 25. Past champions Ryon Siverling and Sparky Howard are both within 39 points of the lead. It should be a good show.

We're not sure if Nick Robfogel will have his Santa Rosa Auto Body 600 Micro in the field as he is competing with the Wingless Spec Sprints this year. We do know that Nick won an impressive five Micro 600 Main Events last year, though he came up 12 points shy of Justin Addiego in the championship chase. Addiego had one win and eight Top 5 finishes as consistency propelled him to the top. One-time winner Kyle Grissom finished third of the standings. Rob Brown, Carroll Mendenhall, Sam Borland, Anton Gianini and Jeromie Charon were among last year's top stars.

There's been some concern at Petaluma this year over the low turnout in the Jake's Performance Hobbies Mini Stocks and Lumberjacks Restaurant Super Stocks. We're not sure what has attributed to that, but we do know that Promoter Rick Faeth is looking at the situation and considering what to do. We've also heard there could be a big Super Stock announcement coming very soon. It won't be bad news for the division, but if this happens, it will be good news for people looking to see a bigger race. All we can say is stay tuned.

Midget racing enthusiasts should enjoy Petaluma's show this weekend. It should be well supported and entertaining. As mentioned above, it will be available on Flo Racing. For further information, go to www.petaluma-speedway.com or check out the Petaluma Speedway Facebook page.

Siskiyou Golden Speedway

After taking a week to assess the situation as requested by the state, Siskiyou Golden Speedway in Yreka will be back in action this weekend. Friday night will be an open practice, while the Outlaw Kart track will have a regular show there. On Saturday night, IMCA Sport Modifieds are back In action along with the Outlaw Pro Stocks and the Mini Stocks.

It's interesting to note that the initial Monday morning announcement from the track only mentioned Outlaw Pro Stocks and Mini Stocks. They wanted to know what division could give them 10 cars that wanted to run, but the answer was always right in front of them. The IMCA Sport Modified competitors were the loudest, and within just a couple of hours of the original announcement, it was amended to include the IMCA Sport Modifieds. The division is growing with new local drivers, including a couple of young racers from the Outlaw Karts. Plus, Medford racers are looking for someplace to go. The turnout should be solid for this race.

At four races, it's an official championship in the eyes of IMCA. That fourth race happened on the Fourth of July, and it was Braxton Possinger stopping Jorddon Braaten's three-race winning streak to claim the $850 first prize. Braaten has been nearly unbeatable this year, and had there been another five laps that night, it might have been another win for him. As it is, he leads the consistent Mike Medel by 26 points. Both drivers are multi-time Medford champions. Isaac Sanders is third in a tie with reigning champion Ethan Killingsworth, while reigning PSM champion Matt Sanders is nine points behind them. At this point, it's a battle between Braaten in Medel for the title, but it's Braaten's to lose.

The Outlaw Pro Stocks were to be a part of the July 4th race, but the schedule was amended that morning to drop them and the Southern Oregon Dwarf Cars. Management is still looking for another date for the Dwarf Cars to return. The last time the Pro Stocks were in town a few weeks ago, Matt Harlow was driving the Maurie Skaggs car to his first career victory after a late pass on Colby Hammond. The race was not kind to reigning champion Scott Flowers or son James Flowers, both of whom didn't finish. They will be out for some redemption this week, and others to watch for include Scott Bennett, Johnny Cobb, Darek Alford and rookie Mike McLeod.

Medford stars David Steele and Ashtin Hedges have won the two Mini Stock races held so far, and Steele wasn't exactly delighted by losing the July 3rd race. Young Hedges has been very impressive in his brief career. He finished second at the opener, and counting all of his Medford starts last year, he now has seven second place finishes to go with two career wins. Steele knows that Hedges is a threat anytime he's on the track. 

Likewise, reigning champion Mike Whitaker had a third place finish last time, and he'll be looking to get a win this week. We don't know if past Medford champion Kristopher Mix will be there, but he looked good in coming from the back of the pack to finish fourth last time. Three-time champion Marilyn Yawnick, Hunter Magnan, 2013 Medford champion Steve Goetz, Terry Alford Sr and newcomer Paige Boswell are others to watch for.

At press time, we don't have any information in regards to streaming services being offered for this show. At times, social media director Misty Buchanan will go live to give people updates. The best we can tell you is keep an eye on the Siskiyou Golden Speedway Facebook page for any announcements or updates.

Placerville Speedway

Because of the big events happening at Petaluma and Watsonville, Scott Russell made the decision to adjust the Placerville Speedway schedule. The Forni Classic was to happen this weekend, but it's been moved to the 25th. That should be a bigger paying Winged 360 Sprint Car show. The Thompson's Auto Group Winged 360 Sprint Car show that will run this week is currently set to pay half purse, though that could change by race day if sponsorship is secured. Jay's Mobile Welding has come on board to sponsor the Pure Stock purse to its normal level, and sponsors have also been brought on for the Limited Late Models and Mini Trucks to make them full purses. The California Hardtop drivers have been chomping at the bit and should come in good numbers on Saturday. The show will be broadcast on Flo Racing.

A look at the Sprint Car numbers finds Colby Copeland and Justyn Cox winning the two regular point events, though we are unclear on whether the track will actually be crowning a champion this year. They are keeping points. The NorCal Posse Shootout races weren't part of the point effort, but wins in those talent stacked fields were earned by Sean Becker and Shane Golobic. A look at the points finds Copeland leading by 10 points over Michael Faccinto. We're not sure either one of these drivers will be on hand for Saturday's event, but third-ranked Tony Gualda is very possible. He is 20 points behind Copeland and five ahead of Mitchell Faccinto. Blake Carrick is fifth, 27 points out. With a Winged 410 Sprint Car show at Watsonville, some of these drivers might have rides for that show, but the numbers at Placerville should still be pretty solid in this class. 

Ray Trimble and Dan Brown Jr are the two Limited Late Model feature winners. Both drivers have also won at Marysville this year. Trimble leads division rookie Dan Jinkerson by eight points, Brown by 10 and Jay Norton by 18. Jinkerson is competing in the Mike Lightfoot owned car and is a past Pure Stock champion.

The surprising John Ewing has won both Pure Stock Main Events so far, but with Kevin Jinkerson finishing on his rear bumper, his lead is only two ahead of him and seven in front of Zach Lindgren. Ryan Murphy is nine points back, while reigning champion Nick Baldwin is 10 out. It's not a huge field of competitors, but the racing is very exciting and close most of the time.

Mike Miller won the first Mini Truck race over Kevin Trembley and James Murphy. This division was added a couple of years ago as an entry point into the world of racing at Placerville. 

The beautiful Hardtops of the California Hardtop Association round out the program. Last season saw Dave Mackey and Ken Retzloff picking up a couple of wins, while series star Ron Ruiz won multiple events on the tour. We don't know who all might show up for this race, but usually Ken Clifford is first in line and may bring his son Jason Clifford. Doug Braudrick is looking to come in from the Bay Area, and others to watch for include Joe Shenefield, Jason Armstrong, Tom Grady, Rhett Lange, Larry Wells and Roger MacShain.

For information on scheduling and other important news, go to www.placervillespeedway.com or check out the Placerville Speedway Facebook page.

Lakeport Speedway And Ukiah Speedway

This doesn't normally happen, but both Ukiah Speedway and Lakeport Speedway have events scheduled for this Saturday night. The two pavement tracks are within reasonable distance of each other and in some cases share the same cars. There's a North State Modified Series race happening at Lakeport Speedway, but they've also got the Bombers, Legend Cars, Focus Midgets and I4 Modifieds on the bill. Ukiah Speedway will be featuring the Limited Modifieds, Bombers, Jammers and Jalopies.

The racing has been entertaining at both of these tracks this year. They don't have streaming services coming in, but both tracks will have cameras going live and have broadcasts for the fans for free on Facebook. Because they can't have an open grandstand, both tracks have reportedly opened without guaranteeing a purse. We haven't heard an update on if that's changed, but we do know that TNT Towing will be sponsoring $1,000 to the Bomber purse at Ukiah Speedway, while Taco Bell will be sponsoring $1,000 to the Limited Modifieds.  Lakeport has several sponsors in place for this weekend as well.

We were waiting to see if Ukiah Speedway was going to keep points this year, but Lakeport did it from the start. The NCRA Modifieds aren't running this weekend, though some of their competitors might be a part of the North State Modified Series show. Mike Sullivan leads Richard Knight by 16 points with Robert Schmidt a distant third. Donovan Cox has looked good in Taco Bell Bombers competition as he leads Amber Portlock by 33 points with Klinton White a distant third. The Daniels siblings are having a good battle in Legend Car competition as Kylie leads her brother Aiden by one point. Colby Furia is just six points back in third.

Ukiah Speedway has put the standings up, but they aren't currant. The Limited Modified division finds Jason Philpot, Tyler Caturegli and Roy Ingalls Jr doing well. The Bombers class shows Brenton Smith, Charley Tour, Loren Powers Jr and Ron Duke Sr among the top ranked. The Jalopies will probably be led by either Jimmy Sorrels or Jack Schleif as these two have made both races. We await the standings after the July 11th show.

We understand that some people are reluctant to pay for a streaming service or don't have the money at the moment. If you like some asphalt racing to go with your dirt, these two paved tracks are worthy of watching and will be streaming on their Facebook pages for free. For all of the current updates in regards to scheduling and other matters, go to the Ukiah Speedway Facebook page or the NCRA Lakeport Speedway page. 

Dixon Speedway

It's been nearly a month since they hosted the first round of the Covid Cup back in June, but Dixon Speedway is back in action this Saturday night. They will also have another race on Friday, July 24th. With three feature wins, Brad Hannum leads reigning champion Kyle Mentch by 71 points in the Super 600 division. Mentch is only 18 points ahead of Sage Bordenave. Mentch has a second and a third so far, but Bordenave is looking for his first podium of the year.

The biggest supported division remains the Wingless class, and Kelvin Lewis finds himself leading Timothy Vaught by 40 points. Both drivers are still looking for their first wins of the season, but both have finished second once so far. Young gun Cody Gray is just two points behind Vaught and 21 ahead of two-time winner Brandon Shaw.

Bryant Bell leads one of the closest battles at the track in the Restricted class. Izaak Sharp is just four points behind him, while Austin Wood trails by five points. Bell has a pair of wins, and Wood has a victory to his credit as well. Sharp has finished as high as second once and third twice.

The youngest competitors at the speedway are in the Junior Sprints class, and Kyle Fernandez has been very impressive with a pair of wins. He leads Brody Rubio by 45 points. Rubio has three third place finishes as his best efforts. Reigning champion Makayla Tatoole is 18 points behind Rubio on the strength of three second place finishes.

They have an exciting Micro Sprint program at this 1/5 mile dirt oval. However, we're not aware of what streaming services might be offered. They do have Race Monitor going live, enabling people to keep track of the score keeping as it happens. For further information, go to www.dixonspeedway.net or check out the Dixon Speedway Facebook page.

In Closing

Tracks are digging in and moving ahead. So far, Oregon and California governors haven't made any announcements that would keep the tracks from doing what they are right now, though we're not hearing of any encouraging rumors in regards to more grandstands being opened. Diamond Mountain Speedway in Susanville will have a two-day affair on July 24th and 25th, which should feature the usual divisions. They can have fans in the grandstands, but they aren't likely to have any streaming service available. You can get updates by going to www.dmspeedway.com or checking out the Diamond Mountain Speedway Facebook page.

Marysville Raceway will continue to do the Wednesday night thing in order to accommodate streaming services. This means they come back on Wednesday, July 22nd with Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Hobby Stocks and Crate Sprints. They can have as many as 100 people in the grandstands at last report. For further information, go to www.marysvilleraceway.com or check out the Marysville Raceway Facebook page.

Madera Speedway is taking the week off, but they're coming back strong on July 25th. Promoter Kenny Shepherd just announced the next big series happening at the track. This will be the Race 2Be Drug Free Big 3 Series with the second date happening on September 5th and third on October 3rd. These will also be MavTV taped events, featuring the Nut Up Pro Late Models and 51fifty Energy Drink Junior Late Models. This series will have huge purses, bonus money and a point fund. The other good news is that as long as they aren't having fans in the grandstands, you'll be able to watch these races live on the track's YouTube page. For further information, go to www.racemadera.com or check out the Madera Speedway Facebook page.

The Editor's Viewpoint

I started composing my thoughts on Monday night. I felt good about what I was saying, but I went on longer than I wanted to. There is certainly quite a bit to cover every week. However, I tend to ramble on a little bit sometimes. I wasn't going to make this post at all, so I'm looking for ways to make it easier on myself due to the lack of support I'm receiving these days. I do appreciate the people who put the word out there that we are looking for some support as this is a volunteer effort and we're not being paid by anybody to do it. At least the word got out in that regard, and it's nice to know that people are reading. 

I will say that I'm happy that Steven Blakesley is out there doing what he does. He's been doing this for a while, he loves the sport and you can see the passion he has for the sport in his efforts. He's out there working racing media as hard as I am these days, and I would assume that if I walk away tomorrow, you will have him covering racing. Please follow him on Facebook at Blakesley Sports Media and Short Track Live. It's not just his writing. He does interviews with some of the top stars, and you're getting some good insight into the sport through him. He's a good announcer as well.

In the category of people who are struggling like me, I would say follow Daren Ricks Campbell at DRC Motorsports Media on Facebook. As with Blakesley, I have a web page link for Daren at the top of this post as well. He is like me in one regard. He's a kid from the grandstands who loves the sport and wanted to be involved. Unfortunately, he doesn't get a lot of support, and we could see him walk away too. I don't want that to happen, because I think he's got the potential to do good things for the sport in the years to come. However, what we do is work. If we're not getting a little bit of support, it becomes easier to walk away.

The thing with Daren is he's a Stock Car guy, and he loves the dirt. He's a guy who could be the next Gary Jacob on the dirt track level, covering Late Models, IMCA Modifieds and Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and all of that. However, you're not going to see him put a bunch more energy into this stuff unless he gets the support to do it. I know times are tough. I'm feeling the pinch myself. I also have other creative endeavors I want to put energy into. As I have been getting a little bit of support in the past, I let racing take up more of my time. That's going to stop eventually. Having a guy like Daren there keeping the media effort going would be a good thing.

When I say stop, I'll clarify that. I'm not taking the blog anywhere. It will still be out there as long as I'm able to keep the blog out there  I'm looking at the Jefferson Racing blog and have an interesting idea for what to do with it. I have been focusing my energies into this blog lately, but there's four years worth of content on the other blog. When I walk away from the weekly stuff, I'm still going to post content here. I'm also going to work on the follow-up to Just A Kid From The Grandstands and a racing history project of some sort to be named later. It will be easier for me to do that when I walk away from the weekly stuff. It's going to be easier to walk away from the weekly stuff the more I put the effort into it without any compensation coming my way.

I try to keep other things away from my racing effort. I have other sites, but occasionally you will hear my observations pertaining to this virus and what I think is really going on. In other words, there are other things I want to write about that I think may be more important to what's going on in the world. I don't want that stuff seeping onto this site anymore than it already has. You manage to piss somebody off who doesn't agree with you and they take it personally. It used to be we could disagree about things happening in this world and still be okay with each other, but these days it's all about complete agreement or nothing at all.

We were bracing for impact when we heard that the Oregon governor and the California governor were both going to do press conferences concerning the virus on Monday. We're hearing daily how the numbers are getting worse as the media keeps pushing the fear. Therefore, we were wondering if racing was going to be shut down on us. As of now, everything will continue the way it has in both California and Oregon. I haven't even heard about bar closures in Oregon, which could have derailed what Drake Nelson is doing in Coos Bay. The people that are going to be more impacted are the people who haven't gotten over the hurdle yet. The state will make that harder, so tracks that aren't open yet might face more of a challenge. It doesn't mean they won't open, but it might be more difficult. 

What is interesting is four oval tracks in Oregon are racing or have had races this year. There are possibly two others tracks that could chime in before the year is up and three that we may not hear from for the rest of the year. Of the four tracks, only Coos Bay Speedway isn't running an oval track race this week. Though Drake had overwhelming success with his fireworks display and NASCAR Whelen All American Series event last week, he is going to have a big drag racing event this weekend and will return to the oval track on the 25th. He had his biggest crowd of the year last week from what I can see, and he certainly had the biggest car count he's had for a race that he's promoted since taking over the track. This happened during a pandemic.

River City Speedway in St Helens looks like they are going to go full speed ahead with participant only races. They are still working within the 250 person guideline from everything I read. After the 15 essential personnel have been chosen, that leaves 235 spots. You can have three people per car, which means they can have 78 racers across multiple divisions. You can run a show with that, so why not? 

Purses are now being paid, but they are reduced purses. They have a program planned this week and have the Potter Memorial event the following week, which will feature a $600 to win Late Model show. I don't know of any streaming services being offered there, but they have people in the stands who are streaming it live on Facebook for free. If you care about what's going on at River City Speedway, at least the management there cares enough about you to keep you informed. After all, fans can't be there yet.

Heather Boyce did not want to open Cottage Grove Speedway without fans. After all, it's terrible for business at a time when she's paying some serious money to Jerry Schram to buy the track. However, an anonymous sponsor paid the entire purse on July 4th. This time around, multiple sponsors have chipped in to make sure the same six divisions that ran the last time will be racing there for a full purse. It's a $40 pit pass. They can't have fans in the grandstands, but they will be trying to keep teams socially distanced to by making use of the spectator parking area. It's not the ideal situation, but if you crunch the numbers, Heather is not losing money here. 

This is where I got wordy the last time I tried to write this column, so I'll try to be succinct. Heather has banned any photography at the races other than the people who are authorized to do so. This includes still photographers and also the people filming. If you are a fan who wants to watch, you can go to Dirt Oval TV and watch the show. PJ Risso will be working the camera, and Ben Deatherage will be announcing. It's worthy of the investment. If you are a fan who can afford to pay for a streaming service and if you care about the sport, you'll support your track. Dirt Oval TV is at Cottage Grove Speedway quite often since that's their home track.

Heather obviously will have people talking about First Amendment rights. We do have those. However, there are consequences in certain situations. The only source of fan revenue available to them is through the streaming services, and that's the reason why she's taking this action. Some may call it Draconian, but she's looking at all the people that might watch it streamed on Facebook for free and assuming that those people would buy the stream otherwise. They would not, but that's not the point. The point is, if you want to watch this race, you have to pay for it. This way the track can make money that enables them to continue to be in business during a very difficult time.

These were the rules, and people understood them. A relative of one of the Sprint Car teams decided to go live on Facebook and give the show away for free. Heather took swift action in banning the person from the track, causing more outrage from the individual. I understand Heather even attempted to get this individual's relative fired from a Sprint Car ride that they had paid for. So, it's gotten a little bit nasty. I don't like the rule. People do what they want, which is why you can see decent concert footage, racing footage and even movies that are in the theaters for free. People will just go ahead and share it with everybody. However, it does cost the track money when you give it away for free.

We will have that debate in the weeks and months ahead. I've seen where promoters are posting signs outside their grandstands during better times saying you can't stream the race on Facebook. You can say that, but you're going to piss off that one person who makes it difficult on you. You can't confiscate phones, because that will lead to legal action. People feel entitled to do this because it's the Internet. It's free. They have a phone. They can do what they want. Though the internet can help the sport generate revenue, this is one of the ways where it can actually hurt. I have more thoughts on this subject, but I'll leave it at that.

Up at Hermiston Raceway, they've got a plan. We talked about that plan before. It looks like six Saturdays of racing and two Main Event only programs showing late in the afternoon and early in the evening. 250 people are allowed in the pits and 250 people are allowed in the grandstands. On the grandstand side, you are basically making reservations so that they have your contract tracing information. You're buying your ticket online. Whether an adult or a kid, you're paying $20. They are also selling concessions. By this way of doing things, they will have run 12 Main Event only programs by the time they're done, if they don't get shut down or interrupted by bad weather. 

The bottom line is the governors didn't really lay it out there for how tracks can open and have people in the stands. Hermiston went the way that I think tracks should pursue. It's not one big location where 250 people are allowed according to Oregon state guidelines. It's two locations. You have the race track and pit area as one location, and you have the grandstands and concessions as the other location. It's not much of an improvement. How much money can you actually make from fans in the grandstands if you can only sell 250 tickets? Would you rather have that or no fans at all? I think any promoter who hasn't pursued this is an option needs to at least take a shot at it.

As for the how much money can you make question, at $20 a piece times 250 people you can make $5,000. Ticket prices at Hermiston might be $10 or $12 on any normal night. I don't know. I haven't researched it too deeply, but here's the thing. These are not normal circumstances. You're not getting what you would be getting, so you inflate the ticket prices a little bit in order to make up for that. There are fans willing to pay that money. It might not be a family night at the races. Mom and dad might go or just dad. However, there are some people who will buy tickets for the early and late showing at Hermiston. As of Monday, only 50 tickets were available for this weekend's event.

I can just picture people in California at some locations. They want to go to a race. What I have to point out is Hermiston isn't running every week, so people can recover for a week and then buy tickets again. In some cases, these California tracks are running every week. If you take a $15 adult ticket and raise it up to $20 or even $25, there are people who would buy those tickets. Could you sell out 250 seats at those rates at some California tracks? Absolutely. I don't know if you could do that every week or not, but you could do it sometimes. At other times, you might have 250 tickets available and only sell half or two hundred of them. It's still revenue. It might be a hard sell right now with the governors clamping down a little bit, but why not take a shot at it?

I hinted at two tracks that could open in Oregon and three that I wasn't so sure about, but I didn't want to name them specifically. I'm not trying to put any tracks on the spot, but Douglas County Speedway made an announcement on Wednesday that they will be racing on August 1st. The track is operated by the Pacific Racing Association, and they called a special meeting on Tuesday night. Members were required to attend if they wanted to do any racing this year, and that brought about a good attendance. When you think about it, racing in August is right on track with what the president said was possible when he gave a state of the track address on Facebook back in April.

You can thank Hermiston Raceway for this, because it looks like they set the blueprint. Douglas County happens to be one of the more libertarian-minded counties in the state, so any sort of proposal where you hinted at public safety might get the time of day. Douglas County Speedway would have probably been approved to run without fans, but why not take a swing at it? As the only other pavement track in Oregon, they were looking up Northeast at what Hermiston did. You have two different locations at the facility. It's not just some silly theory that I have, it's obvious when you look at it. It's just that the governors haven't looked at what goes into making things happen at a race track.

From what I can tell, the Roseburg track will only run one program. They're not doubling up as Hermiston is doing. Maybe that was discussed at the meeting and declined, but I am not privy to that information. They will run all of their PRA divisions on August 1st, which includes the Hardtops, Modifieds and Hornets. Those classes actually have some sort of car count. It's anybody's guess what they might get in the Mini Stocks and Street Stocks, but they could do above-average in these circumstances. What's interesting is it doesn't look like they've raised their ticket prices at all.

Their highest admission ticket on a normal night is $15, and that's what they're charging. It looks like it's for all ages, so you can multiply that times 250 people. If they sell out, they've left $1,250 on the table compared to what Hermiston will get for one of their events, and it's a head-scratcher to me. These aren't normal circumstances. If you could open under normal circumstances, you can just get whoever you can get. You can only have 250 people now, and that makes tickets more of a premium. I know some people get left out of that equation, but this gives you operating capital. This is a $20 ticket, in my opinion. 

Then again, the track doesn't have a promoter. It's association driven, and therefore the association is just worried about keeping the gates open, not necessarily making a profit. They crunched the numbers and came up with an acceptable total that works for them, but I would caution people that if other tracks use this approach to get fans in the stands, they might go higher in ticket price as they are in a different financial situation. The other thing Douglas County Speedway has already announced is there won't be a championship season this year. That was something that was addressed by the president in April. I don't think the racers mind. They're just happy to get back on the track again.

Siskiyou Golden Speedway made an announcement after we put up our previous post. I figured that was going to happen. They announced the Outlaw Pro Stock Association and the Mini Stocks would be scheduled this Saturday, and they were looking for a third division that could get 10 cars. Really? You don't think the IMCA Sport Modifieds can do that? I think they might have been testing the water to see if any other divisions wanted to speak up, but the Sport Modified guys got vocal. Needless to say, they've been added as the third division this Saturday. The track will also have a practice on Friday. They will do fine. I believe management has learned the lessons they needed to learn from the Fourth of July weekend event, and this one should go better. I don't expect any streaming service will be offered, but the Siskiyou Golden Speedway Facebook page will tell you that information.

There's a lot of money on the line at Ocean Speedway this Saturday. We're talking $32,000 (as of this writing) for the NARC/King of the West Fujitsu Winged 410 Sprint Car Series. This is the 10th Annual Howard Kaeding Classic, and it's a special show. They are honoring the legendary Campbell Comet, one of the greatest Super Modified racers in San Jose Speedway history. I understand Al's Roofing is presenting this event, which doesn't surprise me. They are a great Sprint Car supporter. I understand there will be others sponsoring as well. If you're watching Flo Racing and you hear the names of the sponsors, support them if it's possible to do so.

Tom Sagmiller was already out on the track on Monday working his magic. It's a little bit more pressure, because they have racing on Friday as well as Saturday. They have a regular Ocean Sprint Car show among other divisions on Friday. If I'm not mistaken, I believe this was going to be a Sprint Car Challenge Tour race, but right now that tour is just a bit expensive to book. I still suspect that the Ocean Sprints we'll have a good turnout on Friday. Throw in some IMCA Modifieds and Hobby Stocks on Saturday and some IMCA Sport Modifieds, Hobby Stocks and Western Midgets on Friday, and it should be two great nights of racing.

The Western Midgets have managed to tag along with the show coming up at Petaluma Speedway this Saturday night. It is a USAC/BCRA Midget race, and they're paying $1,000 to win. It looks like the regular purse, and it was the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame that put the money up for this. This is at a time when Petaluma Speedway can really use a good night to make a statement. I think they will have quite a few Midgets. I'm not sure if the Western Midgets will run a separate program, but if they bring the kind of car count they brought to Watsonville last time, I would I think it will happen. You've also got the PitStopUSA.com Wingless Spec Sprints, which should deliver a decent field, and the Santa Rosa Auto Body 600 Micros. 

Petaluma Speedway was always signed up to go live with Flo Racing, and that will be the case for this weekend. It looks like the changeover is in effect, and people are being funneled to Flo Racing. If you have an account with SpeedshiftTV that's still active, you'll be able to view things live, but you'll have to check that information with the Flo Racing site. We also know that Placerville Speedway is scheduled to be broadcast live on Flo Racing for a program that will be offering Winged 360 Sprint Cars, Limited Late Models, Pure Stocks, Mini Trucks and California Hardtops. 

Antioch Speedway will have their two-day Dwarf Car Regionals broadcast at dirt oval TV. This is a big weekend for PJ Risso at Dirt Oval TV with the Clay Cup in Deming, Washington and the Cottage Grove Speedway race also being offered on their site. I don't know if they've ever had multiple broadcasts happening on the same night, but they will have Deming and Antioch on Friday, and Cottage Grove joining the other two on Saturday. It will be interesting to see how that works out for them.

For people sitting up in the cheap seats, you won't be completely left out. As far as I know, River City Speedway in St Helens will show you the action on their Facebook page for free. Last Saturday night, the Ukiah Speedway announcer mentioned that this weekend's show will be available on Facebook as well. The action at Lakeport Speedway is scheduled to be broadcast on Facebook. They will be featuring the North State Modified Series. The best place to find out what they are doing in regards to streaming would be NCRA Lakeport Speedway on Facebook. 

The cheap seats are where I will be as I don't have the funds to pay for a streaming service at this time. It was fun to be able to watch last weekend's action at least but the changeover to Flo Racing has put an end to that for now. I will also be monitoring the scoring loop for several tracks. I'm sure that in the future Race Monitor is going to take a hit from the other company that I won't name, because why not screw up everything? That would lead to another rant, and I don't care to expand on those thoughts at this time. We still have Race Monitor as the window into what is happening at several race tracks for now, so I'm going to appreciate them while they are here.

There was an agreement made by some promoters before tracks started reopening under this covid-19 mess. Since they couldn't have fans in the grandstands, some promoters actually agreed to pay half purse for the time being. I know three of the names that agreed to this. When you think about it, it's fair. We can't have fans, and we're crunching the numbers. We can't afford to pay a full purse without sponsorship. If that guy down the road has deeper pockets, they're going to siphon some cars away from the other guy. That's the thinking. If we all agree that this is how we're going to pay purses, it's a level playing field. You can't get promoters to agree to much, but if it's something that helps them keep from losing too much money, they will usually agree on that.

Scott Russell was set to pay half purse for Saturday's show at Placerville, but he had sponsors come in with money to keep the normal purses for every class other than the Winged 360 Sprint Cars. As of this writing, they are still at half purse, but that could change between now and then. Jay Bryant of Jay's Mobile Welding has stepped in again to help the Pure Stock class. He's been the title sponsor for this class for the past few years, and he's also been helping support the Antioch Speedway Hobby Stock effort and the Tri State Pro Stock Challenge Series. He's a great guy for doing this.

The race was originally going to be the Forni Classic this week and this particular show was going to run next week. The reason it got changed up was to not conflict with the Howard Kaeding Classic at Watsonville. I'm pretty sure that some of the camera crew will be down there for that one, and I don't know who they will have in Placerville to run the camera. Next week, I'm sure they'll have the main camera guys there and you won't be hearing about a half purse with the Sprint Cars. I won't be surprised if somebody sponsors the Sprint Car purse by Saturday to make it a regular payout or better. I'll let the Placerville Speedway Facebook page make those announcements.

You just do what you've got to do to keep the show going right now. I will repeat, no promoter is wrong in doing what they are doing. If a promoter is opening their gate and running even for half purse, they're trying to give their racers an opportunity and risking the possibility of losing money for the effort. If a promoter is keeping the gates closed, they're doing so because they've crunched the numbers and will lose money by running a race. I don't blame any of the promoters here. I blame the governors of these various states for doing things the way they are doing them. I don't think the data really supports the Draconian measures they're taking that are harming businesses and the finances of the average person.

I'm not going to make projections on when we will have more places with fans in the grandstands on the West Coast other than the locations that have them now. It could happen next week, but it's likely to take longer. The IMCA California Speedweek Series may run without fans at any of the tracks, but it will stream online. I think any fan has a right to complain and voice their disapproval of this. There are people willing to take the risk, because they know there isn't much of a risk. They want to go out and spectate, and state governors have made it so that they can't do that. So if they want to complain, have at it. I think there are other things to be worried about as far as where this world is headed, but who am I to tell somebody they can't complain about not being able to spectate a race if that's something that helps get them through the week?

We all watch the footage or see the pictures of races happening in other states. Fans are packed shoulder-to-shoulder, and we're not hearing about outbreaks and people actually dying because they went to a race track. True, governors are clamping down on those tracks after they have successful events and shutting them down. Some are even receiving fines. But to the people on the West Coast, they look at empty grandstands where they are and full grandstands at these other locations and wonder why. Even on the West Coast, you had a packed grandstand at Coos Bay last week. How are they getting away with it? It is what it is. I don't know when it's going to get better.

With all of the struggles that some tracks have gone through to get open, I know racers have been grateful to just get back on the track again. During this time of the virus, I've just been keeping track of who's opening and who isn't, but I've recently been reminded of a concern that I've had for the sport for a while. I noticed a driver complaining about being booked too many times, and it got me to thinking. Even now, that's still a problem. I know people are just grateful that they can get out and race and promoters are taking that risk even though they can't open their grandstands. This isn't the 1980s or the 1990s, and drivers budgets can't handle a heavy schedule like that.

The problem you have at this one track is it doesn't have that many options for divisions. If you are a track that only has two or three regular divisions and you want to do something every week, you're choices are limited. If you are running the IMCA sanctioning, you're also put on the spot. If you're running a race, you're running a point race. You can't use throw-away rules or any of that. Therefore, if you want to chase points, you'd better be there. If you're one of those drivers that would prefer a few less races, you have a choice to make. You either race or drop out of the points.

This is my clever way of avoiding naming who the driver is or what track he's talking about, but I will say this. You need to have multiple divisions or have an overall schedule that's not too heavy. Some tracks are in a difficult position if they are contracted by the fairgrounds to run a specific amount of races. If you have to run 30 races per year, for example, you have no choice but to book that many races. If you do that with the same division, you're going to kill that class and eliminate the possibility of having a close championship battle. Close point races are another way to get fans interested in coming out to the track, when we can have fans.

I'm not a fan of Divisionitis. I'd much rather book a 14 race schedule or something more manageable. Fans start picking the divisions they like, and the more popular divisions are the ones that are going to get the crowd. The other divisions just become placeholders if they're not popular. You booked them so you can put something on the track and at least be able to make something through the back gate. Hopefully you've got enough popular classes in your rotation that there's always something that will keep the crowd interested. If you are a track that runs Modifieds, Sprint Cars and Late Models, you're always going to have something that will interest the people.

A track with only a couple of options is in a bad position because they don't have a lot of choices if they want to race. Booking certain classes during this time of the pandemic might be a positive for your track if your neighbor tracks aren't running. You can attempt to book other classes where you have at least a few people in your area if you can get people from out of the area to come. It might spark a resurgence in that class. Then, you can give that division that has drivers complaining a little bit of relief and not over book them. It's interesting to hear this sort of discussion going on now. Everybody was so happy that they could go racing again. Now that they've had a few races, you have drivers saying, "Wait a minute. This is too much. We need a break." 

This goes in line with what I've been saying about numbers starting to go down again. There were a couple of months when we should have been in full swing in the sport. Everybody should have been racing, but these covid-19 guidelines prevented tracks from opening. The ones that could open saw a big pop in car count. Racers travelled a few times, and it was more expensive doing that. As their own tracks open and they get a couple more races, they start looking at budgets and other things. We're starting to see car counts level off a little bit. This will present a challenge for promoters as they continue to schedule races. If you can't have fans, you need as much as you can get in the pits. If those numbers drop off too much, the promoters may suffer to a point where they question opening the gates at all. 

There was a reason a few promoters made the gentleman's agreement to run for half purse while reopening with no fans. Some promoters have deeper pockets than others, so they can pay more. If they agree to only pay half the purse, then it's easier for others to do the same. Then, if you have sponsors decide to support your purse, that's a different deal. Nobody went back on their word. Somebody came in and made sure the division got paid as normal. Sponsors doing that right now is so huge, because businesses are suffering. We had one up in Cottage Grove pay the entire purse on July 4th. This coming week, sponsorship probably paid as much as half the purse that's being paid.

I saw promoters taking grief for paying half the purse, but the intelligent racers understood. Sure, they weren't making as much money at the pay window, but the promoter wasn't making much money at all without fans. Streaming revenue is only going to be so big. If you knew the numbers, you'd understand that it's only a drop in the bucket compared to what you would get with fans. The fact that promoters are opening the gates right now is huge, and I respect them all for doing it. That's not a judgement against promoters who won't be doing much until they can have fans. These are business decisions.

There are so many things you have to factor into opening right now. There won't be fans in the grandstands, therefore no concessions. Streaming revenue has been severely diluted as more tracks try to get whatever they can out of it. You're trying to figure out who you can book, because you don't want to overbook anybody. If you have enough divisions in your rotation, you can do that. Even then, you're trying to enhance those divisions as best you can if some divisions are hurting in car count. If you're one of those tracks that doesn't have a lot of divisions to draw from, you are forced to risk overbooking those classes. You may lose cars that way if you open too often.

I was much too overconfident as we got to the end of May and a couple of tracks got fans. It seemed so unlikely that they could get fans approved, and those tracks did. I really assumed it would start happening everywhere by now. I didn't think every track would get there, but I thought there would be more tracks by now. We were cautioned by the governors that this wasn't realistic, but that didn't stop me from hoping. When they said through September, they meant it. I do think other tracks are going to get fans, but it won't be easy. Other tracks will just have to be content to open without fans. 

That's just the way this season is going to be. The business model has been shattered this year, and make no mistake, promoters are losing thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars right now in operating capital. We better hope 2021 sees a return to normalcy. Otherwise, I shudder to think what could happen to the sport. It's going to suffer enough even if it does return to normal. Another year where fans aren't allowed or are severely reduced would be devastating, in my opinion. I guess we'll see what happens.

I find myself less and less motivated to delve into this topic right now. I'm watching my country slip into something I don't even recognize. I'm watching freedom slip away and stupid memes that mock people who don't want to wear masks. Some people don't want to think about what is really going on here. It's about forced compliance where it's not needed, simply to see the obedience of the average citizen. If they can get you to do this, what are they going to get you to do next? I find it alarming that things that were written about in books like 1984 and Brave New World and things that were prophesized about in The Bible seem to be manifesting in 2020.

Does that mean we're headed down that rabbit-hole? I don't know. Something big can happen in the world that shifts things in the other direction. It could be that we all look back at this moment in time and remember that it passed. It was an inconvenience, and that's all. I really don't know, but I am almost horrified by some of the things people are saying. Some of the things people are advocating for. Mission statements of certain protest movements that are causing destruction in this country. What it is they actually want to turn this country into. If you're not paying attention and at least a little bit concerned by this, I don't know what to say to you. Maybe you want the country to completely change from what we know it to be, and you might get it. Be careful what you wish for. 

On that note, I'm ending this column. It's probably the smart decision right now as I'm sure I'll offend people if I go much further on certain topics. I want to thank Michael Burch for going way above and beyond with his support today. He made it easier for me to go ahead with this column when I wasn't really feeling it. That's all for now. Until next time...